Curse of the Nightfall
Chapter 12: The quest for justice.

There is now an on-going commotion on the street. The chase-up is so intense as we accelerated to outrun him yet he is trailing behind. There is a gunshot.

‘Oh my God, Stephen. He has a gun’, I am now worried.

Another shot, then we feel the car wobbles as the hissing sound of escaping air is audible. We have a flat tire and spotting a side road with a waiting shed beside it we head towards it parks recklessly then get off to run. We are in a hurry, to outrun death so there is no time to think rationally. We need to lost him and instinct is our only dependable weapon and who knows what else is stored for us as we trail toward the forest. We keep going, run blindly and still, we can sense the beast on pace hunting its prey shouting,

‘You can run but you cannot hide!’—then a warning shot.

The terrain becomes mountainous as we keep on. We hide behind some bushes. We wait til it becomes night. We think he gives up—or lost. We decide to move forward to the upper side on a rocky ledge.

‘Do you think he is gone?’

What he showed today like that confirms Missy’s revelation. He indeed killed Stephen’s mother. We need to inform Stephen’s father. The phones are low bat.

Slowly rising from the horizon is an oversized reddish moon. It has the aura of bloodshed as its rays illuminates the land yet not totally penetrating the forest. The stone ledge where we are is wide and as the illumination exposes our position we never expected to be followed—a gunshot reverberating in echo as Stephen is clutching his belly. He is shot.

‘Do you think I just let it go just so easily?’, Roland emerges from behind the trees with a twisted grin like victory is in his side. The gun is a calibre 45 and its silvery steel is glistening in the moonlight. A dog howls from a distance. Insects chirping as the gusty night is so solitary and forlorn only the 3 of us adorns it where monolith of our shadows are witnesses to what evil is transpiring.

‘We know you killed Mrs. Chair, so even if you kill us tonight, it will haunt you like a restless mongrel.’, I harden up with bravado.

‘I will be fast’, he kicks on Stephen who is dripping with blood and kicks him hard that he lost balance and scampers on the edge. Below is a deep ravine. Clasping weakly on the edge he is hanging on the cliff. Bec of weakness due to loss of blood, he falls down to his death.

I screamed. ‘Steph’, his Gun pointing to me. Blindly, I kicked on his genitals and the sudden jolt dispenses off his gun and he clutch his private part in excruciating pain.

‘You fucking girl’, and drops down to recuperate. I grab the gun with trembling finger and point to him. In few seconds, he is beginning to stand.

‘Girl give me the gun!’, with an outstretched arm, he cautiously approach. I pull the trigger. It fails. It stuck. The bullet didn’t properly position therefore it didn’t blow. In lightning speed, he grabs it and quickly tries to maneuver it, and with that few seconds of distraction I pounce off towards the forest. He chases me but his athletic nature catches up on me and grab my hair in a jolt that I topple backwards. He tied me on a tree.

‘You know, You and Mrs. Chair is my greatest fantasy. I like to have you before but it was foiled, now we are in a desolate place with no recourse but enjoy it.’, he is now undressing himself and as naked as he become I am praying, ‘God help me.’, he remove my pants with me resisting and kicking but how should an inferior girl like me stops the intense lust of a madman—only the night killer does. Indeed.

Hissing.

‘What the hell?’, he yells grabbing his gun to point to the intruder but the thing is, it’s a shock to come face to face with the mystery killer in its true nature—a bigger evil than him. A frightening bristle of fear is commanding in its coercive aspect, he needs to run. The thing is, the vapoury black mist hates him thus in an instant and quick reflex, coils itself on him in a forceful maneuver then everything is done. Roland is dead.

The hissing black mist slithers off towards the unknown where in its desire for vengeance though how evil it is helped me in my dire need, then I realize Stephen is standing yonder still clutching his belly. Good thing is, he is not dead. The mystery killer helped him, too as he was falling off and acted as a magical force that caught him from the fall then brought him up.

Stephen manage to untie me but he is weak. He needs help. I trace back to the road for help until Stephen is safe. There is now relief.

Epilogue: Rest in peace.

Mrs. Chair’s death anniversary comes. Justice was given her as in the flow of event, her killer was gone—in a way, that only me and Stephen was the witness. Whoever this night killer is or represents, it brought justice somehow to someone’s death; or even perhaps, to many of Roland’s victims yet evil is evil. Its ways of killing randomly is condemnable. In the succeeding full moons, there have been no more reports on any mystery killing. Its as if the death of Roland is the final event to its hate or vengeance or however, we speculate, its done. Did the dead actually rise to hunt its killer is another unanswered question floating in our minds. Yet that is life. It caters to more questions we are not able to answer.

We bring with us some prepared lunch as we head toward the cemetery. Some flowers and candles. As we approach the grave, the spectacle of dark birds flocking on the tomb’s vicinity is eye-catching. Crows proliferate on the ground, silently as in the mournful element of death, they finally lay her to rest.

In memory.