Chapter Seven: Luster Purge

Xavier lived in Canada. He was what some would call an emo. That means he is emotional. He also slit his wrists and wore black clothing, with spikes around his neck. His hair was black and greasy and his eyes were empty pits of despair. They even seemed colourless. He wasn't a bad human, though. He was very good company, once you learned to get past the fact that he slit his wrists and grew comfortable with his clothing. He barely went out into the sun, also, so he had such pale skin. It was disgusting. But something horrible had been happening, ever since that night. But what happened on that night? Not even Xavier knows. And now he was on the run from the police, his crime being murdering eight humans. He didn't mean to kill them, though. It just happened when he looked them in the eyes, they would just die, as if their souls were being shepherded out of their bodies.

Presently Xavier was running though the maple forest, keeping close to the beautiful blue river in case he had to jump in to get rid of his tracks. The last three days, the fifth, sixth and seventh of February, two thousand and twelve, had been so very hard for Xavier, ever since he opened his eyes on Monday the fifth and looked into his mother's eyes. She gagged, as if being strangled, and her body went black and collapsed in a pool of blood. Ever since then Xavier had been on the run.

He could hear the German Shepherds bounding behind him, searching for his scent. It would only be a matter of time now before they found Xavier and he was killed on the spot.

Xavier's real fear, though, was running into his best friend, Catie. If he accidentally killed her, he could never live with himself.

Catie had always been Xavier's friend, and always been there to support him. And if he repaid her by killing her, it would kill Xavier. It would send him on a breakdown. Catie had beautiful, wavy red hair that she liked to style in loops around the side of her head. Her eyes were deep green and my oh my was she a beautiful young lady.

Presently Xavier leaped over a log and kept running, fear powering his muscles, stiff from

You probably would like to know why on earth Xavier had been running for the past few days.

Well, for starters, Xavier killed his mother. It was the most horrible thing to go through, although it was strange, for Xavier didn't really know how to react to what he did. It seems as though you're never really prepared for someone dying, so when they do you're not sure how

you should react. So it was awful when Xavier's father came into Xavier's room to find his wife dead on the floor, his son sitting on the bed with a shocked expression.

Xavier's father was an aging man with only small tufts of red hair on the top of his head. His eyes were green and he was quite plump. He had an unintentional sour look on his face.

Xavier was an only child, so his father went through so much turmoil and internal strife that day. With only one child, for he could conceive no other, he desperately wanted it to work. But he couldn't see that possibly happening without Robin, his dearly beloved. For now she was dead, and it appeared as though his son, whom he loved very much was responsible for the murder of his wife, which was more than he could handle. So within five minutes Xavier's father had called the police and were on their way, without even giving Xavier a chance to explain.

Xavier tried to talk to his father, but he just wouldn't listen. He would never listen. All through childhood Xavier's father had been away, always at work and never having time for Xavier. It was such a surprise when four weeks ago he took Xavier out fishing. Too bad Xavier fell out and got lost. And then... what? Xavier could no longer remember anything in the proximity of four weeks ago.

So when Xavier heard his father call the police, he panicked.

“You, stay right there,” his father growled. Xavier didn't want to go near his father. He seemed to have transformed into a different man upon seeing his wife's dead body. He was very scary. But as much as Xavier didn't want to go to his father, he had no wish to stay put, either. He just wanted to escape, find refuge somewhere, and maybe even live a normal life. But that wasn't going to be

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happening any time soon.

So Xavier opened his window, which was quite hard because he didn't remember the last time he

opened his window, and it was quite rusty at the sides from exposure to the severe storms that had been battering Canada lately. He sneaked around the side of his house, through his beautiful garden, which he could not appreciate. Then he heard a car rolling up the driveway and panicked when he saw it was a police car. He sneaked a bit closer, so he was hiding behind a bush. He sat down and listened intently to the conversation his father was having with the police officer.

“Did you actually see him kill the woman?” the police officer laughed, pulling a notebook out of his pocket and jutting down whatever he heard.

“She's not just a woman, she's my wife,” Xavier's father corrected, “And no, I did not see it happen.”

