She took one deep breath in, followed by another and then two more. Her gaze kept on sweeping towards the start of the cave, where the fog barrelled inside like a black hole. She didn't want to go in there, to disappear forever with the thought of how much death would lie in that cave.
With one last heave of air, she turned her head from side to side. When she saw that the coast was clear, she leaped out from the shadows of the woods and into the mouth of the cave.
The first thing she noticed inside, was the stench. It stank like blood, salt and... Death. She shivered from something that wasn't the cold as she paced forwards just one small step. Sally felt like a weight was lifted as she became aware that the place wasn't filled with traps like she'd automatically assumed it would.
Really, it was dark and gloomy, and nothing but darkness lifted through the oncoming tunnel of hell. Who knows what loomed through this, probably everything demonic in origin. Sally aimed her hands behind her back and pulled out an arrow, aiming the bow she'd picked out carefully.
She made sure to always keep it level with her gaze, just in case something very unexpected popped out.
A silhouette emerged from the fog as she descended a flight of cold stone stairs, she shrieked slightly and covered her own mouth, making sure all sounds of her feet were muffled before she continued. The figure’s head whipped around and something blue blazed in the air, it kept coming towards her and as she aimed the bow at it, she saw exactly what it was.
Another witch. The hag's palms were outstretched, and a flock of light protruded around her, firing like sapphires of all types of brilliant colours.
"Who's back there?" It asked, stepping forth slightly so it then stood under the candles. Without warning, Sally dashed out and leaped on top of the hag, she could feel a slight squirm and a whimper that left the hag's mouth as she did.
Absently, Sally's hand shot out and clamped around its mouth, keeping the witch from screaming. "You listen here. I'm looking for my friend, Kit Stone, and a little bird told me that she was here." Sally watched the hags wrinkled features suddenly change as the hag squirmed on further. Sally leaned forwards, her mouth set into a straight line. In the witch’s ear, she whispered one word. "You take me to her or I swear to god I'll cut your throat."
The witch hissed and struggled, just in time for Sally's dagger to unleash from the sheath at her side. She aimed the dagger so tight against the hag's throat that a trail of black ichor submerged from the gash on the witch's neck.
"I'll press further, shall I?"
The witch screamed and withered away from her hand, something that looked as close to what a tear could look like came pouring from the corner of her eye. "Fine! I'll tell you, just promise not to kill me!" She begged.
Sally smiled. "I promise not to tell a soul, now spill your words, or I'll splatter your blood all over the ground." She intimidated the witch further, a wicked grin spreading across her pale face.
"S-she's in the metal door! Go down that hall and through straight towards that metal door, don’t stop until you get there because she's in there." The witch's voice sounded tired and weak, but she managed to somehow press on. "Now, you won't kill me, will you?"
A strange look spread over Sally's face, but just for a second. It disappeared as she gently whispered. "Never trust a Night Walker." The Witch's eyes widened as she took in what her words meant, but she didn't even get time to shriek as Sally's knife descended into her neck, cutting a long strike across the fair skin on her throat.
Dead...
She shivered but didn't waste a time as she ran down the halls, her feet and legs feeling like air. Sally didn't stop until she stood in front of the door, then very slowly; she opened it and stepped inside.
* * * * * *
(Kit's P.O.V)
She slammed her fists against the invisible barrier and yelled from irritation. Her head was spinning and right now, all she wanted to do was to rush out there and kill Claudius. How could she have been so stupid? Trusting him like that! Now she had helped him in killing her friends.
"Let me out!" She cried batting her hands against it. She had tried so many times to blow out the circle of candles, but it was no use, the magic was far too powerful. She shuddered at the thought of "Magic". She'd been taught her entire life that it was dark and dangerous, and now, with witches involved in everything her entire life was upside down.
She was trapped. A prisoner in a hellish place filled with death and evil. More importantly though, she was one as well and as Claudius had said before was that her curse would soon trigger. The wolf curse, being a Hybrid was hell and all he wanted to do was make the entire world into one. He wanted to rid her kind and take over.
"It's no use little girl." A voice whispered from behind her. Kit whirled around to face the sound the voice had come, but she found that it was too dark for her to see. Even with her very good eyesight, Kit couldn't make out who the figure was.
"Please," she begged again, feeling her throat becoming tighter and tighter as the hours pressed on. She felt weaker and weaker as the day progressed and for some reason Kit was confused, frightened and scared.
The sound of feet shuffling made her head spin towards the door, and she could only just make out that it was in fact another witch, no doubt out the terrorize her again. "Sorry, but you are under direct orders from Claudius himself and he said to never have you removed or you'll be killed in-"
The witch was cut off from whatever she was about to say as the door swung open, spreading blinding light out into across the room. It hurt Kit's eyes to even look and everywhere her gaze looked it was blurry. She let out a small shriek because she knew who the person was - or guessed at least. It was probably Claudius.
A moment later though, the figure closed the door and she watched how the witch turned around, its face looking concerned, scared and confused. The strange figures hands came around from where they originally sat at either side of its waist. The figures arms reached around the witch’s head, and, with an effortless accuracy, the figure twisted the witch’s neck and they both stared as it clattered to the ground completely limp.
