Nightly Murders:

Frostpaw curled in her nest, panting softly eyes heavy and slowly shutting. Sleep was luring her into its dark void, and she was listening to its sweet, convincing voice. She had a tugging feeling deep in her heart, a thrashing emotion that she needed to do something. Yet sleep seemed so soft, so kind, so lulling. And that little cry in her heart appeared not to mind that she was trying to sleep anyways. Resting her head on her paws, Frostpaw sighed. The next moment she was gone.

Frostpaw rose to her feet, glancing around the den. Her fellow apprentice, Hazelpaw, lay on her back in her own nest, belly exposed. Eyes narrowed with contempt, the white apprentice approached the pale brown tabby one. Then, she unsheathed her claws and slashed them across her den mate's throat. Laughing quietly, she lay back down in her nest and drifted off to sleep.

She jerked awake to the tangy scent of blood. Frostpaw's head shot up, eyes wide, and scanned the room, yowling for help. Her claws were lying in a bloody pool, and she jerked them back, hissing, cleaning the blood off them before following the trail to one limp shape. Hazelpaw. Her sister. Dead. Throat slit neatly. Murdered.

Fur bristling, she hopped to her paws as Hawkclaw ducked into the den, eyes widening at the sight of Hazelpaw. He shot back out and yowled for Bluelily, the medicine cat, and Nightstar. Frostpaw felt a strange pang of terror as the leader and medicine cat entered the den. Fear. As if she was afraid... of what? What was there to be afraid of? Of being murdered?

And what had she been dreaming about? Usually she dreamed...

...

Frostpaw slashed her claws across Bluelily's throat, purring happily before sliding back into her nest.

...

Frostpaw darted behind Tigerfrost, biting his neck until the lay limp, before heading back for her nest.

...

Frostpaw leapt, landing on Whisperpaw and killing her before she could react. Then she went back to her nest.

...

"No! Not Whisperpaw!" The apprentice's mother, Jadeheart, cried out. After Hazelpaw's death had been Bluelily, followed by Tigerfrost, followed by Whisperpaw today. Every night, another cat was killed. Every night, Frostpaw could no loner remember her dreams. What was happening to her? She knew something was up. What was it, though? Did she have some strange sense that told her if a cat would be murdered tonight and stopped her from dreaming if it was so? Yes. She nodded. That had to be it.

...

A moon had gone by. Every night, a cat had died. Every night, Frostwing had no memory a dream. Every night, she got more and more restless, as if she wasn't getting any sleep. Every night, she seemed to smell the tang of blood in her sleep that made her wake up only a few minutes after each and every murder. Something was up with Frostwing. She just didn't know what.

She dipped her head as the only remaining elder, Snailberry, carried out Smallpaw on his shoulders, eyes shadowed with wariness. There was silence as the two cats, one alive and one dead, left camp, until a screech rang out. A screech that sounded strange, hollow. Something that sounded to Frostwing like it wasn't meant to be. And it was coming from her.

Shutting her jaws, she lowered her head as every cat stared at her, confused and shocked. Then, they let out mournful-sounding howls of their own, as if the clan had caught on to an idea of calling out their grief for the dead. The clan gathered simultaneously in a circle, and Nightstar dipped his head as the group quieted. "We honor all of you," he mewed gravely. "We honor all of you for your duty and courage. For your loyalty and devotion. And for some of you, the spirit you wanted to offer us as you moved up the ranks. We grieve for your losses. We all hope that this murderer will stop soon. We all pray that this cat isn't one of us- yet, we know it is from our clan."

His voice hardened as he gazed around the small clan. Frostwing followed his gaze, stopping at every living cat in the clan who remained. Hawktalon. Stormfeather. Brightwing. Snowkit. Dawnkit. Cloudface. Hollowstep. And that was all. "All of you have been guard during one of the nights of this killing streak. And very night a cat has still died. Which means we have no leads towards who is it. From now on, we shall post three guards to try and preserve this clan in your honor. These three guards shall watch everyone- and each other."

...

