Kai jumped awake in the middle of the night not because of nightmare, but because of a loud scream that penetrated his dream completely. He gasped and sat up abruptly, his heart immediately pounding. He quickly looked around the room, but Shintaro was awake and looking just as confused as him, and Chase was rubbing his eyes tiredly. Father! flashed through Kai's mind almost immediately after, and he jumped off his mattress and onto his feet, shaking the sleep from his head. 

He swung the door open, hearing Shintaro get to his feet behind him. He dashed out into the hall and pounded into his father's room. When he opened the door loudly, Falte jumped awake with a small yell and scrambled around in his bed until he fell off.

Kai would have laughed until he couldn't breathe if he hadn't previously heard a creepy scream. He fought back a giggle and ran over to his father, kneeling beside him. "Are you okay?" he asked cautiously, hoping that it wasn't Falte who had screamed.

"Ow," Falte mumbled groggily. He rubbed his elbow and looked up at his son. "I was sleeping until just now. What in the world are you doing?" His eyes traveled up and behind Kai, and he tipped his head. "What are you and Shintaro doing in my room this early in the morning?" 

"Someone screamed," Kai answered in a hushed tone, feeling a shiver run down his spine. "I wanted to make sure that it wasn't you. But you seem fine, so I'm going to check on Abby and Linda now." With that, he got back to his feet, pushing gently past Shintaro, who stayed and helped Falte stand back up.

Kai hurried into the living room blindly. He felt around with his hands until he found the couch. He leaned down over the back of it and found Abby sleeping soundly on her side. He breathed a small sigh of relief, then began to walk around the couch to try to check on Linda. 

Until he slammed his foot onto something hard that skidded across the floor. He froze and mumbled a few unintelligible words angrily, bending down and clutching his foot. 

"What was that?" Linda's voice asked from below him. She seemed completely awake, whereas Kai heard Shintaro and Falte sluggishly walk out of his father's room.

"Your book, I'm pretty sure," Kai seethed, squinting to see his friend even though he knew it would do nothing.

"No, I mean: who screamed?" Linda asked a 'duh' tone. "I know you just kicked my book." Suddenly, she was there in front of him, looking up at him with a cautious and curious look. "Was it someone in here, or was it out there?" She jutted her thumb - at least, Kai thought that was what she did. It could have been her whole hand, he wasn't sure - at the front door.

"It sounded like it came from outside," Chase's voice said from the hallway. He flicked on the lights, momentarily blinding everyone. He squinted and rubbed his eyes again. "Should someone go check?" He yawned and gazed around at his friends.

"I'll check," Kai volunteered immediately. Falte raised an eyebrow at him, but Shintaro was quick to offer to go with him. Kai felt a smile creep onto his face as Shintaro walked over to his side and gave him a look.

"Alright," Falte said. He yawned and rubbed his arms, then turned to Linda and Chase. "You guys can go back to sleep. I have work in two hours, so I'll just stay up and get ready. I'll stay quiet." He smiled at them as Chase nodded and walked back into the hallway.

"Take a coat," Linda said to Shintaro, then nodded at Kai. "It's pretty cold out there." 

Shintaro gave her a tiny smile. "There's two hanging in the foyer. We can get them on the way out. Come on, Kai." He turned around and walked toward the tiny room by the front door.

Kai followed him, but felt a million questions zipping through his head. Who had screamed, and why? Was it Moon, finally back and playing with all her new toys? Was Thorn back this time? If it were either of those two, what did they do and what would they do if they found Kai and Shintaro - the most wanted of the both of them? 

Linda obviously had heard what he was thinking about, because she called quietly after them just before they shut the door: "Please stay safe." 

~

Shintaro walked very fast. Kai was often rushing forward to keep up with him. Before, Shintaro had always matched the pace of everyone else, but now that something strange was going on, he was determined to check it out with no delays. 

