The sun had long set by the time Administrator Reed sent them back to their dorms.
On the walk back, Aiden continuously glanced over at Kaitlyn who had hardly spoken a word since the episode outside the office. The deathly pallor she had back then was gone, but her behavior was something else.
Like some lifeless husk, Kaitlyn was purely reactionary: responding when spoken to, focusing on whatever approached her, and shuffling along beside him without a destination. He had already tried talking to her about what was going on, but words, even the Administrators, weren't seeming to register. Aiden was starting to get creeped out.
‘Did that hooded Warrior do something to her?’ he thought as he walked towards the west wing. Aiden shook his, ‘That doesn't make sense. Warrior Sparks was right there and would’ve noticed if he had done anything.’
He snuck a concerned look at the zombified Kaitlyn.
‘Something definitely happened.’ he thought with conviction, ‘I don’t know what, but she was fine before that moment. Whatever's causing her to behave like this, it started then.’
The two had passed through the main wing of the Selection Academy, and were just about to enter the west wing where the dorms were located, when Kaitlyn abruptly changed direction and began walking back towards the front entrance; the one leading out into the village.
Aiden’s concerned thoughts were thrown into disarray as he cut sharply and jogged to catch up to her. “Hey,” he began in distress, “Where you going? It’s past curfew and the dorms are back that way.” He wasn’t expecting any kind of response, but he was hoping that Kaitlyn would head back in the right direction, at the very least.
“I’m going to my house. My family should just be sitting down for dinner and I’m hungry. You can come if you want.” she said with very little emotion in her words. Even her invitation was lacking the conviction of being authentic.
She continued until she reached the imposing front door of the academy, placed both of her hands against the heavy reinforced wood, and pushed through them without breaking stride.
Aiden seriously considered just letting her go on alone, after all, she had said she was going to her house. Although the prospects attending the Selection Academy were required to stay on campus for the duration of the program, those who were originally from the village would often head home in their free time to visit their loved ones or simply to enjoy the comforts of a homecooked meal.
Was it past curfew? Yes.
Was he responsible for Kaitlyn or her actions? No, he wasn’t. She was a grown woman who could take care of herself just fine without him following her around like a lost puppy.
Would he feel guilty if something happened to her while she was clearly not acting like herself? Yes, yes he would.
Considering all of these things in sequence, “Aarrrgh!” Aiden clenched his fists, shaking his head a few times in frustration before jumping sideways through the closing door.
“Hold up!”
#
The night air was clear and crisp as the two made their way slowly through the cool village streets. After leaving the academy, Kaitlyn had done as she said and begun taking the most direct route to her family’s home.
With the bright stars and moon over their heads, navigating the bumpy, dirty roads wasn’t any trouble. The sun hadn’t been down for very long, so the villagers were just now beginning to settle in for the evening. Sounds of people laughing and enjoying themselves reached their ears from the houses they passed, while the assorted smells of cooking, livestock, and burning trash assaulted them in waves. While Kaitlyn might have been living in this particular village her entire life, Aiden was the son of a travelling merchant and, as such, found these sights and sounds of “normal” village life to be both comforting and foreign.
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A gate leading to one of the houses opened as they neared and several village kids came running out holding, what looked like, a small cat. The children were all on the young side, roughly between 7 and 12 years of age, and they were laughing repeatedly at the cat who, held in the hands of a little girl, struggled to escape her tiny grasp. As they got closer, Aiden watched as the children poked and prodded at the cat, some of them pulling at its tail and ears in excitement. Neither Aiden or Kaitlyn said anything as they passed by this scene, merely waving at the kids who, seeing the uniforms of the two, momentarily lost their interest in the cat and began smiling and waving with enthusiasm.
A few of the kids who knew Kaitlyn began following along, pulling at their sleeves and asking questions about the Academy, but Aiden only provided curt answers to be polite while Kaitlyn, back to being a shell of her usual self, ignored them completely. Realizing that there was no entertainment to be found here, the disgruntled kids quickly lost interest and began falling back. Kaitlyn and Aiden rounded the corner of the next street and the kids stopped following completely, several of them sticking out their tongues and making unkind remarks as they ran back to the house on the previous street.
