One steady footstep after another; it was quiet as the morning sun turned the dark sky just a slight shade of blue. Sarain hurried to reach her destination before time ran out. Dawn was approaching and she had one last thing she needed to do. She stopped and stood there waiting, gazing down on what was once a loving brother, and while she had never actually known him, she felt that it would be wrong to leave him alone. The sun would soon take care of her work; she normally would leave it at that, but today she required seeing it through. Countless times she had left the bodies of beasts to dissolve in the daylight, but this time, with this one, she could see the man it once was.
In her hand she held a picture; a happy family in a park, two brothers who would go to great lengths to protect the other. Kit would have no family now; no one to protect and no one to protect him. Sarain could try, but she was no real substitute, she lacked the instincts to care for someone. Both brothers had just been boys doing what came natural to them. She was the one who was unnatural, breaking the mold on what should have been a normal young woman. No, she had never been normal, she hadn’t been lucky enough to experience that. She could only try her best, so that someone out there could live up to the standard that she couldn’t. That’s why she worked.
Sarain could feel the warmth of the sun on her back; she closed her eyes and let it embrace her. Its tenderness gave her a brief wave of tranquility, and it was almost as if being loved. When it passed, she opened her eyes and saw nothing but ash, the deed was done. She gave what remained one last look, and departed to go finish her task; it was time to tell Kit.
Each step up a stair was one that Sarain didn’t want to make. She didn’t long to see the look on Kit’s face when he heard the news. But she found herself climbing his apartment’s stairs; the boy deserved to know. Once she reached his door, she paused for a moment; she could still turn back. And then she thought of her own family, something she rarely did, and closed her eyes, hoping to force her thoughts away. Kit was all she wanted to think about.
Sarain took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. She heard the creaking of footsteps on the other side quickly approaching. A chain rattled, and then the door slowly opened. Kit stood tiredly in the door way; he looked like a small child, and as though he hadn’t slept in quite some time. He pushed the door open, without a word, to let Sarain in. She walked past him and he locked up. Afterward, she turned to him and waited for him to ask, “Is Nate alright?”
She had prepared herself for this instance, but suddenly couldn’t find the words. Instead, she bit her lower lip and shook her head no. Kit began to cry, and Sarain knew that she didn’t need to say anything now. She gazed down at the sobbing boy, his heart was breaking, but she couldn’t comfort him. She watched him till he stopped crying. His tears were then replaced by a sorrowful silent expression on his face; Sarain recognized this look, it was the same one on her face the last time she was able to see her reflection, and it was a look she didn’t wish to see again.
She handed him back the photo that he had loaned her. She worried that he would start to cry again, but he didn’t. Kit sat down, and then stared blankly at the ground. He brought his hand to his face and wiped his tears away, and weakly said, “Who’s going to take care of me now?”
Sarain thought of child services; Kit would be placed in a foster home, but would mostly likely never be adopted. He was too old, and from what she could tell, too rebellious. And now he had learned the streets cruelest lessons; his fate was beginning to look very similar to her own.
Sarain wanted to get back to her regular life and duties, but surprised even herself when she told Kit, “You can stay with me.” The words had come out her mouth like breathing, and she realized that maybe she needed him as much as he needed her. Caring over him made her feel human.
He agreed with a simple “okay.” She had him pack up his things, only what was essential, and she took from his apartment what she thought she would require for him. As they left, Kit gave his family’s home one long last look good-bye; a lifetime of happy images, smells, and memories he would leave behind. He closed his eyes, and could see himself sitting to dinner with his mother and Nate, something that could never happen again. It was time to go.
Sarain didn’t want Kit to turn into her, but she would have to teach him what he’d need to know to survive. She placed her hand on his back, and led him out the door. And as the door closed behind them, so did the chapter of Kit’s childhood.
Nate’s vacant eyes stared up at Sarain. His lips did not move, but she heard his voice say in a low raspy whisper, “I saw nothing.” His broken body lay at her feet; she may have been the one who killed him, but she wasn’t what destroyed him. She never saw true life in his eyes, not even behind the fiery glow when he tried to kill her. Something stole his essence before he became a monster. Where had he been those three days he was missing? He had seemed to be on a mission when she had interrupted him. He may have been coming after Kit, possibly to severe his ties to humanity; it wouldn’t have been the first time she saw it happen. But his eyes, so lifeless, so without passion; vil sangs normally had such a lust for blood burning through them that it kept them lively: Except Nate had been more like a beaten dog, and Sarain had been humane enough to put him out of his misery. Still, in his last moment, she had thought she spied one final glimmer of the man he had been in that single tear he shed. Or at least that was what she wanted to believe.
His words “I saw nothing” rang through her head. What did they mean?
Wait, he never said that; she must be dreaming again.
Sarain sat up in bed and realized that the deceased were speaking to her in her dreams again.
It was nearing dusk before Sarain finally dragged herself out of bed. The events from the previous night didn’t weigh her down like she thought they would; she actually felt fairly like her normal self. She went over her mental checklist on what she would need to do tonight; she would have to first make sure Kit was okay, then she needed to go to The Purge to find out what she could on Winston, and see what his connection to Nate was. She had to find this out before she could corner him, she couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. She probably wouldn’t be getting to any of her regular hunting tonight, which bothered her a bit; she liked to feel that she was making a difference, and to feel that, she preferred the instant gratification of a kill. However, if all goes well with her pursuit, she may still get her kill.
Sarain dressed, and walked quietly into her den. Kit was still sleeping in his sleeping bag on the floor, which he had laid against the wall. He clung to his pillow like a small child would a teddy bear; he had fallen asleep soon after his arrival. He slept deeply, but let out an occasional whimper throughout the night. She didn’t want to wake him from his much needed rest.
She made herself a simple meal of scrambled eggs and toast, but this time she made extra in case Kit got hungry, and sure enough the smell of the food woke him. He stretched up with a yawn and rubbed his eyes, when he saw the food he promptly got up and made himself a plate. He shoveled the eggs into his mouth hungrily, and then crammed in two pieces of toast to follow. Sarain poured him a glass of milk to wash it all down; seeing his appetite she grasped that she would have to start getting much more food from now on.
She finished her meal and turned to Kit, who was still stuffing his face. When he saw her staring he slowed down and curiously asked, “What?”
“I have to go work,” she told him.
“Are you going to go kill demons?” he questioned, sounding both excited and scared.
“Yes, maybe, but I’ll be safe about it,” Sarain answered, noting his concern.
Kit gave her a somewhat puppy dog face and replied, “Okay.”
She got up, and did a quick scan of the room before she said, “You should have everything you need here. Don’t leave the house, there’s a barrier around it. I should be back after dawn.”
Kit nodded, and then went back to eating. Sarain was surprised to see how well he was doing. Perhaps she wouldn’t have to worry about him so much after all.