Another message popped up.
Analysis Complete.
Result: Unknown Depressant Detected
Effect: Fatigue maxed, Paralyzed
Allocating 1 resource to reduce fatigue by an estimated 50%...
Assignment complete.
Initiating Antigen production…
Initiating Adrenal production…
Flooding system…
Complete.
Failure to dismiss ailment ‘Fatigue’
Failure to dismiss ailment ‘Paralyzed’
Failure to dismiss condition ‘Unconscious’
What? Dammit system, figure out what’s going on already! Create oxygen or something! I had no idea if it could even do that, but something needed to happen!
Analyzing Unknown Depressant…
Next update in 00:06:12:000
Six minutes?! Ah, screw it!
Looking around, I found a church with a very notable steeple, having a combination of a bell tower with a cross on top. Immediately, I flew in that direction and tossed my luggage of isopods on the flat surface underneath the bell, before taking off again.
Because even if the weight didn’t matter, I didn’t want to chance it when seconds might be the difference between life and death.
Shit!
Flying as hard as I could, I felt my body begin to hum as red cracks formed all over my midnight skin, my anxiety prompting an uncontrollable response. I didn’t think anything of it, just focused on traveling as fast as possible, until another unexpected message popped up.
Skill conditions met.
Obtainable skill activated.
Current Fire Magic Skills: Heat-Ray Pulse, Heat-Wave Burst
Unlocking New Skill…
Complete.
New Fire Magic Skill: Heat-Particle Boost
Effect: Acceleration, Dodging
Resource Requirement: Variable
Despite the listed effect, I didn’t need to be told what this new skill was, because I could already feel it, the air all around me filling with tiny pinpricks of red light, like hundreds of fireflies beginning to pour out of my body as I began accelerating beyond my physical capabilities. I also didn’t need to be told what this was for another reason – because I had already seen it before, when that fire magic enemy had tried stealing my isopod and dodged my attack by propelling himself sideways. It was just like this, only his had been a shorter burst.
And I quickly understood why.
My remaining resources were draining by 1 point every few seconds, rapidly depleting to nothing. I wasn’t sure if the saved time was even worth the loss, but at this point, I just didn’t care.
I continued beating my wings as hard as possible, hot energy pouring out of me, the air full of hellish fireflies, my body humming loudly…until the noise died down, the fireflies vanished, and my wings froze into a glide in order to avoid hindering the speed I had obtained.
I could already see my building now – our home. It wasn’t too far away. I was almost there!
Just as I got close enough to prepare for a landing on the roof, I instead froze into another glide when I realized that the car by the front entrance – which had been only one piece of a fairly dense barricade – had been moved…
Anxiety gripped my chest as I dove straight for the ground, knowing I’d be fine from this distance, smashing into the street with enough force to fracture the pavement.
As I stood straight, my eyes widened in panic as I saw that an opening had been made in my barricade.
Rushing forward, I shoved through, and entered into the lobby, out for blood now, ready to kill whatever intruder had invaded my home – our home. Flying down the stairs, I rushed through the basement hallway, only to find that the boiler room door had been removed from its hinges – no, it had been cut off its hinges.
What in the hell?!
Night Stalkers were mindless beasts! But then, that really only left one possibility.
It was humans.
Had the people at the hospital betrayed me? Surely not! Randy and Savannah at least still cared about Harper. But what about the rest of them? What if the two-timing slut Sarah had told some mercenaries or someone about her? Did they even know our location? I had assumed not, but maybe they had seen me land. But could they from this distance? Did they have binoculars or something?
Dammit!
I rushed back out of the building and leapt into the air, climbing higher and higher as I scanned the area all around for any signs of her. They couldn’t have gotten away that fast. At least, I assumed not. But then again, even a car could travel pretty far in five minutes.
Grasping for anything now, I directed my thoughts at the system again.
‘Enough of this shit! You can show me where my enemies are in a fight, warning me before they attack from behind! So, you can sure as hell show me were Harper is!’ My anger only rose as I realized that it hadn’t even cost any resources to unlock that ability, nor had it cost Harper any resources to begin reading my mind…
I roared as loud as I could, the air trembling with the violence behind it. ‘And I want to be able to read her mind!’ I shouted in my head. ‘Wake her up and show me what’s happening to her!’
Processing enhancement request…
Invalid.
Assessing functional utility…
Complete.
Systemic calculations in process…
Complete.
Sub-handler 001 located.
A sphere immediately appeared to my left, floating in front of one of the black spires, her location hidden behind it, prompting me to begin heading that way at full speed.
Processing enhancement request…
Valid.
Unlocking synaptic link pathway…
Complete.
Binodal connection established.
I felt a rush in my head, but nothing else happened. At the edge of my mind, I could sense something new I hadn’t noticed before, but it was too indistinct to identify what it was.
