by Jeff Gunhus
She took her eyes off the approaching zombies. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“Watch out!” I cried.
But it was too late. A zombie reared back and smacked Eva in the face with a bony knuckle. I jumped up and swung my sword, chopping off the zombie’s arm. It hardly noticed. It used its remaining arm to punch at me, so I chopped that one off too. But it kept coming, kicking at me.
“The head! Go for the head like I told you!” Eva yelled.
I twisted my body like I was up to bat at home plate and I unleashed my homerun swing. I contacted perfectly, right above the neck, and the zombie’s head flew, end over end, through the air.
“I did it!” I yelled at Eva.
But Eva was already fighting five zombies at once. Heads flying left and right. No time for celebrating, I joined in. We fought side-by-side, grunting at the effort. But no matter how many we killed, there were two more to fill the gap.
I stole a look over to the other side of the backyard . Hester was a lethal whirlwind, wielding different sets of weapons from her arsenal. Even Will was holding his own and I saw him take out an enormous zombie with his dagger. T-Rex held his little knife with as much fearsomeness as he could muster, every once in a while poking at zombies that got within reach.
Still, all around us, there were zombies lined up, five or six deep. We were running out of time. I knew that Aunt Sophie wouldn’t be able to hold off the monsters in the house for much longer.
I spotted the trellis that went up the side of the house, all the way to the second floor. If you’ve never seen a trellis before, it’s designed to let plants grow and looks just like a ladder.
“Over here, guys!” I shouted at T-Rex and Will. “Hurry up.”
Even over the screaming zombies, Will and T-Rex heard me. They broke off from the zombies and ran over to me. Hester continued to fend off the advancing zombies, but walked backward toward us.
“What are you doing?” Eva yelled.
“Getting us out of here,” I yelled back, pointing at the trellis.
I watched as her eyes traced the trellis up to the top of the house, across the roofline and to the trees that were reachable with a big jump. “OK,” she said. “Let’s do it.”
I pushed T-Rex up the trellis. Will climbed next to him, shouting at him to hurry.
Hester reached our spot, a broadsword in one hand, a spiked ball on a chain in the other. “Go!” she yelled. “I’ll cover you.” She swung the ball on the chain and smashed a zombie’s head right off its body.
Eva and I jumped onto the trellis and pulled ourselves up. We reached the roof quickly and stood next to Will and T-Rex. I looked down and realized how pointless our fight with the zombies had been. More of them continued to stream out of the forest into the backyard . There were hundreds of them. And now, they were all crowding in on Hester, who was trying to get to the trellis to come after us.
“Climb up!” I shouted down at Hester.
“Come on,” Eva said, pulling my arm. “I need to get you out of here.”
I pulled my arm back. “Hester! Come on!”
Hester hacked off the nearest zombie’s head and jumped for the ladder. She climbed but the zombies charged forward and grabbed her leg. She kicked hard and finally broke free, scrambling upward.
Behind her, zombies jumped on the trellis and climbed after her.
The nails holding the trellis in place started to loosen from all the extra weight. I grabbed it, trying to keep the trellis from pulling all the way out and falling backward.
“Help me!” I yelled.
But the roof was too steep where I stood and the others couldn’t reach me. I pulled as hard as I could on the trellis, but it got heavier as more zombies climbed on.
Finally, the nails pulled out and I was the only thing keeping it from falling backward. I braced myself with my feet in the gutter and held on for all I was worth.
Hester’s head was now just below the roof. The weight of the trellis slowly pulled me forward. Any second and I would topple over the edge with it, but I refused to let go. She immediately saw what was happening. I could tell by her face that she already knew what I didn’t; I wasn’t going to be able to hold on.
“Make it all worthwhile,” she said. “That’s all I ask. Make it all worthwhile.”
“Wait, I can hold it,” I cried. “Don’t give up.”
She smiled, put her fist to her chest, then thrust it out toward me. “Do your duty, come what may, Jack Templar. You are the One. I know it.” She turned her body and, arms stretched out, jumped from the trellis into the mob of zombies below.
