The Ambrose Beacon

by Alena Gouveia

  Chapter 14

  Monday Afternoon, January 10th

  Dinah watched as all four doors of the sedan opened at once. She still held Eduardo’s hand in her own and felt it tense slightly as four people exited the vehicle and closed the doors behind them. They walked over to where the sidewalk met the concrete path leading to the front of the school and stopped. There were two men and two women, all wearing black suits with black ties and all wearing dark sunglasses. They stood there for nearly a minute, as if they were waiting for something. And then Dinah saw what it was.

  A second, nearly identical car pulled into the parking lot and pulled up behind its twin. The people in black looked straight ahead while it came to a stop, though the darkness of their sunglasses made it impossible to see what they were looking at. All four doors on the second car opened and four more people got out – two men and two women. Though none of the people looked exactly alike, the way they moved and the forgettable features of each of their faces made it seem like they were nearly identical, or at least related. The second group joined the first at the head of the concrete path and stared ahead.

  Dinah felt a chill pass through her body, though she wasn’t exactly sure why. The look of the people in itself shouldn’t have caused such a response, though there was something obviously odd about them. And yet something about them made her feel threatened. She looked over at Cole and Eliza, and saw them standing closer to the people in black, which only added to her fear. Her brother looked back at her and she could see the hesitation on his face, and she knew he felt it too. And then a thought that she knew didn’t come from her own mind hit her.

  Danger!

  The thought had a sense of familiarity to it and she looked over at her brother in surprise as she realized its source. Cole had sent her the thought. His eyes searched hers for confirmation that she had heard him, so she nodded. He turned around to stare at the people in black again as Dinah stepped forward. She felt something grab her arm and turned around to see Eduardo looking in the direction of the strangers.

  “I don’t like the feeling of this, Dinah,” he said to her before looking her in the eye. She could see the slight fear there, reflecting her own. “Let’s go back inside and call the police.”

  It seemed extreme to call the police for something as seemingly innocent as a group of strangers in a high school parking lot, but it made sense. And Dinah knew there was one very important problem with Eduardo’s plan – Cole and Eliza would be left alone with the strangers, which was something Dinah couldn’t do.

  “I don’t like it either, Eduardo,” she told him. The steam from her breath in the cold air temporarily blurred his face as she spoke. “But I’m not going anywhere without Cole.”

  He looked at her for a second before nodding. “Let’s go get them,” he told her. “But then we go inside. Deal?”

  “Okay,” Dinah said as she looked over at the people in black again. They still hadn’t moved and just continued to stare ahead without expression. The light of the winter sun began to fade and Dinah looked up to see a layer of clouds moving in quickly. The temperature dropped sharply and she felt Eduardo shiver next to her. She and Eduardo walked toward where Cole and Eliza stood, and she saw Eliza look over at her brother and say something to him. But Cole just shook his head in response as he continued to watch the strangers in black.

  Just as Dinah and Eduardo neared Cole and Eliza, the people in black started walking as a group down the path. They headed toward the spot where Cole and Eliza stood hand-in-hand. Dinah picked up her pace and she heard Eduardo do the same beside her. Just as they reached the spot where her brother stood, the strangers stopped walking. They were a few yards from where the teenagers now stood as a group and they spread out to face them in a line, completely blocking the walkway. One of the people, a man, stood a few feet in front of the others. He took off his sunglasses and looked first at Cole, and then Dinah. His eyes were very dark and his gaze piercing.

  “You must come with us, children,” the man said to them, his expression neutral.

  His voice was soothing, and seemed to immediately put Eliza and Eduardo at ease. Dinah saw both of their shoulders droop slightly as the tension that they had held in their bodies was released. Dinah and Cole both wanted to react the same way, but both of them felt something within their minds fight against the voice and the unspoken words of trust that they conveyed.

  “Who are you?” Cole asked as he moved a protective step in front of Eliza. He looked over and saw Dinah move in front of Eduardo, as well.

  The man in the lead cocked his head to the side in a gesture that reminded Cole of a dog. “Your father sent us to bring you to him,” he said with the same soothing, reasonable tone in his voice. “He’s been hurt and is in the hospital.”

  Cole and Dinah looked at each other as they thought the same thing – there was no way the FBI would send this many agents to grab a couple of kids, no matter who their father was or how badly hurt he was. Something wasn’t right. But they also knew that they were hopelessly outnumbered and needed to figure out a way to get inside and to a phone. They needed to stall.

  “Where’s Larry?” Dinah asked. “Why didn’t he come to get us?”

  The man looked confused for a second and that was final confirmation that the people were not who they said they were. Any agent stationed at the Denver office would know who Larry Bianchini was and wouldn’t have reacted in such a way.

  “Larry has been hurt, as well,” the man said unconvincingly. But Eduardo and Eliza both smiled as he said this, as if what he said made perfect sense. Dinah and Cole both knew that their friends were under some sort of spell caused by the man’s voice.

  “Can I see your badge, please?” Cole asked politely. He took his cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialed the number for his father’s office. “I want to call it in to be sure.” It was something that their father had taught them from a young age – if anyone they didn’t know said they were with their father’s agency, they were always to ask for that person’s badge and call the office to confirm that they were who they said they were. Cole knew what the answer to his question would be, but he was trying to buy as much time as he could. There was a good chance that a teacher or some other adult would come along shortly and Cole remembered what his uncle had said about the demons. They didn’t like attention from humans. And if the people in black were indeed the demons in human form, which Cole believed they were, they were sure to back off if another human came along. At least he hoped that was what would happen.

