The Night Walkers

by Elaine McGregor-Dawson

  "Yeah, I know that, I can't risk anyone else Levi, I've already lost Debra as it is."

  "Come on Kit, it’s okay. We can take our dorm, or we can take ourselves. I don't know about you, but I don't want to lose you." He made sure to emphasize the "you" To make Kit know that he really didn't want it to be just the two.

  Kit paused a moment, concentrating her eyes on the ground, then she bit her lip and looked back into his familiar eyes. "Fine, but only because I don't want to lose you either." She smiled up at him, then took his hand and led him out the door.

  He walked with her, studying her beautiful face when she wasn't looking, then Kit noticed him looking and so he averted his eyes, blushing pink.

  "Let's go this way to the dorm, we might be seen going through the corridors, what do you say we go the old-fashioned way eh?" Levi smiled and began climbing up a ledge on the side of the building.

  Kit smiled and climbed up after him. They walked along the sides, making sure they weren't seen, so they crouched down low and continued with scurrying along the sides of the academy. As they approached the end, Levi casually jumped down and landed on his feet, Kit jumped after him and landed firmly as well.

  "Let's go into the dorms just down here." Whispered Levi, running through the open doors.

  Kit nodded, having no time to tell him she could.

  Levi launched into his dorm, running in the opposite direction Kit did, because Kit was going towards the girl’s dorm on the opposite wing.

  As soon as she approached it, she knocked viciously on the door until one of the girls opened it. It was Sally; she looked tired from unbearable sleep the past few nights.'

  "Okay, I'm really sorry about this, but I need your help, if you’re willing to help that is. Just be warned that it isn't something you have to do, it's very dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt, none of you at all." Kit waited for Sally's response, but she just stood there open mouthed in the hallway.

  "What do you want me to do?" She finally said, peering back at the other two snoring girls.

  Despite Kit having always been in their dorm and having always hung out with them; they seemed to not really like her lately, they sort of only smiled when she saw them, but then again, she barely ever saw anyone apart from Levi.

  "I need you and the girls to help us with the beast. It's really important, but I'll only let you do it if you want to, this is for Debra remember," Kit couldn't meet the girls eyes; she seemed so sad, probably about Debra.

  Kit's mind hadn't been on Debra surprisingly, she had mainly been focussing on the beats and how to kill it. She then cursed the stupid thing for getting in the way of her life.

  "Okay...for Debra. I'm in; make sure to tell me all the details." Sally opened the door wider and Kit stepped inside. It was weird though because she hadn't been inside this dorm in what felt like weeks even though it was probably only days.

  "Just please be careful." Kit nodded.

  "I will, and I'll wake the others up right now." Sally said, not quite meeting Kit's gaze.

  How long will it take until Kit will waste everyone else’s like to do something she probably shouldn't be doing? Why would she waste her time trying to kill a creature that may as well be invisible? But most of all, who would she risk herself willingly to what...kill again?! That's all she has ever done, all she has ever known to be able to do. Kill and kill and take and steal. She recited those words in her head over and over.

  Kill and kill and take and steal.

  Kill and kill and take and steal.

  Kill and kill and take and steal.

  That was everything...that was her reality and so she once again wished there was an off button to make life and everything easier.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Kit stood in the doorway of her own dorm as Sally woke the other girls up from sleep. It was strange though, because as the other two girls came out to smile at Kit, she began to realize that they weren’t the original girls who used to be in her dorm. What had happened to the other two?

  “Hi.” Kit smiled, coming to stand in the centre of the room.

  “Oh! I’m so sorry Kit, this is Katherine and Stacey.” She pointed to the two strangers. Katherine had curly dark brown hair and sparkly blue eyes, her skin was tamed, and she was very pretty. The other girl, Stacy, she had seen before and had been known to stay away from her.

  Stacy was the type of girl who was so pretty and popular that she only ever had time for the ‘known’ people in the school. Stacey had almost white hair and ice-blue eyes.