"Get away!" Kit screeched after hearing the blood curdling cry escape the witch’s mouth. Kit moved towards the edges of what little room she had, a soft whimper escaping her lips. "Please, get away!" She yelled again, a threatening expression crossing her shadowed face.
There came no reply from the shadows, but Kit could sense someone was there. She felt her heart racing because she thought it would probably be Claudius, she wasn't in the mood for him through and if he came within a yard then she would slit his throat!
"Kit..." The voice trailed off. Somehow, it seemed rather familiar, she though, her eyes widening with hope that it was in fact someone she knew. "Kit!" The voice sounded more familiar now and she could easily recognize it to be...
"Sally!" She jumped up on her feet and ran as far as she could to the edge of the ward.
"Oh, my goodness! Kit I finally found you," Sally emerged from the crowded darkness, a vague smile on her face. She looked happy, relieved and tired. "You've no idea what I've been through." She clenched her teeth and shivered.
"What have you been though?"
"The worst possible thing, now don't just stand there, we have to find Levi!" Sally raised her arms above her head and breathed out a soft sigh.
Kit shook her head, "Sally, I-I can't I am actually trapped inside this place." Said Kit crossly, swiping her cheek so she could clear any stray dried up tears. She'd been through a lot, she felt hungry, tired, sad, lonely and like a zombie!
"You're stuck in there? That's insane, impossible even!" Sally held her hands up against the barrier, finding that she felt an invisible force that pried her hands away forcefully. She gasped loudly and looked up, "what the hell? That's impossible." She was muttering words now of how incredulous this all seemed.
Kit nodded in agreement, "tell me about it, but right now, I really need your help, if I don't get out in the
next few minutes I'm going to freak out and set off a war against myself... that's how insane I'll get!" Kit's voice had raised up a few notches and of course she hadn't meant for it to be aimed at Sally, but she had been trying to make it meaningful. "Please." She added a moment later.
"I probably shouldn't have killed that witch then, seeing how she would have cast it on you."
"No, Claudius cast it on me, like a curse of something even worse." Kit said angrily. "I really want to choke that bastard to death."
"And you will in a moment, I just have to learn how to get you out. Maybe there's a book around here or something." Sally murmured, already pacing around the room in search for a spell book or something. "Oh my god! I think I might have found it." She said again a moment later.
Something inside Kit's chest seemed to lighten because it was the best news she'd heard in ages. "Well, what does it say?"
Sally paced forwards carrying a massive book that she was aimlessly turning pages, trying to find a specific note that would be an instruction on how to get Kit out. Finally, a smile glistened on her face and she looked at Kit. "It says that only an outsider can blow the candles out, the insider must be trapped until someone from a supernatural origin blows them out, then and only then, would the prisoner inside be freed."
Kit's eyes widened, "we're Night Walkers that means we are supernatural beings, we live in the darkness and only come out during the night." A smile wakened on her face and she looked happy.
Sally nodded as she crouched down until her eyes were level with the great candles. "Right, we're Night Walkers." She muttered, then, with a final blow, all the candles were cast out, leaving nothing but a show of quick smoke in their wake.
"Did it work?" Sally asked, standing on her feet.
"I think so," said Kit who had already taken her arm to fling it out in the open air. "Yes, it did work!" She said happily, a smile resurfacing her face for the first time in weeks. “Thank you so much Sally,” she couldn’t keep her pleasure out from her voice as she spoke. Sally waved off her analogy and drew Kit into a small hug.
“Anytime, you’re my friend. But for now, we must get out of here – since Levi seems to be a bit of an idiot, he had gone to spy of Claudius, we have to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Sally pulled on Kit’s arm and basically dragged her from the darkened room.
“Wait, he did what?”
(Levi’s P.O.V)
Levi knew it was a stupid thing to be doing – counting how many penetrating eyes would be watching his every move. He was cautious as much as he was curious, but nothing kept him from wandering down the long corridor – gentle lights were the lightest thing he could see. Even though he may be a Night Walker, he was still able to be worried from time to time.
Levi had been feeling quite agitated lately, probably because it had been so long since he'd seen her lovely face. Now, he could picture everything about her, when he closed his eyes there she was, radiant, beautiful and glowing. Everything about her set him alight and his cheeks flared red at the thought.
Focus, you're here to spy on Claudius, Kit will be fine for now, just focus on him.
He relaxed his tense shoulders and breathed in and out again before proceeding down the dark corridor. Everywhere he went eyes seemed to follow him, when he turned around nothing was behind him. The stone walls were dripping with long icy raindrops and he shivered at the sight because the very first time he heard it he went rigid at the thought of it being blood.
"Find Claudius," he muttered again as he saw another flight of stairs. It was so strange how no one else was there except himself, he was completely alone in this place and no one else was there except him.
Where were all the witches? He had asked himself these a thousand times because obviously Claudius had somehow known that there was a war going to happen, even though everyone had been secretive.
