A Shade of Halloween

by Robin Todd

  “Can Stygians be invisible?” Ros asked.

  “Of course. The human race remains one of the very few races without the ability to stay hidden from sight.” She replied.

  “This is horrible. Just how many Stygians are already here? How do we fight an invisible enemy?” Ros asked the questions in quick succession.

  “I cannot give you an exact number but from our experience, they’re probably already here in the thousands. You must find what broke the protection spell and fix it. That is the only way to stop more Stygians from coming in. Only after that should you engage them in battle.” She replied. “To fight an invisible enemy you must stay in touch with your sense of perception. My kind can sense them naturally so my lady will be very useful to you.”

  “Wait a minute. What do you mean I’ll be useful because your kind can sense them naturally?” I asked, not quite getting the connection.

  “You are one of us, my lady.” She replied.

  “That can’t be true. I’m human. I have a mum, a dad...”

  “Selena, please calm down. I’m sure she has an explanation.” Ryan consoled me.

  “Forgive me, my lady. I only mentioned it because I thought you already knew.” The girl apologized. “I don’t have all the answers but Lord Tristan should. I can sense you are of his bloodline. I’ll let him know of your presence here and I’m sure he’ll explain things to you.”

  “I want to contact him. How can I meet him?” I asked.

  “You can always come back home. Just follow your heart.” She replied.

  “Selena, please. We need you here. I know how selfish this sounds but there might be a chance my family is still alive. You can’t just leave.” Trina pleaded, her eyes turning red from bloody tears.

  I couldn’t refuse. Not only had she done a lot for me, she was also my best friend.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. I was overwhelmed by my emotions.” I replied.

  “The connection I have with your world is only for a short period at every given time. I must leave now.” The girl spoke again.

  “Wait.” Ros stopped her. “Show us how to sense the invisible before you leave.

  The girl disappeared before replying.

  “Stay in touch with your inner self. Look at the world around you without using your eyes. Tell me where I am.”

  Ros, Ryan and Trina looked around the room, confused for the first few seconds. I could tell she was standing behind Ros because I could feel her. She remained hidden from sight for a few more seconds before resurfacing.

  “I really must leave. The connection is breaking. My lady can teach you more. Do what you must to stop the Stygians but be careful...”

  Her voice faded with her form and we looked in silence at each other’s faces. Ros was the first to speak.

  “It looks like you’ll have to disappear so we can sharpen our perception.” He stated.

  “Yeah, I’ll have to. Assuming I have any idea how to disappear.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Come on, Selena. The least you can do is try. I know you have it in you.” Ryan encouraged.

  I took in a deep breath and nodded. He was right. I had to try and I was willing to put in my best to do so.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ros’s POV

  Selena looked distracted after learning the truth about herself and I could only imagine how creeped out she felt. I wanted to give her time to process everything but I couldn’t. We had to act quickly.

  “Selena, I know you’re dealing with a lot right now but I need you to reach inside and try the best you can to help us. With the way your powers work, you just need to really wish for things and I’m sure they’ll happen. Disappearing won’t be different.”

  “Ros, she needs time. I don’t think you should pressure her right now.” Ryan interjected.

  “I’m not pressuring her. We need her. Selena, Trina needs you. Everyone needs you. Don’t just zone out on us. Every extra second we spend doing nothing can be put into finding the Stygians and hopefully rescuing Trina’s family.”

  I held her hands in mine and squeezed them reassuringly before continuing.

  “Even with perfect perception, we’re still at a disadvantage with the Stygians. They greatly outnumber us and we have no clear way of killing them when we encounter them. We need all the help you can give us.”

  “If the Stygians are like vampires, can’t we kill them by ripping their hearts out or driving the Archibald stake through their hearts? Trina asked.

  “I don’t think the stake would work because they aren’t vampires. Ripping their hearts out seems like a viable option though.” Ryan replied.

  I thought Ryan made a good point and nodded to show my agreement. When I turned back to Selena, she was gone from sight.

  “You did it!!!” I exclaimed in excitement.

  Since I was still holding her hand, I was the first one to get her position right. Selena laughed for the first time in a long time and that brought me so much joy regardless of the fact that she was called me a little cheat while laughing.

  “Okay, you know what guys?” She asked.

  “What?” We chorused.

  “I’m going to walk out of this room, fade out of visibility and come back. I’ll tell you when I’m back, and you have to tell me my exact position. Deal?”

  “Deal!” We chorused.

  I noticed Trina smiling for the first time since her family disappeared and that doubled my happiness. The team was back and ready to work together. I closed my eyes as Selena walked out and when I heard her voice saying she was back in, I focused my thoughts into feeling everything in the room around me. Being a vampire, I could easily tell the positions of Ry and Trina but Selena remained elusive.

  “Come on, guys. You have to do it.” I heard her say.

  I wanted to trace the direction of her voice but I knew that wouldn’t help anyone. The Stygians would certainly not give their position away by speaking. I needed to do this on my own. I focused my energy once more and tried again. It was another futile attempt. I was about to open my eyes and throw my hands in the air in resignation when Ry announced his victory.

