Shadow Hunter

My fingers drummed against cracked leather as I stared at the bolted door, willing it to open. The boys should have been back by now. Not just hours ago, a day and a half ago. I closed my eyes, squeezing them against my rising panic. Daylight was fading fast, and with it, my hope of their safe return.

I shook my head, trying to dislodge the worry as I looked back at my twin, her body still except for the occasion twitching of her fingers. We'd been identical once, right down to the freckle behind our right knee and it was strange, almost surreal looking at her, knowing she should be what I saw when I looked in a mirror.

My sweet sister cried when she'd seen what I'd done to myself. She'd tried reasoning, pleading, everything she could think of to make me change it all back, but I'd liked tinting every hair on my body black and I'd liked the feel of my short pony tail tickling the edge of my shoulders.

For the first time in my life, I'd felt normal.

Lillith didn't see ourselves the way I did though, she thought our differences were a gift, something that made us unique, special. But we weren't special. We were the butt of nature's joke on humanity and my gut screamed at me every second of every day that we shouldn't exist.

The devastating truth was depressingly simple. We were seventeen year old white haired, violet eyed freaks, caught between the waking world and the one that existed behind our closed eyelids. The same strength sucking world she'd insisted on walking one last time before the boys got back.

I looked down at her, eyes closed, teeth clenched, struggling to hang on. I balanced her silver ring, a gift from our Mother, on my knee and pulled my grey sleeve over my finger tips, dabbing at the beading sweat on her forehead.

Something was happening in the Blacklands and for the first time in memory, Shades were crossing the Southern boundry in droves, bringing with them their violet sky and starless nights. They didn't eat, they didn't sleep, they didn't stop. They just kept coming, pushing us back and taking our land, leaving a sea of dead bodies in their wake.

Lillith whimpered and I jerked into action. Left hand to her forehead, right to her pulse, hammering visibly through the delicate skin of her throat. It was a habbit as familiar to me as breathing, a habbit I longed to forget.

"Damn it Lillith! Wake up. Now!"

She parted clenched teeth, her bloodless lips twitching with words that wouldn't come. I caught one of her trembling fingers, shoving her ring back on. Her eyes snapped open, their pupils blown to an incredible size as she tried to focus on the room before her.

"What..." my twin caught sight of my dark expression and trailed off, taking a moment to collect herself. "It's getting worse, isn't it?"

I bit back a sigh and stood. It didn't matter what I said, truth or lie, it would do nothing but upset her. Besides, it wasn't her fault I'd gone against my better judgement and given in. At least now I wouldn't be stupid enough to let her do it again, however persuasive she tried to be. Being the bad guy was better then loosing her.

She huffed at my silence, scratching the side of her neck as she sat up. "I swear this bed has fleas."

"It wouldn't be the first."

She twisted the ring I'd forced on her finger, slipping it off to put on her thumb. "I didn't find him."

My heart sank with her words. "No news is good news."

She nodded, though she looked far from convinced.

I softened my tone, wary of her disappointment. "Lie down and get some rest, I'll keep watch for the others."

She shook her head, stuffing her still trembling fingers beneath her armpits. "I don't want to sleep."

"You don't have a choice."

"You're the one who hasn't slept since they left."

"I'm fine."

"But-"

"You know you're weak after that," I snapped, nodding towards her ring, "and we can't afford you getting run down and sick. You know the deal. You go there, you sleep."

She glared at me, pulled out her hair tie and lay back down, rolling her back to me. I put what distance I could between us in the matchbox of a room, letting her sulk on her own as I leant back against the far wall.

As much as I hated to admit it, even to myself, I was tired. And my nagging need for sleep was steadily growing from a dull thud behind my left temple into a full blown headache. I tilted my head back, inspecting each and every light above us in an effort to keep myself awake.

Our temporary home was just like every other we'd stayed in this close to the creeping boarder. Two double beds, a cracked cabinet sporting a small radio and a round table that surprisingly enough, still had three matching chairs.

They'd tucked an olive kitchenette into the far corner, making the fridgeless waste of space share a wall with the bathroom. The two windows had been boarded up with splintered planks of rough wood, whilst the roof, completely intact and free of water stains had its usual horde of hanging lights plus an extra row of fluorescent tubes that ran the perimeter of the front door and window panes.