  The man stared back at Cole in silence for a second and then smiled slightly, “I don’t think that will be necessary, do you?”

  Cole suddenly screamed out in pain and dropped his cell phone, which fell to the ground next to the walkway. It quickly melted the snow around it, sending plumes of steam into the air. Cole looked at his hand in shock. The skin was red and he thought he could see the beginnings of a blister. The phone had gone from cool to searing hot in seconds. He looked over at the man as his hand started to throb.

  The man smiled mockingly at Cole as he said, “It looks like you’re having some trouble with your cell phone, child.” He held out his hand in front of him as if beckoning for Cole and Dinah to go with him. “Now let’s stop all this foolishness, shall we? I think you both know that you have no choice in this matter. We will bring you with us.”

  Dinah stepped forward, planted her feet apart and crossed her arms in front of her. She returned the wicked smile that the man had given to Cole as she said, “If you want to take us anywhere, you’re going to have to drag us both along by the hair.” She felt the inexplicable anger within her begin to grow as she decided that there was definitely some connection between them and the demons that had chased her the day before. And the fact that one of them had somehow burned Cole’s hand did nothing to diminish that anger.

  She saw Cole move to stand next to
her from the corner of her eye. When she looked over at him, she could see the same anger in his eyes. And the challenging way that he stood made it clear to Dinah that Cole was as ready to fight these people as she was.

  The man looked at them with the same smile on his face and then he chuckled, “Drag you by the hair? What a delightful suggestion, child!” He bowed at the waist to both of them and when he straightened, told them with an even bigger smile, “As you wish.”

  As he spoke, two of the men on Dinah’s right rushed forward to grab her. But Dinah was faster. Instead of turning and running, she ran forward and threw a punch at the chest of one of the men. She used all of the strength and speed that had been growing in her body and when her fist connected, there was a loud cracking noise, like the report of a rifle. The man was lifted off of his feet and thrown back twenty feet, before slamming against one of the black sedans and then to the ground. He groaned once and then was still.

  The second man reached out for Dinah, grappling with her. She was stunned at first by how strong he was, but she also knew that she was stronger. She pressed against him with all of her strength and heard him grunt with exertion. She clearly had the upper hand. She heard a short scream behind her and then heard Eduardo cry out her name. She looked back and saw Eduardo and Eliza looking at her in fear and shock.

  “Eduardo, get her inside and call for help!” Dinah shouted at her friend. She saw him hesitate and could see the concern on his face. He didn’t want to leave her. But she couldn’t fight against the strangers and worry about him or Eliza at the same time. “Go now, please!” she shouted. She looked back again and saw him pulling Eliza toward the school. But Eliza was fighting him and trying to go to Cole.

  Dinah continued to struggle against the man as she looked over at her brother. He cried out in anger as two of the strangers, one man and one woman, grabbed either of his arms and tried to pin them behind his back. But Cole was fighting against both of them and he seemed to be stronger than both. His body was shaking and to Dinah it looked like it was growing…and changing.

  Cole felt a tingling sensation passing through his body, much as he had the night in the forest when he had encountered the demon-like creatures. And just like it had that night, the tingling changed into a feeling of pressure that seemed to be squeezing him from within, as if something was squeezing his bones. The pain was nearly unbearable and he worried that he was going to black out. But there was something that was stronger than the pain and it anchored his mind to consciousness. It was the rage he felt toward the people holding him, the same rage that he had felt at the demons in the forest. Cole knew without a doubt that these strangers that were attacking them were the demons in human form.

  Cole felt his strength growing as the pressure continued and the people holding him pushed against his arms even harder in response. But suddenly he felt the pressure lessening. He looked over at the woman holding his right arm and could see her eyes widen behind her sunglasses. He felt the pressure on his left arm lessen at the same time as the pressure in his body increased yet again. He cried out in pain as he pushed his arms forward with all of his might. His arms surged forward, and the strangers still holding them flew forward as well, slamming into each other with a loud cracking noise. They both fell to the ground in a heap and Cole looked at his arms and hands in shock and disbelief at what he saw.

  His arms were covered in thick, brown fur and where his hands had been, there were huge paws that ended in long, black claws. At first he thought he was seeing through the eyes of some animal again, like he had the night in the forest. But as he turned his hands in front of him and stared at his palms, the huge paws moved instead. He cried out in fear and horror as he realized that he was looking at his own hands, or rather what his own hands had become. But the sound that escaped his throat and filled his ears was not his voice. It was the guttural roar of an animal. Cole knew that he had heard the sound before, and the brown fur and claws that had replaced his hands confirmed what he guessed to be the sound. It was the roar of a grizzly bear.

  Dinah turned her head at the roaring sound as she continued to struggle against the man that grappled with her. She stared in confusion at the spot where her brother had been just a moment before. In his place stood a huge, brown bear that seemed to be growing taller as she watched. Within a few seconds, it grew to what she guessed to be a height of at least eight feet tall as it stood on its hind legs. When it looked in her direction and she looked into its familiar eyes, she realized that the bear was in fact her brother. As the shock of what she was seeing broke her concentration, the man who wrestled with her moved his leg behind one of hers and tripped her. She fell backward and he landed on top of her, the full weight of him pushing the air from her lungs with a loud grunt. He quickly used his advantage to pin her arms to either side of her head and against the cold concrete.

  She heard Eliza scream and looked over to see Eduardo running toward where Dinah was pinned on the ground. The obvious concern on his face made it clear that he was running to help her. Before he could reach Dinah, one of the strange women in black stepped in front of him and grabbed him by the throat. In an amazing display of strength for someone her size, she lifted him from the ground with one hand, as Eduardo clutched uselessly at her arm. His mouth was open as he gasped for air and his eyes were bulging as the life was being choked from him. Dinah knew that she had to do something fast or he would be dead.

