by E. L. Todd
“Knock it off!” Mr. Avey yelled.
Calloway clenched his fist as he stared at Hawk, wanting to punch him hard in the face until his nose bled. He’d never wanted to cause someone so much pain until now—he wanted to hurt him—bad.
Mr. Avey marched to the two boys and pulled Calloway away. “Stop this now!”
Calloway stepped away while he stared at Hawk with a look of hatred. Hawk was smiling at him, delighted that he got Calloway in trouble for a second time.
“Hawk started it,” Easton said. “He pushed Calloway first!”
“Yeah,” Breccan said. “He was threatening us—calling Easton a freak.”
“I was not!” Hawk argued. “They are lying. Easton said I was stupid then Calloway pushed me. They were totally ganging up on me.”
Tommy nodded. “We were just trying to check out a book when they started harassing us.”
Mr. Avey rolled his eyes. “That sounds believable,” he said sarcastically. “Since I didn’t see what happened you both will serve detention with me tomorrow.”
“What?” Hawk snapped. “I’m not going to detention.”
“What was that?” Mr. Avey asked as he stared at Hawk. “Are you refusing the punishment I’ve given you?”
Hawk glared at Mr. Avey. “My father won’t be happy when he hears about this.”
“I’m sure he won’t be,” Mr. Avey responded. “He’ll be very disappointed in you.” He walked toward the library doors. “Come on,” he said. “The library is about to close.”
They grabbed their backpacks and headed to the door. When they were outside, Hawk and his friend walked to the parking lot without looking behind them. Calloway could tell how angry Hawk was by his hostile body posture.
Calloway turned to Mr. Avey. “He started it,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. He’s the one who is always harassing me, and I finally decided to stand up for myself.”
Mr. Avey nodded. “Since I didn’t see it, I don’t have any proof,” he said. “I’m sorry but you need to serve detention as well.”
“But you know he’s the problem—not me.”
Mr. Avey sighed. “I can’t pick favorites, Calloway.” Breccan let a slight laugh escape from his lips and he shook his head. Mr. Avey ignored him. “I’m sorry.”
Calloway sighed. “Okay.”
Mr. Avey turned around and walked toward the main office. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said over his shoulder.
Calloway turned to his friends. “Let’s go.” He sighed. “I want to get out of here.” They got into Easton’s car and drove to the Headquarters across town. No one said anything on their ride to the library. They were all too angry to speak.
“You shouldn’t let Hawk get to you,” Easton said when they parked in front of the building. “Just ignore him, Calloway.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation and the anger that coursed through his body, Calloway laughed. “You think I haven’t been doing that all week?” He turned to Breccan. “What do I do when he ridicules me in front of the entire class? Or when he throws a pencil at my head? I do nothing, just like I always do, and I’m getting sick of it.”
Breccan nodded. “That was just a glimpse of the torture Calloway experiences on a daily basis,” he said. “I’m surprised he lasted so long without retaliating.”
“And I’m not going to let him touch you, Easton—either of you,” Calloway said.
They climbed out of the car and headed toward the entrance of the Grandiose Historian Library. Easton turned to Calloway. “I appreciate you protecting me, Calloway, but I don’t want you to get in trouble for it.”
“When it comes to my friend’s safety, I couldn’t care less about getting in trouble,” Calloway said. “He can pick on me all he wants but I don’t want him to bother you.”
“And Beatrice,” Breccan said sarcastically.
Calloway ignored his comment. “She’s dating Hawk again—they’re going to formal.”
Easton stopped walking. “Are you serious?” she asked. They all halted before the doorway to the Grandiose Historian Library. “She went back to him anyway? Even after you defended her from that creep?”
“I don’t get it either,” Calloway said as he shook his head.
“So you’re suffering for no reason?” she said. “It was all for nothing?”
Calloway nodded.
Breccan looked at his cousin. “I told you.”
“Told him what?” Easton asked.
