 
VAMPIRES ARE REAL

By

R.G. Richards

SMASHWORDS EDITION

* * * * *

PUBLISHED BY:

R.G. Richards on Smashwords

Vampires aRe ReaL

Copyright © 2012 by R.G. Richards

Thank You for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with friends. This book may not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author. Your support and respect for this author's work is appreciated.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental and unintended. This is a production of the author's imagination.

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VAMPIRES ARE REAL

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### Chapter One: ALLISON CARTER

Seven-year-old Allie Carter tossed and turned in bed the night before the big day. Her mother had warned her many times about watching late night television, but being curious, she indulged her fancy and wanted to see what the fuss was all about. She had watched a ghoulish vampire movie that she partly understood, but the blood and death were all too real for her. She screamed in her sleep. She tossed and turned some more before her mother burst through the door in a panic.

"Allie!" Her mother screamed and ran to her side to comfort her. She shook her awake, "Allie!"

Allie woke screaming and fighting, "No, no, no!" Perspiration trickled down her face.

Her mother picked her up to quiet her down. "It's okay! It's okay! It's okay baby, momma has you now. Momma has you!"

"They were trying to bite me, momma! They were chasing me and chasing me and I couldn't get away." She held on tight to her mother and cried.

"Shh, it's all right. It was just a bad dream and momma is here now!" She rocked and soothed her little girl. She picked her up and carried her around the little room with her daughter's arms glued to her neck. She patted her little back to calm her and then she hummed for a few minutes while walking around the room. Then she saw the television and then the remote. The remote was at the foot of the bed when she knew she clearly placed it on top of the television when she kissed Allie good night. "Have you been watching television? Tell me the truth!"

"Yes, mommy. I'm sorry; I know you told me not to. I'm sorry." Allie said sniffling.

"Kay, what is the matter? You all right, Allie Cat?" Her father rushed into the room in his pajamas.

"She is okay, George. She sneaked and watched a little late night television and had a nightmare."

George looked at his beautiful little girl with disappointment. "Allison Louise Carter, you know I am mad at you, don't you?"

"I am sorry, daddy. I will never do it again."

"I know: the television leaves tomorrow. Come give your old man a kiss. I have to get up early for work, and because of you, I am going to be sleepy on the job."

"I'm sorry, daddy."

Kay sat her down and Allie ran to her father and kissed him. She was always safe in his big strong arms. He spun her around the room making her giggle with delight and then he put her on the bed and left the room.

Her mother came over to her. "What was the dream about?"

Allie got under the covers. "Vampires." She whispered with big wide eyes, pulling the cover up to hide her precious neck "They were big and scary, ten feet tall with sharp teeth and while I was running they were flying over me, mommy." Her brown eyes darted from side to side, unsure if her room was safe.

"And what was it you watched on television?"

"A vampire movie," she said innocently.

Kay looked sternly at her daughter. She was able with just a look to be both gentle and scolding all at the same time, a gift she learned at her mother's feet. She reached on a shelf near Allie's bed and pulled out a fairytale book. "There are no such things as vampires, Kitten," her pet name for Allison. She looked at the book and said, "You remember when we went to the zoo and saw the Tigers and Lions?"

Allie nodded, the bed covers still pulled up to her neck.

"Did you remember to feed Lissy before putting her out for the night?"

Again, Allie nodded.

"What is the difference between them and Lissy?"

"They are bigger and meaner and can rip you limb from limb with just one bite," said the wide-eyed innocent little girl. 'They are beasts!"

Kay smiled at her little girl. "They are all cats, just different kinds of cats. At first they are like monsters because we don't understand them or have never seen them before. When we get to know them we are less afraid of them. Now suppose we had right here on this planet two kinds of people. I don't mean white people and black people, I mean two people that never saw each other. Wouldn't they seem like monsters to us?"

"Yes, mommy."

Kay opened the book and showed Allie a picture from the book. Allie's eyes widen more as she saw the picture.

She shuddered.

Kay started reading from the book entitled The Hunter and the Rabbit. "Once upon a time there were Mole people who lived underground in large caves. Since it was always dark, their skin was white, their hair was white, and even their eyes were white because no sunlight came into the cave. Since they were cut off from the surface they developed their own language that was different from the people above ground like you and me. They had different clothes and different schools, why even their names were different and sounded funny.

"One day a man was hunting for rabbits in the woods and a rabbit ducked inside a hole. The man shot the rabbit before it disappeared and he needed that rabbit or his family would have no dinner for that night. He got a shovel and started digging up the hole looking for the rabbit. He dug and dug but found no rabbit. When the man looked up he had dug a hole ten feet deep. He said, 'Oh my god, I better get out of here,' then he started climbing out. As he neared the top he heard a scream that sounded like his rabbit so he stopped and looked back. The hunter lost his grip and fell down into the hole. When he hit the bottom he crashed and then the ground gave way and he fell farther and farther down the hole. He yelled the whole way down. 'Aww!' When he finally stopped falling he looked up and he stood in a cave.

"Two short people in white came toward him carrying something, it was the rabbit. As they got closer he looked and saw they were small Mole people. The man was terrified of them and picked up his gun and started shooting at them. He killed them. He then heard shouting and footsteps running toward him. It was more Mole people who were angry with him because he shot their children. The hunter raced up the side of the cave and escaped as fast as he could so they would not kill him. He got out of the hole and kept running until he made it to a tree. He then turned around and saw something fly out of the hole. Then there was an explosion, Boom!

"The hole covered itself. The man walked back to the spot and the hole was gone. Lying on the ground was his dead rabbit. The man fell to the ground crying because he was sorry for what he had done." Kay closed the book. "Why was the man crying?"

"He killed those kids because he thought they were monsters and they weren't."

"Um-yes and no. Yes, you are right, Kitten, but also no. He cried because he couldn't go back down and say he was sorry for assuming the worst about people he didn't know. Allie, always give people a chance. Just because they are bigger, taller, even scarier than you are used to does not make them monsters. They have to prove they are monsters and until then you reserve judgment. All right?"

"All right, mommy, I will." She kissed her child on her forehead and got off the bed. She put the book back on the shelf and turned the light off and left the room. Allie pulled her cover up tighter to her chin and slept on her side. She had no more bad dreams that night.

The sun came up as usual the next morning in this strange new city and all was well. Her parents had moved here two months ago, to this small town in Washington, near the border between the United States of America and Canada. This small town was named Howardstown and if you went 100 feet above its northern border you would be in Canada. Howardstown was isolated with the feel of a big city with modern two and three-story buildings but with the reality of a small town of 1,100 people. Her father, George Carter, was a doctor of general medicine and was hired by the city council to be the town's new doctor. Howardstown was the home of Marion Lucient, the owner of the oil company that helped build and maintain a section of the Alaskan Pipeline. He controlled the city's board of directors and in turn controlled the town. He brought in Doctor Carter to care for his ailing mother as well as be the town and Lucient Oil Company's local doctor. Mr. Lucient had called the doctor first thing in the morning and he was gone when Allie woke.

Allie readied for her first day of school. She was excited, but had anxiety about whether she would be liked by her new classmates. At her old school she was popular and had no enemies, even the teachers were her friends. She had no way of knowing how it would be at this new school. She came down in her new blue dress and sat at the table for breakfast. "Mornin, mommy!"

"Mornin, Kitten. You ready for the big day?"

"I can't wait, I hope they like me. Do you think they will like me?"

"Of course, who wouldn't like you?" She kissed her on the forehead and set a bowl in front of her. "Hurry up and eat and we will get going."

"Okay." Her mom poured milk into a bowl of cereal and Allie ate her breakfast. When she finished her mother bundled her in a coat. It was September and the weather in that part of the country was already turning cold. Allie wore a light coat with no gloves or hat. There was a chill in the air but it was not cold enough to make your breath frosty. Her mother made her button it all the way up even though it was a comfortable 50 degrees outside.

"Ready, Kitten?"

"Don't call me that, mother."

She looked at her young child strangely, "Mother is it?"

"I'm a big girl now. Can I walk to school by myself?"

"Absolutely, positively not! Big girl or no, school is too far away. Get in the car so I can drive you."

Allie went to the car and got into the back seat. She put on her seat belt and her mother checked her before starting the car. Allie looked out the window to see the sights. They were surrounded by snow covered mountains. Snow was not on the ground where they were and animals were in the trees scurrying about. They drove on a long narrow road from their house, which sat on the southern edge of town, to the town center a mile away. Once there Allie could catch a bus in front of the gas station and ride the rest of the two miles to school. Today they would pass Jerry's Quick Time gas station and Kay would turn left past the station to a highway that ran straight to her school. Kay talked to Allie on the way, as she would always do in the future, about safety and expectations on the first day of school.

"Allie, you know better than to talk to strangers."

"Mom! Everyone is a stranger at first, that's what daddy says."

"Don't get smart with me, young lady. Don't talk to strangers like I said. You have already met your teacher so find her in the cafeteria and go and sit by her. She will lead you to your room and you will meet your classmates there. Until then, you sit and be quiet and talk to no one. Now what is your teacher's name?"

"Mrs. Clay."

"Good." Kay pulled into the parking lot and saw a bus unloading children. "That will be your bus, Kitten. What is the number on the side?"

Allie squinted. "Four?"

"Good girl! Come on, let's go!"

"Mom!"

"I don't want to hear it! I will walk you in! Now come along!" Allie trudged to the school with her mother. She hoped the other kids would not notice. As they entered the building she took her hand out of her mother's to show she was a big girl. Her mother smiled but said nothing. Allie walked behind her as her mother walked to a table in the back of the room and introduced herself to Allie's teacher. "Hello, Mrs. Clay, nice to see you again."

"Hello, Mrs. Carter. You are not here for class are you?" The woman teased because she could not see her student hiding behind her mother.

"I think I am a little too old, but this young lady isn't. This is Allison; she prefers to be called Allie." Kay presented her daughter to the woman proudly.

"Hello, Allie. Have a seat at this table. I am waiting for two others and then we will head to class."

"Speak up dear." Mrs. Carter prompted.

"Hello," said Allie and then she went and sat down next to a young girl wearing a green dress. She sat silently but had tons of action going on under the surface. When the bell rings she will be ready.

Mrs. Carter thanked the teacher and shook her hand. She turned to leave and although it killed her, she resisted the urge to kiss her daughter. She thought, they grow up much too fast. She wanted her baby back. She left the cafeteria and before driving away. she received the pleasure of seeing her angel sitting calmly at a table, smiling.

The school bell rang and all the children scattered making as much noise as they could as they headed to their rooms. Allie jumped from the table but did not run. She was the new kid and had no idea where to go so she waited and followed her teacher to the room.

"Sit there, Allie," said Mrs. Clay and pointed to the last seat in the far row of the room. Allie walked to the back of the room and watched all the kids as she went. She wondered how many would be her friend. "Class, attention please, class. We have a new student. Please welcome Allie Carter to the class."

Some of the students said, "Welcome Allie," while others showed no interest in the new kid. In this small town every one already knew each other and the students had gone through Head start and Kindergarten programs together. Only one girl befriended her: a thin girl named Amy. The girl smiled and seemed genuinely friendly. They lunched together and made plans to become friends for life.

At the end of her day, she sat in her backyard in a swing, staring at moving trees. As day turned to night, thunder and lightning rolled in, but no rain came. Allie stuck out her little hand to catch a drop of what she knew would be cold droplets. Instead, disappointment sat in as she realized it would not rain.

Suddenly, lightning followed a loud clap of thunder. She knew something fell in the forest behind her house. Allie was always curious. Something made her get up. She moved as fast as her little feet would take her. She found a hole in the fence and peeked with eagerness. Not seeing anything, she squeezed her tiny frame through the big wooden fence to the woods beyond.

The air was filled with electricity. She sniffed the air to confirm. She smelled something burning ahead of her, something she couldn't identify. Curiosity propelled her forward. She hurried in the direction she believed the thunder to be coming from. Ahead, she saw a flash and stopped in her tracks. That wasn't lightning, it was a bright-red flash. Perhaps a tree was on fire. She continued on, picking up speed to make it there and back before her mother noticed her missing.

Allie stopped again. A red flash moved from one tree to another. A tree branch fell. Allie was close so she decided to go ahead slowly. She crept forward. Closer she went to a log ahead. She crouched behind the log as loud thunder came. Something was wrong. She had heard thunder. This thunder was louder. The lightning was red. Trees limbs dropped from above. Something was dangerously wrong. Allie should have been terrified. Her mind raced with scenarios of what was happening. It intrigued her.

High above her, a man glided to the ground. He was tall and knew she was there. Her eyes widened as he looked at her. Allie gave a nervous smile, thinking she should run or crouch lower. Perhaps he hadn't seen her.

The man smiled a devilish smile. She had seen that smile on her television. It was a bad smile. He was a bad man. She felt it inside. Before she could react, his smile grew broad and exposed large teeth, sharp teeth. His mouth opened wider to reveal a sticky film. Something red was on the tips of his teeth, especially the sharp ones. Allie thought of those movies she wasn't supposed to watch. Was he a vampire? He looked like one. Were they real? Momma said no, but here he was. Could it be true?

Suddenly, the man rushed forward to get her. Allie's eye grew bigger. She had no idea what to do. She crouched, watching the man rush toward her. In the blink of an eye, something hit the man and he went sailing away from her. She looked sharper to see it was another man wrestling with the first. The first had darkened eyes, cold, black. He grabbed the older man on top of him by the throat. She heard a crunch and feared for the old man. His head went sideways.

The first clawed at him and ripped his shirt open. Allie saw something dangling, sparkling. It caught her attention and drew her in. The twinkling object was something special and instantly she wanted it. She didn't know why but she had to have it. The object turned and she saw it was glowing. It was a cross and was glowing with a fire around it. It flared brightly. She put her hands to her face to block out the light. It was so bright that it lit up the night sky. Allie felt as if she was viewing the sun. She shut her eyes tightly until the glow dimmed and she could see again.

As the men struggled, she took action. Allie stood with the purpose of running. She should have run while they fought, but it was too interesting for her to leave. She had to see and find out who would win the fight. She focused sharply and saw the man on the bottom shaking his head violently. Suddenly, the older man on top held his hand high above the others head. His hand glowed with a reddish glow similar to the light she had seen earlier. The intensity of the glow increased. The man on the bottom grew silent and still as the larger man brought his hand closer to his face. Eventually, the man stopped moving and stared at the glowing hand.

It was in that instant that Allie recognized the man on the bottom not as a scary man, but as a boy, somewhat older yet not quite a man. His blond shoulder length hair fell to the side to reveal a teenage face, perfect in her estimation.

A rush of excitement filled the little girl. She sprang forward to view all before her. Gazing on the man and teen, she clearly saw both faces. The man was old as her father, ancient. The teen was handsome. She looked at his mouth to view his teeth. She saw fangs. She ventured closer as the man put some type of harness on the young boy.

Before Allie could open her mouth, figures fell from the tops of the trees around them. It was both amazing and frightening. How were they floating down to her? Were they angels sent from heaven?

The two floaters were teenage girls. Each clutched a cross strung on a necklace. They held them high, searching in all directions, aiming them as if they were weapons. The first had an oval face and green eyes. She had long blond hair that flowed past her shoulders. The front left side was dyed purple and braided with purple beads. The other had her hair dyed black with a wide white streak on the top that reminded the young girl of a skunk. The teenager had brown eyes and fashioned her hair into a tight ponytail. Both looked sixteen and looked at her with morbid curiosity.

"Who are you?" asked Allie with a shaky voice.

"Your worst nightmare," replied the girl with the ponytail.

The other laughed.

Allie readied to ask her next question to the strangers. She should have been frightened. She was all the more curious and wanted answers. As she opened her mouth, she heard rustling from the trees. Both girls' faces contorted to a look of horror. Allie wondered what would change a smile to fear so quickly. The blond girl looked at her and her eyes were saucers.

"Run!"

Allie was no fool. This was serious and she did as told. She turned toward her house and ran through the woods as fast as she could. The whole time she ran, her heart pounded and she glanced to the trees with fear. Something was coming behind her. Something was gaining, closing in on her, toying with her. An explosion occurred in front of her, she yelled as she fell. She breathed hard then took off running again. Another explosion came. This time she saw something small and round whizz over her head. She yelled and ran faster. Whatever those things were they were hot, she felt the heat from the last one as it nipped past her right ear. She pumped her tiny arms harder. Her fence was ahead. Safety was ahead and her legs were burning. She reached toward freedom, wishing she hadn't come out in the first place.

With a magnificent flash, a woman dropped down in front of her, in front of the hole she had squeezed through earlier. Allie stopped, panting. She looked at the woman before her and fear took her. She couldn't control the shaking in her body. Though she tried, the woman's sneer kept her from feeling remotely safe. The woman was horrible, tall with clammy white skin and fiery red hair. The woman's eyes were darkened, menacing. A scowl proved she was not a friend. She gave the little girl a wide thin grin that chilled her.

Allie backed up.

A whooshing sound came from beside her. She couldn't take her eyes off the woman in front of her for fear she might kill her or worse. From the corner of her eye she saw the angels descending.

"Is she the one?" asked the blond teenager.

"Not if I can help it," replied the woman. She opened her mouth and young Allie viewed her long fangs. She hissed at the child.

"She seems a fair lass," said a man with a deep voice in an accent she heard on television.

Allie resisted looking though the voice sounded friendly. Trouble was between her and her home. She thought of ways to get past the vampire woman.

"She has seen too much, erase her," howled the woman.

With that, the woman flew straight up and disappeared. Allie looked skyward, searching the trees. She failed to locate the woman. As the people moved in around her, she refocused.

"Hello," she squeaked, trying to sound friendly. Her eyes opened wide to take in all that she saw. "M-M-Momma said there are no vampires."

"She's wrong," said the blond teen.

"Are you vampires?" Allie panted, waiting to hear the answer.

"Nope," chuckled the brunette, "we are just as human as you." She pointed to the overhead trees. "She is the vampire and she is a bad one." She gave an intimidating look.

"Oh," said Allie. She gulped. She should have bolted for the hole in the fence, but she had a new question, "who are you?"

"Never you mind, lassie," bellowed the tall man. "Let's get this over with." He motioned to the others to close in around the young girl.

The blond knelt next to Allie. She clasped the girl's hands in hers and smiled into her face. "Everything is alright. You are going to go home, get in bed, and sleep until morning. You will forget everything you have seen and heard. Don't worry, I won't let anything happened to you." The man handed her a vial. "Open up."

The smile the teen gave was so endearing Allie obeyed without question. She opened her mouth and drank the liquid from the vial the girl gave her. The teen kept smiling, comforting her so she knew it would be all right.

"That's enough," said the man, "we don't want to over-do it."

"Is she the one?" asked the other girl.

"Shh," said the big man, "asked that again lass and it will be your last time."

"Hey," hinted the blond. She smiled at Allie.

Allie had no idea what they were talking about. She gazed at the silver chain around the teen's neck and followed it to the silver cross she wore. It was true: vampires, silver crosses, all of it. Allie felt lightheaded. She turned and the last thing she saw was the vampire woman behind her. She had come back and this time her eyes were not black, they were white. The vampire's fangs showed and when she held up her hand, Allie saw a small red fireball in her palm. Was that what was flung at her? Instantly, the ball changed to a blinding white. The vampire flung the ball at Allie and she felt heat, then nothing.

# # #

"Allie, you okay?" Kay Carter knocked with urgency.

Allie stirred beneath her bed covers. She turned to see the sun shining through her curtains. She yawned and stretched.

"Allie?"

"I'm okay, mom. Come in."

Kay came in the room with a tray. She set it on a small table near the window then moved both to the side of the bed. She kissed her daughter on her forehead and pinched her cheek. "Eat up. You have a surprise today."

"What?"

"I'm not telling," Kay teased.

"Mom."

"Okay, sleepyhead. You have visitors."

Allie leaped out of bed. Could Saturday get any better than visitors? Allie loved visitors. She ran down the stairs and there, sitting on her couch were two girls. They stood and faced her, all smiles. The first Allie recognized, her new friend from school, Amy. She looked into the smiling face of the older teen with confusion. Who was she and what did she want with someone as young as her?

"Hey, Amy."

"Hey, Allie. This is my big sister. She gave me a ride over here. You want to go to the mall and play?"

Allie looked to her mom, pleading.

"Two hours at the most, young lady. We have unpacking to do."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Carter. I am an excellent driver and I will have her back in two hours. If you need to get a hold of me, call me."

The teen smiled politely and handed the woman a piece of paper with her phone number on it.

"Oh, I will," said Kay.

"Don't worry, I've got my eye on her."

The teen winked at Allie. For some reason Allie liked her. She trusted her. She looked to her mother for approval and Kay nodded. Allie turned back to the teen and noticed her necklace. The teen were a thin silver chain with a silver cross. Allie looked to her hair and then to her face. The teen had beautiful green eyes. Her hair was blond and pulled back into a ponytail except for a small sliver on her left side that was dyed purple and braided with purple beads. She had a pleasing face that put Allie at ease.

"Ready for an adventure?" asked the teen, teasing.

"Ready," said Allie.

They left the house to begin a great adventure together.