  Dinah felt a fresh wave of strength flow through her as her fear for Eduardo took over her mind. She pushed against the man’s arms and felt them move in response. His sunglasses had fallen off during the struggle and she could now see his dark eyes widen as she quickly gained the upper hand. She moved her arms under him and pressed against him quickly as hard as she could. He flew off of her and landed several feet away. Before he could recover, she quickly stood up and ran to where the woman was strangling Eduardo.

  Just as she closed with the woman, Dinah punched at her back, aiming for where she guessed her spine to be under the dark suit jacket that she wore. She channeled all of her strength and all of her fear for Eduardo into that punch, and when it connected there was a bright flash of white light and a loud cracking noise. The woman’s back bent back slightly and at an unnatural angle and she threw her head back in a silent scream. Dinah couldn’t believe what had happened. She had broken the woman’s back with a single punch.

  The woman released her grip on Eduardo and he fell to the ground, gasping. She fell to the ground in a heap with the look of shock still on her face. The realization that Dinah had just killed someone – or something caused a moment of shock, but she quickly pushed it aside. She saw a blur of movement to her right and looked over to see four wolves streaking past her. She turned and saw all four of them charge the man that she had thrown from her just moments before and who was now charging toward her. The wolves quickly brought him to his knees in a press of fur and teeth and Dinah heard him scream in pain. She rushed over to Eduardo, who had turned over and was on all fours, coughing to catch his breath. Eliza ran over and kneeled next to him.

  “Is he alright?” Dinah shouted as she stood between them and the battle unfolding around them.

  Eliza looked over at her with eyes that were huge with fright, but didn’t answer. Dinah had a moment of panic until Eduardo looked over and nodded his head just as he seemed to be catching his breath. Dinah heard a snapping sound and then a yelp of pain from one of the wolves behind her. She turned around and saw one of the demon-like creatures standing where the man had been. The creature tossed aside the broken body of one of the wolves as the other three faced it. She wanted to help them, but she had to be sure that her brother was alright first.

  Dinah looked over and saw the huge bear that was Cole roaring loudly as he swiped out with his claws, one at a time. He connected with the man and woman that had been holding him just a moment before and Dinah saw both of them f
ly backward as a bright white light engulfed each of them. Before they could land in the snow, they had dissolved to a greasy black ash that scattered before it drifted to the ground. It looked like Cole was okay. She moved toward the creature being held at bay by the wolves, hoping to help them and keep any more of them from being killed.

  Cole felt a fresh wave of fury as he looked over and saw that two of the other men had turned into the demon creatures. He hated these creatures and wanted to sink his teeth and claws into them until they stopped moving and left his family alone. A third creature moved to join the first two, and all three of them stared at him with yellow eyes and bared teeth. They walked on all fours, and Cole dropped to all four feet as he faced them. He was at least twice the size of the smallest creature and even the largest of the demons was half a head shorter than Cole. They seemed hesitant to face him, and Cole knew that he was stronger than any one of them. But there were three of them and though Cole had felt some kind of instinct take over and guide his movements in a way that maximized his form, it still felt strange to him to move such size around. These creatures were used to their form and he was still clumsy in his.

  As the three creatures moved to surround him, Cole noticed that one of them was larger than the other two. The smaller creatures kept looking at the larger one, as if they were deferring to it, and Cole knew that this demon was the leader of the group that had tried to abduct him and his sister. He thought about trying to take this larger creature out of the action first, in the hope that a lack of leadership would hamper the rest of the demons. But he knew that he had to even the odds first.

  He charged at the lead creature, and it rose up on its hind legs to meet his charge. At the last second before impact, Cole changed his direction and leapt at the creature on his left, taking it completely by surprise as he barreled into it. He felt a searing pain erupt along his right side, but ignored it as he clamped his powerful jaws on the back of the creature’s neck. He heard and felt a snapping sound and the creature stilled. Cole ignored the vile taste that filled his mouth. It was the taste of what he knew to be the creature’s blood.

  A sudden weight hit his back and Cole felt sharp stabs of pain bite into his flesh. He roared in pain as he turned his head to the side and was nearly bitten on the face by the creature that now clung to his back. It was the other, smaller creature that he had faced, and as Cole struggled to dislodge it, the creature repeatedly snapped near his face. He tried to reach behind with his paws to grab it or even knock it loose, but it was quick and managed to dodge the swipes of his paws. He remembered that the leader of the creatures was still loose and he turned his head back around to see where it was.

  As he turned his head, Cole felt something slam across his face, sending it flying to the side. He saw bright red droplets of his own blood fly through the air a second before he saw what had struck him. He looked at the largest creature as it pulled its arm back for another blow and saw the wicked smile on its face. He felt his legs start to buckle and darkness close around the edges of his vision. Cole knew that he would be knocked out if he took another swipe like the first one, but he was helpless to dodge it with the smaller creature on his back. He remembered the fight in the forest between the wolves and the demons and had an idea.

  As his knees buckled, he leaned backward and used the momentum of his fall to land on his back. The creature lodged there wasn’t quick enough to move out of the way and Cole felt a grunt from it and heard the sound of bones snapping as his full weight crushed it. He leaned back against it one more time, just for good measure, and felt his attacker still. He rolled over onto all fours again and saw the twisted form of the creature that had been on his back and knew that it was dead. He felt a quick measure of satisfaction before remembering the lead creature.