“Not everyone is a good person,” Breccan said. “He learned that the hard way.”
“It doesn’t make Beatrice a bad person,” Calloway said. “She just made the wrong decision.”
Easton shook her head. “That girl is stupid.”
“Don’t say that about her,” Calloway said.
Breccan rolled his eyes. “Do you have a thing for her?”
Calloway shook his head. “No,” he said. “Not anymore.”
“Well, I’m glad you finally see the light,” Breccan said.
Calloway unlocked the door and they came into the building. The lights were still on from yesterday and they could see everything in the library. They looked around the room before they ascended the staircase. The corpse was still lying on the floor and they passed it without touching it. Easton dropped her backpack on the table and Calloway listened for any unusual sounds in the room.
“Does everyone have their blades?” Calloway asked.
“I never go anywhere without it,” Breccan said as he patted his hip.
Calloway nodded. “Okay.” He placed his backpack on the counter and walked to the dead body on the floor. Calloway stared at it for a moment as he circled around it. Breccan stood on the other side and kneeled to the floor, getting a closer look. Easton stayed a few feet away, watching them from a safe distance.
Calloway rose to his feet and walked to the large fireplace. “I’ll get this started,” he said as he piled new logs on top of the dead firewood. He grabbed a thin twig and dragged it across the wood with lightning speed, starting a small fire in the hearth. Calloway blew on the small flames gently until they were roaring in the fireplace. Breccan and Easton watched him walk back to the body. Calloway grabbed one of the arms and Breccan grabbed the opposite arm. “Let’s toss it,” Calloway said.
“Wait,” Easton said. “Aren’t you going to study it first?”
“Study it?” Breccan asked incredulously. He stared at her while he gripped the hand of the creature.
Easton stepped closer to them but kept her distance. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her lips were pressed together in a tight line. She was never afraid of anything but this dead Hara-Kir was enough to make her uneasy. “Don’t you want to know what it looks like?” she asked. “I want to see its face.”
Breccan shrugged. “I guess,” he said. “But they must hide their features for a reason—they are probably hideous.”
Calloway grabbed the hood and felt the material in his fingertips. It was cold to the touch and soft, thinner than a line of silk. The feel made him shiver. “We’re about to find out.” Calloway pulled back the hood and revealed the face underneath.
Breccan fell back and crashed to the floor. Easton gasped when she saw the features of the Hara-Kir, and she stepped further away from the corpse. Calloway didn’t flinch as he stared at the face that was so similar to his own. The lips were thin and red like every human he’d ever seen, and the skin was fair and pale like it never saw the sunlight. It was a young male—probably in its mid-twenties. Calloway felt his heart accelerate as he processed what he saw. It was a human.
He pulled the hood further back then opened the cloak that concealed its body. The anatomical structure of the Hara-Kir was identical to his own with the exception of the heart. Calloway would die if he was stabbed in the chest just once. He stepped back as he stared at the corpse in silence. “I don’t understand,” he said. “Is this a human?” Both boys turned to Easton, expecting her to answer the question.
Easton ran her hands anxiously through her hair as she stared at the dead Hara-Kir, overwhelmed by the knowledge that was confusing them all. “I don’t know,” she said. “I—I don’t know.”
Calloway crossed his arms over his chest and thought for a moment. “This can’t be a human,” he said. “Perhaps they adopt our appearance so they can blend into our society, pose as one of us.”
“No,” Easton said. “If that were true, they wouldn’t be cloaked at all.”
Breccan nodded. “Why would they bother?” he asked. “It has a greater chance of killing us if we think it’s human.”
Calloway shook his head. The revelation that the Hara-Kirs are identical to humans was truly troubling. They could be walking among them on a daily basis and they would never know. “This is worse than I thought,” he said.
Easton nodded. “We can’t tell them apart—who is really human?”
“They might have to be covered at all times—something with their physiology on this side of the portal,” Breccan said. “That might not be an issue—we may not have to worry about them infiltrating our society.”
