The Pearl Fox

Night Patrol

The three moons were sickles in the night sky, and soon the clouds covered them over by velvet winds. In the streets only strays moved. A cat crawled up to the top of a roof. A few rats scavanged near alleys where bins overflowed with food waste.  One particular house near the alley was lit inside with oil lamps and candles. A back door opened, and a woman carrying a basket at the hip, emerged, squinting at the night. "Does he never learn?" she muttered. "Washing must go out at night to atch the dawn breezes, he said to me. I keep telling him that it's not going to dry the clothes any quicker." She placed the basket down when she got to a hanging line made of rope, extended from the roof of the little shed to the low brach of a small apple tree in the centre of her yard. She took out some pegs from a pocket on her apron. She proceeded to hang some items of damp clothing and underwear and blankets to the washing line. Then light in the street blinked on and off. On and off. On and off. She was in her yard, which wasn't out in the street, so that meant she was on her own property. The flashing light got closer to the hous, then stopped. The light came from a young man, standing beside the gate to her yard, and he wore some bracelet that was also a torch light, although he appeared as baffled as the woman. He raised an arm to shine the torch light around her yard then the light found her.

"You shouldn't be outside," he told her, in an authoritive way. "You should be aware that there is a curfew from the 20th hour of the day."

The woman was Mallory Beans, and she let out a nervous laugh. "Night patrol officer, I'm in my own back yard, hanging up the washing."

"You're still outside. I advise you to go indoors now, missus, or I will have to escort you to the station and report you for breaking curfew."

Mallory was unhappy. She looked him over and saw a boy, fresh out of school, now wearing a splendid uniform of jazzy black and white horizontal zebra stripes. His hat was soft and pointed with a tinkling bell. She wasn't feeling threatened by him as he looked like a fool. "I will go inside then," she agreed, now leaving the task of hanging up the washing late at night. "I really don't like you Night Patrollers. You're all just kids really, going around bullying people." Vandox heard it many times. He watched Mallory Beans pick up her basket and scurry back inside her little house. It wasn't good enough until she closed the door. Once she did, he moved on.

He had a couple of years experience as a Night Patroller. He noticed a blinking light flashing between the houses, where another officer was doing her rounds. Imogin was only 15 years old but she was one of the best officers in the constabulary. Imogin walked around a corner, and spotted someone crouching in the bushes near a house. "Hold it right there!" she shouted. "Explain what you're doing outside during curfew hours!"

There was a man, holding  a key to the front door of his house. He smiled when he looked at the girl in her ludicrous uniform. He thought that this would be easy. "I'm about to go for a slash!" he said with amusement. Imogin looked at him with fixed eyes. She didn't believe him.

"Outside? It's not a toilet our here." She looked at the man's hand clutching the key, then looked at his clothes. He wore overalls, a stained apron, ragged trousers and big boots. He smelled of liquor and oil.

"A piss, little angel?" said the man, now grinning. Imogin was used to getting tons of jests aimed at her because she's a girl. Vandox appeared in the yard, ready to defend Imogin against any sort of attack. It was part of the job. Often, Night Patrollers are abused by the public. The man opened his front door and it was pitch black inside. Imogin switched on a small light on her hat to show vibrant ultra violet within. Someone inside cried and hid their eyes.

"Come out of there," Imogin said, feeling annoyed by the man who lied to her. "What are you doing?"

Vandox pulled out a set of handcuffs ready. He noticed that the man with th apron found this funny. Cowering inside was a fuzzball of an old man. "Please, no no please!" the old man whimpered. "That light is too strong!" 

Vandox and Imogin decided not to arrest anyone. They left the propertyand together walked around the dark streets, then going to a park to relight candles within the stone lanterns. Imogin heard a noise, and saw someone running across the street and going to a house. "Look!" she cried. "Someone was outside! We must arrest them." Vandox heard a noise coming from bushes close by. He told her to take care of it and he'll inspect whoever is hiding in the leaves. Imogin ran over to the house, while Vandox parted the leaves and saw a cat, but there was someone scrabbling away. "Who goes there?" He shone his hat light and found a man and woman together, both covered in leaves and dirt. He questioned them.

"Sorry Night Patrol!" the man said. "We found ourselves locked outside of the house!"

The woman cried "We can't find the key!"

"Where do you live?" Vandox asked them. The man pointed at a house nearby. "Come on then. I'll help both of you get inside."

Just then, distant rumbling sounds appeared along with blowing of horns. The wind picked up and howled, although the sky was completely cloudless. Vandox was very puzzled by it, and the couple were intrigued also. The noise of thunder was approaching, and the sounds of wailing and howling, and the sounds of many dogs barking in the distance. Dogs barked in the village. Dogs barked further away. Thunder was coming closer, and so was the howling wind, blowing horns, barking dogs from a distance.

"Is that a storm?" the man asked. Vandox wasn't sure. He could hear that the thunder was a constant loud raging noise and he felt it vibrate on the ground. The wailing and howling wind was curious, and so were blowing horns.

"Get inside now!" Vandox shouted and he quickly ran to the house of the couple and used a thin key to open the jammed lock. He pushed the door open, turned and ushered the couple in. "Go inside and shut the door. Lock it up and don't ever come back out tonight!" They ran inside and the door slammed. Vandox bolted across the street to the house where Imogin had been interrogating a resident for being out during curfew house. The door was open and she was talking to this man in his night clothes, when Vandox interrupted them. "Get inside! We have to get in! Imogin, get in!" Then Imogin stopped asking why and did as he told her. She could see the look of panic on his face. Once Vandox, Imogin and the man were all inside, Vandox shut the door so quickly and bolted it up.

"What's the matter?" Imogin asked.

"Just don't go out there," he replied. He looked at the man. "Please put out the lights sir."

The man went over to a candle on the table in the room and blew out the flame. Vandox stood by the small window and was grateful that the man put curtains there. He peeked behind a corner of the curtain. Outside in the street, was something he almost had to come face to face with. His body turned ice cold. Imogin slowly lifted a section of curtain to have a peek outside.

There were dozens of them. Black horses with fiery red eyes. Their riders wore luminous attire, and terrible masks of death. The riders shrieked and some blew upon horns. Around them were hounds, all of them luminescent, with shining blood red eyes. They charged straight along the main street, and would had to have turned into another street. As they passed, the dreadful noise was fading.

"What are they?" Imogin asked, and there was a noticeable tremble in her voice.

"They're hunters," Vandox said. "They're the worst kind. They're wild hunters."

The wild hunt left the village, and in their path, they slaughtered whatever they could. Mostly, dead farm animals lie bloodied in the streets. Four unfortunate people, who broke curfew, were found dead in the streets the following morning, covered in wounds from archaic blades and two people had been decapitated. There was blood everywhere, what the hunters had made that terrible night.