Fear the Night -
Chapter 1-The Maverick
Chapter 1: The Maverick
Gunfireerupted through the dark alley. Gunmuzzles flashing in the dark, followed by the report of the handguns were, inturn, followed by hurried footsteps echoing in puddles.“Shit!”a man shouted as more gunfire followed him. “Dammit!”
Heran out into the dusk-lit street. Hisclothes were shredded, blood ran from his hairline, down his face and neck andhis tattooed arms had a mixture of blood and dirt caked on them.
“Gethim!” another man’s voice followed in the alley.
“Iknow!” one last man’s voice called back. The two men ran after the first battered one, their suits still clean,their guns still drawn.
“Notthis time!” the beaten man snapped back, still running down the street. He rounded down another alley then ducked througha door of the building. The room waspitch black, and he found it slightly comforting, which also worried him abit. He leaned back on the door, holdinghis breath so as not to risk being heard. He heard the footsteps of the men run past the door and when they fadedcompletely, he exhaled in relief, sinking to sit on the floor, his handsholding his head.
“Thatwas way too close,” he breathed butjumped when he heard someone clear their throat as if they were trying to draw attention to themselves,making him freeze and look into the darkness. “Who’s there?!”
Hecringed back when a light was suddenly shined into his amber eyes. He moved some strands of his short, auburnhair from his face to see where the light was coming from then moved his long,thin ponytail behind him from his shoulder.
“Iwas about to ask the same thing,” a man’s voice said from behind thelight. “Damn. You’re a mess.”
“I’llask again: Who are you?” the battered man asked irritably, glaring at the light.
“Don’tget your panties in a bunch,” the unrevealed man chuckled. “The name’s Yukio Hayate. And you,my friend, are in trouble, am I right?”
“Yeah,”the battered man grumbled. “I had acouple of Suits on my tail. Sorry I hadto barge in on you like this.”
“Noproblem,” Yukio replied. “What’s yourname, friend?”
“MaverickFallon,” he replied, wiping the blood from his face. “Mind getting that light outta my face beforeI go blind?”
“Oh,yeah. Sorry. Lights!”
Yukiolowered the light and Maverick’s attention was drawn to the ceiling where anotherlight came on. He looked in thedirection Yukio’s voice had come from and saw a young man with spiked blackhair and golden eyes that shone as he smiled at him. He wore a long sleeved, blue shirt, tatteredat the collar and at the hem, a pair of tattered jeans and black combat boots.
“Welcometo my pad,” he smiled, presenting his surroundings with open arms. “Nice, huh?”
“Fora pad, I guess,” Maverick shrugged. Helooked around to see a desk to his right, a bed in front of him where Yukiostood and a small library to his left, next to a door. “Been living here long?”
“Awhile,” Yukio shrugged back. “How aboutwe get you cleaned up?”
“I’mfine,” Maverick insisted, starting to stand. “It’s just a scratch.” He stoodfully and growled loudly in pain at the flare of burning in his ankle. He dropped into a kneeling position, theweight off of the ankle that was in pain as he cursed, “Holy shit!”
“Abit more than a scratch, huh?” Yukio chuckled, helping Maverick up and into thechair at the desk. “Twisted ankle?”
“Iguess,” Maverick groaned as he sat. “Hope it’s not broken. It didn’thurt when I was running.”
“WithSuits chasing you, I’m not surprised,” Yukio smirked.
“Yeah,”Maverick groaned again. “Looks like Imight have to stay a little longer.”
“That’salright,” Yukio smiled, reassuringly. “My sister is gonna be happy to have a visitor.”
“Sister?”Maverick frowned in wonder.
“Yeah,”Yukio replied. “Isabella. She lives next door. You’d like her.”
“Andwhy’s that?” Maverick retorted.
“Youlook like the kind of guy who would like pretty girls,” Yukio shrugged, thengrinned, “and Isabella’s pretty.”
“Look,I’m not here looking for a girl, I just wanna get home and keep myself hiddenfrom those goddamn Suits.”
“Alrightthen,” Yukio shrugged. “But you’ll endup meeting her anyway. She’s coming fordinner and she knows a bit more about medicine than I do.”
“Great,”Maverick muttered, sardonically. “Howlong is she gonna take getting here?”
“Sheshould be here any minute,” Yukio replied, going to the door past the bookshelf. “I’ll be back. I’m gonna get some water and bandages.”
Hedisappeared through the door and Maverick slumped back in the chair. He suddenly perked up slightly and glanced atthe door Yukio had disappeared through. He tried to stand and hurry out the exit but he plopped back down whenthe front door suddenly opened, a figure in a dark blue cloak with a basketstepping into the room then shutting the door. He stiffened when the figure turned to him and he prepared to completelyignore the pain in his ankle.
“Oh,my god!” the figure gasped in feminine voice. “You look terrible!”
