A Quick Forword: I know I haven't been around lately, but May is my busiest month of them all. Some of you who may be reading this know that I applied for the writing camp Alpha. Well, I didn't get in, and I'm not really surprised. But this is the story I'm working on to submit for next year. This copy you're reading is the very first, very, very rough first draft. Any feedback would be welcome. I'm looking for a good beta reader for this story, so if you're interested, let me know. Onwards to the story!

I’d love to kill him

I’d love to kill him. I really would. I’d love to get my hands on him and sink my teeth into his neck and stick my claws in his stomach and claw him to death. But no. That would be against “school rules.” Psh. Like I’d ever followed those before.

But something told me he was different. There was just something about him that screamed “NO HAYLEY, I’M DIFFERENT. DO NOT TOUCH.”

So instead of following my instincts, I stayed crouched in my corner and willed myself to be as small as I could, in hopes of watching him for a bit longer. Ha. Yeah. No, I really just wanted to see if this signal he gave off was a fake or not. They did that sometimes. Normal people don’t know they’re doing it. They were the special people, the ones I was absolutely forbidden to touch by those loser idiots in power. Trained people did it on purpose, to throw those of us like me off their trails and save their meaningless lives.

Frankly, I was hoping this one was like the latter set of people. I hated them so much. It’s not like they have anything worth living for anyways. Not like me, apparently. No, I have so much to live for it’s not even funny, according to those sponge-like teachers.

You think I’m being too harsh on them. I’m not. I say sponge-like because that’s exactly what they are. They have no backbones and will bend to the will of any of the Elders, no matter how old or weak or plain stupid they were. They’re weak. Trust me. I’ve gotten out of more than one of their schemes with only my wit.

Back to the situation. The guy I was stalking was sitting on a box in the alleyway. He wasn’t doing anything, just sitting. Every so often, he’d sniff, as if he caught the stench of a rat or some of the laundry I was always doing.

Oh yes. I was the laundry-maid for some rich up-town family with two perfect children and two perfect parents and perfect butlers and perfect maids who lived in a perfect house in a perfect neighborhood with perfect schools and perfect jobs with the perfect income to pay for the perfectness of their lives. Bitter? Why, yes, I am.

I’d love to kill that family too, but the school says I have to do some work, and they were the only people willing to pay me anything. So I get to spend seven hours of every week in a perfectly stuffy basement with a perfect washing tub and less-than-perfect laundry. I swear, those perfect kids of theirs sure know how to stink up their clothes.

“You can come out, you know. I won’t bite,” the guy on the box said. I snapped back to attention and stiffened. Getting caught? Not an option.

The guy sighed. “Really, I won’t. I want to talk to you.”

I didn’t say anything. I mean, what would I say anyways? Yes, hello Mr. Strange Guy, I’m a lone girl who most people call very pretty and I’m alone in this alleyway at night when you just so happen to be here? Oh, and by the way, I’ve got superhuman powers too. Isn’t that spiffy?

No. I’d really rather not.

“Lovely thoughts, my dear. Why don’t you come out now and let me see if you’re really what most people call pretty? By the way, I do find it pretty spiffy that you’ve got superhuman powers,” he said dryly. He wasn’t speaking very loudly, but I didn’t need him to. Even though we were probably ten feet apart, I could hear him just fine.

I rose slowly from my crouch and stepped out of the shadows, leaning against a pile of junk. There would be no killing of Mr. Mysterious tonight, as much as I’d love to.

When I stood up, I got a better view of this guy. He had shaggy blond hair and murky blue-grey eyes. He had a leather jacket and jeans on. He looked dangerous. Mentally, I smacked myself. He was one of them.

I turned to run, but he was quicker, holding me in place there after mumbling something under his breath. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate them? Because I really do.

“Now, now, that’s no way to treat someone while you’re having a conversation with them, hmm?” he said.