Before the war, this kind of lighting was unheard of outside the mining towns that ringed that Blacklands. But as the blue sky turned violet, heralding the coming terrors, night proofing had become essential to everyone's survival. Light produced an impenetrable barrier to hostless shades. Add an Ultra Violet bulb to the mix and you could kill them. Taken on the other hand...

The wind shrieked, giving voice to my growing fear as it raked its angry claws down the side of our motel room. I glanced at my thin fingers, studying the battered band I spun with my left thumb, the identical partner to Lillith's.

"Fayle?"

My head snapped up at the sound of her voice. "Yeah?"

"I miss him."

"Me too."

"Do you think we'll ever find him?"

"I know we will."

"What if we're too late?"

"Then we'll find a way to free him."

She rolled over to face me, her long white hair coiling around her neck. "And if we can't?"

"We'll find him."

She curled herself into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest. "But -"

"Lillith, listen to me. Would you have found him if he'd been Taken?"

She nodded, wiping her wet cheek on her knee.

Nick being Taken, becoming one of the countless people that had stepped too close to a dark corner and become, for lack of a better word, possessed by a shade, was our biggest fear. When they took hold of your body they forced you from it, sending your wandering soul to the other world whilst they used your flesh to fight the rest of us in the light of day. It was these faces that Lillith searched, trying to find our brother.

"I won't give up on him Lills. Neither will you."

"But there's so many now... Begging for help... What if I've missed him?"

"You could never pass over Nick. You love him too much and I doubt he'd let you."

She put her head back down on her lumpy pillow, her face defeated.

"Who did you see?" I asked, recognising the look.

"No one."

"Lillith!"

"It was... It was Stuart," she whispered, her voice breaking.

"Stuart?" My stomach leapt to my throat. "What about the others? Did you see the others?"

"I -"

My gun was in hand and aimed at the door faster than I could think, the turning lock giving me just enough time to land crouched at Lillith's feet, my body her shield. If those spawn of hell wanted her, they'd have to get through me first.

"Put your gun away," Aaron said, his voice muffled by the thick door.

Relief tugged at the edges of my consciousness but fear held me still. The lock turned and the slab of painted wood opened just enough to let him and his cousin slip through before he closed it again, bolting it behind him. The second man in was smart enough to to enter face first and make eye contact, he knew I was too trigger happy to risk doing otherwise. Aaron on the other hand?

"Turn around!"

Ice blue eyes met my violet, and somewhere deep inside I acknowledged the fact that he didn't flinch from my gaze like most others did. The thought sent a tingle of unwelcome warmth through me, from its molten start in the pit of my stomach to the tips of my gun gripping fingers. I shoved it aside with a viciousness saved for little else, telling myself it was nothing but relief at having them back.

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." He flicked his thumb towards Dave. "And do you really think he'd still be himself if I was one of them?"

"Where's Stuart?"

His tired face hardened. "Gone."

"How?"

He turned from me, unzipped his duffel bag and upended it, spilling dented tins of food and a spare light bulb onto the table. "All you need to know is that he's dead. The shade too."

He threw the bag on the floor and strode off, slamming the bathroom door behind him.

"Give him a break Fayle, it was a rough couple of days."

"Unless you're gonna fill me in on why you're a day late and how Stuart ended up dead, shut the hell up!" I yelled, turning my anger on Dave.

Poor sweet Dave.

His jaw clenched in that same stubborn way Aaron's did, though his brown eyes weren't as hard, nor his voice as rough. "He just killed his best friend!"

I forced myself to take a shuddering breath and use the three seconds it gave me to slow my pounding heart. It wasn't Dave's fault I was ticked at Aaron. Aaron was after all, the one who called the shots out of the three of them. Two of them, now.

"Did the Shade escape?"

Man made light couldn't kill a shade, not like the UV rays of the sun, but it still produced an impenetrable barrier, so fending them off was as simple as keeping your lights turned on and avoiding dark corners. But a Shadow Man, someone who'd been taken by a shade? Sure, you could kill their human host as easily as the next human but that just forced the unharmed shade out of its dead flesh and into the next closes body. Yours.

If you were lucky enough to to be too far away or surrounded by light the shade would disappear into the shadows, lurking there until the next poor soul ventured within reach. It was a pathetic and undeniable craven existence but it was how they were winning the war.

Dave let out a sigh. "No. He used a HG blade."