“But we aren’t sure,” Easton said. “We have to be even more careful than before. No one can be trusted.”
Calloway recalled the sound of the demonic breathing in the library when he was being chased. It definitely didn’t sound human—not in the least. “I don’t think they’re all this way,” he said. “I suspect some appear this way—in this disguised form—while others are not.”
“But the Kirin Book didn’t mention that,” Easton argued.
“That book is ancient,” Breccan argued. “A lot of things could change over time. Besides, we haven’t decoded most of it. Perhaps it’s in there. And I doubt they detail every secret ever made inside of a book that could be read by anyone. I doubt they’re that stupid.”
Calloway nodded. “I feel lost in the dark,” he said quietly. “There is so much we don’t know. What are we up against?”
Easton sighed. “I doubt we’ll ever find out—at least in our lifetimes.”
“That’s because they’ll be short-lived,” Breccan spat.
“No one is making you do this,” Easton snapped.
Breccan sighed. “I know,” he said. “I’m just an idiot.”
Calloway kneeled down to the body then peeled off the robe and searched through the pockets. When he found nothing, he tossed the cloak onto a nearby chair.
“What are you doing?” Easton asked.
“I’m going to keep the cloak—just in case,” Calloway answered.
“In case of what?” Breccan asked.
“I have no idea,” Calloway said. “But it would be a waste to burn it.” He grabbed the corpse by the arm and looked at his cousin. “Give me a hand.”
Breccan grabbed the other hand and they dragged it across the floor toward the fireplace. Together, they lifted it from the ground and tossed it into the fire. The collision disturbed the embers of the hearth and tossed them into the space above the flames. The fire began to crackle and snap as the flames licked the flesh of the body and dissolved it in the heat. The smell was nauseating and both boys stepped back from the fireplace and stood next to Easton, who had her nose covered with her hand, blocking the disgusting odor from her sinuses. The skeleton was all that remained after a few moments, and the three of them stared at the bones mixed with the ash of the fireplace.
“It definitely looks human,” Breccan said.
Easton nodded but said nothing.
“Only time will tell,” Calloway answered. When they returned to the table, they heard a crash from the back of the library. Calloway immediately pulled out his knife and searched for the intruder. Easton and Breccan also armed themselves and stayed beside Calloway.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Breccan said. “We just did this.”
The fear inside Easton disappeared in the light of danger. She gripped her knife tightly as she glanced around the library, looking for the next Hara-Kir that was about to attack them.
Calloway turned to Breccan. “Think of it as practice.”
“You need to stop acting like this is a game,” Breccan snapped.
“There’s no other way to go about it,” Calloway answered. “Humor is the only thing more powerful than fear.” He turned to Easton. “It needs to be stabbed three times and there are three of us. If we do it together, we could kill it immediately.” Easton nodded at his words. “Let’s do this.”
Another book fell to the floor and the sound made them jump. They still couldn’t see the Hara-Kir inside the library, and they glanced at every corner as they searched for the creature.
“Where the hell is it?” Breccan said as he searched for the Hara-Kir.
The harsh breathing noise echoed across the library, and Calloway knew what the sound meant. It was coming. “It’s about to strike,” he said. “It’s trying to confuse us by making those other sounds.”
Easton stepped away from Calloway and they formed a half circle, waiting for the Hara-Kir to reveal its presence from the darkness of the bookcases. Calloway gripped his blade tightly as he waited for the creature to attack him. His heart was beating sporadically in his chest and the pulse of his blood was vibrating loudly in his ears, increasing the anxiety that coursed through his body.
Easton screamed and Calloway knew she spotted the Hara-Kir. It moved from the last bookcase of the room and sprinted toward them. The cloak billowed out behind him as he moved, making him appear shapeless and undefined, and the hood obscured its features from view. Calloway wondered if this Hara-Kir was human as well. Calloway and Breccan sprinted toward Easton and they stood together with their blades raised. The creature stopped a few feet away and stared at them, his eyes fixed on Calloway, or so it seemed by the turn of his head. The coarse breathing made Calloway’s skin prickle with unease.
