New Haven

SLIPPERY SHADOWS AND A MIDNIGHT ATTACKER

Alec and Dusk walked a few feet behind Logan and Dawn. Logan carried Dawn towards the elevators of their dorm building. Dusk chuckled silently in her head. She watched her little sister being carried, apparently too weak to walk to the dorm room all by herself. Dawn giggled at Logan as he whispered something into her ear. All four of them entered the elevator.

Do you have to do that? Dusk though to her sister. You should be conserving all your energy.

I’m not doing anything. Dawn protested.

You’re using your charms on him. He’s Holly’s brother.

I can do what I want when I want. Thank you very much. And besides, I’m not using my “Charms” as you like to call my power, on Logan. He likes me just for me! Dawn thought angrily.

“Okay, okay” Dusk playfully surrendered.

“Okay what?” Alec asked as he looked from Dusk to Dawn. Both girls looked at each other.

“Inside joke, had to be there,” They said in unison as the ding of the elevator sounded. The doors of the elevator opened and Alec stepped in front of Dusk to hold them open. Logan walked out onto the second floor with Dawn still in his arms. Alec turned to look at Dusk, her stomach suddenly flipped. He waited patiently for her to move.

“Are you coming” Alec asked, “Or were you planning on having a sleepover in the elevator?”

“Of course,” Dusk exited quickly, feeling Alec’s smirk follow her as she did. She held onto her bad arm in a sling and attempted to speed walk in order to catch up to Logan and Dawn.

“I think I can make it from here,” Dawn blushingly told Logan as he refused to set her down.

“I’m a gentlemen Dawn. A gentleman always sees his lady to the door.” Alec rolled his eyes as Logan continued to flirt with Dawn. He walked up behind Dusk. She already had her room key in her good hand. Luckily for Alec, Logan and Dawn had blocked the doorway. Dusk turned at the sound of Alec’s voice. She stood stunned that he had caught up to her so easily.

“How did you catch up to me so quickly,” Dusk asked.

“Long legs,” Alec answered as Dusk fought the urge to look down those long legs. “What?” Alec looked at Dusk. Dusk could tell by the smirk on his face that his knew exactly “What”.

“Nothing,” she told Alec. She opened the door to their room. Logan gently put Dawn down in front of the girls’ room as he and Alec prepared to say goodnight to them. Dawn turned from Logan and ducked into the room as Logan called after her to rest well and to feel better in the morning. Dusk was about to follow her sister into the room when she suddenly remembered something. “Ah crap. Dawn go in and go straight to bed you hear me! I’ll be back later.” Dusk instructed to her sister as she turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Alec asked genuinely curious. “You’ve had a long day too Dusk,” Alec told Dusk. He placed his hand on her good arm, “You need some rest yourself.”

“Thanks for the concern, but I have Parent’s day cleanup duties remember?” Dusk told Alec.

“Well, he should remember! He was the one who gave it to you,” Logan and Dawn said in unison. Dawn popped her head out of the room and looked at Logan. They both looked at each other and blushed deeply.

“I remember I gave her cleanup duty, but it’s late Dusk and besides…” Alec started to say but didn’t get to finish.

“…besides what? I’m not waking up early tomorrow to do it. The whole emergency evacuation because of a gas leak thing that happened today, the auditorium is probably a…”

“Hot mess and a half,” Dawn finished.

“Yeah, it’s most likely a hot mess and a half,” Dusk laughed, “So I’d better get going.”

“Dusk,” Alec said as he took her good hand into his, “Don’t worry about it. You just take care of your sister and yourself okay. Besides, the student council already took care of the Parents Day clean up.”

“What?”

“I made sure that the cleanup was taken care of. I didn’t want you to worry about anything.”

That was so thoughtful of him. Dawn thought to her sister. He’s so freaking sweet.

Sweet turns into cavities.

Meow.

“Well then, goodnight boys. Sleep tight.” Dawn said as Logan and Alec began their walk across the bridge to the boys’ side of the building, showing their ID cards as they passed the night guard sitting in his booth. Dawn and Dusk waited till both boys disappeared behind their doors before closing theirs. “Oh man, am I exhausted” Dawn said plopping down on her bed.

“Shhh…you’re going to wake Clowe and Holly.”