I nodded. A brilliant man named Henry Gomez spent his life developing a UV spiked, but essentially silver based liquid that could be applied to any metallic object, leaving a coat of active poison that would kill both shade and host upon entering the their shared body. Something in perfectly balanced formula temporarily imprisoned the shade and as long as the wounds you inflicted on the human were mortal, the shade shared the same fate. The HG liquid had become as precious to us as light bulbs. It was hard to come by at the best of times, especially out here, but the boys had their connections and we'd been able to keep up a steady supply.

I stepped close and put a hand on Dave's tanned arm. "Lills had a bad run."

His eyes flicked to my huddled twin and back again. "More nightmares?"

We'd never told them exactly what it was she could do, but we'd needed a cover story and night terrors was the most believable. Aaron made it known from the start that he thought there was more to it, but Dave, like Lillith, had a good heart and preferred to believe the best in people.

"Yeah. Keep an eye on her for me?"

I felt bad asking him, common sense told me he was just as sleep deprived as me, if not more, and he had his own grief to deal with over losing Stuart, but I couldn't let Aaron walk away from me like that. Besides, Dave lived for his moments alone with Lillith, few that they were, and a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach said she felt the same way.

"Of course. You gonna get some shut eye?"

I shook my head. "I need to sort this out with Aaron."

The other two men might have bowed to his every wish and demand, but I wasn't about to let him call the shots for Lills and I. This was suppose to be an equal partnership.

"Fayle! Let him shower in peace!" Dave didn't yell, he never did, but he'd still managed to whisper it with enough intensity to get his message across.

"Peace is a pipe dream" I snapped back, my hand already gripping the handle.

I went in, ignoring Dave's shaved head shaking at me as I closed the door behind me. I stepped over Aarons discarded clothes and opened the shower curtain, surprised by the amount of steam that rushed me.

"You want to tell me what happened?" I demanded.

"You're letting the heat out."

"Then you better start talking," I said, watching a river of water fall from his dark hair.

We'd spent the last five months travelling with this petulant brat of a man and his two sidekicks, the lot of us convinced that the perks the other strangers offered, us, our transport and cash supply, them, their food and light connections, was worth the conflicting personalities. The other two men had been easy to get along with, but Aaron? He irritated me. Every word, every look, right down to the way he shovelled his food in when he ate. His ferocious moods and cutting outbursts made me want to tear my hair out and slap some sense into him, yet here I stood, heart pounding, lips tingling, every cell in my body begging me to reach out and touch his tattooed skin.

"I've got nothing to say to you."

I glued my eyes to his turned face, pushing the rising heat within me aside. "You killed Stuart."

"I know!" He yelled, thumping his fist against the tiles, "I don't need you to remind me!"

"Then let me help."

His face twisted into a half scowl, half snicker as he turned to face me front on. "And what are you going to do? Bring him back? Save his soul? How about telling me the damned truth for once!"

I raised an eyebrow, refusing to let his tirade get the better of me. "And what truth would that be?"

"Whatever it is that's going on with you and your freak of a sister!"

"She's not a freak!" I hissed, using every ounce of restraint I had to keep my clenched fists by my sides.

How dare he call her that. That name was for me, not her. Not my Lillith.

"Then why did it want her?"

My stomach rolled, twisting in on itself. "What?"

"The. Shade. Wanted. Her," he said, his eyes blazing. "Why?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!"

I truly didn't know why they would want her. How the hell did they know about her in the first place? Only three people on the face of this wretched planet knew our secret. Me, her, and ... and Nick.

"Listen to me and listen good," He said, grabbing my arm with his wet hand, "I just killed Stuart for her, and I'll be damned if I let me or Dave die for her too. Now tell me what's really going on!"

I looked from his jabbing fingers, gripping my red flesh back to his face. I'd seen him angry before, too many times to count but there was more to it this time. Guilt. Fear. Grief. A cocktail of emotions that wouldn't let my lame excuses slide, not this time.

"She has nightmares," I spat, feeling my insides boil.

"The hell she does!"

"She has nightmares," I said again, "but not like you or me."

He loosened his grip just enough to let me yank free. "So she see's stuff."

I nodded, scrubbing the feeling of his fingers from my skin. I'd have bruises in the morning.

"Like?"

"She sees the souls of those the Shades have taken. She knew Stuart was gone before you got back."

"You're lying."

"You see this?" I said, flashing him the only piece of Jewellry I wore. "It's the other half to the one that keeps her sane, because every time she takes it off she sees them, every should that's been forced from their living body!"

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Can you do it?" He asked, his face twisting with the question.

"Just her."

He didn't need to know what I saw.

