Redemption (Night Marchers #2) Written by: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels

by Nuckels, Courtney

  Kaylee turns towards me and I ask, “Why do you think that pillar doesn’t have a skull on it?” It seems bizarre that this one is empty. For some reason it feels so set apart from the others, like it was of more importance.

  Kaylee wanders over to the pillar and drags her fingers across the top surface. “I’m not sure,” she says. “It seems odd since nothing else is out of place.” Kaylee doesn’t dwell on the fact too much before her flashlight spots another rather large fissure in the cave; my guess is it leads deeper in.

  “Kaylee, come on. Lets just get out of here, it’s starting to give me the creeps.” But the fact of the matter was, I have been having the creeps since we first stepped into the cave.

  “It’ll be just real quick. I’m curious now.” Of course she was. I have no flashlight so there’s no chance at staying put. Besides, I would have to stay in a room full of skulls and we both know that’s not going to happen.

  Kaylee slides along the fissure with her back to the wall. There is barely enough room for us to get through, but seeing Kaylee’s determination; I know we’ll make it. About twenty feet in, the fissure starts to open up and once again we come across a large room. Only this one is different—very different. It looks like someone has basically moved in. There are different pieces of furniture made from native woods scattered among the room. You can tell they are homemade and not from the pottery barn by the ruggedness of the structures. In one corner is a small bed, just large enough for one, stuffed with long leaves and other soft plants. Goosebumps begin gathering up my arms as I realize that this might not be the best discovery to find.

  I stand fast by the entrance while Kaylee saunters over and gives the items further inspection. I watch her pick up and examine some trinkets near the bedside table. The nervous jitters running amuck in my stomach are telling me that this is all a bad idea. "Kaylee, don't touch that stuff. We need to go. Now."

  "Emma, I'm just looking. You know that I have an insatiable curiosity. We’ll go in just a sec." She doesn't even turn to look at me when she answers, which just steeps my frustration.

  "Well, you know what they say about curiosity, It killed the...Oh bother." I say snidely under my breath. I decide I might as well move away from the doorway and have a look too. That's when I see it, in the corner of the room. It looks like something dark splattered across the wall. I move closer to get a better look and immediately regret my decision. Nausea rolls in my stomach and my mouth starts salivating warning me that I'm about to loose my breakfast. I turn away trying to calm my stomach as to not puke all over this strange cave.

  Kaylee turns around and alarm hits her face when she sees me. "Emma, what’s wrong? You look green!" She walks over to me and when she gets close enough to see the scene behind me she gasps. "Blood!" She says as if most of her breath had swooshed out of her.

  I nod, grab her hand and say once again, "We need to go!" Hopefully this time she will listen to me. I start walking and she follows for which I am grateful.

  We head out of the strange room someone must be using as a bunker and back into the room with skulls. Thoughts of murder and death begin filling my mind. I rush us as quickly as possible back towards the main cavern while Kaylee works to keep the light shining ahead of us as far as possible. The light from the flashlight is shaky and I can tell that Kaylee must be freaked out, if her hand is really that unsteady.

  When we make it back to the cavern that faces the back of the waterfall, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. I know that I need to get to Tristan and tell him about this as soon as possible. Whatever that was back there, I doubt it could be good.

  I hear a rustling noise, which puts me on high alert. I can tell by how hard Kaylee is squeezing my hand that she must have noticed it too. My heart starts pounding hard in my chest and my breath quickens. Kaylee starts darting her flashlight around the cave trying to find the source of the noise. Everything inside me is screaming to run. We don't have a chance as the light falls on a dark figure blocking the exit to the waterfall.

  Kaylee and I simultaneously gasp and Kaylee accidentally drops the flashlight. We both bend down floundering frantically to grab the flashlight when instead a new light appears. We bump our heads together when we move to stand up.

  The dark figure is holding a lantern, which shines directly at us like a spotlight. I can't see the person though because they are cleverly holding the lantern just far enough away from their face that they remain in the shadows. The seemingly deafening silence is broken when I hear a man’s voice whisper in surprise, "Heleya."

