Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) (4 page)

I’m silent for a while because I’m not sure
what to say. This is so crazy. More colonies all this time and what
if they’re better? I open my mouth to say… well, something, but
thunder suddenly claps as lightening blazes across the sky.

Seconds later, rain showers down, splashing
against my face and soaking my hair. “Follow me. I know a place
that’ll keep us out of the rain.” I motion Nichelle to follow me as
I turn around and start to descend the cliffy hillside.

“Why are you here anyway?” I call out over
the thunder as I maneuver myself over the edge of the rock and then
drop down onto the ledge. Surprisingly, she easily slides down to
the side of me.

“I am looking for someone,” she tells me as
our feet sink into the dirt and rocks. “A girl named Kayla. Maybe
you know her?” she calls out over the rain, shielding her hand over
her eyes.

I tense, but keep my composure, knowing
better than to let her know who I am. Not until she tells me why
she’s here. “I think I know who she is. Why are you looking for
her, though?”

She eyes me over with a questioning look. I
start to wonder if she might know more than she’s letting on; if
she knows I’m Kayla. “I’m here to help her,” she says with a brief
pause before continuing, “to help her save the world.”

Chapter 5

For a second I don’t think I’ve heard her
right, but as I replay her words over and over again, I realize
that I did.

But how does she know?

I jump down from the ledge and land
gracefully on the loose ground below. Nichelle drops her pack,
squats down and then swings her legs over the ledge. She grasps the
edge then lowers her body slowly over until she’s half way down and
then lets go. She lands on her feet in the dirt beside me, her
boots scuffing against the loose rocks.

“You seem comfortable moving around,” I tell
her, knowing it’s a weird statement, but still. When Aiden was
human he couldn’t maneuver around like that. If I didn’t know any
better, I’d guess Nichelle was a Day Taker; however, she has a
heartbeat.

She shrugs as she dusts the dirt and mud off
her hands. “I have had years of training.” She stretches her arm
back up in the direction of the ledge and grabs her bag.

Training?
“Are you a Bellator?” I ask
her as I start to hike to the bottom of the slope.

She gapes at me as she puts her bag back on.
“A what?”

“A Bellator… they were the people who
trained at my Colony.”

“Well, at my Colony, I’m called a
Protector.”

It seems the same to me, and the idea that
they have titles at Nichelle’s colony makes me question just how
different hers is from mine, which makes me instantly put my guard
up once more.

I try to keep quiet the rest of our journey
down the hill. When I reach the bottom, I nod my head in the
direction of the cave. “This way.”

She follows me as rain continues to drench
us and the grey sky lights up with silver blazes of lightning. We
don’t say a word to each other as we hike towards the cave. I’m
getting tenser with every step, wondering if I should simply hit
her over the head and knock her out to avoid any mishaps. However,
before I can come up with a plan, Maci comes sprinting around the
corner hill.

“Kayla!” she cries out. When she reaches me,
she throws her arms around my waist. “I knew you didn’t leave us.”
I stiffen because she just let out my secret; said my name. Before
I can respond, Maci releases me and turns towards Nichelle. “And
you found her.”

“Yes, I guess I did,” Nichelle says. I gape
at Maci because it seems like she knows Nichelle.

“What do you mean, you found her?” I ask as
the rain simmers down to a drizzle. “You knew Nichelle was looking
for me?”

Maci nods her head up and down vigorously.
“I did.”

I never know how to react to Maci’s strange
behavior, so I don’t respond. Instead, I lead her and Nichelle
around the hill to the flat area just below the cave. By the time
we get there, the rain has stopped, though the thunder and
lightning still echo across the sky.

Greyson is sitting in the cave’s entrance
with a fire glowing beneath the shelter. He has what look like a
dead lizard in his hand. He takes in Nichelle slowly as she and
Maci follow me up the hill towards the cave.

Aiden and Tristan are right behind him, in
the shadows of the cave, protecting themselves from the daylight
that hides beneath the clouds and smoke. Aiden watches Nichelle
suspiciously and then he finally steps out of the cave, drawing the
hood of his jacket over his head and tucking his hands into the
sleeves.

“Who is that?” He nods his head in
Nichelle’s direction.

I sigh as I keep climbing. “It’s Nichelle.
She says she’s from… another colony.” It sounds strange coming out
of my mouth; I doubt anyone will believe me.