Analyzing Unknown Depressant Complete.
Sub-handler 001 Distributable Resources: 7
Allocating 3 resources…
Formulating new catalytic antigen…
Success.
Designation in process…
Complete.
Synthesizing CATALYTIC THETA STIGMINE…
Complete.
Flooding system…
Complete.
Ailment ‘Fatigue’ dismissed.
Condition ‘Unconscious’ dismissed.
Analyzing…
Failure to dismiss ailment ‘Paralyzed’
Unexpectedly, that new sensation in my mind sparked to life, and suddenly I was in Harper’s head. I couldn’t directly see or hear what she was experiencing, but I could perceive it through her thoughts, almost as if she was passively describing everything in a whisper.
And just like a whisper, I could easily ignore it…or hone in on it, just as I did now.
Without moving a muscle, Harper’s eyes flew open, scanning her surrounding silently.
She was surrounded by six men with guns, dressed in military gear, all of them appearing tired and worn out, all of them looking in various directions – anywhere, but at her.
The gurney she was strapped to rattled underneath her body as the vehicle they were in drove over a rough section of what she assumed to be the road. Yet still, no one looked in her direction, their guns loosely held in their hands, their eyes tight.
Her first instinct was to test the straps that bound her, but she doubted she would have the strength. Even though her heart was racing, and her mind felt alert, she felt physically weak, as if even lifting a finger would require an exorbitant amount of effort.
‘I’m coming for you Harper.’
Her eyes widened slightly, glad to hear Mason’s voice, but unsure of how he would track her down. She didn’t even know where she was, and her master didn’t have a way to find her as far as she was aware.
> ‘Don’t call me master!’ I sneered. Had she seriously been calling me that all this time in her thoughts?
Harper’s weak muscles locked up in surprise, though there was no visible movement.
‘M-Mason? C-Can you hear me?’ she asked tentatively, both elated and mortified at the idea.
‘Yes. I can. I’m coming for you, so hold tight.’
Harper’s mind began whirling as she unexpectedly thought ahead to my arrival, considering the possible outcomes. Analyzing her best chance of survival.
Shit! When did she get so smart?!
‘They may use me as a hostage,’ she replied, her thoughts settling on a plan. An idea that she could do right now, that she felt like was low risk, based on her evaluation of the men who had kidnapped her. Based on the fact that they wouldn’t even look at her.
‘Wait,’ I tried, but it was too late.
“Let me go,” Harper said loudly to the men in the vehicle.
Every head snapped in her direction, all of them looking like they were about to shit their pants as they stared at a red-eyed demon, speaking in a pristine youthful voice.
She quickly continued. “I’m only ten years old, you know. Are you big men really going to kidnap a little girl?”
‘Oh, so now you admit you’re a little kid,’ I retorted without meaning to.
‘Shut up,’ she sassed back, trying to focus on the humans.
I wondered if she had forgotten I could hear her thoughts now.
Finally, one of them on her right spoke up. “Y-You can talk?”
Harper focused on his slate eyes, his buzzed hair showing signs of graying, his reddish face heavily wrinkled.
She rolled her eyes, being very intentional about it. “Obviously, gramps. And I can think too. I’m not a mindless beast like the rest of them, and even if I’m a little different than you humans, that doesn’t make this okay. You’re still kidnapping a little girl.”
“My daughter’s eleven,” one of them blurted out. “And you look older than her.”
Harper rolled her crimson eyes again, feeling like he was trying to avoid the subject by calling out what he thought was a lie. “Does my exact age really matter? I was ten as a human, but I’m not like you – I’ve grown a lot recently. But if it makes you happy, then fine, I’m twelve now. Satisfied? You’re still kidnapping a little girl! What if I was your daughter? Would you be okay with this?”
“We’re just following orders,” he tried. “So–”
She interrupted him. “So it’s okay for you to kidnap me just because someone told you to?” Her tone was more firm. “I mean, aren’t there laws about this kind of thing? Even if you viewed me as an enemy, what ever happened to not killing women and children – to not killing innocents?”
“They aren’t going to kill–” another soldier began, before the man next to him shoved the guy’s shoulder roughly.
“Shut up,” this fourth hissed. “You don’t know what they’re planning on doing with her.”
“Exactly,” Harper continued. “They probably want to dissect me or something. Is that okay with all of you?”
They were all silent.
“I’m not a mindless beast,” she repeated. “I’m not some animal to be tested on.”
Everyone was noticeably uncomfortable now, not even the older one speaking up.
Harper took a deep breath, shifting gears. “Fine, do as you please. But I should warn you, my master is coming for me, and if he finds me in your possession, none of you will live to see another day.”
I held my irritated thoughts back in order to avoid distracting her. Especially so, considering that got their attention.
“Your master?” the gramps repeated.
