Charles' Choice (Penny's Choice)

by Annette Archer

  “Don’t worry, the smell will go away in just a minute; it’s just the first line of defense.”

  “Great defense,” Penny said, holding her nose like Thomas had a minute ago. “If I didn’t have to meet with them, I would turn right back around.” The two walked another couple steps and the smell subsided.

  “Get ready,” Thomas said, grabbing onto Penny’s hand.

  “For what?” Penny asked, looking around.

  “For the second line of defense,” Thomas said, looking into her eyes.

  The air became deathly cold. Penny shivered as goose bumps dotted her arm. “This isn’t so bad,” Penny said, shivering. Then a shrill screech echoed through the night. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere. Penny froze, anxiously looking around her. She took a step back as another deathly screech filled the night air.

  “Don’t worry,” Thomas said, “They’re bark is much worse than their bite.”

  Penny was beginning to understand why Thomas had asked her if she wanted to stay back. She was scared silly and she had not even yet met one of the banshees.

  “Hello,” Thomas called out into the stillness. “We’re here as friends.” He stopped for a moment. Another shriek pierced the still air. Thomas rolled his eyes like he was just shrugging of the posturing of a two year old. “Come on, stop that shrieking now. I’m undead too. Doesn’t bother me in the least.”

  A light grew in the distance and energy hummed all around them in the night air. The light started to take form and then wind rushed toward them. A furry of light, tattered cloth, and angry feelings flew at Penny, but dissipated upon impact. Penny threw herself into Thomas’s arms, trembling with horror.

  “Okay, but my girlfriend is human,” Thomas said gripping Penny tightly. “So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t give her a heart attack. I rather like her blood.”

  “Vampire?” a shrill feminine voiced said into the wind. Penny couldn’t tell where it was coming from. She kept her head buried deep within Thomas’s arms. She didn’t want to look to see what was materializing in front of them.

  “Yes,” Thomas said. While he spoke to the banshee, he caressed Penny’s hair to keep her calm. “We come here seeking your help against the Brotherhood.”

  “We avoid the Brotherhood at all cost,” the banshee replied. Her voice sent shivers down Penny’s spine.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Thomas said, being as polite as he could. “But we’re uniting under the Defector.”

  “The Defector is a hero,” she said, her voice lowering into a more manageable tone for Penny. “But he is not enough.”

  “We want to destroy the Brotherhood completely, so that we can live in peace,” Thomas continued to reason with the spirit.

  The spirit just chuckled.

  “You laugh, but we already have the Nixen, djinn, vampires, and werewolves ready to fight,” Thomas said.

  “That is truly impressive,” the banshee said. Her voice was now sweet and feminine.

  Penny peeked out from Thomas arms and saw that there was an old woman standing in front of them. She was an ugly, old hag that resembled all of the horrible witches from Grimm fairytales, but she was not nearly as frightening as the being she was before. She was manageably scary.

  Penny tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. She looked down at the peat growing on the ground.

  “Dear, I am sorry that we frightened you earlier,” she said. “I am Morrigan, leader of the Banshee’s.”

  “The Morrigan? Thomas asked, looking very impressed. “I was just hoping to talk to any Banshee.”

  “You entered my home, not just any banshee’s,” Morrigan said with a chuckle.

  “I guess that would explain the extra spectacle,” Thomas said. He still had his hand on Penny’s back for encouragement.

  “You can never be too careful now,” Morrigan said. She sat down on the ground and motioned for Thomas and Penny to do the same. “The Brotherhood has become larger and more vigilant in times that are becoming increasingly hard for us to hide.”

  “At least they aren’t hunting you down specifically,” Penny said.

  “Yes, with the Defector in your midst, you are the highest priority,” she said. She sat still for a moment. Her wrinkles creased around her moles and random facial hairs when she thought. “You know that we cannot make a direct assault on the Winchester.”

  “We can if we have an inside man,” Thomas said. He smiled. Charles was his pocket ace in more than one way.

  “An inside man?” The banshee seemed suddenly interested.