“Were we having a conversation? Because I don’t remember actually saying anything to you directly. It’s more like you butted in on my private thoughts. I thought that was illegal?” I said coolly. It was illegal to listen to a person’s private thoughts. It was even illegal for them. Though, how the Elders enforced that, I don’t know.

“But you aren’t going to tell anyone, now are you? You wouldn’t want anything to happen to your old pal Robin, would you? Walk with me.” Robin. What a fairy-tale name. I wonder how his parents ever came up with it.

Against my will, I found my feet moving forward until I was standing next to him. Robin towered over me, which was really no surprise. They always did. I was pulled along at a much faster pace than I was used to.

“So where might we be going, Robin?” I asked him.

“Where do you think we might be going, Hayley?” he replied. I might have known he would know my name.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, now would I? Funny, I expected you to know that already,” I said.

“I’m not a complete barbarian; I don’t constantly pry. Just when the mood strikes. For your information, we’re going back to my house. I have to talk to you. Alone. In private.” Oh geez.

“Do you know how incredibly wrong that sounds? Perv. I will call the street cops if you don’t let me go, you know. There’s plenty of them around this place,” I warned.

“Oh yeah, and how many of them are going to listen to you, a lonely little street rat? And a member of the Academy, as well! I bet most of them would be glad to get rid of you, my dear. I bet most of them won’t care one bit what happens to you or anyone like you, as long as they don’t have to be the ones taking care of any of your messes,” he shot back. He had a point. No one cared what I got up to, as long as I didn’t get into trouble. No one wanted me around, except the Academy teachers.

See, the Academy is this school for the slums with “abilities,” as they were called. In other words, it was a school for poor people with these superhuman…things…who couldn’t get into a specialized school. It’s the lowest of the low schools in the area. No one cared what happened there.

Robin and I turned around a corner and he stopped me at a house on the left.

“Stay,” he told me. He fumbled around in his jacket for a key and let himself into the house.

“I don’t appreciate being treated like a dog, you know!” I yelled after him. I tried moving away from the house, but those mumbled words of his wouldn’t let me.

“Not cool, Robin! Let me in already. I don’t want any of your creepo neighbors getting any ideas. Oh geez, there’s an old guy staring at me. Robin!” I yelled. I saw Robin’s head peek back around the doorway.

“Do I have to? Who am I to take away an old guy’s fun, hmm?” he said. But he snapped his fingers anyways, and I moved inside the house as fast as I could. I wound up sitting on a couch in the next room before he even turned around.

“Lovely place,” I smirked. It was moldy and decrepit, filled with really old junk that were probably “knick-knacks” or “antiques.”

“So what did you just have to say to me? What couldn’t wait until it wasn’t midnight to talk about?”

“Mmm…nothing much. Nothing too terribly important. I suppose it could have waited until morning, but then it’d be light outside and people would be awake and moving. They would hear you. And we can’t have that, now can we?” he said.

“So this is something dangerous. And probably life-threatening for me. Gotcha. What exactly are you planning?” I asked him. It was obvious that he wanted something from me. I just didn’t know what.

“I plan for you to die, Hayley.” Nice and direct. Death. Lovely subject to discuss at midnight.

“And why do I need to die tonight?”

“Because the Night doesn’t want you around any more. You’re becoming too powerful. You’re a threat to the Night. The Order has their eye on you, and I’m sure you can figure out what that means.” He was trying to sound menacing, like I’m a threat to the Night (which I am, apparently) and I need to be taken care of before I kill someone too important (which I was planning on doing). Like he was going to be a brutal guy who would enjoy killing me.

Of course, I could figure out why the Order has their eye on me, but it was midnight, and no sane person can think well after midnight. Nothing good ever happens after midnight.

“What’s it mean?” I asked him.

“Figure it out on your own.”

“Come on, Robin. If I’m going to die, I might as well know why, right?” I told him. I didn’t have any intention of dying that night, but it wouldn’t do to let him know that. I had to keep my thoughts carefully guarded around him. Of course, he could rip my mind to shreds if he was so inclined. He could dig around down there and find anything he wanted to. But he wasn’t doing that. He was being civil, so I didn’t want to give him any reason to start rooting around in my mind.

