

TRAVIS STINNETT

Text copyright © 2013 by Travis Stinnett

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieved system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Travis Stinnett

Visit my website @ http://eeriealliance.blogspot.com

First Paperback Edition February 2013 by Travis Stinnett.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Stinnett, Travis, 1978-

The Silent Soldiers / by Travis Stinnett.__2nd ed.

Summary: Luke is an ordinary young boy, or so he thinks, living with his uncle and cousin after the death of his parents shortly after his birth. Little does Luke know, he is about to embark on a life changing journey to his grandfathers' house for the summer.  
Filled with demons, faeries, vampires, werewolves and more, this novel will put Luke through a gauntlet of trouble and turmoil, leading up to a final climatic battle.

ISBN 978-1482389371

[1. Vampires—Fiction. 2. Young Adult—Fiction. 3. Supernatural—Fiction. ]

I. Title. II. Series: Stinnett, Travis. The Silent Soldiers ; bk. 1.

ASIN: B00BGRGRV2

ISBN-10: 1482389371

ISBN-13: 978-1482389371

For my family. Thank you to my beautiful wife and three amazing kids for sticking by me through this daunting process. I love you guys!!

# Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my writing coach Timothy Stavetieg. Also, my wife Crystal for encouraging me through this entire writing and publishing process. Cliff Pennington with Pennington Graphics Solutions for all the amazing graphics work especially the spectacular book covers for the entire novel series.

# Don't miss Book Two in

THE SILENT SOLDIERS SERIES:

BACK TO SCHOOL

### INTRODUCTION

"It is almost time Master. The child will come of age in less than two weeks. How soon will you be able to return to the earth realm?" asked a woman's voice.

"It has been nearly fourteen years since the child was born, and I was banished. I am waiting for the precise moment in which I can make my return," said a man wearing a long black cloak.

A hood completely covered the figures head. The only part of the man's body, that was visible beneath the dark colored garment he was wearing, was his glowing red eyes. The man was standing in the middle of a cave barely lit by the fire of a single torch hanging on one wall. Suddenly the man's image started to fade and I realized he wasn't in the cave at all. The man had projected his image from some unknown location.

"I have completed the final arrangements for your arrival. We are ready to assist you in capturing the child, Master. The woman's voice came from the shadows of the cave just out of reach of the light from the torch. The outline of her body was visible, but it was impossible to see any of her features.

"Have you located the child? My plans can be carried out much more smoothly if we can take him before he learns about our world.

"No, Master, I have not. We have done everything in our power to locate and capture him. His parents went to great lengths to ensure that no one would find him. We have a lead that he could possibly be hiding in the Dallas area. We are searching the area day and night I assure you.

"You have done well my child. According to the prophetess the child will be returning to the mansion soon," the man said looking toward the old lady crouched against one wall of the cave.

The old lady against the wall was bound with small silver chains wrapped around her body. She whimpered softly. Suddenly a long silver whip flashed out from the woman in the shadows. It struck the old lady in the back causing her to scream out in pain.

"You will keep quiet in the presence of our Master," says the woman fiercely. The chained old lady became instantly silent before the man began to speak again.

"We must obtain the child. He is a key element in my plans to rule this horrid planet the humans call earth. If he unites with good he will forever be my enemy."

"That will not happen, Master. Your plans will not fail. I have worked very hard in your absence to guarantee your success." the woman says proudly.

"We shall see, my child." The woman bowed to the cloaked figure. He nodded slightly before he completely faded from the dark cave. The woman walked out into the light of the torch and it became apparent that she too was completely concealed by a dark colored cloak. She walked gracefully over to the chained woman. She kneeled down on one knee next to the old lady.

"Master will be returning soon. I know you have been withholding information about the visions you are having you old hag. When Nhados is in our realm once again you will have no choice but to tell him what you know. He has ways you could never even imagine to force you into telling him what he needs to know," she spat the words out at the chained lady.

The old lady began to cry softly again. She knew the cloaked woman was telling the truth. She had indeed been under Nhados' power in the past. When Nhados captured her many years ago she suffered his wrath for a short time. She began to sob loudly dreading the coming torture from the terrifying dark wizard. An evil laugh came softly from the cloaked woman. Her laugh became louder and more evil as she stood to her feet. The woman kicked the old lady in the ribs swiftly causing her to scream out in pain once again.

