Free Revenant by Jaden Kilmer Page A

high. I hop to my feet, ready to loose another arrow at her, but Meg’s run off into the night before I can.
    I run over to Dodger and hug her. With Meg gone, my adrenaline runs out and I’m left a sobbing mess in her arms. In my mind, I keep seeing myself kill Alex. I can see every speck of blood on him, but what’s worse is I remember grinning as I stabbed his heart. The image in my mind is not of a necessary kill. It’s of someone who took pleasure in killing another.
    “It’s okay,” she tells me. “It’s okay. We’ll get her. There’s still time.”
    I can’t speak, the tears are coming on too fast. I want to tell Dodger it’s not Meg I’m crying over, but I can’t get the words out. I can still feel Alex’s blood on my face. These stains won’t be coming off.
    When I’ve cried myself out, Dodger urges me to head home. She escorts me. I take the lead while Dodger watches our backs. Everything in the dark now seems to be plotting against me. Every mailbox is a sentry for Meg and every crow is a spy. I’m shivering. I tell Dodger it’s the nighttime chill, but I know it’s a different kind of shiver. It’s fear. There’s something here.
    I see something flicker. It’s a shadow behind a parked car. I don’t know what body cast it, and I don’t care to investigate further. I speed up my pace, now more power-walking than walking. Dodger matches pace.
    “The city seems so much more dangerous at night.” I say.
    “The day is why people are drawn to cities,” Dodger replies. “The night is why people leave them.”
    Suddenly, every child’s fear of the dark has become legitimate. There are quite literal monsters in the dark, and I just killed one. Only, Alex wasn’t fully a monster. He was human once. As I killed him, he no longer seemed inhuman. His face contorted in the fear and agony of a terrified human being. His blood warm and red like anyone else’s.
    The thought triggers an urge to gag. I force myself to suppress it. I just want to go home, change out of these clothes and into my pajamas and collapse in my bed. It’s too big now. I can’t keep these secrets. In the morning I’ll tell my parents everything. They’ll understand. We’ll all hunt Meg together, because as long as Dodger kills her she’ll be human again and everyone will be happy. I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t have let things get this far, but the die is cast now.
    By the time we arrive at my house, my shoulders are dotted in goosebumps and we’re both shaking from the cold. We stop in front of my door.
    “You’ll be safe inside,” Dodger says. “But if you want, I’ll crash with you tonight.”
    “I’ll be okay. Thanks though,”
    “No problem. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need me.”
    “Okay.”
    “We’ll get her, Scout. One day we’ll get Meg and this will all go away.”
    “I know.”
    “Good.”
    “Say hi to Bruce for me.”
    “Oh he’s not going to be a happy camper when he smells blood on me. He’ll go insane with hunger. Damn thing’s like a shark. But yes, I’ll be sure to give him a warm salutations for you.”
    She hugs me and trots off. It’s only when she’s out of sight when I realize my front door is slightly ajar.
    I ease it open further, hearing its distinctive creak. The first thing to hit me is a smell. Something I don’t remember smelling before, but still I feel like I know it. Something... off. I kick off my shoes and search in the dark for the hooks on the wall where we hang our jackets. When the jacket’s hung up, I take the quiver off and lay it by the front door.
    I can’t quite see the way to the stairs from the door. Still holding the bow in one hand, I fumble for the lightswitch so I can see if there’s anything in my path I wouldn’t like stepping on.
    The light turns on. My mother lies at the bottom of the staircase.
    It looks like she fell. She’s crumpled up in an unnatural position . Her neck was broken in the fall, and she’s staring at me from