Midnight Run

Supernatural Fact Vs. Fiction

Kit awoke to the steady rocking of the waves crashing into the boat. She looked around as she sat up. She was below deck on the bottom bunk of a very old looking bunk bed. There was a lantern sitting on the table across the tiny room that was being held in place by a hook. Kit quickly got to her feet and looked in the top bunk for Skye, but the bed was empty. She made her way to the deck, stumbling a bit as the boat continued to rock back and forth from the impact of the waves. When Kit surfaced, she immediately noticed that it was pitch black outside. She wondered how long she had been asleep as she clumsily made her way to the front of the boat searching for her mom. She found her asleep in a hammock, their bags piled underneath the hammock. Kit stared down at her mom and gently touched her cheek. Skye was out cold. Kit smirked and shook her head, Skye hadn’t slept in years, not a good, solid sleep anyways and Kit was a little surprised that Skye chose a stranger’s boat to sleep on. Kit didn't know if it was due to Skye’s werewolf side or if it was simply a feeling Skye got, but Skye was very good at reading people. She knew when someone was safe, dangerous, sneaky, kind and she may have come to the conclusion that these people were safe, and nobody would be able to get to them easily while out at sea. Kit quietly retreated, so that Skye could sleep. They were bound to be met with serious complications once they made it to the states. Kit turned around and saw a boy standing before her with a white mug. He had big blue eyes, and his head was covered by a red stocking cap as his mittened hands held the mug tightly. Kit smiled at him warmly as she took a cautious step in his direction, so as not to startle him.

“Hi.” She greeted him. “I’m Kit.” He smirked at her as he closed the distance between them. He handed her the mug he had been holding.

“Hot chocolate?” He insisted as Kit reached out to take the mug. She smiled appreciatively at the boy who looked to be around 8 years old. She wrapped both hands around the mug and let the steam from the cup envelope her face. She closed her eyes as she inhaled the scent. She hadn't had hot chocolate in a long time. She took a generous drink and smiled at the boy again.

“What's your name?” Kit inquired politely. The boy shoved his hands into his coat. It was the end of October, so it wasn't super cold, but it was chilly, especially out on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Kit didn't have her werewolf to keep her warm yet, so she kept both hands around the mug to seal in the warmth.

“Jaxton.” Said the boy brightly. “My papa is up in the wheelhouse steering the boat.” Jaxton said motioning up towards the wheelhouse where a man in his 60s waved down at them. Kit smiled and waved back at the man. Jaxton took a seat on one of the benches that was built into the deck and started kicking his legs back and forth, a grin upon his face. Kit sat next to him as she took another sip of her hot chocolate. “Betcha can’t guess how old I am.” Jaxton said slyly. Kit turned her face up towards the sky, giving it some serious thought.

“Mmmm, four.” She teased. Jaxton looked insulted as he stopped swinging his legs to stare at her. Kit giggled at his reaction. “16?” She asked, trying to make up for the “insult” she had just thrown at him. He laughed and threw his head back, clutching his side as his body shook with laughter at Kit’s guess. His laughter was infectious, and Kit started laughing too. Kit loved her mom dearly, but she loved being able to interact with a person aside from her mom, even if the person was a lot younger than herself. It was a nice break from the constant running, fear, caution and isolation she usually felt. Jaxton straightened up in his seat, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I’m eight.” He answered proudly. “Papa says I’m almost a man.” Kit nodded her head before taking another drink of her hot chocolate.

“That is pretty old.” She agreed, to which Jaxton nodded his head, beaming up at her. “What time is it?” Kit asked, wondering how long it would take to get to Mexico. Jaxton shrugged before jumping off of the bench and running up the ladder to the wheelhouse. Kit chuckled and shook her head at his innocence. She leaned back on the bench and stared out at the vast ocean in front of her. She sighed in contentment.

“Kit!” Jaxton shouted from the top deck. Kit quickly looked over at him. “It’s 8:00!” The old man came out of the wheelhouse quickly.

“Boy, quit yelling like that.” He scolded. “Can't you see the woman there is sleeping.” He finished angrily. Jaxton cast his eyes to the floor and Kit chuckled.

“It’s okay, sir.” She shouted, standing up. “Once my mom falls asleep, there isn't much that can wake her.” Truth be told, Skye was a very light sleeper, 10 years on the run had done that to her, but this was the first time she had actually slept longer than 15 minutes since they had to run all those years ago, and Kit knew that she would be out for a while. She smiled up at Jaxton who remained staring at the floor in shame. “Thank you, Jaxton!” Jaxton smiled shyly at her before gazing up at his papa. His papa gave him a small smile back before patting him on the shoulder.

