The guilt of that alone—having tried to save them, and failed—was almost enough to bring her to her knees on its own. No. You did your best, even though you were scared to death. The thing you need to do now is make sure that it doesn’t happen to anyone else. The thought was hers, but she heard it in Dylan’s voice. That’s the next step. Call Dylan, let him know what I saw. We have to stop it. Every shred of doubt that she had had about Sean’s intentions and involvement had disappeared the moment she saw him start casting the spell in the warehouse; all of her infatuation and soft feelings for him had been replaced with anger and resentment.
Confident that she was at least mostly composed, she brought up Dylan’s contact page on her phone and hit “dial.” He answered immediately, and she kept her words short, letting him know that she was okay, but that something really horrible had happened and they needed to talk in person immediately. After she hung up, she got a glass of water inside of the diner; her friend wasn’t working, so that saved the need for any chitchat. Once she was done, she dug her bag out of the bushes and started straight for home; if she hurried, she could get back, get her bicycle, and get to the Hill by the time Dylan arrived.
Chapter Twenty
It had been a matter of moments, not minutes, once she got to the house. Open the door, throw her bag inside, get a drink of water from the hose spigot outside and grab her bike. She hadn’t wanted to have to confront Mom, but from the darkness and quiet in there, either Mom was passed out, or she was working a double shift.
The thought of Mom going through what those kids had gone through suddenly passed through her mind, and she found herself on her knees, throwing up everything that was in her stomach. All she could do was retch, and try and shove those images out of her mind. Maybe she didn’t like Mom very much now, but…somewhere in the back of everything was the memory of the times Mom had dressed up like a fairy to surprise her and her friends, shower them with candy and gumball machine trinkets, and disappear again. Or when she’d taken Staci to the zoo, and showed her how to make the tigers come to the front of the cage by “puffing” at them. “That’s how they say ‘hello,’” Mom had told her, though Staci had no idea how Mom knew that. At that moment, she realized how very little she actually knew about Mom. Except she knew things only someone with a lot of education could…all those fairy tales Mom had told her as a kid had never come out of a Disney book. Some of them she’d never been able to find again when she’d looked in storybooks once she could read.
I can’t let this happen to Mom…the gang. I don’t know how…but I can’t. Whatever it takes, I have to stop it.
But Dylan would know what to do! Surely, Dylan would know.
She wiped her mouth, rinsed it out from the spigot and drank again, then got on her bike before any more horrible thoughts made her sick. Once she was riding, she could concentrate only on that, on getting a little more speed out of the bike, on her burning legs and burning lungs. On making sure she avoided the cop beats, as she hurtled through the dark and damp air, keeping to the side streets until she got to the road up the Hill.
She just hoped Dylan was going to be there when she got there. Undoubtedly he’d understood the urgency in her voice and he and Metalhead had raced to beat her there!
Except…he wasn’t.
When she put on the brakes and skidded to a halt at the usual spot on the Hill, there was no one there.
The Hill was silent, cold, and dark. It was so silent that all you could hear was the sound of the waves washing up on the beach far below. Despite being cold and damp, the atmosphere was so still it felt…airless. As if she couldn’t get a full breath. Or as if the air itself was pushing on her, keeping her from breathing in.
She almost didn’t hear the sound of someone moving behind her. She spun around, expecting Dylan, but the smile on her face died as soon as she saw the suit jackets. It was the guards from the warehouse. Both of them were smiling broadly at her, showing yellow and crooked teeth.
“Lost, miss? Maybe—”
“—we can be of some help.”
They looked to each other, still smiling, before looking back to her. Then they separated, circling around her in opposite directions. Like dogs—like those hounds—circling their prey. There was something feral and not quite human about them that put the hair up on the back of her neck. Staci’s breathing still felt strained, but this time she knew it was from adrenaline and panic. Surreptitiously, she reached into her shoulder bag and retrieved her cell phone, grasping the charm tightly. Her head snapped around constantly, trying to keep her eyes on both of the guards.
“I’m waiting for a friend! He’ll be here any minute, so I don’t need any help, thanks!” She sounded more shrill than she had wanted to, but she couldn’t keep the fear out of her voice. How did they get here so fast? There isn’t a car anywhere; I would have seen it. Did they follow me? And if they did…how? There had to be some sort of magic involved, and that made her even more scared. Both men looked extremely similar; they were both completely bald, so heavily muscled that their suits bulged, and had the same hollow, hungry look in their eyes.
“No, we don’t think anyone is coming, girl. More’s the pity, because you—”
“—don’t look like more than a snack, does she, nisayenah?”
“No, she doesn’t, nishime. The masters keep us pretty well-fed, granted. But it’s so rare for us to get any live meat.”
Something started to…happen, to both men. Their clothing stretched in certain places, and fell loose in others, as if they were losing and gaining mass in different places. Staci heard the fabric start to rip, and watched as their shoes burst at the seams, grotesquely long toes ending in yellow and cracked nails protruding through. Their wrists pushed past the ends of their shirt and jacket sleeves, the hands growing twice as big as frying pans with the same wicked nails at the end. Their elbows split through their jackets, and soon their shoulders did the same, shredding the clothing and causing it to fall to the ground. Where they had been previously well-muscled, they were now both sunken-chested, with protruding bellies. Their mouths, still smiling, each turned into a gigantic rictus, with the lips pulled back over their teeth and the jaws dislocating to hang open. The most unsettling thing was their eyes; the orbs had recessed into the sockets until two black pits remained…and then the sockets were lit up with what looked like red-hot coals.
