CHAPTER 19 (SHOW DOWN)
At least two hours have passed and I’m pretty positive that I must be thoroughly lost. My feet ache and my chest feels like it’s going to explode from exertion. The wind has picked up making the foliage whip back and forth. It sends an eerie whistling sound throughout the valley. At least the wind pushed the storm clouds across the island quickly before they could release any rain.
I’ve been moving fast trying to keep my mind from wandering to thoughts of what I’m up against. I’ve fallen a few times and my hands and knees are scraped up. I feel the sting but it doesn’t bother me. It reminds me that I’m alive. As long as I’m alive I have a chance. I try to psych myself up with encouraging thoughts like, you can do this Emma, you can kick Night Marcher butt, girls rule, Night Marchers drool.... I will be that little engine who could. I have to be! I have a family to go back to. I have a life. I have Kai.... I have Tristan... I shut my brain off with that last thought and keep moving my feet forward.
I come to a clearing in which I can finally see further than just a few feet ahead of me. In the distance about half a mile away is another grouping of trees leading upwards into the night. If my memory is correct I saw this clearing from the cliff above the Menehunes cave. If I keep going forward I should be really close to the waterfall. Hope surges through me. I set a quicker pace as I start walking towards the trees. Far off to my left a spark catches my eye. It’s so far away that I have to stop to try to refocus my eyes. I see it again. My heart starts pounding and the anxiety starts setting in. It’s a flame. I’m certain of it. It’s so far away, but it’s them. I know it! I start running across the clearing. I need to get to that spot where Kai and I saw them before they get there. I need to have a few minutes head start of them to get myself ready.
I hit the tree line and slow my pace to a brisk walk. I can’t afford an injury so I have no choice but to take my time going through the foliage. In less than fifteen minutes I’m there at the waterfall. The moon is lighting up the waterfall making the whole area look so enchanting. There’s an iridescent white moon-bow that looks like an archway to the falls’ base. It’s so faint I can barely make it out but it’s there. I’ve only heard about moon-bows and seen them on the internet. I’ve never seen one in person. It’s quite magical.
I’m stirred from the moment when I hear the distant boom-boom, boom-boom of the drum. There’s no time. I head to the trail where Kai found me last time. I follow it all the way out to the clearing at the cliffs edge. I move over to the boulder where Kai and I once hid. Dropping my bag to the ground I can hear the beating of the drums getting closer. I only have a few minutes before they arrive. I open my bag and get out my Ihe. I unwrap it carefully and feel the short spear’s weight in my right hand. I perform a few practice moves.
My heart is beating so fast that I think it might jump right out of my chest. Since it’s just me, I can be honest with myself. I am beyond afraid. I have no idea if I can do this. I don’t want to see that thing again! The thought of it all makes me want to pee my pants I’m so scared but I have no choice. I pray that if I do die tonight that I go to heaven. I don’t want to be stuck marching with those things forever. The thought of becoming one of them makes my stomach roll with intense nausea. That mixed with the anxiety running amuck within me I can’t stop myself, I move away from my bag and wretch violently. I hadn’t eaten anything in a while so mostly I find myself just dry heaving. When the convulsions stop I take several deep breaths trying to steady my nerves and my heartbeat.
As the drums near I think of the ones I love. It might seem pessimistic but I have three letters in my bag just in case. One letter has paragraphs for My Dad, Kaylee and Alani. The other two letters are for Tristan and Kai. I want everyone to know how much I love them and why I had to do what I had to do. It’s my last ditch effort to try to give a small dose of comfort to my loved ones. Pain hits my heart when I think about never seeing them again.
I look up to see the first flame only a few feet from the clearing. I feel like I’m experiencing déjà vu. This time is identical to the last time except Kai isn’t here with me. I think of Kai. I wonder if he’s noticed that I’m gone yet. I hope he understands that I couldn’t let him sacrifice himself for me.
The wind picks up even more ferociously than before and starts whipping my hair about as the first Night Marcher breaks out into the clearing. I make sure to keep my head down. I’m certainly not going to chance meeting the eyes of any more Night Marchers. I don’t think I can handle a battle against more than one evil spirit!
I watch them march from the waist down, dozens upon dozens of spirits marching stoically not deviating from their path. I wonder how many of them sealed their fate by staring into a Night Marchers eyes.
The eerie glow they cast makes my stomach churn with terror. I watch as the flickers of the flames from their torches dance across the ground. The Night Marchers cast no shadows. I find myself a bit mesmerized by the footprints that are being pressed into the earth by their invisible feet. I just keep watching as foot after invisible foot press into the soft, earthy ground.