“We have some leftovers below deck if you're hungry.” The old man offered. “Jaxton can show you where the kitchen is.” He finished before making his way back into the wheelhouse. He popped his head back out. “I’m Mr. Mentley by the way.” He added as an afterthought and then he was gone, back in the wheelhouse to steer the boat. Jaxton had made his way down the ladder and was pulling Kit by the hand. Kit smiled down at him as he led her below deck to the little kitchenette. He pulled out a plate from the fridge that had fried fish, potato wedges and green beans on it. Kit’s mouth watered and her stomach grumbled at the sight in front of her. Jaxton put the plate on top of a camping burner to let it heat up before turning off the burner and handing the plate to Kit using an oven mit. He set the plate in front of Kit at the little table and quickly retrieved a fork for her to use. Kit dug into the food and ate, forgetting any and all table manners that she had been taught. The food was delicious. The fish was crispy in some places and tender in other places and had just the right amount of flavor. The potatoes were seasoned to perfection and the green beans had bits of bacon and onion powder on them. Kit moaned in satisfaction as she finished her food in record time. She sat back in her chair and massaged her belly as Jaxton stared at her in awe. Kit nodded at him.

“That was good.” She murmured. Jaxton burst into a fresh fit of laughter and soon Kit was joining him as they clutched their sides, rolling around in their chairs. Kit spent the next hour and a half up in the wheelhouse talking to Mr. Mentley and Jaxton about sea life and being fishermen. Mr. Mentley had become Jaxton’s sole guardian after his parents were killed in a car accident two years ago. Jaxton spent most of his time at sea with his papa and was home schooled. There were five months out of the year that Jaxton would go to a public school during the winter months which were coming up. They were originally from Canada, but work took them all over the world. They were headed to Tampico, Mexico to sell some fish and catch up with a relative before getting Jaxton enrolled in school. Jaxton had fallen asleep on Kit’s lap and Mr. Mentley had picked him up and gently laid him down on a little cot that was in the corner of the wheelhouse. Kit smiled to herself as she made her way down the ladder to where Skye was still fast asleep. Exhaustion clearly taking over her body, and Kit was happy that her mom had given in and allowed sleep to take her. Kit reached under the hammock that Skye was sleeping in and grabbed her backpack and her mom’s duffel bag. She brought both bags with her over to the bench that she had been occupying with Jaxton earlier. She made herself comfortable on the bench, leaning against the side of the boat, pulling a blanket from her mom’s duffel bag, draping it over herself and flipping through the old journal that had once belonged to her dad. She found a few more pictures as she flipped through the pages and every picture listed names and dates on the back. Her dad was the organized and responsible one of her parents and Skye was the rebellious and impulsive one of her parents which was typical for both a werewolf and a wizard/witch. Luckily for Kit, both her parents valued family which was shown in the pictures that Kit was currently looking at. She stared down at a picture of a tall, broad shouldered man with bulging muscles peeking out from his t-shirt. He had the same brown skin as Kit and wore a serious expression upon his handsome face. Kit didn’t need to look at the back of the picture to figure out that this was Alpha Melik, Skye’s father and her grandfather. Next to Alpha Melik stood a beautiful woman with extremely dark skin, ethereal, blue eyes and long curly black hair. Unlike the alpha she wore a beautiful smile upon her face and her teeth gleamed a pearly white in contrast to her dark skin. This was undoubtedly Luna Guinevere, Skye’s mom and Kit’s grandmother. They looked like a perfectly paired couple in their late 20s. Kit turned the picture over and read, Alpha Melik and Luna Gwen - Summer of ‘99. Kit made a mental note to ask Skye how old the alpha and Luna would have been in this photo. Kit didn’t know everything about supernatural beings, but she did know that most supernatural beings aged very slowly and lived for an extremely long time in the case of witches, wizards, dragons and werewolves. Vampires were the only immortal beings. She continued flipping through the journal. Her dad had made several notes about the different factions, the town, the founding families, etc. and Kit made a mental note to ask Skye how old the alpha and luna would have been in this photo. Kit didn’t know everything about supernatural beings, but she did know that most supernatural beings aged very slowly and lived for an extremely long time in the case of witches, wizards, dragons and werewolves. Vampires were the only immortal beings. She continued flipping through the journal.