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

Why?

"YAMILIA!" Elena screamed. Yamilia's Karate skills kicked in, though, so she managed not to get hit. Jolon aimed to slap her on the face, but she turned and hit her shoulder instead.

Elena braced herself for Jolon today turn to ashes and for Yamilia to scream. She screamed. She had been hoping against hope that they would all make it out of there without getting the virus.

But Jolon and Yamilia kept fighting. Elena was surprised but she knew that if she didn't help her friend, Yamilia would get it. She glanced around, looking for Evan. He tiptoed over and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around quickly, startled. He held up his sled. Elena had hidden hers under a car, and Evan had found it. He handed it to her. They stood up quietly and held out the hard plastic sleds, preparing to push Jolon off of the car. Normally, Elena would have been worried about hurting him, but his superhuman abilities caused by the virus would save him. She knew he was destined to die anyway.

Elena and Evan looked at each other, their eyes meeting under the glittering stars that didn't seem so bright anymore. She could just see. Rhodopsin had coated her eyes, allowing her to see in the dark. She could clearly see where she needed to strike.

She and Evan nodded their heads, counting down.

3, 2, 1. They swung their sleds in the same direction at Jolon, knocking him off of the car.

"Come on!" Evan yelled.

Elena retreated with her friends, her wet hair flying behind her back as Jolon got back up, snarled, and went off to chase a new victim.

—

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Elena's mom yelled exasperatedly. She put her hands on her hips. Elena shrunk back. She decided to tell the truth.

"We were coming back and were cornered by Jolon. He's the kid that Marva touched before she died." Elena explained.

"None of us got touched," Evan added. Perennia put her head in her hands. She looked up at them with concern.

"Who did he tag?" she asked quietly. Elena looked down. She thought back to just moments before, and didn't remember anyone actually getting tagged. That was a good sign. But someone would. It was inevitable.

"We don't know. Maybe he won't find anyone and that will be the end of that. Or maybe he'll be delayed until tomorrow night when we can quarantine him." Yamilia said hopefully.

Elena laughed in wonder at her positivity. She grabbed their arms and pulled them to the kitchen counter, behind which her mother was standing. She pulled out the tall white, leather backed stool and hopped up, prepared to discuss.

"It's late. I can tell that you guys have lots of questions for me as a geneticist, but they will have to wait until the morning." Perennia smiled at the three teenagers. She tied her long curly hair up into a ponytail and set to work unloading the dishwasher. Clanking filled the room as plates were stacked and silverware was piled on top of itself.

Elena sighed. She had wanted answers. How was she supposed to sleep now?

Evan got off the stool, and the girls followed, resigned.

—

Elena lay snuggled in her yellow sleeping bag, on her stomach. She, Evan, and Yamilia had arranged themselves into a triangular star shape so as to have a better, more quiet conversation.

"Why did Highest Peak get hit, do you think?" Elena asked in a whisper, her eyes flitting back and forth between Evan and Yamilia. She pulled the sleeping bag higher over her shoulders.

"I have no idea. Maybe because it's the highest civilization in the world, altitude wise." Evan commented. His blue eyes stared deeply into Elena's, silently hoping she would agree. Elena could tell, and her heart fluttered just a little bit.

"Maybe we just got unlucky. Maybe there is no cause." Yamilia said brightly, contrary to the rather depressing topic. Elena smiled in the darkness of her basement.

"That... is also a possibility." she acknowledged.

What was the real cause, though? Did we really just get unlucky or was it something else? Elena asked herself. She hoped that they were just unlucky, or they would have yet another problem to deal with.

"Should we do the Magic 8 Ball? Something a little more fun?" Evan suggested. Elena nodded like a bobble head. She quickly stopped herself, embarrassed, and hoping Evan hadn't seen.

"Yeah. I have a question for it!" Yamilia said with a devilish grin that was made scarier by the darkness, but Elena knew it was all for fun. Evan passed her the black ball that they relied on for fun truths that sometimes weren't truths. "Does Elena like anyone?" she asked. Elena sighed. Of course that was Yamilia's question.

It is certain.

Elena braced herself for teasing, and boy did she get it.

"Who is it?" Evan teased. Elena looked away, blushing. Her face was as hot as the fireplace behind her.

"No one." she said quickly. She hoped he wouldn't notice she was lying. She didn't even want to admit to herself who it was. She responded, trying to get the topic away from her. "Who do YOU like?"

"No one."

"Well that's not fair!" Elena exclaimed. Yamilia giggled and clapped her hands. Elena could see why.

"You didn't tell me so I won't tell you!" Evan reasoned. Elena let a breath out. She really didn't want to talk about this.

"You know, it's getting pretty late. Maybe we should get to bed. You know how I get when I don't get enough sleep." Yamilia said. Elena agreed with her, as Evan nodded.

Elena flipped over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Her thoughts instantly drifted to the virus. What was it's origin? Why did it affect her town? And how could they stop it? Elena had no answers, only that she would help to cure it. That is, if the adults accepted her.

She felt like, in this small town, no one asked the opinion of the children. Not the teenagers. Not even people fresh out of college. Only the elders got to decide. The mothers, the fathers, and the grandparents. Well, not so much the mothers and grandmothers. Though the rest of the world had, for the most part, moved on, here in Highest Peak girls weren't seen as equal to men. They could work, they could vote, but there was a general disrespect, a general mentality that women weren't quite at the intellectual level of men. Mostly boys were in the advanced course in school. Elena could've handled it, and Yamilia even more so than her, but the school paid more attention to boys. It was just the way things were.