“There are no other colonies,” Aiden argues,
taking a step down the hill, his boots knocking wet rocks and
chunks of mud down the slope. “If there were, we would know about
them.” Both him and Greyson eye Nichelle skeptically, their muscles
raveled, edgy and on guard, which makes me uneasy.

Greyson stands to his feet, leaving the dead
lizard on a rock. With his arms out to the side, he traipses down
the hill to stop beside Aiden. “Aiden’s right. If there are other
colonies, then why haven’t we known about them? It doesn’t make any
sense.”

They take a few more steps towards us,
meeting us at the center of the hill. Then Greyson and Aiden begin
to circle around Nichelle with a dark look in their eyes like
they’re going to attack her or something.

I turn with them, not sure why I’m
protecting Nichelle, other than she hasn’t given me a reason not
to. “Don’t even think about doing anything to her.”

Aiden pauses, his head slanting to the side.
“Why not?”

“Because she hasn’t done anything to us,” I
say with warning in my tone as I shoot him a look of caution. “And
if you do make a move on her,” I challenge, “then you have to go
through me.”

Aiden’s eyes unexpectedly light up, as
though he likes this idea, and I remember that this isn’t the Aiden
I first met. He starts to circle us again and Nichelle reaches to
her side towards the leather pouch, taking out a small knife.

“I can protect myself,” she says, aiming the
knife out in front of her. “I don’t need you to do it for me.”

I shake my head and move with Aiden, making
sure to keep myself between them at all times. “No, you can’t.
Trust me… he’s a lot stronger than you.”

“Yes, I can,” she argues. “Strength doesn’t
outweigh skill.”

“Yeah, let her try,” Aiden insists with a
look on his face that makes me want to slap him.

I probably would have, too, but Maci
suddenly steps up between Aiden and me, tipping her chin up to look
Aiden in the eye. “Nichelle’s telling the truth, Aiden. I’ve seen
where she comes from.”

Aiden looks down at Maci with doubt. I seize
the opportunity to leap forward, grabbing him by his jacket and
shoving him backward, forcing him to stumble back into a large
boulder on the hillside. “Stop it now. Just because you’re suddenly
strong, doesn’t mean you need to be an asshole for no reason.”

A glint of anger emerges in his eyes as he
rises to his feet, his clothes muddy. The anger vanishes, though,
as he shakes his head, and the old Aiden surfaces. “Sorry, I don’t
know what got into me.” He turns and heads back to the cave as if
nothing happened while I start to think that I might have a real
problem on my hands because Day Taker Aiden is very impulsive and
erratic.

Greyson continues to watch Nichelle with
interest, but he stops tormenting and circling her. “So, Nichelle,
why haven’t we seen you or any others from your colony before?”

I get where they’re coming from… sort of,
but I can feel Nichelle’s telling the truth, so they need to back
the hell down. “Greyson, I’d be able to tell if she is lying, and
she’s not.”

Tristan’s voice carries from over my
shoulder. “Kayla’s right. Nichelle’s not lying. There are other
people out there. The Highers just haven’t found them yet.”

We all turn in his direction. He’s wearing a
dark grey hoodie, the hood pulled over his head, and his hands
tucked up in the sleeves. He crosses his arms with a stoic look on
his face, staying in the shadows on the hill.

I step towards him with caution, rocks
slipping down the hill. I have to put my hands on the ground to get
my balance. “What do you mean the Highers haven’t found them?” I
question. “Are they looking for them? And how do you know
this?”

“Of course the Highers are looking for
them,” he says, glancing at the land over my shoulder. “How else
will they keep themselves in control if they allow other colonies
to exist? The Highers are greedy and they want to control the
entire world, so they’ve been tracking down other colonies and
eliminating them.”

I eye him over as I fold my arms. “How do
you know all this?”

He shrugs. “Because you weren’t the only
reason I was sent out here.” His blue eyes land on Nichelle. “The
Highers also sent me to find others.”

Before I can react, he leaps down the hill
and smashes into Nichelle. Their bodies crash together and they
fall to the ground, legs tangled, arms gripping onto each other as
they tumble down the steep slope. Dirt flies up from the ground as
they punch and hit each other, kneeing each other in the gut.
Nichelle even gets a handful of Tristan’s blond hair.

