The Night Walkers

by Elaine McGregor-Dawson

  Kit crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side, "it's never going to-"

  And Sally pulled it down. The most unthinkable thing happened next. A door opened, revealing a large stairway leading down a dark corridor. It was narrow and didn't look very appealing. When she turned around her lips turned up in a large grin. "Told you! Now are you coming or not?"

  Kit stood rigid in her position. The thing was, she didn't really trust these types of places. "I-I don't know, I just don't want to be stuck in any other situations." She took one small step forwards despite the feeling in the pit of her stomach that was saying she shouldn't be going any further.

  Sally smiled, "come on, I'll show you that everything will be just fine. Trust me." She reached out and began pulling Kit towards the door. "Just stay behind me and have your knife out at all times," Sally took one small step into the narrow corridor. "Nothing to worry about!"

  As Kit followed her, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong... and that something was following them close behind.

  * * * *

  (Syria's P.O.V)

  Her large blue eyes blazed with such a large iridescence that it was a wonder the crowd before her wasn't shielding their vision. Syria stood there, her hands placed gently on her hips and her lips set in a rough line. Everyone was watching her. No one was talking.

  "I understand that everything is getting much messed up," she continued, spreading her vision across the swaying group of three hundred or so Night Walkers. "But you must all know, as members of The Luna Academy, that we must take down the enemy with everything you have." She let her words sink into the crowd of fearful eyes before continuing. "Everyone, we attack as of now!"

  As she said those words there was the high-pitched sound of everyone withdrawing their swords from their waist? It sounded like metal on metal, but it was all in sync.

  "Swords out!" She continued with commanding, "head up," everyone raised their heads towards the cave. "ATTACK!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. So, everyone took off running, their voices carrying misheard yells of rage towards the cave. Meanwhile, Syria stood there watching them all. They were so young, she began to think, how would they all survive?

  She waited there a moment, just staring out towards the blackened night and she glared at the cave. What were Kit and Levi doing? She's seen Levi and Sally going in after her but hadn't really seen them come out.

  "Incoterms semen, seed quotes resurge," said Syria, remembering the words she had always known. It was Latin, and it meant "fall once, but every time we rise", she only hoped it would work and stay true this time. With one final sad look towards the big night sky above, she placed her gentle hands around one blazing red great sword and very silently she swung it high over her head, heart pounding in her chest, and took off into the cave with the hundred or so others.

  * * * * * *

  (Kit's P.O.V)

  "Um... Sally is you sure we're going the right way?" Kit asked very uncertainly. She and Sally had been walking through this 'passageway' for almost fifteen minutes. I knew this would be a trap! I knew this was a bad idea, I could feel it! She thought over and over in her head. What a stupid thing to have to-

  "Kit," Sally turned around and although she couldn't see her face, she knew it was a grin, "shut up. This will lead somewhere good, I promise." She started walking again. Kit made a face at her and was glad it was dark.

  After five more minutes Kit finally sighed and crossed her arms. "Sally, it stinks in here, I'm tired, I'm getting claustrophobic and I think we may be lost!"

  Sally spun around and all she did was shush her, "I'm not going to tell you one more time. Shut. Up!" And so, she spun around and kept walking. Kit couldn't shake the idea it was a trap though. She wanted more than anything to see Levi again. She wanted to see his face and talk to him again. More than anything thought; she felt guilty as hell. What had she last said to him? She had told Sally and Levi to go away, had told them that she didn't want to be found. She's said that the only way to save them was for her to be caught.

  Now they've all risked their lives to bring down her possible father, Claudius, and rescue her. Kit didn't like it, she hated the thought that they were always chasing her around, looking for where she was all the time!

  "Kit!" Sally suddenly said.

  "What?" Asked Kit, who had been staring at the dark ground where nothing, but darkness stood. It felt like that was the only colour she'd seen in the past few days. Dark places and shadows.

  "Light!'

  "Light?"