Although the kids had not made a fuss, Aiden knew that Kaitlyn was well known and loved by all the villagers. She would often walk into the village during her free time and mingle with her long-time friends and neighbors. The kids also knew her well, and she would use some of her stipend to buy them treats from time to time when certain merchants passed by the village.
Ignoring the excited children wasn’t something that the usually kind woman would do.
Aiden observed this from beside her and could only give Kaitlyn a sad glance, confirming to himself that there was definitely something going on. Unphased by it all, Kaitlyn continued her journey home, meandering through the familiar streets at a steady pace.
Not long after, Kaitlyn finally showed a reaction other than indifference. Eyes fixed steadily on a certain house that had just come into view, her house, the pace picked up frantically until Aiden needed to start jogging in order to keep up with her. Her stride opened up more and more as the distance shortened. Finally, reaching the gate and somehow managing to get it open with her erratic movements, she broke into a sprint as she entered the property and saw the front door illuminated in torch light.
Kaitlyn began banging on the door with a crazed look in her eye, pounding away at the sturdy wood with irrational desperation, “MOM! DAD!”
Standing to the side catching his breath, Aiden reached out to try and calm his best friend down, “Kaitlyn!” he said firmly, placing a hand on one of her frantically flailing arms, “Kaitlyn, stop! What are you doing?!”
Light flickered from beyond the front gate as the surrounding neighbors began rushing outside with torches to investigate the sounds of turmoil that had chased away the quiet evening.
Aiden looked around them at the house and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary that would warrant the amount of fear and angst that Kaitlyn was currently exhibiting. Arms still flailing as she pounded on the door, Aiden decided to pull his hand back and continued in a softer tone, “Listen, I’m sure everything is fine. Your parents are probably inside as we speak, confused and worried out of their minds, I bet. Why don’t you try calmly opening the door and checking on them first?”
The shouting began to soften as his suggestion lingered in the air, her flailing arms slowing down while they fumbled numbly for the door handle. "Mom? Dad?" her hoarse voice sniffled anxiously.
From within the house, scuffling and a muffled voice could be heard from behind the door as someone moved closer to the other side, “Kaitlyn? Is that you, sweetheart?”
Hearing the wavering, muted voice, Kaitlyn froze in place; tears forming in her eyes and falling in rivers down her cheeks, “Mom?”
The door opened a crack and Mrs. Perez's hazel eyes, framed by flowing red bangs, cautiously peeked through the door until the image of her daughter crying on the front step registered in her vision. Seeing this, the door was suddenly flung open with force and Kaitlyn’s mother came rushing out to wrap her daughter up in a gentle embrace, Mr. Perez left standing behind her in confusion, a sword half-unsheathed in his hands.
“Oh, baby,” Mrs. Perez said soothingly, “Why are you crying? Why aren’t you at the Academy? Did something happen?”
In response to her mother’s concerned words and warm embrace, the last of the ghostly will that had been driving Kaitlyn forward shattered. Before anyone could move in to help, the young woman fainted, collapsing fully into her mother’s arms.
Though farming had given her a hearty constitution, the thin woman struggled to support her daughter. Her burly husband dashed forward to help lift his daughter up off the ground, the weapon in his hands thrown carelessly to the side. With the already bizarre situation spiraling even more, the bewildered couple looked up at Aiden, who had remained transfixed where he stood, for answers.
“What in the blue blazes is going on, Aiden?” Mr. Perez growled in concern, “Why the hell is my daughter yelling her head off and passing out on our doorstep in the middle of the night?!”
Aiden visibly sagged, his concerned expression showing signs of helplessness while he struggled to find an answer that would both mitigate his involvement and help to prevent Kaitlyn’s dad from using his remains to fertilize his wife’s garden.
Lifting his hands in front of his body non-threateningly, he squeaked, “Honestly Mr. Perez, I was wondering the same thing.”