Rise of the Night Stalkers

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Harper followed after me as I leapt into the sky. However, I quickly realized that I needed her to point us in the right direction, because I was disoriented after doing so much evading in the sky without any consideration of the ground below.

  And wow, was I really turned around. What I thought was north was actually more like southeast.

  After eating a handful of bites from my catch, I discovered that the hell-crows did give slightly more resources than a regular Night Stalker, with me having 3 points digesting from what I’d eaten, though the isopod would have given something like 8 to 10 points for the same amount of monster meat. I could usually expect 44 to 47 points per meal from the isopod, whereas the hell-crows might provide 15 or so points for a full meal.

  That was significantly greater than the measly 3 points from a normal Night Stalker, but still a huge difference from what I had waiting for me back in my makeshift lair.

  As the hospital parking lot came in sight a few minutes later, I saw that Randy and the other humans must have just arrived in their blue truck, because John was holding his wife, Emma, as she cried in his arms, likely distraught over her missing son.

  Savannah had her arms wrapped around her grandfather from the side, and Chris was just standing around looking lost. The balding middle-aged man was there too, holding a wad of cloth up to his bloody forehead, along with one other person I didn’t recognize. Based on what I had overheard earlier, when Randy was explaining the situation to Savannah, I assumed the prematurely balding man must be Garrett.

  Unsurprisingly, Sarah was nowhere in sight, likely being more concerned with her own wellbeing, and humiliation, as opposed to the possible death of one of the guys she had been sleeping with.

  Ugh, I wasn’t sure why, but the idea really bothered me, more so than I felt it should, as if I had my own personal experience being two-timed, though I certainly had no recollection of anything specific.

  Savannah must have been checking the skies occasionally, because she was the first to see us. She and Randy both eyed my wings as we came in for a landing, the multitude of ragged holes not going unnoticed. John continued to hold his sobbing wife while Harper’s family began approaching us.

  “We were worried,” Randy began sincerely. “On the way back, we saw you fighting those, those…” He paused. “What in the hell were they anyway?”

  I shrugged. “They were like crows from hell, each of them the size of Harper. Some larger.”

  Both of their eyes turned into saucers, knowing I wasn’t going to exaggerate about something like that. If anything, I was doing the opposite, since quite a few had been a ton larger than Harper.

  “Where in the world did they come from?” Randy continued, sounding dumbfounded. “I had no idea there was anything like that out there.”

  I pointed into the distance. “From one of the towers.”

  Randy looked over his shoulder, before exchanging an uncomfortable glance at Savannah. He then returned his gaze to me. “Well, I’m glad to see you appear to be alright. Or at least mostly alright. We had no idea you could shoot lasers from your hands, or whatever you were doing.”

  I shrugged again, not about to get into the details of what I was capable of, even though he was spot on in his description. “Well, as you can imagine, I need a couple hours to recover from that fight, so…” I paused when Savannah turned her head away, her grief leaking through her expression. “But I plan on coming back,” I quickly added.

  She looked up at me in surprise, before exchanging a glance with her grandfather again. “Are you sure?” she asked me quietly.

  I rolled my eyes. “Do you want me to do it or not?” I retorted.

  Her eyes tightened. “I…I want you to,” she whispered. “But, like you said, he might already be gone, and I don’t want you or Harper to get hurt either.”

  “Yeah, well maybe he’s dead, and maybe he’s not. Won’t know until I get there. And Harper’s not going, so you don’t need to worry about her.”

  “B-But–”

  I cut her off. “That’s all I had to say. We’re going now.” I focused on Randy. “Be ready to leave when I return. I’ll get him out if he’s still alive, but I’m not flying him back. His transportation is on you.”

  Randy nodded in agreement. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you, Mason,” Savannah quickly added.

  I really wanted to make a quip about how I needed more target practice anyway, but now I was paranoid that saying such a thing, even sarcastically, was going to cause another life-threatening quest to pop up, so I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I just nodded and backed away to leave, glancing down at Harper before we both took off into the sky.

  As we headed back, I glanced in the direction where I had found Harper originally, noticing that the corpse we had left on the roof of a building nearby appeared to have been eaten on – which was a little bothersome, because it meant a Night Stalker had been on the roof.

  Were there more flying enemies than I assumed?

  Granted, that particular building had a fire-escape, but still…

  I had expected our current home would be safe from intruders, since it was fairly tall compared to the neighboring buildings and could only be entered from the roof at this point, but now I wasn’t so sure.

  Certainly, those hell-crows didn’t have the capacity to open the door like I did, but that didn’t mean there might not be other Night Stalkers with wings. However, I also had to realize that there should be nothing to draw such a Night Stalker’s attention.

  I mean, out of all the buildings in the area, why try to invade that one? From the outside, there was nothing overly alluring about it.

  However, just to be on the safe side, once we arrived I blocked the stairwell door to the basement floor and then did a thorough check of each room. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to check the whole building – not if I was going to help the humans still – and I felt like I was being too paranoid anyway.