“Don’t turn your back on it,” Calloway said. “Stay steady.”
The Hara-Kir stared at them as it reached its hand deep into its pocket. Calloway didn’t want to know what was inside. “Let’s do it together,” he whispered. “He’ll be too distracted to react.”
Easton nodded and gripped her knife. Breccan nodded as well.
“Okay,” he said. Calloway gripped his knife and pointed it at the Hara-Kir. He thought that after killing one of these he would be prepared to do it again, but he was wrong. He was just as frightened. Calloway knew he had to be strong for his two friends so he held back his fear and steadied his nerve. “NOW!”
Calloway rushed the Hara-Kir first and imbedded the tip of his blade deep into its chest. The creature did not strike Calloway but grabbed Easton’s outstretched arm and steadied the knife before it penetrated into his heart. Calloway kneed the Hara-Kir in the waist, and the creature flinched at the attack, releasing his grip on Easton. He left his heart susceptible to Breccan’s attack. His cousin stabbed his blade directly into the heart, right alongside Calloway’s, and the creature hissed as it stepped back.
Easton gathered her strength and shoved her knife in between Calloway’s and Breccan’s impaled blades and twisted the knife savagely, cutting it into smaller pieces. “Die,” she screamed. Her eyes were wide with aggression and anger, giving her an evil look that Calloway had never seen before. She kicked it in the leg and it fell backwards, landing on the floor.
The Hara-Kir remained still as it lied on the ground with its arms outstretched to its sides. The three of them stared at it for several minutes before anyone moved, making sure it was really dead. Calloway was the first one brave enough to touch the corpse. He grabbed the wrist and felt the absence of a pulse, even though he wasn’t sure if the Hara-Kirs would have a heartbeat, and then pulled down the hood and exposed its lifeless eyes. They were open and reflected the lights of the glowing chandelier that hung overhead.
“It’s dead,” he said. The corpse was an older male that had blue eyes and blonde hair. He looked identical to any other human and it made Calloway uneasy. Did he
kill one of his own?
“Good,” Easton said as she walked to the body. “That means there’s one less in the world.”
Breccan pulled the cloak off the body and tossed it across the floor. “This is getting old.” He sighed.
Calloway laughed. “I sincerely hope not,” he said. “I think this is just the beginning.”
“I don’t understand why they are always here,” Breccan said. “They appear from nowhere—just out of the shadows.”
“I’m sure there’s an explanation,” Easton said.
“And I would like to know what it is,” Breccan replied.
Calloway grabbed the body and dragged it across the floor. “Let’s get this into the fire,” he said. Breccan grabbed the corpse by the arm and the leg and helped Calloway throw the corpse into the flames, directly on top of the skeleton of the previous Hara-Kir. The fire melted the skin off the body and lit the body in flames, decomposing it with the heat of the blaze. The pungent smell diffused into the room and they took an involuntary step back.
“I’ve had enough for the day,” Breccan said as he walked back toward the table. “That smell is disgusting—I can’t even think.”
Easton turned away and followed him back to the table. “The smell is giving me a headache.”
Calloway stared at the dying embers for a moment before he joined his two friends. He grabbed his backpack from the table and placed it over his shoulders. “Let’s head out,” he said. “We already have plenty to think about.”
They walked back to Easton’s car and sat inside. Easton drove them across town back to Breccan’s house and they talked the entire way.
“Should we expect to kill a Hara-Kir every time we’re at the Headquarters?” Breccan asked. “There has been one every single time we have been there.”
“No,” Calloway said from the backseat. “But I expect to see them often.” Calloway stared out the window and into the darkness as they headed for home. He thought about the Hara-Kir’s human features and the information made him feel confused. “We’re getting quicker at killing them. Soon, we’ll have our moves down completely—it won’t take nearly as long.”