The Night Walkers Read online

  PROLOGUE

  FROM THE FIRES OF HELL

  SHE'D BEEN waiting amidst the shadows for quite some time now, languishing in a darkened corner in a subway in downtown Manhattan with her hands slowly snaking across the cool handle of the razor-edged dagger that sat knowing between her hand. For Kit Stone, there was never any turning back, not when her future depended on her every move that hung minutes away.

  She let out a cool breath and watched the fog spread out like smoke before her. The subway was completely abandoned, almost as though someone had known she would come. There were no trains and not a soul could be seen. Kit pulled the black hood over her head and stood from where she'd been crouching, the darkness of the midnight sky cast shadows across her pale feature's as she stared wide-eyed towards the entrance. She felt the familiar tingling alteration of her senses as a shivering feel crept over her and she knew what she came for was just seconds away.

  Kit suddenly heard steps that echoed the sound of led weights being dropped from the sky and smiled devilishly as she aimed her glowing blade towards where the sound was coming from. Kit could practically feel its infernal presence as it neared her, and she watched the unworldly beast stare at her with eye's as red as a fire. Its large sturdy frame was completed with a set of dark green scales and a hideous face that was glaring at her with all the fires of hell.

  It stood at the front of the stairs. "You came, stupid girl." It hissed at her, it's voice sounded like a thunderstorm hanging lose in the sky.

  Kit felt no fear as she began closing the distance between her and the demonic creature. "We'll see who the stupid one is, who sent you this time?" She growled, feeling hatred rising from deep inside her. "I came for answer's."

  The demon regarded her with a snarl. "I don't answer to Night Walkers," it spat, "my master is rising again, and I don't think your kind wants to be in the way when he does."

  She shook her head at his words. This had happened every time she'd tried to get answer's but each demon she'd faced had said the same thing, no torture would free them of their binding to their Master and she'd done everything to work out why or who they were serving. "That's such a shame," she said, shaking her head in pity, “I guess I'll just have to kill you."

  Kit launched herself towards the pernicious beast at the same time it clawed at her with its long talons. She rolled to the side with grace, bringing her blade up she slashed through the surface of its rough skin. The demon let out a roar that rocked the floor beneath her feet. She fell over and rolled in a side-wards motion just as it slammed it's fists down onto the ground. She shot up effortlessly and jumped up onto her feet. She ducked and slid beneath the demon's long arms and brought her blade into its chest.

  It screamed with all the calamity of a hurricane. Black ichor spread like ink across it's torso. It eyed her with deathly horror and spoke in a low voice. "The army is ready," it said, "join them. I sense great power and darkness inside you, Night Walker." And with that it sunk and dropped to the ground, dead. Within seconds it disappeared, and she knew it had returned to the fiery hell's from whence it came.

  CHAPTER ONE

  PREFECT

  The haunting darkness tied around her once again. It had always been that way, her and the darkness seemed to play a battle of wits as to who would capture the others mind. Kit always loved to think that it would never get hold of her, but even the streets appeared to be getting longer and more twisted, exposing shadows that hid in the corners beneath foreboding sky that towered above her.

  She tucked the knife into her pocket and pulled her black hood over her head. If anyone ever saw her, they'd assume she was trouble. It didn't matter though, she was used to people walking the other direction as she approached them.

  It was yet another downside to be a Night Walker, never understanding pure-humans. She kicked a rock that lay stray on the road and watched as it hit the front gates of The Luna Academy; the place she'd been kept since she first came four years ago.

  The huge gates loomed above her, haunting and dark, she could practically feel the black magic as it hovered around her. It may be invisible, but to her, she could feel it like her own heart, beating to the endless rhythm of the circling thunderous clouds in the sky.

  Kit held her hand up, making sure to knock the way she had always been taught. Knock, pause, knock again, pause and knock once more. She could feel the door as it rattled slightly open and before she knew it, she could see two great big green cat-eyes as they looked her up and down. "What's the pass code?"

  She sighed, it was always like this. So, she took in one breath and recited the pass code she had remembered every day of her life since she was twelve.

  "Night's a disguise to all the weak eyes,

  Sunshine detects what the moon keeps hidden,

  Hide me moon, don't detect me sun,

  Keep me hidden till my night's work's done."

  The moment she finished reciting the pass code, the man behind the gate opened it. Everyone called him The Gatekeeper because he made sure no one else but Night Walkers got through into the academy. He was basically the reason why no one was in danger.

  "Welcome back to The Luna Academy, hope you succeeded with your task," he said without much expression on his face. She nodded her head with a smile and walked past him. There was one long path that lead into the main doors of the academy and on either side were tall green trees that acted as shadows.

  The shadows were pretty much what everyone lived by, without the protection of darkness, the threat of detection would be underway.

  Kit's mission wasn't hard at all, it was a plain normal burglary job where she had to steal another necklace off one of the downtown gangs. She hadn't come back with too many bruises but having to fight off a few guys in the process did slow her down and it would now nearly be morning.