  Then, once I was finished, we settled in the boiler room, which I had cleaned out previously, leaving only the isopod carcass left. The primary reason why I didn’t want to move to one of the other rooms at this point was because the pipes on the walls by the door allowed for the use of a makeshift drop-bar I had created from a long pipe, inspired by Harper’s original design. And, between that and the metal shelving that could be shoved behind one of the boilers to block the door, I felt like it was the most fortifiable room in the building.

  Glancing at the isopod while Harper barricaded the door, I still expected it to start decaying or something any day now, but thus far it remained just as fresh as when we found it. I almost began to wonder if maybe it wouldn’t decompose like a normal body after all, but I wasn’t about to start acting like we had all the time in the world. Once this situation with the humans was resolved, we were going to go back to leveling our stats until the whole thing was gone.

  Then, maybe we wouldn’t have to worry so much about dying so easily.

  But for now, I needed to focus on restocking so I could take care of the powerplant issue. Thus, once Harper was finished, we both went to work, having a meal right away. Currently, I had 4 resource points available after using 5 points for the Heat-Wave Burst and then my body dedicating 4 resources for regeneration. The amount of resources I could obtain from the isopod seemed to vary a little, but usually I could stuff 44 to 47 points in me before I was too full to continue. I would still be shy of my 57 maximum limit no matter what, which would require another meal, but I wasn’t worried about maxing out for this human-given task.

  However, once I was finished eating, I just sat there and watched Harper chew for a few moments, not in any rush to go just yet since my body was still regenerating a little. Granted, I knew I probably wasn’t going to stay here for a couple of hours like I told the humans.

  Or should I?

  I could always raise my Thermoacoustic stat by 3 or 4 points, dropping my reserve by 30 to 40, and then eat again…

&n
bsp; Would it be too risky?

  Honestly, I had no idea how long of a fight it would be to kill the Night Stalkers that had invaded the powerplant, and I didn’t particularly want to be roaming around on foot at nighttime. But then again, why not do that either? I mean, I had sat on the roof my first night awake, just listening to all the screaming and roaring going on below as my kind fought and ate each other. Of course, I wasn’t interested in joining the pointless chaos, but that didn’t mean I had to be a shut-in all night.

  It also didn’t mean I couldn’t take care of this enemy at the powerplant after dark. I had both night and heat vision after all, and depending on where the powerplant was, I doubted the massacre about to ensue would draw too many others, though I could be wrong about that.

  Ah dammit, I was just going to do it – raise my Thermoacoustic by a few points and then eat again to top off.

  Harper smiled at my thoughts, but didn’t say anything, having a piece of midnight flesh in her hands that was lifted to partially hide her lips.

  “Happy?” I wondered.

  She looked at me in surprise, before glancing away, seeming embarrassed. “Y-Yes,” she admitted simply, before taking a bite of what she had in her hands.

  “Why?”

  She stopped chewing for a moment, before resuming more slowly as she thought about it. She then swallowed to respond. “I don’t know. I guess because…” She met my gaze. “I feel safe.”

  “Oh,” I replied, a little confused by that answer.

  She then proceeded to elaborate, barely taking a breath as words began spilling from her mouth. “I also feel content with how things are right now, and I like that you’re nice to me now. I also like that I have a sister and brother, even if they are human, and a grandfather too. I kind of wish I had a mother and father as well, but I don’t mind so much because you’re always keeping me company, and keeping me safe. And I like that I’m strong, and that I’m going to get stronger. I like that we’re on the same team, and I’m really looking forward to fighting with you. I’m looking forward to protecting you, like you protect me. I’m happy that you think I’m useful even though I’m not as strong as you right now.” She unexpectedly looked down then, seeming embarrassed again. “And I’m happy that you care about me apart from my usefulness.”

  Rather than reply, I just stared at her in disbelief.

  Because it was the most I had heard her speak at once, with even the questions she asked the humans being short. Really, I knew it wasn’t that winded of a monologue, but I was accustomed to her being so quiet most of the time.

  “Sorry,” she whispered, in response to my thoughts again.

  I shook my head. “You’re fine. I asked you a question, and you answered thoroughly. There’s no need to apologize for that.”

  She smiled a second time, but didn’t reply, beginning to chew on another piece.

  We both fell silent again while I waited for my food to digest, only for me to increase my Thermoacoustic by 4 points like I had planned, bringing me up to 25 for that stat, before I began filling up with another meal. Likewise, I increased Harper’s fire magic stat by 3 points once she was finished, bringing it up to 4 total.

  Thankfully, increasing specific stats didn’t usually raise our fatigue too much, depending on the stat, unlike how augmentation and evolution both did. However, for Thermoacoustic, it was probably about a 9% increase in fatigue per point invested, but I was still only at 46% right now.

  Thus, once I had eaten my second meal in a row to have some ammunition available, I finally decided it was time to go, since I could let it all digest on the way.

