A sound behind him made him look round. It was the sound of a twig snapping underneath a careless foot. There was nothing there that his carefully observing eyes could perceive. Not willing to let this little occurrence drop he closed the half open door in his hand softly and turned back into the ensuing darkness. Unconsciously he brushed the fallen tear from his cheek as he crept further out into the night keeping his ears and eyes wide open for any sound or sight that would lead him to the unknown he sought. Another sound shattered the stillness. It was much closer than the last. He was heading in the right direction. With the stealth of a thief he entered into the stretch of trees that lined the top edge of the town. Despite the tightness of the spaces between them he managed to move them in hopes of hearing another sound that would finally bring him upon the unknown, it came sooner than he had expected.

"You must be Kit." A sing song voice stated with unhidden confidence behind him.

Kit turned around slowly, "I am. Who are you? Come closer so I can see you."

With a white toothy smile the unknown complied. As soon as they did this their identity was known.

"You're Lily. I hate to say this, sweetheart, but you're meant to be dead."

"Am I?"

"Yeah, you are."

"Then I'm sorry to disappoint you. Fortunately for you it's not something you'll have to suffer with long."

"And why is that?"

Lily smiled once more, "Because I'm going to kill you."

"I'd love to see you try."

"Very well then."

Almost too fast for Kit to perceive Lily ran up to him and dealt him a hard blow across the cheek that almost knocked him to the ground. Steadying himself he grabbed hold of her as she made to lunge at him again and threw her against a nearby tree. He saw her head make contact with it but it did little to stop her turning and hitting him again. Feigning to hit her with one hand he hit her with another, an action that caught her off guard which resulted in her taking a fist to the mouth. She stumbled from the blow before looking at her surprisingly skilled opponent.

"It's rude to hit a lady." She said in between spitting blood from her wounded mouth.

"I know, but you ain't a lady." Kit replied before landing another blow on her which sent her stumbling into another tree.

Refusing to be defeated by anyone despite her minor yet uncomfortable injuries, Lily came at Kit again. This time she managed to punch him once, twice, three times in rapid succession each blow harder than the last. Each hit forced him back.

Defiant to the last Kit stepped back from a fourth punch and wiping the blood from his face shouted, "Ha!" his teeth stained with blood.

Snarling at this display, inflamed by her lack of success thus far, Lily threw herself at her opponent which sent them both sprawling over the ground. They struggled, one getting on top of the other only to be thrown off and climbed on. Hands swatted at each other warding off attacks from fists, teeth or nails.

Throwing Lily off of him Kit made an attempt to pull her along the ground but was prevented by a painful kick to his groin that felled him to his knees. His stomach convulsed and he retched before he felt a foot make contact with his chin, forcing him onto his back. Knowing that he would be in great peril if he didn't ignore his pain and shift himself, he rolled. He rolled just far enough to see a foot come down where his head had once been. Quickly moving himself back onto his knees, then his feet, he stood once more.

Both breathing heavily from their exertions the two combatants circled one another. Their eyes remained completely fixed on the other's, waiting for the slightest vulnerability. As they circled they drew closer and closer until they were almost touching.

This was when Kit saw his moment.

Whirling round to make his body level with Lily's, Kit head butted her, his forehead impacting hardly with hers. For a moment she stared at him, her eyes almost questioning what he had just done, before they closed and she slumped to the ground like a dead weight. He waited for what seemed like an eternity but she didn't get up again. Sucking all of the blood in his mouth up into a great wad he spat it onto the ground next to her before turning and walking away.

He hadn't gotten far out of the trees when he collapsed.

Rolling over onto his stomach he felt it convulse again before he retched a second time, this time a small glob of thick, fresh, blood spilled out of his throat onto the ground. Picking himself up onto his knees he retched again, adding more blood mixed with ruby diluted vomit to the mess before him.

A sudden hand upon his shoulder almost forced him to his feet in surprise but it held him firmly which prevented him moving from his knees. Looking up with bloodshot eyes he saw a friendly face peering at him in extreme concern, a face that he'd not seen before. A weak, sickly, smile creased his lips as he acknowledged the person and their attempt to get him to stand. Lifting his arm he braced it against the person's shoulder as they were doing likewise to him but found it almost impossible to maintain his grip on them as when they stood they were much taller than himself. As if sensing his difficulty the person scooped Kit off his feet and placed him over their shoulder as a fireman would do to someone they were rescuing.

He could feel himself being carried like this for what seemed an age before his rescuer came to a gentle halt. Looking down on the ground he could see yellow glow from what he thought to be house light, he was right as he heard a knocking sound and a door opening.

Bessie looked at Rico, or possibly Alejandro, in complete surprise. He was calling very late and she was about to ask him if there was anything wrong when she saw that he was holding someone over his shoulder.

"My goodness! Who's that?" Bessie asked unable to identify the person from behind.

Rico, or Alejandro, grimaced, "I'm not sure. He was over by the trees and he's not looking too good. Can I bring him inside?"

"Of course-"

"Alejandro." Alejandro interrupted and let Bessie open the door wider before he passed through.

As soon as Alejandro passed her Bessie gasped. Worry filled her as she saw the state that Kit was in. She wasn't the only one to express her surprise as the Mayor entered the room and muttered something under his breath at the sight. They watched as Alejandro, bent over to prevent his head making contact with the ceiling, placed Kit on a chair by the dinner table. The moment he was out of the way the Mayor went over to Kit while Bessie called a doctor.

"What happened, Kit?" The Mayor asked using a towel to daub some of the worst of Kit's numerous cuts.

Kit didn't hear what had been said to him, he slumped over, unconscious.