  "Yes Kit, light, can you not see it!?" Sally turned around and pointed straight in front of her, a smile lighting her flawless face.

  When Kit raised her head, she saw it. At first it looked vague, but then she realized that it was a way out! "Oh my god! I see it," now she was smiling. "If it's a trap, I'm going to kill you!"

  Sally smirked, "Kit, if it's a trap, we'd both be killed anyway." Sally shrugged her shoulders and power-walked towards the way the out. Kit pushed her speed forwards to catch up with her; but she was feeling weak today, whether it was because she had been through torture or there was something else that was making her feel this way. Suddenly she wondered whether Sally felt it as well.

  However, she managed to push the thoughts from her mind and rush after Sally. The moment they got out of the dark and joined the light her eyes began to hurt. She rubbed them but still could see the spots before her. They disappeared a moment later and suddenly they were on a balcony. It was overlooking something, but she couldn't quote see.

  "Kit," Sally whispered. "Stay behind me but keeps your voice low." She began creeping towards the edge of the balcony. They were inside a massive hall and there were great pillars decorating the walls and stain-glass-windows with all types of angel on them, Cherub's, Archangels, Thrones and Virtues and so many more. She followed close behind Sally.

  "Oh my god," Kit felt her breath leaving her entire body, allowing her to have nothing left. She could see the entire army, they were quiet below. Claudius stood with a grin on his face. The two girls were very glad to be fifty metres’ above them; the army were right on the last floor in massive group, they all stood in rows with weapons. The witches had daggers, the Hybrids had their claws out and the possessed Night Walkers that Claudius had taken were standing there with swords. Kit hated how they looked like zombies.

  "Something weir’s going on," Sally whispered. They crouched near the edge of the bars and were looking down. "See the door," she pointed towards a massive golden door where it looked like something was pounding against it. Kit nodded, "something or someone's trying to get in."

  Now Kit could understand what she was talking about. "You're right. Who would be trying to get in?"

  In that moment they both froze and looked at each other. "Syria and everyone from The Academy," they both said in unison.

  "Now all we have to do is find Levi and tell him-"

  "Tell me what?" An all too familiar voice said from behind them. Kit's head whipped around. She couldn't move as she saw the handsome boy who she felt she'd known forever. He stood there with a coy look on his face mixed with a sad look on his perfect blue eyes.

  "Levi." Kit breathed. She didn't know what she was doing and wasn't really in control of herself. She got up off her feet and raced into his arms. He hugged her back just as tightly. It was amazing to feel his heartbeat against her. It was unbelievable how such a harsh time in her life could feel better just by being with him. Tears welled up in her eyes. "I was stupid Levi. I didn't mean-"

  "Don't," he held his finger to her lips. "I'm sorry I didn't try harder. I wanted it find you so badly Kit, I've been looking everywhere for you, but I could never ever..." He trailed off. It was then that she really saw him. His clothes were all muddy and he was bleeding from a big gash on the side of his arms and face.

  "I-I-I," she stopped herself. "I missed you!" She couldn't even find the words to tell him how much she loved him. "I love you Levi. A
nd I never want to leave you again!" He opened his mouth to reply but she stopped his words by pressing her lips to his. It was beautiful, suddenly she felt like they were the only ones in the world. It was powerful, and he reacted the same to her as she did to him. She felt the tears begin to drip down her face because she couldn't believe that she left him.

  “I love, you to Kit and you don’t have to feel bad about anything. I regret that decision and I guess we both do.” He pulled away gently. Suddenly Kit realized where she was, she was back in the cave with Sally looking awkward behind them. Her cheeks were a little pink and she was staring at the ground. “Thank you Sally, thank you for bringing Kit back to me.” He walked over and gave her a small friendly hug.

  She shook her head, “it’s okay, I thought I may as well be helpful, I owe you both everything!” She smiled at the two of them. “Levi, The Academy are trying it barrel down the door.”

