Kit sighed and shook her head as she kept walking. Hopefully Levi didn't see the hidden smile on her face. "You're so scared," she said.
"Am not and we are so not about to have a war about this, are we?" He caught up to her with his long strides.
"No, we're not about to have a war about this," she laughed and then all the laughter was gone as they reached the heart of the warehouse. There was a long ladder that stretched up to the top of the roof and opened with a metal hatch.
Levi gulped.
"Well," Kit started, "since you're the man and men aren't afraid of anything, I guess you should be the one to go first." She started laughing as he nodded his head with a frantic look in his eyes.
"Whatever you say, Stone."
The fact that he addressed her by her last name made her cheeks flame as she watched him take out a silver dagger and hold it between his teeth as he climbed up the long-rusted ladder.
When he reached the top, she started climbing up after him. As her hands clamp around the metal bars she thought to herself about how gross it felt. "Gross," she whispered under her breath before deciding that this was no time to be a girl about things, so she kept climbing up the ladder. Kit raised her head to see that Levi had opened the hatch as was inspecting what else was out there.
He looked down at Kit a moment later, "you better not be looking at my ass." He whispered down to her.
"Levi," she hissed but felt like bursting out laughing, "this is no time to be talking about this!" She felt her cheeks flame once again.
A moment later he said, "Well, are you?"
"I think I should have gone first."
"Never mind," he laughed to himself as she hid a smile from showing. "I don't see anyone, but it looks as though the guards are around the corner. I'll go up first and you can follow behind me."
He took the dagger from his mouth and climbed through the hatch. Kit waited a moment before climbing up after him. She reached the large hat and pushed it open with renewed force as it swung up. She climbed through the gap and looked around. There was no one to be seen and she noticed that they were now in a large corridor where the only darkness that didn't show came from the candles flickering on the sides of the candelabras.
"Here Kitty, Kitty," Levi chimed in, "where are you Kitty?" When she stood up she noticed how Levi was looking at her with another humorous look that made her want to strangle him and laugh at the same time. "There you are, are coming or not?"
She walked over to him and thanked the Academy for making boots that prevented any sound from being heard as they snuck around the corner of the corridor. Levi suddenly stopped behind her and hid behind the curve of the wall.
She looked at him helplessly as though she couldn't see what was happening. He put up two fingers and then made a cross with them.
Two guards. That was what it meant.
"I'll get one, you get the other."
He nodded, okay.
She looked around and then her eyes widened as they saw a wooden balcony stretching at least teen feet above her head. She pointed at the balcony and signalled that she was going that way. Levi signalled that he was going to be the distraction.
She nodded and started using the small ledges of the wooden walls to climb onto the balcony. It took one hand after the other as she pulled her way up there. When she was halfway up she realized that there was a guard standing over the edge. He had his back turned to her which could only give her one thing to do. She pulled out the dagger from her waist and held it in one hand. When she reached the railing, she drove it from around her body and sliced it through the middle of his neck. He let out a small moan but was dead almost instantly.
Scarlet drops of blood sprayed across her face as she climbed over the now dead body of what looked like a middle-aged man, but as she bent down to inspect him she realized that his eyes were black, and they were staring limply at her.
She almost screamed as she held her hand across her face and scurried to the other side of the balcony and stood as far away from him as possible.
What the hell...?
Kit had no time to wait, she had to help Levi. So, she dashed across the wooden floorboards beneath her seeing the guards' heads who also had their backs turned. She couldn't risk any noise as she jumped off the edge of the balcony and was sent flying through the air. When she was just close enough she slit alongside one of their necks and he landed on the ground with a thud. The other, however, she missed and managed to scrape across his arm.
Kit fell to the ground with a duck and roll as he yelled out something in another language that probably meant "help" or "intruders". He dived after her as he pulled the sword from his waist. He swung it over his head as he brought it down. It missed Kit by inches.
Her heart raced in her chest and behind him she spotted Levi who was running at him from behind. When the guard turned around after seeing Levi from the corner of his eyes Kit swung her legs and kicked him in the back. He fell forwards just as Levi drove his sword through his heart. The guard fell to his knees and then to his stomach as a scarlet pool of blood fell around him.
Kit waited to catch her breath before saying, "thank you, he nearly got me."
Levi shook his head, "don't worry, as I said, I'm always here to help. We have to keep moving, he warned another guard that we were here, and we can't risk any more detection than we already have." He cleaned his sword by wiping it on the man's shirt and frowned.
Kit looked down and frowned as well.
"What the hell?" Levi stepped backwards slightly. Minutes ago, both the guards' blood had been red, but now it was turning black just like the man's eyes before. Kit stifled a sound of shear fear as she watched what was happening. "How it this possible?"
She bit her lip with her heart picking up such a fast pace that she was struggling to keep up with everything else. "The guard I got before had eyes that were completely black, the same with theirs." She pointed to the two guards who lay dead on the floor.
Kit hated killing, but now that she knew something completely out of the ordinary was happening she didn't feel as bad. Her and Levi exchanged looks of complete confusion.
