Almost dusk. We all know what comes after. People all around me hurries to hide the products and materials they had prepared this morning. Parents and older siblings alike ushering the little ones to safety. But if you know what I do for a living, safety is no where to be found. What we have now is luck. You may be one of the lucky ones to survive the night or become one of those less fortunate. I was lucky enough to be born with my ability. The problem with that is, there are so little of us left. The ones strong enough to battle these black, human like creatures that, for some reason, are affected by the sun light. Like vampires, they burn when hit by the sun. Yet their bodies can withstand UV rays which makes them even more dangerous than vampires of the old folklores told by our grandparents and their grandparents before them. Minutes left before we will face another night of torturous screams of the less fortunate and endless battle between us and them. Nightcrawlers as we came to call them.
For some reason, lou and i are the only ones who can connect through the mind. I never had the slightest idea why it was possible for me and her to communicate without physically speaking and we were too afraid to tell anyone else.
"Lou!." i call out to her. "Where are you?"
"I just got here"
"Where?" I searched for any signs of her long black hair, and white flowery dress, which she thought today would be a good day to wear something light as a symbol of hope.
"Behind you." I turn to see her smirking at me as though disappointed. "How do you expect me to trust you to protect me if you can't even tell if a simple townsfolk is right behind you?" She miles teasingly. "You're lucky I'm not a monster"
I smile back "if people only knew, they'd say you are worse than the crawlers. And for the moment, you are no threat to me so I need not protect my back from you."
Her expression, changed. She stares with her piercing dark brown eyes right Into my very soul. I stare back with the same ferocity. Our minds link up and that's when we realized it was too late. The crawlers fly up to the sky earlier than usual and rendered all the townsfolk scared beyond belief. For the first time in years we hear people yelling and screaming this early in the day; Doors banging shut to keep the crawlers from entering their household but failed; new fighters too surprised to react quickly has lost all their sense and forget their training. And lou and I, Seeing all of it for the first time, stare blankly into each others eyes.
"Hey you two!" A familiar voice shouts from the distance. "You better skedaddle before its too late."
I look at him but the expression on my face never faded. I stared at him in fear. Micheal somehow understood. I pulled lou by the arm and directed her to Micheal's place. "Mike, take her with you. We have no time." pushing them both as i spoke. "They are here." The screams starts as lou and I predicted just enough time for Micheal and Lou to lock up and stay hidden.
I start to follow the sound and begin another night of terror. I look up and see a thick vail of black cloud cover the sun away from sight. Screams grow louder and louder, my pace becomes slower and slower. As soon as I was close enough to smell their foul stench, I came to a halt. One on one, I can defeat them easily. Six on 1, difficult but not impossible. But this darkness is different. Even the light of the moon, is nowhere to be found. I doubt I'd survive if I confront one head on.
The screams stops as quickly as it came. The whole world is silent. Bugs and insects alike made no evidence of their presence. The silence, unnerving. Deafening. The sound of death.
I have lost sight of the creature. How could I have let this happen? All those unfortunate souls devoured by those beasts. The word hero will have lost it's meaning after tonight, if there is still a tomorrow to get to. The name "crawlers" no longer fit their description. They have somehow evolved, became stronger. But how? In just a days time, they have shifted from standing on all-fours to walking and running like people. They even act like us, as smart as us, if not, smarter. What are they now? What are their weaknesses? How can I defeat them?