“Yes,” she agreed. “He’s very big, much larger than any of you, and much stronger too. But if you all want to die, that’s fine by me. I’ll just continue laying here and enjoy your screaming as he kills all of you, since you were too concerned about ‘following orders.’”
‘Damn straight I will,’ I thought to myself. ‘I’ll kill them all for this, even if they do let her go. Bastards.’
Without much of a pause, Harper then focused on the guy who claimed to have an eleven-year-old daughter. “I mean, if someone kidnapped your little girl, wouldn’t you kill to get her back? Seems reasonable to me.”
The man blanched.
All of them looked extremely uncomfortable, even more so than before. The last two guys who hadn’t spoken yet whispered to each other, before the gramps responded.
“How do we know you won’t do the same if we let you go?”
She scoffed. “Hey mister, who exactly kidnapped who here? I was just minding my own business, taking a nap, when you decided to put yourself in a position where you might be in danger from me. And, for the record, I’ve never even killed a person before. I just eat my own kind.”
They all seemed a little shocked by that revelation, but she ignored their expressions, coming up with a new idea. “Actually, you have a radio, right?”
Everyone looked around before the gramps responded again. “Umm, yes…”
“Then tune to…I think it’s channel 3, and request to speak to the humans. Tell them you have Harper. They know me.”
The older man’s eyes were wide as he registered what she was saying, but he didn’t motion to do as she asked. Finally, the self-proclaimed father prompted him.
“Sir, are you going to do it?”
The two of them just stared at each other for a moment, before gramps grabbed his radio hesitantly, and then slowly began changing the channel. He then pressed the button to talk, only to pause and release it. Shaking his head to himself, he pressed the button again, requesting to speak to any survivors in the area.
There was no answer.
“Try again,” Harper urged. “Ask for Randy or John. They usually have a radio on them.”
He sighed and did it again.
Still no answer.
I wasn’t surprised. I had just saved their asses from a horde of Night Stalkers, and now they had an additional eleven people to worry about. If anything, it was probably chaotic at the hospital, assuming they were already back.
Harper groaned at my thoughts, realizing her plan was falling through. She again began to consider how she might get them to let her go, so that she didn’t end up with a gun pointed at her head when her m–Mason showed up.
After the second attempt, the gramps leaned back a little in resignation, only for his radio to crackle to life. “This is Randy. Who in the world is this? Over.”
The old man immediately sat up straight, holding the radio up. “Randy, this is Sergeant Wilkes. Please state your full name. Over.”
There was a pause.
“Randy Strickland. Now, what can I help you with Sergeant Wilkes? Over.”
“That’s my grandfather,” Harper quickly added.
His slate eyes grew wide again, though he spoke as if he didn’t believe her. “Mr. Strickland, I know this is going to sound crazy, but are you acquainted with a young talking Night Stalker? Over.”
The response was immediate.
“Harper? You have Harper? Please let her go if you do. She’s never hurt anyone before. I know she looks like a Night Stalker, but she’s still just a little girl. She’s my granddaughter – I’ve known her all my life. Please don’t hurt her. Over.”
Harper grinned in satisfaction as if to say, ‘Yes, see? That’s right. I’m just a helpless little girl.’
I kept my sarcastic thoughts at bay again.
Everyone else looked stunned as the Sergeant continued, not committing to doing as Randy asked. “Umm, and she also mentioned something about having a master who was trying to find her. Over.”
There was a short pause.
Randy’s voice was significantly more firm. “Sergeant Wilkes. What she is saying is correct. I would highly recommend you let my granddaughter go, because if he gets to you while she is in your custody, then I’m afraid he will likely
kill you all to protect her. Over.”
Everyone looked like they were going to shit themselves all over again. “And this other Night Stalker speaks too? Over.”
“Yes, but he’s not someone to be messed with. He has saved our lives several times now – we’d be dead without his help – but we all walk on eggshells around him too, because he’ll kill anyone he perceives as an enemy. He’s never killed someone from our group of course. But right now, you’re making yourselves his enemy. And he can fly, so if he knows where you’re heading then he can catch up to you. And I can promise you that there isn’t a single weapon in your possession that can stop him before he kills you all. I know this is going to sound crazy but…” There was a long pause.
“But what?” the Sergeant demanded. “Over.”
Randy’s voice crackled on the radio again, sounding hesitant. “Shit, I know you’re not going to believe me, but I swear it’s the truth. He’s like a walking weapon. He can… He can literally shoot lasers or something from his hands. Over.”
All the soldiers already appeared like they were going to pass out, but that piece of information made everyone’s eyes bug out of their heads.
“Shit,” the Sergeant cursed to himself.
“Sir,” one of the men said urgently, his hands shaking.
All of them looked like they had shit themselves at this point, beads of cold sweat on everyone’s brow.
Rise of the Night Stalkers Page 22