  “Hi.” Stacey said, biting her lip and returning her eyes to the floor. There was a tension in the room suddenly and Kit felt that since no one else was working to break it, she thought that she should at least.

  “What happened to the other two girls?” Kit had directed her attention towards Sally.

  Sally breathed low sigh. “They had to be sent to another room where their…screams in the night wouldn’t cause that much attention.” Sally shrugged and leaned against the door.

  “Oh! Really, where they are waking up from nightmares?” She hadn’t tried to sound stupid with the question, knowing it was what Sally had just said; she just didn’t believe the girl.

  Sally nodded. “Yeah, they screamed so loudly, no one knew why though, the teachers took them in and tried to understand what the nightmares were of, but they said that they weren’t able to stay.

  Kit moved uncomfortably, being silent for the moment.

  Sally’s eyes widened. “You know why! Don’t you?” She gaped at Kit’s expression, shaking her head.

  “Yes, I do, the beast got to them, and there simply isn’t any other way. But I’m trying to figure out why it would have gone for them and how it got into the room.” Kit pushed her fingers through her hair.

  “Oh my god! That’s impossible.” Cried Katherine, who had been quiet throughout the entire cover station. Her skin had gone paler, erasing her gorgeous olive colour it was originally.

  “I’m afraid that nothing is. I have come to you three because I need your help.” Kit said, waiting until she had everyone’s full attention. When they were all looking at her curiously, she began jumping into the idea she had about saving Debra from the beast. She spoke about the high dangers, mentioning the armour they would be wearing and the very good weapons.

  She went into full detail about the beast, describing why it was taking so many people and her suspicions about why it is using them for and when.

  “We have until midnight when the moon is at its fullest power. I think at around that time the beast will be in some type of transformation and at that time it will be at its weakest time. I did some research on werewolves and apparently, they have an extreme weakness to this stuff called wolfs-bane. If anyone comes across any of it, please say something. It didn’t grow locally so be conscious of that.” When Kit was finished she was able to look up and meet the eyes of the girls. They all had their mouths open fully; their faces looked either dumbstruck or scared.

  It took a while until someone spoke up that wasn’t Kit. “I guess I’m in.” Sally said, nodding to herself, “I said it before to you, but I want you to know that I know the danger and I’m still in.”

  Everyone turned towards Sally. “Okay, I would understand if you backed out at the last minute.” Kit nodded towards Sally, but Sally only shook her head. “Anyone else, no one has to, this isn’t something that you have to do.”

  “I will.” Said Katherine, shrugging her shoulders in a way that showed that she understood. Kit smiled at her and mouthed ‘Thanks’ she smiled back and nodded.

  Everyone looked towards Stacey, who was looking at her nails, avoiding everyone’s eyes. She looked up at them all, “I suppose I could come, but don’t expect me not to run away screaming because I don’t know how I will act to this.” She bit her lip again and sighed deeply.

  “That’s okay; it’s your choice you can back down if you want. Now follow me, I will meet up with Levi and the boys.” Kit wa
s beginning to walk out the door when Stacey’s voice made her stop.

  “What’s the deal between you and Levi; no one is sure what you think I mean it’s obvious he likes you. But you’re just always so impassive that no one is sure. Will you tell us?” Stacy cooed, coming up besides Kit.

  Kit turned towards the girl and her gossipy little devious mind. Impassive?! How dare her! “Well, I’m not sure, there is so much going on and it’s doing my head in, but I think I…might.” She shrugged it off and continued walking.

  “You do!” Stacy Chirped happily. Already the girl was starting to get on Kit’s nerves.

  “I said maybe, after this I’ll have to see.” She walked past all the dark halls where she felt eyes on the back of her neck. She hadn’t thought about her and Levi, well she had…quite a bit. She did like him, but she was unsure of what to do! It was such a strange time right now and she couldn’t concentrate. Kit wasn’t sure upon whether her feeling was real or false.

