Chapter 22: To Fight the Knight

   Several hours had passed; it was now just passing five o’clock.  Billy and Paul, satisfied with the knowledge that Rebecca and Carrie were still alive, had stopped to eat.  They each had kept a bit of money on them, but they couldn’t live like this forever.  They found a small café near the centre of Manchester, and ate.  The end was drawing nearer, and they could somehow almost sense it.  Edward was out of the way, and both lockets had been found… They only had to be reunited, and then Anonni would find a way to destroy the locket.  Their only obstacle was the Knight; the Knight that would stop at nothing to achieve its goal, not even murder.

   “When Anonni destroys the locket…” Billy began, but was unsure how he’d planned the sentence to end.  “When he destroys it… then what?”

   “We cry of relief and go home,” Paul answered.

   “Home?  We’re orphans, we’d have to be taken in,” Billy said gravely.  “Well, Rebecca would, though I’m technically old enough to buy a house… But I’d need a job…  I could become homeless!”

   “This has ruined our lives,” Paul raged.  “As long as it’s destroyed, I don’t care what happens.”

   “But will our lives continue to be ruined after it is destroyed?” Billy went on.  “Rebecca will have lost years of her life!”

  Paul said nothing.  He didn’t want to admit how hard it would be to just go back to life.

   “Well, we should find Anonni, Carrie and Rebecca before we worry about that,” Billy finally said.  “It’s not over yet.”

 

   The end was indeed approaching.  Rebecca, Anonni and Carrie made their way to recover the second locket, unaware of how fast events were progressing.  In only a few moments, several lives would be pointlessly and needlessly lost, for a reason only the killer would ever be able to understand. 

   “Come on, faster!” Anonni called to Carrie, who had begun lacking behind.  “If we want to find Billy and Paul as soon as we can to destroy the locket so Rebecca won’t die so soon, we’ll need to hurry up and catch them before they realise the Interimo detector isn’t there!”  And without pausing for breath, Anonni continued at his fast pace.

   They carried on for several more minutes, stopping only occasionally to catch their breaths.  They reached a small deserted alleyway, just east to the centre of the city.  Rebecca suddenly heard a cry from behind her, and turned around to see Carrie face down on the floor.  She’d tripped on a loose brick.

   “Stupid, stupid girl!” Anonni cried.  She had grazed her arm, and a couple drops of blood trickled onto the pavement.  Carrie screamed at the sight of it, and Anonni, after rolling his eyes, got a small bandage out of his bag and tended to the graze.

   Carrie was not the only person in pain however.  Rebecca felt heat flood from her pocket, and got a burn on her hand when she stuck it in to feel the locket.  Almost instinctively, she looked up to where the source of its excitement laid… Above her, on an open-top roof, stood the Knight.

   In a normal situation, Rebecca would normally be rational.  This wasn’t a normal situation.  Anger and hatred boiled within her, and invented images of her mother covered in blood, screaming in agony, came to the forefront of her mind.  She bit her tongue in rage, and charged through a side door of the building to reach the Knight, to kill it…

   The building’s interior was littered with bodies the Knight must have previously killed.  Rebecca took no notice of this, and found the staircase.  She stopped only to find her knife in her bag, and then continued up the steps.  She ignored the pain she was in from her previous injuries; they would have to wait…

   STOP

   But nothing, not even the locket’s seemingly hypnotic powers, could stop her fury.  She ran up the last flight of stairs, skipping two with each leap, and bashed through the door.  And there it was, standing at the edge, surveying existence.  They were four stories up, but this didn’t bother her.

   It turned to face her.  What was behind that visor…?  A moment passed, where the only thing in each of their minds was the other.  Now she could see it, Rebecca’s raged subsided for the moment.  She couldn’t understand what she was feeling for it, or why… Was it… Pity?

   “Who are you?” she gasped, surprised to find tears streaming down her cheek.  The Knight merely stared at her, taking grip of its particularly long sword.

   “What has the locket; the Interimo, done to you?” she cried.  “Why are you killing?” Then she remembered, and the hatred returned.

   She threw herself at the Knight; arm outstretched, holding the knife in front of her.  She aimed for where its heart should lie, preferring a quick death to a fight.  The Knight made no movement to stop her… Was it feeling remorse for the pain it had caused her?  Was it accepting its punishment?

   Expecting the Knight to draw its sword and fight with her, Rebecca cringed as she plunged the knife into its chest.  But no resistance came.  The Knight twitched as the blade penetrated through the armour, weaker than it looked.  But twitch was all it did.

   After feeling an instant and massive blow to her stomach, Rebecca was thrown onto the floor of the rooftop and rolled against the small ridge at the edge.  How?  How could it have survived?

   The Knight pulled out the knife from its chest, and examined it for a second.  There wasn’t the faintest drop of blood anywhere.  With a flimsy toss, the knife was thrown off the edge of the building.  The Knight drew its sword, and advanced towards Rebecca…

   The locket seemed to explode in heat.  Rebecca, realising she only had one hope left, pulled out the locket from her pocket by the chain and dangled it in front of the Knight.  Instantly upon seeing the locket, the Knight stopped.

   “You want it, don’t you?” Rebecca cried.  “Take-”

   NO.  IT WILL ONLY KILL YOU.

   The Knight’s fist flew forwards to grab the locket, but Rebecca rolled out of the way, and climbed up to her feet.  The Knight spun around with its sword and stabbed it in Rebecca’s direction; at such a force and speed she couldn’t possibly evade it…