“What evidence do you have to support your claim?” the police officer asked, “Or isn't there any?”

“Well, when I walked in his room Robin--”

“Who?”

“My wife,” Xavier's father explained, “Well, anyway, when I walked into the boy's room I found Robin on the floor in a puddle of blood and Xavier looking guilty on his bed. He didn't seem to be upset, or cry.”

“That isn't really substantial evidence. Is there anybody else at all that could have killed your wife?” the police officer asked.

“Not that I know of,” Xavier's father answered, “But it's possible, I guess, there could be someone.”

“I'd like to ask the boy some questions,” the police officer demanded. Xavier suddenly lost his balance and went tumbling through the bush to lie face-flat on the pavement. All eyes were upon him now.

“Is this the boy?” asked the police officer.

“Yes, it's Xavier,” Xavier's father answered, glaring at Xavier in an unappreciative, disappointed way, “And as you can see he is running away. Is that the course of action for an innocent person or a guilty one?”

“Well it is quite suspicious,” the police officer stated, “Boy, you'll have to come with us to the station for a few questions. Look at me when I'm speaking!” Hew pushed Xavier's head up, for he had been looking down the whole time, presumably in shame but actually because he didn't want anyone else to die. But Xavier held his head down, so the police officer was unable to push his head up to look at him.

“Please, officer, I cannot look at you,” Xavier said, all the while frantically thinking for a reason why he was unable top look at the police officer, for he would surely be prosecuted if he told them the truth, “I, uh, cannot, um, look upon someone, uh, with, um, such grace and superiority as yourself.”

“Don't waste your time with flattery and look up!” the police officer commanded, “I want to look you in the eye as you say you are not guilty! Unless you are, in fact, guilty.”

“No, officer, I swear I am not guilty, but I cannot look you in the eye,” Xavier said, “It is horrible, I, uh, I have a phobia of iris'.”

“Oh, very funny. Now look at me!” And Xavier slowly raised his head, and looked the police officer in the eye, whose pupils widened in fear and pain, before blackening and collapsing in a pool of blood.

Xavier's father screamed.

“That's exactly how she looked!” he screamed, “You are a murderer! Get away from me, you creep!”

“No, wait dad!” Xavier called, taking hold of his father's eyes, taking care not to look him in the eye, “I didn't mean to kill them! I just look directly into their eye and they die! Please, listen to me, father!”

“You are no son of mine,” his father growled before pulling away from Xavier's grasp. And now

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Xavier was truly alone in the world, except for Catie, but he wouldn't dare risk a meeting with her after what just happened.

After that Xavier just ran through the maple forest that surrounded his home. He just had to get away. He had already killed two humans, and that was awful. Xavier had never thought of himself as a murderer, not until now. It was a feeling that made him literally feel sick. It was as if everything he thought about himself had been thrown out the window, his moral fiber and everything he had been taught over the years. He really should go and give himself up, but he couldn't stand that. They wouldn't believe him, or even give him the chance to explain. He knew that as a fact. They didn't care about serving justice, all they wanted was to lock humans away in gaol. But then again, Xavier had killed those humans, and he was a threat to society. But he couldn't stand being locked away in a cell. Of course, he was usually locked away in his room, but that was an entirely different situation. He had familiar surroundings in his room, and felt comforted by the darkness and pictures and the stuffiness. In a prison cell, everything was different and unusual. Nothing familiar, sunlight could creep in, and it probably stenched of the other male humans whop lived there, those who barely had a thought on the matter of personal hygiene.

That reminded Xavier that he stunk. He hadn't showered since the previous night, and he couldn't stand not having a shower. So he looked around for a river to bathe in. They were probably much too cold, but at the moment that thought didn't even cross Xavier's mind. He just wanted to be clean again.

It didn't take Xavier long to find a river, for he knew all his surroundings in this area. When he found the beautiful, blue river he knelt down and splashed his face with the water. It was as cold as ice and made Xavier shiver all over. Nevertheless, he dunked his head underneath the water. It was so cold it hurt. It was as if a thousand rose thorns were being stabbed into him. He jerked his head out of the water and fell over. He then heard some footsteps coming close to him. Curious, he opened his eyers and saw a family of a mother, father, two children, both girls, and a lovely German Shepherd dog, who was fighting against the lead. Xavier presumed he had had his bark removed, for it looked as though he was attempting to bark but couldn't.

