Chapter 4 Falsely Charged

Iris chewed onto the last piece of bread and then gulped it down with some water. She felt content and lightheaded at the same time. The dizziness and weakness from before had vanished now that she had had her meal. She realized that it hadn't been wise of her to avoid eating.

"All done, Lucy, take it away," the woman spoke in a sharp voice that made the worker jump onto her feet in one panicky motion.

She rushed over to the tray of empty plate and glass and took it away from her sight. The woman landed a nasty glare at Iris.

Iris quickly averted her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt goose bumps up her arms. It wasn't too long ago that the same woman had been about to beat her with the metal rod. Iris had no choice but to start eating, which seemed like the right thing to do, now that her head was no longer spinning. She waited under the penetrating gaze of the dark haired lady who seemed just as wicked as she was dressed.

After a few minutes the lady exhaled exasperatedly and got up from the table end, on which she'd been sitting, to leave. Iris didn't dare to look up until she heard the 'thud' of the grilled door shutting. A weak smile spread its way across her face and she looked up at the grilled window once more. A burning sensation took over. Her eyes flashed a rosy pink color, followed by the slight golden glow of the shards from her skin.

The bars on the window began to vibrate.

.

Cheryl's small figure made its way from the corner of the street. I stared emotionlessly at the approaching person. The sound of her footsteps filled my ears and for a second I thought I might faint. My mind was phasing out by the time she reached me.

Once near, she looked around for any signs of that dark creature. When she didn't find it, her gaze fell on my face. Her eyes widened as if just noticing my expression for the first time. I saw her lips move but I was unable to respond. I just stared at her like I didn't know her. She grabbed my shoulders and shook them hard. I blinked.

"What…" I gasped.

"I said, what happened to you? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"I… it's nothing," I looked away.

She looked less worried and more distracted. Her eyes constantly scanned the streets for the creature. It reminded me of that girl from before.

"Did you see it? Did you see where it went?" she asked, not even looking me in the eye.

I let out a half-hearted snicker of disbelief. It was a chuckle aimed at me, for letting myself get swayed like that; to think I almost believed she was worried for me.

"You're awfully concerned about that thing. Do you maybe know something I don't?"

She glanced in my direction with uncertainty, then slowly stared off into space at something on the ground. I watched a feeling of dread take over her. Her lips quivered ever so slightly.

"I don't… know," was all she managed in a hard voice before turning around to continue her search.

"...It got away," I replied to her question earlier. I wasn't sure if she heard, though. She paced forward quite fast. I had to pick up my pace just to keep up with her. As I walked across the vacant street, I noticed a glow in my pocket. It was the shard, but it was different this time. This time it was stronger, pulsating energy around itself. It felt so alive. I took it out to hold it up. The second it touched the blackened skin on my palm, it burned like hot fire on a stove.

"Ah…" I whispered, instinctively letting go of the shard.

Cheryl turned around in surprise. Her eyes immediately went to the glowing object on the ground, and then the image of me holding my burnt hand. She quickly picked up the shard and grabbed my hand. She pulled it over to witness a black spot, swirling around on my palm, spreading to take form.

When she looked up at me, her eyes were filled with anger.

"You touched it? I told you not to go after it. I told you it was dangerous!"

"Whatever!" I pulled my hand away and swiped the shard from her with my other hand, putting it back in my pocket. I would retort in anger if I wasn't so angry at myself first. I remained silent.

I took out my phone and started typing.

"What're you doing?" she asked, as if now questioning my every action.

"I'm alerting all the guards nearby and also asking if any of them saw this thing." A vein at the side of my temple had begun to throb.

Replies came almost too quickly. Unfortunately, none had seen anything. One reply did not come through, though. We started to walk back to the area we were originally assigned. Half-way there I checked my phone again; still nothing. I stopped. My hand itched. I looked at it, palmside up. The mark branched into my fingers, like veins filled with black liquid. It began to throb in a pattern, from one part of the hand to the finger.

"Three buildings from here. In an alley," I heard myself say.

Cheryl stared at me, dumbfounded. She glanced at the hand, then back at my own puzzled face. Then, within seconds, she was off, sprinting in the direction I had described.

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and hurried after her.

"Wait!" I called out but she had already put so much distance between us. I tried to keep up the chase but her tiny figure just kept getting smaller and smaller as she ran further away. I cursed myself under my breath, panting. It was no use following her on foot.

My wings emerged from my back and I moved with ten times the speed as before, levitating above ground. I felt the sudden rush of energy as I passed several streets with ease. I was closing in on Cheryl but just barely.

'What is up with that speed?' I wondered.

"Cheryl!" I shouted with as much power as I could muster.

To my surprise, she halted. I quickly arrived at the street she stood gaping at. My feet hit the ground and I breathed out. My heart had been beating so fast from all that flying, yet she stood there, not even out of breath. I followed her gaze into the alley. There it was. I let out a whistle. The creature stood hunched in one corner a few paces away from us. Something was wrong though. I narrowed my eyes. I could see a pool of blood near his feet and I doubted that the blood was his.

