Minutes later I heard the side by side drive up. That would be Nicky. After some discussion, they had decided to send Nicky out five minutes ahead of Daniel and Nina just to prevent Daniel's presence from messing up this test.

The moon provided just enough light for Nicky to see the door and open it. The Nightstalker watched silently from its spot as she entered the room. Nicky glanced around and saw the two pairs of red eyes in the darkness watching her. She started walking down the hallway toward me.

The Nightstalker silently watched her walk past the cage, but didn't move or do anything. Nicky stopped in front of it and stared directly at it. The Nightstalker closed its eyes, knowing that she could see them. Seconds passed and neither of them moved.

I could smell Nicky's nervousness, but the Nightstalker wasn't feeling bloodlust so it had no interest in her. Nicky could have been a log bobbing in the water for all the Nightstalker cared. The Nightstalker's instincts wanted her to remain invisible and she was simply following her instincts.

Nicky kept walking to me, "Okay, this is super creepy. Those screams earlier really riled up Daniel. We were by the gate when we heard them."

"That barely even classified as a disagreement. Did you bring the cages?"

"Yeah, I will go get them."

Nicky carefully made her way back through the darkness that was barely lightened by the moonlight through the windows. She ducked out the door before coming back in with a few animal carriers. She closed the door before opening up the cages.

Soon a dozen wild rabbits were scampering around the lab as they tried to find an exit. The Nightstalker had opened up its eyes and was watching them intently as it slowly walked back and forth along the bars of its cage. It was determined to silently stalk the rabbits so it wasn't banging on the bars or making any noise.

One rabbit made the mistake of squeezing through the bars on the far side of the cage. The faint scrape of its nails on the hard floor caught the Nightstalker's attention. The rabbit had barely taken two hops before the Nightstalker was on it. It screamed in pain as the Nightstalker swiftly grabbed it.

Like any predator, the Nightstalker went straight for its throat. Once the rabbit was limp the Nightstalker started eating it. I wrinkled my nose in distaste. My bloodlust for humans may be gone, but it still longed for the raw meat of animals. Watching this Nightstalker chew mouthfuls of raw meat had my instincts egging me on.

I ignored the urge as I had in the past. It was easy to overrule considering I had hunted before coming here. Nicky was a bit pale, "That just sounds disgusting. Please tell me that your table manners are better than that."

I snorted lightly in disdain, "I only drink the blood. Considering I don't return with blood-splattered clothing, the answer should be quite obvious."

I heard a truck pull up and stop. This could be interesting. Nina had somehow managed to convince Daniel to at least attempt to come into the barn with no lights. He would be nearly blind.

The door opened and Daniel's brightly glowing eyes showed that he was worked up. His eyes located mine on the far side before tracking over to the halfway visible eyes of the feeding Nightstalker. He knew where both of us were, although until Nicky moved or spoke, he would have no clue where she was.

The scurrying noise of the rabbits would also create a number of small sources of sound that he would undoubtedly be tracking since he couldn't see. He took a couple of slow steps into the room and I could see his flashlight grasped tightly in his hand in case he needed it. The Nightstalker was still busy voraciously feeding and she hadn't noticed Daniel yet.

I groaned internally as I saw his body language. His stance was highly aggressive and on edge. I wasn't wagering much on his level of control in this situation either. This could get dicey. If I acted like a Nightstalker he could easily go overboard and attack. Considering how much he hated the dark, I had wondered about this.

The Nightstalker noticed Daniel and growled. Daniel retaliated with a vicious snarl as his eyes flared brighter with his emotions. The Nightstalker backed into the far corner with its rabbit, still growling over her kill. She was focused on Daniel though.

Daniel wasn't quite acting like a zombie and the Nightstalker had realized it. I had played zombie with enough ferals that I could pass through their ranks easily, but Daniel had obviously never practiced with feral Runners like I had suggested.

I examined my own instincts and knew roughly how this Nightstalker was viewing the world. Animals were food. Zombies were the same species and could be tolerated or they could possibly be competition. The controlex drug had rendered humans as a non-entity.

Daniel's behavior and movements were speaking a different language. It was different and something that shouldn't be. The Nightstalker could see parts of the zombie body language, but some parts weren't lining up. Like the Runners with my sunglasses, this Nightstalker wouldn't truly believe that Daniel was a Terror unless she tested him and lost in a First Strike match.

I had better warn him before he approached the cage like we had originally planned. I spoke quietly, "You aren't acting like a real zombie. I can see it and so can she. She will attack you just like the Runners test me."

Daniel watched the feral for a few moments before slowly approaching the cage anyway. The Nightstalker's eyes dipped a bit lower as she sunk into a crouch. She dropped what was left of the rabbit on the floor and took a few silent steps forward.