“Mother, whatever is the matter with Rex?” asked one of the young girls, “It seems as though he has discovered something.”

“Why, I do believe he has. Let us go and inspect it,” the mother answered, and she started ton walk towards Xavier. He was very worried, he didn't want to look them in the eye and murder them.

The mother had beautiful locks of golden hair like Goldie Locks. Her eyes were beautiful blue and she wore an old-fashioned dress and had a happy face. The descriptions of her family are not important for me to describe, so I shan't.

“Honey, I do believe it could quite possibly be dangerous,” said the husband, “Perhaps we shall move away from whatever it is and have our picnic.”

“Oh, don't worry. I'm sure it will do nothing to hurt us,” said his wife, “Now, let us have a look at whatever it may be. Hmm, this is very peculiar. Wherever are you going, Rex? Oh, sometimes he does worry me when he tries to run at something like this. Oh, here it is. Why, it is only a boy. And he's fallen into the river, oh my he must be cold. Let us bring him home and warm him up. Maybe then he shall explain to us whatever happened to put him in such poor shape.”

“Yes mother, he shall explain it all to us,” said the little girl, “Maybe if it is something dreadful we shall be the ones to look after him.”

“Why, that is a great idea,” said the husband, picking Xavier up. Never had Xavier ever been shown that kind of kindness.

Xavier had fallen into a fitful sleep. When he awoke, he was in a small cottage, resting on a pile of lovely, soft cushions in front of a blazing wood fire. The walls were all made out of a lovely smelling wood, most likely camphor, except the chimney. It was made out of lovely bricks.

Amazing smells reached Xavier's nose. Someone must be cooking something for him. Oh, how he wished it was soup!

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“Oh, you're up,” said the mother, “Have some of my pumpkin soup. It is absolutely divine.” Xavier sat up and everything felt dizzy. He sat down again, holding his head and wishing he had never attempted to get up in the first place.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I think we shall start by asking who you are,” the lady answered.

“I'm Xavier Xekuley,” Xavier answered, “Now, if you don't mind me asking, who on earth are you?”

“What a bizarre surname,” said the lady, “My name is Mary-Anne Stewart. I have two daughters whose names are Robin and Kirstyn.”

“My mother's name is-was Robin,” Xavier commented, all the while avoiding Mary-Anne's intense gaze.

“Well, it is a beautiful name,” said Mar-Anne, “My husband's name is Parker. We helped you when we found you unconscious by the river. Sit up, there that's it. Whoops! Don't fall over again! Oh, that's alright, don't blush. Here, have some pumpkin soup.” Mary-Anne handed Xavier a stone bowl that was filled with steaming hot, thick, pumpkin soup. And it was not lumpy, either. Xavier couldn't stand lumpy soup.

“Would you like some cheese?” Mary-Anne asked. Xavier nodded.

“Yes please, if it's no bother.”

“No, not at all,” Mary-Anne answered, “I'll just go fetch it. You know, all our dairy products are lovely and fresh, for we have a herd of cattle further down, in a nice little field. They provide us with milk, and we provide them with a lovely home with soft mattresses to rest their tires hooves after a long day standing up in the field. I think they quite like it. Here is your cheese.” Mary-Anne had even gone to the liberty of grating it, and sprinkled some over the soup.

“Thank you very much,” said Xavier, before starting to eat, of course minding his manners and not slurping.

“Don't eat it all now. I've got some mixed herb bread coming up, and it will be hot from the oven!”

“Honestly, you don't have to make such a fuss. I'm sure I'll be fine,” Xavier insisted, gobbling up more of the soup, which turned out to be the best pumpkin soup he had ever tasted.

“No, don't worry about it. I love cooking. And it's not like I've got much else to do around here,” said Mary-Anne, “It gets quite lonesome. But, anyway, enough about me. Let's hear about you. What did you mean when you said your mother's name was Robin? Did she get a confirmation name or something?”

“Actually, she recently passed away,” Xavier explained.