“No!” I cried, falling back onto the roof. I let go of the trellis and it fell away from the house, the zombies on it screaming as they fell.
I looked down into the yard below and saw a feeding frenzy where Hester had landed, her body completely covered with feasting zombies.
Eva grabbed me and pulled me away from the roofline. I trembled from what had just happened, but Eva shook me hard.
“Hunters mourn the fallen only after the fight. Understand?” Eva said.
I nodded and looked to Will and T-Rex, who were standing at the end of the roofline next to the attic entrance. “OK,” I said. “Let’s get the heck out of here.”
We ran to the edge of the roof where a huge oak tree grew next to the house. More importantly, from this tree, we could climb tree-to-tree to any direction in the forest. It was our way out. Only a ten-foot jump stood in our way.
Eva cleared it with little effort. She took a position on a heavy branch and waved us forward. Will took a running start and just made it. Eva grabbed onto him and helped him get a better hold. He quickly climbed deeper into the tree and disappeared.
I turned to T-Rex who stood there, finger in his nose, shaking.
“You can do this, T-Rex. I know you can,” I said.
“Come on,” Eva hissed. “If that bat-creature sees us, we’ll be fighting monsters all night.”
“I can’t do it, Jack. I just can’t,” T-Rex said, his voice quivering.
I looked at Eva, then back at T-Rex. Below, the zombies fell silent. Mrs. Fitcher’s voice filled the air.
“Where are they?” she cried. “Where are those nasty, disgusting children?”
Eva mouthed the words to me, “Leave. Him.”
I shook my head, grabbed T-Rex’s arm, and crawled along the roof to the attic window. I carefully lifted it. Locked. My heart sank; we were totally exposed on the roof. It was only a matter of time before they saw us. I tried the window again, willing it to open.
It did. It wasn’t locked at all, just stuck from years of not being used.
Carefully, we piled into the attic and closed the window behind us.
“What do we do now?” T-Rex whimpered.
Two black shadows flew up from the backyard and landed on the roof. Harpies, my favorite. One walked right toward us.
“Shhh…” I said. I pulled T-Rex to me and together we crouched as low as we could to the ground under the window.
Right above us, I saw the shadow of one of the harpies slowly come into view. TRex stifled a cry and the harpy leaned in closer, its beak dragging against the window glass.
We held our breaths. The harpy was literally inches above us. If it looked down, it couldn’t help but see us. My heart pounded in my chest. I was sure it was loud enough that it would give us away.
After what seemed like an eternity, it slowly moved on, finally taking flight and flying back down to the yard below.
T-Rex let out a breath and started to cry.
I cracked the window open and started to crawl out.
“Wh—where are you going?” T-Rex blubbered.
“I just want to see what they’re doing,” I said. “You stay here.”
“Yeah, you bet I am,” T-Rex said.
Down below, I heard Mrs. Fitcher’s voice shriek, “What do you mean, they’re gone? How can this be possible?”
Then there was a new
voice. Low, like distant thunder, but clear and distinct even over the collection of grunts, screams and bleats from the assembled Creach horde.
“Yes, I agree,” said the voice. “How can this be possible?”
The reaction to this new voice was incredible. Every other noise came to an abrupt halt, as if someone had pressed the mute button. The only sound was that of the breeze through the trees. I froze in place, my view of the backyard still blocked by the roofline, not daring to make a sound.
“I will ask again,” the voice said; its soft, calm tone somehow still made every word sound like a threat of violence. “How can this be possible?”
The backyard erupted in a babble of terrified noises. I used the opportunity to sneak forward to the roof edge and look down.
The menagerie of Creach monsters filled the backyard . A group of black-caped minotaurs pushed their way through the horde and formed a pathway. They stood at attention, their muscular human bodies and massive bull’s heads glistening in the light.
The monsters around them fell to the ground, bowing down as a tall creature in a black robe walked among them. It was the same man that I had seen on my way to school that morning. The creature who wanted me alive only to give me the slowest death possible.
Ren Lucre.