  Before he could figure out where it was, Cole felt something slam into his side with such force that it lifted him completely from the ground. He flew through the air as his body twisted and he completely lost his orientation. He hit the ground hard, and felt blood rush into his mouth. He was lying on his back, and he knew it made him vulnerable. He heard a scrabbling sound near him and instinctively threw his arm up in front of his face. His vision quickly filled with the face of the larger demon and he felt a stab of fear as he saw its jaws open wide. Cole managed to get his arm in front of him a split-second before the demon clamped its jaws shut. A wave of agony shot up his arm and he cried out in pain and fear as the demon’s teeth sunk into his arm. Just as quickly, the demon released its bite and Cole felt a fresh wave of pain as its teeth tore bits of flesh and fur from his arm as its mouth pulled away. The creature reached out with its own arms and quickly pinned Cole’s arms to the ground as it stared down at him. Blood dripped from its muzzle and onto Cole’s chest and he realized with a wave of nausea that it was his own blood. And there was a lot of it.

  The creature smiled wickedly down at him and then opened its mouth again. Cole looked into its yellow eyes and saw his death reflected in them. He no longer had the strength to resist the creature and the pain of his injuries was so great that he felt his consciousness slipping away. He closed his eyes, hoping his death would be quick.

  Dinah watched as one of the wolves sunk its teeth into the demon’s hamstring. The demon turned to attack the wolf and Dinah moved behind it, jumping up on its back. She threw her arms around its neck and twisted as hard as she could. She heard its neck snap before it collapsed in her arms, though she managed to throw it aside before its weight could pull her down with it.

  She looked around her to see how the other two wolves were handling the creature they had attacked. The creature was lying in the snow and a pool of black blood was spreading next to the jagged wound that had been torn in its throat. Dinah saw with relief that the three remaining wolves were all standing, though each of them hung their heads in obvious exhaustion and bright spots of red covered their fur from numerous small wounds.

  A blur of movement to her left drew her attention and she managed to turn her head in time to see the largest of the creatures slam into Cole’s side, lifting him from the ground and throwing him several feet. She heard her brother roar in pain as the demon clamped its jaws onto his arm. He was in danger, and she had to help him.

  She ran toward him, but movement to her right caught her eye, bringing her to a sudden stop. Dinah saw a creature barreling toward her and realized that she had forgotten about the man that she had thrown earlier. He had changed his shape into one of the creatures and was charging toward her full-speed. She looked over at where her brother was pinned to the ground and saw the larger demon open its jaws as it stared down at Cole. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to fight off the creature running at her in time to save her brother. Tears filled her eyes and she sobbed at the thought of Cole being killed. But the despair that filled her was quickly replaced by determination as a thought crossed her mind.

  She turned to face the demon that was nearly upon her and planted her feet. She watched its feet hit the pavement in quick succession and timed its speed. As the demon was about to strike her, she moved slightly to the right, just enough for it to pass by her. But as it passed she reached out and grabbed two fistfuls of the dark fur along its side. She used the momentum of its charge to spin in a complete circle, just like she did when she threw the discus for track and field. As she finished her rotation, Dinah released her hold on the creature in the direction where she remembered Cole to be. She prayed that her aim was true as the demon flew through the air with a speed that amazed Dinah. In less than two seconds, it slammed into the larger creature crouched above her brother with such force that both demons flew a further twenty feet before landing in the snow, sending sprays of white around them.

  She saw the large bear that was her brother stagger to its feet and she ran to him, steadying his great bulk when he nearly fell. Dinah felt her brother’s form shift and she looked at him in shock as his size dim
inished. The fur disappeared as he continued to shrink and within seconds, the naked form of Cole was standing beside her. He groaned softly before he fell forward. Dinah barely managed to catch him and guide him to the ground.

  Cole’s body was covered in several small cuts that bled freely, though not profusely. But there were two wounds that Dinah knew to be life-threatening – the jagged puncture wound on his forearm, and the clean slice across his abdomen. She quickly stripped off her snow jacket and pressed it against his middle. She heard him gasp in pain as she did this, but she ignored it with determination. She had to stop the bleeding or he would bleed to death. She saw Eduardo crouch next to her and wrap his own jacket around Cole’s torn forearm as Eliza laid her jacket across Cole’s bare legs. Dinah could feel the cold air, though it didn’t touch her in the way that it used to. Luckily, Cole didn’t appear to be cold either and she could feel the heat coming from his skin. But Eduardo and Eliza quickly began to shiver and Dinah wondered how long either of them could be outside without their jackets.

  Before she could ask them if they were okay, she looked over and saw the large demon that she realized was their leader stalking slowly toward them. A smaller creature moved beside it, and Dinah realized that it was the same one that she had thrown. Apparently, they hadn’t collided as hard as she had thought.

  Dinah heard Eliza crying softly next to her and she looked over to see Eduardo staring at the demons with huge eyes. He looked over at her and managed a tiny smile of reassurance, which made her smile in return. He’s so brave, she thought.

  She looked into his eyes as she told him, “If either of them get past me, grab Cole and run back into the school. Lock the door behind you, if you can.” Eduardo opened his mouth to say something but Dinah shook her head, “Please, Eduardo, you must do this for me. No matter what happens. Cole cannot die.”

  He looked into her eyes for a second more before nodding. She could see the sadness and concern for her in his eyes. But she remembered what her uncle had told her of the prophecy. Cole was the oldest Ambrose child, so it made sense for him to be the Solas. And beside the fact that she wasn’t about to let her brother die if she could help it, there was no way that she was going to let those horrible creatures win, even if it meant that she had to give her own life in exchange. She put her hand on Eduardo’s handsome face as tears spilled down her cheeks.