## 1

Each morning for the past week, I awake from the same dream. I'm walking in a beautiful valley somewhere, not sure where exactly. The breeze is blowing the back of my neck making the hair stand up a little. Suddenly, it turns to night with the moon full over my head, and unusually large. I look around the valley at the wood line and see pairs of glowing yellow eyes surrounding me. I freeze with fear as I try to search through the darkness to find out what is surrounding me. Slowly the pairs of eyes start moving closer to me and my fear grows more intense paralyzing me. I desperately search every direction trying to find a way to escape, but I am completely surrounded. I am sweating, yet my flesh is chilled and my muscles clenched as I begin to hear a very low rumbling growl coming from every direction. The growls slowly get louder and more threatening, and I can feel fear growing stronger. All of a sudden I hear a single wolf howl. I wake up screaming, and drenched in sweat.

I have thought day and night about what this dream might mean but I'm too embarrassed to ask my uncle what he thinks. It is embarrassing having to tell your uncle you're dreaming of the big bad wolf.

Luke had grown up living with his Uncle Charles and his cousin Matt since birth. They were about the same age, Matt having been born only five days before Luke. In many ways, being so close in age made them like twins. They had always been very close. They were practically inseparable.

I have asked about my parents many times but I can never get any information from my Uncle. When I ask him what happened to them all he can tell me is there was an accident, and I had to come live with them. I feel like there is more to it than just an accident. I only want to know what happened to them, and what they were like. I guess it's too hard for him to talk about losing his only sister. Maybe someday I will meet other family members that might be able to tell me about my parents.

I do know my grandfather, my mom's dad, is still around. Samuel Carrington, my grandfather, is apparently a very wealthy man and does some kind of real estate business in every part of the world. This is what Uncle Charles has told me about him. I have only seen him a couple times in my life, usually around holidays. He never stays more than an hour or two at the most so I never have time to get him alone to talk about my parents.

I have never met any of my dad's family. I feel like there are lots of secrets regarding me and my family. Uncle Charles seems to be hiding things from me but I can't find any proof. Maybe when I get older I can do some searching and see what I can come up with.

"Luke, we're going to be late!" yelled Matt from the hallway outside Luke's bedroom.

"What time is it?" Luke mumbled.

"It's seven o'clock, man. Get your butt out of the bed or we are going to miss our last day of school."

"Why are you so excited about getting to school? You haven't cared whether you went to school or not all year, and now you're ready to go all of a sudden?"

"Yeah man, the quicker we get there, the quicker we will be out for summer and the quicker we can go on vacation."

Luke was kind of excited about going on vacation. They were planning to spend a couple weeks at his grandfather's house in Arkansas. He wasn't sure if his Grandpa would actually be there very much since he is away on business a lot. He hoped his grandfather would find time to talk to him a little about his parents. Samuel lived in Eerie, a few miles outside of Little Rock, the state capitol. His Uncle told him Eerie was a very small town, but that Little Rock was much bigger. Charles also said there were lots of things to keep him and Matt entertained while they were there. They had no idea just how entertained and busy their life would become once they arrived at their grandfather's house.

Luke, Charles, and Matt lived in Dallas, Texas. There were always things to do there. His uncle said Little Rock was not nearly as big as Dallas, so he hoped they had a good time and were not completely bored for the next few weeks.

"The bus will be here in five minutes," said Matt as he knocked on Luke's bedroom door and pushed his way in.

"I'm ready Matt, let's get going."

Luke and his cousin were in the seventh grade. Matt was about a foot shorter and weighed several pounds less than Luke, but so did everyone else in his grade. Matt had dark skin, short brown hair and brown eyes. All of the girls were crazy about him, and he knew it. Luke, on the other hand, had very pale skin. No matter how much time he tried to spend in the sun he couldn't seem to get any darker. It definitely was not fun growing up as the pale giant of your class. Luke was big, pale, had shoulder length blonde hair, and blue eyes. His uncle told him he had his father's complexion and his mother's hair and eyes. Luke didn't know exactly where his size came from though.