“Sorry,” Dawn whispered. “Are you going to take a shower or can I take one first, ‘cause I needs to get the smell of clinic off me before I hit the snooze button.”

“Don’t joke about that,” Dusk said sternly.

“I’m not joking. I straight up smell like medicine, it’s gross.”

“That’s not funny Dawn. You almost hit the snooze button permanently today. You know that right?” Dusk told Dawn as she opened her top drawer and pulled out a pair of her pajamas. Noticing her voice became louder, Dusk turned to Clowe and Holly’s beds. Both girls were sound asleep. Dawn sat up in her bed and looked at her sister confused.

“It wasn’t even all that Dusk, stop exaggerating.”

“Stop exaggerating!” Dusk wanted to strangle her sister as Dawn hushed her,

“You’ll wake up Clowe and Holly,” She sarcastically repeated Dusk’s words back to her. Dusk looked at her little monster of a sister completely flabbergasted. “Look, I know you were worried about me,” Dawn explained. Dusk opened her mouth to say something, but Dawn wouldn’t hear of it, “Don’t try to deny it, cause you looked like someone had died when you came into my room with Doctor Reyes and the Sparrow’s,” Dawn paused and looked challengingly at her sister. Dusk looked around the room trying to avoid Dawn’s penetrating gaze. “But I’m completely fine. In fact I’m better than fine. I haven’t felt this good since we’ve been exiled to this little island, not that I’m complaining,” Dawn smiled reassuringly to her sister. “But look, back to the point. Doc gave me a clean bill of health. If there really had been something seriously wrong with me they would have kept me overnight for like, observation and what not, but they didn’t, did they? Which means, conclusion, I am fine.” Dawn looked at Dusk who was still sitting on her bed and waited for her to respond.

“Okay, I’ll let it go, for now.” Dusk said as she walked towards the bathroom to take a shower. Her purple towel hanging over her good shoulder, “You know I’m never going to stop worrying about you, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you love me.”

“Don’t you forget it,” Dusk smiled brightly back at her sister as she shut the bathroom door. She took a nice long soothing shower. Dawn knocked on the door every minute to see if Dusk was done. Dusk for the first time, since moving to New Haven, finally felt like home.

Dusk got cozy underneath her covers, eager for a long, goodnight sleep. As she started to drift off into a deep sleep, her mind started to wonder. Her ears listened to Dawn in the shower. The musical combination of Clowe and her humidifier breathing and puffing in unison and Holly’s earphones playing the soundtrack of The Nightmare Before Christmas at full blast. It all combined to make the perfect goodnight lullaby for Dusk. As sleep finally took her, Dusk closed her eyes and drifted into the darkness.

To Dusk’s surprise, she found she wasn’t alone in the darkness as she closed her eyes to sleep. That woman was with her. That face had been haunting her dreams since she was a little girl. The dreams were more vivid than ever before. The woman started out as she always did just looking at Dusk, but then something happened, the dream changed. This time, the face of the woman started out the same, but slowly began to morph into another. Dusk could feel her own face scrunch up in her sleep. She peered at the woman with no face in front of her. Suddenly the image was clear and the face of the woman who had grabbed her arm in the auditorium was now standing right in front of her. In an instant, Dusk was back in the auditorium, back with that woman, staring up at the ever changing ceiling. There was some sort of a spot light over the woman. Dusk saw the woman moving her mouth saying something, but couldn’t hear it. She walked around to the front of the woman’s face. The woman opened her mouth once again and spoke, but this time Dusk heard clearly what she said,

“Tear. Her Tear, she longs for her Tear.” The women whispered.

“Hey, that’s what you said before, in the auditorium.” Dusk told herself.

“He wants her Tear.”

“I’m sorry I don’t understand.” Dusk told her, “What tears? Is someone crying?”

“Her Tear, her only Tear, shed for her only love. He needs her Tear. His Tear screams for completion!” A soul wrenching scream escaped the women lips. The spot light stayed on her as she unexpectedly was pulled back into the darkness. The woman’s scream echoed in Dusk’s ears as she woke up shaking in a cold sweat. She could see her breath in the air. The room was freezing! Dusk took a look around, adrenaline still pumping strongly through her. She noticed Dawn’s window open. She raced up and shut it down fiercely, pain shooting up her bad arm, as Dawn stirred in her bed.