"Damn," he said, running a hand through his wet hair. "What would they want with that?"

"I don't know." I folded my arms across my chest, furious with myself for telling him even this much.. "How do you know they were after her?"

"Stuart," he said, shutting off the water. "The shade was trying to get information from him, not just a body. I've never seen one do that before."

I sucked in a relieved breath. Stuart wouldn't have been able to give them access to anything besides harmless conversations, places we'd stayed, people we'd met. Nothing that could hurt us, not if we kept moving. But if they'd found the boys once, they could do it again.

"Would you mind?"

"What? Oh." I handed him the towel hanging beside me. "So what happens now?"

"Now? We sleep. Tomorrow we leave."

"We or you and Dave?"

"We," He said after a moment, towelling off. "And Fayle?"

"Yeah?" I said, turning from the half opened door.

"Don't hide anything from me again."

I bit my lip, forcing my tongue to reamain still as I slammed the door behind me. He's grieving, I reminded myself, not that he was acting any different for it. I breathed out a sigh and scanned the room for Lillith. She was fast asleep, wrapped in a blanket next to a snoring Dave, still clothed in his black shirt and torn kakis. I shook my head.

His passing out next to Lillith had left me bedless and faced with two options I didn't want. Share the only other bed in the room with Aaron or sleep on the filthy, bug infested floor. I smiled to myself, option three tickling my fancy.

I'd slipped out of everything but my hipsters and singlet then sprawled across the only bed left, making sure I took up as much room as possible. Aaron came out a few minutes later, getting himself something to eat before double checking the room's lights and packing his things for the morning.

Forcing my breaths into steady, even intakes was hard, especially when I was trying to keep the thrill of my small victory under wraps. But he wiped the smile off my face when he put his sheathed knife on the side table and got in next to me, his legs crushing mine until I was forced to wriggle over and give him room.

"And here I was thinking you were offering."

"Not if you were the last man on earth!" I hissed back.

He laughed at my easy rise, the sound teetering on forced as he rolled onto his back. The deep notes faded and within minutes he was asleep, leaving me alone and awake, listening to him breathe. The steady sound was louder than the whirling fan above us, louder than the hum of the backup generator, louder than the beat of my own heart, thudding in my ears. It made me want to scream, to pick up my pillow and smother him with it, denying him of oxygen until the infuriating sound finally stopped.

My resentment over his quiet snores rolled around my mind like darkening clouds until somewhere in the thick of it, the face of my brother appeared, the light in his honey coloured eyes hinting at the surprise he had for me, stashed beneath his bed.

It was early morning when I woke, my heart afloat and my mind buzzing, my senses alive and tingling. I could smell the dirt that clung to our freshly pulled potatoes, the only food we had that wasn't tinned, and the damp musk of Dave's shoes that he'd left to dry by the front door. I could feel the soft currents of air from the low speed fan above me whisper across the invisible hairs on the back of my neck, offsetting the warmth seeping into my shoulders from the arm encircling them. And I could feel the faint thud of a heart, beating in a steady, almost comforting rhythm against my cheek.

I opened my eyes and froze, Aaron's tattooed chest filling my vision. But as little a movement I'd made, he'd noticed it.

"I need to pee," He said, his voice low.

He withdrew his arm and I bolted from him, removing myself to the other side of the mattress. I watched him pad to the bathroom on silent feet, my heart a jackhammer in my chest as I held the sheets close. The door closed behind him and I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding.

It was only a minute, maybe two when the door handle turned and Aaron reappeared, walking strait by me to get dressed. He re-checked the lights, rinsed the handful of bowls that were in the sink from yesterday then dumped his re-packed bag next to Dave's shoes. He glanced at me a couple times but never said anything. He just kept his distance and went about his business as if nothing had happened.

Breakfast passed in the same tight lipped silence, then finally, it was time to go.

I stood halfway between the cream building of boarded up rooms and our car, surprised that I felt a prickle of nostalgia. I wasn't one to attach myself to places, but four days was the longest we'd stayed in any one spot since we'd been with the boys, and it was hard not to associate the dingy motel with the same feelings as a home.

I looked away from the number three door and allowed myself a small smile. Lillith had woken up happy this morning. It was the best mood she'd been in for months and I'd forgotten how much I'd missed her grin. And it was all because of Dave. I inhaled a satisfied breath and looked up at the sky.

The expanse above us was a gorgeous shade of blue, and if I kept my back to the bruised streaks of violet forcing their way from the south, I could almost forget the impending doom hurtling towards us.