My hand began to hurt all of a sudden. The creature, as if it sensed it, turned around in an instant. Underneath the cape, I could see a cloud of black smoke swirling about to retain form. A pair of sharp, black claws were sticking out of it. Most interesting of all were the pair of lime yellow dots for eyes that flickered as they went from Cheryl to me.

'Retreat.' I heard a deep, husky, unfamiliar voice. My hand throbbed even more. I looked at Cheryl, who didn't seem to have heard it.

The creature suddenly let out a metallic scream, similar to those of the Catters. Somehow, I could hear words underneath.

"Yes… Master…"

My head snapped towards Cheryl, with hopeful eyes that I wasn't the only one witnessing this. She just covered her ears from the awful noise. I looked back just in time to see a cloud of smoke vanish in front of my eyes. The creature was gone. I stood gaping at the dark alley, with eyes slightly enlarged and mouth hanging open.

Cheryl rushed over to the injured night guard. The guy's forehead was bleeding.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" I heard her yell to me as she tried to find a pulse in his neck. "He's still alive. I don't see any other wounds except for the head."

"Leave him," I said, walking over to her, finally coming to my senses. I realized I didn't have time to think about what had just happened. I needed to tend to the injured. "I'll take him to the night force hospital. You go back to the area since it's still unguarded."

She nodded and waited till I was in the air, holding the injured body in my hands. When I looked down again, she was gone from sight.

.

I rushed into the elevator, slashed the card through the slit and slammed my fist on the ground floor button. Lights blinked at my face as the elevator started to move. I clenched my fists, swallowing back any anger that attempted to escape. My stomach pulled inside and it was not because I hadn't had breakfast today. It was the urgent message from Jonathan that I was requested to appear in the night force court. That was fine except I was the main suspect for last night's events. At least, according to Jonathan's extremely brief text message.

The elevator stopped at the institute underground. I slipped past the doors before they completely opened and sprinted across the corridor. Tube lights hung at intervals, illuminating the path ahead. The court was just past two turnings. Several people walked past me, some even gave me skeptical glances as I dodged my way through.

My heart was racing and my breath came rapidly when I reached the correct turning. I stood there at one end of the hallway, panting while staring at the lights that illuminated my way. A mountain of emotions, mostly anger, twisted and tormented me from inside. The tube lights gave off a violet glow from here on, symbolizing the path to coart. It depicted the deeds of evil doers; not that I'd done anything to deserve this.

I inhaled deeply, letting in some calm air, and began forward. My head felt heavy and my eyes had to be forced open. I barely slept last night before getting the call. That was all it took to jump out of bed and march my way here. I reached the end of the purple corridor.

Five minutes later, I was on the suspects' chair, facing rows and rows of people, some of whom I recognized since I'd almost bumped into them earlier. Their faces showed no emotions which annoyed me even more. It was like facing an army of robots that was out to destroy me if I didn't hand over any proof of my innocence.

'I'd like to see them try,' I thought as I returned their gaze with my cold stare.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a door spring open. I craned my neck a bit to see Cheryl and Jonathan rushing to my side.

"Dude, how'd you get yourself into this mess?" Jon asked, sounding more surprised than I was.

"Don't worry, we talked to the coach and he said that they're going to bring in the guy you saved last night. He'll tell us what really happened." Cheryl assured me.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to come," I said, putting a hold on my anger for that moment. I massaged the side of my temple with one hand. "You should rest. You had a tiring shift last night," I told her.

"About that…" she started, sounding a bit concerned but was interrupted by the bell.

The judge walked in from a door to my left and took his place behind the tall wooden desk. Feeble murmurs and whispers, that had been going around for a while, now ceased.

"Let's go," Jonathan whispered. He and Cheryl quickly scurried over to the audience panel and seated themselves there.

"Let the case begin." The man said in a high and urgent voice. He was a skinny guy in his mid thirties. The lawyer walked in after him.

I knew he would try to defend me as much as possible but if the evidence proved I'm guilty, he would not try to save me. The night force court just worked like that. It helped criminals get the justice they deserved. There was no bribing your way out.

The lawyer took his place next to me, unfolding spectacles from out of his coat pocket, and placed them on the bridge of his nose. His clothes were black, befitting the serious atmosphere.

"Good morning your honor, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Claude Cent. We are gathered here today because a night guard, 18 years of age, Dixon Darke has been suspected to have attacked another night guard. Before I say anything else, I would like to ask Dixon to share with us his story of last night's events."

I breathed in deeply as I stood up, dragging the chair back. I explained how I chased after the creature, leaving out the part about the marks on my hand. No one could see them since I had wrapped it in bandages. My explanation ended at the part where I'd found the guy injured by the creature. After which I took him to the hospital.

I sat down with a sigh. My eyes caught sight of Jon and Cheryl somewhere in the middle of the audience. They nodded approvingly, making me feel a bit at ease.

"Thank you Dixon. I appreciate your input. However, you did miss out a bit of detail," the lawyer, Claude, stated.

"I didn't miss anything," I replied confidently.

"Well, if you insist then I can give you a clarification. You see, you mentioned you were with someone during your shift. Now we all know we can't afford to send more than one night guard to the same spot."

