by P. S. Power
Then several other people joined them. Not werewolves, interestingly enough. Not except for Junie and Vern. It was Sondra the vampire and her male companion of the day that moved in then, pushing the parents back behind them, toward their daughter.
No one else moved, which got a soft, almost peaceful, laugh from the female vampire.
“Ah. Well, if it’s to be fisticuffs to the death, then we seem an evenly matched group, don’t we, Master Liam? Should we go outside do you think? I’d hate to damage your home while these people are thrashed, David. You’ll need it later.”
Marcus glanced at the two groups then nodded.
“Very well. I agree. Let’s take this outside. No weapons.” He looked over at Vern, who had his right arm in a cast. “Except that one, since it can’t be helped. You will fight until Clarissa Hodler is dead or none of those who would punish her can go on any longer. Other than that, there are no rules. There is no time limit. I will officiate as it is needed.”
The man sounded gruff and angry about it. There was glaring at some of them, with most of it going toward Liam, personally. Probably because he was making the whole thing take longer.
Brenner stood back, her face cold and angry as well. That would be for him, Liam was certain. She was supposed to protect him and he’d acted atypically. Violence wasn’t a thing he was skilled at and here he was engaging in it. To prevent a death, which seemed needed to him. That didn't mean he was going to be able to protect anyone, in particular. He had a plan, however.
He spoke it to the others on his side, as everyone moved outside and arrayed themselves on the lawn. There were no other houses around, the large home being well away from any neighbors. Trees lined the edges of the property as well, though they were standing in a large field, under the pale light provided by the stars above. It wasn’t that close to a full moon, which was in their favor, even if it made it hard to see at the moment.
Softly, he whispered to the people with him.
“Protect Clarissa. I’ll get them to attack me first and tire them out. I don’t know how to fight.” He didn’t explain more, since it was pretty obvious what that meant.
Sondra understood him, anyway.
“Clever. You have them beat you first, so that they’ll be too tired to fight us well, later? Then we swoop in and remove them, one by one. Very nice.” Her voice was low as well and held a certain amount of humor, instead of apprehension.
Her companion smiled as well, then faced Liam.
“Hands up in front of you, like this.” He demonstrated, his feet moving at the same time, the right one going back about the same distance as his shoulders were apart. “Make fists and hit from the sides, over and over again. Hit hard and don’t stop until you can’t keep going. Any you remove from the fight will be helpful to us later.” There was a dark nod then, and a slap on the arm from the large pale man.
Abbie, the ghost, nodded.
“Try not to die? I want to save the girl, not get you killed.”
Liam moved forward a few steps, since the other side had done the same and the further away from the target they started, the better the plan would work. He held his hands up, not swinging them yet. His large hands made giant fists, he noticed.
He spoke softly, whispering to the ghost, since she was right next to him still. Transparent and visible only to a few people there. Most of those being on their side. Then, the woman had stepped up to protect Clarissa, he realized. Moving with him to do just that, so it was inside the rules for her to be there. Even to help, if she could figure out how to do that.
“I pretty much can’t die, so that isn’t a problem. Certainly not from something as small as a beating from werewolves at the half moon. I’m pretty strong and fast, too. I just don’t know what to do.” That was all. His only fighting experience had been against Vern and that, clearly wasn’t really a battle at all. The man had caused them to fall, and as he’d said, broken his own wrist.
Screaming suddenly, three of the men ran at him. Abbie, looking frightened, yelled then.
“Start punching. Now!” He did that, swinging first from the right and then the left. Hard and fast. The first man there ran past his fist, but was pushed aside by his arm, his wild swinging tossing the man away with a smacking sound. Then, over the course of what seemed a long time, with him mainly being hit, from behind, over and over again, he kept at it.
Swinging first on the right, then the left, barely touching anyone, even as he was beaten soundly. It hurt, of course. Just not enough to make him stop. He didn't tire though and eventually those coming for him picked up on that. Three of them were on the ground already though, barely moving. One of the others pulled a sharp looking long blade from behind his back and stabbed Liam in the shoulder. He saw it happening, but couldn’t move out of the way and still strike the person in front of him at the same time.
The crowd around them made an outraged sound, with one woman screaming angrily at the cheater.
“No! This is a matter of honor!”
At about that time, things changed, suddenly. Mainly due to the male vampire moving in with a kick to the knee of one of the women who was trying to attack. That made a pleasant crunching sound, like a nut being cracked, causing her to fall with a bit of a scream of her own. A moment later one of the men went down, clutching between his legs, also from the action of the vampire fellow. It was fighting done with the feet, which Liam had seen done, but only in the one movie he’d seen.
Then, almost all at once, the rest of the people on his side, the protectors, moved in and started to kick, punch and scratch the two who remained standing. After a few minutes of this, Liam still hitting hard and fast, even with no one in front of him, the whole thing was over.
One side on their feet, prepared for more, the other on the ground. Dying.
Chapter fourteen
There was silence for a moment, no one cheering or clapping for them, even if they’d won. That was due to decorum, as well as the fact that Marcus still had to call the thing over, as it turned out. Which he did after a few moments.
