What To Expect
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Michael Edward
Fearlings Two
A story by
Michael Edward
Copyright © 2012 Michael Edward
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Written in U.S.A.
PROLOGUE – PAST – 1950’S
The Haynes family farmhouse sits in the corner of the cornfield. On the other side of the house is sixty yards of field that leads to a thick wooded area. The sun is setting and the darkness of night is nearing.
It is a good-sized farmhouse. They have a big family. They have three daughters and three sons. The oldest boy is seventeen; the next two are girls, sixteen and fifteen. Traditionally they had sons to help with the land so when the next two were girls they kept trying for boys and they got them with the next two. They are thirteen and eleven. The youngest is a feisty nine-year-old daughter.
Inside the house, the Father is in the living room sleeping in his chair after a long day of work. Fats Domino plays on the radio in the background.
The Mother is in the back of the house in her bedroom. She just finished a bath. She has her robe on and her hair wrapped in a towel. She is walking to the bathroom when she stops. She looks to the window and sees that it is getting dark. She turns to the door and listens. She hears the sound of the radio from the living room but she doesn’t hear anything else. There are no sounds from her children. She knows that they were outside when she started her bath. They were told to come inside in five minutes. Why can’t she hear them? She gets the panicked thought that they may still be outside, in the dark. She exits the room and starts down the hall to the living room.
“The children, where are they?”
The Mother’s voice startles the Father awake as she enters the room. He instantly hears her tone and he knows the reason why there is fear. He knows the mistake he made by falling asleep without making sure the kids were inside before nighttime.
“They’re not here. They are still outside.”
He stands and looks around. He knows what the silence means. His wife is right. He walks to the closet and a few seconds later turns to his wife with his shotgun in his hand. “They are not alone. He will be with them.”
“Find them now.” She knows that she has to stay calm but the thought of what could happen terrifies her. She follows her husband out the front door and into the yard.
“God, please don’t let them be in the cornfield,” he says.
Screams startle him and his wife to turn towards the field on the other side. They start walking without hesitation and begin to run as more screams are heard. They know who is screaming. It is their daughters. They stare at the woods in panic as they run.
The youngest exits the woods running and her two youngest brothers are right behind her. A couple seconds later her older sisters exit the woods screaming and right behind them is the oldest brother.
“Run!” the oldest brother yells. He is only ten feet out of the woods when a faster shadowy Fearling rushes out of the woods and grabs him from behind.
The oldest sister stops running as her brother is dragged into the woods. She yells to her other brothers and sisters. “Run! Don’t stop!” She turns to start back to the woods to try and help her brother but it doesn’t matter.
Another Fearling rushes out of the woods and grabs her. She screams as it turns and tosses her backwards to land on the ground at the edge of the woods.
The other four stop running. They are crying, not knowing what to do. They hear their parents yelling for them but they are looking in the other direction as they helplessly watch the Fearling walk towards their sister.
The sixteen year old is on her back. She sees her brothers and sisters as the Fearling reaches down for her. She kicks at the Fearling’s shadowy legs but has no affect. She yells to them just as he grabs her. “Run!”
Her yell fades as she and the Fearling disappear into the woods. A second later four Fearlings rush out of the tree line straight towards the other children.
The Father runs with the Mother behind him. He aims his shotgun as he runs but he cannot fire. The Fearlings are too close to his children. “Stay close to your sister!” He knows that as soon as the Fearlings get within twenty feet of his kids that Sevol will appear and help protect his kids. Sevol will be bound to a twenty-foot radius around his youngest daughter, because she is the Vaun of the family. “Stay close to her!”
The four children near their charging parents. They are not looking back as they run and when they hear their father yell down, they simultaneously all dive forward to the ground.
He fires his shotgun as his children dive to the ground but so do the Fearlings and he misses. The two Fearlings closest leap from the ground and land on the fifteen-year-old daughter and thirteen-year-old son.
Sevol’s tall shadowy figure appears. He is bigger, faster and stronger than the Fearlings. He reaches down and grabs both Fearlings by the back. He lifts them up and tosses them to the side just as the remaining two Fearlings rush past him. He turns to see them tackle the children to the ground.
The Father stops ten feet away. He aims and fires, blasting one Fearling backwards to the ground. He aims but doesn’t fire at the other Fearling. He watches as Sevol attacks from behind.
