18. Kage
581 Words
The alley was dark and damp as Kage wandered through the maze. “Kieran! Echo!” he called out as he wiped tears from his eyes. He felt someone watching him and he looked over his shoulder and saw nothing but shadows. Heart pounding in his chest, he picked up his pace.
He turned corners and jogged down alleys as he searched for the two that had become his family. When he found Echo, a pair of raccoons were fighting at her feet until a wave of rats tried to sweep her away and she ran away screaming into the darkness.
“Echo!” Kage called after her, but before he could chase after, a brick wall slammed in front of him.
Laughter filled the darkness around Kage and sent cold shivers down his spine. He ran from that laughter as fast as his long legs could carry him. “Kieran!” he screamed out.
When he turned the corner, he found Kieran as the other dhampir gazed down at Lacey and she smiled up at him. But there was something wrong with her smile. “Kieran!” Kage called out to Kieran as he ran towards him, but it never seemed like he got any closer to the man who had saved him.
Kage watched in horror as rats began to swarm over Kieran and the dhampir hissed in rage and pain as Lacey laughed.
“No!” Kage screamed and the wave of rats turned and crashed into him. He swatted at them but could do nothing as they bit and crawled over him. Cold magic exploded from Kage in ice and snow.
A mother’s voice whispered in Kage’s mind as he found himself floating in darkness. A single act of kindness can send ripples through the world to save more than just a single life…
“Kage! Wake up!”
Kage sat up with a scream in the bed and ice crunched underneath him as he looked for Echo. Her arms wrapped around him and held him close. “It was just a bad dream,” she said softly.
“Rats took you and Kieran,” he wailed as he clung to her. “Kieran!”
He was off the bed and out the door before Echo could say anything. When Kage opened the door to Kieran’s room, it felt like his heart stopped as he looked at the empty bed.
“Where is he?” Echo said in a small voice.
They looked all over the apartment for Kieran, twice, and texted and called Kieran but he didn’t pick up his phone.
“The Dancing Pig, this is Auron speaking. How can we help you?” Auron’s deep voice sounded through the tiny speakers and Kage and Echo both spoke at once, their voices rising with their panic. “One at a time! What’s going on?”
“KIERAN IS MISSING!” Echo finally screamed before Kage could.
The Grizzly was quiet for a time before he finally spoke again. “Have you tried calling or texting him?”
“Yes, he didn’t answer,” Kage practically yelled.
“Did he leave a note?”
Kage and Echo exchanged looks before Echo looked for a note. “No!” she finally said when she came back.
Auron growled. “I’ll call him on the Sleuth Line.”
The werebear hung up on them and they sat there and watched the phone, waiting for him to call back.
- Writer