Linda had been right. It was freezing outside. Kai was trying to catch up with Shintaro and trying to wrap his coat around him as tightly as he could. His breath came out in puffy clouds, and his face felt numb. His fingertips were losing all feeling as well, making it harder to pull his coat around his torso.

How did Shintaro know exactly where they were going? He wasn't even looking around him for any signs of injured or scared people. He kept his eyes straight in front of him, only making a few glances in Kai's direction. The two went down many paths, turning and remaining straight again, until Shintaro put a hand in front of Kai to signal him to stop.

Kai raised his eyes to look at what Shintaro had stopped for. Sitting on her knees in front of them was a girl who looked no older than ten. Kai felt a stab of pity - she seemed to be the same age as him when something terrible happened. She had tears running down her face, and there were remains of blood on her fingers, which were clenched on her thighs. Her eyes were squeezed shut, so she didn't see them. There was a splash of blood on the grass before her, then fading footsteps that disappeared after about eight steps toward the south.

Shintaro knelt down immediately, and Kai hovered over him, trying to keep his eyes on the girl and not the blood. 

"Hey," Shintaro said softly. As the girl gasped and opened her eyes, he lifted his hand and touched her chin gently. "Are you hurt?" He gazed into the girl's green eyes with a comforting look, and Kai tried to match it but failed.

The girl shook her head. 

Kai knelt down too. "What happened?" he asked carefully. 

The girl hesitated, lifting one hand to rub the tears away from her eyes. When she did, she smeared blood on her cheeks. Shintaro removed his hand from her chin and wiped it away gently. 

"It's alright," he said kindly. "Please, we should know what happened so we can help you." 

The girl opened her mouth to tell them, but instead a sob escaped. She put her hands on her face and sobbed freely, her shoulders shaking. She leaned forward into Shintaro, who looked shocked for a moment, but wrapped his arms around her after his shock passed. He started whispering to her gently, while Kai stood up to look around.

He gazed around the area, but he didn't see any weapons that were used to hurt... whoever was here with the girl. He got back down beside the bloody footsteps and realized that they were too small to be a man's. Was the person hurt and running off? No, these footsteps were in a straight line. If someone were hurt, they would probably be stumbling. 

Kai hurried back over to Shintaro before the sight of the blood in the grass got to him. He knelt down again and touched the girl's back. "Is it alright if we know? We may be able to help you if you tell us."

The girl leaned back, rubbing her eyes. Shintaro had a bit of the blood on his coat, but he paid no mind to it. He nodded gratefully at Kai when the girl started speaking in a tiny, scared voice.

"My ... My mom and I were up early," she stammered. "She said she couldn't sleep, so I offered... I offered to go on a walk with her." She sobbed again, but sniffed and regained herself as quickly as she could. "We were just walking... I don't know what or if we did anything wrong, but this woman came out of there" - she pointed to a small house that looked abandoned - "and ... and stabbed my mother with a knife. My mom tried to fight back... but the woman kept hurting her over and over again... Then she took my mom and ran off that way..." She pointed to where the footsteps were headed. The woods were behind the last house.

The girl broke down again. 

"Wait," Kai said quickly but gently. He touched her shoulder. "What did the woman look like?" He was hoping, wishing with all his might that the girl would describe someone completely different -

"She was tall and pale with long, wavy black hair and eyes that didn't even look like eyes," the girl murmured. "I don't think she was human. She kept laughing like some insane person every time..." She trailed off, and Kai knew that she didn't have to say any more.

Long, wavy black hair. White eyes that didn't even look like eyes. Tall, skinny, and lean. Menacing, insane cackle. Kai felt his stomach squeeze in panic and fear and a shiver ran down his spine. He met Shintaro's eyes, and the man looked just as frightened as Kai did.

Kai had been right. She had still been out there, and now she was back to play around.

Moon was back. 

~

Here is the third chapter!!! I'm already loving this so much! What do you guys think is going to happen? :O I mean, it's in the info, but... XD

So, do you guys like it so far? :D 

Thanks for all the reads and follows! Love y'all!! :3

Peace!~~