  “You’re behind Trina!”

  “You’re right!” Selena yelped, becoming visible again.

  “No!!!” Trina pulled a sad face which I found really cute.

  “Don’t worry, Trina. You’ll get it next time.” Selena encouraged.

  The appearance and disappearance act continued for the next hour and it was not until then that something registered in my head. I had been expecting to see the outline of Selena’s figure from behind my closed eyelids when I only needed to feel her presence in the room.

  “Ry, if I open my eyes and find out you’re the one beside me, I’m going to...”

  “You felt me!” Selena exclaimed, completely elating me.

  We tested our perception abilities a couple more times until everyone could sense Selena’s invisible form. After that, we sprang into action.

  “I’ll contact the members of Council as well as Rayna and Ronald Sky. We need all hands on deck.” I stated. “Once they’re all briefed on what’s going on, we’ll reach out to the smaller vampire clans so everyone can join in the fight. We’re gonna smoke those Stygians back to wherever they came from.”

  I was about to grin after my presumed fantastic plan to save the world when I heard the boom at my front door. A voice came through loud speakers almost immediately, telling us we had been surrounded.

  “Secret Service. Don’t move. We’re here on the president’s orders. Please stay calm and come with us. We have orders to retrieve you peacefully. You will not be harmed.”

  “Not now.” I rolled my eyes.

  “I think we should go with them. We can tell the president what we’ve learned and I’m sure he’ll join forces with us to deal with the Stygian problem. With his resources, we can contact everyone we need even faster.” Selena stated.

  “She has a point, Ros. Besides, the last thing we need r
ight now is to be on the run.” Ry added.

  “Fine.” I agreed.

  We all marched outside with our hands in the air. Two agents searched us for weapons before leading us to a waiting helicopter. Soon, we were air bound, heading towards the White House.

  I looked out the window and smiled. I had never been to the White House and to be quite honest, it felt good to be meeting with a president of the United States for the first time in my long existence.

  Chapter Twenty

  Selena’s POV

  We were told the president was waiting for us in the Oval office and went straight to the West Wing. After tons of security screening, we made it inside the office only to find it empty.

  “Didn’t they say President Washington was in here?” Ros asked in a whisper.

  “Yeah, maybe he stepped out for a bit.” I whispered in reply.

  “Selena, do you feel it?” Ryan asked in my head.

  “Feel what?”

  “The eerie silence with these people.”

  The agents who led us inside had been giving us instructions about staying within the office, and the expected conduct while we were in there. They were hardly silent and I was going to ask what Ryan was talking about when it hit me. He didn’t mean the silence of words but the silence of emotions. Whenever I was around a group of people, I felt either their intentions or their emotions. They always had something going on with them – fear, panic, joy, annoyance, courage, calm – never nothing. The agents in the Oval office with us had nothing and that raised a red flag in my head.

  “You’re right. Something’s off.” I replied. “Connect to Ros and Trina’s thoughts and let them know what we’ve noticed. I’ll try to figure these agents out while you’re at it.”

  I knew agents were supposed to keep their emotions in but even then, I should feel their resolve. Ryan being a vampire, also had the ability to feel the emotions of regular humans and the fact that he felt nothing confirmed there was something wrong. I focused my concentration on sensing the space around me, regardless of the fact that it was supposed to come to me naturally. I couldn’t spot anything out of the ordinary and wanted to attribute what we noticed to the fact that we were in the Oval office but a nagging feeling deep inside me stopped me from doing so. I looked around the office, as if admiring its large windows and beautiful art pieces. What I was really doing was focusing on each agent and making double sure I felt nothing. I was right. The agents were emotionless.

  “We’ll be right outside while you wait for Mr. President.” One of the agents stated, before leading the others outside.

  They had just exited the office when the door opened again and Vice President York walked in.

  “I see the team’s here. Good job, boys.” He beamed.

  “Selena, I don’t know what’s going on here but something’s definitely off. I don’t want to stick around to find out. Please get us out of here and replace us with replicas.” I heard Ros in my head.

  I was sure President Washington invited us to the White House. Even when we arrived, the agents said he was waiting for us in his office. They didn’t say anything about him delegating our meeting to Vice President York. Adding that to the lack of emotions from the agents, I completely agreed with Ros. If it turned out to be a false alarm, then we could just merge back.

  “Welcome to the White House, guys. Why in such a hurry to leave?” VP York grinned.

  “We didn’t say anything about leaving.” Ros replied.

  “You didn’t need to say it out loud, smarty pants.”

  Vice President York walked right in front of Ros and glared at him such that their foreheads were almost touching. While that was going on, I was channeling all my energy into creating replicas of everyone and switching them out but nothing was working. It felt like something was stopping my powers from taking effect. I let out a silent breath to calm myself before trying again but the result was the same. We remained rooted to the spot as our actual selves.

  “Selena, what’s going on? Move us out now!” Ros yelled in my head.

  “I’m trying...”

  “Don’t worry, it won’t work.” VP York stated, completely shocking us.

  “Well, this will.” Ros punched his face.