"You okay?" Lillith asked, stopping beside me. Her almost waist length hair was down, neatly brushed and pushed back over her shoulders.

"Yeah. Tired is all."

Tired of running from the Sades and their Shadow Men. Tired of seeing their victories heralded in the darkening sky and the used bodies left in their wake. Tired of missing Nick, of not knowing where he was or if he was even alive anymore and tired of feeling like a pale skinned, violet eyed freak.

"Didn't sleep well, huh?"

I shook my head. Last night was the best sleep I'd had since leaving our home, nestled safely behind the giant walled cities of Light in the North, but I wasn't about to tell her that. I could barely admit it to myself. "How about you?"

Her face softened and her eyes lit up like I'd never seen. "Good. Really good."

"I'm glad," I said, threading my fingers through hers.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Swapping beds with Dave. I know how much you must've hated it."

I snorted. "It's not like I had a choice. He was already passed out by the time I finished with Aaron."

"Yeah you did. You could've woke him but you didn't."

I hesitated. "He cares for you, you know."

"I know," she said, a light shade of pink kissing her cheeks. "I... I care for him too."

"Just care, huh?"

She laughed and it felt like my heart might burst.

I slipped her bag from her shoulder and tossed it into the tray of the ute with mine. "Tell Dave he's got the back with you."

"No Fayle, it's -"

"I like seeing you happy. I've missed it. And if putting up with cranky pants is all it takes for that to happen a little more, then I'm all for it."

She side stepped infront of me and gave me a hug, surprising me with how hard she held on. "Thankyou."

I nodded, unable to stop the wave of guilt flooding through me. If she knew how much I'd told Aaron last night... Her thanks would be the last thing she'd give me. Then again, she wasn't ashamed of what we could do, not like me.

"Hurry up and get in," Aaron snapped, walking towards us as if my very thoughts had summoned him from the direction of the reception desk.

Lillith let me go, sparing a moment to flash me a sympathetic look before waving Dave over, greeting him with a smile that threatened to split her glowing face.

"What was that about?" Aaron asked, pulling on his seat belt with more force than necessary.

I shut my door and did the same. "Nothing."

His grip tightened on the steering wheel, sending his knuckles white as the back doors slammed shut behind us.

"What? Does every one of my conversations fall within your control freak jurisdiction now?" He relaxed his grip enough to let go and bring the engine to life. I let out a frustrated sigh and kept my voice low. "I offered to sit up front so they could spend more time together. He makes her happy, which makes me happy. Even if it means putting up with you."

He shook his head as he glanced out the rear view mirror, checking one last time before pulling out of the deserted parking lot and onto the bitumen road. I watched him a moment more then glued my eyes forward. If silence was what he wanted, then silence is what I'd give him.

"Did the owner give you any trouble?" I asked, finally breaking our hour and a half of silence. I'd thought I could play this game of his but the air between us had reached a point where it was threatening to suffocate me to death, and it didn't help that the other two were ignoring us, keeping their voices at a whisper so they had an excuse to practically sit in each other's laps.

"No, though it's getting harder to pay with cash. They want bulbs and food, not paper."

"It was only a matter of time," I said, studying the band of light encircling us from the rack bolted to the roof.

"A fist or two would work just as well. Faster too."

"I know."

"Then why the tantrums over not using them?"

"I can always get more money. Everyone has a price, no matter how much they like to think otherwise, even these days. That and they only have the one face."

"Says the shoot now ask later girl."

"Shadow Men are different. I'd never hurt one of us that way. Not with so few of us left."

"We're all the same underneath, they're just not in control anymore."

"If Shadow Men were the same as us, their souls would stay with them," I said, staring out the window again, "and Lillith wouldn't have to listen to them begging for help every time she took her ring off."

"So you're saying that if Lillith or your brother were taken, finding them would be a waste of time."

"No, I'm saying they're not the same as us underneath, not once they're taken by a shade."

"Rendering their rescue pointless."

I wanted to hit him, so hard it made his teeth hurt. "I'd find a way to save them," I said, folding my arms in an effort of self control.

He snorted at me. "What makes you think you could free someone from a Shade without killing them when no one else can? Not city folk, free folk or even the Scorchers can do it. Once you're Taken you'll never be free again until you're dead. You know that as well as I do."

"As long as I had breath in my body I'd search for a way, and if in the end that meant trading my soul for theirs, then that's what I'd do."