“Fine. They want you to become their new Hunter- or Huntress, in your case. You do know what that is, right? You aren’t a total idiot?”

“Of course I know what that is!” I snapped. Everyone knows that the Hunters and Huntresses are the ones to go out and fight against the Night. They’re the most deadly of all the Order. “But why me?”

“Because you’ve shown exceptional ability for recognizing members of the Night. You are a wonderful predator, and you have a killer’s instinct. And I’m afraid we can’t let you live because of this,” Robin was lounging on a chair with his boots on the table in front of him.

“So what happens if I escape from here with all this knowledge? Won’t you get in trouble with other members?” I had to know if he would be punished when I escaped or if that would be my honor.

“First of all, you won’t be escaping. Second of all, no, I will not. It’s my decision to tell you all this, just like it was my decision to come find you and take you down. No one could tell me what to do or not do. You’re my responsibility now,” he told me, looking up at me. I was still standing. He looked so calm, like he was sure nothing could hurt him. Nothing would hurt him, either. I was standing in front of the leader of the Night. I wondered just how important I really was. I mean, the leader? Decided to come after me? I must be a real threat.

“So what does that mean? And, in a hypothetical situation, what would happen if I were to actually somehow get by you and escape?” I had to know. I just had to.

“Well, then I would have to track you down. Of course, it’d be much simpler if you were to stay here and we can do this cleanly. Much less painful. For you, anyways. I could care less whether you’re in pain or not. If you were to somehow find your way out of here safely, I’d track you down. I wouldn’t even get anyone else to help me, even though it would be a lot easier on my part. You’re worth the chase. I’ve had a taste of your mind; I can tell where you are at any time. You wouldn’t be safe anywhere. I could follow you to the ends of the earth if I was so inclined. You can’t escape me, Hayley. If not tonight, I will have you dead sometime in the near future. Maybe I’ll keep you around for a while. You seem interesting. You’re bright. I rather like you,” he told me.

“So I’m not dying tonight. You’re going to keep me around. Like a pet. How very generous of you,” I said. He closed his eyes and smiled.

“I know, right? I’m such a good person. Please, feel free to sit. It’ll be a while before you go anywhere.”

I decided to try something. He couldn’t feel my mind if it wasn’t doing anything, right? So if I made it completely blank, he wouldn’t know where I was. I concentrated hard and wiped my mind completely. I watched Robin shoot up out of his seat and open his eyes, scanning the room for me. I sank down on the couch and curled my legs up under me and smiled. Without something in my mind to hold on to, Robin wouldn’t be able to do anything to me mentally. He crossed the room quickly and glared down at me.

“Think you’re that smart? Think you can get away from me by doing something like that?” he asked.

“Did I try to escape?” I smiled up at him.

“Don’t forget that I’m faster than you. I’m stronger than you. I’ll haul your sorry backside back here before you even make it to the front door, little miss. You can’t get away from me that easy,” he hissed. “I’ll be able to find you anywhere, whether your mind is blank or not. Did you forget who I am?”

“Of course not. I don’t forget a face that ugly easily,” I said. Pushing it, I know.

He slapped me.

“And I don’t forget insolence to an elder easily either,” he told me. I touched my stinging face.

“Oh yeah, because you’re that old,” I said, rolling my eyes. My face burned, but I figured it was better to not let him know that.

“I don’t have to be older than you in order to be your elder,” he smirked.

“Sure. Whatever.”

“Tell you what. I know you plan on escaping- oh, don’t give me that look, you know I know you were planning on doing it. But I think you’re a pretty little thing. You’ve got spunk, girl. So here’s my offer: I can give you a head start, let you go off in this house to try to find your way out of here as fast as you can. I’ll wait…mmm…five minutes. Then I’ll come after you. If I find you before you get out- and I will- I get to steal a kiss before you die. Okay?” he asked. What the heck?