I pull myself out of a daze when I realize that the procession may be nearing its end. I have to stay focused and ready for when Kao’s row appears. I keep my gaze low but I follow the rows with my eyes back towards the tree line looking for the last one.
The nerves start kicking in when I think about what’s at the end of this procession…Kai’s brother. It’s still mind boggling to think that this evil creature is Kai’s twin brother. They look so attractively alike even though Kao is an evil spirit and obviously a horrible being. No matter what he looks like this will end tonight. I’m here to finish this and after this I plan on never seeing another Night Marcher again... If I make it through this. I scold myself for thinking of the, if part. I have to set myself with confidence to succeed!
A torch falls to the ground several feet in front of me. He has stepped out of line. This is it! I allow myself to look up and see the spitting image of Kai in front of me; only this thing is not Kai. This is Kao. I must keep reminding myself that, otherwise I will not be able to go through with my mission. He is evil and his black eyes are filled with hatred. I don’t know why, my only transgression was having the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think about how unfair this is. I did nothing to this thing and yet it wants to kill me. It wants to take my soul! It has already taken me from my family, it has made me scared, and it has made me fight. At seventeen years old I should be hanging out with my friends going bowling or eating at Red Hot Mama’s. Not training to kill a Night Marcher! Anger starts bubbling within me at this whole situation. Anger for how Kao has messed with my life. Anger for how Kao has hurt Kai by killing his first love. I hold onto all of this anger and let it seethe inside me in hopes that it will give me the momentum to kill this thing.
It is now or never! I grab my Ihe and charge straight for Kao while remembering Master Chucks teachings: be one step ahead of your opponent, take them off guard, when it comes to a blade type weapon go into the fight considering yourself already cut as to not be startled by your fear of the blade. With all my might in one swift movement I use my Ihe in the way I was taught to separate Kao’s Ihe from his hand. I’m amazed when it falls to the ground swiftly just like I had practiced so many times in the dojo. Not allowing myself to have any sort of victory moment I run with all my might and grab up his Ihe while doing a stunt man worthy slide landing me directly behind Kao. He turns around with a stunned expression, his solid black eyes wider and more creepy than before. I don’t hesitate in that second to take my opportunity to stab Kao in the upper right shoulder blade hoping that I hit him in the heart, if he even has one. I winch the Ihe back and wait for Kao to fall… I can’t believe it could be so easy to get to him! I can’t believe I actually stabbed this thing, Kai’s brother, with his own weapon! It’s strange; he in all reality should be a spirit, untouchable, like a mist. Yet I definitely met friction when I stuck the blade
in him. As if his body is still made of a plausible mass, not an apparition. I look at where the Ihe entered his body and find that while there is a fading slash, not a single drop of blood has leaked out. If he’s not made up of blood, what is his life force made up of? And, more importantly, why hasn’t he fallen?
An evil smile begins to spread slowly across Kao’s face. His eyes grow wider as a terrifying laugh emits from his lips. He cocks his head to the side as if challenging me and then whispers in a taunting voice, “Heleya.”
Crap! This is supposed to work! I did what I was trained to do and it’s not working! On top of that this thing thinks I’m Heleya or something. I look again to where I stabbed him and now there is nothing, no mark, still no blood, nothing. I waste no time and lift the Ihe again to stab him in the stomach and still, nothing. I pull it back and slash it across his leg... He doesn’t even flinch. I pull back and aim for his ribs. The Ihe sticks there, I try to pull it out but in the same instant Kao grabs hold of my wrist and twists my arm back in such a quick movement that my brain doesn’t fully register the snapping sound it just heard until a scream of pain echoes throughout the clearing. It’s not until a few seconds later that I realize that the scream came from me. I look down and see my arm lying limp against the side of my body. It’s unreal, no matter how much my brain tells it to move, nothing happens. I pick it up with my other arm and pull it in close to my body as agony tears through it. I’m not sure why I pull it in close; it’s on instinct, like if I left it dangling there it would just eventually fall off or something.
I pull my gaze away from my arm and will my brain to focus away from the searing pain. I look up at Kao who is looking at me with a sinister expression. He grabs the handle of his Ihe and slowly pulls it out from between his ribs. Not a single sign of pain shows on his face. Once it’s free he picks up my Ihe that I dropped earlier, holds it out appraisingly and with a mocking expression he breaks the metal blade away from its handle letting it fall to the ground at his feet.
He looks down at the damage he’s caused and then back at me. A half smile made up of all that is evil spreads across his lips. He knows he is going to win! I don’t believe he had ever doubted it to begin with. I am his prey and he has cornered me. Tears stream down my face as I come to see; I don’t have a fighting chance. I probably never had one. I am going to either die or become a Night Marcher myself. I fall to my knees waiting for him to take me. Hoping this will be quick and painless.