"Why?" He asked, pulling off onto a dirt track.

I shrugged. "Lillith comes first and she needs Nick more than she needs me." Our older brother always made her smile, and he could protect her a heck of a lot better than I could.

Aaron nodded but kept his eyes on the road and his thoughts to himself.

"How far away are we from our next stop?" I asked, my eyes focusing on a chink in our armour.

"Half an hour. Forty minutes maybe."

"Damn it. Pull over."

"Are you nuts?"

"I said pull over! One of our lights are out!"

"Where?"

"Rear left."

"The same damn one that went last week," He said, coming to a stop in the middle of the road. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

He grabbed my arm, forcing me to stay put. "You're not going out there."

"Yes I am!" I snapped back, pulling free of him.

"What's going on?" Dave asked, his stubbled face appearing between our seats.

"Your idiot cousin is trying to stop me from changing a bulb up top."

"It's too dangerous. I'll do it."

"You have to stand on the ground, I can climb up top. You know there's more shadows below then above."

"She has a point," Dave said, agreeing with me.

"No she doesn't!"

"Just let her go," Lillith said, smooshing her face in next to Dave's. "You know there's no stopping her once she's made up her mind."

"And so the consensus wins," I said, amused by the string of profanities following me out my open window.

I grabbed hold of the blazing circle of light welded to the roof, using it to hold my weight as I shuffled across the side of the car and into the open tray. I undid the blown bulb, keeping my eyes on the ground as much as I kept them on my hands as I twisted it loose. It popped free of its socket and I dropped it into the open bag at my feet.

I squinted, the eye scorching light from the other bulbs making the pools of shadow beside us difficult to see. Host-less Shades stayed hidden during the lighter hours, even beneath their violet sky, but that didn't mean you wouldn't come across the occasional desperado, willing to risk everything for a shot at owning human flesh. I dropped the piece of clothing that protected the new bulb into the bag and paused, frozen by the shiver running down my spine.

"What's wrong?" Aaron called from the front.

"We've got company!" I yelled back, feeling the familiar kick of adrenaline pump through my veins.

The car lurched forward and the new bulb slipped from my fingers, shattering on the fast moving ground below. Losing a bulb was almost as bad as losing a man and I'd be kicking myself for it later, but for now, I had a Shadow Man to dispose of.

The land to my right had nothing but calf high grass, as brittle as it was yellow, but the left harboured a thick mass of half dead forest, less than six foot away. A man on foot had broken free of his hiding spot and was gunning it after us, running at an impossible speed.

I didn't need to see the light sucking black surrounding his pupils, annihilating the whites of his eyes to know what he was. I could tell by the way his arms jerked as he bounded towards us, closing the gap between hunter and prey. I slipped my gun from the holster strapped to my thigh and let off three rounds the same instant the front tire ran a hole, jarring my shots and sending them wide.

"Keep it steady!"

I regained my footing between the bags, aimed, then took another two shots. One hit his upper arm, the other his shoulder, but he kept coming, unfazed by the gushing holes. I shifted my weight onto my other foot and grinned. I might not have stopped him, but the Thornblood dipped bullets had punctured him, binding shade and host to the same satisfying fate. I fired one last time, hitting him strait between his soulless eyes.

He fell to a quivering mass on the ground and I hit the top of the roof twice, letting Aaron know we were alone again. The green Ute slowed to a crawl, but didn't stop. I slipped my gun back into it's waiting home and dropped to a crouch, searching the nearest bags for the extra bulb the boys had brought back with the new food supplies. The adrenalin rush had left me breathless and shaky, but I needed to fix the light. The longer it was out, the longer we had a direct, unlit path to the car.

I found the precious ball of glass and stood, pulling it free of the torn shirt. I reached up and twisted it in, a second before I slammed into the back window. I fell to the tray in a gasping heap, the pain in my crushed chest threatening to suck me into oblivion. I forced back the dizzying blackness and made myself roll onto my back, saving myself from the booted heel denting the spot my head had just been.

I lashed out, my foot connecting with the side of a knee cap as I fumbled for my gun. The leg gave way beneath the impact and the wretch landed on top of me, its loose hair blinding me as razor sharp teeth sunk into the front of my bare shoulder. A scream exploded in my ears, burning my throat. My frantic fingers brushed leather and my gun slid free. I angled it upwards, wedging it against a scrawny rib cage as I filled it with the last of my bullets.