  “Dinah,” he said to her as he stared into her eyes.

  Before he could say anything else, Dinah leaned into him and kissed him once on the lips. She tasted the salt of their mingled tears and felt the softness of his mouth as he kissed her gently in return. For a moment, she forgot everything around her as warmth flowed through her entire body. She closed her eyes and yet she could still see Eduardo’s face in her mind. She wanted that moment to last forever, but she knew that it couldn’t. Far more quickly than she wanted, the kiss was ended. She leaned back and smiled at Eduardo, and saw that his eyes were closed.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said to him with a confidence that she didn’t feel. He opened his eyes slowly and nodded slightly, though she could still see the fear and concern on his face.

  She stood and stepped over her brother’s prone form as the two creatures stopped a few feet from them. Dinah knew that she would be hard-pressed to keep them from reaching her brother and their friends, but she was determined to try. She heard a strange chuffing sound and realized with anger that they were laughing at her. She felt a vibration run through her body and it filled her with a renewed strength.

  Dinah looked the larger demon in the eye as she said in little more than a whisper, “Let’s see if you’re still laughing when I’m through with you.”

  Dinah was startled at the sudden blaring of a car horn that was followed by the screeching of tires on the pavement. She looked over in surprise to see her Uncle Harper’s minivan tear into the parking lot and toward the walkway. The two demons turned in surprise and their eyes widened in shock as the van closed on them and the horn tore through the air repeatedly. They looked at each other for a moment before their forms shifted back into the black-garbed men. They turned around and ran back toward the front sedan. They quickly climbed into the front seat and Dinah heard the roar of the engine as it sprung to life. The car peeled away with squealing tires before it turned away from the parking lot and onto the road fronting the school.

  Harper’s van came to a screeching halt and both front doors flew open a moment before the sliding door along the side did. Dinah sobbed with relief as Uncle Harper came running down the walkway, toward her and Cole. The look of fear on his face as he looked behind her made her turn her head in worry.

  When she looked behind her, she saw that Cole’s eyes had closed and a small pool of blood had formed beneath him, steaming in the cold air. Eliza and Eduardo still pressed against the two most-serious wounds, but there were so many smaller wounds across his body, that Cole had continued to lose blood at an alarming rate. Dinah saw Uncle Harper fall to his knees next to Cole and she couldn’t remember ever seeing her uncle look as frightened as he did at that moment. He looked terrified.

  She heard running footsteps along the path and turned to see Vaughan and Louis running toward her. A woman that she didn’t recognize was hurrying toward her with Billie in her arms, and a man that she recognized as Louis’ teacher hurried along beside them, his arm protectively around the woman. Vaughan’s friend Sarah, and Leroy, the bully from his school, stood near the van. Dinah couldn’t imagine what such a group could have in common, other than the identical looks of shock on each of their faces.

  Cody moved toward the three remaining wolves, who quickly gathered around him. He moved over the still form of the wolf that had been killed and she heard him whine softly. The other wolves moved near him and he seemed to notice their wounds for the first time. He moved among them, licking at their wounds and Dinah saw each one close as he did. She could sense the wolves’ nervousness as they looked around them at such a large group of people, but they refused to move. Within seconds, all three sets of canine eyes were focused on the still form of Cole.

  Cole moaned softly and Dinah looked over to see him move his head slightly, though his eyes were still closed. Harper gently pushed aside Eliza’s hand and lifted the jacket that covered the wound on his abdomen. His face hardened briefly as he looked at the wound and Dinah noticed that Cole’s skin had turned an unhealthy shade of gray. She saw her uncle close his eyes and his face relax as his skin began to glow. As the glow intensified, she saw the cut under his hands begin to close. When it had closed completely, he moved his hands over each of the smaller cuts and they closed quickly in response. But Dinah noticed that he seemed to be purposely avoiding the bite marks on Cole’s forearm, which continued to bleed, albeit more slowly than they had before. She heard her siblings crying softly and felt Eduardo put his arm around her shoulder. Cole’s head thrashed slightly from side to side as Harper continued to close his numerous wounds. But still the wound on his arm remained untouched.

  “What about his arm?” Dinah asked her uncle.

  Harper opened his eyes briefly and met hers before he closed them again as his skin continued to glow brightly in the quickening darkness. “I have to close the other ones first. That one is going to take all of my strength and I need to be sure there is nothing else that will need my attention.” He opened his eyes again, but stared down at Cole’s face as he added, “The bite of the demons contains deadly venom. I don’t know if I’ll be able to draw it from Cole’s body and heal the wound at the same time.” He finished with the last of the smaller wounds and rested his hands over Cole’s heart. “He’s already so weak,” he said softly as his skin stopped glowing.

  Dinah heard everyone around her grow silent as her uncle’s words seemed to weigh against them all. She thought of the possibility that Cole could die – that her brother, who had been like a rock to their family after the death of
their mother, would no longer be there. She thought of never seeing his contagious smile again, of never hearing the soothing sound of his voice, and they were thoughts that she couldn’t bear. She felt the concern over the fate of the world that hung in the balance with her brother’s life disappear completely as she thought of one thing. She didn’t want her brother to die.

  She moved over and kneeled next to her uncle, placing her hand on his shoulder, and willing all of her strength into him. She felt him flinch before looking over at her in surprise. But then he smiled and nodded once. He placed one hand on Cole’s injured forearm, but left the other one over Cole’s heart as his skin began to glow again. This time, the glow was even brighter than before as Dinah continued to will her strength into her uncle, and through him, into Cole.