I am a Night Walker, nothing scares me. He told himself over and over. I am fierce, I am-
He froze suddenly, because as he rounded the last of the never-ending stairs, he saw it. Probably one hundred witches and about ten Hybrids, they all stood there, waiting like they were made of stone. All were carrying some weapons and were mainly armoured, even the Hybrids and witches. He could tell Claudius had turned into a Hybrid because he was the only with golden fur and he was also the biggest thing there was.
Bloody hell.
"Attention all, we're to attack the moment we get the order from Civil. You've all met him before and he is a great man, deathly and superb, but when it comes to war, he'll be your worst nightmare," Growled Claudius, an evil smirk appearing over the wolfish snout.
"Master, he's waiting and says we should attack within the next ten minutes," one of the witches said with a cackle.
Claudius looks up with a smile, "very well, we shall attack when necessary."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
(Kit's P.O.V)
Kit rubbed her hands together melodically, no because they were dirty but because she was deeply afraid. Afraid that her end was reaching closer and closer. She was scared because she could sense a dark shadow crawling across her vision, creeping up the side of her, behind her and near her. She hated it. Hated having the thoughts that something was always watching her.
She twisted around to look, heart thundering in her chest like a thunderstorm trapped between her brain and her vision. Everything in sight was black and white, red and grey. All she wanted was to see green fields again like that memory she had when she was about five. That memory was the closest things she had to her humanity.
*
Eleven Years Ago, Age 5.
"Can you feel it Kit?" The man before her asked. He towered a tall six feet above her shadowed vision. Although she could not see him clearly because he was guarded by open sunlight. She squinted her big eyes to see his face clearly, however it was very useless. "Can you feel the sunshine, feel the green grass?" All she could see was his mouth twist up in a smile as he reached to pluck her one red peony from the ground.
She reached out as if to grab it but recoiled with a disgusted look on her face. "W-what is it?" She asked helplessly. It was a flower, something she had seen in her time as a Night Walker, but never has she touched one as beautiful as this.
His smile vanished, "it's a peony Kit. I promise you that in time you'll come to remember them. In time you will never forget, you will always remember seeing this, won't you?" He set the delicate flower on the ground. She watched in satisfaction as her tiny hands clamped around it, all curiousness becoming aware that she was here and experiencing something no other Night Walker would. She was experiencing true nature itself just by feeling this thing.
"It's beautiful." She whispered as she raised it to her nose. The smell was not like she was expecting, it was in turn like a metallic smell, something extremely different. Almost like... blood.
*
Present time
The image slipped away before she could remember more. In fact, Kit had never seen another red peony after that. She had seen normal and plain looking flowers. But never anything as vibrant and spectacular as that one before. "What's going to happen to me?" She whispered to herself, feeling very lost. In that moment she forgot what she was supposed to be doing. Forgot where it is she was. Forgot who she was. Am I really going to turn into a Hybrid? She thought. Kit shook her head. It was a stupid idea.
"Kit-?" Something touched her left arm, just on the corner. She turned around, blade in hand, and was just about to swing it into the chest of her attacker when she realized who it was. Sally stood their face a mask of white shock. "Kit!" She said shakily, her eyes widened as Kit withdrew the knife and placed it in her pocket.
She gasped and turned her head down, "Sally, I'm so sorry! Don’t sneak up on me like that. Ever!" Kit inclined her head towards the door. Great, now she knew where she was. They had to kill Claudius and do it fast. "Sorry..." she trailed off. What would she possibly say?
Sally only shook her head, "I was lo
oking for you everywhere, and you got passed me and must have wondered off somewhere else. I thought they took you again! Please don't do that again. I know you've been through a lot, he even tortured you."
Kit nodded. She opened her mouth only to close it again. Now her voice was gone, she was shivering all over; she was worried about Levi....
Levi.
"Where's Levi?" She half demanded. Her tone was now reaching a dismal level as her eyes began to become sleepy. She had experienced this once before, the feeling where she is not sure whether she is between reality and the false world she usually enjoys living in.
Sally's mouth set in a straight line, "he's spying on Claudius." She looked worried; Kit realized it was because she wasn't sure how Levi was going. "We have to find him before..." she trailed off, obviously unable to continue with her sentence.
"Sally! That will never happen, that stuff it just can't. Not to him."
Sally turned her back and began looking up the hallway as if something was there. Kit's eyebrows furrowed in concern. From what she could see, nothing was there at all.
"What are you looking at?" She asked curiously, creeping around the outer perimeter that surrounded Sally. Each time she took a step anywhere she would always watch out. There would be countless traps set up throughout this place. "Be careful as well."
Sally didn't seem to hear her. She held one shaky finger up and pointed towards the wall where flickering candelabra enlightened a tiny bit of the darkened corridor beyond. "There's a secret door their Kit. I studied it in school. They said whenever you see a tiny mark on the outside then that means a secret door!" The look on Sally's face changed. She looked hopeful.
"You can't trust it," Kit began expertly. "You don't even know where it'll lead. What if it leads away from where we're aiming on going?" She asked, eyebrows raised expectantly.
"Kit, we have to take every possible chance." She replied. "I'm going to see whether it is a passageway." She began walking towards it. The very first thing Sally did was glide her hands around; when she felt that there was a doorway built in the wall she grabbed both sides of the candelabra.
The Night Walkers Page 22