I watch as the meadow fades away for the second time that day, as the luscious grass and picturesque landscape becomes my darkened room of silence. I lie there, a strange odour tickling against my nose, as I lie in the darkness, my mind slotting back in place with my body. 

There's a faint bluish glow beside my bedside, which is incredibly rare inside a Shadow Soldiers room and that's simply because darkness is our life, we need it in order to grow, just like plants need sunlight and humans need vitamins, without it we would simply wither away and die.  

However, despite the importance of the darkness, many people have been known to ignore it, to push it away and look towards the light. All because they see the darkness as daunting, the darkness as fear, a compressed shadow slowly squeezing the sanity out of them. 

I only embraced the darkness due to Dallas, who comforted me with wonderful dreams of beautiful landscapes and wild adventures. That I knew could only ever be dreams because to leave the dark enclosure of my realm would only result in death. 

Although, the Shadow Realm isn't completely devoid of light because as part of every Shadow Soldiers body there's a flame. A flame that acts as our equivalent to legs. 

The flame is activated by the mind and allows us to lightly hover a cm or so of the ground. It's a sacred part of our biology and to be without it is to be an outcast, an embarrassment to society.  

And it's not just the fact that flame allows us to move but because each flame has a colour and each colour symbolises a different trait. 

I have a green flame to symbolise curiosity and love of nature. While, my brother has blue to symbolise innocence and love of swimming.

The flame is a great way to get a sense of another individuals personality without having to talk to them, without having to put yourself in an awkward situation. It allows you to find people just like yourself without so much as a word. It's truly remarkable. 

And I know what you're thinking, what happens if your trait changes, well there's a simple answer to that really, so does your flame. It's incredibly rare but it can happen. Take my Grandma Tetris for example, she used to be a cheery yellow but after her husband was slain she became a gloomy grey. 

I hear an impatient tap beside me and still half asleep I turn towards it, towards the light. 

I stretch out, letting out a little yawn, as my eyes slowly begin to open. 

When my eyes are fully open, I stretch out once again, looking up at my brother with a look that said 'This had better be good'. 

But, before my brother gets a chance to explain himself, I hear it, the shouts from downstairs, the raised voices of our beloved parents.  

I can hear mother saying that it's over, that she's leaving and that hurts beyond description. Not just because she said it but because she said it with such defeat, as if all that love and memories we had given her meant nothing. 

Tears well up in my eyes, as I feel my perfect life being torn away from me. 

Without thinking, I jump out of bed and move towards the banister, not bothering to light my flame, meaning that rather than hovering, I'm scraping my buttocks across the hard charcoal floor. It usually burns like hell but today I don't feel it, as if this mental pain of mother leaving has masked all other pain. I reckon I could have my head clean sliced of and I wouldn't feel it, all because I'm wrapped up in this sadness. 

Blade snuggles up beside me, as we sit there watching the scene unfold, watching as father pleads with mother to stay. 

"We can make this work, you and me, for the kids, for the boys. They admire you Katana,  you can't just walk out on them like that."

But, mother isn't listening she's already made up her mind and there's nothing anyone can do to change it. 

So, with that she turns her back, steps out of the door and out of our lives, never to be seen again.  

1 Year Later

Mother has been absent for a year now and well if I'm being honest I have kind of gotten used to it. In fact, I might even go as far to say that I prefer it. All because father's made extra efforts to keep us happy.

I mean he's still a very busy man but on those days that he gets of, he fills them with tons of activities that we never got the chance to do before. 

I have always been daddy's little boy and well to have more quality time with him was like a dream come true. 

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about Blade, he missed mother like a dog misses their owner. 

He would always wake up every morning and look out of the window, hoping to see mother hovering up the drive or every time he heard a knock, he would zoom to the door, hoping that she was on the other side. 

But, it never happened and well as time went on he grew detached, distant, nothing me, father or even his Proïón seemed to do brought him any happiness. 

Even now, in class, detachment creeps into his speech, as he says "Blade's biggest hero is Cheese. Blade loves Cheese because he takes care of him and makes him laugh, without him Blade would be empty." 

That last line 'Without him Blade would be empty' feels like a lie because to me he already seems empty, as if my sweet twin brothers innocence has been ripped apart and replaced with an empty shell of nothingness. 

Although, I know that there must still be some innocence left inside him because his flame still shines blue. 

I watch as my brother slowly drags himself back to his seat, while the rest of the class watch on in amusement. 

It's all a big joke to them, my brothers misery, their pleasure.  

I so want to grip them by the neck and shake the joy out of them, to teach them what true misery feels like. 

But, I can't let my anger cloud my logic because if do then I will miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, the opportunity to grow up and become an International Peacekeeper. 

So, instead I sit in silence, watching as each student is called one by one to the front of the class. 

It's soon my turn to deliver and despite the hours that I put into my speech, I feel unprepared, as if that eagerness I had before class has now turned into nervousness and shame. 

I've seen the rest of the class deliver their speeches, all with a sense of depression, as if it was a genuine challenge to find someone inspirational. 

I'm worried that I might sound to eager, that bullies might mock me for taking the work seriously, that I might become the laughing stock of the class. 

But, there's nothing I can do now. 

So, with a heavy heart I drag myself to the front of the class, clear my throat and begin my speech. 

"My biggest inspiration is my father, Brim Bootleg and there are many many reasons for this but the three main ones that stand out are his career, his personality and his love for us. So, first of all i'm going to talk about my fathers career and why it has such an impact on my life. But, before I get into that I should probably enlighten you all about what it is my father actually does. He's an International Peacekeeper and for those of you that don't what that is, that is essentially someone who works tirelessly to keep our streets safe, reducing full scale massacres and wars to tiny little compromises..."

I trail of, as I become distracted by a commotion going on outside. It's hard to make out what exactly is going on, but it sounds as if the receptionist is trying to stop someone from barging into a classroom. 

My teacher, Mr Retina, who has rather an ironic name considering he's blind as a bat, looks over at me and says in his sweet syrupy voice "Grim, you needn't worry about what's going on outside, it's of no concern to us. I'm sure our excellent receptionist will be able to resolve it, so let's put it behind us and focus on the speech, because i'm very eager to hear more." 

I don't want to defy my teacher but I can't help get this sense that there's an approaching doom heading towards this classroom. I shake it of and launch back into my speech. 

"I also love my dad for his personality because he's ambitious, motivated, hard-working and caring. He's always helping elderly people cross the road, donating to charities, finding jobs for the homeless. He sets weekly goals that aren't impossible to achieve but yet aren't completely easy. This week his goal was to finally get up the courage to go on that date he kept postponing (I know what you're thinking, really patient woman and well I mean when you've had a crush on this bloke since school, even when she was happily married herself, you can't help but be a little patient) and well he did...

Bang!

That was the sound of the classroom door swinging open and two fully armoured SSS (Shadow Soldier Soldiers) Soldiers march in, followed by...

Wait it can't be! But, it is... it's...

Mum! 

I can feel the hatred burning up inside me as she looks at me with a warm, welcoming smile pressed upon her face.

I don't buy it! She's absent for a year and suddenly feels so guilty that she shows up at our school with two armed guards. 

No! There's something more sinister at play here. I don't know what it is but I can sense it, mum wants us for something. 

Of course there's no chance in hell that's going to happen.

Because i'll make sure of it.

Because my life's here with Dad, Blade, Dallas and Mr Retina.

There's no way i'm going anywhere with her and that's that.