  No! My blood runs cold as ice as I think of what that name means, who it signifies and the person who must have spoken it. Having nowhere to bolt to, but back into the pitch-black cave I decide that I have no choice but to stand my ground. Here and now. Trying to not allow my fear to show through, I bend down calmly and grab the flashlight that I can now see thanks to his lantern's light. I turn it on and shine it directly at the figure, which is soaking wet, confirming that it is whom I thought it was. Kao. At first sight, my brain wants to tell me to run up and hug him because he looks so strikingly identical to Kai. But, my heart knows better, this is not Kai. Kao's obsidian black eyes stare inquisitively at me. I take a deep shaky breath and decide that since I can't run, I will have to figure out some other way around the monster who is all too human, standing in front of me. I put my hand on my hip and try to give off my toughest girl impression. "That is not my name."

  Kao's lips turn up so slightly that if I hadn't been paying attention I could have missed his reaction. "I realize that. However, I do not know your name." He says simply.

  After all of the things I have been through, I didn't think I could be surprised. For some reason, though, I am. It may sound stupid, but I didn't know if Kao would even know English. I mean, he's been a Night Marcher for centuries, would he have learned English there? Or did he learn it in his previous human life? I don't know much about this islands’ history, but I thought that most natives used to speak only the Hawaiian language. I don't have much time to think about it when he speaks again.

  "So, are you going to tell me your name?" Kao asks slyly.

  "No." I say bluntly.

  "Her name is Emma and my name is Kaylee."

  I groan and I have to hold back from elbowing her in the ribs like I want to right now. I turn to her raising an eyebrow trying to silently ask her, 'WTF?'

  She whispers low, "What? He's kind of cute. So what if he knows our names."

  Kao clears his throat then takes a step forward, which I counter with a step back. I have to literally force Kaylee back by yanking her shoulder. Kao seems to accept the space I'm declaring. "Emma." He lets my name roll off his tongue. I can't help but feel like there was a little slitheriness added to his voice, like a snake. "Nice to meet you Kaylee." He gives Kaylee a sharp smile. For a recently turned human, he has quite a white smile. He looks like the Cheshire cat with his sly expression.

  "Nice to meet you too, and what pray tell is your name?" She asks with a little hoarseness in her voice.

  I roll my eyes knowing what she's thinking when her voice goes like that. She's thinking fair game. It's sick just knowing that she could be even remotely attractive to Kao. Not that Kao is unattractive; I mean he's the identical image of Kai, who is miles far from having been hit with the ugly stick. I give Kao the once over and have to force myself not to sigh thinking about Kai. His medium length dark locks, skin the color of bronze caramel and lean muscles showing off his strong build. I have to shake my head to remind myself that this is not my Kai. This man does not have my Kai's stormy grey eyes that I could lose myself in. No, Kao has pitch black, soulless eyes!

  Having caught me in the act of staring, he answers looking directly at me, "My name is Kao."

  Kaylee adds more syrup to her voice and draws his attention back to her by saying, "Kao, that's a unique name."

  I cut off her flirting by demanding to Kao, "Enough with the pleasantries, what are you doing here?"


  He raises his eyebrows in question and returns, "I was about to ask you the same. What are you doing here?"

  Frustration and nervous tension has my every nerve heightened. I look to Kaylee and basically give her the stare down that says, 'don't you dare say anything.' Then I look at him with faked confidence and say, "We were just going for a swim when we stumbled upon this small little cave. Kaylee and I were just admiring the stalagmites and stalactites. I was just trying to explain the difference between the two. How, stalactites hang 'tight' from the ceiling and stalagmites 'might' be a danger if you step on one."

  Kaylee whispers under her breath, "Great, making me look like the dumb blonde who doesn't know the difference."

  "Well you don't." I whisper back and barely catch her rolling her eyes at me before I turn back to look at Kao.

  He looks like he's contemplating something, more than likely whether he believes my story or not. He speaks up, "It is quite breathtaking in here."

  "Yes." I say tightly.

  "So, have you two beautiful young ladies had the opportunity to tour more of the cave?" He asks raising his eyebrows while staring me down.