“Don’t steal my leprechaun…my leprechaun.” Dawn told Dusk, as she sat up, half-asleep.

“I’m not stealing your leprechauns, go back to sleep Dawn,” Dusk didn’t even finish talking before Dawn’s eyes were closed. Dusk lightly pushed her sister back down into her bed and covered her. She walked back to her bed and laid back underneath her covers. She tried to sleep but every time she closed her eyes she pictured the woman from the auditorium being dragged into the darkness. After five minutes of attempting to calm down, it became apparent to Dusk she wasn’t going to be getting any sleep tonight. She was way too amped up. Dusk sat up in her bed and looked at the clock. It was passing two in the morning; she had no idea what to do. As if in response to her own question her stomach growled at her, demanding to be fed.

“Well, it’s not like I’m going back to bed. Might as well get a snack,” Dusk told herself as she walked over to Dawn’s side of the room. She picked a pair of sweats laid out on Dawn’s bed and shoved them on. Dusk smiled as she pulled the sweats on. Dawn had borrowed them from her and had never given back. She remembered to grab her jacket and some money out of her secret hiding place as she headed out of the doom room. Her bad arm secured safely in her sling as she headed straight for the snack machines. The snack machines were located on the bridge that connected the two sides of the dorm building. Dusk passed the guard’s booth that stood as the divider between the boy’s and girl’s sides of the dorm building on her way to the snack machines. She looked in on the night guard as she passed his booth and smiled as she found him asleep, hugging his flashlight like a child would hug a stuffed Teddy bear. She waited impatiently for the machine to drop her chips when someone tapped her on her shoulder. Dusk jumped forward dropping her chips and biting her lower lip in an attempt not to scream. She turned to see Clowe standing right in front of her also biting her lower lip.

“Clowe” Dusk stated as she waited for her heart to calm down, “What the heck Clowe? You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Dusk whispered harshly at Clowe, trying to keep her voice down.

“I’m so sorry Dusk. I woke up when I heard our door close and then you weren’t in bed. With everything that happened today and your arm, I just got a bit worried.” Clowe confessed as she looked down at the floor.

“Its fine Clowe, no big, just give me a second for my heart to restart, okay.” Clowe laughed. Dusk bent down to pick up her chips from off the floor when Clowe noticed a sudden drop in temperature. She was stunned when she could suddenly see her breath in the air.

“That’s creepy, temperature doesn’t normally drop that quickly,” Clowe said to herself.

“Did ya say something Clowe?” Dusk said as she saw a pair of black shoes walk up behind Clowe’s silk slippers. Dusk looked up just in time to see a huge arm pick up Clowe and toss her like a rag doll. “Clowe!” Dusk yelled as she stood, watching as Clowe’s body slammed hard against the snack machines. Before she could react to what she had just seen, Dusk felt two hands come down hard around her neck. She tried to scream, but no air seemed to be able to escape between the two giant hands. The stranger began to lift her slowly off the ground as Dusk kicked and scratched at the man. Her instinct won out over the pain radiating from her cast. Dusk tried to hit him with her hardened cast, but it didn’t seem to make any difference to the attacker. She looked at the stranger who was choking the life from her, trying to remember how the man looked just in case she got out of this alive. She would give the cops a good description. She tried to focus on the stranger’s features, but her vision became too hazy too fast. In the dark his face completely disappeared as Dusk began to lose consciousness.

Clowe awoke next to the snack machines, a blazing pain radiating from the back of her head. She fought to gather her senses as she looked up and saw Dusk struggling against a huge brute of a man. She pushed aside the pain beginning to spread throughout her body. She willed herself to get up. Clowe watched as Dusk’s face started to turn from red to blue. Without thinking, Clowe reacted, running full force towards the man. She tried to tackle him, but he was well over six-five and Clowe wasn’t even close to five-five. Her body bounced off the stranger like a ball bounces off a wall, but the contact made the man let go of Dusk. She fell to the ground with a thud. Then he turned his attention to Clowe. Clowe looked from right to left as the stranger began to advance to her. She searched with her eyes desperately for something to help her fight the man off with, but there was nothing in sight. Clowe opened her mouth to try and call for help, but her fear was paralyzing. She opened her mouth; nothing came out. Clowe looked at Dusk lying on the floor as the brute reached out and grabbed her by her pajama shirt.