So, here they were on their last day of the seventh grade. It seemed like any other day, but Matt was super stoked about it for some reason. Luke was trying his best to be in high spirits for Matt's sake. He couldn't help but feel as though something weird was about to happen. The memories of his dreams continued to haunt his subconscious mind. Every time Luke let his mind wander, the thought of the dreams would surface again.

The first half of the day went by really fast for him. He made it through English, Math, Biology, and Spanish class with flying colors. Next came lunch. He and Matt didn't have any classes together, unfortunately, but they had always sat together at lunch. Luke had never been a real people person like Matt, so he never made many friends in school. Matt was always surrounded by lots of friends. His friends pretty much accepted Luke because he was part of Matt's family.

Luke had spent most all of his free time learning and perfecting his interest in martial arts. He had been in Karate and Tae Kwon Do classes for as long as he could remember. He currently held a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Everyone was excited about the things they were planning to do on vacation. Luke pretty much stayed to himself, as usual, thinking.

The time he spent now, thinking, led his thoughts back to the recurring dream about the glowing yellow eyes and the howling wolf. He continued to wonder what the meaning behind the animals in his dream was. He had never in his life even seen a real wolf. Luke couldn't help but think that the wolves felt almost as though they were familiar to him for some reason. He grew more puzzled the more he thought about them.

The end of the day finally rolled around, and Mat met him at his locker. He grabbed the rest of his stuff and left it empty for whoever was to have it the next year. He slammed the locker shut before they headed for the bus to take them home. When they got home his Uncle's truck was already in the driveway. Luke realized instantly that something was going on. It was very unusual for Charles to be home so early. He normally worked until five or later every evening.

"I wonder why dad is home so early," Matt said.

"I don't know. Lets find out." They walked in the front door and found that their luggage had already been packed and now waited for them in the living room. Luke thought this was kind of odd since his uncle told them they needed to pack as soon as they got home from school. He told them they were leaving first thing the following morning for Grandpa's.

"Dad?" yelled Matt as they walked through the living room to look for Charles. They found him on the phone in the kitchen.

"That's right. I need two flights to Little Rock as soon as possible," said Charles into the phone.

"What's going on, Matt?" Luke asked curiously.

"I don't know man. I thought we were driving up to Grandpa's in the morning." About that time Charles hung up the phone.

"Get everything loaded in the truck," said Charles.

"What's going on, Dad?" asked Matt.

"We have to go to Grandpa's tonight. We can't wait until morning to leave."

"What's going on?" Luke asked curiously. "Why only two flights?"

"I'm sending you and Matt on tonight. I have some important business to take care of in the morning and I'll drive up tomorrow evening." Luke found it kind of peculiar that his uncle would fly them to Little Rock tonight instead of waiting for all of them to leave tomorrow. Luke decided to keep this thought to himself. Charles seemed to do things lately that made Luke wonder if he was hiding something, but he never asked questions. He knew it was not polite to question grown-ups about their business.

Matt didn't seem to think anything was out of the ordinary. At least he didn't let on that he did. Matt was just excited about the thought of getting to fly. Neither of the two boys had ever been on a plane. Luke finally admitted to himself he was a little bit excited too.

Charles failed to tell his son and nephew the true reason he was sending them early. He didn't have time to explain all of the things they would soon find out. He needed to get them out of the state. When Luke was born he was placed in the care of his uncle. Charles, after the recent death of his wife, had to move from his home in Eerie. He moved to Dallas to hide his newborn nephew from the dark and evil forces that were hunting him. Charles feared that after all these years their location had been compromised. That was the real reason he was sending them to their grandfather immediately.

They quickly loaded their things into the back of Charles' truck. It definitely seemed like a lot of bags for a couple weeks, but Luke again decided not to ask any questions. Luke ran up to check his room one last time to make sure everything he wanted to take had been packed. They were out the door in quite a hurry.

"How are we getting to Grandpa's once we get to Little Rock?" Matt asked his dad.

"Grandpa is going to send a car. It will be waiting on you as soon as you land." Charles explained.

"And you are coming tomorrow, right?" I asked.

"That is the plan. As soon as I finish what I have to do, I will head that way." Charles looked funny to Luke. He almost looked as though he was terrified of something. Luke couldn't imagine what had his uncle so scared. He hoped everything worked out the way Charles wanted.