It - she - pulled back, the oily pools of her black eyes sucking me in, paralysing me until her blood drenched body fell slack, taking my consciousness with her.

My shoulder burned, blinding me to everything but the pain, throbbing beneath a bandage wound way too tight. I forced open my gritty eyes, my fingers trailing the thin gauze and flinched. I was surrounded by rock, white rock that seemed to radiate a soft blue glow. The entire room was made of it, the ceiling, the walls, all of it, pressing down on me, suffocating me.

I turned my head and stared at the swept ground, my quickening breaths easing as I caught sight of two bedrolls, their blankets clean but slept in. A pile of clothes by the far wall was the only sign of colour and even that was mostly black and denim, punctured by a scattering of Lill's pink and green singlets.

Lillith.

A pained grunt escaped me as I rolled onto my good side and forced myself up. The heavy curtain covering my only escape parted the moment I'd made a sound and Aaron strode in, his face furious.

"What are you doing?"

"Finding Lillith," I said, trying to see through a veil of falling stars.

"Lie down."

"No."

He put his hand between my pitiful cleavage and pushed. "I said Lie down."

I met him with a moment of resistance then gave in. He was too strong and I was too sore.

"What the hell did you think you were doing out there?"

I rolled my eyes at him, despite the pain lancing through the bite. So much for sympathy or a thankyou. "Saving your cranky ass."

"You nearly got yourself killed!"

"I'll remember to use the eyes in the back of my head next time."

"Why did you have to argue? Why couldn't you just let me do it?"

"Because you do everything! And you've been doing everything since day one!"

"So?"

"I'm suppose to take care of her, not you!"

His eyes narrowed. "And you plan on doing that how if you're dead?"

"I don't need you to look after me."

"I never said I was."

"Then why won't you let me search for food? Or go to trade points or even pay the damn guy at the reception desk? I'm just as good in a fight as Dave and you know it!"

"No you, no Lillith, no cash."

It was true, though that didn't stop his words from feeling like a slap across the face. The only reason they'd joined us was for the extra money and kitted up transport, but somewhere during the last five months I'd started hoping it wasn't the only reason they'd stayed.

"Get out and leave me alone," I said, ashamed of the tears rushing to my eyes.

"Fayle -"

"I said get out!"

He gave me a curt nod and left, sending the curtain billowing behind him. I lifted my good arm and covered my damp eyes. I hadn't cried since Nick disappeared and I refused to do it now. Not over him.

The next four days passed in much the same way. I was left alone and confined to my room, forced to take it easy as I counted down the minutes until Lillith and Dave returned, bearing hard rolls and what looked like road kill stew.

I don't know why I looked forward to seeing them so much at the end of each day. They were too busy drowning in each other's eyes and making lame excuses to touch each other to have any kind of lasting conversation with me.

And Aaron? I hadn't seen hide nor tail of him since that first day, which according to Lills was actually our third day here, where ever "here" was. It was also the longest amount of time I'd ever been separated from Aaron, and with nothing but white, blue tinged walls and my thoughts for company, the aggravating man was all I could think about.

"Feeling any better today?" Lills asked.

I shrugged without thinking and only just managed to hide my wince. "I'm fine. Better if they'd let me out of this room."

"It's not that bad," Dave said, grinning at my twin.

"That's because you're not the third wheel."

"You're no such thing!"

"It's okay Lills, I'm happy for you both. Though one night of nausea free sleep would be nice every once in a while."

She cracked a smile and the skin above Dave's stubbled cheeks threatened to turn pink.

"So are you guys going to tell me where we are yet?"

I'd asked them countless times a day, and everyday they gave me the same answer. 'It's best if we don't tell you. Yet.' I couldn't say for certain, but I was pretty sure that nagging question of mine was what kept them away from me for the bulk of our waking hours. At least that's what I hoped it was.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"You mean you're actually going to tell me this time?"

She bit her lip, hesitating with the answer.

"Come on Lills, it's killing me not knowing!"

Her bottom lip slid free of her perfectly white teeth. "We're with the Scorchers."

"Scorchers?"

She nodded.

"How...?"

Lillith and Dave shared a fleeting, knowing look.

"Aaron," she said, finding my confused gaze again.

"Aaron? But their nests are impossible to find. Not unless... light have mercy," I said, feeling like I'd been punched in the chest.

"We're gonna go," Lills mumbled, getting to her feet.