“Hey!” a loud voice said from behind the stranger. The man turned his head as Dawn’s left hook made contact with the right side of his face. The stranger fell down into the shadows of the boy’s side of the bridge and disappeared into them. Dawn looked at the shadows of the bridge, shock and confusion paralyzing her.

SHADOW JUMPING?! The words entered Dawn’s head like a harbinger of doom. Dawn stared hard at the boy’s side of the bridge waiting for any sign of the man who had attacked Clowe and her sister, but there was no trace of him.

“Did he just…” Clowe began to ask.

“No… no way,” Dawn said, “That’s impossible.”

“Where did he go then” Clowe asked, panicking, “He was there, then he wasn’t.”

“That’s not possible,” Dawn repeated, more to herself then to Clowe, “That’s not possible.” The girls stood shaking in the cold of the night as Clowe suddenly heard a moan,

“Dusk!” Clowe turned and ran to where Dusk sat on the floor, coughing and trying to breathe at the same time. Dawn followed closely behind her. “Dusk, are you okay?” Dawn asked as Dusk nodded her head.

“Thank God you got here Dawn,” Clowe said on the verge of tears, “How did you…”

“I got up to go pee and it was freezing in the room, but when I reached for my sweats they weren’t there.”

“My sweats,” Dusk croaked out as she rubbed her throat, bruises beginning to form around her neck.

“Seriously Dusk, anyways, I turn and you’re gone,” Dawn pointed to Dusk, “and Clowe is gone too. Then I come out here and I see a giant ogre man going crazy on you guys. I mean, who was that guy?” Dawn asked helping Dusk up off the floor.

“I don’t know who he was and I don’t know where he went, but we need to report this,” Clowe told the girls. “He definitely does not belong here. He’s not a student or a teacher and if we don’t report this he could attack someone else.” Dawn and Dusk both nodded their heads in agreement. Clowe ran ahead to the get the guard.

“Why didn’t the guard help us out? I mean it’s not like he wouldn’t be able to hear us.” Dusk asked when they saw Clowe abruptly stop and take a step back from the guard’s booth.

“Oh my God…”

“Clowe, what’s wrong?” Dusk asked when she saw Clowe’s face go pale.

“I think…I think…I think…he’s…he’s…he’s” All three girls stood in front of the booth as they looked down at the guard. He looked just like he had when Dusk passed him on her way to the snack machines. He looked fast asleep. He was still holding his flashlight like a teddy bear. But now that Dusk was really looking at the guard, she noticed little things she had missed when she thought he was just “sleeping”. His skin’s tint was a little grey; his body sagged a little unnaturally on the chair, and the flashlight Dusk had thought he had been holding, seemed like it had been placed on him now. Dusk stepped forward into the booth as Clowe began to go into silent hysterics. Dawn held her trying to calm her down as Clowe’s little body shook fiercely. Dusk poked the guard, her mind keeping her in a state of denial. She began to shove the guard’s body, trying desperately to wake him up.

“Dusk stop it!” Dawn said as she let go of Clowe and grabbed her sister to keep her from shaking the dead guard. “He’s dead Dusk, he’s dead.” Dusk began having a mini freak out in her head. Dawn could feel her sister’s thoughts, “There’s nothing you could’ve done. He’s already gone Dusk.” Dawn shook Dusk till Dusk’s breathing grew steady again.

We have to call someone Dawn. We can’t just leave him here.

We won’t Dusk. Look, he has a radio. We can use that to call for help. Dusk nodded her head to Dusk as she reached for the radio on the guard’s body.

“Hello! Is there anyone there? This is freshmen student Dusk Nightingale. I’m here in the guard booth on the second landing of dorm building number four.” Silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie. “Hello?!”

“Here, let me try,” Dawn said as she took the walkie-talkie from Dusk, “You go take care of Clowe. She’s having like a full on Trinoble meltdown over there.” Dusk turned, Clowe was gone.

“Where’s Clowe?”

“No one’s answering!”

“Dawn!”

“I’m trying to do this. What?”

“Dawn! Where’s Clowe?” Dusk asked as she looked at her sister. They both looked at each other as the static from the radio became the only sound in the deafening silence.