Maverickcocked his head to the side with a frown of confusion. Was this Yukio’s sister? She raised a hand and swept her hood from herhead to release her long chocolate brown hair and stared at Maverick withbright golden eyes filled with worry, wearing a gray, tattered dress. He had to admit, Yukio was right…she wasabsolutely gorgeous. Her cheekbones werehigh and defined, making her face attractively long, with delicate brows aboveher wide eyes that were set above a petite nose, her lips below it full andpink, with a perfect cupid’s bow dipping her upper lip.
“I’mIsabella,” she said quickly, rushing toward him and setting the basket on thetable next to him. “Are you one ofYukio’s friends?”
“Uh…”It took Maverick a moment to get over her appearance and he finally shook awayhis shock. “Uh, yeah…sort of.”
“Sortof?” Isabella frowned in wonder.
“It’s,uh, kind of complicated,” he replied and she only nodded in understanding thenknelt down next to the chair, taking the hem of her cloak to wipe the bloodfrom his face. Maverick froze when shedid this and stared at her in wonder.
“Whathappened?” she wondered and once again, it took Maverick a moment to registerthe question.
“Ihad a run-in with a couple of Suits,” he blurted and Isabella’s eyes widened inshock.
“Theydid this to you?!” she gasped.
“Actuallyit was more of my running from themthan them actually beating me,” he corrected. “You’re Yukio’s sister? You don’tlook like him.”
“Oh,”Isabella smiled, sweetly. “He says I’mhis sister, but actually we’re very good friends since childhood. He’s like my brother.”
“Izzy! You made it!” Yukio called from thedoor. “I see you’ve met Maverick.”
“Yes,and it’s a good thing I brought more food than usual,” Isabella smiled, takingthe bowl of water Yukio was holding. Sheknelt down at Maverick’s feet and Yukio handed her the bandages he was alsoholding.
“Whatare you doing?” Maverick asked in wide eyed wonder as Isabella pulled off oneof combat boots and he winced in pain when she did.
“Youtwisted your ankle, right?” Isabella replied and his eyes widened in disbelief ashe looked at Yukio.
“Shehas a sensitive intuition,” he shrugged. “I call it her Sixth Sense.”
“It’snothing incredible,” Isabella insisted. “I’m just observant.”
“Observant?”Maverick echoed as he turned back to her while she started bandaging his ankle.
“Inotice how people hold themselves, body language, what part of the body theyseem to be favoring and how they’refavoring it.”
“I’vetold her she should be a nurse,” Yukio chimed in.
“Yukio,I’ve told you, it’s too dangerous,” Isabella explained.
“Why?”Maverick wondered, more interested than he ever thought he’d be. She looked back at him with a look ofdisbelief, as if he should have known the answer.
“It’soutlawed in this district,” she only replied, continuing to bandage hisankle. “If I were a nurse and healedsomeone who turned out to be an enemy to the government, it would be classifiedas aiding and abetting. I would be triedwith treason.”
“Gottalove our government,” Maverick scoffed.
“Theyhave nurses working underground,” Yukio explained. “Literally, under ground, but she won’t do that either.”
“That’sjust as dangerous,” Isabella replied.
“Iwouldn’t wanna go down there either,” Maverick stated and the two looked at himin confusion but he looked back at them with a frown then guessed, “You twohaven’t been here that long, have you?”
“What’sso dangerous about being underground?” Yukio wondered sincerely, sitting on thefloor next to Isabella.
Maverickleaned a bit closer to whisper to the two wide eyed new comers and whispered,“That’s where the Drones live.”
“Drones?”Isabella echoed and Maverick nodded.
“Youever hear scratching at your door in the middle of the night?” he wondered andthe two nodded, mutely. “That’s theDrones. They’re creatures ofdarkness. They used to be people, butthey allowed darkness to take over their minds. They’ve lost all sense of ethics and they attack people withoutprovocation.”
“Whydo they scratch at doors?” Yukio asked as Isabella scooted closer to him.
“Theyhave trouble with barriers and doors,” Maverick replied.
“Isthere any way they can become human again?” Isabella wondered, but Maverickshook his head.
“Notthat anyone knows, but there might be,” he replied.
“Howdo you know so much about these creatures if everyone’s so afraid of them?”Yukio asked, and Maverick looked at him with wide eyes, filled with panic.
“W-Well,I watch them from time to time…hidden of course, and I’ve lived here for sometime,” he replied, hesitantly. Yukiostared at Maverick who shifted his eyes a bit then looked back at the other manto ask, “What?”
“Whywould you watch them if they’re dangerous?” Yukio wondered.
Isabellafrowned in confusion and glanced between the two then laughed nervously,saying, “To learn how to avoid them,I’m sure, Yukio.” She looked at Maverickand prompted, “Right?”
Hestared at her in mild surprise. She cameup with that fast, and he couldn’t tell them the truth. He may as well go ahead with that.
“Yeah,”he nodded, looking away as he told himself silently, Sure. We’ll say that.