“Oh, I'm so sorry,” Mary-Anne consoled.

“No, don't be. I'm fine,” Xavier said. For a while the two sat in silence, only the occasional unintentional slurp of soup to be heard.

“What about your father?” asked Mary-Anne, breaking the silence.

“Oh, he disowned me,” Xavier explained.

“That's just horrible,” Mary-Anne gasped, “Why?”

“He blamed me for mother's death,” said Xavier, not untruthfully.

“You know what, Xavier Xekuley? I'm going to enjoy your company,” said Mary-Anne. And Xavier knew he was going to very much enjoy living with Mary-Anne. But good things always come to an end.

The bliss of living with Mary-Anne lasted for only one day. It came to an end when Xavier and Mary-Anne were sitting around the fire, knitting. Parker and the two girls, Kirstyn and Robin, had just came in through the door.

“I got the newspaper,” said Parker. He held out a battered newspaper and they all saw a headline on the front page: Canadian Murders. A picture was lower down, underneath the writing, of

Xavier. Xavier was absolutely stunned. Parker knew Xavier was a murderer, and now Mary-Anne would hate him.

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“What is this, Xavier? It says that you killed your mother. Please explain,” commanded Mary-Anne.

“No, we shan't let him explain. He is a murderer, and we need to turn him in before he kills us!”

Parker shouted.

“Now Parker, don't rush to condemn him. We shall let him explain, there is probably a logical explanation,” said Mary-Anne.

“No!” Parker shouted, and viciously grabbed hold of Xavier. He twisted around and, unintentionally, looked him in the eye. He was dead in less than five seconds.

“Daddy's dead, you murderer!” cried Robin. And after that Xavier couldn't help but look them in the eye.

“What is this madness!?” cried Mary-Anne, “I see you are in fact innocent and do not mean to kill your people. But nevertheless, the police will not believe that. So I'll help you escape and then you cannot live with me anymore. I'm sorry it had to turn out that way.”

“Aren't you upset they are dead?” asked Xavier.

“Oh, I shall be, but right now I'm too shocked and pumped with adrenalin to grieve,” explained Mary-Anne, “Which is why we must hurry before this feeling leaves me and I cannot go on any more.” So the two left the house and ran through the forest. Xavier was too shocked and ashamed to say anything, while Mary-Anne counseled him and showed him the way to go while they were running.

“Okay, this is where we must part ways,” said Mary-Anne. They had arrived at the river. A log lay out in front of Xavier, crossing the river.

“Do I have to cross using the log?” asked Xavier.

“I'm afraid you must. Don't worry, I'll stay until you're across. Now, remember what we said: None of this is your fault. However strange it is, there must be some logical explanation, and never let anyone tell you your a bad person,” said Mary-Anne, “Goodbye, Xavier.” And she leaned into Xavier and planted a kiss on his forehead.

“Goodbye, Mary-Anne,” said Xavier.

“I love you as if you were my own son,” said Mary-Anne, “Now be off with you!” And Xavier crossed the river, carefully. When he was on the other side he ran away, without looking back. And Mary-Anne sat down and grieved.

Xavier tried to stay away from humans. He had already killed five. But still, Xavier couldn't completely avoid them. He was pathetic, not resourceful, dependent human. He needed to go to the shops to get clothes, etc. So he sneaked in through the back door of a small clothes shop. It was closed at the moment, but Xavier feared it would re-open soon.

He slowly crept around the shop, looking at all the clothes, for some that could conceal him, were warm, and his size. He soon found two large parkers and five pairs of long, woolly pants, many scarves and beanies, and three fat jumpers. Now he would something he could use as a blanket.

Before he had time to look the bell rang on the shop door and someone stepped through. He was an old man with baggy jeans and a monocle. He was leaning heavily on a beautifully carved walking stick. He had wispy white hair that hung down to his shoulders. He looked over a hundred years old.

“What are you doing here, young'un?” he asked, “Hey, aren't you that murderer from the paper? Why, you are! Get out of my shop!” Xavier had luckily left all his things outside of the shop, so if something like this happened he would be ready for it.