The fifteen-year-old girl stands. She reaches down and helps her brother to his feet. They look forward and see Sevol knock a Fearling to the ground. Then they see their youngest sister get up and start toward their father.
“No!” The Father yells. He charges forward. He knows if the youngest keeps going forward she will take Sevol too far away from her brother and sister. “Don’t run baby! Stay there!”
Sevol turns to the older children. He moves fast but is bound to the border of the youngest child, the Vaun. He nears the child but fades from vision three feet away from them as the Fearlings grab the Humans from behind.
“No!” the Mother yells. She tries to run forward but her husband grabs her and holds her back as their youngest runs to them.
The eleven year old boy stands and looks back to see his brother and sister being dragged across the field into the woods. He turns around and runs to his parents as Fearlings stand on both sides of him.
Sevol appears, grabs one of the Fearling’s shadowy arms, and tosses him to the side. He turns to see the remaining Fearling attacking the family.
The Father is knocked backwards and he drops the shotgun when he hits the ground. He looks up and sees the Fearling reach out and grab his crying boy by the back.
The Mother strikes at the Fearling as he tosses her son sideways to land several feet away. Her attack has no affect and the Fearling just strikes her down with one hand.
Sevol attacks the Fearling from behind, knocking it to the ground in front of him. He steps forward and stomps down on the Fearling’s back again and again. He hears yelling from the boy and stops.
He lies on his stomach looking across the darkness of the night to hi
s Father. The Fearling behind him reaches down and grabs him by the ankle. His eyes meet his father’s and he has time only to say one word in a tone full of terror, “Dad.”
“No!” the Father yells. He stands. He forgets that Sevol will not be able to protect him from that distance. He doesn’t hesitate to run after his son being dragged away.
“Sevol help him!” the Mother cries. She hears her son yelling for them as the Fearling drags him near the tree line. She cries, “Help them damn it!”
“Cannot, I am bound to her.”
The Mother looks around and sees that the remaining Fearling is gone. She turns back to her husband. “No! Get back here, now!” She picks up her crying daughter and starts running after her husband. She is trying to get closer to him so Sevol can protect them all but she is too slow. She cries as she runs, “Please!”
“No!” The Father yells as the Fearling disappears into the woods with his son. He stops, bends down crying. He hears his wife from behind him and turns to her.
The Mother runs with her daughter in her arms and is nearing her husband but she is not close enough. She sees the Fearling appear behind him, “Behind you!”
The Fearling grabs the Father and tosses him sideways through the air. He slams into a tree and falls to the ground. As the Fearling bends down and grabs him by the shoulder, he stares at his wife and daughter then he yells as the Fearling drags him into the woods. “Protect her!”
The Mother collapses to her knees as her husband disappears into the woods. She cries as she holds her daughter tight. They’re gone. They’re all gone, her entire family, except the daughter she holds.
Sevol appears next to the crying mother. He looks down at her as she cries in panic to him.
“They’re all gone!” the Mother cries. “Oh God Sevol they’re all gone! What do we do?”
“Protect her,” Sevol says. His tone is calm. “The remaining Fearling can always return.” He turns to the woods as he finishes. “We always protect the Vaun.”
CHAPTER 1 - PAST
It is three months before the Fearling Ekabar took Grandma and Tom; she was in her apartment meeting with a friend that was helping her.
Grandma stands in her kitchen at the counter pouring a glass of juice. She turns back to her guest seated at the table and smiles. “Professor, do you want a glass of juice?”
“Yes,” Professor says, “of course I do.” He sits at the table smiling as Grandma pours another glass then walks to him. “So, your grandson Rob is going to marry this girl in three months and he still has not given her the experience of his Fearling?”
“No he has not.”
“Well, that may not have been the smartest idea.”
“I agree,” Grandma says. She walks to a chair and sits. She takes a drink then puts the glass on the table. She looks across to the Professor. “Tell me about this Rick Haynes. You believe that he is a Vaun? That his family is the same as ours?”
“Yes,” the Professor says. He hesitates to finish his thoughts. He knows the value of his conversation with Grandma. “Understand though, we do not and I mean do not know much. Rick has not shown one sign of opening up about his family’s secret.”
“Does he think that it is unsafe, that his Fearling and Shanawl will do what?”
“I did not say any of that,” Professor says. He smiles. “You should ask Shanawl. She would know if it is safe or not. Besides I would like to say hello to her.”