  He nodded as if he had worked it all out already, “I know, I’ve been observing for a while now. I’ve just been watching them and listening, he’s planning something, but I can’t work out what it is.” He gave them a quizzical look. “That reminds me,” he sighed and really looked at them, “I saw Stacy, she was a hybrid. She attacked me and I…” he trailed off. “I killed her.” Pain crossed his face. It was a mix of guilt and sadness.

  Sally gasped, “oh Levi, don’t worry, it had to happen. When you did that she was released from that monster she was. She’s with our goddess now, she’s safe.”

  Kit nodded in agreement. “It’s okay; it had to happen the moment she turned. Just remember, never get scratched and if you do then be careful.”

  “She nearly got me as well,” he began explaining. “She missed just in time. But the bite and the scratch are completely fatal, you’re guaranteed to die if that does ever happen to you.”

  “I’m just glad you’re okay, I’m glad we are mainly all okay. Oh, and where’s Debra?” Kit suddenly remembered her best friend. She felt bad that she had even forgotten.

  Levi sighed, “I think she stayed back at The Academy like I told her to. She was freaking out and saying that she didn’t want to go to the battle because of what happened to her before.” He shrugged his shoulders with a worried expression, “I’m pretty sure she’s fine now though, she went away to the base camp after we were attacked by some Hybrids.”

  Kit nodded, heart racing in her chest. “I hope she’s fine, if anything bad happens to her… I’d never forgive myself.”

  * * * * * *

  (Syria’s P.O.V)

  “Come on everyone, we need to get this door down pronto!” She yelled over the ruckus of noise everyone was making. They all heard her but pretended not to really hear. No one wanted to know what was behind the door; Syria was worried what the result would be as well.

  She spotted Headmistress who saw her at the exact same time, “Syria,” she began walking over to her. “We need to get this door down if we want to get through. I’m afraid it’s made of something very strong.”

  Syria nodded. They were now deep within the cave and had killed quite a lot of witches and one Hybrid. But now they had reached the main door towards where Claudius was, he was inside and ready for the attack. “I understand.”

  Headmistress shook her head, “but it won’t happen will it? We aren’t going to get this door down. I was thinking about it, since they obviously are trying to get us to waste out energy trying to get this down; I started thinking that we should go the other mile.”

  “And what would that be?”

  Headmistress smiled. It was a smile Syria had felt very comfortable with seeing. It was a smile that meant she had a plan. “If we retreat then we could wait for them to come to us. Syria, we could be outside with the mood and the darkness and could also have all that room to fight. We have no room here at all.”

  Syria began to understand what she was talking about. She nodded along with her words. “That’s very clever, you’re right, we’ll tell everyone to retreat. You can tell them.”

  Headmistress opened her mouth. “Everyone stops what you’re doing!!” She yelled over the commotion in the room and everyone froze. She began explaining her plan to everyone. “-Then we’d have enough room to fight! Now come everyone, we shall ait for them outside!”

  There were no attempts from the crowd to go against their plans; everyone agreed. Syria just couldn’t shake the feeling that something would go wrong.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Kit couldn't take her mind off the danger of Claudius and everyone who was harmed. Every second she kept finding herself glancing over at Levi's direction, just to make sure he was still there and not stuck as a captive of Claudius. "What are we going to do when this is all over?" she asked him, eyes wondering through the night like two torches of blue.

  Levi turned his face away from the dark tunnel before them. Sally was behind, muttering to herself, wondering aimlessly wherever she deemed it necessary to go. He shrugged his shoulder, now hovering over her. His eyes, brighter than anyone else’s she had ever seen, looked at her with worry. "I'm just not really sure," was he could say in answer.

  She nodded her head and gently leaned against his arm, loving the wrath that glided off him and onto her. She could feel his delicate lips press against the top of her head, right where the darkest brown of her hair started. "You think we'll ever be normal again?"

  He smiled at that like she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen. "Oh Kit, we were never normal to begin with."