  All he hit was air as the form of the vice president disintegrated into black feathers and fell to the ground. The other agents in the room also disintegrated, leaving us alone in the Oval office.

  “He’s a Stygian!” Trina yelled, activating her enhanced speed and running towards the door. We all followed suit but the door wouldn’t budge.

  “It is sealed and reinforced.” VP York’s voice came from behind us. “Now if you cooperate, then I’ll have no reason to harm you. If you don’t, then I don’t think you need me to tell you what’s going to happen.”

  “What do you want?” Trina yelled.

  “What I want is simple.” He replied. “I learned from my consultation that the sorceress holds the key to breaking a seal that’s very important to me.”

  The Vice President smiled and walked towards me. My mind was processing a thousand thoughts per minute as he approached me. If I couldn’t use my powers against him for some reason, the least I could do was try a spell.

  “Adole bitunique.” I yelled, stretching my hands out in front of me.

  It worked. Fire raced from my hands towards the VP but as soon as it made contact with his form, he disintegrated into black feathers which scattered around the office.

  “Coward!” I yelled out loud, turning around to see where he would emerge from.

  He dissolved into visibility again and pulled me by the wrist. His grip was extremely tight and I couldn’t break free. I pulled him backwards with all my might but he didn’t budge. At the same time, Ros, Ryan and Trina attacked him from all sides. Ros snapped his neck, Ryan pushed his hand into his chest and ripped his heart out while Trina sank her fangs into his arm. The distraction must have made him lose his concentration because it weakened whatever he was suppressing my powers with and I took advantage of the situation to move everyone into the alternate city from where we watched him fall to the ground. Ryan was still holding the VP’s heart which he promptly threw to the ground.

  “What the hell?” Trina yelled.

  “We need to act fast.” Ros stated. “I don’t know how many Stygians are in the White House but it won’t take them long to find out we’ve killed the vice president. Ry, contact Rayna and Ronald while I contact our Council members. Trina, you’re in charge of research. Go to Sophia’s temple and find anything that tells us how to kill Stygians. Selena, you’re with Trina. Find out how to fix the broken protection seal. VP York needed you to do it which means you can. We’ll meet you girls at the temple in a few hours.”

  “Got it.” Everyone chorused.

  “Did you guys notice something while we were in there?” I asked.

  “What?” Ryan questioned.

  “When you touch a Stygian illusion, it disintegrates into feathers.” I stated. “That’s what happened the first two times we tried to make contact with the vice president.”

  “You’re right. I wouldn’t have paid attention to it.” Ros concurred. “The fact that he didn’t disintegrate when he grabbed you means that’s his real form. That’s why we were able to kill him.”

  “Exactly. Now we have a way to tell them apart from their illusions.” Ryan stated.

  We all went back to Ros’s mansion in the alternate city before I brought everyone back to the real city.

  “Stay safe, everyone. We’ll meet up in Sophia’s temple.” Ros said, dashing off with Ryan.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ryan’s POV

  We raced to the building where Ros normally held Council meetings because it was big enough for everyone to gather.

  “I think we should address the Council members before contacting Rayna and Sky.” Ros suggested.

  He mind-linked with all members and in less than ten minutes, everyone was gathered in
the hall where Ros addressed them from the podium.

  “Esteemed members of Council. This is a call to action. The humans are under attack and before you ask how this is any of our concern, remember that their blood is what sustains us. I’m sure you’ve seen the news. Black hands are snatching them up and disappearing with them. We made some findings. Those black hands belong to creatures known as Stygians. They feed on humans just like us but while we have the blood lust to stop us from completely obliterating the humans, the Stygians have nothing to stop them. We can’t allow them destroy our source of sustenance and as a result, I am ordering a war against them. Each of you have been assigned the task of contacting the leaders of the smaller clans who will in turn inform their members of everything I’ve told you. Get every vampire on the planet involved in this because we need as many fighters as we can get.”

  “You sound like these Stygians are very powerful. We’re vampires. Just a few of us can crush them.” Jacob Wiles, a Council member stated.

  “The Stygians not only have enhanced strength like we do, but also the mastery of illusion. They can make us see things that aren’t real to distract us. That split second of distraction is all they need to gain the upper hand.” Ros replied.

  He projected his memory of the paper kite Stygian killing the man with the crucifix into the minds of all the Council members present and the gasps of shock told us they understood better now.

  “You need to understand the Stygian’s true nature before you engage them. The easiest way to identify them is their lack of emotion. If you encounter anyone whose emotions you can’t read, they’re most likely Stygian. Kill them before they attack you. Use your enhanced speed to run the illusion test. If you touch them and they disintegrate into black feathers, stay watchful. That’s the illusion. The real Stygian is somewhere around you. Sharpen your senses of perception because Stygians can stay invisible.” He concluded. “This meeting is over. Act fast and get everyone ready. Then wait for my signal.”

  The Council members sped off while Ros and I raced back to his mansion to meet with Rayna and Sky. Ros’s TV was on which should have been normal, but the picture on the screen completely shocked us. Vice President York was on air, giving an address to the people.