Daniel followed the movement of her eyes with a low growl. The Nightstalker narrowed her eyes at the sound, but wasn't dissuaded. The glow of her eyes disappeared as she closed them. She knew he could see her eyes, although I hadn't pegged a feral as smart enough to realize this. I suspected that her instincts realized it and pressed her to close them. If something was staring at you, then you clearly were not inconspicuous.

"She is moving to the side a bit as she is getting closer. You aren't close enough to the cage for her to reach you."

I kept Daniel updated. His muscles were tense and he growled continuously as he lost sight of her. He wasn't sure where she was and he couldn't hear her. He did not like this in the slightest.

"She is homing in on you by your growling. She is crouching and getting ready to jump."

Bang! Daniel's snarl ripped through the air as he turned his flashlight on as the feral hit the cage bars full force. I halfway expected the light and closed my eyes with a wince. The Nightstalker had not expected it though and shrieked in pain as she scrambled back against the wall as she shielded her sensitive eyes.

I put my sunglasses on and blinked a few tears away. Shit that hurt. Daniel was noticeably relaxing now that he could see. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall behind me, irritated from having the light temporarily and painfully blind me. It may not have been pointed in my direction, but that light was bright enough to still cause pain. The rabbits scrambled to the corners as they tried to get away from the people they could now see.

The Nightstalker was hunched over in a position like I had found her in the cave. She was just as aggressive and unpredictable as she had been then. Feral Nightstalkers did not do well in the light and became hyper-aggressive since no trace of humanity remained. A feral Nightstalker only wanted the night. The human side of me preferred the day while my zombie instincts chose the night. Both sides of Daniel's mind chose the day. In an odd fashion, I was stuck in both worlds.

Footsteps hailed Nina's arrival. She had come in once she saw the light. I commented idly to her, "Feral Nightstalkers do about as well in light as Daniel does in the dark. They get too uptight to think rationally."

Nina already had her notepad out, "How did she do in the dark?"

I shrugged, "About normal for a feral Nightstalker. The drug has had an effect though. At this point, the Nightstalker is only concerned with animals and other zombies. Humans might as well not even exist. The previous Runners would reach for humans if nothing else was around, but the Nightstalker simply watched Nicky even without the rabbits. She can probably smell the wildlife in the forest around us while the Runners couldn't."

Nina nodded, "We already know that the controlex drug targeted slightly different areas between Nightstalkers and Runners. How did she react to Daniel?"

"Like the Runners with my sunglasses, she tried to test him, but simply couldn't get close enough due to the cage."

Nina winced, "I see." I highly doubted that claim, but didn't correct her. If I couldn't get Daniel, who was a zombie, to understand, then there was no chance of explaining it to her in a way she could truly comprehend.

Nicky yawned, "Well, I held up my end of the deal. If no one needs anything else, I want to get out of this haunted house."

Nina shook her head. Nicky grabbed my wrist and started pulling me toward the door, "You're riding shotgun in case a zombie blocks the road."

I may have tolerance for Nicky, but her tone and order combined with grabbing my wrist was a bad mixture when my instincts were so high at night. A quick twist of my wrist freed my hand as I growled a faint warning. She blinked in faint surprise.

"My tolerance has different limits when the sun sleeps."

She sighed, but nodded. I followed her out the door and felt both Nina and Daniel watching us. I got on the side by side and Nicky started driving. She hadn't used the headlights on the way here to avoid disturbing the Nightstalker, but she used them now.

I left her at the gate as I went to do my patrol. It was over an hour before Nina and Daniel headed back to the Stronghold. The only reason I knew was because the lights in the barn went out.

~

Nicky yawned, "Are you sure I can't have just one cup of coffee to help me wake up?"

"No." Nina, Daniel, and I all spoke at the same time.

Nicky blinked sleepily at us, "That isn't how you spell yes."

Daniel shook his head, "That is because we said no, not yes. Besides, we have other important tasks for you today."

"First I heard of this. What tasks?"

"Those traders should be showing up sometime around lunch. Once they show up we want you to keep Trinity company since your manner tends to make people keep their distance. They won't know she is a Nightstalker and this group is known to be a bit rowdy."

Nicky rolled her eyes, "In other words you want me to keep her out of their way and prevent her from killing anyone today?"

Nina shook her head, "Not the most diplomatic wording, but essentially, yes."

Nicky shrugged, "Fine by me, but I want a particular turkey's drumstick on my plate by next week sometime."

Nina smirked, "Deal."

They grinned at one another. I shook my head in disbelief. Nina had better not join Nicky on the dark side...