  Harper was just now beginning to start on her second meal too, not being able to keep pace with my eating, so I reached out to rub her white hair in between her horns just as she took a bite.

  She froze solid as I patted her gently, her eyes seeming embarrassed again.

  “I’ll be back,” I reassured her. “Just keep eating, and I’ll raise your stats whenever I see that there are enough points to increase Thermoacoustic by two or three. Okay?”

  She nodded as I withdrew my hand. “Stay safe. And…” She hesitated. “Come home soon.”

  I smiled. “You stay safe too. And I will. Be sure to barricade the door after I leave.”

  She nodded again confidently, standing up with me to do as I asked.

  Once I was in the basement floor hallway, I realized I didn’t want to chance there being another Night Stalker in the building I wasn’t aware of, so I decided to meticulously check every floor before I left. It lost me a decent chunk of time, but I felt like I needed the peace of mind for when I would be so far away from her.

  Finally reaching the roof and taking flight, I soared high above the buildings, examining the towers as I flew.

  Part of me wanted to take a closer look sometime, considering the hell-crows had come from one of them, but I also didn’t want to risk such an endeavor at my current strength level. I had barely survived this first time, and I had no idea if stronger monsters might be lurking around those mysterious glowing spires. I mean, the nearest one was like two miles away, so I could check one out easily, but in my mind I couldn’t separate the ‘unknown’ from the instinctual classification of ‘dangerous.’

  So for now, I’d avoid them.

  I glanced down again as I began flying near the location where I had found Harper, it having become sort of a habit, since it was a familiar landmark.

  I hadn’t expected to see anything unusual though, unlike what I did see.

  Chapter 16: Recruitment

  Instantly, my flapping wings froze still, my flying turning into a silent glide, as I noticed a Night Stalker on the roof, eating the corpse that Harper and I had left behind.

  And it was out during the daytime?

  The creature didn’t have wings, so I quickly realized my apprehension was unwarranted…unless it could use fire magic of course.

  It had long black hair that reached down to its lower back, and its figure was extremely thin even though it was clearly an adult. The monster was obviously distracted with eating, balancing on the balls of its feet in a crouched position, but that wasn’t why I continued to examine its somewhat unusual behavior. With my sharp eyesight, I couldn’t help but feel like there was a familiarity about it, though I had no idea why.

  I debated whether I would investigate it further, not really wanting to waste time, but also wondering if I should kill it, considering I didn’t like the idea of it roaming around during the day. The primary reason being that, part of my lack of concern about Harper was that I intended to be home before dark. And, sure, this monster was nowhere near her, nor did it have any reason to target that building in particular, but still. I didn’t want to take any chances.

  However, before I could make a decision, a message popped up in my vision.

  Alert!

  Quest Assigned to Handler: Recruitment

  Quest Details: Recruit new sub-handler

  Quest Begin Time: Variable

  Time Limit: None

  My eyes widened in shock, my gaze shifting down below again to look at the beast more closely…

  And then I realized what was odd about the behavior – it wasn’t eating like a monster, it was eating like a person.

  Shit, was it really another like me? A Night Stalker that could think for itself?

  Honestly, I didn’t really want to add another person to the team, because it meant I’d have to spread our resources out more sparsely, but at the same time I really wanted to find out what this one remembered, if anything. I just kind of assumed that most Night Stalkers had lost their human memories, but I was literally basing that on only two people.

  That sample size was way too small to know for sure.

  Which meant, I might as well check it out. However, I wasn’t exactly certain of the best approach to interact with the beast without scaring the shit out of it. In the end, I decided to just drop down onto the building across from them, so we had th
e street between us.

  They noticed before I landed though, instantly jumping to their feet in fright, a mixture of fear and aggression on their face, like a dog backed into a corner. Or, I supposed I should say she, which was obvious now that I had a chance to really examine her figure.

  And, upon getting that better look, I also realized I truly did recognize her from somewhere.

  But why couldn’t I recall where?

  It felt like I had seen her recently – not as if the recognition was a human memory buried away.

  “Wait!” I called out, before she had a chance to run for it. “I’m not going to hurt you! I just want to talk!”

  That drew her up short. She just stared at me in shock, probably because I had spoken, her posture still crouched slightly and defensive.

  Another message popped up then.

  Unassigned lesser handler detected in vicinity…

  Addition to organizational hierarchy in process…

  Complete.

  Sub-handler assigned.

  Designation: Sub-handler 002

  Sub-handler process connection incompatible…

  Result: Invalid protocol.

  Loading alternative hierarchical protocol…

  New protocol initiated.

  Unexpectedly, her red eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed to the ground.

  Rewiring initiated.

  Rewiring completion in 00:00:03:256

  Rewiring completion in 00:00:02:000

  Rewiring completion in 00:00:01:000

  Complete.

  Initiating structure build.

  Structure build in process…

  Estimated time undetermined.

  Next update in 00:01:57:000