Grandma stands and walks to the other side of the kitchen. She flips the switch and the room darkens. The light from the living room shines into the kitchen but there is enough darkness on the other side of the kitchen for the Fearling to appear.
Shanawl fades into vision. She stands in the corner for a second then walks to the edge of the darkness. She turns her shadowy head down and towards the Professor sitting at the table. The Professor has experiences with Shanawl and shows no fear of her appearance. He stares at the shadowy Shanawl and speaks with calm delight in his tone. “Shanawl, it is so good to see you my dear. How have you been?”
“F i n e,” Shanawl says.
“Shanawl, is there reason to fear meeting with other Vauns and their Fearlings? Can that be dangerous?”
“Dangerous,” Shanawl whispers. She turns and walks to the darkest part of the room, the corner. She turns to Grandma and Professor, “When they attack.”
“They?” Grandma asks.
“They,” Professor asks, “Like the Fearling Ekabar?” He stops and thinks about the words he speaks. “There is more than one?”
“Yes,” Shanawl says, “many.”
“Fine but this Rick Haynes and his Fearling,” Grandma asks, “are they dangerous to us?”
“No.”
“Good, then I will meet with this Rick,” Grandma says. She walks to the counter and fills her glass with juice. “He will speak to me. I promise you that.”
“Speaking of promises, there is an experience that I must assist others in. You call me anytime. I will answer or call back when I am allowed.”
“Promises, are these others in danger?”
“Yes. They are. They do not wish to admit it yet but they are. They really are, but that my dear Grandma is another story.” The Professor stands. He takes a drink then walks to Grandma. “We call each other when we learn something new, yes.”
“Yes Professor.” Grandma likes the professor but she has not allowed herself to care for a man for many years. She is not going to start now. “You be safe Professor. I will worry.”
“It is you I worry about my dear,” the Professor says. He takes a breath then finishes his thought. “The more I learn of this world they come from, this Ciren, the more I realize that it is not good.”
“Can we go there?”
“If there is a door that allows them to travel here it could be possible that we can travel through it to get to their world. Maybe not, maybe it is only one way. I doubt it but it could be. We will find out. But you, you need to be careful. This Ekabar is probably more powerful than before.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Are you not more powerful from your experiences?”
“And you believe that he will return and come after one of us?”
“We know little. We should though prepare. Do not panic, but be prepared. It does no harm. And know this, I will always find you, wherever you are.”
CHAPTER 2 - PAST
It is two weeks before Tom and Grandma are taken. She is meeting Rick Haynes for the first time. She is at his small apartment listening to him talk about his family, about how they lost five kids and a father in one night.
“You see,” Rick says. His tone is calm and his words are short. “I am thirty-three years old and because of my experiences I don’t get involved. I am not going to put others in danger. I will not. This curse will die with me.”
“Well, that is either very noble of you or very weak,” Grandma says. She is not trying to be insulting. She is just speaking her thoughts. “I believe that you are being weak.”
“You want me to talk to you and you do it by insulting me?”
“No,” Grandma says. She speaks with a sincere and direct tone. “I am not insulting you and of course you are going to talk to me. I did not take a three-hour flight and a thirty-minute taxi ride for you not to talk to me. That would be silly.”
Rick smiles. “I guess it would be. Ok, your plan?”
“I know that there is no way we can learn all that we need to learn from one conversation. So we begin and see where it takes us. Just know this. The more we learn the better prepared we can be. That can only be a good thing.”
“Ok, where do we begin?”
“You start. How far do your records go?”
“Records, that’s funny. We don’t have records. Guess we just didn’t think it important. I know I’ve just been petrified since birth.”
“What?”
“Well, there are several things that are different about my family and yours.
In your family, there is a Vaun every other generation? In ours it is every generation.”
“I do not like the sound of that.”
“And ours is not a Fearling. He calls himself a Molawner and his name is Sevol.”
“What is a Molawner?” Grandma asks.
“Sevol is bigger, faster and stronger than a Fearling. He says that when a Fearling reaches a certain stage of experience, they go into a resting, and when they are done, they wake a Molawner. Like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.”
“That’s amazing.”
“He is also not bound to only protecting the Vaun. He can protect anyone within a twenty foot circular area around the Vaun.”
Fearlings Two (The Fearlings Series Book 2) Page 1