### Chapter Two: The Hunt

Years Later:

In the late hours of the night, high above a small farm, two young men, Kevin and Joseph, hid in the top of a large tree staring down at cattle grazing in a field. The youths were on a raiding exercise trying to hone their skills to be warriors of their clan. Earlier in the day another boy was with them and he had left their group and found a lone cow which he fed from before a group of hunters began chasing him. The others had no idea what became of him. They avoided the hunters and began a new hunt which led them here.

One of the boys had sharp vision and saw movement about a mile away. He tapped the other and he too saw the movement though he had not wanted to take his eyes off the feast at hand and let his mind stray from the sure to the unsure. He was the oldest, Kevin, and he gave the go-ahead to investigate. The two of them leaped from tree to tree and in no time they saw what the movement was: young girls. They were standing near a house of their clan, marked by a large crest on its roof. A bird moved in the trees ahead of them and must have startled the girls because they took off running.

Like a person who makes the mistake of running from a dog, they ran and enticed the boys to hunt them. Joseph was the first to take off after the new prey, then Kevin. As they found the scent of their prey their eyes darkened. Kevin had brown hair and green eyes, while Joseph, his younger cousin, had blond hair and blue eyes. Both were 16 and on their first unsupervised hunt. Their approved hunting region was elsewhere, but being children, they disobeyed and wanted the larger prey in the densest part of the forest. With their senses trained on the scent, they made noises to frighten their prey as they leaped from tree to tree.

They stayed high in the treetops as the girls ran and when they were within striking distance, Kevin stopped them, knowing where they were heading. He made the determination that they were Cavers, human aides, and not food. The other growled at him but accepted his dominance and they began their leap back to the cattle.

Joseph dropped down first beside a cow and the animal being fearful lunged forward. He ran behind it and leaped on its neck dragging it to the hard ground. His eyes darkened more as he opened his mouth to clamp long fangs into the neck of the animal. The cow jerked its neck to rid itself of the beast and sharp pain. After a few more erratic movements the cow succumbed and met its fate. It twitched no more and lay helpless while the youth fed.

Kevin dropped down and chose another cow. They drained the animals before a gunshot rang out and startled them. They looked up simultaneously and saw a farmer with a gun pointed at them. He fired again missing the closest youth, Joseph. The boys leaped high in the air to the trees and the man fired after them, chasing them through the forest shooting at them. After a while he gave up knowing they were gone out of his sight.

The farmer went back and called his friends. He had a hard time convincing some of them that it was young boys that had killed his animals, but when he showed them his cattle they judged him to be truthful. They divided into groups and met with others who were already hunting for a youth that killed a cow earlier that day. They went out with guns searching through the woods with flashlights for the youths.

Later that night, Malcolm, an older human loyal to the vampires, climbed to the top of a large tree with the agility of a man half his age. He reached the top without breaking a sweat and took out a pair of binoculars and began his search for the three youths. His mission was to find them and get them back to safety before discovery of their true nature. The woods were dark and he looked out in all directions but never saw them. He leaped from tree to tree and searched from all edges of the forest but never found what he was looking for. Toward the edge of the forest near a tall waterfall he saw a cave and inside a round object that he thought connected with the boys. It was cylindrical and white and well hidden by the falling water that surrounded the cave opening, only sharp well-trained eyes could have seen it. He put his binoculars away and began the leap toward the object.

Shots rang out and the tree next to him had fresh bullet holes appear in it. Malcolm looked down and farmers were running to his position firing in his direction. Some of them stayed behind and called on radios for reinforcements while the rest advanced. Malcolm thought quickly and then led them on a chase in the opposite direction from the cave and from their home. Even if caught and killed, he would be miles away from their home and would have fulfilled his duties as a Caver and protector.

Malcolm led the men into deep brush on the far side of the forest. He would stop every so often to allow them to catch up. Not afraid of them because of their bad aiming, he danced around the tops of the trees and gave credence to the stories told by the farmer. At the edge, he dipped down into a valley and before long his scent was gone. Having nowhere left to search, they gave up their hunt and returned to their homes. Malcolm slept briefly in a high tree while keeping an eye out for hunters. Seeing no sign of the men, in the morning he returned home to rest.

Chapter Three: The Chase

Thursday morning a call came to Doctor Sawyer regarding a pipeline incident. She traveled by helicopter into Canada to a small building built into the side of a rock face. When she arrived she viewed a makeshift morgue with a man lying on a table for autopsy. She walked over to the man who had only his head visible. It was an older man of roughly 45 years whose hair was starting to gray. Dr. Sawyer pulled back the sheet and looked at the man's wounds. There were tears at his throat on one side that were covered by blood with deeper tears along his torso.

"Where was he found?" The doctor said to no one in particular.

Two men had accompanied her into the room. One of them, Carl Banks, said, "on the side of the pipeline at Junction R6."

The doctor picked up the water hose and washed the dead man's neck to get a better look at the punctures. She went to a drawer and pulled out a long metal rod that resembled a toothpick. She placed it in one of the punctures and measured the depth with a ruler. She then measured the other and compared the two, "almost an inch deep each." She turned the man's head from side to side, "these are not from a big cat, a wild dog, nor a wolf." Sawyer next examined the man's torso cuts. "These look more like a bear's claws than anything I can think of. Put out a warning to the rest of the men and label it as a bear attack. I will have him transferred to Seattle where an in-depth autopsy can be performed. For now, let's keep it quiet so we don't panic everyone."

"All right, Doctor," said Carl who had spoken earlier to the middle-aged woman.

"Doctor, any other animal capable of ripping up a man like this?" The other man asked.

"Well, Jim, I've seen some of everything out in the world and I have yet to find an explanation for most. We will assume it is a stray bear for now. Perhaps he is lost or disoriented somehow and is simply hunting for food. Arm the men and have patrols going night and day."

"We will, Doc." Carl said with apprehension in his voice. He liked Doctor Sawyer but saw nothing simple about a bear hunting people. "While you are here, Doc, do you mind taking a look at something we found a while back?"

"What is that?" asked Sawyer.

The doctor was motioned to a freezer in the back.

"We are under orders to keep it quiet, but with this new attack . . ." he shook his head.

They walked inside the freezer and toward the back the men stopped and uncovered a body wrapped in plastic. The doctor shook her head with great sadness. "My god! What the hell happened?" The body had been torn up so bad that no one wanted to view the body for an extended amount of time.

"That is Lester Platt."

"Les?" asked Sawyer. She put her hand to her chin, she then knelt to examine the distorted facial features. She sighed. "I know him. He is from my old school. As a matter of fact, we have a mutual friend that might be able to help."

"Who is that, Doc?"

"George Carter. We have all been friends for going on six years. He is a doctor out of the home office in Seattle. I was planning on sending the other body to him. I will just call him and have him come out here. Together, I promise you this, we will get to the bottom of these attacks."

"Doc? Lester was our mechanical engineer. His job was to keep an eye on the pipeline's specifications to prevent catastrophes from occurring. Last we heard he was taking measurements late at night and called in to headquarters claiming to have seen a wolf-like creature tearing another man apart. The line went dead before anyone could get his location or any further information. We only found a big ass bloodstain where the other guy was. We have been keeping it quiet ever since."

"Has anybody told Jenny?" Sawyer asked of the two men.

"Not yet, Doc, we were waiting on the company to tell us what to do about her." Carl said. Neither man wanted to deliver the bad news to the man's wife that she was now a widow.

"I'm not doing it. Hold off and keep quiet. I'll take care of it." The doctor had no intentions of speaking with Jenny, she instead, would get their friend to come out and tell her.

"Thanks for coming out and taking a look for us, Doc."

"No problem, that's what they pay me for. Can any of you men spare the time to take me to Junction R6?"

"Why do you want to go there?" Jim inquired.

"I want to take a quick look around for myself; we owe it to Lester to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

Carl stepped forward. "I will be happy to take you, Doc. I am ready when you are."

"Thanks, Carl, let's get going."

Not finding anything, Sawyer phoned George Carter and waited for her friend to arrive. When there, with everything explained, together they took a second look at the bodies. The bodies were shipped back to Seattle and they began a search of the woods near Junction R6.

George saw nothing unusual at the sight of the attacks so he went to give Jenny Platt the bad news about her husband. He walked up to her porch and hesitated. He thought of the many nights he and Lester played Chess. It brought a smile to his face, remembering the lumbering soft-spoken giant.

Jenny was cleaning inside and saw him just standing there and got a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. George walked up and knocked once and Jenny was there to open the door with a worried look on her face. "Hello, Jenny."

"Doc. Come in please."

Doctor Carter came in and fumbled with his words, "Um...er...Jenny." He took a deep breath. "Jenny, I have bad news about Lester. There was what we believe to be some sort of... animal attack at the pipeline... and Lester and others were killed. I'm sorry. We think it was a stray bear but won't know for sure until an autopsy is done in Seattle."

Jenny felt ill and slowly sat down on her couch. She was stunned and did not speak. She had worried day and night and now had an answer. She fumbled with her hands, taking it all in.

George watched her and tried to gauge how well she was taking the news.

"What happened?" She finally was able to say.

"As best I can tell he has claw marks on him and that would suggest a large animal like a bear. He saw a man attacked and went to help him. Unfortunately, neither survived the attack. I can tell you it was quick and he didn't suffer, that should be some comfort to you."

"W-W-Why does he have to go to Seattle?" she mumbled while staring at the floor, wrenching her hands.

"Our best up to date laboratory is there and we can do all tests in-house."

Jenny let out a sarcastic smirk, "in-house?" she raised her head and looked him in the eye. Her lips quivered. Her gray eyes opened more as she tossed her black hair behind her. "Don't you really mean, you can cover things up better there so no one here will know what happened in those woods?"

"Come on, Jenny, you know that isn't true?"

"I know you and every other company man is keeping secrets about what goes on up in those woods and my husband is the latest victim." Jenny's brave front crumbled. "I have called and called and you knew, you knew all along but wouldn't say." She broke down and wailed.

"You can't buy in to those crazy rumors, Jenny."

Jenny swung her head up high. Her red cheeks glowed with anger.

"Sally Rodgers told them she saw something in those woods and nobody took her seriously. Her daughter is still missing! Before that she lost two of her prized cows and a horse, they were mutilated with blood everywhere!" She screamed at him. "And Mike Chambers saw a man, only it wasn't a man near his back porch. He shot at it and it ran away so fast he couldn't track it. You know he is an excellent shot and never misses. Now you tell me something is not going on and you people are not keeping us in the dark for your own benefit." Jenny put her hands to her face and let out her tears. George tried to comfort her but it did no good. She kept repeating, "He was your friend, you should have warned him, you should have protected him!"

George saw that he could do no more there and stood. "I'm not leaving. Kay and I are moving into the Miller place, Allison will be going to school here. Lester meant the world to me and I promise to be here and do my best to get answers for you. I care and we will get to the bottom of this. That, is a promise!" He said goodbye and left.

# # #

Malcolm went back to the forest and stood in the top of a tree next to the tall waterfall that he had been to earlier. With a great leap, he landed inside the small cave and just as he suspected, the boys were there. He had to go inside the cave for a few feet before he saw what he knew to be there. In the back of the small cave along the wall in a dark corner he found two white cocoons. When he shined his flashlight at them they sparkled like they had dust particles on them and he could see small movement inside each. Malcolm reached into the backpack he brought with him and pulled out a large syringe filled with a dark liquid. He went to the first cocoon and injected the entire contents of the syringe into it. There was a low humming sound followed by slight movement, and the cocoon changed to a dark black color, similar to that of the cave. He got another syringe and went to the other and performed the same action with equal results.

The process would take time so Malcolm went to the front of the cave and stood looking at the waterfall and the trees. He took a moment to take in all the natural beauty of the forest; he loved the parts of his job that led him out here to its beauty. He gazed at the nearby stream and thought of trout making their way home. He smiled. He looked back at the cocoons to check their progress before taking out his phone and making a call.

"Yes." He recognized the voice as belonging to Bethany, his leader.

"I found two of my escaped birds, they are in crystallite form."

"Did you fix their mess?" She said, choosing her words carefully in case someone was listening to their conversation.

"Yes. I am waiting for completion before leaving."

"Search for the other and then return." The phone went silent.

Malcolm put away his phone and went back into the cave. The two cocoons had become smaller and darker in color. He picked the first one up and carried it to the back of the cave. There was a hole cut into the side of the cave for just this purpose. He placed the cocoon deep within it. He retrieved the other and placed it within the hole. Malcolm went back to his pack and pulled out a large can and attached a sprayer nozzle to it. He aimed the sprayer at the opening and sprayed the chemical in the can over the cocoons and the opening. Within seconds the chemical hardened and filled the opening so anyone looking in that area would only see a wall. Malcolm made a visual check to confirm he had correctly sealed the area before packing his equipment and leaving.

After leaping beyond the waterfall and back into the tree, Malcolm's search for the last was not successful. He then began leaping from tree to tree back home to Caveena. He arrived and went straight in to see Bethany and update her on the three boys' condition.

### Chapter Four: Connie Benton

Connie Benton was in the local post office checking the mailbox. She bent and saw through the glass they had no mail. She straightened, but before leaving, scanned the bulletin board. A flyer for a babysitting job caught her eye.

It read: Babysitting gig: You must be fifteen and strong enough to handle energetic little demons, Satan's spawn. Only the enthusiatic, fun loving, creative, and authoritative need apply.

Connie took one of the slips of paper with the phone number. She was fifteen with a slim frame and not much height. Constantly on the lookout for a job, she deduced that she would be able to babysit and had done so on a number of occasions, but with little pay. Babysitting for relatives was not profitable. But this would be different; this was an actual job at a Day Care Center. Goose bumps lined her arm as she returned to her car and smiled at her passenger. She sat behind the wheel and held her phone, a phone won after a year of constant nagging on Connie's part. She loved putting numbers in her new phone and hurriedly put in the new number. She planned to call as soon as she got home.

Having her driving permit on hand, her mother let her drive them to the post office and back home again. It was a Friday with no school and the day she picked to get a job and gain independence. She hurried home and padded to her room to make her call in private. She dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Hello, I'm calling about the Ad on the bulletin board about a babysitting job."

"What's your name?"

"Connie Benton."

"Hey, Connie, I'm Monica. The children I am talking about are bad seeds, real Hellions. Can you handle Satan's spawn?" the girl on the phone laughed.

Connie laughed with her. "Of course, I can."

"Well, you are in luck. I need someone. Someone will meet you at the Barlon day care center in the morning and we will test you out to see if you are a good fit. I hope you are free?"

"Yes, I'm free. I will meet you there."

"Cya in the morning, Connie."

"Okay, Cya." She hung up the phone. Connie had an early dinner and went to bed, anxious to start her new job.

In the morning, she drove to the center and went inside the building. Three boys were arguing over whose turn it was on the video game. She saw one hit another and she smiled, real hellions, indeed.

"Hello, you must be Connie Benton?"

It was a strikingly beautiful woman with long red hair. She had blue eyes, red lips, and pale skin. She wore a three row, white pearl necklace that was connected to a large, emerald-cut ruby jewel in the center that was surrounded by small diamonds. Though her smile was not perfect, she was nonthreatening and put Connie at ease.

"Why yes, I am. Are you the owner?"

"Yes, I'm Bethany. Tell me, Connie, which do you prefer, babies, toddlers, or teens?"

"I'm comfortable with most as long as they are not too old where they act as if they are ruling the roost, if you know what I mean."

"Yes," said Bethany. She nodded to a brown-haired girl who came forward. Then she went and sat behind the big desk.

"Hello, Connie. I'm Monica. I will be taking you out today. Ready?"

"Um, sure."

Monica was slightly taller than Connie's five-foot stature. She was a brunette with short bouncy styled hair that contained a white streak on the left side and a small, odd, single braid of red, white, and brown on the right. She wore earrings shaped in the forms of crest and a silver cross on a golden chain. A red jewel was in the center of the cross, similar to that of Bethany's crest, it sparkled as brightly.

Monica led her to an elevator in the back. It was small and cramped. Monica pressed a big red button after they had moved for only a moment. The elevator stopped.

"Listen, Connie. I babysit vampire children." She watched confusion spread across the girl's face. The confusion transformed into a snicker. "Seriously, Connie. Listen to me and this is no joke. I am taking you into the woods to meet vampire children. You will spend the day with them and at the end of the day, if you do not like it, you can leave. The reason I am telling you the truth is because if you do not stay, we will erase your memory of everything you have seen. You will not remember anything except that you spoke with Bethany and she filled the job before your arrival. Understand?"

"You are serious?"

"I said so."

"Vampire children?"

"You will be babysitting vampire children, yes."

"Vampires? Fangs? Bloodsuckers?"

Monica nodded. "And much more."

"You're crazy! Can you start the elevator, please? I'm leaving."

"Okay."

Monica understood. Without hesitation, she pressed the button and they felt a jolt as the elevator lifted them upward. The doors opened and Connie moved quickly down the hall for the exit. In the large room, she saw children running and playing in a circle. A group of four boys and four girls were moving in a circle and then they fell down as if dead. They giggled and got up and repeated, turning in the opposite direction. She stopped to observe, wondering. Monica caught up to her.

"Are they vampires?"

"Yes."

"You are serious, vampires?"

"We can't disturb them, but if you would like to meet two vampire kids, you can. It will only take a minute of your time. You can judge for yourself. One thing, though. If you go and do not like it, you have to forget everything you have seen. Do you think it is worth it? If you do, follow me. If not, you are free to go."

With that, Monica turned and walked back to the elevator. She prayed the girl would follow. A few minutes later, she did. Monica pressed the elevator that took them to a hallway. She gave Connie a T-shirt with a crest on it and a silver-cross necklace to wear. Connie took them in good spirit, but never believed she would be facing vampires and need a cross for protection.

After changing, they walked through several doors to arrive at a platform. There, they met two children: a boy and a girl.

"Connie, meet Stav and his sister Misha. Say hello children."

They scowled, then hissed. Their eyes darkened and they opened their mouth and displayed fangs.

"Oh god!" Connie stepped away from the children, cursing herself for being so curious. They were about to attack her, real live vampires.

Monica held her cross in their faces. Her cross grew bright and a light emitted from the jewel in the center. It cast a red light on both scowling faces. Both children straightened with a calm look on their faces.

"Any more of that and your playtime is over. Say hello, NOW!"

"Hello," they said.

They were both adorable in their new state. Even after seeing the fangs and attitude, Connie's brain would not register the events. They could not be vampires, it was morning and would be high noon soon. Everyone knows vampires burst into flames in the sunlight. This was a test and she determined to see it through. She needed the job and this was only some wacky test to see how strong she was.

They walked through a door into a forest of tall trees. Connie looked back and it was nothing more than a small shed they had emerged from, a shed built into a rock face in the side of a mountain. She marveled for a moment before joining the others in a clearing.

"Go through the course, children," said Monica.

"Yay!" the children raced for the obstacle course.

"Here, you will need this. Hold your arm up."

It was strange, but Connie obeyed, watching the children and thinking.

Monica gave her a shot in her arm from a syringe. Then, they moved toward the course. They warmed up on the course and when ready, the children ran for a large tree. They began scaling skyward.

"What the hell?"

Connie watched the children scurry up the tree until they were fast out of sight. She stood gaping, her mouth wide open, not uttering a sound.

They stood beneath the high branch the children began from. Monica pointed to it. "Jump to the branch after the children."

"Are you kidding? I can't jump that high."

"Try it. Humor me."

"Fine," said Connie. She leaped upward, not even close to the high branch. She wouldn't be able to reach it if she had a ladder.

"Try again," urged Monica.

Connie tried several more unsuccessful attempts until she was out of breath and bent to refresh.

"That is normal," said Monica, rubbing the girls back, grinning down at her. "Do you trust me?"

Connie nodded , head still bent low. With her approval, Monica waited until she straightened. She pointed skyward and when Connie looked up, Monica drew back and delivered a slap across her upturned face, knocking her backward to the ground.

"What the hell?"

"Whoa!" Monica threw up her hands, grinning, nearly laughing. She enjoyed that. "You said you trusted me, so in a way, you said it was okay. So you cannot get mad. How do you feel?"

"How do I feel?" Connie spat.

"Yeah, can you climb the tree after the children? They are not better than you are they? Come on." She teased.

Connie gathered her strength for another futile attempt. She leaped upward and landed on top of the high branch. Her friend joined her and at her urging, Connie gave chase to catch the children.

"What took so long?" squeaked Misha.

"Never mind, little lady, we are here now. Misha, your turn, lead the way."

Misha leaped to a tree thirty feet away. Next was Stav. They took off for a new tree.

"Follow them with your eyes," said Monica. "Ready? Go get 'em."

It did not occur to Connie that she was far from the tree and it was her enhanced eyesight that allowed her to see the children so clearly as if they were standing next to her. It also did not occur to her how fast she was moving in order to keep pace. What she did notice was the wind through her hair as she ran and leapt through the air. It was exhilarating. The faster she moved, the better she felt. It was as if she was walking on air and she loved it. When she reached the tree, without thinking, she leaped and followed, jumping branch to branch to follow the children in front of her.

At the top of a new tree, she had a chance to catch her breath and fully take in where she was and what she had done. The excitement of it filled her with joy. Her heart raced. Her blood pumped. A wave of energy crawled across her body and she wanted more.

"Stav, you lead," said Monica.

"Okay," said Stav.