“That man…” Dawn began to say before Dusk covered her mouth, signaling her to be silent. Dusk pointed her finger to Dawn’s head and her sister knew right away what she was telling her.

Okay, that’s smart. Dawn thought to Dusk. We’re in stealth mode.

Yeah, stealth mode, now what were you saying about that man.

That man that attacked you, he shadow jumped to escape.

What? Shock and fear radiating throughout Dusk’s thoughts. That not possible…I’m the only one…we’re not alone…does he know who we are…is that why?…what does this mean? Dusk’s thoughts began to pour into Dawn as Dawn grabbed her head,

Dusk stop, your thoughts are getting chaotic.

Sorry this changes things. We can’t call for help. If this guy is like us then we have to deal with this, okay.

Okay, now what are we going to do about Clowe.

If that guy took her and he’s a shadow jumper then we have to be careful Dawn. Make sure you keep out of the shadows and more importantly, keep an eye on your shadow. We don’t want him coming out of our own shadows, okay.

Okay. Dusk grabbed the flashlight off the dead guard. She pointed it towards the outside of the booth. Both girls continued forward making sure not to step into shadows as they exited the guard’s booth. “Clowe” They whispered into the darkness. “Clowe.”

“Over here,” Clowe answered from the side of the guard booth.

“Clowe, what are you doing on the side of the booth,” Dusk asked.

“I didn’t want to stay where I could see the…um…body.” Clowe said, her eyes starting to tear up.

“Come on Clowe you need to get up off the floor. We need to report this and no one’s answering on the walkie-talkie. You’re the freshmen president, so what do we do?” Dusk asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Come one Clowe,” Dawn urged, “Think.” The girls waited as Clowe sat deep in thought.

“We could go get the boys. Plus Alec’s in the High Council, so he knows all the emergency protocols.”

“Okay, let’s do that.” Dusk said as they turned to walk across the bridge.

Wait Dusk.

What is it?

Look. Dawn motioned with her eyes to the boy’s side of the bridge. It was covered by a blanket of darkness. A barrier of shadows that Dusk recognized right away. They shouldn’t cross.

“We could make a run for it,” Dusk said unconfidently to Dawn.

“Why do we have to make a run for it?” Clowe asked.

“Look Clowe, just trust us. We’re going to make a run for the boy’s room okay.” Clowe nodded her head, while looking questionably up at Dusk. The girls gave each other one last look before they broke out into a full on sprint for Alec’s room. They almost reached the room when something grabbed Dawn’s leg making her fall flat on her face.

“Dawn!” Clowe yelled as Dawn seemed to be getting dragged into the shadows. It was like a bad horror film unraveling before their eyes. Clowe leaped backwards, grabbing Dawn’s hands before Dawn disappeared completely into the shadow. Dusk looked back as she saw Clowe trying to pull Dawn out of the shadow. She looked back at Alec’s door trying to make a decision.

We need help Dusk thought to herself, Screw it. Dusk ran back to where Clowe was holding onto Dawn. Suddenly, Dawn was flying forward onto Clowe as if whoever had been pulling her had let go.

“What the…?” Dawn cursed as she pushed herself off of Clowe. Dusk was so relieved to see Dawn was okay, she didn’t notice she was standing in a shadow. The ogre sized attacker came out from behind her, his eyes glowing radiantly in the darkness, as he threw Dusk far against the snack machines. Clowe ran towards Dusk to see if she was okay, while Dawn stood up in between the stranger and her sister. She put up her fist, preparing herself for a fight.

“Bring it on sasquatch.” Dawn yelled at the man. Dusk told Clowe to stay by the snack machines. She was going to run and help her sister. The man’s eyes were pulsing now as Dawn started to swing on him. He blocked her easily and swung back, making contact with her stomach. Dawn fell forward trying to catch her breath, but before the attacker could land a second blow Dusk stepped in swinging in defense of her sister. The stranger blocked her as both girls stood and began to fight against the attacker. Clowe looked towards the boy’s side of the bridge as Dawn and Dusk fought. She pondered whether or not to make a run for it. Clowe thought maybe the boys could help them if only she could get to his room.