"The shifter has been spotted leaving the house," said one of the two men standing in the dark cave. The men knelt before the cloaked woman as if she was their queen. They dared not look the woman in the eyes. It was apparent the men feared this woman.

"Then what are you waiting for?" screamed the woman, "Why are you here with me when this could be the perfect opportunity to capture the boy?" she added hissing the words at the men. The two men began to slowly creep backwards away from the woman. It was impossible for a human to move their body parts the way these men did.

"Yes, Madame," said one of the creeping men.

"They are being trailed as we speak. We will go to them immediately," said the second man.

"If you value the air you breathe, you will not let the boy get away. The master is due to arrive at any time. He will not be pleased if the boy is allowed to escape," spat the woman. The two men bowed their heads to the woman and instantly burst into flames. When the flames went out the two men no longer knelt before her. They had magically teleported back to wherever they came from.

Luke, Matt, and Charles arrived at the airport in Dallas. Uncle Charles said his good-byes before unloading their luggage onto a rolling cart. The airport was huge. Luke couldn't imagine how they would ever find where they were going on their own.

"I have to go, but Mr. Coleman here is a friend of your Grandpa's. He will help you check in and get to your assigned terminal." Charles told them. Mr. Coleman, to their surprise, was a giant man with dark tanned skin and a buzzed haircut. He wore a black suit with dark sunglasses. Charles took the man aside and spoke to him for a second. Luke watched as the giant man nodded his head in agreement.

Luke had been watching his uncle closely since they left the house. He watched as Charles drove unusually fast as he weaved through the heavy afternoon traffic. Luke knew they were in a hurry to get to the airport. He couldn't understand why his uncle had watched his rearview mirror so closely. Luke had started to get nervous as he watched his uncle drive. As Charles talked to Mr. Coleman he scanned the cars that were coming and going at the front entrance of the airport. The nervousness Luke felt on the drive suddenly turned to fear as his uncle, and then Mr. Coleman began to look frantically around at the other people walking in and out of the airport.

"He's kind of scary looking, huh?" Matt asked.

"Yeah man he is freaking me out a little bit," Luke agreed. Luke wondered if Matt had even noticed the strange way his father had been acting since they got home from school.

"You are in good hands with Mr. Coleman. He will make sure you guys get on your plane safely." Charles explained. "I love you boys. I will see you both soon at Grandpa's. The boys waved bye to Charles as he practically ran back to his truck and took off in quite a hurry. They followed Mr. Coleman into the airport. Luke wondered why Charles was in such a hurry now that they were safely to the airport. They checked their baggage quickly before they rushed off to the terminal. Luke thought they would never get where they were going. The airport appeared to go on for miles. He thought they walked at least a hundred of those miles before they finally arrived at the right terminal.

Luke and Matt were practically running through the airport as they tried desperately to keep up with Mr. Coleman. Luke watched Mr. Coleman as they ran. He couldn't see the man's face as his head turned back and forth scanning the crowds as they rushed toward their destination. The flight attendant was just about to close the door to the gate.

"WAIT!" yelled Mr. Coleman. The attendant was more than a little shocked at the outburst, but she smiled gently at them.

"You almost missed your departure," she said as she made her way over to greet us at the check in counter.

Luke was out of breath when they made it to the check in counter at the terminal. He looked around at all the people in the airport as he tried to catch his breath. Suddenly Luke spotted a figure standing across the airport through the crowd. He knew instantly something was different about this person he was looking at. He wondered why nobody else seemed to notice someone wearing a heavy cloak that completely concealed every part of their body. He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. Just as he was about to reach out and touch Matt to get his attention a large group of people walked between him and the cloaked figure. Luke craned his head trying to get a better look at the person. When the group passed the cloaked person was gone.

They boarded the plane quickly after the attendant got them checked in. Mr. Coleman went his own way since his job with the boys was complete. Luke really wanted the chance to talk to Matt on the plane, but getting tickets at the last minute caused their seats to be too far apart. He wanted to talk to him about what he saw at the terminal. Luke began to think maybe he hadn't even seen the person at all. He pushed it out of his mind as he settled into his seat for the trip.

The flight was boring to Luke after the thrill of the initial take off. He decided to take a nap. He was not really tired, but he wanted to be well rested to talk to Grandpa. He had hoped his Grandpa would be home that night, and he would get the chance to talk to him alone. Luke fell asleep quickly after he closed his eyes.

