The Night Walkers

by Elaine McGregor-Dawson

  "Just leave Levi; I can't have anything happen to you." Her voice wavered, and she looked. She hadn't cried very much, Kit rarely ever cried apart from the times when HER BEST FRIEND gets taken by a massive unknown beastly murderer that just happens to be a strange curious possessive lunatic!

  "I'm sorry Kit; I didn't realize the beast would already take her." Levi rubbed his hands across the side of his head. Everything that was going on was giving him a pounding headache!

  Kit paused, looking up at him with her eyes red rimmed, "It's not your fault...It's mine." She stood up and kicked the side of the street lamp, it hurt her foot, but she didn't care.

  "It's not your fault Kit!" Levi walked over to her. She stood facing the direction of that house they went to so many years ago. It felt like so many years ago when it was only days ago.

  "Yes, it is! I should have been more careful, why would I let Debra go when I knew the next victim would have been a sixteen-year-old girl, I knew it was getting dark as well." Kit threw her hands up in exasperation.

  Levi stared at her, not knowing precisely what to say, "I could have done the same thing, in fact I did, because I let her go as well and I knew all along that it was a sixteen-year-old girl. Besides, we watched her go to the dorm." Levi breathed a sigh, stepping so close to Kit that she could see his shadow of her peripheral vision.

  Kit turned around, looking up at his blue eyes. She seemed to get lost in them; they were so much like those ice shards, deep and desirable eyes. His hair blended in with the dark and the moonlight started to reflect on his face like a million candles lighting the way. Neither breathed, Kit just new she was lost, and she saw herself in his eyes, she looked horrible, her eyes were tired and red, her cheeks looked hollowed and she looked a little tired.

  Kit looked away, suddenly very confused. She looked at the old house that stood there, the very place that they had found the beast. She watched as the oak trees besides the old cascaded above the roof, shifting with the wind and scarping along the hinges of the roof. There was also an old parkway on the other side where a swing swung gently on the breeze along the wind. N old shed lay among the timber. Kit new the shed wouldn't have been touched in ages and ages’

  That's when everything seemed to click together, she turned around, pulling at Levi's arm, and she dragged him to get a closer view of the shed. "I think that's where the beast would be putting all the girls; it's either in there or in the woods." Kit gestured towards the woods and the park.

  Levi looked like he was calculating the idea and after a while he began to nod. He hadn't shown any sign of emotion in a while. "Okay, let's go check it out, let’s start at the shed." They both came closer and closer to the side of the shed. The literally creped on the sides, ducking out of the view of the window.

  Kit mouthed 'Go.' To Levi and very slowly he went towards the door and kicked it open, a poisoned dagger held in his left hand. Levi was left handed, that much Kit new, but it was the way he used the weapons that she loved.

  Kit followed close behind, looking in the shed. There were a few garden tools, some knives a rake and some brooms. "Yep, this looks like a serial killer’s house." She said sarcastically.

  Levi shrugged, "You never know."

  Kit nodded, "We better check it out anyway." They explored the place, pulling away the carpets in case there was a hatch, taking anything that could have been a lever. There was nothing though, everything was simply still and dark inside the old, creaky shed.

  "I guess there isn't anything in here then." Levi walked out the door, just as a cold gust of wind spread through the already freezing air. Why was it always so cold? Kit new it was winter, the chilling temperature only added to the failing near spring weather.

  "Yeah," Kit left the shed, closing it sturdily behind her. "Onto the woods next then." She started to walk in the direction of the woods. Levi started a few seconds later and followed her as well. It was so serine just how strong the wind was, Kit could tell it was soon to rain by the foreboding clouds that brewed above them.

  As they reached the woods, shuddering as they passed the house, the searched around. Anything could be the key to where the beast was hiding the girls. Levi searched for above them at the thick branches, while Kit traced the marks in the ground. Levi climbed a tree even, figuring out whether he could see anything from up there.