That night, Frostwing lay in the warriors den, unable to sleep. Something inside her was begging her to stay awake, for whatever reason. Something inside of her told her that she couldn't fall asleep again, she couldn't do it, whatever it was, again. Standing up, she left the den, nodding to Cloudface, Hawktalon, and Brightwing. She was so tired, though! Sighing, she headed to the dirt place.

But as she buried her dirt and turned to head back, the half-moon came to the middle of it's journey. Midnight had struck. Frostwing lost all control of her body; she just lay down, curled up, and fell asleep instantly.

Frostwing crept out of the dirtplace, ears flat. Good. Hawktalon was checking the nursery. Bounding swiftly across camp, she leapt onto Brightwing, snapping her neck in an instant before lashing out a paw, striking Cloudface's throat and without even unsheathing her claws, he fell to the ground, dead as well.

Frostwing's eyes flew open, only to see her standing over the dead bodies of Brightwing and Cloudface. Had... Had she killed them? Suddenly, everything came together. Why she wanted yet didn't want to go to sleep so badly. Her inner monster, her monster that took control at night, came out then to make her kill. Make her murder. Make her slaughter. And even when she didn't fall asleep, it seemed like the half-moon had the power to make her sleep, no matter what, when midnight came.

Things were hard. Leaping back to the dirt place just before Hawktalon padded out of the nursery only to notice the dead bodies with wide, alarmed eyes, she forced her fur to flatten as she padded out back quietly and calmly, only to let herself bristle at the sight of the dead. Of the fallen. Of her victims. Frostwing let out a bloodcurdling yowl, leaping across the clearing frantically, but instead of leaping like she wanted to, her paws trudged slowly, and her face was straight and rigid. But as Nightstar shot out of his den, her face transformed into a twisted yowl. Hawktalon was glaring at her; had he noticed? Did he suspect... Did he suspect her? Had he figured it all out almos tbefor eshe had? Frostwing shivered, looking away.

As the rest of the clan left their dens, Snowkit and Dawnkit raced over to their mother, crying out softly and burying their heads in Brightwing's still warm fur. Nightstar stared at Hawktalon. "Did you do it?" he demanded. "You are the only remaining guard!"

"No!" Hawktalon retorted, then flicked his tail at Frostwing. "But Frostwing went to the dirtplace. I think she did it."

Silence. Everyone stared at her. "I couldn't have done it!" she cried out, voice full of sorrow and fear and emotion. "Please, I didn't do it!" The words were out o her mouth before she could stop them. Everyone was nodding. "I don't think she did it," Snowkit squeaked. "Besides, I like Frostwing. She's a good cat. She wouldn't kill Brightwing." Nightstar looked at Frostwing. "Did you do it?" he asked. "Are you the murderer?" His voice was quiet, as if he didn't want to believe it. As if he felt the same way as Snowkit. As if he wished he could deny Hawktalon's accusation.

Everything was frozen. You did it, A voice whispered. You are the killer. You kill 33 cats. You murdered almost all your clan mates. Frostwing glanced side to side at her clan mates, eyes wide and trusting.

"I-"

"I didn't-"

"I didn't do-"

Frostwing collapsed, staring at her paws.

"I did it! Every single time, it was me! All 33 cats, all my fault! And I didn't even realize it until tonight! I'm so sorry. I'm a failure."

Then everything went black.

Forever.

Silence.

Until Frostwing raised her head and stared at her clan mates, claws over her throat.

"One sister fallen,

My heart aching so,

I believed all the myths,

I thought there was a murderer too.

I tried to stay awake tonight,

Hold on to my hope,

And when I went to the dirt-place,

I cracked and my monster awoke.

Down went the clouds,

Down went the brightness,

And that's when I returned,

To see my devastation.

I couldn't believe it was me,

I couldn't believe I killed,

Yet there they were in front of me,

My claws in a bloody pool.

Then we all came together,

And feathers fell around me,

I hoped that I was wrong,

And then you all accused me.

I couldn't hide the truth,

I couldn't lie to you,

That's when I confessed,

And showed my inner mess.

And now you'll be,

Rid of me,

I'll be gone,

To the darkness.

I'll miss you all,

That's the truth,

I thought I was good,

Then I saw I killed."

She sang softly, quietly, weakly. And as soon as she finished the final line, her claws pierced her throat, and she lay there, dead.