The familiar dream started all over again. Beautiful valley, turning to night, glowing yellow eyes, and the howling wolf. This time was different though. Luke hadn't woke up when the wolf howled. He had never dreamed past the howling before. He didn't know what to expect after that. He looked around at the glowing eyes surrounding him. He tried to anticipate what would happen next. Luke caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, there was a huge cat running toward him at full speed. The cat was solid black with glowing red eyes and the sharpest teeth he had ever seen. Luke guessed it was some sort of panther or something of that nature. Just as Luke turned to run, he felt something rip through the flesh of his back.

Luke woke up jumping from his seat on the plane screaming at the top of his lungs. He looked around and realized everyone on the plane was starring at him. He immediately remembered where he was and turned red with embarrassment as he sank back into his seat.

"Are you ok?" The flight attendant asked as she made her way over to check on him.

"I just had a bad dream," Luke replied. The dream had appeared as though it was getting weirder. Luke was more confused as to what it meant. He tried to shake the lingering feeling of fear as the captain instructed the flight attendants to prepare for the arrival into Little Rock.

## 2

"We failed you, Master," said the woman's voice as she kneeled before him. The men she sent to the airport to retrieve the boy had failed her. She punished them severely for their failure. Now, even though she knew her master wasn't actually standing before her, she must answer to him. She would take whatever punishment he felt she needed."

"I was at the airport myself. There was no way for the child to be taken without causing a scene in front of all those pathetic humans," said the already fading cloaked figure. The woman suddenly realized she had dealt punishment to innocent beings. She wasn't the least bit sorry about it. She wanted to impress her master by capturing the boy before he returned to the Earth realm. She now knew she missed her last chance for that to happen.

"I am sorry, Master. I should have gone and finished the job myself," said the woman sarcastically.

"And ruin your place within the pack? That would be even more stupid than causing a scene in front of the humans!" The man yelled down at her. The woman flinched at the tone of the man's angry voice as though he could cause her harm. The man had again projected himself into the cave from whatever far away dimension he had been banished to. "You must be smart. We need you to hide within the pack to inform me of their actions, and to keep a close eye on the boy. The time is coming for me to return and bring the boy to stand at my side. We must be as prepared as possible. That responsibility lies with you alone," The man told her. His voiced calmed steadily as he again explained her importance.

"I understand, Master. I must go and prepare myself for his arrival at the mansion." As soon as her last word was out, the man quickly faded from the dark cave. She slowly stood and walked out of the cave. She had a big job ahead of her. She couldn't fail her master a second time for fear that he would end her life for good.

The plane seemed to move in slow motion as I anxiously awaited its arrival at our gate. I could see Matt a few rows in front of me as he stared out the little window next to his seat. He was lucky enough to get a window seat. I couldn't see anything as the plane made its way to the gate. We got our carry on bags out of the overhead compartments and were on our way to the exit door. As we made our way down the hall into the terminal I spotted a man holding a sign that read MR. STALLINGS AND MR. CARRINGTON. You could hardly call the person holding the sign a man. He was about 3 feet tall with long gray hair and beard. He reminded me of one of Santa's elves to be perfectly honest. He was dressed pretty much the same way as Mr. Coleman back in Dallas, minus the dark sunglasses. I let out a little giggle at the sight of him and Matt caught on to what I was looking at.

"I guess that would be us," I told Matt.

"Guess so," he replied. We slowly made our way thru the crowd toward the tiny little man. When he finally realized we were headed his way you could see the excitement light up his tiny little features. The little man hurried over to us.

"You must be Luke!" the little man exclaimed as if he had known me my entire life. You could feel the excitement pouring from the little man as he shook my hand enthusiastically.

"It is such an honor to finally meet you," said the little man.

"Nice to meet you too sir," I said in a very confused sort of way.

"Please forgive me. My name is Jackson Rathburn. I work for your grandfather, Mr. Carrington," he explained.

"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Rathburn," I said.

"Oh no, no, no, you must call me Jack," he said with a huge smile.

"Ok, Jack. This is my cousin Matt," I said.

"Oh, please forgive me Matt. It is definitely a pleasure meeting you as well," he said as he blushed with embarrassment.

