The Night Rider

Chapter 8

I took a seat in my window frame. My eyes are on the moon in the sky. My hand is around the black onyx around my neck. Far away in my mind I stare at the light ball in the sky. I feel lost in my own thoughts, lost in the deep black that is called my soul.

Sleeping is something my body does not allow me to do. Since childhood I only sleep a few hours a night. As soon as the moment arrives that I will find a lot of sleep, you can conclude that the end is near. The idea that I will not grow old is something I have become accustomed to over the years. It has never been expressed literally but it is something I have been able to fill in myself.

My thoughts are broken by a door that is gently opened. Surprised I let my gaze glide to the door. Chea's dark blond hair comes in through the crack. Less than seconds later the light green eyes look into the room. 'May I come in' She asks nicely, but before I can reply she is already in my room. She closes the door.

'I don't want to hear about it', is the only response I'm going to make. On her socks she walks up to my bed and drops herself on it. 'Good, because I didn't want to bring it up' Chea's a very different woman from the rest of the women walking around here. Although she wears an enormous amount of knowledge and life experience, she is as open and open-minded as no other.

I let my gaze go back to the moon in the sky. 'I remember when I was your age I used to sit like this in a window frame, looking at the moon for hours. However, I did not spend my time in a gigantic castle but in a farm among the people'. Chea starts telling her story out of nowhere. A single 'mmm' leaves my mouth in answer.

'I sound very old when I say, in my time, but I was. In my day, it was normal to hide as a creature. People weren't allowed to know anything and creatures wouldn't let them know. A lot has happened over the years'. Chea gets up from the bed and walks in my direction, audible by her footsteps. She takes a seat behind me and looks through the window.

'Actually it's weird that the world of humans and creatures are so separated these days. The human world is like a prison to us. The world we live in is totally unknown to humans'. Her story is more a reflection for herself than a story she tells me.

'It's time to show you something' At that moment I get an unexpected hard push in my side. On a whim, I try to grab hold of myself on the sides of the window, to forgive. I am too late and fall down through the open window. The floor of grass is getting closer and closer in my sight.

Half shocked I fall half my way down as if I have lost consciousness. As soon as I realize that the floor keeps getting closer, I turn and point in my feet towards the floor. By focusing on my life lines I slow down my flight through the air and end up on my feet just as I would land on Reviri.

Chea is not even seconds later in front of me. The normal human form as many know her has changed to the form that draws her. A cheetah of more than a meter high has taken a seat next to me in the grass. Chea is not only the leader but also one of the last cheeaths the country knows, who the whole world knows.

I give a playful push against Chea her head afterwards from her push out the window. Her answer is a bite in the air that would be aimed at my hand. Then Chea moves her legs without warning and slowly disappears from my sight. I don't feel like running after her, nor do I have any other choice. Yet I also move my legs and try to run after the cheetah.

Chea has been out of my sight for some time now, but with a growl, reverberating far through the forest, let me know which way to take. I could make this road a hundred times faster but my powers are a deeply kept secret, a secret that has to be hidden far away.

For minutes I run deeper and deeper into the dark forest. Chea hasn't made herself heard for a while so I slowly slow down my speed. With a rushed breath I look around where I stopped. I am standing in a courtyard illuminated by the light of the moon. A strange courtyard where nothing grows but grass. The trees are not here for no reason.

I turn around and try to take in the mysterious place. Chea hasn't been in my sight or hearing for some time, I'm alone here. Out of nowhere I feel my feet leaving the ground. A black light surrounds me like a prison and causes my body to leave the grass. My first instinct is to flee from the light, but it already has me in its grip.

Like a strong wind, the light, which begins to mix with black smoke, races around me. Meters I'm off the ground and moving isn't even an option anymore. Strangely enough, I don't fight the waiting power but let myself be carried away. The light makes the forest around me disappear and see nothing but the deep and dark color.

The black light turns into a screen. Moving images take place like a cinema screen. There is no film on the big screen, no fiction or a good novel. I see myself appearing in front of me as the protagonist in my own film. I am standing in a deserted street, a burning street full of death and destruction.