I glanced up at him, not wanting to believe.

"You see, I checked the list of night guards assigned to the area thoroughly. There was no one besides you in that premise."

Words flashed back to me, my own words.

'That's funny, because we don't have enough guards to assign to the same spot.'

I remember having said that and yet I didn't think to check twice with anyone.

"Now, who did you say was with you?" Claude went on saying.

My eyes had already found Cheryl looking guilty as ever. I just stared at her with a cold, hard face.

"Either it's them lying, or you. We'll know soon enough." Claude paused to look at me, awaiting a name.

"Either way, it doesn't prove anything. What else?" My words were cold as ice. I didn't look at Cheryl after that.

Taken aback by my bold answer, the lawyer picked up some papers from inside a file. He flipped through them.

"Let's see," he said while reading, "You claim that the creature just ran away the moment you arrived at the scene. It didn't put up a fight despite its previously stated aggressive behavior?"

"Nope. What else?" I simply answered, not bothering to hide my irritation.

Claude exhaled deeply as he flipped through more pages till he got to the last one.

"Ah, here we are." He looked at me and then continued, "Dixon, the real reason we suspect you is the fact that the creature's power signature we found at the scene seems to match yours perfectly."

My eyes widened.

"What?" I looked around alarmingly to see if people were actually buying this.

"You tested this? And you're sure about the results?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so. We tested three times and got the same result," he said while adjusting his spectacles.

I looked at him in disbelief.

"So you're saying… that thing was made using my powers?"

"It appears so."

"Could it have been someone else by any chance?"

"Not possible. We all know the only time a power repeats itself is after it has traveled several generations. Even so, siblings have been witnessed to hold similar powers, but even their signatures differ from each other. Which means the last person to use your powers, with the same signature, besides you would have been centuries old. It is why there are such few of you night guards in existence. So to answer your question simply, no. It has to be you."

I remained silent.

"Let me ask another question, how did you know exactly where to find the injured night guard?"

I looked down at my bandaged hand. If only there was an explanation for any of this, I would take it.

"He sent a message to many of the night guards in the area. All but one replied. That's how he knew."

I looked up at her petite figure trying to stand out in the middle of a crowd filled with scary people. My fingers stroked the side of my temples. A headache was starting. I could see Jonathan urging her to sit down. Stubborn as she was, she didn't listen.

"I'm sorry, young lady, but how would you happen to know that?"

'Don't…' I thought while trying to make eye contact with her. Not that she could read my mind but…

"It's because I was with him that night," Cheryl said.

I began to massage my forehead. The headache was worsening.

"So you're the extra night guard who was with him even though you weren't on duty that night." The lawyer smiled as he said that as if he had only begun to enjoy this.

"That's right." Cheryl answered with a straight face.

I saw the coach shift from his seat.

"Sir, I would like to request that you please excuse her this one time," he said, "She's new to the place and a bit too excited. I assure you, this one means no harm."

"That is not up to me to decide," the lawyer turned towards the door. "I would like to call Jason, the victim, to share his side of the story."

The door to my right opened and my eyes fell on the person in the wheelchair, making his way beside the witness chair. His head was bandaged neatly and without looking at me he turned toward the audience to speak.

"I was on duty last night when I got this text message from someone warning me about a creature. I didn't have the number saved so I have no idea who it was. Then, before I knew it, something dark came flying at me from out of nowhere. I was pushed down from the 2nd staircase."

Jason paused to touch his bandage and then continued.

"I think I lost consciousness at that point. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the creature hovering over me just like it was described in the text. Then my eyes caught sight of a silhouette of someone. More like a Shadow of a man standing at the end of the alley… then these two night guards arrived."

He gestured at me with his hands. "After that, I may have fainted a second time."

Claude pushed his spectacles upwards as he spoke to me. "I believe you're the one who makes use of your shadow in the form of a man."

"The guy just hit his head. He could've been seeing dancing elephants for all we know," I told him but it was no use. They had already decided I was the criminal.

Jason's eyes met mine in an intense gaze and I realized that everybody was looking at me now with judgemental eyes.

"Dixon," the judge spoke behind me. I half turned towards him. "I have decided that you will be held under supervision until further investigation is made."

All the anger that had been boiling up inside me burst out like a volcano. I stood up just as instantly as someone else did.

"This is ridiculous. This is not how you repay someone for saving a life. You're wrong about the creature."

My eyes met Cheryl's in surprise. What did she think she was doing? I eyed Jonathan who just shook his head helplessly. I signaled her with my eyes to sit quietly, hoping it wasn't too late.

"Do I sense comradeship here? You sound like you know something about the creature that we don't." Claude's eyebrow went up in suspicion.

"She's just saying whatever comes to her mind. Leave her out of it!" I retorted in anger but to no effect.

Claude inched closer to the crowd. I looked at Cheryl's face shrouded in frustration underneath those red fringes. She was trying not to look into the lawyer's eyes directly. I noticed that her hands slightly trembled. Either she was scared or about to do something she shouldn't. If only I could just stand between them, hide her from this battle.

'That girl never thinks…'