Now the man lifted his walking stick and swung it at Xavier. Xavier dodged it, and got a sign that said, 50% off! from on of the clothes baskets, and used it to defend himself. The man was quite skilled at using the walking stick as a weapon, so it was hard for Xavier to fight him back.

“Don't get cocky!” he cried, swinging at Xavier and hitting him directly in the forehead.

When Xavier woke up he was in a cell. He was all alone, and it smelt as if something had

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crawled into the cell and died. Blood was splattered over the walls and there were chains hanging from the wall. A big wooden wheel was sitting at the back. Attached were straps that seemed as tough they could be used to tie someone up with. He tried to get up and move, but saw his leg was

attached to a chain with an iron ball attached to it.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” called Xavier. He would love it if his mother would come through the door and explain that it was all just a big joke. But then he saw there was no door and wondered how he got in.

And suddenly a light was turned on, and Xavier could see that the cell was actually a pit. Three humans sat up the top, looking in on Xavier. They were most likely mocking him inside their minds.

“Hello, can you please get me out?” asked Xavier.

“Are you joking? You're not getting out any time soon,” one of them said.

“Why?” asked Xavier.

“Oh, don't play dumb, you bloody murderer,” shouted another of them.

And then Xavier remembered it all. Killing his mother, Robin, Kirstyn and Parker, and the police officer. And for a fraction of a second he remembered a golden palace.

“Sorry, I forgot. I must have a little bit of amnesia,” called Xavier.

“If you had amnesia,” said one of the guards, a woman. She seemed to be much to young to be a prison guard.

“Yes?” asked Xavier, “If I had amnesia...?”

“Shut up, bastard,” the girl cried, chucking a stone at Xavier.

“Hey, not yet,” scolded another of the guards, “Wait 'till tomorrow.”

“What's happening tomorrow?” asked Xavier.

“You're being stoned to death,” said one of the guards bluntly.

“What? That's got to be illegal!” Xavier exclaimed.

“Not out here,” the guard laughed. And it was then that Xavier knew that he was truly lost without hope.

Xavier spent all day and night devising a plan to escape. It seemed futile. Whatever would he do? But there was no point calling for help. He was out in a barren wilderness, on a peninsula off the coast of Canada. Only a small one, though. But it was still too far to run before he was in the cover of the forests. And Xavier was afraid if he attempted to escape he would be tortured by the torture device in the pit. But then again, he was going to be stoned. That was pretty bad. Very painful.

The time had come for Xavier to be stoned. It was twelve O'clock noon. A huge crowd had gathered, just to throw stones at a poor individual. Among the crowd was Xavier's father. That was enough to make Xavier cry, but he wouldn't give up his pride in front of this crowd.

“This is Xavier Xekuley, charged with the murder of Robin Xekuley, police officer Robert Barnes, Parker Stewart, Robin Stewart and Kirstyn Stewart, also the attempted murder of Mary-Anne Stewart and Jordan Xekuley,” called out a prison officer who was standing at the edge of the pit, a large rock in hand, “He shall be stoned to death today, in the wake of the messiah Jesus' crucification.”

The officer had short brown hair which was styled back so that it looked like it was plaster. He was fat and had brown eyes that were covered with a pair of glasses. He had an evil smirk on his face, and Xavier could tell he was not a nice human.

“Jesus wasn't killed any time near today!” Xavier roared. The crowd murmured in disapproval, all making the sign of the cross. Someone even threw a badly aimed rock into the pit.

“Now now, calm down. I see the boy doesn't understand his history,” the officer snarled, “As according to the Holy Gospel according to Mark, chapter fifteen verses thirty-three to thirty-five, 'When it was noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three O'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is

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calling for Elijah.' I think that is proof enough that today is the day of the Lord's death. The day of

the polar eclipse, from twelve O'clock until three O'clock. Coincidence? I think not.” Everyone around the pit murmured in agreement, nodding their heads and occasionally shaking their heads at

Xavier.

“Is it not also said that our Lord Jesus was crucified in the time of the Sabbath?” asked Xavier, “And besides, the eclipse you speak of only happens in Canada, and Jesus our Lord lived in the

Middle-East, you domkop!” Everyone gasped and covered their eyes.