"Same here," said Matt with a very annoyed look on his face.

"I will be escorting you to the mansion to meet with your grandfather." I couldn't help but feel nervous and excited at the thought of my grandfather being home, and about the possibility of getting some alone time with him. I had so many questions popping into my head as we followed the little man named Jack thru the airport in Little Rock. The airport wasn't nearly as big as the one in Dallas, but it still took us some time to get outside to the car. We followed Jack out the front doors of the airport and I spotted a huge limousine with another of the black suited men waiting to load our luggage into the trunk.

"Looks like we're riding in style Matt," I said.

"Wow! Grandpa must be loaded sending a limo to pick us up," said Matt. Matt and I had never known exactly what our grandfather did for a living. We knew he was in real estate. We were beginning to realize he must have loads of money. Neither Matt nor I had ever been to Grandpa's house. We really didn't know what to expect with "the mansion," as Jack put it, but we were both overflowing with excitement about our first plane ride and our first ride in a limousine. This was almost more excitement than either of us could handle in one day. The man that loaded our luggage now opened the door at the back of the limo. The three of us climbed into the back seat. We heard the front door open and close, the engine started, and the car began to move. We couldn't see the driver with the window to the front seat being completely blacked out. Jack didn't seem to be bothered by it. We watched out the windows in anticipation as the car made its way onto the freeway headed to Eerie, the town where our grandfathers' mansion was located.

"Would you care for something to drink?" Jack asked Matt and me.

"Sure, what do you have?" Matt asked.

"See for yourself," Jack said as he opened the limos mini fridge. It was packed with every sort of soft drink you could imagine. We both settled for our choice of canned drink, and Jack closed the fridge. We sipped our sodas as we exited the interstate.

"So, how long have you worked for Grandpa?" I asked Jack.

"I have been with your grandfather for many years, he explained, "Long before either of you were even born."

"That's cool."

We rode in silence as we continued down the narrow two lane road leading into Eerie. I noticed that we were driving through nothing but woods on both sides of the road. I couldn't remember if we had passed a house at all in the past couple miles. Soon after that we passed a couple of small houses. We passed a sign that said Eerie, population 314, and that let me know just how small this town really was. Next we passed a little convenience store and were running parallel to railroad tracks on the opposite side. We slowed down to make a right hand turn that took us over the tracks. We passed a couple larger houses and were again surrounded by woods. We drove a few more miles when the car began to slow down to make another turn. The driveway opened up to a little guard shack with a huge black metal gate hung between a massive block wall. The wall must have been at least 12 feet tall.

I noticed cameras pointed in different directions down the top of the wall. I wondered why Grandpa needed so much security. The limo stopped at the gate. I noticed the two guards looked and dressed much the same as the driver and Mr. Coleman. The guards approached the driver. After a brief conversation one of the guards went back to the guard shack. The other made a circle around the car. After the guard completed his search of the car he went back to the guard shack. We watched as the huge black gate started to slowly open. The guard motioned for us to go in. The car pulled slowly forward through the gate.

Matt and I both stared out our windows as we made our way down the drive and through more woods that surrounded us. At one point we crossed a small covered bridge that crossed a creek connecting two very large ponds on either side of the road. We continued down the driveway as the woods began to thin out and open up to fields all around us. Just as we started over the top of a hill we caught our first glimpse of our grandfather's' mansion. Our mouths dropped open in awe as we took in the view. We could see the house across a valley from where we were coming down the drive. I could hardly put into words how big this place was. It could barely be called a house at all. It was more along the lines of a castle than anything. Huge gray stones made up the majority of the exterior surfaces. Massive columns held up the roof that covered the entryway to what I assumed would be the front door. At either end of the massive central part of the house, which was at least three stories tall, were two towers. These towers were like something you would see in a fairy tale story. They were round and extended above the main level of the house. I had never seen a house as big as this one in all my life, even in the Dallas area. I couldn't wait to get inside and start exploring the place with Matt.

I glanced over at Matt as the car veered to the right around the circle driveway in front of the mansion. I hadn't noticed before, but Matt was looking rather pale and was sweating quite a bit even with the rather cool temperature in the limo.

"Are you feeling ok Matt?" I asked. "Not really. I think I'm just tired from all of the excitement we've had today," he said. "You're probably right. I'm a little tired and worn out myself."