“So it’s a lose-lose situation for me and a win-win situation for you. And the only reason you want to try this is because I’m “pretty.” So you can get your kiss. Am I right?” I replied. Of course I was right. But why would he want me to do that? Am I really that pretty?

“Yes. I find you fascinating. And I think you’re very pretty. I’d love to find out what a feisty little thing like you kisses like.” He looked me up and down. My face burned. And, for once in my life, I didn’t have a snappy comeback.

“Yes, well, let’s get on with it then,” I said, clearing my throat. He smiled.

“So are you agreeing, then?” he asked me.

“Yes, Robin, I am. Was I not clear enough for you?” I told him.

“Very well. May I have a kiss for good luck?” he asked. The nerve. I glared at him.

“So is that a no, then? I just might have to take it from you, then,” he continued.

“Try it. See what happens,” I said. I felt my claws coming out. Robin saw them too, and didn’t make any movements towards me.

“Go on then, I don’t need your luck. Your time starts now.” He leaned in close to me. "Run," he whispered. With that, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. I made my mind very blank and full of nothing, pulled off my shoes and set them by the door, and set off down the hallway at a run.

I peeked into a few rooms on the way down the hallway before finding one with stairs. I figured it would be a good idea to start at the basement and go up, because many of the older houses had doors leading to passages which then led outside. If I could get outside and go somewhere busy, I could maybe put him off for a while. I wasn’t trying to escape the inevitable: I knew he would kill me. But I had to take care of some things first, like telling the Order. I didn’t know what they would do, since they aren’t allowed to touch the leader of the Night. But I knew they would do something, maybe starting to train a new Hunter/Huntress? I don’t know. They still needed to know.

I took the stairs two at a time. I swung myself around the foot of the stairs and took off running full tilt down the hallway. How much time had passed? Two minutes? Three? It hadn’t been five, I was sure. But would Robin actually wait all five minutes before coming after me, or would he just wait long enough to make sure I wouldn’t hear him start looking?

I stopped suddenly and listened. I heard footsteps. Of course. He wouldn’t bother waiting for the five minutes to be up. Or maybe he had, and I had just lost track of time in my mad flight. I checked around for a clock, but I couldn’t find one.

Once again, I cleared my mind of everything. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I had to try anyway. I thought of nothing and whiteness only. Then I set off, more carefully, masking all of my thoughts behind that nothingness. I looked through all the doors and didn’t see anything.

A hand came out of nowhere and slammed my head back against the wall and shined a bright light in my face, blinding me. A single thought of panic got out before I shut my mind up again. Obviously if it were Robin, he wouldn’t bother with the light. He can see in the dark almost as well as I can.

My head throbbed. The hand pulled me into a room and shut and locked the door.

“You don’t have to hide your thoughts in here. It’s a reinforced room. No one outside of the room can hear you,” a deep and rumbling voice said. The voice turned on a light. I was still blinded from the previous light, but the new flash of red shining in my eyelids alerted me to the light.

“My, my. Look at this. I seen a lot of people brought here by Robin, but never so young…and never a girl, either. Least, not a decent girl.” The voice made me blush.

“So who are you? Out with it girl, I’m not gonna raid your mind for all the answers, unlike certain other people. I actually act civilized,” the voice told me.

“Hayley,” I croaked out. “And turn that light off for a few moments. It makes my head hurt.”

“Eh…heh heh, sorry about that, my dear. I didn’t mean to crack your head that hard. But a man has to stay protected from Robin and the sort, you know,” the voice said. The light went off and I opened my eyes a slit.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“The name’s Robert,” the voice- Robert said. “I stay down here and try to help those people who don’t deserve to die and hinder those who do. Course, Robin don’t know I’m here. He probly thinks I’m long dead by now. See, Robin felt threatened- when we were boys, that is- he felt threatened by me cause I was so good at what I do. He didn’t like anyone matchin’ him in power. So he threatened me so much when we were boys that I ran away and came down here.”