  “We were attacked in Berlin,” Thomas said. “My father was killed with an arrow that was used to deliver the Defector a note.” Penny knew that the death of his father was hard on him, but that he was going to use the difficulty to fuel his mission to save Penny’s grandmother and defeat the Brotherhood for good.

  “I am sorry to hear that,” Morrigan said. The banshee was much politer than Penny had anticipated. The leader of the banshees acted more like a grandmother than the wraith queen she looked like.

  “It was a ransom note for my grandmother,” Penny said, wringing her hands.

  “And the terms?” Morrigan asked.

  “Charles returns and they release her grandmother,” Thomas said, pulling the note out of his pocket. His father’s blood still speckled its surface.

  The Morrigan took the note in her hands and read it slowly. “Do they think that he will just return like that after they killed his father?” She read it over again. “Do you think that they will kill him or reinstate him?”

  “We’re hoping that they will imprison him first,” Thomas said. “I have a plan to make it look like his family turned on him.”

  “You do?” Penny asked. “When were you going to tell me?”

  “Remember the less that individual parts know until the last minute the better.”

  “So, Charles will seem to have rejoined the Brotherhood. That will make them happy I believe. It will prove their point that our kind is evil,” Morrigan said and then stopped to think for a moment. “Who else are you enlisting?”

  “We are on our way to India to speak with the Rakshashai,” Thomas said. He took the ransom note back from the banshee. When Penny looked at the note, there was no blood left on it.

  “Wait, where did the blood go?” Penny asked, ripping the paper out of Thomas’s hands.

  “Ah, so you see my special talent,” Morrigan said.

  “You make blood disappear?” Penny asked that seemed like a rather odd talent to Penny.

  Thomas laughed at Penny’s remark. “Oh Penny, how I love thee,” he said taking her hand in his. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.” Penny nodded.

  “This is going to hurt for a second,” Thomas said as he dug his fingernail into Penny’s hand, gashing it from the top of her index finger to the start of her thumb.

  “Ow,” Penny said as she watched the blood flow out of the cut on her hand. “What was that for?”

  “If I may,” Morrigan said, holding out her crooked fingers. She took Penny’s bleeding hand and folded them in her wrinkled fingers. As soon as Penny’s hand touched the banshee, the pain began to subside. A second later when Morrigan released her hand, the pain had vanished and the long gash down her hand was nothing more than a slight scar.

  “Wow, that is something,” Penny said as she inspected her hand. The scar was beginning to fade as she spoke. She looked at Thomas and then grabbed his arm and pinched him as hard as her human finger could handle.

  “Ow,” Thomas said, scowling at her. “You said you trusted me.”

  “Why didn’t you use your own hand, Genius?” Penny scowled back at Thomas.

  Thomas just shrugged like he forgot that he could use himself as a guinea pig.

  “I guess that I just wanted to smell your blood again.” He flashed his charming smile and then turned his attention back to the banshee. “So do we have your cooperation?”

  “If all you say is true, th
en we will give you our word,” Morrigan said. The hag began to lighten in her appearance until she was nothing more than a wisp of fabric and light. She returned to her spooky apparition form and then floated back off into the night.

  “Well, that was exciting,” Penny said, shaking again. “I think I’ve had enough crazy creatures for one night.” She put her head back on Thomas shoulder.

  “You think you have enough left in for one more crazy creature?” Thomas said, slowly kissing her neck.

  “Hmmm, maybe,” Penny said as she stroked Thomas hair. He continued to kiss down her neck, reaching her collar bone.

  “Yuck,” Thomas said, suddenly pulling away from Penny’s neck. Penny was about to question him when the familiar smell rotting off flesh wafted up through her nose.

  “Okay, I think that we need to get out here and back to the room,” Penny said and got up off the ground. She was wet from the grass and peat of the Irish hills. “I’m a mess anyway.”

  “Sorry, banshees are nature creatures. They don’t have tables and chairs.”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of a bed,” Penny said, putting her arms around Thomas’s neck.