  That was when Kit found the alternant clue, a trail of rich blood that had dripped from a supposed victim. "Levi! I think I've found something." She called and started to walk. The moment she heard Levi jump from the tree and land on the ground she knew he was behind her. They weren't well armoured or well-armed. Kit still wore her blouse and jeans, while Levi wore jeans, a black top and a leather jacket thrown over.

  They followed the trail, not really wanting to know where it leads, but as soon as they found where it leads, everything turned upside down.

  CHAPTER NINE

  She stared at the open cave where barely any light filtered through. She couldn't keep her mouth from opening and exploding with gasps and little whimpers, it was too much for them; it was too much for kit to handle. She kept her eyes on the blood, watching is it trailed over the walls, over the ground were some oak leaves had fluttered down from where they originally gleamed in the sun.

  She covered her mouth with her shaking hand and sunk to her knees. "Debra." She sobbed, Levi stood there, his face was shaken and pale; he looked freaked out, angry and dumbstruck all at the same time. She sunk to his knees moments after.

  There was a slight pause as Levi draped his arms over Kit's slender shoulders. "Are we going down there?"

  Levi just stared, not being able to answer. They both new the answer though, he began to nod, exchanging insane looks between Kit and the cave. They both breathed, watching as it created fog in the cool air and began to drift away along the wind.

  "How will this end for us though?" They both new it was the question that they kept on asking themselves in the back of their minds. Never did they want to acknowledge it as a possibility that they could quite possibly die doing these missions.

  Levi shrugged, Kit new he didn't think it was an easy task to complete. This was life or death because after all, at the end of the day, haunting memories will have awakened them.

  "We better get back to the academy and get our gear then." Kit said, beginning to walk back to the academy. Levi stood there still, staring blankly at the open cave. It was burred with oak leaves and dirt, but a little opening stuck out with a black background at the back.

  "Come on Levi, please," She took one last look at the cave. "Never think about the possibilities." And she walked away, pulling him along towards the academy once more.

  * * * * * *

  As they reached the academy's entrance, where the familiar cold metal door stuck out against fog. Very gently Kit came and tapped on the door, kit expected the same man to have opened the peephole. She expected that same man she had seen many time before, except this time, the eyes showing weren't blue, they were purple.

  Her eyes opened wide, for she knew who those purple eyes belonged to, they were Syria's. Only Syria's eyes had sharp effect towards them. Her eyes found Kit's, showing off a very disappointed look.

  "Kit! Levi!" She almost shouted at them, "Get inside right now and if I have to chain you in here, I will." She opened the door, her arms folded in an angry way. Kit and Levi just stood there in the fog; Kit would rather freeze than come in.

  After a few minutes though, it became unbearable Kit in her blouse, so she stepped in, cursing beneath her breath as she did so. Levi also stepped in, having no choice because Syria hauled him in after Kit.

  "Kit! You promised me not to get into danger!" The look on Syria's face showed pure white concern and anger that Kit shied back, almost bumping into Levi as she did.

  "Okay...I'm really sorry, it was all my idea." Kit couldn't meet her eyes as she said it.

  "Is that true Levi?" She asked Levi, raising her eyebrows at him. Kit turned around, m
outhing 'yes' and 'Say yes.' But Levi was more truthful than that.

  "No, it was my idea." His face fell, "If I would have known, I wouldn't have let Kit go."

  Syria eyes them both, not knowing who was telling the truth. "Knowing Kit, I think it was her idea, since it's not the first time she has disobeyed my, or another teacher, orders. So, come along Kit, Levi, get back to your dorm and don't come out." She gestured for Kit to come and Kit willingly did.

  Levi opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't utter any words, he just stared after them, watching as Kit was virtually pulled away by Syria.

  Kit couldn't speak, she just watched as Syria through ice shards at her with her blue eyes. "I am not happy at all Kit!" She spat. They were in Syria's office and Kit was sitting in a chair, her fingers digging into her palms.