  As she opened the great big doors that lead into the common rooms. Every time she walked into the academy, she was reminded of its beauty. She stood there frozen, watching the large elegant painting's that decorated the walls and the glorious chandeliers that hung on the high ceilings, complementing the elaborate stain glass paintings of angels and crafted pictures.

  The academy was massive and had so many rooms that it would nearly be bigger than two mansions put together. It was where, day after day, students did their fighting work and tried to become better and better.

  "Kit Stone," said one of her teachers, who eyed her with a smile, "I see you completed it well."

  She nodded her head, "yes, I did, and I have the necklace here, I was just going to give it to Markus when I saw him..." she trailed off, realizing that there was virtually no one in the large room, just a few students sitting on the couches with their head in their books. "Is everything okay?"

  She nodded her head and Kit noticed that she carried that aged beauty every Night Walker did, after all, they didn't age, practically stayed immortal their entire lives. "Everything is fine Miss Stone, you better get that to Markus and get going to your dorm."

  "Yes, I will," she said with a smile before slipping past the woman. She clutched the necklace in her pocket, loving the way she knew it was there. She found her way to Markus's headquarters where most of the teachers and instructors had their meetings and stuff.

  Every student she past appeared to have different colour eyes. But that was for one reason. For every year they advance the colour of their eyes change colour depending on their rank. She could remember the list in her head.

  Brown eyes: Initiate

  Green eyes: Aspirant

  Blue eyes: Prefect

  Purple: Expert

  Now she was a prefect with blue eyes. Kit was onto her second last year at The Luna Academy, once she graduated after next y
ear she would be selected as a guardian of someone that was the highest quality. Unless she didn't pass. The ones who usually don't pass end up working below the drains, beneath the city doing dodgy trades, waiting until they get captured by the darkness.

  That sent a chill running through her. If anyone ever got black eyes, then that means the darkness had taken over. She remembered Miss Labelle's words as they travelled back to her mind yet again.

  "Remember, the moment you see someone with black eyes, then you know to kill them. Even if they're your best friends. You never know when someone is going to turn. For all you know, it could be your own self."

  She shivered at the thought and continued walking towards Markus's office. When she finally reached it, she slipped inside, breathing against the door frame with the memory of last night's mission breaking out in her memory. She could remember the feeling of being followed. She usually got that feeling, but that time it had been stronger.

  "Kit?" came Markus's voice from beside the booming red fire. He stood up, long figure looming above her average height. She stood there, clinging the stone between her fingers as she walked towards him.

  "Hello," she greeted with a small tip of her head, "I just came by to give you this. Just as you requested." She placed the necklace on the table, watching the way the mother-of-peal glittered near the fire with its glorious shine.

  "Thank you," she said, and she could tell by the look on his face that something was clearly worrying him. He kept looking over towards the window to the beaming moon that hovered over the city. Every time she saw its glory she melted inside. Her entire life practically revolved around the moon. After all, without it, Night Walkers would not be able to hide if the world were filled with light.

  She nodded her head and turned around to leave before she was interrupted.

  "One last thing," she said as she slowly turned around, feeling the change of tone in his voice. "Watch yourself out there, just a thought. You never know what lies out there, even when you think this school is protected by a ward spell. Don't doubt your fears; embrace them."

  Kit nodded, a single jitter crawling its way down her spine at the man's voice and the look on his face her bite her lip with worry. It has become a habit over the past few years. "I-ah-" she cut herself off mid-sentence as she hid her hands behind her back. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

  He opened his mouth, only to close it again, then a moment later she opened it again. "Nothing to worry about, just some reports off the streets a while away, news of a strange figure attacking a woman. Maybe we should get someone onto it, who knows?" she shrugged, "just be weary."

  * * *

  By the time Kit had gotten back to her room, she began feeling that exact same feeling of being followed as she walked down the corridor in the west wing. Eventually she shook her head, reminding herself of how stupid that sounded. The Luna Academy, as everyone knew, was guarded by a ward spell chanted by a powerful enchantress many years ago and has since been protected.

  Nothing had ever gotten inside.

  And nothing inside will easily get out. Which was why she was reminded that she was stuck in this school. If she left, she'd simply have nothing left.

  She knocked on the wooden door, staring down the corridor as the lamplights flickered on and off, casting different shades across the walls. "Debra?" she whispered, hoping her best friend would answer. After minutes with no sign of her trusted friend, she knocked again, but this time it was more desperate. "Debra! Come on, you're always up at this time, please o-"

  "Seriously?" came Debra's voice as she opened the door, all platinum blond hair and wide blue eyes. "I was in the middle of painting my nails! What could be so important that you had to disturb me?" she asked with playfulness in her voice.

  Kit quickly snuck in through the room, closing the door behind her. She crinkled her nose as the great waft of nail polish filtered in through the small room. "Hi to you too," Kit said and chucked the small satchel at her waist on the floor. "It's creepy out there," she added, looking at the room.

  It was big, after she'd cleaned up her mess, and the walls were painted white and were now peeling slightly. Kit had so many books lying around that she had gotten from the library, loving the amount of knowledge she got from each word. The rest was pretty much two beds, some storage and a dresser. Nothing special.