Both of the men--the monsters--were fifteen feet tall.
One looked at the other—who kept his eyes on her. She felt like a tiny bird being watched by a tiger. “How should we divide her? Top and bottom?”
The watcher shook his head slowly. “No, the head, heart, and liver are the best parts. Better that we pull her apart like a wishbone. Fair that way.”
The first turned his head to look at her again, drool dripping from his lower jaw. “Right you are. Let’s start; I’m hungry, and the masters will want to know about this.”
Staci’s first instinct was to run away. Do something, anything that might distract these monsters, and then run as hard and as fast as she could. But to where? She shut the idea from her mind. These things, whatever they were, had tracked her from the warehouse, all the way from down by the docks. They were like the Hunter; they loved the chase before they captured their prey. There wouldn’t be any running or hiding from whatever these things were. She was going to have to fight if she wanted to leave the Hill alive.
The two monsters must have seen a hint of the mental calculation that she was doing; without so much as a shout or any other sort of telegraphing action, they sprang towards her, their ropey limbs propelling them unnaturally fast. Staci bit back a scream, then quickly cast one of the most powerful protective spells that Dylan had taught her.
Instantly, a milky white dome of energy sprung up around her, encompassing the ground ten feet on any side. She watched, as if in slow motion, as some of the energy passed from herself to the shield, empowering it and strengthening it. The monsters impacted with the sh
ield simultaneously from opposite ends, both of them being thrown back a considerable distance by the rebound. This did nothing to change their expressions; they were both still smiling wide, the same hungry expression occupying what passed for their distorted faces.
Both creatures charged again, attacking the same spot, but not throwing themselves headlong into it. They only seemed slightly surprised to find that they were repulsed yet again, but this was quickly replaced with amusement. Time to change that! She focused her fear, frustration, and revulsion into the very center of her being, letting the energy grow and grow…then released it, crying out, “Beura!”
An overwhelming flash lit the entire top of the Hill, like a miniature sun being born. Again, time seemed to slow down for Staci. She watched the threads and cords of magic spread out from her, from the focus of the cell phone charm, washing over everything; it even seemed to strip some of the skin and strains of energy from the surface of the two creatures, causing both of them to stumble backwards and fall to their knees, shielding their eyes. The grass, while ruffled as if by a stiff breeze, bent down, and was generally unharmed. Even the trees bowed slightly. Staci felt a moment of elation. That’s got to send them packing!
The feeling died immediately, as she saw both of the huge creatures rise to their feet. They weren’t smiling anymore, at least. Now, they were snarling, and that was so much worse. Their maws—mouth was no longer an appropriate word to describe it—were dripping with bloody saliva, their prominent brows knit together. They were angry…and focusing all that anger solely on her.
The monsters began to beat against the shield, the impacts sending spiderwebs of energy across the surface of the dome. Both of them uttered guttural screams while pounding furiously at her protections. Got to try something new. Staci had only practiced the next spell under Dylan’s supervision; she hadn’t tried it solo before, so she was a little scared as she began. She watched as some of the energy she had been preparing fizzled in front of her, and cursed herself. Stupid, stupid. Dylan always said, “Focus and calm, power comes from that.” She fought through her fear, and all of her other emotions this time, keeping her concentration on the desired outcome. She was sure of the mental picture of what she wanted to happen, sure of the effect it would have. Turning sharply to her left, she thrust both of her hands out in front of her; a blue-white ball of energy manifested a foot in front of her hands, and sped out to strike the chest of the monster that she was facing. Flesh and bone blasted away from the site of the impact, but the monster didn’t falter. It continued to rage and beat against the protective shield. I’ve got to be hurting it! Just got to hurt it more.
Staci kept her counterassault up, switching between the two targets from blast to blast. Every time she fired, another heaping chunk of gore flew from the creatures, splashing against the ground and steaming. But no matter how much she shot at them, they didn’t stop hammering away at the shield. She almost didn’t realize how much this was taking out of her, when suddenly she stumbled, half-falling to a knee and putting a hand out to steady herself; the monsters realized it immediately, however. They were both smiling, again, and began pounding at the shield even more fiercely than before. This time, they circled around instead of hitting the same spot over and over again. Her shots became more erratic and wild as she continued to fire energy at them. What is going on? All too late, it dawned on her what had just happened. She had been overconfident, and expended too much of her energy trying to attack the monsters; her shield, still siphoning energy from her, was starting to fail. Patches were showing through the milky white dome, and wherever the creatures struck, the shield became more translucent.
They were breaking through.
Staci tried to refocus herself, redirecting her energy towards the shield. But she was too drained at this point; it felt like she was pouring water into a sieve. The monsters must have sensed this; they stepped up their assault, and more of the shield crumbled before her, the energy dissipating in the air.