"Come back,” T-Rex whispered from the attic, “come back. They’re going to see you.”
Chapter Nine
I fought down the urge to do just that. I imagined climbing into the attic and finding the best hiding place possible so that I could curl up in a ball and just wait this whole thing out.
I looked down below and the feeling of dark dread filled me again. It was the same as when I had seen Ren Lucre before; only this time it was much stronger. There was a pit in my stomach and chills passed through my body. I had been scared all night. From the mole creature and the harpies all the way to the zombies, there hadn’t been a second when I hadn’t been terrified.
But this was different. It was hard to breathe. Hard to think straight. It was a paralyzing terror that I knew would overwhelm me the very instant I stopped fighting against it.
I turned to T-Rex and I waved him back inside. I needed to see what happened. I needed to find out who this creature was that hated me so much.
I turned my attention back to the scene below. Ren Lucre was walking among the dozens of Creach monsters, all lying on the ground, many whimpering in fear. I leaned forward so I could better hear.
“I had only one instruction,” Ren Lucre said. “Bring the boy to me alive. Was I not clear on this?”
No one dared to answer.
“I could sense him from the second he broke the seal. A power I hadn’t expected. And, only a few minutes ago, nothing. He just disappeared. I will ask again, how can this be?”
I clutched the medallion around my neck. Suddenly, I understood. Whatever signal my presence sent out that attracted the monsters was being covered by this medallion .
“Either he was given a cloak of some type or he has already been killed,” Ren Lucre said. “Either is unacceptable. Was I not clear enough with my instructions?”
Ren Lucre leaned down and grabbed a rock troll by the neck. The troll’s legs thrashed as if electricity coursed through its body. The troll’s skin turned black where Ren Lucre touched him. The farther the blackness spread throughout the troll’s body, the more it jerked around in pain.
“I said: was I not clear?” Ren Lucre shouted.
The rock troll collapsed, its entire body now black. Ren Lucre let go and kicked the troll. The body disintegrated, nothing but dark ashes.
Mrs. Fitcher scampered forward, still bent low to the ground. She waved to something behind her. I stretched my neck out as far as I dared and gasped at what I saw.
A group of ogres dragged the werewolf body of Aunt Sophie out from the house. A wide swath of blood trailed behind her.
The ogres threw the body at Ren Lucre’s feet. And, impossibly, Aunt Sophie raised her head to look at him. She was still alive.
Mrs. Fitcher ran up and kicked Aunt Sophie in the face. I put my hand to my mouth to stifle my cry.
“Sire,” Mrs. Fitcher said, “she is the one responsible. She is the one who let the boy get away.”
Ren Lucre held up his hand and Mrs. Fitcher lowered her head and backed away. Ren Lucre walked to Aunt Sophie and bent down to her so that they were inches apart.
“Can this be?” Ren Lucre whispered, but somehow his voice still reached up to where I was on the roof. “Could it be possible that one of my own betrayed me? Is it true?”
Aunt Sophie transformed from the devil-werewolf to her human form. From where I was, I could only see from her shoulder up because of the monsters crowding around. Part of me was thankful because I knew that her body would have the same wounds that I saw on the devil-werewolf.
Something bumped into my side. I turned and saw T-Rex next to me. He stared wide-eyed at the scene below.
I looked back down as Aunt Sophie struggled to raise her head to meet Ren Lucre’s gaze.
“Did you do this thing?” Ren Lucre whispered.
Aunt Sophie smiled. “He’s not the One. He is not the Templar.”
Aunt Sophie’s body seized up with pain and she cried out, trying to force it back down. I inched forward but T-Rex put his hand on my shoulder. We both knew there was nothing we could do to help her. Ren Lucre placed a hand on her and the pain seemed to subside enough for Aunt Sophie to regain control.
“He’s from a powerful hunter family to be sure,” Aunt Sophie wheezed, “but he’s not the One from the prophecy. I’m sure of it.”
“That cannot be,” Ren Lucre snarled. “He was torn from his father’s arms.”