I hear a warrior’s cry in the distance. I look up at Kao who must not have heard anything, he is still gloating over me. It’s like he’s toying with me, moving slowly to pull back his spear. He’s drawing this out. His eyes narrow into slits.
I close my eyes thinking that my life would pass before me in the face of death. I don’t have flash backs though. I only have one scene in my head and it gives me peace. I’m on a swing and my mom is behind me smiling. I’m not three like in my photo, no... I’m seventeen. Maybe, if I die... I will see her again. I can almost smell that lavender and vanilla with a touch of baby powder. I can almost feel the heat of the sun behind us warming me and hear the sounds of the birds chirping and kids playing. I turn around to look at my mother’s face. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her in real life. She gives me a smile so full of love that I feel enveloped in it. She tells me, “I love you this much Emma.” She pulls her hands back behind her like she used to do. The sound of her voice is like coming home. I’ve longed to hear that sound for fourteen years. In that moment I wonder if perhaps I’m already dead, maybe Kao’s already killed me. If so, I’m grateful that I didn’t feel anything.
I’m jostled from my tiny piece of heaven when I hear another warrior cry so loud that it’s nearly on top of me. I open my eyes to see Kao readying his spear. In the instant that I want to close my eyes and go back to my safe place with my mom, I see him. He’s so quick it’s almost inhuman and the cry coming from his mouth is so guttural it’s almost animalistic. It’s Kai!
I suck in a sharp breath as my eyes become fixated on Kai. He stands in front of Kao and stares straight into his eyes. A look of knowing is shared before Kao raises his spear and stabs Kai straight through his middle. Kao’s spear exits through Kai’s back.
“Noooo!!!” I scream over and over as I watch helplessly, paralyzed in horror. Kao pulls the spear towards himself, which brings Kai closer to him and further from me. A thin cloud of smoke permeates the air between the two as Kai is pulled towards his brother making it hard for me to see clearly. By the time that they are nose to nose the smoke is so thick that I’m gagging on it and my eyes are watering. I can’t see anything at all. I think that perhaps they both disappeared. I start yelling for Kai. In an instant the smoke dissipates as if it were never there in the first place. Kai and Kao are standing there. Kai turns towards me and as I register his eyes the air is knocked from my lungs. I try to gasp in breaths as I feel like my chest is collapsing. This human in front of me is not Kai. It’s Kao! The irises of his eyes are still black as coal but there is now white behind them as there should be. He has human flesh now and is no longer clothed with a ghostly tint. He drops his spear. I watch in horror as my Kai reluctantly picks it up. They have switched places! Kai looks towards me, his grey eyes dark as storm clouds casting the reflection of the torch flame that is still lying on the ground. He no longer has the look of a human man, but that of an apparition. I shake my head as tears stream down my face. Kai looks like he wants to take a step towards me but he’s being pulled by an unseen force. He unwillingly picks up Kao’s torch from the ground and turns from me then heads towards the procession. It all happens so fast I barely have time to register what has occurred. Kai is leaving me! He is no longer human; he’s one of them!
Out of the corner of my eye I see Kao coming towards me. I cringe scooting backwards until my back is against the boulder. He reaches me a second later, leans down, cups my chin, forcing me to get up and stand. Kai turns towards us. He has the same look of hatred that Kao had for me when he was a Night Marcher. Although, this time it’s not aimed at me, it’s aimed at Kao. Kai looks like he is trying to move towards us but is held in place by unseen chains. The two brothers lock eyes. Kao reaches down, takes my uninjured hand, and places an intimate kiss on the top of it, all the while keeping his eyes locked on his brother. A shiver of repulsion for Kao shakes through my body. I look to Kai and I can see the anger and hatred rolling off him as some invisible force drove him to turn away from us pulling him into the procession.
Kao laughs evilly.
I yank my hand away from Kao and start running towards the procession. “Kai, no, no, Kai!” I just keep screaming. “Kai, don’t leave me! You can’t leave me!” I run as fast as I can. The whole time I’m screaming he doesn’t turn. It’s as if when he’s a part of the procession he can’t hear me. He just continues marching. I’m gaining on them and I have plans to just grab ahold of Kai with my good hand and pull him from the marching trance that he’s in. My plan falters when my foot catches on the root of a tree and I go tumbling forward so quickly that I can’t catch myself with only one good arm. My head slams into a rock. As I feel the darkness overtake me I hear my name being called over and over again in the distance. “Emma! Emma...”