He leaped to a far off tree. His sister followed. Monica told Connie to go next and like a child anxiously waiting Christmas morning, she turned and leaped. She swung from tree to tree without stopping. Laughing, shouting, yelling with the kids. After a while they left the trees and returned to run the obstacle course again. Connie could not believe the things she was doing. How was it all possible? To leap from tree to tree and run faster than the wind itself, how was it all possible? She did not care. They were having fun and she loved having fun. She did not question any longer, she had fun.

They went on until the children stopped ahead of them. The girls caught up and like the children, stared down at a large crystalline structure.

"Can we open it?" asked Misha, panting, wanting to open it immediately.

"Can we?" Stav echoed. Both were excited and moved around as if dancing.

"No," said Monica. "We have to go back, now. Let's go."

"But"

"NOW!" thundered Monica. Without another word, the children hung their heads and turned. They began walking, then they ran, before long, they reached the trees to swing another minute before going inside.

Connie watched them go and did not understand. Why had Monica gotten so angry so fast? She felt as sad as the children, but didn't know why. "Monica," she said.

"Yeah."

"What is that thing? Why can't we open it like the children wanted?"

"It will get opened later. Come on." She began walking after the children.

Connie followed. "But what is it?"

"Right of Kalar."

"What?"

"It's a teenager, a vampire in the midst of changing. I don't know how to open it, but the others do. I will let them know where it is when we get back."

"Can't we take it to them?"

"We could, but—"

"Why don't we?" Connie pleaded with enthusiasm sketched into her face. She had proved herself so far. What could it hurt?

"Let's take the children back and then we will come back for it. Okay?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

They ran to catch the children. Connie tested her abilities by seeing how fast she could run. Everything passed by her in a blur of images as she ran with gusto. She loved it.

Chapter Five: Town Hall

After not being able to find the boys, the men decided to call a town meeting the next morning. Doctor George Carter came to the meeting. He was not yet a member of the community, but the mayor extended the courtesy for his small town. Many of the farmers were at the meeting and they were all riled up over the situation. The town's mayor, Taylor Benaford, sat at the head of the council chamber and held a gavel in his hand. He banged his gavel on the top of the big judge's bench the three council members sat behind.

"Order, order, I need order in this room." Benaford kept banging his gavel until the chatter died down in the room. "Good. Now everyone get to your seats and we can begin the meeting." He waited for those standing to sit down before continuing. "All right, folks, we are here to come to a conclusion about what is happening in our town and to come up with a solution to fix it. Sally Rodgers, you have the floor."

The portly man banged his gavel again for quiet.

Sally Rodgers was sitting in the front row; she got up and walked to the microphone that had been setup for the audience to use. Sally was a woman of 48 years; she had short, blond, curly hair and was thin. She looked as if the life had been drained out of her as she came forward to tell her story. She looked out at the audience, touched the microphone to see if it was working, and then began her story. "Hello everyone. For those who do not know me, my name is Sally Rodgers and I live on Ridgemont Drive. I used to have a farm west of town but since I am alone now I sold it."

She looked at them before continuing. "When I had the farm about two years ago strange things began happening. We lost two of our best cows and a horse, they were all mutilated and there was blood everywhere." She started to cry as she relived the events. "I told my husband I saw something and so did my daughter, I know it. I can't say what it was but it did move in the trees and I mean high above my head in the tops of the trees. I have never been so frightened a day in my life than I was that day." Sally Rodgers stopped and a woman brought her a handkerchief and she thanked her.

"Three months ago, I lost my Kathy. She said she was having problems with some of the students in school and she swore up and down that she was being followed, even stalked. I regret today that I did not pay more attention and did not believe everything that she said. There is something going on in this town and I think it involves those kids. They got my Kathy and they will get your kids, too. We have to stop them; we have to stop them . . ." Sally broke down and cried uncontrollably and two men had to carry her off to the back of the room.

The crowd began to get out of control, yelling and screaming for action. The Mayor banged his gavel several times to regain control of the room. "Order, order, I will have order in this room."

A man shot his gun in the air and the loud noise got everyone's attention. They calmed down and sat back in their seats. "Now we all have sympathy for Mrs. Rodgers, Lord knows we have looked everywhere we could think of to find poor Kathy. But, we have to have proof. We are not going to charge off like a mob and do something crazy. I am the law in this town and I will have order in this place." Sheriff Monroe stared around the room at the people, making sure to look all of them in their eyes. He was a tall man of six feet with fiery red hair shooting out beneath the brim of his sheriff's hat. His eyes were deep blue and penetrating to the point of being uncomfortable. Not a single soul was spared from their menacing gaze. Most immediately looked down with a respect for authority, but a small number needed more intimidation to bring them in line.

"I got your proof, Sheriff; I got your proof right here." An old man stood to face the lawman and he pointed to his son sitting beside him. He motioned to the crowd. "You all know my boy Mike. Everybody knows he is a crackerjack shot and he either missed when he shot at it or he hit it dead on and it didn't faze the beast. Tell these folks, son."

Mike Chambers stood and cleared his throat. "You all know I don't go around lying about things. I win the shooting championship in Dearmont every year. Like my pa just said, I either hit it or I missed, and I don't think I missed. I took dead aim at a man-like creature and I shot from my back porch at point-blank range. That means that whatever is out there is big and tough and will take more than one bullet to bring down."

The Sheriff grabbed the microphone and interrupted him, "oh come on, Mike, you are starting to believe your own hype. You tell the same nonsense every chance you get. Nothing is out there that is bulletproof and you are just frightening a bunch of people who are already scared out of their minds. Now we need to calm down and get a firm handle on what is happening and rumors and wild stories are not going to cut it. We need proof!"

"Proof?" Mike said, "I was deer hunting with my friends a couple years back and I hit a deer. That deer ran for close to a mile before it finally dropped dead. Now I hit that whatever it was and it ran. I went three miles out from my back porch and I found a couple drops of blood and this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a towel with bloodstains on it. The towel had writing on it that read 'Lucient Central.' "This is your damn proof right here. I tell you it was those kids or somebody from that damn school."

Rumblings went up in the room from all sides. People moved frantically about, some yelling in support of the man's story, while others thought it was a pack of lies.

Sheriff Monroe took the floor again. "Now come on, people, this ain't fantasy land here. Something is wrong and accusing our children is a coward's way out at best. I say we take a look at evidence and stop the gossip."

Jenny Platt climbed to her feet and walked to the Sheriff. She took the microphone out of his hand so she could speak to the crowd. "Sheriff, I don't have a story like they do but I do know something about animals. My husband Lester was mutilated by something. The doc was there and he said it looked like a bear attack. Sheriff, you know very well that we don't have bears in this area, which leaves one possibility, people. If it was a bear that was attacking people, my husband would not have risked his life and confronted the bear head on. It had to have been people. My husband thought he could help so it had to have been people."

The Sheriff took the microphone back from her. "We are not going to go out and form a lynch mob based on what you think your husband did. We start something like that and where will it end?"

"You are covering for your daughter, she is one of them," someone shouted from the audience.

"Yeah," shouted another.

"It is those children," screamed a woman in the crowd, "they are possessed by Satan!"

"Kill them!" several screamed.

"I can't believe you people would suspect your own children of something so horrific!" Sheriff Monroe looked at the crowd with shock.

"What about your daughter, Sheriff, is she one of them?" Another person shouted and infuriated the Sheriff.

Mayor Benaford banged his gavel several more times. "People! Calm down! Now listened to what I am telling you folks. Here is what we are going to do. We are going to form search parties; some will leave now while others will leave tomorrow night. We will go out searching for concrete evidence that we can bring back here and show everyone. If you do not join one of these teams then you must stay home. Anyone out alone or with others will be considered a lynch mob and subject to arrest. No action, I repeat—no action—will be taken until we have facts. Now Sheriff Monroe will lead a party today and I will lead one tonight. I want Bill Thomas to lead one tomorrow morning and Jeff Liddy tomorrow night. Let's get proof, people, before the school year starts." He banged his gavel again, "Meeting adjourned, let's go home folks."

### Chapter Six: Resurrection

After the children were safely in their underground lair, Monica and Connie returned. They collected the cocoon and took it to an underground lab ran by a friend of Monica's. It was a woman of twenty plus years with distinctive two-tone hair of brown and blond. Her long hair was in a ponytail. She wore a lab coat that featured a large crest similar to the one Monica wore on her t-shirt. A larger silver cross hung from a necklace around her neck.

They wheeled the cocoon in on a metal table.

"Hey, Lisa," said Monica, "this is my new partner, Connie."

"Hey, Connie," said Lisa. "Welcome aboard."

"Thanks."

"Set it over here on this table." Lisa cleared the way.

After they sat the cocoon down, Lisa injected it with a syringe filled with a brown colored substance. The cocoon changed from white to a dark brown color. It then changed after a second syringe injection and grew longer.

As the girls watched, the consistency of the material changed, thinned to a membrane, then fell away piece by piece. As the cocoon broke down, the crown of a head appeared then a face, hair, and a chest.

The boy remained still throughout the unthawing process. When finished, he remained still with eyes shut tight. Believing something wrong, Lisa went to a cabinet to get a new syringe to speed his awakening. Whilst gone, an assistant moved in to wipe the liquid from the boy's skin and cover him.

Connie moved in with eagerness. She wondered if the vampire teens were different from the vampire children. Closer she advanced to stand near his hand. Suddenly, the boy's eyes opened to show blackness. He grabbed the assistant and with one hand threw him into Monica, sending them both into the wall. The vampire leaped high into the air and came down on top of the table. Connie stood frozen, her eyes wide and mouth opened, staring as he hissed at her.

The boy leaped off the table and stood directly in front of her. He was taller than she was. Her hair was blond, his was black. He held a thin hand in front of his black eyes and she gasped as he grinned and made his fingernails grow into deadly claws. Stricken with sheer panic, Connie could not move or speak. The boy was toying with her and she could not move a muscle. Tears streamed down her face as panic set in to stay. She knew in her heart she was dead. She drew in her last gasp of air and waited for the end.

The boy took a step closer and the cross around Connie's neck grew bright. The momentary flash caused the vampire to turn his head and grimace. He then moved closer and the red jewel in the center grew bright and shined throughout the room as bright as the light from the cross. The boy held his hand high and with a salacious grin, prepared to bring it down and end her.

Suddenly, the boy was moving backward, flying through the air toward a back wall. He hit with a thud that shook the room. His screeches were unbearable. Connie put her hands to her ears to block them out. Was he going to torture her longer? Connie stepped back toward the exit. Her panic induced a heavy fog in her. The fog was clearing and her cautious steps stopped. She looked at the vampire boy and he was not screeching at her, he was in pain and howling. Lisa was on him. She had a cross to the left side of his chest. Monica was there, she had a cross to his face, burning a spot on the side of his face. They each held an arm and with determination, kept the teen there while he screamed and struggled. His screeches grew louder and louder. Connie covered her ears and let out her own scream. She screamed and screamed until silence came.

Both she and her would-be killer were now silent. She looked up to see the teen slumped to the side of the wall. Lisa had some sort of black jacket she was putting him into while Monica held him tight.

Connie uncovered and took a step toward them. She hit something and looked down. It was the assistant. He stared at her with vacant eyes, deep tears around his neck and torso, bleeding out onto the white floor. Connie lost it. She screamed, turned, and ran. She ran from the room screaming and continued her mad scream as she went around a corner and down a hall. Her screams echoed for another minute before they ceased.

Monica stayed to help Lisa. When done, she left to find Connie. She had a good idea what had happened and was proved right. Monica entered a room to find Connie on the floor, passed out. A vampire sat in a chair not far from her. Monica bowed to the Elder, then retrieved Connie. She picked her up and took her to the elevator and back to the day care center above. She sat her on the couch and waited.

Connie stayed sleep for several more hours. She woke to find Monica reading a book across from her. "Hey."

Horror spread to Connie's face. She sat up and looked about with nervous energy.

"He is gone, Connie. He is recovering in a medical ward for the next few weeks. I am sorry you had to see that. The awakening doesn't always go well." Monica picked up a glass and gave her friend something to drink. "Here, take this and relax. I'm going to follow you home to make sure you get there safely. You have been through a lot and I am sorry for it all."

Connie took a long drink. Her hand shook as she drunk but she managed to empty the small glass before handing it back to Monica.

"Good girl," said Monica. "You ready?"

"Okay."

Connie cautiously looked around before rising. When Monica opened the door, she was surprised it was nighttime. Her friend escorted her to her car and as Connie opened the door to get in, Monica stopped her.

"Just a second, Connie."

"What?" Connie looked about nervously toward the trees.

Monica motioned at the door. A figure stood in the doorway. In a blur, a woman, Bethany, was standing in front of her. Before the girl could react, two fireballs shot at her and she shook all the way down to the ground. Bethany helped Monica get the girl into the passenger seat. Bethany returned to the Center while Monica drove the girl's car to her house and parked in the drive. Monica put her behind the wheel then pulled a capsule from her pocket and broke it. Connie's eyes fluttered open. Monica moved in next to her and whispered in her ear.

"You will forget I am here. You will forget how you got here. You will forget everything that happened to you today. You had a job interview but they filled the position before your arrival. Tomorrow you will go shopping with your friends and have a great day. You will do well in school and make your mother proud. Goodbye, Connie."

"Goodbye," whispered Connie from her dreamlike state. She closed her eyes and slumped against the window.

Monica pulled a wad of money from her pocket and put it into Connie's purse. They had lost another prospect, but school was starting. Perhaps they would find a worthy candidate in the new crop of students. Monica sighed. She drew a long breath then she took off running down the street. Soon she would be in the trees and swinging her way back to the underground hideaway.

## THE END ## The following is the first 10 chapters from the upcoming book Cavers. Enjoy!

### Chapter 1 Cavers

Huddled high on a branch outside a small house, dark figures closely watched the people inside. The first figure spread its arms and glided as if an eagle onto the roof of the small two-story house. A second followed, then a third. Together they crept to the first window to peer inside. There, lying in bed, was a woman reading a book.

The first figure was a man who, with deep concentration, stared at the woman, and before long she yawned, put her book down, and went to sleep. His thin lips curled in a smile as he nodded to his comrades.

They leaped to the next window to have a look at the sleeping child that lie in the bed. One of the figures, a green-eyed brunette, had something in the palm of her hand that reflected off the moonlight as she raised the window with small, delicate fingers. Her hair was long, dark-brown, but the top portion was a long-flowing red with dark brown highlights at the tips. She wore a necklace with a large red-jeweled crest emblem. She was accompanied by an older woman who watched her pulled out some type of medical device. This device she ran over the sleeping girl's body, consulting its screen when she had done so. She then put it away and carefully took a sample of the child's blood.

The other woman tapped her: a signal. The younger reached into her bag and withdrew a camera. After snapping a picture of the sleeping child, she replaced the camera.

Their mission was successful, but before leaving, the older woman was driven by curiosity to the sleeping child. She brushed a few strands of the child's brown hair from her face, and leaned down to look closer at her. The angelic face made her scowl. How could something that sweet and innocent have the potential to destroy an entire kingdom? If not for her queen's orders, the woman would have killed the child in its sleep. But she could not, and so instead she left to rejoin her comrades on the roof. Together they leapt as one, and were back in the trees and out of sight.

The brunette was conducting tests on the collected blood when the older woman came into her laboratory to get the child's photo. The old woman took the picture to a pale-skinned woman with red hair, who in turn fixed it with a morbidly curious look before handing it back.

"We are testing the blood now. She will attend the local school with Shelby."

"Don't tell Shelby; she will kill her," said the red-haired woman. "We don't know which direction her future will take. Watch over her and assign a Caver to her. Use Sara; she can bond with her and test her in secret. I have plans for this one. She will serve our cause nicely."

It was three days later that young Allie Carter reached for her favorite hairbrush with an odd look on her face. She plopped her thin frame at her little desk and looked in the mirror while combing through her shoulder length brown hair.

Allie was not overly confident with her looks, but she was sure her personality would make her popular. "Kill them with kindness," her mother always said, and that would be today's secret weapon.

Allie stood to assess her outfit. In the tenth grade, she had gone through as many schools as grades so far in her short life. Each time her father came home with the exciting news of a promotion she would be the only one of her small family to cringe. Letting go of old friends and embracing new ones took skills she had not mastered.

"You are going to like me if it kills you! I am worth getting to know and you will all like me!" She repeated the phrases in the mirror before going downstairs to breakfast. Today was Thursday and it was the first day of a short week. With a brave smile, she bounced down the stairs.

"Hey, Mom."

"Ready, Kitten?"

The timeless Kay Carter gave Allie her strong anchor. She was the only constant in Allie's world and her pulling back her daughter's chair brought a smile to the young girl's face.

"Almost." Allie poured milk over her bowl of cereal and ate quickly. She grabbed her backpack and met her mother at the door. "Dad left already?"

"Yes; there was an accident with one of the oil workers; possibly a bear attack near the pipeline. He left this for you."

Allie lit up when she took the gift, even though the accompanying smile on her mother's face meant trouble. Her mother tapped her wristwatch, reminding her of the time, but she didn't care: the present was her entire focus and she opened it with careful fingers.

Her mother tried to nudge her along. "Hurry up, slowpoke, school is waiting."

"Okay, here goes!" She ripped the corner off the box – and out popped a compressed rubber snake. She yelped. "Argh! Oh my _God_!" Allie looked at her mother; now her earlier whimsical smile made sense. "Daddy has got serious issues."

Her mother was laughing with her and agreed. "What a joker! Come on, let's get going." Her mother put the wrap in a drawer and they walked out the door to the car. The two of them had developed a routine where Allie was always driven to school on the first day and her mother would lecture her on the drive while she rolled her eyes.

Kay would remind Allie not to talk to strangers and reaffirm that all adults they didn't know were strangers. She prepared her daughter in every way she knew how. Her baby was growing up and the world was a frightening place for someone so young and vulnerable. Kay gave as much information and advice as possible – even more than that, really. So much the young Allie felt stifled.

Allie was far different from her mother: she was an adventurer. She moved so much that her basic strategy was to make one friend, no deep commitments. She just wanted people not to give her a hard time so the time would pass quickly. Allie loved animals and nature and being in parts of the country with more animals than people she felt at home. Her deepest desire was to develop a power that let her talk to the animals. Though she listened to her mother's endless warnings, she wished that she could be a bird: then she would fly to school, land and transform back into herself and go to class. Her mother kept a tight watch on her, and she was only allowed in the backyard – which was always fenced – so Allie was always on mind adventures.

When they finally arrived at the school, Allie opened the door before the car stopped.

"Allie!"

"Sorry!"

She closed the door and waited. Her mother gave her last advice and Allie said goodbye and bolted from the car. Kay sighed as she watched her baby running toward the school. She drove back home slowly, wondering if she had forgotten to mention something and feeling the emptiness of her life, imagining Allie gone for good.

For the first time, Allie entered school without her mother at her side. She was amazed at how dark the inside was: there were no windows, not even in the cafeteria.

"What a depressing place this is."

She walked into the Principal's office to present herself and update her family information contact list. Yet this room was just as dark – and filled with shouting students and teachers. With second thoughts about this school and the year she would have here, Allie took a seat on a bench and after being noticed by the secretary came forward and gave her name. She turned in her paperwork and walked back out, depressed by the scenery, but hoping with all her heart that the classes would be interesting, because the school wasn't.

"Oh well, there is always next year and a new school to look forward to. Lucky me."

In her homeroom class, her teacher, Mrs. Taylor, kept staring at her for no earthly reason Allie could think of. She was glad to go to the gym for an assembly meeting two hours later to get away from her constant glare and scowl. Her class marched in one long boring line and sat on bleachers near the door. Something banged against the wall and she jumped. Allie looked at the other end of the gym and saw a group of upperclassmen walking through the door. Each wore an impressive gray jacket with a patch on the left side. The boys wore blue slacks while the girls donned a checkered blue skirt with various length black stockings and black shoes. All wore a white shirt and blue tie.

The young man on the end grabbed her attention; he had short brown hair and a head more round than oval, which pleased her. In her mind she gave him a perfect five as they marched by her class, carrying a banner in front of them, and took a position on the stage behind the Principal. Allie's fascination with this first group mounted; she turned to the girl sitting beside her who had long black hair with pink highlights and a single strand of green braided tightly on the right side. She whispered, "Who are they?"

"Double E Club, Excellence in Education. You have to be upperclassmen to get in. They are kind of like FBLA back home in Philly."

"What is FBLA?"

"Future Business Leaders of America. They dress like them and travel and stuff."

Sara Johnson set behind Allie and was the only one to talk to her in class. Sara was a year older and was one of a few black students in the entire school – not surprising for a small town named Barlon in North Dakota. Sara recognized the look of always being on the move in Allie's eyes.

According to Sara's explanations back in class, she was the only black student in the tenth grade. The eleventh grade had a set of twin girls and the twelfth grade had two black students, all of which had parents that worked for Lucient Oil Company. Allie had watched her count out the number of students on her hand and her eyes widened as Sara told her about each of them. She wanted to hear more but Mrs. Taylor was talking and walked by and drummed her desk to end their conversation. Allie knew the woman hated her and looked around for her before asking her next question.

"What about the other, um ... W-D-E?" Allie tried remembering the initials on the banner they carried.