I dash down the hill after them as Nichelle
lets out a shout and tries to take a swing at Tristan with her
knife aimed out, but he knees her in the stomach and jumps on her,
pinning her to the ground. He tips his head back with his hands
around Nichelle’s neck as she struggles to breathe, kicking her
feet up at him.

“Tristan stop!” I cry out as I slide down
the hill towards them. Nichelle’s gasping for air as Tristan only
tightens his hold. Before I can get to them, there’s a loud grunt
and then everything gets quiet as Tristan slumps over.

Oh God. I know before I reach them what has
happened, but when I get there, I still feel a little shock.
Tristan’s body is on top of Nichelle, but not moving, and there’s a
pool of blood on the ground next to them. My hand tremors as I grab
his shoulder and flip him over, not surprised to see Nichelle’s
knife sticking out of his chest.

Nichelle places her hands over her head and
flips her body into a standing position. Reaching down, she pulls
the knife from Tristan’s chest and wipes the blood off on the
sleeve of her shirt. Then, with zero emotion on her face, she tucks
it back into her pouch.

“I’m sorry,” she says. I can tell she’s on
guard, worried I might retaliate. “But he would have killed me if I
didn’t kill him first.”

I’m taken aback by the fact that Tristan is
dead. I feel the slightest bit of aching in my chest, especially
when I stare down at him. Yes, he’d gone bad since he’d been put
out into the Real World, yet at the same time, I can’t forget the
sweet, kind Tristan I knew in The Colony. Besides, he came back
here and told Aiden about me being trapped in the cell. He’s done
both good and bad stuff, which makes me feel conflicted about his
death. I’m not sure what to do, how to react, although I feel like
ramming my fist into Nichelle’s face.

“I’m sorry, Kayla,” she says, her expression
softening. “I really am, but in this world, you can’t hesitate…
it’s a matter of life and death.”

I understand that all too well, but I still
can’t speak. Staring down at Tristan’s body, I struggle to sort
through my thoughts on whether or not I should hurt Nichelle.

Nichelle walks back to Tristan’s body and
squats down beside him. She reaches over and gently closes
Tristan’s lifeless eyes then, standing back up, she glances over
her shoulder at me.

“It wasn’t his fault he was that way. He
couldn’t help that they changed him,” she says softly.

“You knew what he was?”

She nods. “I could tell the second he spoke,
but still… I wouldn’t have killed him if I didn’t have to.” She
walks up to me, stopping just short of me while she looks me
straight in the eyes. “It’s why we have to stop this; stop all the
changing. It’s time for people to be free instead of experiments.
And you can do that, Kayla.”

I glance over at Tristan and then back at
Nichelle, knowing she’s right, feeling it in my bones. I need to
stop this; stop innocent people from getting hurt.

It’s time to save the world.

Chapter 6

We—or rather I—decide I better do something
with Tristan’s body before darkness arrives. Maci wants to bury
him, however I refuse to do it. Even the buried smell of death
would attract the vampires and that’s the last thing I need at the
moment. I remember the ditch on the outskirts of the colony that
Aiden and I jumped over the night before and it seems like a good
place to take him. Aiden wants to go with me, but I tell him no
because I don’t trust him, and besides, he’ll move too slowly in
daylight. Deep down, though, I simply want to get away from it all
for a while; clear my head.

I pick up Tristan’s lifeless body and sling
it over my shoulder, trying not to think about what I’m doing
because it hurts my stomach when I do. Then I leave the cave and
head out into desert where the sand has been dampened by the rain.
The sky is starting to tinge orange on the other side of the
clouds, which means the sun is lowering and nighttime will soon be
here. I keep my pace quick and my footsteps light, knowing the last
thing I want to do is be out at dark. Yes, vampires aren’t a
problem, but the abominations are.

After what seems like an eternity, I reach
the ditch secluded just on the edge of the city limits and
carefully lay Tristan’s body down in the soft dirt. Then I do
something really weird and I don’t even know why, other than I fill
some sort of finality in the moment. Without even thinking, I
tenderly run my finger down his cheek as I remember the way he used
to be, before the Highers got their hands on him and changed him;
made him a killer and pawn to be used against good people. He was
innocent. He could barely harm a thing and they had turned him into
a monster.