It was beginning to get dark by the time we arrived at the house. I looked at the huge spotlights that illuminated the area around the mansion. The back door of the car opened and another black suited giant motioned for us to get out. Two younger guys, dressed also in black suits, approached the rear of the car and opened the trunk. I was beginning to get the idea that these black suits were uniforms for my grandfather's employees. The younger guys unloaded our luggage and began hauling it into the house.

As we walked up the steps and approached the huge front doors, Jack said, "Matt, why don't you come with me and I'll show you to your room so you can lie down. You aren't looking very well and probably need a little rest from all the excitement."

"That sounds like a great idea, Matt said, I'm really not feeling well at all."

"Luke, why don't you go into the great room straight through those doors," Jack said pointing to a set of double doors as we entered into what would be the foyer of the mansion.

"Your grandfather will meet you there shortly."

"Ok, sounds good to me."

"Will you be ok, Matt?" I asked.

"Sure man I just need to lie down for a minute," he replied. A massive staircase on either side of the double doors leading to the great room led to the second story. I watched as Jack led Matt up the stairs. I watched until they were out of sight before I entered into the next room as Jack had instructed.

The room I entered was indeed a "Great" room. It was bigger than our entire house in Dallas, which made it a bit overwhelming. The walls were covered in a dark colored stone from floor to ceiling with dark hardwood floors. There was nothing down the center of the room except for a thick rug. On the left side of the room was a very large fireplace surrounded by an over sized brown leather couch and matching chairs. The other side of the room had a huge table that could seat at least two dozen people comfortably, with chairs all around. The rooms' ceiling was at the level of what had to be the same height as the second floor ceiling. Statues, plants, and trees of different sizes decorated the room. A huge chandelier lowered down from the ceiling to what should be the first floors ceiling in the center of the room.

I walked around the room looking at all of the paintings hanging on the walls. I made my way back around to the sitting area in front of the fireplace. About the time I sat down on one of the large chairs, I heard the door at the other end of the room close. I looked up to see Grandpa, with a big smile on his face, walking toward me. I stood and he came up to give me a big hug.

"I am so very happy you are here, Luke. I have waited so long for the day that you would join me here at the mansion."

"I'm so glad to see you Grandpa. Is Matt ok?"

"He will be just fine, son, don't you worry about him. You are both in very good hands now that you have arrived at the mansion."

"I have so many questions for you Grandpa. I have been waiting for years to ask them."

"Well, let's sit down and talk for a while. I know you have lots of questions for me. I have lots of things to reveal to you as well." We both sat down with Grandpa in one of the big chairs, and me on the end of the couch closest to him.

"I'm just going to come out and ask you this, Grandpa. I hope that I don't upset or anger you for asking."

"I want you to know you can ask me anything and I will never get upset or angry with you, Luke."

"Ok. I want to know what happened to my parents. I have asked Uncle Charles several times over the years and all he ever tells me is that there was some sort of accident. I want to know what happened to them exactly."

"Luke, Charles was correct about the accident. After your parents placed you in his care they took my private jet to flee from Nhados. They decided to return to England, to your fathers' home country. Your father believed that with you in hiding, and them in the protection of his people you all would be safe from Nhados. Somewhere in the middle of the ocean the plane went down. The plane crashed into a small island and exploded on impact. I sent a team to look for any survivors, but none were found," explained Grandpa.

"I have something else to tell you that you probably are not going to understand. The world and the things in it are not what they appear to be. There are many things that you have never seen or experienced. Some of the creatures that you have experienced only in movies live right along side us in everyday life. The supernatural world exists in great secrecy from the human race. I'll explain what I'm talking about later. Some of it is just too much for you to comprehend all at one time. Your mother and father were very powerful, very important, supernatural beings."

"What exactly do you mean by beings Grandpa?"

"Luke, I need for you to just listen to everything I tell you and believe that I am telling you the truth."

"Ok, Grandpa, I trust you."

"Fifteen years ago your mother and father met and fell in love instantly. This love was strictly forbidden in the Supernatural community because they are of different races. I don't mean the color of their skin. Your mother was a shifter and your father was a vampire."

