Chapter One --Section One

The street lights decorated the side of the road with a lackluster brilliance. Automobiles road by, hitting the various potholes scattered about the asphalt. The wheels hit these potholes with a certain delicate ferocity that is absolutely distinct to an automobile. Pedestrians walked down the sides of the street with a gloomy step. Their expressions could not be made out, however, their moods were apparently in their legs. The depressed scuffled down the concrete slowly, without care. Those in haste walked underneath the street lights in an almost blur. They, like the depressed, expressed no care for the street, however unlike those downtrodden, the people in haste would shift their heads swiftly from side to side, trying to ignore what is in front of them. Those whom had no purpose, the beggars, walked jauntily against the asphalt. Their lives were a mess, what good is it to worry?

Men of the law swung their clubs as pictured in film. Their medium blue uniforms did not stand out particularly well against the foreboding darkness that covered the street. They walked about nonchalantly as they waited for the night-shift to end. One could tell that these particular policemen wanted nothing extraordinary to happen, for it was Christmas Eve, and they would rather go home unscathed. At the north end of the street was a port, the Ashibald Wharf as it was known. Fishermen were calling in the night and were packing their rods and bait in their individual boxes. Sailors docked their ships of every shape and size in the marina. They too were coming in to call it quits for the evening. Some were disappointed of their catches of the day, others were quite ecstatic and could not wait to go home to their loved ones to tell of the wonderful stories of the day. Lamps furnished the ends of the wharf as well. The illuminated docks constructed a faintly disturbing aura about the area. A smooth fog permeated the wharf, also adding to its ominous demeanor.

On this particular chilly Christmas Eve, arrived a group of sailors in port. That was nothing out of the ordinary. However, following their docking, the sailors ran off without unloading any cargo. The ship looked as if it had hit an iceberg, but that is unusual, because the ship had only gone out only four miles out sea and there were never any icebergs in that part of the ocean. The sailors ran as if they had seen something terrible, something awesome.