“Don't you speak to me in that filthy South African tongue!” roared the officer, throwing his huge rock at Xavier. It hit him on the shoulder and cut through Xavier's shirt and caused a flow of blood.

Xavier had no idea where his South African word had come from. He knew nothing about South Africa, let alone it's language. But in the small moment after Xavier had said what he said, everything became clear to Xavier. Everyone around him were nothing but racist, pathetic cowards who only see what humans look like, or what mistakes they may have made. Everyone on the edge of the pits thought the rest of the world outside the Anglo-Saxon population were monsters, but in fact they were the monsters

“You beast!” Xavier roared, “You racist bastard!”

“I beg your pardon! Those bloody South Africans are nothing but the scum on the bottom of a fish bowl! In fact, that's an insult to scum. Those South Africans are inferior, stupid, vile, filthy, wild... animals! People like you are the ones bringing us whites down, maybe even to the level of blacks!” Xavier couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had grown up without racism. The colour of someone's skin had been as trivial to him as the colour of their eyes, and didn't seem to make a difference. And when he had heard that some humans hated others because they were black, vice versa, he thought racism was gone in the world. Especially since books such as The Power of One and To Kill a Mockingbird. And now all that was being thrown out the window because of one man, whom Xavier now felt so much hate against.

“You may throw your rocks at this sinner,” the officer commanded.

“Wait!” cried Xavier, “Let he who has not sinned throw the first stone!”

“You're no messiah, and don't go speaking like one!” roared the officer before hauling another stone into the pit that hit Xavier in the same place as last time. He cried out in shock.

Then more stones came falling down on him. Not many actually made contact with him, for he tried his best to move around and dodge them. The few that did hit him weren't large enough to bring a large amount of pain. But Xavier could've sworn his arm was about to fall off he was in that much pain. But suddenly a rock hit just underneath his kneecap, and he fell down. Still The barrage of rocks continued. He was in such great pain. It felt as though every bone in his body was fractured. He looked up to the edge of the pit, to see Mary-Anne.

“When we are in darkness come here and I shall throw a ladder down to you,” she shouted. Of course Xavier couldn't hear over all of the other noise, but he was very good at lip-reading, so he knew what she was saying.

Suddenly something covered the sun, and everything went black. The shouts of humans stopped, for they were reverent, as they thought this was the time of the death of Jesus. But still the sound of rocks clattering on the concrete of the pit was quite loud. Xavier got up and made his way over to the ladder. No rocks had hit him since the sun went down, for no one could see him.

Suddenly a dazzling array of light shone through the sky. It was not unlike the Northern Lights, but it was still very different. It's hard to explain what they look like, but one word comes to mind: Divine. They were Godly, beautiful and silent and they whipped and wove through the sky. Of course they weren't bright enough for anyone to see Xavier escaping, but at least now Xavier could see two steps in front of him. And everyone had stopped throwing stones out of reverence. Xavier could see the ladder hanging down in front of him. It was a wooden one, and would swing quite a bit as he was climbing, so Xavier just hoped Mary-Anne had good hold of it.

Xavier started climbing the ladder, step by step. It was freezing now, with no sun to warm everything up. Xavier knew that as soon as he was out of the pit it would be warmer. And then he

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would run away and be free. God bless Mary-Anne, the only one with a pure soul whom Xavier had

met yet.

When Xavier got to the top three humans saw he had escaped, but they made the mistake to look

into his eye. Now Xavier was very guilty. He had killed all eight of the humans he was destined to kill.

“Oh my god, I didn't mean to,” Xavier whispered to Mary-Anne.

“I know, just make haste and follow me.” Xavier and Mary-Anne ran away from the crowd, who were still standing still in reverence. Well, Xavier wasn't really running. It was more of a limp that was painful to watch.

When Xavier and Mary-Anne had reached the edge of the forest they stopped.

“Oh my, I forgot. How can I be so rude?” said Mary-Anne, “You must be in terrible pain. I'll give you something to fix that.” She rummaged through a bag Xavier just realised she was carrying. It was quite hard to see anything in this darkness.