“A decoy. Meant to buy time for the real child, the true last Templar,” Aunt Sophie wheezed, her breath coming painfully. “And it worked, didn’t it? Somewhere in the world, the real Templar boy grows into a man. Unhunted. Unwatched. Probably trained by Master Aquinas at their Academy for all these years.”
Ren Lucre grabbed her violently by the hair and pulled her face up next to his, staring into her eyes. The seconds ticked by in total silence.
Finally, Ren Lucre snarled. “You lie. I can see it in this pathetic human mask you wear. You seek only to protect him.” Even as he growled at her I could hear the doubt in his voice. “How dare you betray your own kind? How dare you betray your master?” Ren Lucre removed his hand from her and the pain returned like a freight train.
“No,” Aunt Sophie gasped, her words coming in short bursts due to the pain. “I only chose not to betray my own child. You, most of all, should be able to appreciate that sacrifice. You, most of all, should be able to understand my pain.”
Ren Lucre tilted his head as if he were studying her. He reached out and placed a hand on her cheek.
“Yes, my dear, I do know your pain,” Ren Lucre said.
Aunt Sophie froze as black lines spread across her face, following the veins beneath her skin.
Ren Lucre leaned and hissed into her ear, “But never suggest that you know mine.”
In seconds, her face was black and the darkness spread to the rest of her body.
“No-one betrays me,” Ren Lucre said. “Not ever.” Ren Lucre stood and Aunt Sophie’s body collapsed under its own weight and fell into a pile of ashes.
I bit into my jacket to keep from making any noise. It had been painful enough to leave her behind as she covered our escape, but to see her die in front of me in her human form, and knowing that she had sacrificed herself for me, was almost too much to bear.
Below, Ren Lucre’s voice bellowed over the congregation of beasts and monsters. “ Find the boy! Go from house to house in this miserable town and kill the humans one-byone if you have to. Just bring him to me alive.”
Mrs. Fitcher scurried forward and bent low. “Sire, if I may be so bold. While a most excellent plan, going house to house may bring unwanted attention from the humans. And if I understand correctly, we are not yet ready for
an all-out war.”
“Do you suggest I fear the humans?” Ren Lucre’s eyes narrowed.
“Of course not, Sire. Why would you?” Mrs. Fitcher groveled. “Only, it would be such unnecessary effort when you only need to capture one human.”
“Get to the point, woman,” Ren Lucre snapped.
“I know this boy. I’ve watched him every day. If you want to bring him to you, you need only capture one human. A girl named Cindy Adams.”
“Oh no,” I said.
Mrs. Fitcher continued. “If we have the girl, the boy will come to us. He’s brash and emotional, just like his father.”
Ren Lucre hissed at the mention of my father. Mrs. Fitcher bent low and quivered at his feet.
Ren Lucre shook his head and looked into the forest, lost in thought. His eyes narrowed as if he sensed something hiding in the trees. I felt a pang of fear that Eva and Will were about to be found out. But after a few agonizing seconds, Ren Lucre turned to Mrs. Fitcher. “Bring the girl to me.”
Mrs. Fitcher led the horde of Creach monsters as they streamed back through the house. With a wave of his hand, Ren Lucre sent most of the zombies back into the forest. I wondered if they were being sent to search for whatever he had sensed moments earlier. I hoped that Eva and Will were smart enough to be far away by now.
“Follow me,” Mrs. Fitcher shouted at the others. “I know where the Adams girl lives.”
T-Rex and I waited until the backyard emptied out. He turned to me and whispered, “They’re going to get Cindy. What are we gonna do?”
I saw a flicker of movement down below and hushed T-Rex.
Ren Lucre re-entered the empty backyard. He looked around as if he were sniffing the air. He scanned the roofline and we ducked, holding our breaths . Finally, I dared to raise my head back over the edge to see what he was doing.
Surprisingly, he was crouched next to the pile of dust that, minutes before, had been Aunt Sophie. He scooped up a handful of dust and let it slide through his fingers, mumbling something quietly under his breath. I know it sounds crazy, but if I didn’t know that he was the one who killed her, I would have said that he was mourning her death.