“Well,then,” Isabella sighed as she stood and placed her hands on her hips, “Withthat bad ankle, the Suits after you, and Drones out tonight, I don’t thinkyou’ll be making it back to your pad. That is, if you have apad. Do you?”
“Well…”Maverick trailed off. Another question he couldn’t answertruthfully. He had a place to stay, but… “Yeah.”
Yukionarrowed his eyes at Maverick in suspicion at his hesitation.
“Well,we still can’t let you out tonight,” Isabella continued. “You’ll stay here tonight, and it looks asthough I’m staying here tonight,too.”
“Ifthese Drones are as mindless as you say they are, how come we’ve never seenthem since we came here?” Yukio questioned.
“Probablybecause they were watching you,” Maverick replied, calmly. “They’ll examine anything new.”
“Canwe stop talking about them, please?” Isabella requested, drawing the men’sattentions. “It’s too…creepy.”
Witha dramatic shudder, she grabbed the basket she’d brought and headed to the doorMaverick assumed was a kitchen, and the men looked back at each other.
“Ultra sensitive,” Yukio explained andstood to head after Isabella.
Mavericklooked down at his ankle then at the door. He could make it home, if he was careful and left now. He had to try.
Carefullyslipping on his shoe and shifting his arms to support himself on the chair tostand, he glanced at the kitchen door then the front door. He stood with great difficulty, but silently,and limped toward the door as quietly as he could. He’d have to repay Yukio and Isabella backfor their kindness some other time. Reachingthe door, he quietly turned the knob and it opened silently as he slid himselfout and into the moonlit streets once more.
Hehoped they wouldn’t come after him. It was dangerous, but he could takeit. He had something those twodidn’t. Guts and experience. He knew how to handle Drones and Suits and had to on occasion. It was nothing to him, but the last thing hewanted was to put innocent people like Yukio and Isabella in danger by simplybeing around.
Shufflingthrough the damp streets of town he felt like he was being watched. A familiar feeling when he walked down thestreets at night. It was a risk he tookto know the creatures he already knew too well. Groaning from the pain in his ankle and developing headache, he found astreet light left on and sat beneath it. He knew no other Suits would be out now. They’d be crazier than hell to come out afterthis hour.
Henearly let his head lull back on the wall he was leaning on when he heard faintshuffling beyond the expanse of the light. He straightened and stared his amber eyes into the blackness ofnight. Glowing yellow eyes stared at himfrom that blackness and he suddenly forgot the pain in his ankle and head.
Slowlyrising to his feet, he stayed in the light, though he knew that wouldn’t save him. These creatures could stand artificial light;it was the sun that nearly killed them. Maverick heard hissing and growling, and he swore there were a fewslurps in the sounds that were suddenly all around. He had run into a squad of them. Not a good place to be. Yellow eyes revealed themselves from thedarkness, making him feel more and more uneasy. He heard an exceptionally loud snarl from ahead and directed hisattention that way. The eyes sunk towardthe ground and Maverick braced himself.
Beforehe saw it pounce, he shot off to the left and the thing landed where he’d beenstanding. The Drone faced him, givingMaverick a full view of its long, black hair that drug on the dirty ground asthe creature leaned on its hands, its boney figure hunched on all fours. The Drone’s razor sharp teeth were bared andstood out beneath black lips which, in turn, stood out from the thing’s ghostlywhite skin. It scratched black clawsagainst the asphalt of the street and snarled at Maverick as he stared it down.
Hewasn’t surprised the other Drones didn’t attack him. As mindless as they were they had their owncode. First to attack was the one whowould make the kill. The Drone snarledat him again but Maverick only snarled back, unafraid. The other Drones around him hissed but theone who had pounced at him was the one who made a move. It leapt at Maverick who braced his feet inplace and the thing landed on him, toppling them to the ground. The Drone clamped its teeth onto Maverick’sleft arm as he held it up but Maverick didn’t utter any sound of pain.
“Chewon this, stupid jackass!” he growled.
Heswung his arm toward the ground as hard as he could, pinning the Drone betweenit and his forearm. He swung himselfonto the creature, straddling it as he held his arm it had bitten at its throatto choke it. He punched the Drone withhis right fist until the thing’s head lulled to one side.
Maverickbreathed heavily as he stood and stepped away from the dead Drone, black bloodspattered over his face from punching the thing to death. He glared up at the other Drones around himas they only stared at him with their glowing yellow eyes.
“Who’snext?” he challenged, raising his left arm, warningly.
Themarks from the dead Drone’s teeth had broken the skin but no blood seeped fromthe teeth marks.
TheDrones only stared at him for a moment as he lowered his arm. No one moved. No one made a sound. It was stillfor a few moments before Maverick chanced walking forward. The Drones around him moved to make a lanefor him to walk down. As he limped pastthem, he heard growls and snarls then cracks and crunches.
“Yuck,”he blanched, wrinkling his face in disgust. “They eat their own.”
Helimped the rest of the way home, glancing over his shoulder the whole way.
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