  When Cole awoke, it was to complete darkness. He realized that although he had heard the term used before, he hadn’t known what complete darkness was until that moment. It wasn’t merely the darkness of a moonless night or even the darkness of the basement when all of the lights were off. Even the basement had its share of ambient light from the various electronics in most of the rooms or the light that managed to leak under the doorway at the top of the stairs. And even a moonless night was enough for him to see by with his enhanced vision. The darkness that surrounded him at that moment was truly complete.

  But the darkness wasn’t empty.

  Cole could hear noises coming from the darkness. They were noises that told him that he wasn’t alone.

  “Hello?” he yelled into it, and wasn’t sure if he expected an answer or merely wanted to hear his own voice. His voice sounded small, though he felt like he had been shouting at the top of his lungs. It was as if the darkness had somehow managed to swallow the sound that it made.

  There was no response other than the same noises that continued to crawl inside his head. They were scrabbling sounds, like the sound Cody’s nails made against the hardwood floors of their house. And accompanying the scrabbling sound were a series of low moans. They sounded hungry, like the mindless groans that zombies made in horror movies. Cole got the distinct feeling that the hunger was for him, that whatever was making the noises wanted him. The noises were all around him and seemed to be moving, as if they were circling him slowly. He turned around several times, hoping that there would be a direction in which he couldn’t hear the moaning voices. But they surrounded him, and Cole was terrified.

  The darkness began to lighten to his left, and Cole turned to look in that direction. He saw several shapes retreat from the darkness, shapes that only heightened his fear. He couldn’t have described what those shapes were, and they were not the shape of anything that he could identify. The lightening of the darkness continued and at its center was a pinhole of light that slowly grew, until its brightness began to hurt Cole’s eyes. He shaded his eyes with his hand as the pinpoint of light became a larger circle. It reminded Cole of a tunnel, as if the light itself was tunneling through the darkness and toward him. The light brought no warmth, and Cole realized for the first time that the darkness around him was freezing. He shivered as the chill of it reached his bones.

  A shape grew within the light and it seemed to be moving toward him. Cole’s eyes finally adjusted to the growing light and he realized that the shape was that of a man. The man was slowly walking toward him, and the light seemed to be coming from him. Within seconds, the man was standing in front of Cole. He was taller than Cole by a few inches, with jet black hair and pale skin that glowed slightly in the darkness. Cole couldn’t tell exactly where the light was coming from on the man, but it surrounded the stranger completely. He was extremely handsome, but his most striking feature were his violet eyes, which locked Cole in a captivating stare.

  “You should not be here, Cole,” the man said to him. His voice was a melodic baritone that made you want to trust him. But something told Cole that he shouldn’t.

  “How do you know my name?” Cole asked suspiciously. He noticed that the moaning voices had silenced and the scratching noises had diminished. It was as if whatever surrounded Cole and the stranger wanted to hear what was being said between them.

  “That’s not important, Cole,” the stranger said to him. He looked back over his shoulder and when he looked back at Cole, his stare intensified. “This is a very dangerous place, especially for you. And you must leave here immediately.”

  “Where am I?” Cole asked as he looked around. Every time he turned his head, he caught glimpses of…things just beyond the darkness. They made his skin crawl and he felt goose bumps erupt on his arms and the back of his neck.

  The man shook his head as he answered, “It is someplace where you should not be. You cannot survive here, and you must survive.”

  The way he had said that he must survive struck Cole as odd. It sounded conditional, as if something had been left unsaid. “For what? You sounded like there’s something that I have to survive for.”

  The man shook his head with a sad expression, “That’s not an answer that I can give you, Cole. And it’s not one that I think you’d like to hear, anyway. Your fate in many ways was decided before you were born. And you must survive to face that fate, whatever the result may be.” He held his hand out to Cole with a slight smile, “I know that it does not make sense for you to trust me, but in this case you must. I can lead you from this place.”

  Cole didn’t trust the man, but he noticed again that whatever was in the darkness seemed to be held at bay by the light coming from the stranger. Cole had no such defense and had no sense of direction in the blackness. He doubted that he could have found a way out on his own. The logical side of his mind told him that if the stranger had found his way in, it made sense that he knew the way out. But the emotional side of his mind told him to be wary.

  With no other option, Cole reached out and took the man’s hand in his own. It was warm and the skin was soft, but there was an obvious strength in its grip, though it held Cole’s hand lightly. The man smiled brightly at Cole, revealing brilliantly white, straight teeth. The silence around them deepened, as if the things that lurked in the darkness were all holding their breath at the same time.

  The stranger began walking, though in which direction Cole couldn’t tell. Directions didn’t matter when you couldn’t see anything before you. The only thing that Cole could see was the darkness that surrounded them and the light that held that darkness back. The light had moved to surround Cole, as well, but he continued to see shapes dancing at the edge of the light. Once, he thought that he caught a glimpse of gray skin covered in horrible red lesions, but it quickly pulled away from the light and disappeared.

  He could hear the scrabbling sounds, which had resumed as they had started walking begin to increase. And now he could hear the low moans again. The sounds were increasing in intensity and they grew hungrier by the second. Cole stumbled as he looked frantically around the light, trying to catch a glimpse of the shapes that he knew waited beyond the light.

  “It’s best to ignore them, Cole,” the man said without looking at him. They continued to walk hand-in-hand toward a destination that Cole could not see. “Keep your focus straight ahead while we move. We’re nearly there.”