  Penny was glad to have to the banshee behind them. The banshees would be a welcome, but creepy addition to their crew. But at that moment, all she wanted to do was spend the night with Thomas. He was able to help her forget all of the problems that seemed to follow her around the world.

  (CHAPTER 8) Things that go boom in the night

  Penny tossed in her bed. Her dreams were getting worse again. For a while when her and Thomas were first together her dreams got better, but now that they were going to be dealing with the Brotherhood again, the dreams had returned with a vengeance.

  “Penny, sweetheart,” Thomas said, shaking her slightly and rousing her from her sleep.

  Penny rolled over and looked at Thomas through her sleepy eyes. She hoped that he hadn’t noticed that she was having another dream. “Morning,” She said, stretching her arms out behind her.

  Thomas held out a bagel and a cup of coffee. Penny sat up in bed and placed breakfast on her lap. She looked out through the window; dusk had just settled into the sky and the stars were beginning to dot the night.

  “You were out today,” Thomas said, sitting on the bed next to her. “I think you slept like thirteen hours.”

  “I think I needed it,” Penny said. She rubbed her eyes, trying to make her eyes wake up. She sipped on her coffee and closed her eyes again. Her body did not want to get up.

  “I would have let you sleep longer,” Thomas ran his hand down her thigh, “but we need to go meet up with the rest.”

  “Are they here?” Penny asked, forcing her eyes open.

  “No, but they are close,” Thomas said. He got up and put the newly acquired clothes and supplies into a black leather messenger back. “We do need to get out of here as soon as possible. Time is ticking on getting Charles back to the Brotherhood in time to save your grandmother.”

  “I hate all of this,” Penny said then took a bite of her breakfast. She sat up and placed the bagel and coffee on the night stand and got out bed. “I just want to sit on my grandmother’s porch drinking lemonade.” Penny gulped down the rest of the coffee. “So, what castle is Charles at?” Penny pulled on a long shirt over her leggings. She chose clothes that would be easy to move and fight in because the way things had been going lately, another fight was always around the corner.

  “Well, I have it narrowed down to two,” Thomas said, slinging the bag over his shoulder. “But I think that one is more likely than the other. It isn’t far from here.”

  Penny grabbed the rest of her bagel and followed Thomas out of the room. “How many other races are we going to ask to help?”

  “I think just one more, maybe two,” Thomas replied, walking down the hall. “I could get more, but I am trying to keep it small and strategic. The less that know…”

  “I know, I know, the less that there will be to go wrong,” Penny said. She opened the door the small inn and walked out into the night air. “I won’t bother asking anymore questions either, Mr. tight lips.”

  “Good, now get in the car, human,” Thomas said with a fake snarl and a goofy look on his face.

  “Thomas, you couldn’t scare a church mouse,” Penny said, swinging into the passenger seat. “Let’s get out of here and find your terrifying human little brother.”

  “Oh that was a low blow,” Thomas said, starting up the car and speeding off down the road.

  “Oh that was a compliment,” Penny said. She put her hand on Thomas leg and squeezed lightly.

  After a short ride the couple reached the Irish coast. Penny watched the waves crash against the rocky, cliffs for a few minutes. A dilapidated castle rose from the sea mist.

  Penny assumed that this was their destination, but she had no idea how Thomas knew that his brother was staying here. There were hundreds of castles in Ireland. Why did Charles chose this one?

  Thomas drove up the long, broken rocky road toward the castle. Several of the towers were crumbling and by most standards, it was not the best looking castle. Thomas stopped before they had to cross a rotting bridge, more punctuated with holes than actual material.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” Penny said, getting out of the car. She looked over the cliff and shrunk back. It did have an element of Charles to it. It was a fierce, mysterious looking place.

  “I can smell him,” Thomas said, sniffing the air, “and his fish girlfriend.”

  “Alright then, tell me that we aren’t going to drive over this rickety, old bridge.” Penny peeked over the edge again. She breathed quick and pulled herself back. It didn’t take long for vertigo to take over Penny when she looked down.