  I answer quickly so Kaylee doesn't get a chance. "No. We are both a bit claustrophobic and this small room is about all we could manage." My heart starts pounding in my chest as I pray that he believes me.

  "Oh, too bad. I was going to offer you two a tour. There are some amazing caverns with larger stalactites further in." He says coolly all the while still staring me down with intensity as if he's trying to tell if I'm lying or not.

  I grab onto Kaylee's hand, squeezing it tight. I'm trying to give her the code signal to play along or stay quiet. Thankfully she chooses the latter. "Thank you for the offer, but we really must be going. Our friends will be missing us if we don't return soon." I say trying to play cool too.

  "You must be the ones camping near here. You know, it's not always safe in this area at night." This time he gives me a full on creepy smile.

  I shiver. Him saying that to me, like it's some kind of intimate inside joke makes me sick. I try to play it off as to not upset him but still say through tight lips, "Yes, I know."

  He moves to the side out of the path to the waterfall then gestures with his hand. "Well then, it was very nice to meet you Kaylee and Emma." He lingers too long on my name. I push Kaylee in front of me so that she can be the first to get out of the cave.

  She gives Kao a big smile as she walks by and says in her sweetest southern drawl, "Nice to meet you too, Kao."

  Yuck! I shake off her disgusting flirting and follow her giving Kao a slight nod. When Kaylee is at the drop down near the back of the waterfall I hear Kao say only loud enough for me to hear, "I will see you around."

  Prickly goose bumps rise up on my skin and I hurry to fall in step with Kaylee who is letting herself down back into the water. We swim quickly under water and emerge on the other side of the waterfall in broad daylight. I squint knowing it's going to take a few minutes for my night vision to kick off.

  Both Kaylee and I remain silent as we swim to the waters edge, get out and head back to the campsite. It isn't until the two of us are changed and in dry clothes that Kaylee says, "So what the heck was your problem?"

  I immediately go on defense, "What was my problem? What was your problem? Ms. swooning love struck teenager."

  "What? Are you blind? He was freaking hot Emma. Can you really blame me?" She folds her arms over her chest glaring at me.

  I really can't, after all, I am immensely attracted to Kai which since they are identical twins, means that Kao must look attractive as well. "No, but you don't know him. He is not a good person Kaylee."

  "How do you know?" She challenges me.

  "Do you not remember why we are here right now?" I huff out a loud breath of exasperation when she gives me a blank look. "Seriously?" I ask but her facial expression still states that she doesn't get it. "Him! Kao! He's the reason Kaylee that I am here right now. He tried to kill me!"

  I'm utterly amazed when Kaylee finally gets that look on her face that says a light bulb went off in her head. I calm down realizing that she just didn't put two and two together. I don't blame her, this whole thing has been utterly nuts.

  "Sorry Emma. I guess I didn't realize that's who that was back there. I figured you would be screaming or passing out or something else as equally fright worthy." She starts fidgeting with the hem of her shirt contemplating how to word her next sentence. "I...I was just thinking...I mean, what if he couldn't help it?" She furrows her eyebrows and looks like she wants to say more but she's stopped by the look on my face.

  "Couldn't help it? Couldn't help trying to kill me...twice? Or forcing Kai to take his place?" Kaylee flinches as I yell out the last part.

  "No, I'm not trying to say...I mean, what I meant was...What if it's part of the curse. Like, how do you know that if you saw Kai today as a Night Marcher that he wouldn't try to kill you?"

  "Why are you even trying to defend that...that demon? Just because you think someone's cute, doesn't mean they are a good person." I say meanly.

  "Emma, that's not fair. I was just asking. I don't know if he's good or bad. I don't know him. I am certainly not stupid and would not just go off someone's looks to judge who they are. You know me better than that."

  The look on her face sends instant guilt daggers directly into my heart. I am being horrible to my best friend right now. Why? Because I'm scared. In all fairness Kaylee did have a point. I don't know if Kai would try to kill me if I looked into his eyes. I would hope not, but who knows? "Kaylee, I'm sorry. I'm redirecting my fear and anger in this situation to you and it's wrong."