“Do any of you wish to continue?” The words were filled with derision, for some reason. None of the people on the ground answered, however. “Very well. Clarissa Hodler is cleared of all charges. Let no one hold issue or grudge over this.”
Those words got a snort, which came from his left side. Abbie, the ghost stood there, smiling at him.
“Right. Like that’s going to happen? They tried to murder her. There will eventually be a war over this. Even the ones that had stood aside will be scrambling now. The higher ups had to have known that, too. It’s probably a power grab, given that. The people on the ground were set up to kill the girl and aren’t locals. Then her parents and the rest would start taking sides, for a war. When it was done, the smaller pack would be ripe for taking over by any sufficiently large group. Which isn’t your problem. This didn’t stop that, it just saved the one kid.”
Which was interesting to know, while also being correct. It really wasn’t his business. Then fighting there hadn’t been either. That had been interesting, however. It had hurt and he clearly wasn’t good at it. Even at that, most of the fallen had been at least partly his effort. His clumsy flailing around being powerful enough to have a real impact when it landed.
The ghost gestured at his shoulder.
“Um, someone stabbed you. You should probably get that seen to.”
Looking over his shoulder he could see that. He didn’t really need help though, just reaching up and taking the handle of the blade in his right hand, since it was embedded in his left shoulder, in the back. Pulling it out wasn’t too hard at all. As he did that, Brenner jogged over, seeming worried for some reason. Sanchez followed along, but had his hand on his side, where his firearm was kept, and scanned the world around them.
“Liam!” Tiffany grabbed him by the shoulders. “I can’t believe you did that. You could have been killed.”
Except that he wasn’t in much dange
r that way.
Glancing down she saw the knife in his hand. It was clean along the blade, of course. That got him looked at, finally spun around, with his shirt pulled up to examine the wound.
She sighed then.
“It’s already sealed over. Still, I’m supposed to be watching you. Fighting like this. Well, you’re grounded. Three weeks. Understood?”
He shook his head then.
“No? I don’t know what that is.”
Helpfully, a voice from behind him spoke up then. It was Mitchel, who was holding the new shirt that Nina the Elf had made for him. That was handed over, so he could change out of the other shirt, which had a new hole in it now. The thing fit perfectly, he noticed. That had to be impressive, given that Nina had never met him before at all.
“Grounded means that you’ll have to stay at home instead of partying with your friends and staying out late on the weekends. Possibly that you won’t be allowed to watch television either. It’s harsh, but fair, given the fighting you were doing here. That…” The man grinned then. “Well, I get it. I nearly moved in myself. If magic had been allowed, I’d have been in. This wasn’t a good thing here tonight. Not by my rules.” The words weren’t condemnation really. Just a statement.
One that had Marcus glaring at the man, as he marched over.
“We don’t live by your rules, Mr. Warner. Harsh or not, our ways have held our kind together for thousands of years as a community. That this was managed without much death was a good thing. Still, there will be a balancing needed for it. Later, of course. Now we should all leave, away to our own places. It’s time to let tempers grow cold and to find peace again.”
The man left then, not going inside, even if his presents had been left in there. Liam went and collected the things given to him, since it would be rude not to do that. That meant he was approached by Vern, Junie and Clarissa as he did it. Abbie was right there with him, though none of them could tell that was true.
She laughed, softly.
“This is the difficult part then, isn’t it? Do they roughly thank you for standing up for her or offer you all of their wealth and riches for it? Is it hugs all around, because you’re clearly friends, or do they have to lay on their bellies showing how much you mean to them. Werewolf society is a little messed up, in places. You should hold your arms out. It’s going to be the least embarrassing thing to do.”
That trick worked, with Clarissa holding him first, then the other two in turn. Vern actually slapped him on the back a few times as he did it.
“Thanks… Erm, Liam. You standing up for our Clarissa like that… I figured her as being dead.” The words got a nod, from the girl herself and a sad look from Junie, the wife.
“Of course. Now, I need to get some things and then leave. Did you get to say hello to Abbie? She’s a ghost. Your aunt, from what she said.” He introduced them, which was wonderfully awkward.
He knew that because Abigail told him so.
As they were all leaving, Liam noticed that the ghost got into the car with him, Brenner and Sanchez. He simply moved the box of donuts, still mainly full, over to the side, so she wouldn’t have to sit in it. The ghost seemed to find that action charming enough.
She didn't speak, so he didn’t address her either. The people in the front seat didn’t say anything for a long time. Nearly an hour. Then, from the driver’s seat, Brenner cleared her throat.
“That was… Different. I can’t say that I love the idea of you getting into fights to the death like that, if you get a choice, Liam.”
He had to agree with that. The downed people might survive. They also might not. It wasn’t done on purpose, but a lot of things had been broken and bruised in that grassy field. Some of those things might be permanent.
He nodded at the words.