  She laughed at this. "Right, should have been pretty easy to understand that." She hid her face in the shadow and closed her eyes. It was so strange to have Levi standing next to her, brilliant face smiling gladly. How he could look so delighted amidst such horrific times was completely beyond her. "How are you so happy? After everything I did?"

  He leaned in, closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers once again. "I don't care about that. It was your choice to make, not mine, whatever you go with I'm happy. Besides, I was already willing to offer my life for y-"

  She cut him off and pulled away. No one should need to risk their life for me... "Levi, never ever do that again. You don't need to risk your life for me; I'm quite capable of doing that on my own. I can save myself, defend myself and make sure no one else does," she knew she was probably ranting on, so she stopped and stared up at him. They both sighed.

  "Unfortunately, I couldn't help myself." He said, and then a moment later added, "I know you're capable of looking after yourself. I'm the one that needs you."

  Kit was about to open her mouth to reply when Sally's voice cut. "Hey guys!" Sally suddenly said, obviously oblivious to the strong conversation that was going on between Kit and Levi. Kit's eyes flickered towards her and a deep feeling of foreboding glided into her body. "We may have a problem," towards the end of Sally's sentence it drifted into a whisper, followed by a look that said shut-the-hell-up-if-you-know-what's-good-for-you; and so, they did.

  "What?" Levi asked frantically, jaw clenched and hand hovering over at his blood-stained sword. "If there's trouble I want you to behind me." He didn't bother to hide the annoyance in his voice and his face, so he drew the sword from its sheath and cast it into the darkness.

  "Stop!" Sally suddenly interrupted and pushed his arm down to rest at his side. "I mean be quiet, follow me."

  "Hey! I go in front, thank you very much," Levi said and crossed his arms over his chest. Kit pulled two blue daggers out from both sheaths at her ankles and stared between Sally and Levi, who both wore matching expressions.

  "Let Sally go in front if she knows what she's doing," said Kit, who walked straight passed Levi and stood next to Sally whose fists were on both her hips. "You can either come or leave." Her voice went a little sharp than intended. It wasn't her fault though; she'd been kept and tortured by a murdering Hybrid whose goal in life was to build an army of monstrous werewolves with an immunity to fear and emotions. Sooner or later, insanity was bound to take over.

&nb
sp; "I heard voices, okay? Just follow me, maybe we could track it to the source, listen in and understand what's going on in this cave." Said Sally, not bothering to glance in Levi's direction. Together they followed Sally through a series of tunnels. They turned around corners and went through passageways. Eventually Kit didn't know which way was forwards and which way was backwards. All she ever faced was darkness and nothing more.

  "Here," Sally finally whispered. They'd been tracking footsteps for a very long time; all the while Kit suspected it was a track. She rubbed her eyes, so the blurriness would disappear. "Follow me." Sally pulled out a small carving knife, looked towards the wall, cut out a hole and climbed through without a second glance. Levi followed behind, always looking behind them, and Kit kept looking both ways, wondering whether something would lurch from within the darkness as it always would.

  The sound of a large intake of breath was heard in front of Kit, and when she turned away from Levi to face the direction that Sally originally was in; only to find that the girl was no longer there. "Sally?" Kit whispered fiercely, almost yelling over the cacophony of her beating heart.

  "Oh my god," he said from behind her. Levi stepped forwards from the shadows; she could feel his figure looming over her. Although she didn't turn to face him, just stared wide-eyed into the place where Sally had been moments ago. "Where did she g-"

  "If you want her," said a voice from the shadows, "come get her." A scream broke out straight afterwards, thick and black as the night. A blood-curdling sound was heard, then nothing and a moment later the sound of feet rampantly running down the corridor just beyond them.

  "Sally!" Kit screamed. Without so much as thinking she dashed forwards, legs picking up a massive pace and taking charge towards the voice. Tears welled in her eyes. Behind her she heard Levi saying her name repeatedly. It occurred to her that she could have let Levi go in front, and then he'd have been the one that was missing. Or maybe dead.