"World Dominance through Education. You have to be at least seventeen with a high-grade point average to get in. They take trips, have secret meetings with business professionals and college recruiters and stuff like that. Most of them get scholarships to the college of their choice."

The Principal became background noise as Allie focused on the handsome young man. She took in his face, then let her eyes drop to his jacket's patch. It was mostly black and resembled a family crest. She leaned in and whispered to Sara, "What does the patch mean?"

This was Sara's second year at the school and she averaged a move of every two years instead of the one like Allie. The patch was a large bird like an eagle that held a crest in its wings. The crest was triangular in shape and divided into unequal sections. The largest section on top was a picture of the earth and a man. Then there was a yellow sash like section that cut the crest diagonally. This section held blue Latin writing that said, 'erudio sceptrum orbis terrarum'. The smallest section in the lower right contained a picture of the sun and stars, and beneath was a small banner with EE in the center.

Before Sara could respond, Allie had another question, "What does the writing say?"

"I think it means education rules the world. I'm sure their parents are proud." Sara giggled quietly.

Allie smiled but tried to hold in her laughter with mixed results. She tried listening to the Principal but her attention wandered back to the crest and these people. Joining these people would be a waste of time; she'd be elsewhere next year. Her future would consist of a new home, new school, and a new friend.

After assembly they were handed pamphlets and flyers about the various groups they could join and the rewards for long-term involvement in extracurricular activities. They were dismissed and went back to class.

School went on in the same manner for the remainder of the week. The students attended meetings and were introduced to various groups and organizations and given information on how to join their clubs.

### Chapter 2 Cavers

Late in the night a young man of sixteen was in the trees near a lone daycare center that stood as an ant against the backdrop of the gigantic trees nearby. He had an athletic build with short brown hair and was tree swinging for relaxation. His name was Brad and he would leap from one tree to the next with a look of pure joy on his handsome round face. Swinging high off the ground through the trees, he stopped just before his next swing – something caught his eye. A good distance away he could clearly see a woman in a tree, her hair long and red, staring at him intently. This was his leader, Bethany, and he watched as she glided from the tree to the open ground below and looked up at him.

Brad took flight and glided down a few feet from her. He walked the short distance in the open field to her with apprehension: for her to be in the woods meant something was wrong. What could she want? Why was she even there? He looked all around him as he walked, wondering if others were in the area, but they were alone but for an ominous, gentle breeze.

"Hello, Bethany," he said and stopped in front of her.

"Brad."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes. We lost another Caver."

"How can I help?"

"I need you to assist those that will be chosen. Help them to adjust; we cannot afford any more losses."

"I live to serve. It will be my honor."

"Good."

"Who has been chosen to serve our cause?"

"We are short on recruits and have to take substandard humans who are not yet ready. They will be far behind the others and will slow them down. I will get a list from the school and you and two others will choose. Do not fail me in this important task."

"I will not fail: my training is complete."

"Have I raised children all these years?" Bethany's voice held a tone of anger. She drew up to her full height, a scowl upon her face grew: in his arrogance, her meaning was lost.

"Task me and I will show you success."

"Very well, you are tasked. Go!"

Bethany held up her hand in front of the young man as if to wave goodbye. A small red ball of fire appeared in her palm and began circling, growing until it was as large as her fist. Brad saw the fireball developing and took off running to the trees behind him. He ran with blazing speed. Leaping tree to tree, he was a good distance away before he was met with his first shock.

Bethany's fireball hit with a loud thundering bang and branches lit up with fire as they fell from the smoldering tree. Brad changed direction mid-flight and glided under the falling limbs of fire to a lower perch. He leaped to another tree and climbed to its top to check her location.

With a speed equal to Brad's, she darted in and out of trees, firing at the running boy. She missed several times – and then hit him, dislodging him from his perch. Brad dove to the ground. He rolled this way and that, dodging fireballs, before returning to the trees.

This section of the woods had been set up as a training course and Brad raced through it without a problem. After several minutes of near misses, Bethany hit him dead-on and he fell to the ground, immobile. Bethany leaped from one branch to another to get a better look at her kill. The young man was gone. He had made it to the finish line and stood with a broad grin as he waited for her arrival.

"Well done, Brad. If your father was here he would be proud of you," Bethany said with little enthusiasm and a slight shortness of breath.

"Thank you. I feel pride when I think of him," he answered, pretending he didn't notice her breathing pattern had changed.

"Go and get ready. I will have you informed when the list is prepared."

"I honor you with my service."

Brad bowed and leaped straight up in the air. When Bethany looked up she saw moving trees – but no Brad. She had faith that they would find good people this time. She took a leisurely stroll through the woods and at the end of her walk she stood in front of the daycare center; she went inside.

# # #

On Monday Allie was back at school in the cafeteria at lunch time. At first she was alone, before Sara joined her. "Hey, Sara, how are you?"

"I'm fine, girl. What did you do over the weekend?"

"Nothing much; it's boring out in the boondocks. I wish we could move closer to town where the action is."

"Girl, ain't no action goin' on round here!" Sara said real fast.

"Maybe not, but you got me beat. Oh, guess what? I think I saw a condor or an eagle, or maybe it was an owl out back behind my house. Something was going tree to tree but I couldn't get a good look at it, but I know it will be back soon. I'm going to try to capture it."

Sara laughed at her. "Capture it? You are crazy as hell! Do you know how big an eagle is? I mean close up, not a hundred miles away. That thing can pick you up and carry you off somewhere. Probably drop you on your thick head in the forest somewhere."

"Yeah right," Allie said disbelievingly.

"I'm serious, that is what they do. They pick things up and fly them real high and then drop them. Kaboom!" Sara laughed again.

"Ha ha ha, very funny." Allie was not amused.

One look into her friend's face and Sara regretted her joke. "Listen, if you need help call me, all right?"

"Sure." Allie felt better now and changed the subject. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Sara looked puzzled by the question. "Why would you ask me that?"

"I was just wondering, is all."

"No, I have no one special. What about you?"

"I don't stay long enough for anything complicated." It was a joke, but deep down it bothered her. The only steady relationship she had was with her parents. Would they ever stop moving? She had no idea, and had stopped asking them the question long ago. "If you stay here another year do you think you will find someone?"

"Maybe," said Sara. "I would rather just stay in one place, boyfriend or not, I hate all the moves."

Allie opened her milk carton and looked around the room. The handsome upperclassman who was on stage sat in the back of the room at a table with the other club members.

"Hey, Sara, who is that guy? The one in the middle with the brown hair and brown eyes."

Sara turned around to look. "Brad Montgomery. Good eye, girl! He is captain of the basketball team and in the summer he runs the 200 and 400 for the track team."

"Really?"

"Down, girl!" Sara laughed before she pointed to the long-haired strawberry blond on the end of the table. She leaned in to whisper. "She will kill you if you look at him too hard. Last year this ninth grader named Kathy Rodgers tried to talk to him in the hall. She disappeared; no one has heard from her since. People say that Shelby did it. Her dad is the sheriff."

"Are you serious?" Allie eagerly asked, wanting to know everything.

"Sheriff Monroe is meaner than a snake and lets her do anything she wants. Don't go anywhere near anybody with one of those jackets. I'm deadly serious; those folks are into more than education." Sara's worried look led Allie to wonder about everyone seated at the back table.

Out of curiosity Allie looked back at the boy, but something strange happened that took her gaze off him. She felt hot and when she looked at the Shelby girl, she swore the girl looked directly at her with a piercingly creepy stare. Could she have heard them talking from where she sat? No, that was impossible. Allie put the thought out of her head. From her morning classes it was apparent that everyone knew everyone else, except for her, so it was understandable for people to want to gawk at the new kid. This is what she told herself, but then she made her mistake and dared to look in the girl's direction again. The girl stared directly at her, unwavering and unflinching. Allie quickly looked elsewhere and avoided eye contact, shoveling food into her mouth.

"Well, it is about that time," said Sara, "you ready to go."

Allie searched her friends face. "What do you mean?"

Out of the blue, Sara began counting in a sing-songy fashion. "And one, and two, and three, and four, and five. Let's try it backwards. And five, and four, and three, and two, and one." She held her hands high with fingers pointing to the clock behind her head.

Ding. The bell rang.

First bewildered, then floored, Allie gave a wry look. "How did you do that?"

"Magic!"

After lunch they went to their lockers to get books for their next class. Allie was glad their lockers were next to each other on the bottom row, though she hated the pushy eleventh graders with the top lockers. Allie knelt, opened her locker, pulled out a book, and set it by her feet before closing her locker. In one fluid motion she took the book, stood up and turned – and collided with someone. Both of them tumbled to the floor. Allie was stunned – and then she flushed with fear: it was Shelby.

Shelby had a pale complexion, almost albino, with light reddish-blond hair and blue eyes. She looked at Allie with contempt that turned to rage. How dare she touch me? At least, Allie hoped she thought that and not something worse. Allie could see a fountain of evil rising to the surface behind dark blue eyes. To her surprise, Shelby didn't say a word; she climbed to her feet and stared down at Allie. Shelby was tall and thin like Brad, almost six feet, and towered over the helpless Allie with a silence that was deadly.

Sara, who had finished getting her book, had walked to the water fountain for a drink. She saw Shelby and one of her girlfriends coming down the hall and turned to see where they were heading. Sara saw the dust up and ran and crouched down in front of Allie. "She is sorry! She is sorry! She didn't mean it, it was just an accident!" Her heart pounded, afraid for her new friend. She turned to Allie and blurted out, "Say you are sorry right now!"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm so sorry." She added for good measure, "I hope you can forgive me."

"Hey! What is going on down there? Get to class right now!" Mrs. Taylor shouted from down the hall.

Allie saw a hand reach over Shelby's right shoulder and touch her. Shelby stopped staring down at Allie and turned to leave. When she stepped away, she saw her saviour: the boy to whom she had given a perfect five. He smiled at her, gave a wink, and then followed Shelby. Allie felt warmness rising from her feet. At first, it frightened her, then soothed her. Her mouth hung opened staring at the handsome rescuer. Suddenly, like being thrown from an enchanting dream, she felt arms around her. Sara and another bystander helped Allie to her feet. She thanked them and they walked to class. Mrs. Taylor stood in the doorway and would not move until Allie looked up at her.

The hair on the back of Allie's neck stood up. The fear she had for Shelby was nothing compared to this teacher. With great reluctance, she steadied herself and looked into the eyes that always seemed to be staring at her.

"Stay away from that girl," said Mrs. Taylor, before stepping aside.

Mrs. Taylor looked down the hall directly at Shelby and Stephanie, her friend. She saw them whispering and was sure she heard Stephanie wanting to go after the new girl, but Shelby told her no, that the new girl was hers. Mrs. Taylor stood with her hand on her hip in the doorway until the two girls left for their next class.

After they were seated, Sara whispered, "I told you."

Allie nodded and opened her book, her bottom lip beaded with sweat. During the last hour of the school day, Allie was still being cautious. She did not know what to make of what happened and was uneasy about meeting Shelby in the hall again or even the cafeteria. Was Sara right? _Was_ she dangerous? Sara looked frightened, but was it an act? Allie remembered she was the new girl and maybe her friend played a joke on her. Perhaps everyone was in on it. She had been tortured before by new classmates. Why should this school be any different?

In the end she decided it was a joke and she would ignore it until she knew Sara better. She was thankful that she had at least one class with her new friend and she would make sure to bring it up later.

They took a pop quiz in her last class and Allie finished hers and got up to turn it in before any of the other students. She smiled at Mrs. Taylor as she put her paper in the tray; somehow the woman's attitude had softened toward her.

"Allie."

Allie turned around.

"Yes, Mrs. Taylor."

"Come here, Allie, I want to show you something." She had been watching Allie and was surprised she didn't try and confront the bigger girl: most impressive. She took Allie to the back door of the classroom. "I hear you like animals?"

"Yes, Mrs. Taylor, I love them."

"Good. I have some you might like." She opened the door and led Allie into the science lab. Like the rest of the building, it too was dark and without windows. Mrs. Taylor was also the science teacher and went from room to room to teach her students. "Do you like ants?"

"Yes. Most people hate them but they are fascinating to me."

"I have here a special ant farm." She put her hand to her lips. "Shh; it's a secret. What makes it special is the ants can spell, but there is a trick to it. Watch!" She tapped the glass several times lightly, once in each of the four corners, and then moved her hand up the glass, tapping it as she went. Allie watched as the ants came out of their holes and began following her finger. They went up the glass in single file. It reminded Allie of marching bands and how they would form long lines as they marched across fields, instruments in hand. Allie looked in wide-eyed amazement as the ants slowly spelled out, in cursive, her own name.

"Wow!" Allie said softly.

Mrs. Taylor watched Allie and saw that look of wonderment that she expected to see. "One of these days I will show you how to do it for yourself. It will make you the life of the party." She touched her on the head and smiled at her. "If you are here next year you will be in my science class. I hope you stay."

"Me, too, Mrs. Taylor," said Allie. She had forgotten about her troubles. She loved animals and always found them to be relaxing for her. They were the perfect escape.

"Come on, your bus will be here shortly. I will see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Allie."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Taylor."

At her locker, Allie put her books away and strolled out to catch her bus home. The teacher she feared had had a change of heart toward her and it gave her new life. She waved to Sara, who was climbing into a car driven by her mother. Allie then boarded her bus for home.

Allie stayed the farthest away and when the last of the older kids left she went to the back so she could look out the glass door. The bus rounded a corner and let some more students off and then started up again. As she stared out, there was a loud bang. She looked up. Neither the driver nor the three remaining students seemed to have noticed, so she went back to looking out.

There was a creaking sound, and Allie looked at the roof of the bus. She got frightened for no reason she could think of. She heard what appeared to be footsteps on the roof of the bus and saw tiny impressions being made with every step. Allie looked at the driver: still he showed no concern.

The bus stopped and the last three students got off. Allie watched them run away, laughing and playing, and the bus started back up. She quickly looked back up for some reason she couldn't explain and saw the impressions heading toward her. Allie got scared and got out of her seat and down onto the floor. She grabbed her backpack and slowly crawled to the front of the bus, all the while watching the roof. She made it to the front and sat in the seat behind the driver. Although terrified, she forced herself to turn to view the roof one last time. When she saw no change she sighed.

She put her head down – and there was another bang. The impressions moved quickly toward her. Allie stood up in a panic.

"Hey! What are you doing? You don't get up until the bus comes to a complete stop!" the bus driver shouted at her in a slightly foreign accent.

He opened the doors and a petrified Allie realized she was home. The safety of home was in reach, but her feet would not listen to reason and move.

"Well, are you going to stand there all day?"

Allie looked at the roof and saw the dents. She did not dream them. She cautiously stepped down to the first step. "Can you watch and make sure I get in all right? I think somebody is after me!"

The bus driver laughed loudly, "Yeah, lassie, go ahead, I will watch out for you." He stood, honked the horn, and said, "Go on!"

Allie saw her mother in the doorway; this cheered her up. She stepped off the bus and took a couple cautious steps before racing for her mother. When she made it to her she turned around and looked at the bus. The driver, still laughing, gave a wave, then closed the doors and was gone. Allie saw no one on top of the bus with tinted windows or hiding in the trees. She hugged her mother and went into the house with her.

### Chapter 3 Cavers

Allie was in her backyard playing with her cat, Lissy. She sat on her swing, thinking about how school had gone. It began to get dark. Hearing strange noises, she looked out past her fence to the trees beyond. The trees were swaying and the flash had returned. A ball of light flashed at the top of one of the tall trees, and then another – perhaps a couple of birds? She tried to keep an eye on both when she saw one of the flashes last longer and move from a back tree to a tree closer in her direction.

"It moved!"

Allie went over to where she put her flashlight and took it out, but the batteries were dead. She shook it a couple times with no result, then set it back down and instead picked up her binoculars. Allie trained them on the trees and brought them into focus. When she lifted them higher to see the tops of the trees, she got a big surprise: a boy, her perfect number five boy, perched high up in the tree. She watched him leap to another tree that held someone else in it. Allie saw what the bright flash was; it was someone's bracelet. She saw the thin legs, the shorts, and she knew it was a girl. When she looked higher she saw that it was Shelby from the cafeteria.

"Oh my God! It can't be!"

Shelby leaped to another tree but the branch gave way and she fell. Allie followed her all the way to the ground and she gasped at what she had just witnessed. Shelby should have been dead from the fall but she got up and held her arm. Leaves fell down around her and then Brad appeared as if he floated down to her. He checked Shelby's arm and pulled something from it. The two of them then ran for yet another tree and were back in the tops of them in no time.

Allie put the binoculars down and ran into the house. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could and pushed her bedroom door in without turning the knob. Desperately, she threw open her closet doors, ran to the dresser to grab a chair, then placed it beside the open closet and clambered onto it, looking at the top shelf. She found her video camera that her dad gave her for last Christmas and raced to a drawer to get a cassette tape for it. Allie slapped in the tape and raced back downstairs and out the door to the spot where she stood before. She turned on the camera and aimed it at the top of the trees.

She zoomed in and out on the recorder, searching the trees for flashes, but found none. For an hour she waited, but she saw and recorded nothing but the trees swaying in the breeze. She was heartbroken; no one would believe her without proof. She would not believe such a tale without proof herself. Frustrated by the events, Allie turned off the recorder and went in the house to go to bed. She was excited by what she had seen but deflated by her lack of proof.

Not being able to sleep left her tired and drowsy the next morning. After getting a good look at her, Kay frowned.

"Kitten, are you all right?"

"I'm fine; I just couldn't get to sleep. I tossed and turned all night." She yawned and stretched before sitting down to a bowl of cereal for her breakfast.

"Do you feel sick? Your color doesn't look good." Worry lines sprouted in her face; her husband was the only doctor in town and he had not returned from treating the injured at the pipeline.

"I'm fine. I hope this is a fast day; I will be hitting the sack early tonight to catch up on some sleep." She finished eating her cereal and picked up her backpack for another day of school.

A horn was honking outside and her mother looked out the window. "Your bus is here; get going. Love you."

"Love you, too."

Allie ran out the door and did not stop until she landed on the first step of the bus. The bus was half full of students so she took a seat in the middle by herself. The bus jerked forward as it started and threw her backward into her seat. She looked up for an instant and then steadied herself. Looking up reminded her of the ride home, but she was surprised there were no dents of any kind in the ceiling, even after a thorough search. She drew a nervous breath before looking at the bus driver: he was the same. She looked at the bus itself: it was the same too, she was sure of it, but there were no dents. Allie's face warmed as she looked at the other students to see if they were watching her. She was no fool; she saw the dents and heard the noise. Were all these people in on a big practical joke at her expense? She knew she wasn't crazy. She sat in silence going over the events trying to make sense of them.

The bus arrived in front of the school and she was the last to get off. She kept quiet until lunch time, when she waited impatiently for Sara. Sara was in a corner huddling with three black students. Allie fidgeted as she waited for her friend, hoping she would stop talking and come soon.

"It's about time!" she blurted as Sara sat down with her tray.

"What's up, girl?"

"I'm going crazy insane! You will not believe what I saw last night and what happened to me on the bus!" She hastily recounted the whole story to Sara, who ate and listened.

"You didn't get any of that on tape?" Sara said with skepticism.

"No! I told you it stopped. Something is seriously out of whack around here. You haven't noticed anything strange?"

"Nope."

"What about Shelby? The way you acted, you know something."

"I know that girl will kill your crazy insane behind if you get in her way. I'm telling you the truth; everybody thinks she did something to that girl. Stay as far away from her as you can get."

"You don't believe me, do you?" Allie said with sorrow.

"I believe you better take my advice to heart or you will be dead meat." Sara finished her sandwich and looked at her worried friend. "Did you ask the bus driver?"

"No."

"Maybe you dreamed the whole thing. You said you didn't get much sleep. People have wild dreams all the time."

"Forget it." The door opened at the end of the cafeteria and young men and women came in wearing gray jackets. Among their numbers were Shelby and Brad. "Don't tell anybody what I told you, promise?"

Sara smiled and held up her hand with her fingers crossed. "Scout's honor," Sara said mockingly.

"Were you even in the scouts?"

Sara shook her head at her friend's disbelief. "Yes - I - was! I promise, okay?"

"Thanks."

The two girls rose to go back to class after their lunch break. As Allie carried her tray, something hit her in the left side of her back. She looked around: it was a dinner roll. Quickly looking up and scanning the room for the thrower, Allie set her eyes to the back table. How could she have made an enemy so fast? She was nice and courteous to everyone and smiled a lot. Everyone at the back table with Shelby was looking directly at her \- all smirking. For a brief second Allie considered confrontation, but Sara was walking out of the room, her only friend.

With no backup, she gave up on the idea of wanting to smack the smirk off all their faces and got a surprise. She noticed Shelby taking off her jacket to reveal a bandage on her arm. Allie walked out of the cafeteria smiling: she had confirmation, she was not crazy.

Allie's last class of the day would be study hall. She made up her mind to skip the class and go to the gym. The boys had basketball practice and she knew Brad would be there. Allie sneaked in without being seen and hid under the bleachers so she could watch them play.

Allie was happy to see he didn't have acne or pimples in his handsome yet pale face. He wore a long blue tank top with knee length white shorts that had a blue stripe on each side. His new white Nike shoes screeched every time he stopped suddenly on the hardwood floor. Allie watched him dribble down the court and stop and shoot with a defender against him. The ball went into the hoop and the net wrapped around the rim. His teammates hooted and hollered and pointed at the rim; Allie smiled. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a note on it. She then folded it and waited to get Brad's attention.