I nodded, too lost for words to find the one's that would make her stay. Scorchers were dangerous, a militia that stood outside the rules and laws the rest of us lived by. They were those who'd committed their lives to the destruction of every non human creature beyond the borders of the Diarna, the furthest mining town in the south. They married their work and bred for numbers. They were smart, strong and loyal to a fault and would rather see our entire world blaze then let the shades win.

Before the sky started to change colour, the Scorchers had been nothing more than a nuisance, a buzzing fly that refused to leave the food table. But when the Shades crossed into our lands, they'd reared their hooded heads and come pouring out of the cracks, shocking us with their organisation, their weapons and numbers. This was the day they'd been waiting for.

Any interaction with them was always done on their terms and when and where they wanted. No one, and I mean no one knew the locations of their hidden communities, or nests as they called them. To know that, you had to be one of them.

And Aaron had known.

It made his supply connections make sense, his survival skills, the way he used a weapon. But the rest? Scorchers stuck together in packs of at least five and never hunted on their own. True, Dave and Stuart had been with him, but - Dave! Was poor sweet Dave a Scorcher too?

I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand. That wasn't my only problem. Aaron knew about Lillith and he would've told the others everything by now. Scorchers didn't keep secrets from each other, they were one mind amidst hundreds of bodies.

The question was, what would they do with her now that they knew? Would they think her a weapon, or a freak? Would they go as far as keeping her against her will? It would mean having something the shades wanted, even if we didn't know why.

A million other questions ran through my head before I made my decision to move. They'd kept me here long enough and hell or high water, I was getting out of this room. My ribs weren't cracked, just bruised, and most of my lingering pain came from the bite they'd burnt shut on my left shoulder.

I shook my head, lightly touching the dressing that covered what would be a fist-sized scar. Burning the bite. Only Scorchers would think of that. They were probably worried about me getting some kind of shadow infection. Idiots.

I ditched my use-to-be-white singlet for a yellow one that lay on top of Lillith's clothes pile, then pulled on a clean pair of jeans. The denim over my knees had thinned to a single weave, and the hem at my heels dragged on the ground where it had been worn to shreds. They weren't the most presentable things to be walking around in, but it was the best I could do with what was infront of me.

I pulled my hair back into its usual pony tail and pulled it strait back out again. I preferred it up, but a side comment Aaron made three months ago hinted at the possibility that he liked it better down and I needed to use every advantage I had.

I pushed aside the blue curtain covering our doorway, feeling more vulnerable than I cared for. There was nothing I could do though. Everything that could be used as a weapon short of shoe laces and bra straps had already been taken from us. These people were crazy, not stupid.

I made a move and froze, almost tripping over the human ball blocking my way. The crouched man unfurled himself and stood, his face knocking the breath from my lungs. I'd thought Dave looked like Aaron, but this guy... He was what Aaron must've looked like back when he was my age.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving my room," I said, finding my voice.

He had that same dent in the bottom of his chin as Aaron, the kind that begged little kids to make butt crack jokes, and I felt confident enough to bet my glimmer of freedom on him having a dimple in his left cheek when he smiled.

"I can't let you leave on your own."

"Then come with me."

He ran a hand through short, dark hair, his frown deepening. "Where'd you want to go?"

"I want to see Aaron."

"He's busy."

"I don't care."

"I won't take you there," he said, folding his arms, "so think of somewhere else or go back to your room."

I lifted my chin. "How do you know he doesn't want to see me?"

"He said so."

Ouch. "What's your name?"

"Huh?"

"Your name. What is it?" I repeated, liking the fact that my question had knocked him off centre.

"Burney."

You've got to be kidding me. Who in their right mind would name their Scorcher kid Burney?

"Listen Burney. I don't want to cause you trouble, but one of two things are about to happen. Either you come with me and take me to Aaron, or I can beat you bloody and tear this place apart looking for him. I know which one I'd rather, how about you?"

He towered head and shoulders above me, but even with his extra height, he wasn't anywhere near as broad as Aaron, and I doubt his fighting as good. It didn't matter though. I was useless without a weapon, even more so injured, but he didn't know that. All he'd know was that I'd been in a wrestling match with a Shadow Man and won.

He let out an exasperated sigh, obviously frustrated with the situation, and no doubt me. "I was told not to let anyone hurt you. That includes me."

I raised an eyebrow. It's not like this guy would've listened to a request by Lills so... "Who said that?"

"Aaron."

"Does he ever make sense?"

He laughed, the deep, genuine sound surprising me. "Nope. Come on then."