  "It took Debra, what was I meant to do?!" Kit erupted, standing up from her chair. Her words didn't get Syria off guard; it was like she already knew Debra was taken. How could she of though?

  "That's the thing, you don't do anything Kit." She continued pacing, holding a thin dagger as sharp as a needle point. Kit watched as it gleamed in the light. "Sit down."

  Kit sat, biting her lip, "I wasn't about to let my best friend be killed by a vicious unknown beast!" It was almost the same words she had said to Levi only hours before. She would get away, bringing Levi with her and together they would take down the beast.

  Imagination works in strange ways, sometimes it makes you think you can do anything; everything seems so easy in your imagination. That's because you can control that, but, everyone is capable of anything if they know how to. Kit didn't know how to though, she was as incapable as a mouse when it came to fight the beast on her own.

  "You have to wake up Kit! You need to be aware of reality. Your reality now is an easy way out of everything, but in actual reality, everything is hard unless you make it not be." Syria said.

  "Well maybe I'm not making it be hard." Kit shot back.

  Syria said nothing for the moment; she just stared at the ground. "Okay, how do you not make it hard?"

  Kit focused on Syria's cold eyes, forming an answer in her head. "All I need to do is not let anyone make my own decisions. In this academy though, all I do is follow orders and listen and be controlled."

  "So, you’re saying you don't want to be in the Academy?" Syria was trying to make Kit give in and say that Syria was right and that she was right all along, but Kit was never a person to give in.

  "Believe me, I want to be in the academy, in fact I have to be in the academy because I'm a freak along with the rest of our kind!" And Kit stormed out of the room, not waiting to see whether Syria followed.

  She marched into the corridor, wanting to curl into a ball and sit alone. She didn't want to be judged on anything anymore. She just sat on the ground, tucking her legs up and sitting her chin on her knees, sighing a very deep, sad sigh.

  Kit wanted something that she knew she would never have...A normal life, she would often watch the humans on the streets, talking to each other, living days upon days on end. They got to live and have fun and smile instead of constantly worrying about failing every single day.

  What was Kit to do? Her best friend was being held captive by a beast! Her life at the academy was probably being decided to come to an end because she never went with whatever anyone says!

  For once she wished she had an actual life that felt like it needed to be lived. Every time she had ever been on a mission, she didn't really care whether she didn't come back or not, her whole life she needed to impress everyone, it may have worked, but she didn't need anyone's impression. She had a very great expectation, just like in the book by Charles Dickens that she read by the window at her old house.

  Every minute that ticked by, her friends came closer and closer o dying. Every hour that ticked by, she got closer and closer to dying because she wasn't immortal, no one lives forever, and nothing does.

  One day, she had asked herself whether anything was immortal; the answer she got was a solid 'No.' The idea of a chair s immortal because humans will never go back to sitting on the ground.

  Living things however, always had an ending, happy or sad, it didn't really matter. Not to Kit Stone it didn't anyway. She was figuring out her plan, she only hoped it worked out in the end.

  She set a mental note to find Levi and ask whether he would help her. She wasn't sure why she always asked Levi, she didn't want to really think about why, even though deep down, or even less than that, she knew why.

  CHAPTER TEN

  It was late, she wasn't sure how late to be precise, and she just knew it was by the deep foreboding night that gloomed through the outside window. She shakily stood and walked over to the window, placing her slender and pale fingers on the cool glass.

  It wasn't that dark because the moon was full and round, shining with a bright halo around its circle. She watched, wide eyed at the moon, her eyes following it's every detail until the shape and glow was imprinted on her vision. She came away, knowing what this meant. Tonight, is the night the beast will strike for sure, it was a full moon, it was a dark night, and there was that foreboding feeling within the air. Everything was just piecing itself together ever so slightly.

  She clamped her hand over her mouth and sprinted through the campus, trying her hardest to find Levi. It was no longer that hard to figure out what the 'Beast' May be...a werewolf. It got a negative statement in her mind, although the options were to overweigh to put the thought aside. If ever there were a chance for Kit to find out new ideas, she must question it, after all, what other way to find evidence than questions?

