I stumble out onto the street, squinting into the blinding sunlight. My fingers search the rough wooden surface behind me for a few moments before finding the door handle. I clasp it and pull the front door shut, wincing as it squeaks on its ancient hinges. Everything is loud and bright and overwhelming this morning.

I finally get my bearings and frown at the familiar street. It suddenly repulses me, for some unexplainable reason. I guess after growing up here for seventeen years, it all gets a bit repetitive. There’s a whole world out there, but all I’ve ever known is this small, dingy pocket of the city.

I haven’t managed to take more than a couple of wobbling steps down the footpath before there’s the sound of another door opening behind me. I groan inwardly as I turn around to see who it is.

Ryan greets me with a grin. “Hey, Kayla!”

“Morning, Ryan,” I grumble, rubbing my eyes. Usually I’d at least try to fake a smile, but this morning I don’t bother. Ryan is nice, sure, but I’ve got too much on my mind to stop and talk to my perpetually cheerful neighbour. It doesn’t help that he’s my age, and believes that since we have that in common, he’s obliged to talk to me. 

He shuffles towards me, his sky blue eyes wide with concern. “Is everything all right? You look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”

He’s right, actually. But I don’t just look like I haven’t slept in weeks, I truly haven’t. I can’t say that out loud, though, can I? That would lead to too many uncomfortable questions.

I shrug it off with an awkward little laugh. What can I say that will get Ryan off my back? He means well, but there’s somewhere I need to be.

“Uh, what are you doing this morning?” I try, absentmindedly scratching at a scab on my arm. 

Ryan smiles again, showing rows of unnervingly white teeth. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to come with me to Haze Cafe.”

Great. That’s just great. Look what you’ve done now, Kayla!

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” I fumble desperately for an excuse, but the words don’t come. “I–I have to go. Really. I promised someone I’d, um, meet them somewhere.”

That went well. Ryan’s face crumples, and his jovial smile slips away.

“I’m sorry, Kayla,” he says. His voice is like ice. “I didn’t realise you had... other priorities.”

I stifle a yawn. My eyes are still blurry from sleep, and the world spins just a little. “No, I’m sorry, Ryan! But I’ve got... to... go...”

Everything seems to fade away for a moment, flickering in and out of existence. The nothingness is so inviting.

Get it together, Kayla. I wish I’d had more sleep over the past month, but these days I don’t have any time to rest. Time is a luxury that I can barely afford, although I’m mostly used to that by now. After all, I’ve been protecting the city from Hunters by night since I was ten years old.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Kayla?” A genuine hint of concern has trickled back into Ryan’s voice. “You don’t look too steady.”

For a second, it’s unbelievably simple, standing here in Banden Street, surrounded by the graffiti, the cobwebs, and the crumbling buildings whispering to me, reassuring me that they won’t tell a soul. It would be so easy to let my guard down, tell this guy with the achingly friendly smile the real reason why I look so tired, and why I can’t go with him.

It would be so, so easy.

Maybe it’s finally time for me to trust someone.

“Ryan, there’s something I should te–” I start.

Something in my pocket vibrates furiously, and a tune rings out.

“Never mind,” I mumble, my heart sinking as I pull out my phone and see who’s calling. It’s probably good that I didn’t tell Ryan, anyway. I’ve kept up this facade for seven years, and I can’t afford to let it fall away now.

Ryan raises an eyebrow as I answer the phone. I turn away so I don’t have to look at him.

“I’m sorry, Lyss,” I say into the phone. “I was delayed, but I’ll be there any minute, trust me.”

“Kay, you know how important this is!” An exasperated voice hisses. “I specifically told you to be here on time for once.”

“Yes, but–”

“No excuses! I expect you here in five minutes. Kay, you of all people should know the consequences of failing to prevent this... problem from escalating. We have to figure out what our next actions should be. They’re coming into the daylight faster than we anticipated, and we have no way of stopping them yet.”

I glance nervously at Ryan, but he doesn’t seem to have heard the cryptic words, or if he has, he’s hiding his surprise expertly.

“Yeah, sure,” I say distractedly. “See you soon.” I hang up before anything else can happen.

I wave at Ryan, then immediately regret it. “I’ll see you around, then.” He just nods.

I check the time on my phone. Oh, great. I’m running really late. The cafe where I’m supposed to meet Alyssa is only a couple of blocks away, but I don’t know if I’ll make it within five minutes.

I hurry away. Ryan is still waiting outside my front door. He’s watching me go, although he’s pretending not to. 

A sudden thought strikes me, and I frantically shove a hand into my pocket, panic flooding through my body. Moments later, I find my house key, and the panic drains away. Being locked out of the house today could easily spell disaster.

Exactly four minutes later, I find myself standing in the doorway of a tiny cafe on the main shopping strip, sweat dripping from my forehead. I’ve made it. Barely.

I squint into the cafe. It’s dimly lit and, with my vision swimming from exhaustion, it’s hard to see where I’m supposed to be. I eventually spot a woman seated at a small table in the back corner. At first glance she seems relaxed, but if anyone bothered to look closer, they’d notice that she’s gripping the wooden table so hard that her knuckles are white.

I stroll over, trying not to attract any attention. The woman’s blonde hair is immaculate, tied back into a high ponytail. Self-consciously, I run a hand through my knotty dark hair, trying in vain to tame it.

I take a seat at the table. “Morning, Lyss.” The rickety chair wobbles beneath me.

She frowns at me, the concern in her grey eyes making her seem almost motherly. “Kay, how long has it been since you last slept?”

