Huntress of the Night Chapters 1 & 2

*1*
Jennifer wandered aimlessly along the path beside the river. It had been a long day. There was a lot to think about, but right then it seemed too much, and her brain was simply numbed to it. She allowed the trickling water to soothe her. The cool night breeze combed through her hair, and lightened her heart. She was alive. That was enough.

She drew in a deep breath, and expelled it slowly. She had thought that they were only myths. How ignorant was the human race? Watching the people walking past her, she supposed that ignorance, in this instance at least, was a blessing. How would they be able to enjoy their lives if they knew? Children knew better. They knew about the horrors lurking in the shadows. They knew the truth in that fear.

She had come to the end of the park, and the end of the little river. Jennifer continued her walk. It was still a good distance until she was home. She clapped her hands on a buzzing mosquito.
She missed.
She tried again, when it was more visible in the next street light. This time she got it. She absently flicked the lifeless body off her palm.
There was blood.
Was it hers?
She idly wandered how many mosquitoes it would take to suck an organism dry of its life blood. How close had she come to losing that blood today? Life was precious. She didn’t want to loose it. But on the other hand, there were fates far worse than death.

It was the strangest feeling. It was as if her emotions had been put on hold, and even her thoughts were only allowed to trickle into her head. She had never felt this way before, so devoid of fear, pain, happiness, worry, or anger. It was a necessary sensation though, to be able to put all of that aside and filter through her thoughts as she needed to. Things made a lot more sense that way. It was a sense of calm detachment that allowed her to analyze everything that had just happened, and to put everything into perspective.

She looked up, surprised to see that she was in front of her apartment block. She realized that she hadn’t given a single thought to where she was going, but her feet managed to find their way without her conscious direction. The light was on in her apartment. He was still there. She took another deep breath, and made her way up the stairs.

He was standing, looking out the window, exactly the same as when she had left. The door clicked shut behind her, but he didn’t turn.
    “Are you ready now, Jennifer?”
She sighed and sat on her couch. She decided that it was best to answer honestly. He could probably tell if she didn’t.
    “No, But I need to know anyway.” She thought she saw the ghost of a smile flicker across his face, but she couldn’t be sure. He finally turned to face her, and fixed his luminescent blue eyes on hers. She hadn’t seen his face before; he had had his hood up. His appearance didn’t fit his reasons for being there. She expected his eyes to be dark and threatening, but instead they were warm and comforting. She expected his face to be scarred and viscous, but it was the kindest and gentlest face that she had ever seen. True enough, when she had first seen him, his voice was not what she expected, but she hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
*2*
Earlier that day, on her lunch break at work, she had gone to a quiet café in the shadier district of town. Because of its location, it was an undiscovered treasure. It was quiet, and comfortable, and extremely sheltering. Jennifer loved to go there to escape from the world, and also to enjoy the best food and beverages in town. It was the only time in her hectic, chaotic life that she allowed herself to feel relaxed. Even at home she felt she could never let herself feel so serene. That café was the rock that she clung to as the turbulent waters of her life tried to drag her under. Often there were undiscovered musical geniuses that played there. It seemed there were no set standards, yet every musician that performed there seemed that they belonged on a stage in front of a crowd of millions. Their talent was undiscovered and so was still cheap, but Jennifer had always thought they deserved more
***
As she had made her way home, walking from the café to the train station, something had knocked her from her feet, and sent her flying into a deserted, damp alley.
Every time she walked down that road, she had thought that it would be sensible to be more scared than she was, but she always felt so indifferent. How could that street be so much more dangerous than any other? She had always laughed at the people who rushed through this district, onto a rickety old train that they thought they would be safe in. Jennifer always felt safer out in the open. She supposed that it was another of her peculiarities. But she had always depended on her legs; there was nowhere to run on a train. This time, though, she would have been wise to follow their example.

As she rolled to a stop in the murky water on the road after her brief flight, she tried to catch a glimpse of her attacker. She couldn’t see anything, so she tried to get up, but she must have knocked her head, as she was slightly disoriented. Her vision was swimming, and she was having difficulty focusing on anything. She blinked, and things became a little clearer.
Between the gap in the two tall buildings she could just make out the silhouette of something. It looked human, but she couldn’t make out anything more than a foggy outline. She staggered forwards a couple steps, trying to get a better look, but her closing the distance seemed to put it on edge. When she took her first step, the figure crouched low, ready to spring, but before she realized her danger, she took another step, causing the shadow to leap into action. It lunged at her. She still couldn’t make out what or who it was, but this time, at least, she was ready. As the form came flying at her, she spun to the side, taking it by surprise. Lacking the ability to stop in mid-air, it hurtled into the side of a large metal dumpster.

Jennifer considered running, but she saw how fast that thing had jumped at her, and she knew she wouldn’t make it. Her only chance was to stand her ground and fight, however slim a chance that might have been. The thing was slowly getting up, discarding the rotten food scraps and other unidentified pieces of rotting garbage. Jennifer thought fast, and looked around for something to use as a weapon. She knew better than to test her luck with dodging it again. The only thing she could find was a thin metal pole. It would have to do.
Its movements were menacing. Before, it was reacting to a possible danger. Now, however, it was angry. It stalked slowly towards her; it wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. Its presence seemed to fill the entire gap between the two buildings. It seemed to draw the light out of the air around it, and feed and grow on it. As it kept coming towards her, it looked to expand, making her feel smaller and less significant. One thing was clear to her. It was a creature of evil. As it got closer, Jennifer was filled with terror. She knew that it was unreasoned. She had always made herself face her fears, but the closer it got, the further her mind fled from reason. She had wanted to melt into the wall, or evaporate; anything to get away from the hulking beast before her.
It was then that she realized that the beast was forcing her back. Every step it took towards her, she took one back. She made herself stand her ground.
This wasn’t her. The beast was making her scared. It was slowly but surely making its way towards her. It took every last bit of her resolve to keep her from taking another step back. She had to let it get close if she was to have a chance. She stiffened her will. This was her only chance.

The beast was dredging up old and painful memories. She focused on them, remembering the mistakes in her past. She wouldn’t let it happen again. Hesitation would be the end of her. She let the pain fill her, and focused it. The beast was giving her exactly what she needed to defeat it. Remembering those painful lessons had finally given her the strength that she had needed. As the beast took the final step, closing the distance, she thrust the makeshift spear through the left side of its chest. Just as she did, she saw another, better crafted spear jutting from the opposite side of its chest. As its lifeless corpse fell to the ground, she saw what was behind it. It was a young stranger who had just saved her life.


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