“I know. I’m not one of the bad men, so doing things like that should be avoided. It was the only thing that I could think of that would work at that moment. I keep thinking there had to have been another way. I just don’t have enough information to see what it might have been.” It was almost certainly true.
A lot of things were like that, he knew.
They rode for a very long time, not getting in until very late at night. He’d forgotten to call his mother the morning before, being distracted as he had been, due to his vision, so decided do to that as soon as she might be awake, once they were home.
Abbie came in with him, simply doing that when they got out of the vehicle. Sanchez left almost immediately, having a wife and children to see to, as well as half a weekend to try and salvage.
Brenner slapped him on the shoulder, then winced, as if the move might have hurt him. They were in the living room, and when he didn't respond in pain, he was given a small hug. She was very warm as she pressed against him.
“I was scared out of my mind. You know that, right? Even if you can’t be killed… I mean, what if you’d failed? Or if those others hadn’t come forward too? Sanchez and I couldn’t do it. Mitchel would have probably been targeted for death out there, so had to stay out. He’s not universally loved, if you can buy that. Something about always getting into other people’s business. Go figure, right?”
Liam could understand that idea, actually. That was what he’d done as well. Some of the people that he’d hit might not like him very much any longer.
“I know, it was a risk.” That was a thing he didn’t know much about. Taking risks.
Instead of going on about it for hours, Brenner hugged him again and went to bed, leaving only Liam and the ghost there, in the living room. He sat at his laptop, which the ghost shook her head at when he turned it on.
“This is amazing. We didn’t have things like this when I was alive, I can guarantee you that. Anyway, thanks. I could… Come and visit you here, sometimes? I have to go back, since the dead aren’t really supposed to interfere in the lives of the living all that much. You can see me though, which makes that particular idea easier to ignore.”
He nodded, since he’d never had a friend before, really. Not one that would visit or play with him.
“That would be fun. I could draw a picture of you? Once I get better at that, I mean. That and we can watch television, when I’m allowed that again. I’ve only seen one show on it, so far.” He was grounded, which was very similar sounding to how he was used to living.
“Cool, then. I’ll see you soon, Liam. There are some things… we’ll talk about that later. Um, bye.” Then, as if she’d never been there, the girl vanished.
Most of the night and early morning was spent looking things up. There were a hundred things he needed to know and whole fields that were open to investigation now that he understood they existed. Like learning how to fight. In one week, he’d had two of the things and while he’d done all right, that wasn’t really due to skill.
When the clock on his computer said it was ten in the morning he rang Mary, trying to keep all the questions he had in his head. The most important one would have to come first, of course.
When she picked up, her voice sounded remarkably normal.
“Hello, this is Leslie Stein, how may I help you?”
“Hello. I’m sorry I didn’t call yesterday. I had a strange vision of the future and got sidetracked.” He ended up talking about that for about ten minutes, before turning the conversation to his real question.
The one that had, even when he hadn’t thought about it, eaten at him for over a day.
“I met a man. He called himself Oaks. Tall, about eight feet, with tan skin. Is he my father or was that a lie?” It could have been, after all. Even at that, he wasn’t really his father. That meant Liam was ready for Mary to tell him that. Leslie, even though he didn't think of her that way.
Instead she gasped.
“He’s found you? Already? I… Run. You have to get out of there, Liam. Right now! He… Listen, yes, he’s your father, as much as anyone could be. Only… He isn’t what he seems. He doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Go! Just�
��”
She stopped then, breathing hard on the phone.
“Only, you can’t. You’re too young. I… I’ll think of something. Hold on there. I need to know where you are. If he does then we might have to move quickly.”
Liam had promised not to tell her. This sounded like an emergency, however.
So he gave her the address, hoping it wasn’t a poor plan.
“Oaks… He seemed fine to me. Not bad or anything. He didn't yell or claim he was going to kill me. Why is he bad?”
There was a soft inhalation.
“Liam… When he came to me, originally, the goal wasn’t to just make a son for him. He wants an army. Thousands of you to move out into the world and take it over. It’s been his only goal for centuries. I don’t know what he might do to you, if you won’t go along with him.”
“Oh. I understand. I think. I need to think about this. About what to do.” Some things fell into place for him then, so he nodded. “He’ll need you, or someone like you, and so far I haven’t told him I wouldn’t help with his plans. Maybe I will, even, so that should be safe enough. We have some time, if that’s all correct. If not… Well, then I’ll run. Like you said. I need to learn how to do that. I’ve never run before.”
That was literally true. He’d walked quickly once or twice, but that was it. More, he was almost certain Mary was telling him to do something different than just move quickly on foot.
When he said that, his mother actually laughed.
“You are so darling. I meant that you need to leave there and go to a place where you won’t be found. That can’t be here, if it comes up. You might be all right there for the time being. Not that a monster will be afraid of the FBI. Be careful, Liam. I love you.”
“I love you as well, mother.”
Then they hung up, leaving Liam to figure out the latest change of events. It was different, but fear from Mary aside, it didn’t seem to be a problem that he couldn’t handle. Or at least that he couldn’t learn to handle, if he got to work on the problem.