Allie stood out from the edge of the bleachers to locate Brad. She found him and then went partially back behind them so no one would see her. When Brad's team came down the court he passed the ball to a teammate near her. The teammate dribbled a couple of times and then passed the ball back to Brad, who was at the top of the key now. As the ball was halfway to him, Allie made her move to get his attention by waving her hand between the bleachers. Only Brad saw her hand waving. He passed the ball to someone else and looked back at the bleachers; the hand had vanished, and in its place was the folded slip of paper. As the others ran to the opposite end of the court, Brad backpedaled. He saw Allie walk from behind the bleachers and sneak out of the gym. He kept his eye on the paper and when the game ended he scooped it up. It was folded over several times like students do when making a paper football in study hall to pass the time. He unfolded the paper and as he read it, his facial expression changed. He put it into his pocket and went to take a shower. Later he took the note out to read it again. It read: I saw you in the trees last night. Come to my house tonight.

At eight o'clock, Allie waited at her window looking out the curtain, hoping Brad would stop by like she asked. Her mother had already come upstairs to check on her so she knew she was good to go if he showed up. Showing no patience, she walked back and forth across her carpet continuously, stopping only to peak out the window before returning to her ritual.

As Brad set out to Allie's house, he destroyed her note. He ran along the road and when a car came he leaped from the road to the trees. He leaped over her eight foot tall backyard fence and walked up to the back of the house. He looked up at the windows; the upper left showed movement. He watched for a minute, then leaped up to the roof and landed softly. He peered through the window and saw Kay Carter lying in bed reading a book. He leaped to the other window and saw Allie pacing. He tapped on the window. She stopped, rushed to the window, moved the curtain, opened it – and grinned. "Come in," she said softly.

"Are you inviting me in?" Brad asked.

"Yes! Come in before someone sees you."

Brad entered her bedroom and stood rigid against the window. Goosebumps rose on the young girl's flesh as she thought about having a boy in her room and her mother right next door. It was exhilarating. Wicked. She glanced toward the door fearing her mother would burst through at any minute.

"What do you want?"

"To talk."

"About what?"

"About what you guys do out there." Allie pointed to the woods behind him. Her heart pounded. She gave the door another glance.

Brad said nothing.

"I saw you in the trees with Shelby. I saw her fall and you landed beside her and helped her. I saw the bandage on her arm this morning in the cafeteria, too." Delight flooded her face. No way could he talk himself out of this.

"What do you want?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Why am I here?"

"Okay, how do you do it? How do you leap from tree to tree like that?"

"Leave it alone."

"No! Tell me how you do it. You were like fifty feet off the ground. I want to learn. Teach me."

"Forget what you saw. You saw nothing."

"No! I won't forget it. Teach me. What could it hurt?"

Brad cautiously thought about how to answer and what her next question might be.

"Leave it alone and forget what you saw. The best thing you can do for yourself is to say nothing to no one."

"Why?"

"This is not a game!" His voice became harder, more forceful. "You tell anyone what you saw and you can be killed, you and your family. It's not a game."

Allie quivered but pushed forward nonetheless. "I have seen so many weird things since I have been here and I just want them explained. Tell me how you do it!"

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"Just tell me, that's all I want to know, just tell me!"

Brad huffed; he had had enough of this. He cast Allie one final look. "If you keep asking questions someone will stop you." And then he was gone.

Allie walked to the window and looked out. There was nothing to be seen; it was as if he melted into the night. Allie was crestfallen, yet she had her verification and that was enough for now. She would find out more in her own good time. She locked her window and pulled the curtains together before going to bed.

The next morning she ate her breakfast and was outside waiting on the bus. Her mother saw her put her backpack down and pull out her father's binoculars, scanning the trees. Kay looked at the trees for animals and saw none. Allie scanned the treetops; Kay looked over and saw the branches swaying in a light breeze, but no animals. Shrugging it off, she began to clean the house.

Sara and Allie did not have their last class together so at lunchtime Allie would have to make her plans for the evening. "Hey, Sara," she said as Sara came to the table after talking with other friends.

"Hey, girl."

"What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing."

"You want to spend the night at my house? My mom said I could have a sleepover."

Sara thought about it for a moment before replying. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing."

"You still tripping about them Tree People you saw, aren't you?"

"No!"

"Allie?"

"It's just a sleepover, all right!"

"I'll ask my mom when she comes to pick me up. Give me your address. If she says yes she will drop me off."

Allie wrote her address on a piece of paper and gave it to her. "It's got my phone number on it, too. Call me."

"All right, girl."

After lunch as they were heading back to class they saw Shelby, Brad, and the Double E Club members coming into the cafeteria. When Shelby wasn't looking in her direction, Allie smiled slightly in Brad's direction. Sara shot her a worried look. "You are playing with fire, girl. You are not as smart as I thought you were."

"It's nothing," Allie said, trying to smooth things over with her friend. She did not want to tell her about his visit – not yet. Maybe tonight.

### Chapter 4 Cavers

Sara came over and had a sleepover at the Carters'. It was nearly dark when Bertha Johnson pulled her car in to the driveway. Mrs. Johnson was a tall, beautiful woman, and when she climbed from the car she looked more like Sara's twin than mother. Allie saw the car pull up from a window that faced the drive, and ran downstairs. Halfway down she heard the doorbell and slid down the banister to reach her friend.

"What on earth?" Kay Carter yelled. She was near the door, cleaning for the arrival of her daughter's friend.

"Nothing. Nothing. I thought you were out back."

Kay gave her a look to make her back up before opening the door. "Hello, welcome to our home. Please come in."

Kay motioned them toward the living room. It was strange to see someone of her age with long black hair with a red streak on her left side.

"You must be the Johnsons?"

"Yes, we are," said Mrs. Johnson. "I am Bertha Mae and this is Sara Mae."

Allie almost laughed when she heard the name. She looked at Sara, who looked fit to die of embarrassment.

"Speak, ingrate," said Mrs. Johnson.

"Hello, Mrs. Carter. Thank you for inviting me into your home."

Kay smiled and appreciated her good manners. "You are very welcome, dear. Allie, will you show your guest upstairs?" She had a familiar look in her eye that Allie tried to interpret.

"Okay." She nodded to Sara and they raced up the stairs to her room.

Kay was disappointed but tried not to let it show. "Will you sit for a moment?"

"Yes." Mrs. Johnson sat down and looked around the room. "This is a lovely room."

"Thank you. I have only had a few months to get this house in order and it is taking a while for everything to come together. I started in the –"

Kay was interrupted by her daughter who had come back downstairs. "Mrs. Johnson, thank you for letting Sara spend the night. She was the first person to talk to me at school and believe me, being the new kid is not easy. I just wanted to say thanks – so, thanks." Allie smiled at her mother.

"Oh, you are so welcome, dear. We have been the new kids on the block many times ourselves and we know how hard it is."

Allie smiled again and went back upstairs. Kay was so pleased with her daughter's good manners she lost her train of thought.

Mrs. Johnson stood up to leave. "Well, I have to get started home. My husband is on his way and I haven't started dinner yet. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Carter."

"The pleasure has been mine. You be careful driving back," Kay said. The two walked to the front door, and Kay pulled it open.

"I will. Please tell Allison I said it was nice meeting her as well. She seems like she has her head screwed on right."

"I pray every night." Kay gave her a quick hug and she left.

Upstairs, Allie and Sara watched Sara's mother drive away.

"Sara Mae?" Allie giggled.

"It's a family tradition. All the women have the middle name Mae, so stop laughing, _Louise_." Sara said the name with a long country twang, then smirked.

"Whatever! Come on." They went to her room and sat on her bed. "Are you up for an adventure?" Allie had a gleam in her eye and a smile on her face.

"You lying little whore! I knew it!"

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You want to go look for your Tree People, don't you?"

"Come on, it will be fun. I got us packs already made up and ready to go." Allie went to her closet and pulled out her backpack from last year. She dumped the contents on the bed in front of Sara and spread them. "We have flashlights with extra batteries; throw away cameras that shoot in the dark; binoculars; and a soda and snacks. I got these walkie-talkies and backpacks a few Christmases ago. When Mom is asleep, we'll go out back and through the fence. Just a few minutes are all that I am asking."

Sara took a deep breath. "Fine, if it will shut you up about your damn Tree People."

The girls had an early dinner and said they were turning in for the night. Allie knew her mother would be fast asleep in no time. It only took an hour, and then they were off on their adventure. They tiptoed out to the backyard and then raced to the fence. Allie had the key for the back gate; she opened it and they went through. Allie was amazed at how tall the trees were and how deep and menacing the forest seemed at night. They pressed on, following a small trail, using the moonlight to guide them until the trees thickened and they were forced to use flashlights.

The trail came to a fork and Allie decided to go left. "No," said Sara, "this way has more light. Let's be safe and try this route first." Allie nodded and they followed the route to the right. They followed down a circular path that brought them to a carving along a wall of stone that protruded from what appeared to be a former mountain of some kind. The carving resembled Egyptian writings with odd pictorials of birds, men and letters. Sara saw it first and stopped to examine it.

"Wait a minute," said Allie. She took off her backpack, found her camera, and took a couple pictures of the fading vine-covered wall. When finished she put her camera away and put back on her backpack. "What does it say?"

"I have no idea. It looks like a bunch of kids were up here and drew it – maybe even your Tree People." Sara laughed.

They continued down the path, then came to another fork. Sara went right.

"Why are we going this way?"

Sara did not answer.

Allie followed and repeated her question. "Why are we going this way?"

"I don't know, why not? If we make all rights then we should end up back close to your house, I'm guessing."

Allie thought about her explanation and agreed.

They continued a few more minutes before Sara asked, "How long are we going to stay out here?"

They strolled a narrow path along a rock face. This area of the forest looked as if once-great mountains had been blasted and reduced to mole hills. Rocks littered the area and the upheaval produced jagged rock faces and waterfalls that lined a stream that fed into a river basin.

"Shh," said Allie. She turned off her flashlight and crouched. Sara did the same. She looked around a bit after hearing noises. A minute passed by and Allie stood, sure the danger had passed. "I thought I heard something," she whispered.

Sara whispered back, "I don't hear a thing, except for my heart beating a mile a minute." She stood and aimed her flashlight around the woods and up the rock face. They saw nothing but more scribbled picture drawings. When satisfied, they continued.

Sara had been right about her turn directions. After following the path they made it to a familiar road: Allie's bus route home. They walked along the side of the road without flashlights and in silence.

Close to the house they heard rustling in the trees and Allie saw a far-off flash. "There it is!" Allie yelled and took off through the woods. Sara ran after her but saw nothing.

"Come on, come on!" Allie shouted as she ran across a short field back into the thick of the trees. She stopped and took off her backpack, whipped out her camera, and started taking pictures of the trees in the direction of her flash.

Sara came alongside her, activated her flash, and took pictures.

"What are you doing? Turn that off! I told you they work in the dark."

"I'm sorry. I didn't see anything and thought the flash would capture something hiding in the dark."

For a time the two took more pictures, before finally giving up – there were no more flashes – and beginning the long trek home. Allie walked in silence but her mind raced. Did she capture a clear image? Did Sara? Was she wrong about the flash and just imagined the whole episode? Was her mission sabotaged by bringing Sara, someone who had no faith in what she had seen? Where was her father and when would he make it home? Allie forced the questions down and put them out of her mind.

They made it to the house and went around to the back door. Allie unlocked the door and they crept in, locked the door and tiptoed back upstairs. The girls chitchatted for about an hour before falling asleep side by side in Allie's small bed.

The next morning, Mrs. Carter, who found it odd that the girls weren't already up, knocked on Allie's door. "Hey, Kit-" she caught herself; surely her daughter would be embarrassed by a pet name. "Hey, sleepyheads, you two up in there?" She knocked louder.

"We're up," said a sleepy Allie, loud enough for her mother to hear and the noise to stop.

"Get dressed and come down to breakfast. You're running late. I made you guys waffles and sausage."

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Allie said to her friend, mocking her mother.

"I'm up, girl. I'm still tired and sleepy but I'm up." She stretched in the small bed, almost hitting her friend in the face.

"Hey, champ, that's my face." Allie got out of bed in her pajamas and went to her closet. "I have my own bathroom in there. It used to be a walk-in closet for whoever was here before us. I didn't need the space so I asked for a bathroom instead."

Sara got out of bed in a long shirt. "Let me go first; you may be in there all day trying to fix your ugly face. Girl, you look bad in the morning. Kind of like Frankenstein or Uncle Fester." Sara made noises, raised her arms, and imitated a monster as she walked to the bathroom.

Allie laughed and threw a pillow at her.

Mrs. Carter set a place for Sara at the table. She offered them waffles with a choice of sausage or bacon as side dishes.

Allie turned up her nose at the meal. She only thought of the amount of sugar and calories in the waffles and syrup. "I'll just have two of the sausages."

Sara did not hesitate. "May I have two waffles, two sausages, and two pieces of bacon if it is no trouble?"

Kay smiled, delighted at her appetite. "Of course you can." She fixed her a plate and gave it to her with a bottle of syrup. "Eat up. Looks like someone is going to have all 'A's today."

Allie paid her no mind and ate her sausages with half a glass of orange juice. The bus came and the ladies were off to another day of school.

### Chapter 5 Cavers

After an uneventful day, Allie stepped off the bus and saw in the driveway a car with an advertisement on its side door that read 'Lucient Oil Company'. Allie ran into the house, surprised to see her father at the kitchen table. "Daddy, you're back!" She gave him a big hug.

"Alley Cat, what is the matter with you? You act as if you haven't seen this mug in years. I'm surprised you didn't want me gone longer."

"Never!" She kissed and hugged him. "I have something to tell you and you won't believe it, just like everybody else." And so she recounted to him her story, carefully omitting the part about Brad being in her room.

"Where is the film?"

"I'll get it." She ran to her room and returned with the two cameras. "Here they are. Can you get the film developed today, Daddy? Please, please, please!"

"Not today, baby, but as soon as possible. Then we will take a look together." He rose and put the film in his briefcase.

"Why were you gone so long?"

"We had a problem with workers being attacked along the pipeline. Looks like a bear got a hold of Lester Pratt and Bob Mackey; we are still sorting it out right now. I came home because there is nothing more to do until the tests results come back."

"Well I have seen some frightening things so I am glad to have you back."

"Me, too, Alley Cat. Me, too."

Allie looked around. "Where's Mom?"

"She took some things to the shelter; winter will be here before you know it and the poor need blankets and food to survive."

"I guess so."

"Hey, Cat, how would you like to take a ride in a helicopter this evening? I have to go to the South Ridge and I can show you what the town looks like from the air. We can drop your film off then."

"Oh yes!" Allie filled with joy at the thought of a helicopter ride.

They left the house and dropped off Allie's film for development at the general store. The manager said that if they waited he might be able to rush one of the rolls through the processor and she could take it with her. The whole thing took only a few minutes; because of the poor lighting, many of the photos were too dark and had to be discarded, so Allie left with only four pictures. She was so upset that she did not look at them; she counted on them to validate her story.

They arrived at the helicopter pad to meet a man of fifty years. "Honey, this is Leonardo Stone. He will be flying us today."

"Hello, Mr. Stone," said Allie.

"Call me Leo, everybody does."

"All right," said Allie.

"Are we ready to take off, Leo?"

"You bet! Right this way."

He led them to the tiny helicopter and Allie sat in the back seat while the two men crammed together up front. It was a snug fit and their shoulders touched. The helicopter made a whirling sound as it kicked up dust around them. Allie did not see a thing until they were a few feet off the ground, when the dust began to give way to blue skies. Her father turned and pointed upward to her right and she saw a pair of headphones. She put them on and drowned out the noise. She grinned at her father to indicate they were working; he returned a thumbs-up. He flipped a switch in front of him and she heard him speaking. "Hey, Alley Cat!"

She waved to him; she did not know how to work the headset.

"On the arm of your chair is a red pushbutton at the end. Push it to talk, sweetheart."

Allie found the button and pushed it. "Can you hear me?"

"I hear you, baby. Look to your right; that is our house below, the one with the green roof. If you follow the road as we go you will see your bus route, so imagine you are on a bus that floats instead of one that uses the road."

Allie saw her house with no problem, then the road. She did as her father instructed and imagined her bus route. She passed by the corner store, the post office, the city hall, and then the school. They went further into the rocky area of the South Ridge and she saw a river with birds all around it.

Finally, as the sun set, they touched down. They got off the chopper and rode in a Jeep to the pipeline annex building. There Allie sat out front while her father went to the back to treat two men with medicines he picked up in town. As she waited, she retrieved her pictures and began to flick through them. The first picture was of the writings on the rock wall they had traveled alongside. The second was the same from a different angle. The third picture was of a treetop whose branches were in clear focus as they swayed in the wind. The last photo was blurry but when she looked deeply at it she believed it to be a tree – and on the very right side of the photo was the edge of a shoe. "Yes!" Allie whooped. She grinned: proof.

On the way back, the helicopter had a spotlight the pilot activated so Allie could see the town again at night. She looked down and saw buildings and houses. The pilot turned on another light next to the spotlight and Allie was able to see the town even clearer. She saw some design on the top of the school that intrigued her but because of the direction the helicopter flew she was only able to see it briefly. There were two buses on the side of the school that she passed over next and when the light shown over them she saw a shape on top of the buses that caught her attention. Peering more intently, she saw the outline of what she _thought_ looked like the design emblazoned across the Double E Club members' jackets. She focused sharply on the design to commit it to memory. Yet when the buses passed and she peered down through the other window, there was no marking to be seen.

As they passed over another house, a roof came into view and she clearly saw the patch this time. It was the same bird holding a crest. "Gotcha!" However, like the buses, as soon as it had passed and was lit only by moonlight, it looked like just a plain roof. Allie's face soured. How could it be?

The image showed up again on the roof of a local store and the house near it. Allie took out a piece of paper and wrote down the information before she forgot.

Her heart pounded with anticipation as they circled her house. She wanted to see the image but prayed for it not to be there. It must be some kind of mark, she thought. Fortunately, her house was clear, and then they were back at the helicopter pad and the helicopter sat down.

"I tried to talk to you but you couldn't hear me," she said to her father.

"Oh, what is it?" he asked her as they got into the truck to drive to the store and get the rest of her photos.

"Did you see the image on top of the roofs?"

"What image?" He looked confused by the question.

"I saw these images like crests on some of the rooftops. It was also on the school, the store, and the buses. You saw nothing?"

"Sorry, Alley Cat, I saw nothing."

Disappointment welled in her. Her head drooped and silence overtook her as they drove back home. The photos that Sara took were all messed up and showed nothing. She took out her photos and looked at them again. Who would believe her? She had seen so many things and no one close to her believed her. Should she try telling her mother? No. She would keep her mouth shut and tell no one anything. She would solve this mystery on her own and then everyone would believe her.

Allie had a peaceful dinner with her parents and went to her room afterward to think of a plan to solve her mystery. She needed to be in town and her friend Sara stayed in the heart of town near the school. Yes, she thought, I will spend the night with her and start unraveling this mystery.

She got a good night's rest and was up early in the morning for school. Her father had already left when she awoke, so she had breakfast with her mother.

At lunchtime she waited for Sara, who again was talking with others before sitting to lunch.

"Hey, girl."

"Hey, Sara, what's up?"

"Nothing new here. Did you get your film developed?"

"Yes, but they didn't show anything. One picture looks kind of like a shoe in a tree and the other three are the trees and the writings on the wall."

"Other three?" Sara said as she opened her milk and took a drink.

"Yeah, only four pictures came out from my camera and none of the ones you took were good."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did the flash mess them up?"

"I don't know what happened. Some of mine and all of yours had problems; either they were too dark or too light. I should have brought a better camera; you know the ones that automatically adjust and everything?"

"Oh yeah! Those would probably work best."

"Sara?"

"Yeah."

"Can I sleep over at your house tonight? Do you think your folks would mind?"

"Nope, they could care less. Mom will be there but Dad is away for two weeks on the pipeline."

Good: that meant the first part of her plan had been achieved.

The secretary in the office let her use the phone and she called and asked her mother, who reluctantly said yes. At the end of the day they rode to Sara's house in her mother's car.

The girls talked the night away, and when Sara and her mother went to sleep, Allie took out her flashlight and sneaked out of the house. The Johnsons lived near the school so Allie headed in that direction with her flashlight. She was not afraid to be out in the dark by herself and walked along the edge of the road to the school.

The buses were parked by a small shed outside of the school; Allie went to these first. With nearby crates, she climbed on top of the shed and jumped on top of one of the buses. Allie shined her light down on the roof, looking for the image she had seen from the helicopter. But there was nothing.

Allie's thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang behind her. Startled, she turned to see Shelby at the other end of the bus. Her heart pounded. Shelby had a killer look in her eye and skulked toward her. Allie froze. Shelby stopped moving and raised her right hand: instantly her fingernails grew over an inch long. Her thin lips pursed to resemble a sadistic smile. She snarled and then began walking toward Allie. Allie looked behind her to see how far she could go before falling on the hood of the bus, then stepped back another pace.