  “Let’s go, this is pretty urgent stuff if we need to get there before midnight.” She led the girls towards to boy’s wing where they later saw them all, standing in the open corridor, barely a light in place.

  There were four of them that made four girls and four boys, eight all up. It was pretty good, an alright number, but something about Kit’s instincts told her that something was doomed to go wrong today.

  “Hey, we have these four. We have eight then. This is Sally, Katherine and Stacy.” Kit gestured to all the girls who stood impatiently in the hall.

  “Good, this is Dill.” Levi pointed out the boy with blond hair, not that bad looking. Then he pointed out the next guy who he named Timothy who had almost black hair and last of all there was Sam, a boy with light brown hair, all of them had blue eyes.

  “Hey, we better get the armour ready.” Kit was about to turn around when Levi interrupted her.

  “We have them all right here; now, shall we go to the cave after putting them on?” He grinned and moved out of the way and surely enough a pile of armour and weapons stood.

  Kit scowled at him. “Sorry, okay, put the armour on and then we’ll get ready.”

  “Yeah, sorry we took so long, we were discussing some…gossip.” Stacy smiled at Kit and she avoided the need to punch the girl in the arm.

  * * * * * *

  As they arrived at the cave, covered completely in armour, Kit found her at the midst of a panic attack. Her mind spun around and around, twisting into horrid guilt over everything she had caused.

  Levi seemed to have noticed her and so he was beside her in an instant.

  “I need to tell you something.” Kit said, watching his concerned eyes.

  “Sure, anything, what is it?” He put his hand on her shoulder and she in instantly calmed.

  “The other two girls in my dorm were having really bad nightmares, screaming every night; it was so bad that they had to be taken to the infirmary.” Said Kit, her eyes widening. Levi seemed to calm at this, but then he seemed to have gone over the words.

  “What!” He looked alarmed, “How is that possible. You don’t think the beast put them there.”

  Kit shook her head. “I ‘m not too sure, it’s too much of a coincidence.” She shrugged and started walking with the other again.

  "Oh, Kit, we can never be sure, can we?” He sighed and turned around, shuddering in the new icy wind.

  “No, we can’t.” She said, scanning around the park they were at. It was the same park she had been to with Levi, the place where she found the shed, lying there lonely against the greyness of everything around it.

  She shuddered as they came closer and closer towards the cave. Kit felt the need to grip her swords, but she avoided it and continued walking.

  “It was so long ago when we first saw the beast. I remember the eyes, as you would, they were black and hollow.” Levi pointed his attention to the cloudy black sky ahead, just as they neared the growth of trees.

  “I never bring it up, but I can remember them, creepy.” She said, breathing ragged breaths that sent little puffs of air into the cold night sky.

  “Same here, but I get nightmares every night. Yep, we’re set in for life with that.”

  “We sure are, the only time I’m ever going to stop is the day I die or the day I kill the beast.” Kit directed her piercing stare on the tree ahead, imagining it burning to the ground.’

  There was silence between Levi and Kit as they imagined their own lives being lost at the claws of the beast. “I wonder whether this will work, I wonder whether the beast is a beast or a hybrid, a werewolf? We can’t be sure.” Levi shook his head as he said the words.

  “What’s a hybrid?” She looked at him, meeting his blue-as-the-sea eyes.

  “They are like werewolves, basically the same, but much more powerful. I’m guessing like the actual werewolves that they harness their power from the moon…but my new theory isn’t that it’s about the moon, it’s about souls. It wants to feed on the captives that it has taken and use their souls or youth as its own.” He stared at the full moon where the only spot of clouds had cleared for it.

  Kit kept nodding, it made so much sense, and of course it would be that, why else would it want the girls, unless it was trying to do something! “What if the beast isn’t the actual cause of the captives? What if the beast is only the henchman to its real ruler?” Kit stared over at him, stopping in her tracks.

