NIGHT CHASER ---- original ---- HIATUS

Cornered

The infected child was silent as he gave chase to three middle schoolers that we double the size of him. His mouth seemed to be glued shut, and his eyes were too malicious for a child of his age.

"We have to get out of here!" Evan yelled. He feinted to the left as Jolon reached out, hoping to tag his victim, but Evan then darted to the right. Elena ran around the back of a car, determined to help her friend, but Evan ducked under Jolon's outstretched arm.

Jolon advanced on Elena as she backed against a red Volvo. An idea sparked in her brain.

Be discreet, she thought. She slowly scooted towards the hood of the car, snow that had been stuck to the car adhering to her back. Finally, she was close enough, and Jolon was almost close enough to touch her. She squatted down and pushed herself off of the ground, propelling herself above the ground and landing to top of the hood, leaving a small dent on top. She scrambled over the hood of the slippery, sleek car and dropped down to the ground below. Jolon smirked, as if to say, You can't get away from me.

Elena ran off to the right and hid behind a blue Chevrolet. She could see Jolon creeping around the far side of the lot. She had no idea where Yamilia and Evan were. Footsteps sounded behind her. She whipped around, expecting to have to continue the game of keep-away.

"Hey."

It was Yamilia, luckily. Elena clutched her heart.

"Oh my God, you scared me to death!" she exclaimed in a whisper.

Yamilia gave a quiet laugh. Most of the time, she had a high volume, but for the first time ever, she was quiet. She knew what was at stake. Her life, and the lives of her friends.

"Maybe we can sneak around the school and go through the back road, the long way." Yamilia suggested. They couldn't outrun the virus-infected child for a couple of reasons. First, he was smaller, and probably faster too, since he still ran around the neighborhoods playing with his friends. Second, they were in their bulky snow gear, whereas Jolon was only wearing his pajamas. And third, Elena wondered if the virus somehow advanced his bodily functions, because he was jumping over the roofs of cars, looking for them, and surely a small child like normal Jolon wouldn't be able to do that, nor would he be willing to.

They tried to sneak over to the school where they could slip away unnoticed, beckoning to Evan along the way. He nodded and crept over, staying low behind the cars.

Jolon turned around as if he had sensed them trying to leave, like a motion sensor was attached to his back. He shook his finger, telling them that they wouldn't get away that quickly.

He sprinted with superhuman speed over to where they stood, frozen in fear. Yamilia put her hands out in front of Elena and Evan. She turned to them.

"Scatter!" she shouted. They ran, quickly ducking under Jolons thin arms, getting behind him, and therefore an advantage. Elena crouched behind a black Acura Sedan. She waited for Jolon to give up and walk away, but he would not give up on his prey - or rather, the virus would not give up its prey. He disappeared, and Elena sank against the car. She was safe. She regretted ever coming here, and hoped none of them would lose their lives for it. They were here to figure out why, not to get themselves killed.

Killed.

It sank in. Their lives were at stake. This was not normal. Normal teenagers didn't have to hide behind cars just to stay alive another night. Normal people never dreamed they would be in a life or death situation like this. Sure, car accidents were common, and other disasters, but most people weren't being hunted down by kids half their age.

And losing.

That was the worst part.

What if they had to wait it out until morning?

What if they couldn't find their way out, and tragedy struck?

A sudden bang above her yanked Elena out of her thoughts with a jolt. She looked up in horror. Jolon was on top of the car. She was surrounded, the Acura closest to her, with a white Chevi next to her and a red Volkswagen in front of her. The only opening was one by the hood of the car, where Jolon stood. She couldn't go above, since she couldn't outrun him. She couldn't go out the gap, he would jump on top of her. There was no way out.

Jolon looked down at her, towering over her with a scary smile on his face that was not his. He had smiled on the news and this was nothing like it. This was the virus smiling.

And then she noticed his tongue, which flickered out, excited to taste its next victims soul. It had a streak of fiery bright red that wasn't the same color as the rest of his tongue. She could see it even in the dim night light, her only visibility gifted to her from the schools lights from the teacher meeting.

She knew instinctively that this was the mark of someone infected by this virus, which was proven to be a virus by the fact that Marva passed it on to Jolon.

Suddenly, Elena was blinded. The lights in the school shut off as teachers came streaming out of the school. More people for Jolon to tag. Elena felt a spark of hope, but quickly shut it down. How selfish of her, to hope that Jolon would tag a teacher instead of herself! Jolon looked back to the dozens of adults walking calmly to their cars. His head turned back to Elena. She couldn't see his expression, only his silhouette and his small physique. She assumed he was grinning that eerie grin. He quickly hopped off of the car and rushed towards the sea of adults. Elena sighed, both relieved and regretful. If only they could have stalled him until morning.

Screaming came from the entrance to the school. The teachers had noticed Jolon, and quickly ran off in all directions. They didn't bother to go to their cars, they just ran as far away from Jolon as possible.

Jolon watched then run, deciding that he had three perfectly good people to tag in the parking lot. Once the last teacher made it out, Jolon stood guard at the entrance. Elena got closer, trying to sneak around him, but his sharp eyes caught her. He lunged towards her. She sprinted far away and zig-zagged between the cars. She looked behind her to see if he was close behind, and ran straight into a car. She was cornered. Jolon hopped on top of a car, since having the higher ground gave him an advantage. He jumped, reaching his grabby fingers out for her face, when suddenly, a larger figure with a long sled swatted him out of the way.

Jolon flew back towards Elena's savior, landing on the car next to the figure. They engaged in a heated fight, evenly matched in ability.

Under the light of the moon, Elena could just make out who it was.

The person fighting Jolon was Yamilia.

A/N: MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! I have already started the next chapter as I am posting this, so it won't be THAT long of a wait...