As Shelby advanced, Allie saw a car come around the corner headed in her direction and she began to think she had hope. The car advanced slowly and Shelby kept coming. When she was almost on her, the car's headlights beamed a bright light at them and lit up the roof of the bus. Shelby looked down and saw something and stopped. She hissed at Allie then leaped from the bus and ran down the street. Allie had enough time to look down before the car left and saw under her feet: the Double E Club crest. Then the car rounded a corner and was gone.

Allie trained her flashlight on the spot but it revealed nothing. Something about the car's headlights and the helicopter's lights made the image visible. Now frustrated, Allie jumped down and ran back to Sara's house as fast as she could. She would try to get some sleep and figure it out in the morning. She would not tell her friend or anyone else – not without enough proof to choke a horse. She pumped her arms and a strange sensation shot through her. Allie tumbled to the ground, shaking. Images of what she had witnessed flashed through her mind. She had truly come close to dying. In the midst of her shaking, a new feeling struck her: ecstasy. She took a moment, then picked herself up and ran on to Sara's house with a twinkle in her eye.

In the morning, Saturday, she had breakfast and Mrs. Johnson drove her home. Allie spent the weekend at home helping her mother. Every time she tried to leave, her mother was there with a new task. Allie was not one for patience, but this time, she showed more patience than ever before. Half of her wanted to solve the mystery, the other half was scared she might die. Brad's words played in her head. His warning was real. Perhaps stalling was a fair tactic in the grand scheme of things.

On Monday morning, she was ready. Fear gave way to exhilaration. She had a plan and set out to put it in motion. Her first stop: the office.

"Good morning, Mrs. Braller."

"Good morning, Allie, how are you getting along with your classes?"

"I'm doing well. Mrs. Braller, you know those new headlights that cars come with now?"

"You mean the blue ones?"

"Yeah! What do you call them?"

"Are you talking about the Halogen headlights? They look off-color and blind you."

"Yes, them. Do they make a Halogen flashlight?"

"Yes, but they are expensive. We have one here somewhere."

"Ooh! Could I borrow it for one night? I promise I will return it to you personally tomorrow."

"I guess so, come back at the end of the day and you can check it out. I need it back first thing in the morning, you understand me? First thing."

"I promise."

Allie left the office and went to her first class happier. She avoided the cafeteria at lunch in case she saw Shelby, and so was hungry when she returned home. As she walked into the house, she clutched the Halogen flashlight. Tonight would be the night for answers.

### Chapter 6 Cavers

Allie waited until her parents fell asleep before sneaking out the back door. She carried her backpack which held the halogen flashlight from school, her mother's digital camera, her binoculars, and snacks. She eased out of the back door and picked up her bicycle, walked it to the front of the house and took off down the road. Allie rode as fast as she could, thinking this would be her chance to get her proof on film and finally let the world know what she had seen.

She rode her bicycle to the school and climbed back on top of the shed and then the bus. Allie bent and opened her backpack and pulled out the flashlight and camera. After shining her flashlight on the roof, a chill came over her and she shook. She took a shaky breath before aiming her camera to take a picture of the image. She smiled and took another picture, then another, and another.

There was a janitor's shed around the back of the building, so Allie went to that next. Inside was a ladder she used to climb on top of the lowest point of the school's roof. Once on top, she went to the middle of the roof, shining her light as she went. She stopped when she got to an area where the image started to show up. Allie took out her camera and began snapping photographs at a pace faster than the butterflies roaming her insides. The image was so big she had to photograph it in sections to get it all.

As she got ready to climb down from the roof she heard a familiar bang behind her. Allie stood on the edge of the roof near the midsection. She saw before her a young blond teenage boy she had never seen before. Was he a member of the club? Like Shelby, he pursed thin lips to give a devilish smile and then raised his right arm. Instantly his fingernails grew over an inch long. They were a dirty yellow color and curved inward. Allie could not move or speak; she only gasped, and then willed her feet to move. The boy gave a wide smile to show razor-sharp teeth. The sight of them made her gulp. She diverted her eyes so she could think. After careful thought, a single word came to her: fangs. She looked at the boy to verify and he obliged and showed his killer fangs. They seemed to drip with saliva. She gulped down a dry throat.

Instead of heading toward the ladder, she moved slowly toward the image. The young man advanced, matching her stride for stride. Allie backed up but kept her wits about her. She remembered Shelby and the roof of the bus, she remembered the car and the headlights, and she formed a plan that just might work. Allie reached into her pocket; she took out her flashlight and kept backing up until she was sure she stood over the image. If this did not work she was dead. She gazed at the far-off ladder and for a fleeting second thought to run to it. She stopped and turned on her flashlight, lowering it from his face to his chest and then downward to his feet, but nothing stopped his advance on her. Perhaps he wanted to create as much fear as he could in her before the kill and toyed with her for as long as it gave him pleasure by advancing slowly.

Then the flashlight's beam crossed the roof – and the boy stopped. He looked down, up at Allie and back down again. He bowed his head as if in apology and walked backward from her. In a quick move, he leaped from the roof into a nearby tree, and then to another and was gone from her sight.

"Oh my God! I don't believe this and neither will anyone else. Aw! You _idiot_!" she yelled at herself. "Why didn't you take pictures?" Allie took out her camera and looked at the pictures. "At least I still have you."

Allie sat down and took a couple deep breaths and then started hyperventilating as she relived what actually had taken place. As she tried to regain her composure, she tried to piece together everything . She had stumbled on a mystery that she never dreamed would lead her here.

"Vampires, my God, vampires!" She rolled on the roof laughing, "Of all the things in the world to find, I found vampires."

She laughed and laughed, partly from elation and partly to keep from being terrified. "Mystery solved: Shelby and Brad are freaking vampires!"

When finally she was home, Allie laid in bed and tried to sleep, but could not. She thought of Brad and remembered what Brad had asked her, if she was inviting him into her room. From all the movies she watched she remembered that vampires cannot come into your home unless you invited them in, and she had done just that. She wondered how it took her so long to figure it all out before finally falling asleep in the early hours of the next morning.

In the morning she had her usual breakfast of cereal but decided not to share her news with her mother. She went to school with her camera and looked for Sara. She saw Sara look around before walking into the gym; this made Allie uneasy. Slowly she crept up to the door but before she could go in she looked through the glass pane in the door and saw the young man who tried to kill her last night. Sara was on her cell phone talking and when the young man came near her he touched her on her back and she turned and gave him a hug. She bade whoever was on the phone farewell, then she and the boy talked for a minute before leaving together through the other door.

Allie felt sick to her stomach. Her best friend, her only friend – was she a vampire, too? Was the whole school full of them? Vampire High? What had she stumbled into? "God, I can't tell her now!" Allie was so confused she had no one to talk or tell her story to. Now what?

She made up her mind that she would get to the bottom of everything no matter what it took. She burst through the door and ran across the floor to the other door to find them. When Allie made it to the door she cautiously peeked through the glass pane and saw them again. Now they were partway down the hall and talking to Brad. Allie wanted to confront them all, as if they had somehow betrayed her, but before she could open the door the bell rang and they vanished.

Allie went to class and sleepwalked through her day until lunch. She waited at her usual table, not sure of what her response should be to Sara. Perhaps she was wrong and had jumped to conclusions or had made her friend an enemy to ease her conscience. Allie did not want to trust anyone now and seeing her friend with the others gave her a reason to stay isolated and keep her news to herself. She played with her lunch, poking at it with a fork as if deliberating whether to take a bite.

"Hey, girl," said Sara as she sat down.

"Hey."

"You all right?"

"Fine." She took a bite of her food so she wouldn't have to talk anymore.

"You're acting strange. What is it?"

Allie kept her voice low and even toned. "Nothing is wrong. Eat your food before your time runs out." She shoved more food into her mouth while staring at her plate.

Sara again watched her carefully but began to eat her food. "What are you doing after school today? Do you want to come over my house?"

"No. I am going with my mother to visit my dad; he is out in the field and can't get away so we are going to him. Maybe when I get back we can get together and do something. I will give you a call, okay?"

"Okay," said Sara.

Allie did not say much the rest of the school day. She did not want to tip her hand as to what her plan would be because she no longer fully trusted her best friend. She would have to wait and determine whose side Sara was really on before revealing her secrets.

After school she went home and had a normal day until bedtime. She decided to go to bed early in the hopes that her mother would also. When her mother fell asleep, she snuck out of the house with one objective in mind: prove Sara's loyalty. She strapped on her backpack and rode her bike straight to Sara's house. She peeked through windows to find no one moving about and presumed them all to be sleeping. Like the school, her friend had a small shed next to the back porch which Allie climbed on top of. She softly jumped on to the roof of the house and unpacked the flashlight she was supposed to turn in to Mrs. Braller, who had been, fortunately, out sick for the day. Allie shined the light down on the roof and checked it carefully. Near the end of the roof she saw the sign. "Yes! It's here." She took several photos with her camera.

What did the sign mean? Who could help her solve this? She needed to trust someone, but whom? Allie would tell her father but he was away and her mother would not believe her without proof of every single incident.

Allie climbed from the house and when she turned, she jumped with fright, Sara was there staring at her.

"Oh my God, you scared the life out of me." Allie produced a false smile, avoiding eye contact.

At first, Sara did not speak; she merely eyed Allie carefully. At last, she asked, "Why?"

The butterflies stopped circling long enough for Allie to respond. "I had to know and you wouldn't tell me."

"What did you need to know?"

"You are a vampire like the others, aren't you?"

Sara half smiled. "No."

"Yes, you are!" Allie moved closer to take a bolder stance. Sara motioned for her to be quiet. "I was on your roof and saw the sign."

Allie held up her flashlight and Sara took it, turned it on, and put her hand in front of it. She smiled and shook her head, clicking her tongue. "Girl, you are just too nosy for your own good."

"What are you going to do with me?" the words came out soft and shaky.

"I tried to lead you away from the truth, but it didn't work. I guess I will have to kill you," Sara said dryly. She took a step toward her and Allie recoiled. Sara chuckled. "Girl, you stupid!"

"Are you going to kill me?" Allie asked fearfully. She knew if she could get back to the roof she would have some protection against vampires from the image on the roof. But Sara had the flashlight and stood between her and the ladder, making her feel all the more helpless.

"I should," said Sara, watching her reaction. "I don't think you will ever stop being nosy, will you?"

"Yes," she said quickly, taking the opportunity before her. "Yes, I can be normal – I mean, not nosy. You don't have to do anything to me." The words Brad spoke resounded in her head in an endless loop. _If you keep asking questions someone will stop you!_ "I will forget what I saw, everything!" her voice wavered.

Sara judged her not to be telling the truth. She snatched her backpack and opened it, examining the camera and the images on it. "If I let you go you will be back here tomorrow night or some other night. This has to end now!" Sara leaned in to Allie with a scowl plastered across her face, but before she could do or say anything, they heard a whistling noise in the trees. She looked up and saw the trees swaying.

Allie saw her opening. She took off running toward her house, frightened at the thought of vampires in the trees coming for her.

Sara had a look of fright on her face as she watched the trees and saw her friend running. She ran after her and caught up to her and said, "Come with me, hurry!"

Allie had run so fast and so far that she was in the woods unprotected, trying to reach home by way of shortcuts. Sara led her through the woods with the noise following them as they went. Sara ran ahead and Allie followed her along a narrow dirt path between the trees. Every so often Sara would look behind her to check on Allie and then up into the trees, trying to see which way they were moving. They ran for a long time and the path narrowed and then grew larger before narrowing again. They went through a small stream and jumped across a deep ditch on the other side. Allie yelled as she fell and rolled down a small hill as she tried to catch up to Sara, who had opened up a lead ahead of her. Sara heard her yelling and looked up into the trees before going back to help her.

"Come on!" she yelled, dragging Allie to her feet. This time Allie stayed with her as they raced along a rock face and into a railroad tunnel that extended for two miles through solid rock. One third of the way in they stopped and Sara pressed a hidden panel then pushed open a wall; the two went inside. They went down some stairs and then ran to the right for a while before ducking down into a chute. The girls yelled as they slid down a dark slide that curved around inside the rock face. A small amount of light streamed in through tiny overhead crevices. The slide eventually dumped them out onto a dirt floor. They climbed to their feet laughing as they brushed the dirt from their clothing and hair.

Allie's heart thumped wildly as she looked around the cave-like room and saw no windows. There were rock walls with lit torches in stands on each wall. There was a small wooden door at the end of the room. They walked hand in hand to the end of the room and Sara pushed another hidden panel near the door. A door opened to reveal a closet with white jackets on hangers all neatly lined up in various sizes. Sara looked through them and pulled out one of the jackets and gave it to Allie. "Here, put this on and keep it on. Do not take it off for any reason, understand?"

Allie nodded and took the jacket. But for a patch on the right-hand side, it was just like a normal lab coat. The patch was of the same bird clutching a crest that she had photographed on the roofs. She put the jacket on. "What does this mean?" Allie asked.

"That is what keeps you safe, girl. Keep that jacket on, you hear me?" Again, Allie nodded. "Look, Allie, you shouldn't be here this early, but I didn't have a choice. The crest is a badge of protection that will keep you safe. As long as you wear it you are a friend and no one will harm you. It is your only identification. You are about to enter a world that is more visual than what you are used to, more distinctive than you have seen before. Behind that door are people who take their cues from signs – you know, like sign language – instead of ordinary sight. What I am trying to say is that they don't recognize you by your face or even your color: they recognize you by the sign you carry." She put on her jacket and then pointed to the crest, hoping she was being clear enough in her answer. "Do you understand what I am trying to say to you?"

"I think so."

"Ready?"

"I guess." Allie said with a panicked yet excited voice.

Sara pulled a necklace from under her shirt that had a cross and a key on the end of it. She unlocked the door and stepped through it, Allie following behind. Sara locked the door from the other side and then turned around to find her friend staring up at the ceiling. She laughed and hit her on the back of her head. "Close your mouth; you're attracting flies." She chuckled again, remembering how she did the same thing on her first trip; she then led her down a hallway.

Allie was fascinated by everything she saw. Emblazoned across the door they had just come through was a familiar image: the school crest. This image featured an enormous eagle that held a crest in its wings similar to that of the crests on the jackets of the Double E club members, only it featured the eagle clutching the moon with its claws, a deadly look upon its face. They walked on a white tiled floor. The walls, too, were covered with white tiles, and stood twenty feet high. The ceiling was wooden and arched. Six gold chandeliers hung ten feet apart. At the end of the hall was another door, this one thick wood with brass accessories. How could all this exist underground with no one knowing a thing about it?

"Wow! This must be a vampire kingdom."

Sara ignored her comments and led her to the end of the hall, coy smile on her lips. They stepped through a door into a square chamber room. The room had white brick walls with a hallway at either end, a desk placed between them. Allie thought about her father's old hospital and this room reminded her of its entrance, complete with a receptionist and information desk.

Sara waved at the woman behind the desk and they walked toward her. "Hey, Bethany!"

Bethany looked like the perfect person to be a vampire. She had red hair and wore it loosely behind her. Her hair was long and straight and dropped down past her shoulders to the middle of her back. She took the right and left sides and pulled them back and put a tie clip on the pieces to hold them in place and let them drop down behind her to finish off her manicured look. She wore a three row, white pearl necklace that was connected to a large, emerald-cut ruby jewel in the center that was surrounded by small diamonds. Her skin was pale, probably because she couldn't be out in the sun; Allie thought she could definitely use a tan. The only color to her face came from her red lips and blue eyes.

"Hey, Sara. Who is your friend?"

Allie slightly leaned to whisper to Sara, "I thought they couldn't see me?"

"We see you fine, lassie," said a booming voice from behind her. Allie turned around; it was the bus driver.

"We hear you fine, too," Bethany added.

Allie turned back redfaced. "I... I... I am sorry," she stammered.

Bethany smiled awkwardly at her to put her at ease; she had never been able to master smiling. "Relax, sweetheart, you are fine." She turned her gaze to Sara and her look became more intense and troublesome.

Sara knew the look. "Who is out right now?"

The woman looked at the bus driver. "Malcolm?"

The two girls looked back at the bus driver. "Taylor, Jake and Denton. They are supposed to be on the Back 40. I'll go check on them."

Allie had not paid attention before but she now realized that both people had on similar jackets. "Who are they?"

"Never you mind, sweet pea," said Malcolm before he turned and left the room by going down the hall on the right.

"Allie, go sit down over there for a minute." Sara pointed to a chair behind them. Allie complied.

When she was out of earshot, Sara moved forward and said, "I am sorry, Bethany. I had no choice; she saw them and took off. There was nowhere else to run."

Bethany looked over at the small girl staring back at her. She turned up her nose at the ghastly brown hair. "Can she be trusted?"

"Yes, if we tell her what she wants to know. She is like me, Bethany: just curious – curious enough to get herself killed without our help."

Bethany considered the child again. Then the phone rang; she snatched it up, talked for a few moments and then hung up, face worried. "The boys are being hunted by the locals for killing livestock. Farmers are chasing them with rifles close to here. She will have to stay the night. Talk to her. If she cannot curb her curiosity, I will have to do it for her." She flashed a look to Sara that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"I will."

Sara collected Allie, and at Bethany's indication they headed down the left hallway.

Bethany rose from the chair and went to a wall behind her desk. She waved her hands, and an open doorway appeared in front of her. Bethany went inside and stood in her control room. She went to a black wall and after waving her hand the wall lit up with monitors. These showed camera feeds from every area of the structure. As she motioned across those she did not need, they switched off and disappeared from sight.

In one feed was Sara and her friend. Bethany enlarged this display. The girls passed several doors on either side of a long hall and went to the door at the end. Sara opened it and they went inside, Allie pausing to touch the door's crest momentarily, and closed the door behind them. Sara had led her into a room with toys on shelves at the right and tables and books on shelves at the left. They went through this room down a hallway to another door, and inside Allie found herself surrounded by incubators and equipment.

This was a nursery. Three incubators nearby housed tiny babies. They were enclosed in glass containers with wires running into them that connected them to monitors. Two women and a man stood next to them watching the monitors and checking their connections. They paid no attention to Sara but briefly looked at Allie before writing on charts and exiting the room.

Allie moved to the nearest incubator and saw a beautiful baby wrapped in a pink blanket smiling up at her. "Oh, she is so pretty!" She tapped on the glass and made baby noises. "Aw, goo goo."

"Careful, girl. You stick your finger in her mouth and it will get bitten off." She laughed, but tapped on the glass just the same.

Allie got a serious look on her face. "Tell me the truth, Sara. I need to know."

"I work here, in the nursery."

Bethany waved her hand and the monitors turned off and the wall went dark. She returned to the front desk to await further word on the boys.

### Chapter 7 Cavers

Allie looked at Sara with newfound appreciation. "You work here in the nursery?"

"Yes." Sara grabbed a stool and gave it to Allie and they both sat by the desk in the room. Sara waved her hand in the room. "I have worked here for a year."

"A vampire nursery?" Allie asked with skepticism.

Sara smiled at her innocent friend. "They are not really vampires, Allie. They are just different people."

"They are vampires! Are you one of them, too? Tell me the truth!"

Sara took a deep breath. "No, I am not."

Allie was not moved by her denial: she knew the truth despite Sara's words.

"All babies are kept here and we look after them. These are the only three born this year. They will die quickly if not cared for. About ten are born each year, but on average less than half survive. The adults are not around; they come by once in a blue moon and never stay long. The babies are fragile, so we care for them. I like babies and hate to see them die. Come here; let me show you something." Allie followed her to the incubators.

"They look so human, don't they?"

Sara smiled at her innocence and pointed at the first baby. "She is smiling but she really can't see you that well. She can see shapes and patterns. That is why you are wearing the jacket; she responds to the crest on the jacket by instinct. It represents adult members of the family. When you wear this jacket she sees the crest and knows you are safe." Sara smiled and added teasingly, "She also knows you are not food."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am. Make sure she sees you and the badge. Never dangle fingers in front of her. If she sees them and not your badge ... well, don't do it." Sara smiled again. "You want to feed her?"

"Oh yes! Can I?"

"Of course." Sara opened the incubator, touched her on her shoulder, and lifted the baby. She turned the baby toward Allie and held her out. "Now let her look at your face and then your badge and then your face again. Smile, Allie."

Allie put on a big smile and swore the baby smiled back at her. Sara put the baby in a crib next to the incubators and had Allie stand next to her while she opened the baby's mouth. "Watch this." The baby's gums were toothless. Beneath the gum line on her upper jaw there was a tiny circular spot. Sara took a pencil and pressed its tip into the spot. A sucker came out and extended downward for an inch and ended in a sharp spear-like point.

"They don't have teeth. They have these two suckers behind their upper gum line that can pierce skin; then they feed on the blood that way. You know, kind of like a leech; they attach themselves to you and suck until full. Look here . . ." Sara pointed to the baby's chest and took her out of her blanket to show the area. "See how clear her stomach is? When she feeds it can expand and hold the entire volume of blood of an adult man. About ten pints worth before she gets full and lets go. That is why you don't feed them without them being able to see your badge. You can stop them anytime you want as long as you display your badge. Part of the reason I like this job is because I am the adult and I am in charge of everything." She wrapped the baby then handed her friend a bottle. "Here, feed like normal."