  "How was did your mission go? They said it was a pretty simple one, especially since you're still recovering from your little slip the other week..." Debra trailed off as her big eyes travelled to Kit's arm who quickly hid her arm away from sight.

  "It was no big deal, and anyway, it didn't even hurt so I don't know why they're giving me barely any time for hard missions anymore. It's not like they can exactly run out with the number of gangs around Manhattan."

  Debra nodded, "I know that," she said, "but you have been working at heaps of missions recently. I kind of miss talking to you, I barely see you besides during the night and stuff and the day."

  Kit sighed and took a seat on her bed as she locked eyes with Debra, a sullen look crossing her face. "Okay," she finally said with a smile, "I did want to tell you something. It's kind of stupid but oh well." Debra's eyes glowed with excitement.

  "What is it? Tell me!" she chirped. Debra was the type of girl who got carried away with gossip.

  "Well, you know Natalie?" She asked, noticing how Debra was nodding along. Everyone knew who Natalie was, she was the biggest bitch and probably the nastiest, "popular" girl anyone will meet. "She broke up with Dylan Harris! Can you believe that? They've been going out for about a year!" Kit laughed as she watched Debra's expression change.

  "Seriously!? That's the best thing I've heard all year! Oh my god, does that mean he's free? Holy-freaking-horses, I cannot believe this. Dylan is insanely hot, and I mean have you seen his-"

  "Yes, I know," Kit said with a smirk on her face, not necessarily wanting to know what words were soon to come out of her friends' mouth. "Just a little gossip, picked it up from Marissa Thomas a few hours ago and you should have seen all the other girls, especially Natalie. Best thing."

  Debra nodded her head with satisfaction as her eyes travelled towards Kit's pillow. Her brows furrowed as she looked like she was trying to work something else. She quickly walked over and picked up something that was under Kit's pillow.

  Heart beating in her chest, Kit leaned over to grab it off her, but it was too late, the girl had already snatched the book from underneath the pillow. She went to grab it out of Debra's hands again, but the girl already had a good grip on it.

  "Wuthering Heights," she started as she read the title of the book. "You smuggled in a mortal book, didn't you? You know that's not allowed Kitty," she said, giving Kit her annoying nickname. Debra sneered as her eyes crossed past the back of the book. "Wow, this is definitely different from any of the skills books we have in the library."

  Kit quickly sprung forwards and snatched the book back, "give me that!" She said, liking the way it felt in her arms. She'd never read anything like it and it was the closest she had felt to be a normal teenaged girl like the ones she sees on the streets every now and then, laughing and walking around with their eyes brushing the streets alive and filled with innocence.

  Sometimes she wished she was that innocent – she wished she could un-see the things she'd seen over the past years. But she couldn't.

  "I don't mind, but you might not want to show other people, the teachers think badly of that, they told us it just gets stupid thoughts into our heads." Debra shrugged her shoulders and sat down on her own bed. "Don't worry, it'll be our little secret."

  * * *

  Kit woke up to the sun gently caressing her face, creating an annoyed growl to escape her mouth. With a soft wince and sat up straight, arching her back with a slight pain from the previous mission. She'd gotten up a moment later with her tired eyes calculating the dead room around her that was filled with nothing but silence.

  "Debbie?" she asked and was answered
by the sound of turning pages. "You up? I'm going to the test right now, not sure how I'm going to do but I guess we'll have to see."

  "Yeah Kitty, I am, hope you do well. Haven't you gone for that every year since you were an initiate?"

  Kit nodded as she finished getting into her armour. With a quick brush of her long brown hair she smiled, "yeah, I have but it isn't as hard as you might think. I love the test and I think it's good for me. Are you going to come as well?"

  She peered onto Debra's bed, watching how the blond-haired-girl had her eyes fixed on a new training book. She had a torch blazing bright which made the pages turn to a soft yellowish colour. "Nah, I'm fine, I don't think I'll even have a chance..." she trailed off, probably following some more tactics.

  "Okay," Kit shrugged her shoulders as she tightened her training boots. "I'll see you after then?"

  "Good luck," Debra murmured as Kit slipped out the door, feeling the lightness of the room and Debra's uncharacteristically annoyed mood following her as she walked through the halls. It was nerve racking as she walked through the relatively empty halls. Every now and then she's see the few student's heads pop up or the odd couple wearily making out in the dark – probably hoping no idiot was currently awake.

  She suddenly felt that same way she always felt when she was walking somewhere alone with the darkness following her. It was like no matter how stupid or lame it seemed but when she was walking in the dark all she wanted to do was run home. Wherever that was.

  The moment she walked through the front doors she felt every pair of eyes on her. There would have around fifty staring at her and hoped to god she wasn't late.

  "Kit Stone," said Headmistress rising from the rally of eyes, "we welcome you to the initiation test and hope you do your absolute test." She looked down towards a clipboard in her hand and smiled. "Today you will be put into three main tests to see whether you stand through each of them properly."

  "Okay," she said wryly, "what will I have to do in each?"