I count off the days on my fingers. “Uh... thirty... thirty-seven, I think?”

“Thirty-seven days?” Alyssa shakes her head sadly and presses something small and round into the palm of my hand. “Hopefully we’ll have some time to rest, soon. But we can’t risk it yet. You know that this is just something that comes with being a Sunkeeper.”

I nod, staring at the bright yellow pill in my hand. It’s been specially formulated to extend the amount of time I can go without sleeping, and it’s proven to be perfectly safe — well, probably. But it still feels so wrong. It’s one of the things about this lifestyle that I still haven’t adjusted to. Living without sleeping, without dreaming... I barely feel human anymore.

I place the pill on my tongue, then wash it down with a gulp of water. It sticks in my throat, and I explode into a coughing fit. A kid on a nearby table stares at me.

“Good,” Alyssa says. “It should take effect soon.”

I nod stiffly again, trying to stop choking. I might not like it, but I can’t deny that the pill does its job, since I already feel more awake within seconds of swallowing it. The world is being brought into sharper focus, and it’s less difficult to stay upright.

“So, what’s our plan?” I ask, once I’ve stopped coughing. “We both know that the Hunters have broken through into the daytime, which means that most of our existing tools for catching them are, well, useless. We have to come up with something new, and quickly.”

Alyssa looks at me pointedly. “I was hoping you could help with that.”

“Oh,” I say, taken aback. How can I have let Lyss down again? My face burns with shame.

All of a sudden, there’s a quiet but urgent ding. Alyssa pulls out her phone and gasps. “This isn’t good. Kayla, I’m getting two readings in opposite directions. Looks like there’s a Hunter on Lincoln Parade — and one on Banden Street, too.”

We jump out of our chairs and run towards the door, to the disdain of the other customers. My heart races as I turn to Lyss and say, “I’ll take Banden Street.”

“And I’ll take Lincoln Parade.” She stops for a moment and stares into my eyes. “Be careful, Kayla.”

I swallow, hard. “You too.”

Her phone dings again, even more urgently, and she turns left. I turn right and start to sprint, dodging disgruntled passers-by as I go. I don’t think I’ve ever been so desperate to get to a Hunter, because Banden Street is my street.

What if it’s got Ryan?

I shove the intruding thought away, trying to focus on my breathing like Alyssa always tells me, and listen to nothing except the sound of my feet pounding against the concrete.

Before long, I turn the corner into the familiar street, fearing the worst. My heart rate accelerates like a runaway train about to plunge off the tracks, but the street appears deserted. There is no struggle, no screaming. There are no telltale marks left behind. It’s just the same old street as always, boring and unremarkable. For once, I’m grateful for the normalcy.

I creep cautiously down the road, and I realise I was wrong. There is someone here, but it’s only Ryan, tinkering with the engine of his old Holden Commodore.

He glances up and notices me. “Hello, Kayla. How was your meeting?”

“Ryan, you have to get out of here, it’s not safe!” I blurt out, stumbling towards him.

He laughs awkwardly, backing away. “Is everything all right?”

“They’re already here, this street isn’t safe, you have to go before it’s too late–” Whoa. Slow down, Kayla.

I’m about to try again when he says, “Come on, stop panicking. What’s wrong? Why do you keep saying we’re in danger?” He gestures around us at the deceptively empty street. “There’s nobody else here... right?”

“This is going to sound completely insane, but hear me out.” I take a deep breath, and hope desperately that I’ve got enough time to explain everything. “Basically, there are these creatures called Hunters. They look normal, but they’re far from human. We don’t know much about them, but what we do know is that when they’re around, people go missing.”

People like my parents.

Ryan is looking at me with an amused expression, so I have to push away the painful memories and keep going. “Hunters always leave their mark when someone disappears. Wherever a missing person was last seen, you’ll find their name scorched into the earth.” I shudder, thinking of the things I’ve seen when I failed to rescue people in time. “But sometimes we can stop them before that happens. Every night, I head out to try and prevent yet another innocent person from becoming a victim. My parents did the same thing until they... well, they vanished last year. So does their closest friend, Alyssa. We call ourselves Sunkeepers.”

Mentioning Alyssa’s name brings back the image of the determination and fear swirling in her eyes when we parted ways. She has to be okay. She has to.

“We don’t know why they hunt yet, or what happens to their victims, but we're investigating it,” I continue. “We’re getting close to the truth, but I’m scared that we don’t have enough time. The Hunters are onto us. They used to only come out at night, but now they’re venturing into the daylight. Nowhere is safe. No one is safe.” 

Ryan gapes at me. His mouth hangs open for a couple of seconds as he shakes his head in disbelief. Eventually, after chuckling for a while, he manages to say, “So there are evil creatures that go around kidnapping people, and nobody else has noticed? As if!”

“You have to understand!” I plead. “I know it seems fantastical, but the Hunters are real and dangerous. I need you to understand that, Ryan. They could kill you!”

“Sure,” he drawls mockingly, dragging out the word. “I’m so scared.”

“Look, I know you don’t believe me, but we don’t have time to argue. They’re closing in on this street as we speak, and if we don’t stop them...” 

Something in Ryan’s eyes makes my words stick in my throat. There’s a malicious glint in them that I’ve never noticed before.

Ryan smiles, but he looks more like a vicious predator baring its teeth. He takes a step towards me, and I feel my blood run cold as wind whirls around us, sending dead leaves skittering along the ground.

“You’re too late,” he says. “We’re already here.”