Allie looked at the small bottle and the thick red liquid inside. "What is this? Oh my God! This is not blood, is it?"

Sara chuckled. "It is a protein shake with a touch of blood; she gets her nutrients that way. Hold the bottle down to her and put the nipple on her bottom gum, right in the center. Lean over her so she sees your badge as she is sucking from the bottle."

"Okay. How does she suck from the bottle. Does she bite into the nipple?"

"At first they do, then they recognize the object and the feel and just suck."

"My God, I wouldn't want to try to breast feed her. Could you imagine?"

Sara burst out laughing. "You are so crazy."

Allie fed the baby from the bottle, and took one of the baby's hands with her free hand. She detected nothing unusual about the hand or the feel; it was a real live baby complete with the normal baby smells associated with all newborns. Allie laughed as she played with the baby. "What is her name?"

"I call her Jessie," said Sara.

"You call her? What is her real name?"

"They don't have real names like we do. Their parents give them a pet name that we can't pronounce and when they are older they get the right to pick their own name."

"Oh wow! I would love that! The right to pick my own name. Little Jessie, you are one lucky lady."

Sara laughed. "You act like you hate your name."

"I do, a little bit anyway. If I had my way I would pick a name I could do something with, like Rebecca or Alexandra. I hate Allison, it is so plain."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I have to be saddled with Mae and if I have a girl she has no choice but to be saddled with the name too. It is so unfair what parents do to us. I wish I could have chosen my name. Believe me, Mae would never have been a choice for me, not in a million years – or two."

They chuckled.

"Do you have to burp her when she is done feeding?"

"Oh no, well, sometimes. Never put her close to you where she can't see your crest. If that happens you are in serious trouble. No matter what you are doing you must face her at all times. Got it?"

"If you say so."

"I do." They finished feeding baby Jessie. "If it is necessary to burp her, turn her over in her crib and then do it that way instead of trying to pick her up and put her over your shoulder."

Allie did it and lightly tapped her on her back until she burped. She then turned her back over and held up Jessie's arms and hummed as if dancing with her. Sara checked her diaper to see if it needed changing.

"Is she good to go?"

"She is ready for a good night's sleep," said Sara. She put her back in her incubator, tucked her blanket around her, and turned out the light before they left the room.

The next room Sara showed Allie had two small twin beds in it and a television on a stand. The room was like a hole in the wall; it had a dirt floor and dirt walls, like a cave. Allie was fascinated by the entire experience and quickly forgot about the walls and focused on the room itself. Right down to its furnishings, it made Allie think of a motel room.

"We will sleep in here tonight."

"Tonight? I thought we were waiting for the boys to leave so we can go home."

"The hunters are still looking for them and they will shoot anyone they see. It is also not safe to be out when you don't know where the boys are at; they could attack from different angles. Don't worry, you are safe here and we will leave in the morning. We can see everything clearly during the day. Which bed do you want?"

Allie had no preference as to where she slept, if she slept at all, so she simply took the one by the door. She was still wired from the day's activities and it would take a lot for her to wind down to sleep. She was also worried about her parents – especially her mother, who would worry about her until she returned safe and sound.

Sara eyed her as she stared off into space. A moment ago she had been so happy. "Do you want to take the chance and go home tonight?"

"No."

"Would you call your parents if you could?"

"Yes. They are probably worried half to death by now, especially my mom."

Bethany quietly entered the room while Allie was talking. "Are you settling in all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Bethany sat down on her bed. "You have been through a lot tonight, haven't you?"

"More than I would have imagined, that's for sure."

"I have lots of children here, Allie. Are you here to save them or to help destroy them?"

"What?"

"I suppose we will have to let time decide our fate."

"What?"

Bethany smiled. "Never mind. Allie, I have to be serious with you for a moment. When you leave here tomorrow you have to swear to keep this a secret, all of it. If you tell anyone, including your parents, you are putting the lives of everyone here in harm's way. People out there are afraid of us and they will kill us because we are different. All of us, including the babies. That is why we live in secret and stay apart from you. Your kind kills everything different, and we do not have the numbers to fight a battle like that. I have to ask you to swear to keep this a secret from your parents and everyone else. Can you do that for us?"

"You are a vampire, too?" Allie said with wide-eyed curiosity.

"We are not vampires," said Bethany.

"Yes, you are. Why do you keep denying it after I have seen all this?"

"You are fighting a losing battle, so give up and let her have this one," Sara interjected before Bethany could respond.

"All right," said Bethany. She smiled at Allie and asked again, "Do you swear?"

"I don't keep secrets from my parents."

More forcefully now: " _Do you swear_?"

"I swear," said Allie. Bethany nodded and left the room. Allie could not say she was disappointed.

Allie lay down on the bed and tried to get some sleep but could not. She kept thinking about everything she had seen and done and what new things she would do tomorrow. She looked over at Sara, who was lying on her side with her back turned to her. "Sara. Hey, you asleep?"

"Girl, what do you want?" she said sleepily.

"What is the name of your job?"

Sara rolled over to face her friend. "They call us Cavers. You should have guessed that by this room and us being underground. It is a combination cave dweller and caretaker; we are nannies to their children. Baby-sitters without the big bucks, because we live here with them."

"Oh!" She thought about it for a moment then asked another question. "Why do you do it?"

"I like babies; they are helpless and need somebody to watch over them." Sara sat up in bed and looked at her friend. Clearly this young girl wanted to know as much as possible – the issue was just in how much to reveal. "My family is one of many that help them in secret. We know about them and have traveled with them since I was seven. We don't really need or want anything, but if we do, all we have to do is ask and we can have it. Their family structure is different; it's our job to care for their young, not theirs. They leave them with us and do whatever they do and we raise them through their school years and then they leave. Our job is to care for them and make sure they blend in and act like everyone else."

"Your mom and dad work here, too?"

"My mom; my dad is an engineer, remember?"

"Oh, I forgot. Why did she ask if I would destroy the children? Do I look crazy?"

"Yeah."

"Sara!"

Sara laughed.

"They ask everyone that; it's an old prophecy."

"Prophecy?"

"Yeah, there is an old story that a human girl will join them as a Caver. She is the Destroyer of Worlds. She will wage war, destroy the kingdom and kill the queen. She also has the power to destroy the children. Don't worry about it; it's just a fairy tale. Like I said, they ask everyone that."

"Oh, that's a relief. How did they find you?"

Sara yawned and stretched. "That is a long story. Get some sleep and I'll tell it tomorrow." She got up out of bed and opened the top drawer of the nightstand between the beds. She took out a single pill, and passed it to her friend with a glass of water. "Sleeping pill."

Allie swallowed the pill obediently and slid back under the covers. Before long, she was fast asleep.

### Chapter 8 Cavers

While the girls slept, trouble brewed during the nightly feedings in the nursery. Mira, a thirty-five year old woman, was alone with the three babies. She was an expert at feeding, and often fed two at once with no issues. Tonight she fed the first two simultaneously in their cribs while singing to them. When they finished their bottles she picked them up and put them back into their incubators one at a time.

Mira went to the last baby, Jessie, who needed changing first. She changed her diaper and sang to her as she sat her in the crib. Jessie was a bit gassy so Mira put her over her shoulder quickly and patted her on her small back. Jessie threw up a little bit on her shoulder so Mira put her back down. Mira took off her jacket and laid it over a chair so she could check her blouse to see if it needed changing. Satisfied there was no problem with her blouse, she went back to playing with Jessie before giving her a bottle. Jessie took half the bottle before turning her head and throwing up, requiring another pat on her back. Jessie saw the jacket and the crest and cooed as she was being rocked by her caregiver. Without thinking, Mira lifted her and kissed her and put her over her left shoulder. From this position Jessie could no longer see the jacket or the crest. Being next to Mira's neck she felt her pulse and smelled her warm blood.

As Jessie listened to Mira's pounding pulse and smelled her blood, her once-green eyes darkened to a reddish-brown. As Mira rocked and sang to her, Jessie's little arms began stretching and wrapping around the woman's neck. When her hands reached each other, the baby's fingers interlocked and fused. This fusing made an unbreakable wrap around Mira's neck. Jessie opened her mouth, shifted to get a better focus – and closed gently on the woman's neck, sealing Jessie's lips tight upon her. Her suckers protruded, moved carefully and gently to the woman's skin, and extended a tiny black needle. With a gentle prick, they pierced Mira's skin.

It happened with little resistance from Mira because she barely felt the punctures. Jessie's body worked on instinct and began first pumping a hallucinogenic toxin into Mira's system that gave her feelings of joy and happiness. She continued to sing and rock the baby with no warning that her life was about to be drained from her body. Nor did she notice as Jessie began sucking the blood from her neck and the arms of the little baby tightening their grip.

Like a tic or a leech, a small stream of blood flowed into Jessie's mouth, down her esophagus to her stomach, which became darker and redder as it filled. After a couple pints her round belly expanded so it could take in more blood. _Now_ Mira began to feel the effects.

Mira's euphoria suddenly vanished. It was replaced by dizziness. Fighting confusion, Mira gathered her wits, and realized – too late – what had happened. She tried to push the baby away from her chest but it was locked around her neck and would not move. She panicked, started screaming – but she was alone. She hit at the baby and tried desperately, fruitlessly, to pry it off. Each time she pulled the baby, it came back to her, tightening its grip like a constrictor.

With her strength draining and her breathing being choked off, she collapsed to the floor and passed out after a few more minutes of futile struggling. Once she slipped into an unconscious state, the baby released her stranglehold and fed from her neck freely. The baby's belly grew bigger and resembled that of a pregnant woman in her ninth month. Slowly her legs started expanding and growing longer; they turned darker as blood spread from her stomach into her limbs. Mira's body seemed to deflate and crumble as the engorged infant continued to feed. By the time Mira's heart gave its last beat, Jessie had doubled in size.

# # #

The next morning Kay went to Allie's room and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She knocked again. "Allie... Kitten... you up in there?" No answer, so she knocked once more. Worried by the lack of response, Mrs. Carter turned the doorknob and went into the room. She saw Allie's bed was made, but still, a wave of panic struck her. She became frightened and started to shake. In her chest, her heart pounded.

"Allie!"

She ran to the bathroom. She knocked quickly and flung open the door: it, too, was empty. Frantically, she hurtled back into Allie's room and checked that the window was locked.

Kay screamed her name again as she ran down the stairs to the back door. The dead bolt was unlocked and the door was open. She took a deep breath. Everything was all right; Allie was just out back. Yet, when she went outside, she saw the backyard just as empty. She walked all around the house and then to the back again. Perhaps she was at school already?

"Good morning, Lucient Central."

"Hello, this is Mrs. Carter on Wilshire road; I didn't see the bus today and wondered if school was in session."

"Oh hello, Mrs. Carter. There was a route change because of an unplanned event. Your daughter didn't tell you of the change?"

Relief flooded her. The tightening around her heart eased. "No, she didn't."

"Do you want me to get her out of class? I think they are taking a test but I can check for you."

"No, no, no, that is all right. How long will there be a new schedule?"

"Just for today is all, Mrs. Carter. Everything will be back to normal tomorrow."

"Thank you. Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Carter."

Kay hung the phone up and sat on the couch. She placed a hand over her chest, rubbing, urging her frenzied heart to calm itself. "Thank God!" she whispered to herself.

# # #

Malcolm had had a long night of searching for the three boys being hunted by the farmers. He rubbed his hands together to clean them as he walked down the hall wearing a camouflaged uniform. He entered the room to the nursery and immediately saw Mira's crumpled body on the floor. He quickly closed and locked the door behind him and focused on the cribs and then the incubators. The cribs were empty and two of the incubators housed babies. He scanned the corners of the room for the last infant. Slowly creeping forward, he took a look behind a stack of boxes: nothing was there. Cautiously, he moved to another corner stacked with boxes, but again found nothing.

The last place to check was behind the incubator station. Once again Malcolm crossed to it carefully, looked – and found nothing. Before he could decide what to do next, the ceiling on the other side of the room caved in. When the dust cleared, standing before him was a wild looking young girl of about five years. Her hair was matted around her face and she wore no clothing. She snarled and charged him.

Malcolm stood his ground and raised his hand to her. In the palm of his hand was an emblazoned crest. It glowed, and light shone in the girl's green eyes. Her scream fell silent, her charge halted. Malcolm walked over to her quickly while keeping his hand up in her eyes, then he touched her on the shoulder with his other hand and she stood straighter. He took his jacket off and put it around the young girl, leading her out of the room. Malcolm went back up front to speak with Bethany before going to his room to shower and sleep.

### Chapter 9 Cavers

Sara and Allie woke, showered, and changed their clothes. They had a good night's rest and were ready to face a new exciting day. They put back on their jackets and went to a small cafeteria for breakfast. They were given a choice between toast and jelly or cereal; both opted for the latter. While they ate, Malcolm passed by them and grabbed two pieces of toast and several packets of jelly.

"The bus driver's name is Malcolm?"

"Yes," said Sara, "he has worked here his entire life. He is a Gate Master."

"What is that?"

"It is the highest rank a human can have without conversion."

But Allie did not hear the answer; her mind had wandered back to the buses. "You remember I said crazy things happened to me on the bus?"

"I remember."

"Why didn't he tell me I wasn't crazy?"

Sara laughed loudly. "Would you have believed him or me? If you weren't so damn nosy you wouldn't be here now."

"I know, it's a gift," said Allie with a big grin.

"Yeah, right. Hurry up and finish so we can get started and then get you home."

Allie picked up her bowl and with a couple of big gulps she was done. "Ready."

"Let's go." They got up and Sara gave her a brief tour that led them back to the nursery. As they approached the door they saw Bethany standing down the hall.

"Come here, ladies." They walked over to her. "Did you sleep all right last night?"

"Yes, thank you," said Allie.

"We were good," said Sara.

"I am glad to hear it. Allie, would you mind waiting over there for a moment?" She pointed down the hall.

"All right." Allie shuffled away, but she watched the two from her waiting area.

"We had a problem this morning. One of the Cavers made a mistake and was killed. We need her now. Have you told her about the safety points?"

"Not yet. I thought she would be leaving today? Should I do that now?" Sara inquired, although she was more interested in who had been killed, and why.

"Are you sure about her?"

"Yes, she is all right."

"Tell her about safety and work with the kids today on the Front Nine. The nursery will be cleaned by the time you get back."

"I will, Bethany."

"Give her a T-shirt and a shot so she can keep up."

"I will."

"Have fun."

"We will. I think she will love the Front Nine."

"Let's hope so," said Bethany. She looked back at Allie one last time before going into the nursery and locking the door behind her.

Sara went and got Allie. "Guess what, nosy girl?"

"What?"

"We are going outside today. Come with me."

Sara led her down a corridor she had not been in before. They went through a door and stood in the middle of a large white room similar to the others but with a different pattern of tiles. Each wall bore the familiar crest. Sara went to a closet and opened it to reveal camouflaged T-shirts with large crests on the front and back of them. She handed one to Allie and told her to change. Allie wondered if there was a change room, but Sara immediately took off her jacket and shirt and changed in front of her so she did as well. After changing, Allie tried to put her jacket back on and Sara stopped her; she would not need it.

They put sweatbands around their heads and went to the door at the end of the room and went inside. Allie was in another large room with shelves on opposite walls that contained books and toys. There was a small jungle gym in the room and small tables with chairs and games on them. A door at the other end of the room opened; two children entered, escorted by a Caver named Lisa. One was brunette, the other blond. Both wore an elegant white dress fit for a princess. Each adorned their head with a tiara and held a doll. Allie looked sharply to see if they wore makeup to complete their look. She turned to hide her smile: dress up was a favorite game of hers when she was their age.

Lisa greeted them both and then talked to Sara for a moment before handing her something and then leaving.

"What was it she gave you?" Allie asked after Sara came back toward her.

"Well, I wonder if the cat died happy, what do you think?"

Allie was confused by what she had said.

Sara laughed. "You will find out later. Listen to me carefully, all right? Nadia and Lila will be going outside for their daily exercise. Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Hold out your arm." Allie held out her left arm and Sara took out a small syringe filled with a reddish liquid. "This is a booster shot that you will need."

"What's in it?"

"Trust me." Allie kept still and took the shot high on her upper arm like a booster shot. "There you go."

"What was in it?" she repeated.

"Adrenaline and other stuff. Without it you cannot keep up with them." She pointed to the two children playing quietly at a table. "I have to give you instructions to use with them." She faced her friend and put her hand on her shoulder. "Do the same to me." Allie put her hand on Sara's shoulder. "Now squeeze like this." Sara squeezed Allie's shoulder a bit too hard and she winced.

"Ow! Do you have to do it so hard?"

"Do it, Allie!"

Allie squeezed and Sara confirmed with a smile. "Okay?"

"Good. This is your safety touch. When you are around the children or the babies and they get out of hand you just touch them here on their shoulder and they will stop. It is an involuntary response. Your jacket is your first line of defense; if you forget it or can't get to it then this is your second line of defense. Touch them here as hard as it takes for them to be still. All you need is a soft touch with babies, but as they grow older you need to apply a stronger force. Either shoulder will do; also the back of the bottom of the leg, the calf." She bent down and touched her friend's calf to demonstrate the maneuver. "Follow procedure and you will stay safe, understand?"

"Got it."

"And never be in a position where they can wrap their arms around your waist or your neck, okay?"

"Okay."

"They can hear your heart beating and when it beats fast they get excited, so try to stay calm and watch yourself."

"Okay."

"Come on, I will introduce you." They went over and pulled up little chairs to the table and set beside them. "This is Lila," she said, indicating the blond girl, "and this is Nadia." They looked exactly as five year olds should; their only distinctive feature was that they were lighter in complexion with dazzling green eyes. "Everyone, this is our new friend Allie. Say hello, Allie."

"Hello, Lila. Hello, Nadia."

"Say hello, girls."

They each said hello in a shy and awkward way.

"Where is Mira?" Nadia asked.

"She has left us, so Allie might be taking her place. Will you give her a chance?"

They giggled and nodded in unison.

"Good. She is a good person who cares about both of you. Treat her with honor and respect."

"Are you our new teacher?" Lila said to Allie.

Allie was stunned at the question. "I guess so. Yes. Yes, I am."

"Yes she is, now are the two of you ready to go outside?"

"Yay!" both girls cried and waved their hands in the air.

Sara motioned for them to leave their tiaras and dolls on the table. She took Nadia by the hand and Allie did the same with Lila. They walked toward a side door and exited. There was an open-air railcar, which they strapped the two girls into. After Sara showed Allie how to work the controls, they were off. The car gathered speed and made a few turns that reminded Allie of an amusement park rollercoaster she loved. The girls raised their hands and laughed as they went through a tunnel and up a steep hill inside the mountain and plunged down the other side, splashing through water.

The railcar went speeding along as Sara and the children screamed with delight. Allie was enjoying the moment with them when she looked ahead and saw that the train tracks were leading them into a wall of solid rock. A wall that would surely be the death of them if they hit. How can they be oblivious to their impending deaths? She thought to warn her friend, but how? Her mind went blank and she could only clutch at her friend and ramble.

"Sara! Wall! Sara! Wall!"

Sara laughed at the weird face Allie made. Seeing her in fear was a thrill and she laughed heartily. "Relax, girl, I got this!"

Allie screamed and put her hands to her face, fearing their crash and deaths. How were they going to get out of the tunnel and past the wall?

It was simple: the wall was not real. It was an elaborate force field that kept their hideaway a secret from the outside world. The technology used was able to sense if a hiker or anyone else was on the other side or nearby; if so the railcar would be halted and they would wait for the intruding party to leave the area. The built-in security was decades ahead of the humans who lived in the area.

When they were near the wall, and Allie's screams were at their maximum, Sara pushed a button on the panel in front of her. The wall disappeared and they went out into the sun and into the forest area. When Allie looked back, the wall had closed and all that she was able to see was a set of old train tracks that led into what appeared to be a collapsed tunnel entrance. This was perfect camouflage and Allie marveled at its ingenuity. The genius who came up with it must be someone at the top of their society, she thought.

The railcar kept going and sped through trees as if flying. The sun beamed down on them and they took a moment to enjoy the warmth. Allie got her first real look at the girls in the sunlight. Out here, they appeared to be even paler. She could see blood vessels in one of the girl's faces. So many movies had told her that vampires would melt or burn in the sunlight. She was glad to be wrong; the girls were so pretty. She was even gladder that she didn't mention it to Sara and seem like a real dummy.

The railcar pierced another force field and came to a stop under a camouflaged awning. The two got out and unstrapped the girls. Allie wanted to hold the adorable Lila, but remembered she could not let her get close to her neck. She set her on the ground beside her; the little girl hugged her around her legs and Allie tensed.

Sara saw it and smiled to let her know it was all right. Allie relaxed and touched Lila on her shoulder and the girl stood straight up, releasing her. Allie smiled at her and then at Sara. She had discovered something wonderful: a newfound power.

"I see you are getting the hang of it," said Sara.

Sara reached into her pocket and pulled out a tin. Inside were a number of square, dark red pills. They reminded Allie of her favorite gum candy, Chicklets. Sara gave one to her friend. "Chew it for a minute and then swallow." She put one in her mouth to show her how. Allie did the same without question.

"Now here comes the fun part. Ready, girl?" Sara said, her eyes sparkling.

"Bring it on!" Allie responded with zeal.

