The Nighttime Attack
“Hi, Truff!” I called as I ran up to meet him in the hallway. “Oh, hi.” he replied stopping to wait. “So what keeps you here so late?” I asked. He shrugged before heading down the hallway. As I followed I noticed that something fell out of his pocket. I realized it was his wallet and as I picked it up something fell out of it. I reached for it and found that it was his license. I ran back to him and caught him before he left the building. “Truff, wait! You dropped you wallet. And this fell out of it,” I said, handing him his wallet and license. He looked at me in an odd way for a moment before taking them back. We both started to leave when I asked “What made you change?” He didn’t respond, so I pushed on “in your license you looked so happy. Now a days…there’s sorrow in your eyes.” That got his attention; he turned to look me full in the face. “You can tell?” He whispered. I nodded. He looked sideways for a moment, biting his lip, then asked “can you keep a secret?”
I was taken aback but nodded. He glanced around-there was no one in sight-then grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me into an empty classroom. I walked to the front of the room as he closed and locked the door. With a small click a beam of light protruded from a flashlight that he now held in his hand. He approached me “Do you really want to know my secret? You must promise not to tell anybody.” I raised my hand and replied “I promise. And I always keep my promises.” He sighed then turned away. “Back when I got my license, when that picture was taken, I had no idea as to what I was or to what was destiny contained.” He fell silent for a few moments before telling me everything.
“My kind are called Zerenix. We’re not human nor are we related to any creature on this planet. We’re some kind of mutant hybrid born of several odd creatures. But that’s not important. What is important is what I was born into-an endless struggle to survive. You see, there are these other creatures who hunt us, trap us, sell us and kill us. They are known as Valiors and are feared by my people. I myself am unlucky for I am the only one of my species in what you call New England.” I stared at him in disbelief as he continued “even now there are Valiors out and about, hunting for me. I am never safe and never protected. Except of course, for my ears. You see, these hunters are so…evil, that the air changes when they are around. No human nor other creature can sense when they’re nearby, but a Zerenix’s body can sense the change in atmosphere. It makes us alert and our ears stand straight up. That is the only warning we have to when a Valior is around.” “Aren’t you safe in class, surrounded by others. If you just stayed in crowded places, would they be able to get to you?” I asked, looking for a way to help him out. “Well yes,” he responded, “they won’t attack when I’m in a large crowd. However they will attack if I am only with a few other people. Like right now, we’re both in danger.” “How am I in danger,” I asked, beginning to feel a little uneasy. “They are a secret society, and wish to remain that way. They make sure that anyone who sees them are silenced. If they appeared tonight, they wound go after you as well as me.”
As he finished, the lights out in the hallway went out. Shining his flashlight on a clock we realized it was 10pm. As I gazed at the clock Truff asked “mind if I walk you to your car?” I shook my head and together we left the building. Walking down the steps toward the parking lot I noticed that some clouds had blocked out the moon and stars. It was pitch black except for the parking lot a short distance away.
The second we got off the steps Truff stopped. I walked forward a few paces then turned to look at him. His body was alert, his head darting from side to side, nose sniffing the air, ears straight up.
Before I could fully grasp the situation Truff suddenly pounced on me! Together we rolled into some nearby bushes where he put a hand over my mouth and put a finger to his lips. I nodded and blinked and he was gone. Silently adjusting myself to a more comfortable position I was able to see Truff several feet away, still frantically searching for the trouble. Suddenly he spun around and stared into the dark sky and I saw something. The only way to describe it was a black mass of darkness-darker than the night sky. It swooped over Truff’s head and headed straight for me. I clenched my eyes shut waiting for something to happen. When nothing did I glanced a peek and was shocked by what I saw.
I was looking right into the face of a young pale man with amber eyes. He grinned, revealing fangs “My, don’t you look delicious,” he whispered. I was to terrified to scream, I could only whisper “vampire.” He growled “don’t compare me to those savages! I am a Valior! Stronger, more clever and cunning than those filthy creatures of the night. Although I must admit,” he continued, taking my face in one of his cold hand and tilting it up so I could only see the dark sky as I felt his breath on my neck, “we do drink blood.”
I couldn’t move-he was too powerful. I couldn’t scream-I was terrified. I clenched my eyes shut as I felt something touch my neck, but before I felt anything actually bite me I heard Truff scream “GET OFF HER YOU MONSTER!!!” I was suddenly released and as I scrambled to get up I saw Truff and the Valior struggling against each other. From the dim light I was able to see that the Valior had a cut in his left shoulder and that Truff had a knife in his hand. Looking over where I last saw Truff standing I saw two more Valiors lying on the ground in dark pools of what I assumed was blood. I looked back to Truff and the Valior. Truff appeared unharmed. As I stood there he suddenly turned to face me and yelled “Meg, run! Get out of here!” “But what about you?” “Go! I’ll hold him off!” “No!” the Valior screamed, “She mustn’t escape! She’s a witness! No witnesses!” I turned and ran to my car, however stopped before I got in. I looked back in time to see Truff stab the Valior again, who fell, and Truff ran towards me. As he got to my car he asked “mind driving me home?” I shook my head “I don’t mind, but don’t you have a car of your own? And more importantly, what’s going to happen to them?” I pointed at the Valiors lying on the ground. “Oh, they’ll live,” Truff replied, also looking over, “It takes a lot to kill one of them. Their wounds will heal in a few hours and before dawn they’ll be gone. But they know my car, which makes me an easy target on the open road. So I don’t have a ride to school any more.” “Will they hunt me down too?” “No, you’re safe. They’ll believe that you’ll think it was all a dream. And now I’ll be safe here. They never attack the same place twice because they believe that I’ll never return there either.”
As we got into the car I mentioned that before the attack I saw a black mass over his head. He stared at me before asking “really?” I nodded. “Not many people can see the Valiors in their true form. I need to stick by you more often. But we really need to get going. By tomorrow they’ll be back on my trail and I don’t want to leave a fresh one. I smiled as I started up the car and drove away.