"We better keep going if we want to find out what's going on."
They took off down the corridor, wondering through doors and taking down mental notes about everything that seemed odd. Kit kept thinking too herself about why these "people" had black eyes. It made no sense. They couldn't have been born this way, maybe they had been turned?
"Black eyes," Kit suddenly said, not knowing why she hadn't thought it before, "black eyes for when the darkness has taken over." She managed to keep her voice low so only Levi could hear it.
He looked at her funny, "but how has that happened? Something must turn them for that to occur and whatever oversees doing that must be incredibly powerful. I mean, maybe even more powerful than me," he laughed humorously.
She elbowed him in the shoulder, but it ended up hurting her more because of his incredible muscles which she was so not thinking about right at this minute...
"We have to focus and to do that we're going to get to the source of the room. I think we're in the cellar right now." She noticed how they were now surrounded by nothing but crates and boxes and inside of them were old junk that looked as though they'd been sitting here for years. "It smells disgusting down here, I say we find the main part of this place."
"Agreed."
Moments later Levi froze in place before ducking. He pulled Kit by the arm until they crouched in the shadows of a large box.
"Ouch," she hissed, "a little warning first. What's happening?"
He peered up over the boxes. She watched his deep-as-the-ocean blue eyes as they searched for a disturbance that was there. She studied Levi's face, watching the way he frowned as he searched for whatever had made him so up and alert.
"There's a guard." He came down from where he knelt until he crouched beside Kit who nearly gave her a heart attack. "We have to be careful. Want to take him
down or follow him? He might have something we need." He kept his voice low but levelled his eyes on hers. She bit her lip and slowly crept up until she could properly see the large guard who walked around with a long sword resting cautiously between his fingers.
Her eyes widened in thought as she came back down to crouch beside Levi who looked at her intently, searching for whatever answer came to mind. If they followed him it would risk detection, if they killed him it could risk them being able to find a proper way out. She balled her hands into a fist and slowly took the dagger at her waist out of its sheath so slowly that there was no audible sound.
"Follow," she breathed and quickly dashed behind another set of large crates. She may be small, but even the smallest thing – like her hair or her arms – could risk them being detected and that certainly was not on her agenda during this current time. Something strange was happening and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Levi followed behind as she climbed silently over the top of a larger crate and swung over the side. She landed with her feet calmly on the ground and waited for Levi.
Moments past and she couldn't hear, or see, him coming.
Where the hell are you? Her mind screamed. He didn't go another way, did he? If he did I am so going to kill him...
She caught her breath and slowly raised her head to look for him. It was so dark that she could barely see beyond a few metres. Kit cursed under her breath and was just about to bail on him when she saw him. He was crouching below the shadows of the crates and staring at the guard with wide eyes. The man was getting closer to Levi, maybe he'd heard something?
The guard looked even scarier the closer he got to Levi that Kit had to fight everything in her to not leap out and attack him right at that moment.
Levi hid his head, fastening his gaze sternly on Kit.
He looked apologetically at Kit. At first, she wasn't sure why until he leaped out from where he was hiding. She didn't have any time to react as Levi placed his arms on either side of the guard’s head and broke it with a blood curdling crack that sent shivers cursing through Kit as she watched the body fall limply to the ground.
* * *
Levi had had no other choice as he broke the guard's neck – even as he saw Kit's face change as the scenario unfolded. She watched him from where she hid near the crates, eyes wide with realization.
"I had to." He knelt next to the body. "He had black eyes. I know we aren't supposed to kill humans, but this man, like the rest, aren't humans. They have been turned dark by or something."
She stood up and quickly padded over until she hovered over him, small frame watching him with curious eyes. "I thought we were going to follow him towards the way out."
Levi inspected the body. "That was going to be the plan. The he got too close to me and I saw this in his waist belt." Levi pulled out a small gold key that wouldn't have been any bigger than Kit's pinkie.
Levi heard her blow out a sharp sight of relief. "Okay then. That solves the key problem but not the door problem."
He gestured towards the other side of the room. "I thought the door would probably be over there since I saw a bit of light go past there before. That could also mean that there may be another guard around. I'd strongly suggest you stay behind me, Stone, you never know what's around the corner." He raised his eyebrows and continued walking.
He heard her laugh from behind her as he walked ahead.
They turned around a corner further head and Levi was suddenly aware of the guard standing near the door. He wore a long grey robe and had a hood that sat over his head. He was staring out ahead of him and Levi quickly ordered Kit to go back behind the corner.
"Now what?" She asked.
"Another guard but don't worry I have an idea." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of throwing knives. He'd covered them in a special poison mixed with nightshade and other toxins. If it reached your veins you'd die straight away basically. "I'll throw these at him, back me up if it doesn't work." He saw her annoyance of having to play the "backup assistant" but made sure to continue with the plan.
He quietly stepped around the corner, the shadows masking his face from view. With one final breath he arched the knives from his two front fingers and watched as he sent them spinning across the room. The guard looked up, eyes now flaming with anger as he ducked out of the way. The knives stuck to the door behind him.