"All right, ladies; let's start with the ground course."

"Yay!" they responded in unison. The girls took off running for an obstacle course. They first dove under a long net that they barely had to bend over to get through and ran toward a rope wall.

"You think you can beat them to the end of the course?" Sara asked.

"Of course I can, they are kids," Allie chuckled.

"We will see," Sara smirked knowingly. "Let's go."

As the girls neared the rope wall, Sara and Allie took off after them and dove under the long net. They made it through and raced for the wall. Sara leaped over the wall quickly; Allie ran for the rope and with two quick tugs she was to the top. She rolled over and down, looking to see what was next and where everyone had gone. The kids ran through tires with Nadia leading the way, followed by Sara. As she approached the tires, Sara turned and yelled for Allie to catch up.

The other girls led the way through the tires, monkey bars, and then a sprint to the finish line. Allie huffed and puffed; she couldn't believe how slow she was! When she made it to the end she collapsed on the finish line and looked up at all of them while breathing heavily. The three girls laughed down at her, pointing.

Allie took a minute to catch her breath. "How come none of you are tired? You don't even look like you broke a sweat." Her breathing now became better but her heart raced.

"You are old, aren't you?" Lila said to her, smiling innocently.

"No, she isn't, she is just weak," said Nadia.

"No, I am not!" Allie said defiantly and reached up and pulled the closer girl toward her. They wrestled on the grass. It was Lila, and they rolled and laughed in mock battle. When they stopped rolling, Lila was on top of her and her eyes had changed color. Lila was a green-eyed blond and her eyes were now a dark brown color. Allie quickly reached up and touched her on the shoulder. Lila froze immediately, her expression turning blank. A moment later her eyes closed and opened back up. The green color returned. She smiled down at Allie.

"All right, you two, let's go tree climbing," Sara said. She was proud of Allie and thought she would make a good teacher.

Lila vaulted to her feet and she and Nadia raced to their left to a giant tree. Allie got to her feet and she and Sara ran after them. At its base, Allie looked skyward: the tree was enormous – easily the biggest in the whole forest. It seemed to go on forever into the sky from this vantage point. At the top sat a structure she could not see: their goal.

The kids jumped to a branch twice their height and began their climb after getting the nod from Sara. They were off and climbing fast, leaves falling as they hurtled upward.

"Are you kidding me?" Allie said apprehensively.

"Relax. You should start to fill an extra lift soon; adrenaline does wonders. You first. Jump for the branch."

Allie looked above her head at an eight foot high branch, and then jumped for it, but could not quite reach it. She tried again and again with no success.

Sara stopped her from trying again. She came over to her and put her hands on each of her shoulders. "So, do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then brace yourself. Close your eyes." When Allie closed her eyes, Sara slapped her real hard across her face. It was a wallop that made her fall backward. Allie hit the ground hard and got up, furious. Blood filled her face, turning her scarlet. Before she could charge her, Sara put up her hands. "Wait!" She gave a big smile. "Trust me completely. Now, jump to the branch."

Allie looked up at the branch. Now it seemed to shimmer, color flickering around its edges. She jumped up and instead of catching the branch with her arms, she leaped all the way on top of the branch. She looked down below at Sara. "Whoa!"

Sara jumped up to the branch right beside her. "Now do you think you can keep up?"

"Lead the way," she said confidently.

Sara took off and Allie was able to follow her without any problems. In no time they had leaped from branch to branch, shimmied partway up the tree, then resumed leaping until they reached the top: a tree house.

Inside, Lila and Nadia played with dolls and a dollhouse. They smirked and waved hello, then went back to playing. There were human dolls, some with white shirts and crests, some with blood stained shirts. There were also vampire dolls, bigger and meaner than the rest. They made sounds as the big dolls towered over the smaller dolls. Allie found it interesting that from an early age they were taught they were superior to humans. With the feelings that she was experiencing she knew it to be true and didn't care. She sat by them and watched them play. Sara had a clipboard that she wrote information down in but it held no interest for Allie so she ignored it and focused on the girls.

"Which one of you is the oldest?"

"I am," said Nadia. "She is just a baby."

"I am not, you take that back," said Lila angrily.

"You are too; I was there when you were born so I should know the truth."

Allie was now curious because the girls appeared to be the same age. "Nadia, how could you be at her birth? You are the same age. Are you telling a fib?"

"A what?" She looked confused.

"I mean are you telling the truth?"

Nadia looked to Sara. Sara looked up from her writing, nodded, and resumed her task.

Nadia explained, "I am five years old; she is my baby sister. She is only three years old."

Allie was shocked. She looked to Sara for confirmation, who gave it with a little nod. "But you are the same height, same weight, and body dimensions! If anything, you are twins."

Nadia laughed. "My father did not want me to be alone when they went away so he –"

"Nadia," Sara interrupted, "you two put your toys away. We will finish exercising and then Allie has to go home. Show her how neat you can be when you clean things up properly."

The girls got up and put their dolls on shelves, cleaned up, and came to the door. They asked Sara to leave a note for their friends, Stav and Misha. Sara left the note before opening the door. Nadia continued their exercises by jumping to a tree about thirty feet away and climbing to the top. Lila followed; she landed further down the trunk and scurried up to her sister. Sara went next and landed where Nadia had been and climbed up a bit and yelled for Allie to jump. Allie hesitated for a moment, backed up, ran, and jumped. She yelled as loud as she could as she flew in the air, first from fear and then from exhilaration. She landed lower than Lila had and saw Sara urging her on from above. She looked past her and saw the two girls pointing and giggling at her.

"I will show you little smartalecky brats what I can do."

Allie got a tight grip on the tree and shimmied to the top and they were off again. They flew from tree to tree, whooping and yelling as they went. They played several games involving chasing, before finally returning to the railcar. The car was behind a force field that resembled poison ivy. They stepped through it, strapped the kids back in, got in the back seats, and went back through the tunnel to the underground lair.

### Chapter 10 Cavers

Sara and Allie held hands with the children as they brought them back inside the mountain hideaway. Once inside, the children walked in front of them, playing. Allie asked, "What is this place called, does it have a name?"

"Caveena. In their language it has several meanings; city, family, community, for us it means nursery school. It is one of several; this one is officially Caveena Six."

"Can I stay and help?"

"We have to get you back. Your parents will be worried, and before long they will have people searching for you. Eventually they will find this place and attack these people. We can't take that chance."

"What if I... what if I told my mother I had a baby-sitting job? That would not even be a lie."

"I'll ask Bethany. I'm not sure she likes you." Sara winked.

"Everybody likes me. I am popular, okay!"

"We will see, girl."

"She doesn't think I will hurt the kids, does she?"

"Will you stop it –"

"I wouldn't hurt a child. I wouldn't! There is no way that stuff could be talking about me. Kill the queen? I don't even know who the queen is, I never met her."

"Relax, girl."

They returned to the room where they met Lila and Nadia. Lisa was already waiting, and she took the two girls to escort them out. When they were gone, Allie looked around the white room and saw new patterns on the walls. "Whoa! Look at the walls!"

"Are you seeing the colors?"

"Yeah! They are so beautiful, like rainbows, just not arches, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. I will tell you about them later. Look over here in the center of the crest and tell me what you see."

Allie looked closely at the center of the image. "They have colors in them. I thought they were just black and white, but they have colors. Wow!"

"Is it red or blue?"

"Blue, mostly."

"Good. By the time I get you home, your new found jumping skills will have faded."

"No! They can't fade, not now!"

"Allie. If you had freaky powers that they didn't have you would stand out. To be one of us you have to blend in at all times. The last thing you want is to be noticed. It leads to death and destruction. Come on, let's go."

Sara led her back out the way they came in. They returned their jackets to the closet they had come from, and Sara led Allie out to the surface. They went back to Sara's house and her mother took Allie to school, where she would wait and take the bus home. Allie sat on the curb where she would not be seen. After the car pulled away, she headed for the side of the school and tried to jump – but her powers were gone. Her head hung as she walked back and plopped on the curb.

It was 2:45 and the buses began pulling up to the school entrance to take students back home. Allie saw her bus and got up and walked over to it. The doors opened and she saw Malcolm sitting behind the steering wheel. Allie boarded and tried to speak to him, but he held up his hand and pointed to the back. She saw the image on his hand and she stayed quiet and went to the back of the bus and sat.

Older students boarded the bus and when they went to the back and saw Allie they became upset. "What do you think you are doing back here in our seat, little girlie?"

Allie moved to the middle of the bus and sat there instead. She was angry and wanted to yell back, but she held her tongue. As the bus trundled along, she watched out of the window. She thought about the power she had lost and dreamed of smashing the boy's face in if she had it now.

When the bus stopped at her house she got off, ran to the house and opened her front door.

Her mother was there waiting for her. "Hey, Kitten."

"Mom, could you not call me that?" Allie thundered and huffed up the stairs to her room. She knew she was not really mad at her mother but her frustrations got the better of her. No matter; she would apologize later.

She sauntered into her bedroom, shut the door, and laid on her bed, mentally trying to figure out her future. For hours she stared up at the ceiling. To become a sitter, she would have to edit or flat out lie to her mother, and that would be painful for her. She thought over how best to approach the subject and it hit her: if her mother didn't ask the _right_ questions, it just might work.

Later that night she went to her mother's bedroom and knocked on the door. "Mom, can I come in?"

"It's open."

Allie saw her mother at her dresser, combing her long brown hair in the mirror. "I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have yelled at you and I am sorry."

"It's okay, Kitten – I mean Allison. You are getting older every single day and I guess I am just not ready to let go of my baby. I know I can't keep you little forever so be patient with me. I promise to snap out of it." She gave her a hug.

"It's okay. Every day I get reminded about how young I am, but I am not young. I have seen things and know things and I am ready to start being more responsible. Nobody will give me the chance to prove I can be responsible. I can do good things. All I need is a chance to prove myself."

"You are responsible. It's not you, baby, it's me. I want to keep you safe, but I have to learn to let go."

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"My friend Sara has a job as a baby-sitter. She says I can help her if I get permission. I got it all worked out. I can get off the bus at her house and sit for a couple hours and come home. I will be able to do any homework there and on weekends I can sit for longer. Will you let me?"

Kay was silent for a while. She had her hairbrush in her hand and played with it while thinking. She had many questions but wanted to be fair. "We will have to know more but I don't see it as a problem. Do you have all the details?"

"I can answer anything you want to know."

"All right." Kay sat on her bed and Allie sat beside her. "Who are you sitting for and where do they live?"

"A woman named Bethany. Sara has been her sitter for a whole year. She has two girls and one of the other sitters quit. I don't know what the pay will be but I imagine it will be fair. I have met her and the girls and they are good people. I can make my own money and show you how responsible I can be."

"Honey, you are fifteen."

"You can baby-sit at eleven. Don't you trust me?"

"It is not a matter of trusting you. Things are happening around here that are hard to explain and your father will have questions. He will probably want to meet this woman first. Let me think about it."

"Mom, I need to start now before someone else takes the job."

"Your father will be back in a minute; ask him."

Allie went downstairs and sat on the couch, waiting for her father. She reviewed her strategy and tried to anticipate every question he would ask her. It was not long before he walked through the door with his rifle in his hand. He saw her and smiled. "Alley Cat, what are you doing up at this hour?"

"Waiting for you. Mom said I needed your approval and I couldn't sleep until I knew for sure."

"All right." He put away his gun and sat on the couch. "Let's have it."

"I want to start baby-sitting with my friend Sara. She offered me the job because someone else quit and I have to let her know in the morning."

George looked at his young daughter. "What did your mother say?"

"She said it is okay with her if you say it is okay. Please let me do this. I won't get behind at school and I will be able to make my own money and show you how responsible I can be."

"Allie, something... something _strange_ is going on around town. You can't be out alone at night – not until we know more."

"I'll be protected, Daddy; I will be surrounded by people. You know Sara's father from work and her mother is nice; Mom met her and likes her. Please say yes."

"Honey, you are only fifteen, you don't need to work."

"Dad, there are girls around the world that get married at thirteen and start having babies. I was at a school where an eleven-year-old girl got pregnant and had a baby!" she said, starting to shout.

Her father's cheeks flared crimson. "I know! I pulled you out of that school because you don't need to be around stuff like that."

"Stuff like that! Stuff like that!" she yelled back. "Don't you mean people like that?"

The implication shocked him. "How dare you? If you want to fight then you fight fair!" He was calm and slow as he spoke, but his voice held authority.

Allie took several deep breaths but she was not about to give up. She knew her father and they had argued many times over many things and there was a way to win if she saw it. She finally said as calmly as she could, "I am sorry I said that. This is important to me. I want this more than anything I have ever wanted in my life. How can I prove to you I am ready?"

He had trained her well and was more impressed with her new strategy. "Let me think about it. Your safety is more important than a job." And before she had a chance to argue any further, he turned and went upstairs.

Allie exhaled and thought about what she could have done differently. She walked up the stairs to her room. It was the only thing on her mind before lying down and going to sleep.

In the morning, Allie got up with a mission. She stayed in her room because she didn't want any more questions from her parents. She watched the clock on her dresser and took the time to clean her room and her bathroom. She knew her bus schedule and made it downstairs just as her bus was coming around the corner. She politely said good morning to her parents and turned down breakfast. Then she was out the door, standing at the bus stop as it pulled up. She got on board, smiled at Malcolm, and sat in the middle of the bus for the ride to school.

At lunch, she sat at her table and waited for Sara to come in. As usual, the back table was populated with the Double E Club members. Allie cast it several glances, then started on lunch; having missed breakfast, she was starving.

"Hey, girl," said Sara as she sat down with her tray.

Allie perked up. "Hey. I need your help, big time."

"What's up?"

"I told my folks you were baby-sitting and the girl who was helping you quit and you need someone right away and you thought of me. They keep saying it is not safe and this and that. I need you to put in a good word for me."

"With your folks?"

"Yeah, they won't believe me, but I bet they will believe you. Just come over and make it sound good, that is all I need."

"Let me check with my mom."

"Sara, I need you. They won't let me do this without you."

"Do you really want to do this? It's not too late, you know; you can change your mind."

"Why do you keep asking me that? Of course, I'm sure. Help me!"

"Okay, girl, calm down. Dang, you sure are hyper in the mornings, aren't you?"

Allie apologized and laughed. "Thanks."

"Go home and wait. I think I have a solution that will work for you."

"You are the best friend ever," said Allie.

Sara looked at her friend and revisited her last words. Sara's stomach churned, but her face only showed happiness.

That night, Sara called Allie at home. "I got the perfect person to help you. Be ready in half an hour."

"What?" Allie asked. "Who? You're not coming?" She felt her heart racing.

"No, but you will be surprised." Sara hung up the phone.

Allie waited on the couch; her father was wearing camouflage fatigues and was getting ready to leave. Earlier in the day she saw him cleaning his gun and then later he was going through his doctor's bag. There was a knock at the door; George got up off the couch, and Allie raced to the door to get it. "I got it!"

When she opened the door, she was completely surprised. It was Bethany standing in her doorway. She had with her a baby, and Lisa. She looked lower and saw Nadia holding Lisa's hand. "I invite you into my home," she said – although she wasn't sure how she actually got the words out of her mouth or if they were appropriate. She opened the door wide and they entered.

Lisa wore a white jacket with the crest. She had long hair, a two-toned brown and blond mixture, that was tied in the back with a red string. She wore a blue open blouse with a silver cross on a gold-chained necklace that shimmered as she moved. She also had on a black skirt and smiled as she walked in first with Nadia. Nadia's hair was similarly styled and she wore the same blue blouse and black skirt. She too grinned as she entered the house. Bethany was the last to enter. She dressed like the others, and she too had on a white jacket with the crest, her long red hair tied with a white ribbon flowing behind her, Bethany entered the house carrying a baby wrapped in a pink blanket.

Allie closed the door and was immediately in high spirits. "Mom? Dad? This is the lady I told you about, this is Bethany."

Kay came forward. "How do you do, Miss...?"

"It is Mrs., Mrs. Bethaniel Alwudaio Loambardielleeao Caveena Rueman." She smiled. "Don't try to pronounce it, just call me Bethany."

"Oh, I see. Bethany it is. I am Mrs. Kay Carter and this is my husband, George."

They greeted each other.

Kay directed them to the couch. "Please have a seat. Is there anything I can get anyone?"

"No, we are fine. May I call you Kay?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, Kay, this is my cousin, Lisa, and this is my daughter, Nadia." Both said hello and exchanged pleasantries. "I am in need of help because Lisa will be leaving in the morning and Sara will lose her help. I was hoping that Allie would be able to take her place and I was under the impression that you and your husband had reservations?"

Kay spoke up. "I had some. Allie is young and we didn't know who she would be working for. We know Sara but needed more information before making a decision."

A truck's horn started playing the song Dixie outside. George rose, looked out the window, then waved at them. "I'm afraid I have to get going. I wish I had more time to talk with you, but we have to get a move on before it gets too late." He looked at Allie. "Whatever Mom says is fine with me. If a problem develops I will step in." With that, he grabbed his rifle and left the house.

"I'm afraid we are having some sort of problem with livestock that has got everyone literally up in arms," Kay said awkwardly after her husband had departed.

"I believe it will work itself out," said Bethany. "What can I say to ease your mind? I will admit I am being selfish and trying to force you into a quick decision."

Kay smiled nervously. How could she decline now that she had met the woman?

"Would you like to hold my baby?" Bethany asked. "Her name is Marianna."

"Yes, may I?"

Allie's heart sank for a moment. This was her mother – what if something happened? What if the baby attacked her? But she held it inside as best she could; Bethany was here to help, and she knew what was best. Still, she would not draw an easy breath until they left.

"Of course." Bethany stood and placed the baby in Kay's arms. She uncovered her and Kay saw a beautiful little face looking back at her. Bethany touched Marianna's shoulder, pressing down before releasing. The baby made a cooing sound.

Kay smiled and made noises at the baby. "Oh, she is so beautiful, I think she is perfect." She lifted the baby onto her shoulder; Lisa whipped around behind her, staring into the child's eyes, jacket and crest visible to Marianna. Lisa lifted her finger and when the baby saw it, Lisa slowly put her finger next to the cross and held it there. Marianna's eyes followed, settling on the jewel glistening in the cross.

"Kay, I work from home with Sara's mother. One of us will always be available to bring Allie home and if her grades start slipping then we will have to let her go. Our top priority is for our children to do well in school. If they fail, their hopes and dreams would meet a swift end."

Kay lightly patted the baby on the back and rocked her. "What job do you do from home if you don't mind my asking?"

"I don't mind. I run a day care and nursery school. There are newborns as well as girls Nadia's age. These days so much paperwork is involved that I have to hire extra help so I can take care of that. I don't know why, but they paperwork you to death."

"My husband's a doctor so I know that complaint very well." Kay brought the baby back down and turned around to sit back on the couch. For a moment she was startled to find Lisa behind her. She sat and both women moved quickly to either side of Kay and sat beside her.

Allie grabbed Nadia's hand and sat down beside her. In her chest, her heart beat faster. Nadia's head jerked toward her; the girl's eyes changed color. Thinking she was hearing her heartbeat, Allie quickly touched Nadia's shoulder then held her. "Put your head in my lap, close your eyes tight, and pretend you are sleeping," she whispered; Nadia did as she was told.

"Mrs. Carter, we have to be going, I have to put both of the children to bed. I stopped by to personally assure you that Allie is in good hands and as you can see, children love her."

Mrs. Carter looked at her daughter and the sleeping girl on her lap. Pride welled in her chest. "All right." She handed Marianna back to Bethany. Then Bethany climbed back to her feet, and Lisa collected Nadia from Allie. "I will let Allie work for you but her grades are her first priority."

"I understand completely. Goodnight, Kay."

"Goodnight, Bethany."

Allie walked them to the door with a spring in her step. She mouthed thank you and closed the door behind them. She went back in and hugged her mother: she was bursting with joy.

### About The Author:

R.G. Richards is a lifelong Missourian who writes Fantasy/Paranormal/Romance novels. He was an enthusiastic reader of tales of foreign lands (China, Japan, Hong Kong), most of which were "borrowed" from his father's private collection—a big James Clavell fan (Noble House, Shogun). These faraway tales provided the fertile ground which produced a rich imagination capable of spinning strange and unique stories of distant lands and people. Outside of reading and writing, he is a beginning swimmer, a gym hater, an avid gardener of Sugar Baby melons, and a lover of jokes. If you know a good one, send it his way.

SPECIAL NOTE:

Feedback is essential to an author. I look forward to hearing from you. Tell me what you liked as well as what you hated. I can take criticism so don't worry, you won't get a rant in return. With your help, I can make the next book that much better. Again, Thank You for purchasing and reading.

Books by this author:

VAMPIRE SERIES

Vampires aRe Real

Cavers (Cavers #1)

ZOMBIE SERIES (Zora Baker Series)

Zombie Zora - Zora Baker #1

Zombie Invasion - Zora Baker #2

Kill Happy - Zora Baker #3

Zombie Eden - Zora Baker #4

Zombie Jokes – Companion book of Jokes told by the children.

You can find him online at:

Mail: rgrichards2012@gmail.com

Website: rg-richards.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertgrichards/

Goodreads: <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5823275.R_G_Richards>

Facebook: <http://www.facebook.com/AuthorRGRichards>