  Levi stopped as well, clicking his fingers. “That would make more sense, the greater one is getting the beast to do its dirty work whilst it prepares for tonight.”

  Levi nodded and smiles a wavering smile at her. “I guess we will find out.” He said, watching as the cave came into view once more.

  “Are you ready Levi?” Asked Kit, the other turning around to face them, all their faces looked scared or stricken.

  “I’m ready, are all of you read?” Levi asked the group, they all nodded, a few uncertain looks about them. “Are you ready Kit?”

  Kit just stared at the cave with the darkness spreading out. The trail of blood covering some edges of the stones and it looked like bodies had been dragged in and out. “I am ready when you all are. I guess that’s now then.” She said, stepping towards the cave once more, cautiously, stepping cautiously as well.

  Everyone followed her; no one stopped staring at the blood splattered ground beneath their feet. A repulsing feeling began sweeping through Kit as she imagines whether it was Debra’s blood, she swayed again but shook her head. She was going to find Debra even if it was the last thing she will ever do.

  She stepped inside, praying to Gaia that she would save her tonight; she prayed that Debra would be fine; she prayed that most of all Levi would be fine. That was the last straw; she turned back towards Levi and gripped his hand. They brought each other into this, then both may as well finish it all together, whether they make it or not.

  She squeezed his hand in her and he did so back, smiling up at her reassuringly. That was all she needed…hope, the ultimate emotion. Levi was all she really needed to get her through everything and that was when she realized what that meaning meant, the one about not seeing things right before her eyes. That must have been was Stacy was trying to tell her, but she just didn't know what to do. Now though, she does.

  She gently let Levi guide her across the dark cave floors in alarm, nothing but their eyes lighting their way and nothing more.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  They walked into the cave, the dark, miserable cave. Kit held onto Levi’s hand and he guided her through the cave. She felt everyone’s watchful eyes on her, but she flipped them away.

  The only possible way for Kit to describe how dark it was that it was so dark that not even she could see with her super human eyesight. She scoffed at everything about this horrid cave. Why did it smell so bad? Whose blood made a trail leading down the middle of the cave? Kit stopped very suddenly, pushing her arm across Levi’s chest.

  “What is it?” He asked worriedly.

  Sh
e took her arm away, “I have a bad feeling that this may be a trap.” She gritted her teeth together and examined all she could see.

  “What makes you think that?” He searched around, squinting his eyes together to see properly.

  “I don’t know, it all seems too coincidental to me. The trail of blood leading right into its lair?” She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “What’s going on you two?” Stacy asked, rolling her eyes. Kit secretly thought that she liked Levi, but Levi must like Kit and she must be…jealous! Kit shook her head, now was not the time.

  “Everything seems way to…coincidental, I just can’t help but think it’s a trap.” Kit shuddered, not being able to summon up what it would be like to have come this far and it was a trap the whole time.

  “Well then, I bet you would know.” Stacy scoffed at Kit. “Since you’re the smartest and the best and we’re your…followers.” She rolled her eyes.

  “That is not what you are!” Kit raised her voice, so sick of people judging her, of looking her up and down and thinking she was the little know- it- all.

  “Then what are we.” Stacy challenged, spreading her arms out.

  “You are helping, and I hate it when people think everything is a challenge. Get this, people are close to dying here and we are all helping them Stacy! I actually care about them and my best friend is down there!” Kit kept on raising her voice, wondering whether it was something that Stacy wanted to happen.

  “I care as well.” Stacy cowered, her voice becoming small.

  “You try being in my place and I can tell you...it’s not easy.” Kit said, then turned her back and continued stomping down the cave again. Not worrying about the loose gravel below her feet, she didn’t worry whether she would fall over.

  Stacy shut up after Kit said that and she couldn’t be more grateful for it. The girl didn’t stop yapping and carrying on. She needs to learn that life doesn’t come easy, everyone must work to become as good as they are and that’s exactly what Kit has been doing her whole life!