“Where exactly is down here? Where am I?” I asked him. Robert seemed like a good enough people, not at all like Robin.

“This house is the Prince’s House. Y’know, where the Prince of the Night lives. It’s also where all them youngins who’re training to be the next Prince live. You ain’t gonna see any of them around here, though.” He paused and chuckled. “Robin doesn’t think he’s ever gonna die. But don’t you worry, little miss, the Night has been secretly training the next generation of boys well. Can’t tell you where or how, but they are.”

“Great, great. So is there any way out of here that I could get through now?” I asked him.

“Maybe. First you gotta tell me somethin’. How’d you get away from Robin, hmm?”

“He gave me five minutes’ head start,” I said.

“Robin isn’t the sorta guy to do that kinda thing. What’d you promise ‘im in return, hmmm?” Robert asked. He was suspicious. Not like he didn’t have a right to be, of course.

“A kiss. Is there a problem with that? He’s actually pretty good looking, you know, if you can get past all that being evil stuff.”

“OOO-oooh,” Robert squeaked. “Looks like old Roobie here has himself a girlfriend! Little Roobie has a cru-ush! Roobie has a cru-ush!” He was singing. And mocking me. And mocking Robin. All at once. I glared at him.

“All right, all right. But a kiss? Seriously? I was beginning to think that old Robin here wasn’t ever gonna get any action. You’re a very brave little girl, to promise something like that to ‘im. He’s gonna come after you extra hard now, cause he wants that kiss. So here’s what I’m gonna do…”

Robert went on to explain that if I went down this hallway, turned right, turned left, went down that hallway, entered that room, turned left, entered the other room, and went down two more hallways, I would eventually get out of the house. Hopefully alive.

I was hoping I could remember that.

“Got it? I’ll be around to help you if you get too confused. You seem like a nice enough girl. I ain’t gonna let Robin getcha if I can help it,” he said.

“Nice…right…let’s go with that. Thanks for your help. I better get going,” I said, reluctant as I was to leave that room. I knew Robin would figure it out soon enough. As it was, he was already probably getting mad that he couldn’t pick up my trail. So, with a sigh, I slipped out the door and blanked out my mind as best as I could.

I followed Robert’s instructions as much as I could. I took the turns as quietly as possible, listening for the footsteps I knew I wouldn’t hear. Robin was unnaturally quiet, and I had unnaturally good hearing, so we should have been evenly matched. We weren’t, though, so I had to be careful.

I came to the last turn and stopped, listening. I didn’t hear anything, so I rounded the corner to freedom.

And stopped.

Because he was there.

And I was stuck.

And I was going to die.

And he knew it.

And he grinned that slow, cold grin of his.

And I nearly fainted.

Except I braced myself against the stone wall and didn’t faint.

And now I wish I hadn’t, if only to give myself an extra few hours while I was unconscious.

Robin pushed off the wall where he was leaning and walked towards me. I shrank back against the wall before realizing that was a Very Bad Idea, but by then he had cornered me.

“Told you so,” he said. “I told you that you couldn’t get away from me. I told you that you wouldn’t escape. Didn’t I tell you? And now you’re stuck here with me and there’s no second chance, little girl. There’s no way for you to escape me now.” He laughed that hideously annoying, dry, cruel laugh of his.

“Don’t be so sure,” I said, but my voice quivered. I cursed my lack of self-control.

“Oh, but I am. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt for too terribly long,” he laughed again. I willed myself to stand tall and look at him coolly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Oh…nothing, nothing. Just…nothing,” he replied.

“Right. Well, let’s get on with it, then.”

I tilted my head towards him and he pressed his mouth against mine. I couldn’t help thinking, Somehow, I thought he’d be a better kisser than this.

Don’t worry, dear, I am. This is nothing. Robin’s voice sounded in my head. I gasped and pulled away, glaring at him.

“I thought you weren’t allowed to speak inside my head. I thought even you would have that much class. I thought there were certain rules of the universe that banned that…higher powers than you even…” I sputtered.