  It seemed like they had been walking for several minutes, but nothing in the nearly-featureless darkness around them had changed. He couldn’t imagine how the stranger could possibly know where they were or where they were going. The sounds around them continued to increase and the sense of urgency coming from them grew stronger. Cole could sense the frustration coming from whatever was in that darkness and he sensed something else from it that made his heartbeat quicken. It was a sense of yearning, of mindless hunger for something. And Cole suspected that the hunger was for him. He also knew that the light that surrounded him and the stranger was the only thing keeping the darkness, and the things within it, from closing on them both.

  Finally, Cole could see a se
cond source of light growing in the distance. It seemed to be in the general direction in which they were heading, and as they grew closer to the light, he thought he could see shapes moving within it. He felt a sense of warmth caress his skin, and he knew its source to be the growing light. They continued to move closer to it, until the stranger next to him suddenly stopped and released Cole’s hand.

  “I can’t take you any further,” he said with a neutral expression. “You’ll have to go the rest of the way on your own. Just head for that light as quickly as you can. I’ll keep the door open until you reach it, I promise.”

  “Where will it take me?” Cole asked. The light reassured him and felt safe to him, but he was terrified of leaving the safety that the stranger represented.

  “It will take you back to where you belong, Cole,” the stranger said with a slight smile. “Do not fear the darkness, but do not tarry. I can only hold the door open for a short time.”

  Cole wondered what the stranger meant by holding the door open and where the door led to, but he didn’t ask. If the light was a door away from the horrible darkness, he really didn’t care where it went.

  “Thank you for helping me,” Cole said as he stared at the man and tried to decide what he thought of him. He still didn’t trust him, and something about him seemed inherently dangerous. Any being that could hold such darkness at bay had to be. But he had come to Cole’s rescue and Cole had no illusions that he would have been able to escape on his own. However, what worried him most about the man were his motives. He had hinted at the fact that he had saved Cole for a reason, though what the reason was he had chosen not to share. Cole didn’t like the thought of being used by anyone and he got the feeling that the man intended to use him for something, though he didn’t know what.

  The man’s smile turned sad for a second before it grew into the dazzling smile that he had shown before. “You’re welcome, Cole. But I’m only doing what needed to be done. You never should have been here.” The man placed his hand on Cole’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes as his smile softened. “We’ll meet again, soon. Until then, take care of yourself.”

  Cole nodded wordlessly, unsure as to how he should respond and not wanting to delay his escape from the darkness any further. He looked one last time into the beautiful violet eyes of the stranger and then turned to face the light. He began walking slowly toward it, but then quickened his pace. The light continued to grow and Cole could now see that there was a definite shape to it, and it looked like a doorway. Shapes continued to move on the other side of the doorway, but Cole couldn’t make out what they were. He thought he heard voices coming from the other side, but the voices in the darkness were getting louder and more urgent as they drowned out the voices from the light.

  Cole started to jog toward the doorway and the moans around him grew to howls of frustration. Some of the voices sounded pleading, and he thought he could hear his name being said. The voices were enticing, and a part of him wanted to listen to them and ignore the doorway. But he knew that in the darkness was death, or worse.

  “Hurry, Cole,” he heard the man shout behind him.

  Cole broke into a run and the doorway grew rapidly in his vision. The voices behind him continued to grow and he swore that he could hear footsteps running beside him. He continued to catch glimpses of horrible shapes on the edge of the light – limbs covered in gray skin, some in dark fur and some shapes that he couldn’t identify, their forms were so horrible. The voices pulled at him, trying to convince him that the light would harm him and that there was safety in the darkness. But he pushed those voices away from his mind as he sprinted the last few feet to the door and crashed into the light. He heard a chorus of howls and screams behind him for a second before a whooshing sound cut them off.

  The light around him was blinding and completely surrounded him. Ahead of him, twin spots of a beautiful blue color formed. The light faded slightly, and Cole blinked his eyes to focus them. When he opened his eyes again, the twin spots of blue had resolved themselves into a pair of beautiful blue eyes, just like his mother’s. But these were not his mother’s eyes. He was looking into the eyes of his Uncle Harper.

  His eyes focused and he realized that his uncle was leaning over him and looking into his eyes. “Cole?” he asked worriedly. “Can you hear me?” His face was just inches from Cole’s.

  “Of course I can hear you,” Cole told him with a grunt. “You’re right in front of me.”

  Cole looked around him and as his eyes focused, he made out the shapes of his siblings standing around him. He saw Vaughan’s friend Sarah, and a boy that he didn’t recognize, along with two adults that he thought looked familiar, but couldn’t place. Dinah was looking at him over his uncle’s shoulder and tears flowed freely down her cheeks, though she was smiling. He couldn’t help but think how beautiful his sister was, though she never seemed to realize it.

  Harper laughed as he said, “I’ll give you some room.”

  He leaned back and Cole sat up, fighting back the dizziness that hit him. He felt something cold against his skin and looked down to see that he was lying on the concrete path leading to the school – lying naked on the concrete path. He was about to ask what had happened, but then a flood of memories hit him. He remembered turning into a bear and fighting the demons that were attacking them. He remembered his entire body writhing in pain from the many wounds that he knew he had taken. And then he remembered who he had been with when they had been attacked.

  “Eliza!” he said urgently.

  “I’m here, Cole,” he heard her familiar voice say next to him.

  He felt something grab his hand and he looked over to see Eliza’s smiling face looking back at him. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and her eyes were red-rimmed, but he thought that she looked like an angel as she smiled at him.

  “Are you okay?” she asked hesitantly.