Kit stepped past him, sword in hand. She rolled across the ground and leaped across towards the guard who had aimed his gaze directly on Kit. Levi's eyes widened as he covered the other side of the door where the guard tried in a precautious manner to get to the both. He swerved towards Levi, delivering a rather skilled blow that hit the wall behind his head.
The guard's blade was gold and gleamed in the dim light that came from the large candelabra behind him. Levi ducked his head and brought his sword down. It sliced across a bit of the fabric of the robe right near the guard's leg and Levi watched as it brought a bit of black blood. The man cried with anger as he brought another large swing that went straight over the guard's heart. The man's eyes widened as he stepped back and deflected Levi's swing and suddenly their swords were clashing with each other, creating a metal-on-metal sound.
Levi cried out with fury and tried to dig his sword into the man's chest, but he was too quick as both their swords swung from their grips. Levi watched them fly and land on the ground a few metres ahead.
Kit quickly slipped across the room to pick up Levi's sword and then bent down to pick up the guard's just as a cry escaped her mouth. She was sent backwards, and Levi watched with worry as a red burn mark stretched angrily across the skin on her palm. "The sword has been poisoned!" she shouted through her two front teeth.
"Are you okay?" Levi asked as he clenched his hands into fists. The large man's hood had slipped off his head, revealing complete baldness and tattoos that resembled something ancient that Levi thought didn't exist now days.
"I'm fine, just watch out." She saw Kit get to her feet with Levi's sword in one of her hands and her own sword in the other.
He aimed his attention on the man as he quickly ducked past another punch that sent Levi almost hitting the wall behind him. Levi kicked his legs out and sent the guard spinning to the ground around him. He was as quick as lighting as he ran towards the guard who was getting back to his feet.
The guard's eyes widened with contempt as he delivered a clear punch at the top of Levi's head. Levi cried out with pain, or anger, as he fell to the ground with the feeling of scarlet blood dripping across his cheek. It had momentarily dizzied him while he tried his hardest to focus on the scene unfolding before his eyes: the guard hovering over him with his face screwed into a look of amusement. Kit standing behind the man with the two swords in her hand, a look she cast Levi that matched rage. She gathered both swords – hers and Levi's – and sent is speeding down through the man's back.
He could hear the blood curdling cry that came from the guard as Kit pushed the swords even more through his back until Levi saw them come out the other side, black liquid soaking through his robes. She let go – reminding Levi more of an avenging angel as she watched with a renewed hunger in her eyes.
"Levi!" She ran across the room to land beside Levi. "Don't you dare die on me." She whispered and helped him to his feet. He shook his head, still not being able to get the image of Kit bringing the two swords through the guard's back like an ancient hero.
"Thanks Kit." He said through gritted teeth as he stood up. The blow he'd taken to his head. The blood wasn't running as much but it felt painful whenever he touched it. "I'll be fine," he persuaded, "what you did before was pretty awesome."
She laughed. "You did all the work, all I did was bring the swords down." She smiled and turned away to pull the swords from the guard's back. She threw it to Levi who caught it dangerously in his left hand and swung it into the sheath at his waist.
He bent down and searched the guard. "Found it," he said and dangled the key
before Kit's eyes. She shook her head with an amused smile.
"That was a close call, lucky I saved your ass." She raised her eyebrows and took the key from his hands. "Hopefully this works." She gently pushed the key into the lock and turned it and surely enough it opened. She turned around with her arms crossed and grinned. "Are you coming?"
* * *
From the moment they'd first stepped through the door Kit had felt an air of darkness. She'd tried to avoid it at first, but it had become harsher the further they got. There hadn't been too much to worry about. Perhaps it was all building up to one big secret. Headmistress had asked them to find out what was happening in this warehouse and all they'd seemed to have done so far was find their way through the sewers, then through the cargo hold and now they were finally in the heart of the building and Kit couldn't shake the thought of being caught.
There walls were made completely of wood with the occasional large scratch marks that dragged dangerously down the side of the wood.
"That way." Levi pointed towards a rusted ladder that lead onto a balcony. "We could see everything better that way." She nodded her head, unable to shake the feeling she'd gotten when she'd watched Levi fall to the ground after the guard had wacked him across the head. She'd been so angry, she didn't realize she'd brought two swords through the man's back until she looked down at his bloodied corpse.
She climbed the ladder, noticing the way it felt freezing in her pale hands. Levi followed her close behind as she slipped her dagger between her teeth in case of any enemies. Everything had been so strange since setting her two feet in this building. She couldn't help but realize that it was bound to become even worse.
She set her feet on top of the balcony inside the warehouse and looked down. She had crawled onto her feet and was looking down through the two bars.
It scared her to see what was spreading out before her very eyes.
There was a man who sat in a large chair, his arms were casually creeping along to arms of the chair. He had his head tipped back with a look that cast extreme carelessness. She hadn't heard their voices before, but now she did. Before the man there were at least fifty other people who all stood in small cages. Some were looking dreadful and others had gone almost completely limp.
The Night Walkers Page 6