“Clowe, stay back,” Dusk told her as they fought. The man slowly pushed them further back onto the side of the bridge. Clowe moved from where Dusk had told her to stay. Hiding by the snack machines, she was now stuck in a precarious spot. The attacker had slowly pushed them all into a corner at the side of the bridge right on the railing. It all happened so quickly, as Dusk and Dawn were fighting, that none of them saw it coming.

Clowe’s gut retching scream vibrated off the walls of the dorm building. She was suddenly falling over the railing of the bridge, plummeting swiftly towards the ground. Clowe could hear Dawn yell her name as she fell. Dusk didn’t think. She jumped over the railing, following Clowe to the ground. Dusk willed herself to Clowe as they fell, latching onto her a second before they hit the ground. “Close your eyes Clowe!” Dusk yelled to her as her eyes glowed a brilliant white. Dusk dove into the shadows that were splashed across the floor, taking Clowe with her. Clowe kept her eyes open as she found herself falling sideways out the guard’s booth. “What just happened?” Clowe asked as Dusk lay pale and still underneath her. “Dusk?”

Dawn ran to the railing. When she saw that Clowe and Dusk weren’t lying on the floor, relief washed over her. Dawn turned as the attacker was now standing right in front of her. His eyes were glowing just like Dusk’s usually did as he looked down at her.

“Give it back to us.”

“Give what back to you?”

“The Last Tear” the attacker said.

“What?” Dawn demanded, her anger beginning to border on rage.

“Can’t you hear it? Can’t you feel it?” He said as he grabbed at her, “It’s not his. It belongs to us!” The attacker grabbed and held her as she fought to break free from his grasp.

“That’s it buddy, you had your chance.” Dawn said as she dug deep within herself and gathered all her strength into her hands. Her eyes began to glow bright red as she placed her hands on the attacker’s arms. “LET ME GO” Dawn commanded. The attacker’s arms dropped immediately at Dawn’s command. She raised her right arm to the attackers’ face. “I WANT YOU GONE” she commanded as the man’s eyes rolled back into his skull. He stumbled backwards. With Dawn’s strength suddenly depleted, she fell to the ground, physically weak. She looked up from the ground as she heard foot steps coming in the distance.

I’m done for it. She thought as the attacker stood over her. Run Dusk. Take Clowe.

“Dawn!” She heard someone screaming her name as she began to slip into unconsciousness. Suddenly, Alec and Dean, along with their two other roommates tackled the attacker.

“Dawn, are you okay?” Alec asked as he shook her awake, “Where’s Dusk?” He asked frantic. Dawn closed her eyes as she searched with her mind. “Dawn, did you hear me? Where’s your sister?”

Dusk, where are you? Dawn shouted with her mind.

I’m here with Clowe. We’re over by the guard booth, no need to shout.

Ah, thank you Jesus. She thought. Is Clowe alright? I’ve never seen you jump with another person before. Is everything okay?

Clowe’s okay, but I’m not. I’m seriously bleeding from my nose and my head is raging.

“She’s over by the guard’s booth with Clowe,” Dawn told Alec.

“Clowe” Dean said, his voice suddenly full of concern, “You guys got this right?” Dean asked his other two roommates. Dean didn’t really wait for a response as he turned and sprinted towards the guard’s booth with Alec following closely behind. Their two roommates held down the attacker who didn’t seem to be fighting back anymore. It seemed as though Dawn’s command had broken him.

“Clowe, please don’t say anything, please.” Dusk pleaded with her friend as she saw Dean and Alec running towards them.

“You’re like him, like that man who attacked us,” Clowe said shaking.

“No, I’m not. I don’t know, maybe. Look Clowe I haven’t changed. I’m still me. Please you can’t say anything to them.” Dusk held her breath, watching nervously as Dean and Alec approached them. Clowe only nodded her head to Dusk. The rest of the dorm building began to awake. The lights were being turned on and Dusk could clearly see Clowe’s facial expression. She recognized the look on Clowe’s face.

Dusk, are we okay. Did we make it through okay? Dawn thought to Dusk. Dusk looked at Clowe as Dean began to check her over for any superficial cuts and bruises. Alec did the same by staring at her neck. Dusk looked at Clowe as she thought of what Dawn had asked her. Clowe looked back at Dusk with a mixed facial expression of fear and painful betrayal. Dean kept asking Clowe if she was alright. She just kept shaking her head at him.

No Dawn, Dusk thought, we didn’t make it through okay.