  "I forgive you." She says then she gives me a hug. "I know that this is an emotional roller coaster. Emma, I trust you and if you say that guy is bad news, I believe it. I just wish I had more info."

  Now that I think of it, I hadn't told Kaylee everything. "To be honest, I don't know if the evil acts Kao did were prompted by the curse. But, I do know that Kai told me that he was evil before he turned. Kao murdered Kai's fiancé, Heleya"

  Kaylee gasps and looks at me wide eyed. "Heleya! Didn't he call you that when he first saw you?"

  "Yes. He must think I look like her. Kai even said that I strongly resemble her. Kao killed her on the eve of their wedding. A spear through the stomach." I watch Kaylee cringe.

  "That's sick. I'm so sorry Emma. That is weird though, the thing about you resembling Kai's dead fiancé." She says bluntly.

  "Yeah, it is kind of weird. Although, there isn't much about any of this that is normal." I say off handedly.

  "True." Kaylee says.

  The loud growling of my stomach thankfully interrupts our conversation. As if on cue, Kaylee's stomach rumbles too which makes us both laugh. "I guess we should find something to eat." I say.

  Kaylee nods and we both head over to scavenge for some food amongst Tristan's supplies. We find two Coke's and a package of Nutter Butter's and decide that it is enough to tide us over until Tristan get's back.

  Thinking of Tristan sends my mind into a frenzy because I have no idea how he's going to react to what we found today. "Hey, what do you think we should tell Tristan? I mean about what we saw today?" I ask Kaylee.

  "Hmmm. Honestly, I don't know. He's going to freak out, regardless. Not to mention, he most likely will make us move somewhere tonight since we ran into Kao only yards from our campsite." She says between bites of her Nutter Butter.

  I hadn't really thought about that. It's true, if he is the one that's staying in that cave, we’re probably not safe here. I think back to that room and what looked like blood splatter on the floor and wall. Even if that's not his room, some psycho could be living in that cave. "Yeah, do you think we should tell him?" I ask.

  "Um, do you have a gun?" Kaylee questions.

  "No. Why?" I say raising my eyebrows wondering where she's going with that.

  "Just wondering, because if you are packing then I don't see a problem with
spending the night out here. But, if you aren't I don't feel like being murdered in my sleep."

  "True and no, I don't have a gun. Last I checked minors still aren't allowed to get concealed handgun licenses. Anyhow, I agree. I don't think it's safe. I just wonder how much we should tell Tristan. He already is freaking out and ready to ship me back to Texas. I don't need to add more fuel to the fire." I say.

  Kaylee thinks about it for a minute then answers. "Well, if you don't want to tell him everything, maybe you can just tell him about the cave. Not about Kao. That way it's not like the immediate threat is concerning you."

  "Good idea. I like the way your devious little mind thinks sometimes." I say jokingly.

  Kaylee mock pretends that she's offended by putting her hand up to her chest. "Devious? This coming from the girl who asked me if she should tell her boyfriend or not."

  "Tell her boyfriend what?" I hear Tristan call out from behind me.

  My face goes beat red and I give Kaylee a deer caught in the headlights look. I try to will my face to un-flush so that it doesn't give me away, then I turn around to face him. My heart flutters a bit seeing him. He must have gone home to get a change of clothes and he's totally rocking the plaid shirt and jeans woodsman look. "Um...Kaylee and I, we found something."

  "Like what?" He asks concerned.

  I look to Kaylee for help, but she just stays silent. "A cave behind the waterfall. We didn't mean to find it, but it was there." I re-hash the story of us finding the burial cave and then the creepy room. I omitted the part about Kao though.

  "Are you girls all right? That had to have been scary. Not to mention dangerous." He says first starting out concerned but ending sternly. "You weren't kidding when you said the two of you have a knack for getting in trouble. I have been coming to this waterfall for years and never found that cave. It takes you girls less than twenty four hours."

  I feel a little like Lucy and Kaylee is Ethel. Actually come to think of it, it's probably the other way around. Anyhow, Tristan is giving us the 'Ricky' talk but without the accent. It's actually kind of endearing. "Yeah that's us, trouble makers." I say jokingly.