Destination: X

Title: Destination: X

should be perfectly appropriate for all ages as I entered it for a school contest

They walked in the night, shadows among shadows, sweeping the streets for anything different. Searching the streets for someone like Olivia. Black, hooded cloaks wrapped around the mists of their bodies. Law-abiding citizens called the Night-Mares myths. Olivia knew better.

She was crouched behind a trashcan about a half block from the primary school. She kept her breathing easy and her mind calm. Night-Mares could sense panic and smell fear. Olivia had trashed the school yard and was returning home. It was just another test to check the reaction times of the Night-Mares. Her escape from the city was planned for the next night. There was an entire world out there, and she knew that the entire place was not ruled by the Council as it was here.

There. A nightmare had picked up the scent of destruction. As one, the shadowy myths of the night moved towards the now empty schoolyard. She was home free.

After racing as quietly as possible across three streets and down four blocks, Olivia shimmied up the water piping as she did most nights and slipped into her bedroom window. She peeled out of her black stealth clothes and into her fluffy pink pajamas. Silently, she slid into her bed and pulled the Olivia doll she had made long ago out of it. No one had seen a thing.

***

“Why?” Olivia had decided it was time to tell her best friend, Calvin Connely, born humanoid 0157206, that she was leaving. He couldn’t possibly have enough time to stop her. Or so she hoped.

“Don’t you ever wonder what’s out there Cal? I just want to be different. I just want a chance to be me”

Calvin nodded. Of course he wondered what was out there. Olivia was always telling stories of her nighttime adventures. Sometimes he went with her, but recently she had been going alone. This must be why. “Where are you going?”

“Somewhere.”

“Anywhere?”

“Yes. Destination: Unknown, because it really doesn’t matter.”

“Destination: X, Liv, because even though we don’t know where we are going yet, we’re still going somewhere.” Calvin watched her closely, waiting for his words to sink in. He saw the shock and surprise seconds later when they did.

The emotion was gone from her eyes almost as quickly as it had come. “We?”

“You didn’t think you were escaping without me, did you?”

“Well…” She paused, at a loss for words. She fiddled with a loose brown curl and turned a tiny fraction of an inch away. Why hadn’t she thought of this? She should have just left him a note. It would be dangerous. She’d probably die. Still at a loss, she told him that, almost babbling.

“I’m going Liv. Either I go with you, or you don’t go at all.”

Olivia knew he could make it difficult, if not impossible for her to escape if she didn't agree. “Meet me tonight as soon as the bedroom bell strikes.” There was a bell at an hour after dusk which sent the cities occupants to their bedrooms and one at dawn to wake them up. Those who were fully grown could stay up until the bell four hours after dusk partying outside of their bedrooms before returning to them. The Council wanted no loose ends.

“Same place as always?”

“Yea.”

***

There was a new paint job on the littlie school. Why those with fewer than seven years of life needed nice paint was of no importance. It had been done, and meant that the Night-Mares would be more aware tonight of activity in that area.

“Why are we here?”

“We need to distract the Night-Mares or we will never get out.”

“Liv…”

“Shhh! Level your breathing. Keep it slow and stay calm. Keep your mind numb if you have to, but don’t be afraid. They can sense your panic and smell fear.”

He’d long since known that Night-Mares were no myths, but Liv had intricate knowledge of how they… worked, he supposed. All he knew were the basics. She knew exactly where to strike to keep them busy, and how to go about it. She was spraying something in red on the littlie playroom wall. When she was done with the red can, she switched to blue, then green, and several others. Calvin joined in to decorate, but it wasn’t until she was finished that he saw what she had written.

Olivia Lawrence (Teenie humanoid 0157212)

&

Calvin Connely (Teenie humanoid 0157206)

Wish you all good luck

“Way to get specific.”

“We’re leaving Cal. We’ll be fine.”

“What if something goes wrong?”

Olivia took a deep breath. This was why she hadn’t wanted him to come. This was practically a suicide mission. “If we get caught we are going to be sentenced to death or worse anyway, so this won’t make much of a difference.” Olivia led the way out of the winding hallways of the littlie school. Once out the side door, she ducked into the bushes. They shouldn’t have long to wait now.

As if on cue, Night-Mares began to appear in front of the school. They started to slip into it, already on the trail of destruction. Towards the back of the formation, one stopped, sniffed. It turned its head slowly. From the front, the cloak did not cover the Night-Mare’s face. The inky darkness of its face was nothing but black. Olivia couldn’t see its eyes, didn’t know if it even had eyes. But it was watching her, watching them. “Don’t move,” She hissed. It didn’t matter though. The Night-Mare had spotted them. “Run!”

She fled, Calvin just inches behind her. The community pool. They could possibly throw off the Night-Mares when they jumped in. Know it was just a little over a tenth of a mile away, Olivia put on a burst of speed. There were no other Night-Mares in the way in front of her. At the edge of the pool, she dived. Calvin followed right behind. From under the water, she saw the Night-Mares lose the scent.

Olivia allowed herself a second to breathe after resurfacing before moving. The Night-Mares had moved off a little ways and were facing the opposite direction. They weren’t moving. Stunned stock took her over when she saw why.

She shivered once, not altogether because of the cold. “Cal, I don’t know how to tell you this,” She choked, and then blurted out the words as fast as she could, like ripping off a bandage. “Cal, they brought out the Darkings!”

Most people never learned of the Darkings, in all the time from the day they were born to the one they died. Those that did rejected what their minds had seen. It was easier to do that than to accept, to believe. The Night-Mares were thought to be myths. The Darkings were non-existent to most people. They were like über Night-Mares. Night-Mares fed off of fear. Darkings not only fed off of fear, but preyed upon those who felt it. They ate first their prey’s memories, until all that was left was fear, and that night. They left only the cold, hard, frightening present. They were the real life vampires, the things all those books had been based on. They sucked the blood out of their prey and then proceeded to eat them. By the time dawn came, all that was left of the criminal was an ID number with no humanoid to match. One memorable and terrifying evening, Olivia had seen it happen. The only thing able to fell a Darking was sunlight.

“It’s too long until dawn Cal. Only sunlight destroys them.”

Calvin had never seen a Darking. He’d believed Olivia when she spoke of them, held her when the memory of them made her shake, but never seen one. He wasn’t looking to die because of one now.

Suddenly, he realized the meaning of Olivia’s words earlier. Death or worse. If they were caught, the Darkings would not just kill them. They would be changed. Darkings were not born, but made. They had to escape somehow. “If we stay here?”

“They may find us, they may not. They have to get inside before dawn, but we can only leave the city after dusk. They’ll come back for us.” She took a few breaths to calm herself. “If we can somehow get out, we might be alright.”

Calvin started to slink off. “Where are you going?” She hissed.

“The old Master’s place has an unguarded way out. They used to use it for supplies.”

“You fool! The reason the tunnel is unguarded is because no one is dumb enough to try it, and the ones who do don’t live to talk about it! The only thing haunting the old Master’s place is the Darkings!”

“No worries then, because they are all out looking for us.”

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