  Cole wondered what she thought of everything that she had seen. He wondered if it had changed her feelings for him and worried that he had ruined the fragile bridge that he had managed to build between them before the strangers in black had shown up. He reached out toward her mind with his senses, trying to penetrate the mystery in her eyes. He sensed confusion and a slight hesitation, but there was something else there that at first he didn’t recognize. And then he realized with surprise that the feeling was pride; pride in him and what he had done.

  “You saved our lives,” she told him with downcast eyes. “You and Dinah, I mean.” She looked back into his eyes as she added, “Thank you.”

  “Sure,” Cole answered dumbly. He felt a fresh wave of dizziness and nausea hit him and he lay back down, hoping that it would pass.

  “You need to take it easy, Cole,” Harper said as he leaned over him. “We need to get you into the van, though. It’s not safe for us to stay here.” He looked around him with obvious concern and Cole knew that he was searching for signs of the enemy.

  Cole sat back up again and felt his uncle reach his arm around Cole’s waist and lift him effortlessly. He took his jacket off and wrapped it around Cole, while Cole held Dinah’s jacket around his waist.

  A car pulled into the parking lot at that moment and everyone tensed visibly. He felt Uncle Harper’s arm stiffen around him and Dinah stepped in front of both of them a moment before Cody did. The three remaining wolves moved in front of the entire group and their ears were perked up as they watched the approaching car.

  “It’s okay,” Eduardo said, breaking the tension. “It’s my grandmother. She’s picking me up.”

  Everyone visibly relaxed, including the wolves. Cole heard Cody explain what Eduardo had said to the wolves with a series of images and they moved slightly away from the group again.

  Eduardo turned to Eliza and asked her, “Do you need a ride home?”

  Eliza shook her head as she answered, “No, I have my car. But, thank you.”

  Eduardo’s grandmot
her stopped the car behind Harper’s van and seemed to notice that something was wrong. She was a plump woman, with a pleasant face and short-cropped gray hair and olive-colored skin. She got out of the car and looked over at Cole being supported by his uncle, and then at the many piles of greasy black soot that littered the ground. Cole saw a strange look cross her face before she looked around the parking lot and at the surrounding trees. He thought that it looked like she was searching for something, though he couldn’t guess what. He felt a fleeting sense of fear mixed with anger coming from her before it abruptly ceased.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked in accented English. Cole guessed that she must have originally been from Mexico, as he knew that Eduardo’s family was Mexican-American.

  Harper seemed to sense something odd about her reaction too, but he looked at Cole and mentally asked him to keep silent. “Everything’s fine, Mrs. Ramirez,” he answered her. “Cole just isn’t feeling well.”

  Even though he was covered by the two jackets around him, Cole was obviously naked under them and he wasn’t wearing shoes, in the dead of winter. He doubted very much that Mrs. Ramirez believed Uncle Harper, but she nodded.

  Eduardo took Dinah’s hand with hesitation, and Dinah wondered what he could possibly be thinking. She wished at that moment that she had Cole’s ability to sense what people were feeling, but at the same time was afraid of what she would have sensed.

  “Are you okay?” Eduardo asked. When she nodded in response, he told her, “Thank you, Dinah, for saving me.”

  She nodded in response, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

  “I’ll call you tonight,” Eduardo said before leaning in and kissing her on the lips.

  She kissed him back and then looked into his eyes when he pulled away. She could read nothing in the depths of his large, dark eyes, but thought that it was a good sign that he didn’t look away.

  Harper cleared his throat before saying to everyone, “I think it’s best if we don’t mention any of this to anyone. Agreed?” Everyone nodded, including the younger Ambrose children, who stared at each other with wide eyes. “We’ll get together sometime tomorrow and talk about it and figure out a way to make sure you’re all safe. For now though, the best thing is to stay away from our family and from the house.”

  Everyone nodded again, though Eduardo reached out and took Dinah’s hand again. Eliza placed her hand on Cole’s shoulder before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

  “Please call me once you’re feeling better,” she whispered in his ear. “Thank you again.”

  Cole looked over at her and smiled hesitantly and then watched her walk to her car. Eduardo finally released Dinah’s hand and walked over to his grandmother’s car. She said something to him in Spanish and seemed reluctant to leave. But Eduardo said something back to her and she nodded before getting back into the car. They pulled away slowly a moment before Eliza did and then the only cars left in the parking lot were Harper’s van and the second black sedan that had been abandoned by the fleeing men in black.

  “Let’s get everyone home,” Harper said quietly to the group. He looked over at the wolves, and Cole heard him explain that they were leaving. They looked one last time at Cole, who nodded as he sent them a wordless thank you. The body of the wolf that had been killed was nowhere to be seen and Cole guessed that Cody or Uncle Harper had done the same thing that had been done in the forest to the other wolves that had died. Cole felt a pang of sadness and guilt that another member of the wolf pack had died defending him and his family.

  The group of three adults, seven children, and one dog piled into Harper’s van, filling each of the three rows of seats. Cole was gently belted into the front seat by his uncle before he climbed into the driver’s seat. Harper started the car and turned the heater on to its highest setting, filling the van with a heat that only managed to reach the skin of its inhabitants. A chill had set into each of their bones that could only be dispelled by the warmth of home and safety. Everyone was silent as the van pulled away from the school and onto the main road. Whether out of lingering fear, exhaustion, or a reluctance to be the first one to break the silence, each member of the group stared blankly ahead or out one of the windows.

  Cole looked over at his uncle, and could see him watching the rear-view mirrors as he drove. He knew the same truth that Cole did. They had managed to fend off the demons, but they would be back. They would keep coming until they got what they wanted. And the next time they came, there would be more of them.