  She reached the end of the campus and turned down a pathway on the side of the building, she ran up it, turning to see through the darkness with her eyes. It was no use though, everything was fading together, and she was never going to find Levi in a place as big as the Academy.

  She wandered around, furiously trying to find a memory of Levi telling her where he loved to go. That's when she remembered where he would be. So, she ran, and she didn't stop until she pushed passed quite a few doors and ran up a few flights of stairs until she came towards the main gym.

  Everything felt like a ghost town to her now, no one was here at all, they were all still in their dorms. No one was allowed outside because to many people we're in danger as it is. There was a dark and foreboding feeling inside of Kit as she walked past each window and watched the moon spill through. Very gently, she opened the door to the gym, trying her best to not make any sound.

  Levi sat on one of the beams, his legs tucked up with his head propped up on it. He looked so lonely, so afraid; did he think she was being on the mission already without him? Why was he always so polite and nice to everyone? All these questions sent more circles of questions around Kit's head, making her dizzy.

  As she opened the door of the gym, her eyes began to search around for where Levi could be. Then she saw him sitting on one of the balancing beams, his knees were tucked up and he had his chin propped up on them. He looked scared, angry, confused and... Annoyed?

  Kit seemed to feel his emotions; he seemed as lost to her as he stared out the open window with his confused blue eyes. She began walking up behind him; his eyes were glued to the moon's shadow. Kit continued creeping up behind him, not meaning to startle him, but when she tapped him on the shoulders, he almost fell backwards on the ground. But Kit slipped her arm around one shoulder, turning him around to face her.

  "Hey, I have to tell you something important." Said Kit, not meaning to smile and start laughing at the dumbstruck look on his face.

  Levi grinned up at her. "Oh, right sorry, tell me, I think you'll be impressed upon the news I have." He laughed, and then crossed his arms. "Okay, so tell me!"

  "Okay, we have to get all the girls back tonight otherwise the full moon might be what the beast wants to have happened." She waited for his reply, but he stopped smiling and looked at her.

  "Damn it Stone! I was going to say that
." His mouth dropped to the side. "I was going to be all clever and heroic and such."

  She laughed at his lack of humour, "Then let's gets going, we have to do this Levi. If we don't, what will happen to Debra?" Said Kit. Afterwards a little line of silence filtered through the empty hallway.

  "Yeah, true that now comes on." Levi pulled Kit by the arm and led her down the hall towards the armoury department.

  "What are we going to do, we have to talk tactics, we can't just rock up into its cave and demand for its captives back!" Kit whispered loudly.

  "You make such good points." Levi shook his head, giving her an incredulous look.

  Kit just shrugged and opened the door into the armoury where lots and lots of weapons lined the walls and had lots of different gadgets clipped up on them and set on counter tops around the room or in the middle.

  She watched the walls with weapons and weapons and all these super killing things. She put in quick plan in her head upon what they would do.

  "Alright, let's take a bow and arrow and a claymore, then we'll put some night shade juice on them, just for extra suffering." Levi shrugged and pulled down a perfectly flat lined oak bow with twelve matching arrows in a sheath. He then pulled down a claymore with a needle tip and a deadly shine to it, it literally glowed.

  Kit nodded, “Still need to decide our tactics." She said, clamping her hand over her mouth.

  Levi nodded, and then looked up at Kit. "I've got it." He smiled, "Let's get all the girls from your dorm and all the boys from my dorm, then let's get some armour and some more weapons together and lead them to the cave." Levi clapped his hands together like it was a plan.

  Something about the plan though didn't seem like a good idea. "What happens if we take them and they die?" Kit looked at him and raised her eyebrows.

  Levi shrugs. "I know, but not everyone lives their full life." Levi handed her another Oakwood bow and she placed it over her shoulder with the sheath of arrows.