  “No, we’ll walk,” Thomas said, holding out his hand for Penny.

  “I think that I’ll just stay here,” Penny said. She took a few steps away from the bridge.

  “Come on,” Thomas said, grabbing her hand in his and giving her a very slight tug. “I won’t let you fall.”

  “I know you won’t,” Penny said. She looked into Thomas’s eyes. When he was being protective, the green deepened so his eyes looked like emeralds. “I trust you, but it makes me dizzy just getting close to it. I have a thing about bridges.”

  “Bridges?” Thomas said. He put his hands around Penny’s waist as he waited for an explanation.

  “Before I had dreams about vampires,” she kissed Thomas on the neck, “I had them about bridges.”

  Thomas shook his head and smiled but didn’t make any smart comments. “Alright, princess, you stay here and watch the car. I’ll make it quick.” Thomas made his way across the bridge by carefully picking each step. One time he took a false step and a crumbling rock gave way underneath his foot.

  Penny sat back on the top of the car and watched the ocean spray hit the cliffs. She tried to think of the last time that she was alone. Other than when she was asleep, Penny couldn’t think of a single time in the last six months that she had spent even a moment alone. She slid off the hood and made her way to the sparse tree line.

  Penny scrambled up a tree nimbly. As a child, she loved climbing the trees in her grandmother’s backyard. Penny was glad to see that she hadn’t lost her touch. Perhaps because she was in such good shape, the climb was even easier. Penny couldn’t understand why the bridge gave her vertigo, but the top of trees just made her feel exhilarated. Penny sat still in the tree and breathed for a minute.

  A twig snapped below her somewhere near in the forest. Penny froze in the tree. It could just be a woodland creature scurrying about the floor. Penny carefully looked down from her perch without drawing attention to herself. She didn’t see anything. There was snap and then another. Penny still couldn’t see what was making the noise, but something was definitely coming near her. Penny pulled her body further into the trees foliage. She caught a glimpse of a human head then a body was crouched low to ground.

  Penny evened her breath
ing. She hadn’t been spotted yet. She couldn’t see how the person was dressed, so she didn’t know if they were a legitimate threat or not. She looked out toward the car.

  Another man dressed in black fatigues, a long black t-shirt, and a black hat stood by her car. He had wooden daggers around his belt and a quiver full of wooden arrows. Brotherhood. Penny stilled her body even more with that realization. If she were discovered without the rest of the group, she would surely be dead.

  The man, who looked like the leader, looked into the forest and made the motions for his compatriot to leave his cover and join him. The man below Penny got up from his crouch positioned. He exited the forest, but not alone. Eight other agents left the forest and joined the group.

  A full contingency? Penny thought. This is not good.

  Penny watched them for a couple of seconds. She didn’t have piercing vampire ears, so she couldn’t make out what they were saying from her perch in the trees.

  What are they up to? Penny thought, while straining to hear their conversation. One of the agents had taken something out of his bag and was setting it up. Penny wanted to see what he was doing, but she didn’t want to move. The limbs were thinner up toward the top and she didn’t want to take the chance that one of them would crack or break.

  Penny checked her body for weapons. She had three throwing knives: one in her belt and one each in her boots. Not enough weapons to take out the whole contingency of agents. Penny had one huge advantage over her enemy, surprise. They must have thought that she went into the castle with Thomas.

  The man that was fiddling with his bag handed his finished products to the leader. The leader held it at an angle that allowed Penny to see. It was a bomb, not much bigger than Penny’s thumb. She had seen them used a couple of times while she was in the Brotherhood. While it was small, it would incinerate everything in a ten foot radius. The only issue with the devices was that it gave off a slight smell that a vampire could usually detect.

  Suddenly Penny got an idea. Everyone one of the Brotherhood agents was within the ten foot blast radius. She readied a throwing knife and waited for the agent to attach it to the front of the car. He was going to set the device off before they finished crossing the bridge. As soon he moved away from the explosive, Penny threw her knife at the detonator.