“Wrong.” He smiled. “Your mind is an open book to me, Hayley. I’ll take anything I want from your mind and I’ll do anything to it now. You won’t be able to stop me…besides, you’re hardly in a position to be telling me what to do. Now, I hardly count that little smashing of faces to be a true kiss, like you promised me. Shall we begin again?”

I didn’t get a chance to reply. He pulled me back to him and put my arms around his neck before bending his face back to mine and kissing me again. My mind exploded. What should I have thought? What was he doing? Was this actually happening? Did I actually enjoy it? Was he…attracted to me? Would he kill me if he was?

The kiss deepened. I found myself falling into his arms, desperate to keep it going.

NO. My mind roared beneath all the thoughts flooding it. Some part of me realized that he was keeping me distracted, disoriented. He was flooding my mind with thoughts of him, making me enjoy it. He was trying to put me off balance.

Without breaking the kiss, I let one of my arms trail down his chest to my thigh, where I unzipped my pocket and pulled my dagger out. I entwined my hand in Robin’s hair.

And slid the knife in between his ribs.

He staggered back, gasping. He looked down at the red stain blossoming on his chest, and back up at me in surprise and admiration. Bracing himself against the wall once more, he began to clap. Clapping. He was clapping for me. Me. Who had just killed him.

“Very well done,” he said, gasping for breath. “Very well. Good…good job, Hayley. I hope you’re very happy with yourself. Those thoughts…those…weren’t mine. They were…your…own.” He grinned that cold grin again. “You…enjoyed it without my…aid. You’ve just killed…your possible…lover.” Robin’s breath was labored. I eyed him coolly.

“My possible lover who was about to kill me? No, Robin, I didn’t. I just killed the most evil man in this world. I just took your life away from you…and I got mine back. Yes. I’m very happy with myself,” I said. He grinned once more.

“Say…what you…will. I’ll come…back for…you. One day….just…wait.” With that, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, sliding down the wall with that handsomely awful grin on his face. He exhaled once, twice, three times…and died. I looked at his dead body, wondering freely what he meant by coming back for me. He was dead, I could think anything in the world and he wouldn’t know it. I felt a pang. He was dead and I had killed him. He was the only person to ever kiss me when I enjoyed it. And he was dead.

But there wasn’t any time to think of that. I stooped over him, closed his eyes, and slid my dagger out of him, wiping the bloody blade on his shirt. I turned then, and walked out the door. I didn’t look back. There was nothing there for me. Yeah, he was beautiful, but he didn’t mean a thing to me. Or so I thought, walking out into the sunlight.

I went on to tell the Elders of what had happened. From there, I went back to the Academy. I quit my old job with the perfect family. I graduated the Academy with honors, and I was apprenticed to the Elders in the hope that I would one day make something of myself. After five more years of study under them, I was old enough to finally take my place on the high throne of the Order and become their leader. I was the most feared Huntress in the world. I was the most powerful leader the Order has ever known. I was also the most loved, for dispatching of the Night’s worst leader in history. I had everything a good leader would need.

And now, looking back on my life as an old lady, still the leader but no longer the great Huntress I used to be, I see that it all seems pathetic. I never had a true companion. I never had a true friend, not even growing up. That struggle for power cost me the only thing I couldn’t get through power. Love. Because, you see, Robin would have given that to me, whether he let me live or not. He did love me, in his own way. Somehow, I knew that. If I had never killed him, if he had let me go on his own, I could have gone back to him willingly and ended the feud…by becoming friends, or, as he said, lovers. Or, I could have gone on to find a wonderful boy of my own to love and hold. But I didn’t, and I’ve never known what true love is like. I’m a bitter old woman now.

Robin never came through on his prediction…threat…thing. He hasn’t come back for me yet, and as I lay here on my death bed, I know he won’t. The only way I’ll ever see him again is if we meet somehow in another life or in the afterlife. I doubt we’ll ever meet again.

And strangely, that hurts more than anything I’ve ever gone through before.