With each blow against the shield, Staci felt the impact as if it was striking her body. Surely, it had to be muted somehow, but still she felt the physical damage. Light, at first, as if someone was shoving her around. Then the hits became more urgent, more painful, like punches, then powerful kicks. She fell to the ground, throwing her arms over her head, but it was no use; however much she tried to cover herself, she still took blows all over her body. She had never really been in a fight before, and the panic she had tried to negate earlier flowed through her freely now. Her vision began to go dark around the edges as she saw the last of the shield give way, the final threads of energy falling to the ground and sparking out among the grass.
I hope it doesn’t hurt too much, was Staci’s last thought before the monsters were upon her. Just when she thought that she would feel those horrible claws and teeth digging into her, there was a flash, and a cry. With the last ounce of strength that she could muster, Staci turned her head; one of the creatures had the end of a bright metallic arrow jutting from its chest. The other monster screamed, turning around just in time for an identical arrow to plant itself in its sternum. Both of the beings started scrabbling at the arrows, trying to dig them out; whenever they touched the shafts, their hands caught fire. Soon, there was smoke issuing from their mouths and eyes, and both fell to the ground, kicking and clawing at the dirt. With a final screech, both of the creatures were consumed in flame, finally still.
With a roar that sounded much more like something that should have come from the throat of a wild animal than the engine of a motorcycle, Metalhead screeched to a halt beside her, and Dylan spilled out of the bike’s seat, throwing aside what looked like a bow to Staci’s bleary eyes. Suddenly she was engulfed in a green glow, light so bright she couldn’t see through it, and the pain began to fade.
She just closed her eyes in exhaustion and let whatever it was do its work. At this point she didn’t even have any energy to spare to put two thoughts together at once, much less try and figure out what it was that Dylan was doing to her.
The light felt—well, it felt exactly like sunlight on her skin, like sunbathing on a perfect day, when the air wasn’t too hot, and there was just a whisper of breeze. It felt good, deep down, as if it was sinking into her, slowly taking away all the pain of the blows she had taken. She didn’t want to open her eyes, actually, didn’t want to have to think about those monsters, and especially didn’t want to have to think about what she had seen in the warehouse.
But she knew she had to do all those things. So, when the last of the ache had faded, she opened her eyes, and the glow around her vanished abruptly, leaving her pushing herself up off the ground as Dylan sat back on his heels. His skin had a sheen of sweat and looked paler than usual, and his eyes had dark bags underneath them.
“You need to start keeping better company than Wendigos, Staci. They’re no good at parties, and they never bring enough dip.” With that, Dylan fell back off of his heels, landing on his rear with a sigh. “I got your call. What happened?”
There wasn’t any recrimination in his voice, but Staci still felt like she was shrunk down to the size of an insect by her own guilt. She just blurted out words without thinking about what she was saying.
“I was dumb. I couldn’t do anything to help them, and then I let those monsters follow me here! They must’ve followed me to the diner, followed me home, too! My friend at the diner, my mother—”
“—are both fine. Wendigos don’t really stray off of prey once they’re locked in.” He patted her hand reassuringly. “When they get hungry and start following something, they don’t stop until they have it…or they’re dead. Which, really, is hard as hell to make happen. I’m going to need to hitch a chain to both of the husks and get them somewhere where I can really make sure they’re burnt. But not right now. Slow down, take a breath. You called me before you knew these baddies were on your trail. Let’s get to why you called me. What did you find out?”
She forced herself to jus
t stop. To take a deep breath, and organize her thoughts. The best way to do this is to start from the beginning, she decided, and started from when the servant had come to tell Bradan and Sean the news that had sent them to the warehouse.
“…and then I got here, and those things were waiting,” she finished. “I tried using everything you showed me but it didn’t seem to do much. I guess maybe I tried too many things at once, because the shield you showed me how to make started caving in, and then it went, just as you got here, I guess.”
“I didn’t expect you having to go up against something like Wendigos, that’s for damn sure.” He sighed heavily, shaking his head and looking at his feet. “You’ve got elven blood, sure, but overextending yourself will drain you, weaken your spells. From what you said about the spellbreaking you tried in the warehouse, the spell’s energy rebound didn’t do you any favors.” He looked up, staring straight into her eyes. “That’s one of the bravest things I’ve ever heard of.”
“Uh—what?” she replied. “I didn’t do anything brave—”
“Staci, you attempted to break the spell that five older, trained, and full-blooded elves were casting. It was a major spell. Everything I’ve showed you was just stuff any old elf can do. You should be dead, from all of the feedback that you got. If I had been there, I wouldn’t have even tried to do what you did; it was that much of a stacked deck. Yet…here you are. Not only did you do everything that you could to save those kids, but you actually lived to do more than that. Now we know what the Blackthornes are planning on, we can save the town.”
She bit her lip, her chest feeling tight. Some of the guilt eased a very little bit, not all by any means; she still felt as if she’d have been able to save those kids if she’d just done…something else. But at least Dylan had said he wouldn’t have been able to break through, so, well, maybe no matter what she’d done, the hitchhikers would have been doomed. She didn’t want to dwell on it, not right then.
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