“Ah, here it is,” said Mary-Anne, protruding a wooden flute out of the bag, “Whenever you are in pain, play this flute.” And she played it. It was the most beautiful music Xavier had ever heard. The music weaved in and out and made Xavier feel all kinds of emotions. And when it was over Xavier no longer felt pain. And he didn't have to ask how to play it. It seemed as though he already knew.

Suddenly a voice rolled in from the sea. It was full of sorrow but in some way seemed to be divine like the lights that danced up in the sky. It was low, droning, and Xavier could somehow see something, a cross rising into his vision, a man with a crown of thorns, death, life, everything seemed to be expressed in one solemn cry. Xavier could barely hear it, but somehow he knew it was Jesus, crying to his God.

That was how Xavier wound up here, running frantically through the maple forest, trying to get away from the police officers who pursued him.

All of a sudden he was pulled to the side, and into the shade of a very big chunk beautiful metamorphic rock. He panicked and tried to scream, but a hand was fast over his mouth, and wouldn't let him utter a word. He turned around to see his captor was a was an adult woman, who had wavy, blonde hair that fell down past her shoulders. She had dark shadows around her eyes and was wearing beautiful shawls that trailed on the ground after her. On her finger was a ring, with a beautiful stone set in it. Her eyes were beautiful violet.

After a while one of the German Shepherds came up to the rock, and Xavier knew he was done for. But as soon as the German Shepherd saw the woman, he backed away. It was as if she was talking top him using only her eyes. And then suddenly the German Shepherd ran away.

The woman released Xavier, and he didn't run away, like he thought he should. It just seemed like he should stay here with this woman.

“Who-who are you?” he asked.

“You can call me Phillis,” answered the woman, “I came here to help you. No! Don't look me in the eye! Okay, well what you are going through is normal, so don't worry. Well, it's not normal, but it has happened before. And also, do you have and access to a scythe?” Xavier shook his head, quite frightened from this woman Phillis, or whatever she called herself.

“Oh, that is no good. Okay, well just stay away from humans until someone comes to collect you. In about less than a year, all this will make sense to you. I've got to go now.” Xavier turned around to ask her questions, but she was gone. So Xavier stepped out from behind the rock, and saw a magnificent Killer Whale, which of course is a dolphin, not a whale, leaping out of the water. Xavier regarded this as good luck, and in a year, those magnificent creatures will bring good luck to Xavier. That's for sure.

Xavier was running once again away from the police. But this time it was up the side of the mountain, heading towards a publicly accessible picnic area. If he went there, he couldn't help but kill everyone there. The police officers who were following Xavier would most likely die also,

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which was quite sad.

Suddenly Xavier burst from the bushes into the picnic area. Crowds of humans fled in all direction, screaming at the top of their voice. Everyone was afraid of Xavier. No one wanted to listen to him, or would listen to him for that matter. It was one of the worst feelings in the world.

But then the police caught up to Xavier, and held their rifles out, ready to shoot Xavier if

anything happened. Xavier spun around, and it was too late for them. Their pupils grew wide and they gagged as if they were choking. Their skin blackened and their bodies dropped to the floor in a pool of blood.

What had Xavier done? Now their would be two little children, crying at night because their father never came back. And why? Because Xavier was a coward. He tried to think he didn't, but he killed all these humans on purpose. He was too frightened of them, so he took the coward's way out and looked them in the eye.

Tears rolled down Xavier's eyes as he turned around and surveyed the picnic area, to see he had killed countless families without even knowing it. Mothers cradling their dead babies, families trying to flee, but getting caught in the eye. What had happened? How did it happen? He didn't remember looking any of those humans in the eye. All of as sudden Xavier realised it was dead silent. No insects buzzing through the air, no wind stirring the trees, nothing moving. It was all still, and silent. It was eerie, as if anything could happen, at any time.

Which is why Xavier nearly screamed when a stick cracked at the other edge of the clearing.

“Who-who's there?” Xavier asked, his voice wobbly with fear.

“I thought I'd never catch up with you,” came the voice of Catie.

“Catie, stay away from me, and whatever you do, do not look me in the eye,” Xavier called out across the clearing.

“