Redemption (Night Marchers #2) Written by: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels Read Free

cave. The Menehune's
took me in and to me they are like family now.
    I step outside hoping to see Adam; hoping to
hear news that he knows how to help Kai. Instead I find Paul. Paul
is one of the Menehune's messenger boys. He helped send messages to
my father when I was in hiding. It’s extremely dark outside so I
flip on the patio light switch to get a better look at him.
    I gasp! I couldn’t tell in the dark but now
in the light I can see that he’s hurt. He looks like he’s been
beaten! He’s standing on my patio shaking like a leaf covered in
scratches and contusions and he has a black eye beginning to form
on his right eye.
    “EEeemma....” He says, shaking and
stuttering.
    “Paul, are you okay?!” I ask freaking
out.
    He starts shaking his head back and forth
wildly. “Nooo... He’s ggot hiiim. He...liiike Kkkai bbuttt nnottt
liiikke Kkaii.” I can barely understand him he’s stuttering so
badly. “He won’ttt sstop till hee hass it...”
    “Got who? Has what Paul?” I’m starting to get
angry, not because I can’t understand him, but because something,
someone, did this to him. An innocent Menehune boy!
    “Tthe Chhieefs bbbones.” He says and then
looks at me with tears streaming down his face. “Hhee hhas
Aadamm!”
    I suck in a quick breath. “No!” Nausea wells
up in my stomach as feelings of despair set in. "Adam? What do you
mean he has Adam?"
    "Iii ddonnt knooww. I meeaan heee hass
hiimm." Paul is shaking so hard that I fear he may fall down and
begin seizing or something.
    "Okay Paul, it's going to be okay. You’re
safe now. Here, sit down." I gesture him to a patio chair. He sits
down but it doesn't seem to be helping. I jump when I hear someone
walking up the steps to my patio behind us. Looking around for some
sort of weapon to defend off any ‘would be attacker’ I grab a broom
that's perched against the railing and turn around. Relief washes
through me when I find two Menehune's ascending towards us. I
recognize them, but I don't believe we have formally met. Their
faces are filled with concern and uncertainty as they brush past me
hastily towards their friend.
    "Paul! Oh my goodness, Paul, what happened?"
One of the Menehunes with reddish brown hair exclaims. The other
Menehune with bright white hair just stands there staring at Paul
wide eyed. I'm sure they are not used to seeing any Menehune's
hurt. The Menehune's seem like such peaceful people.
    I can see that Paul is having a hard time
trying to communicate so I speak for him. "He's hurt pretty badly.
He said that someone has Adam and I think whoever that someone is,
hurt Paul."
    "What do you mean someone has Adam?" The
Menehune that had been silent up until now spoke up.
    "I think he said it was Kai, or someone who
looked like Kai. I believe it may be his twin brother. I don't
know." I reply. Kai's twin brother Kao is the Night Marcher who
tried to kill me. Kao may look nearly identical to Kai but he's
nothing like him. He's pure evil through and through.
    "I know who you speak of. Kai has told me the
story of his brother. He is a very dangerous man, not one to be
taken lightly. We must get Paul back immediately and bring this to
the attention of the Elders." The white haired Menehune says.
Without waiting for my response they both pull Paul to his feet.
Paul puts his arms around each of their shoulders ready to head
home. He looks so frail and small as he starts hobbling off towards
the exit from my patio to the beach.
    "Wait!" I yell at them. The white haired
Menehune turns his head towards me. While I have his attention I
ask, "Aren't you going to go after Adam? We can't wait, we need to
go now." I say insistently.
    His look is mixed with understanding and
sadness. "I wish I could go in search of Adam, we just don’t have a
definitive location as of now. I must consult with the others. You
see that we are a small race. It wouldn’t do any good for us to go
up against a man such as Kao alone, if we were even able to