## 3

"You're kidding, right? Vampires are just characters someone made up for the movies, Grandpa. And, what exactly is a shifter?" I asked.

"Vampires very much do exist, Luke. Please allow me to finish. A shifter is someone that transforms into an animal during the full moon. Full blooded shifters can change anytime they choose. Your mother was a shifter. She was of the race that changes into wolf form, better known as werewolves.

"So, my dad was a vampire, and my mom was a werewolf?" I laughed at Grandpa as I thought about my parents playing the part of these make believe characters in the movies Matt and I watched growing up. I let my laughter fade away when I noticed the very serious look he was giving me. I was finding it very hard to believe what he was telling me.

"Yes. That is correct. Many years ago your parents met and fell in love. Love between different races of supernatural creatures was strictly forbidden. Your parents kept their relationship a secret for quite some time. After a while they decided they wanted to have a child together. This normally would be impossible since vampires can't reproduce. They paid a very powerful witch to create and cast a spell on your father to allow your mother the opportunity to conceive his child."

"And they had me?"

"That is correct Luke. Nine months later they had you. Once word got out about a child born from two different races, both families began fighting over which race should raise you, and who would have control over you. This upset your parents very much. They didn't want anyone having control over their child. They wanted you to grow up like all other supernatural children. They decided to tell both of their families that you died at birth. They decided to leave the country and return to your fathers' homeland in England. I only found out you were still alive after your parents accident."

"They had the witch to cast a spell binding all of your powers. They felt this was the only way you could grow up as a normal human until which time your powers could be revealed. They told only your Uncle Charles about their plans. The asked him to raise you with his own son, Matt. Before you turned fourteen he was asked to bring you here to the mansion."

"So what exactly does that make me?"

"Luke, you are the rarest of supernatural beings. As far as we know, you are the only successful attempt at mixing the races. We don't know exactly what to expect when the spell is removed, and you come of age."

"So why didn't my parents take me with them when they left? Couldn't I have grown up normal with them?"

"Your mom and dad knew the supernatural community would be watching them. If they were ever seen with a child, evil would not stop until you were captured. They would know who you were even without your powers. They had no choice but to hide you until you were powerful enough to defend yourself. We have many preparations to make, and much training to complete, before you can be introduced into the supernatural community."

I sat there and stared at Grandpa. I didn't know exactly how to respond to what he was telling me. I felt waves of different emotions that were nearly too much to bear. I was angry at my parents for leaving me. I was angry with Uncle Charles for hiding this from me all these years. I also felt a great sadness for what he must have went through raising two boys on his own after losing his only sister. I felt anger toward my grandfather for not being around, and also for not telling me all of this sooner. All of these emotions were flooding me at once. All I could manage to do was sit there and stare at Grandpa as tears began to roll down my face.

"I know you are upset Luke. I understand what you must be going through." I didn't know how it was possible for him to understand what I was going through. My whole life had been changed in a matter of minutes. I no longer knew who or what I was. I also didn't know what my future held. He had just told me of a whole other world that I never could have dreamed even existed. I was somehow caught up right in the middle of it.

"Now that you know about your parents, you need to know more about what is in store for you in the days and weeks to come. I told you your father was a vampire. Vampires have a wide array of powers and weaknesses that you must learn and understand."

"I have seen vampire movies Grandpa. I know all about garlic, holy water, crosses, and wooden stakes. I also know they can't go out in the daytime."

"Vampires also have a reaction to silver, and they must feed on human blood to survive,"

"So let me get this straight. I can never go out in the sun again, and I have to drink blood?" I asked completely disgusted by the thought of this.

"Well we don't quite know about you yet. You are a completely different being all together. You are only part Vampire. We don't know if you will react and behave the same way as a normal vampire would."

"I also told you about your mother being a shifter. Your mother was a descendent of a pure race of shifters that take the form of a wolf. As much as we do not know about your vampire side, we know even less about your shifter side.

"So if mom is from a pure race does that mean that you are a shifter as well?"

"Yes. I am a shifter, and so is your Uncle Charles," Grandpa explained.

"What about Matt?" I asked in a shaky tone. I couldn't imagine Matt turning into anything, let alone a wolf.

"Yes. We are all of the wolf clan of shifters. Shifters are like any other normal child until they reach the age of fourteen. After a shifter reaches this age they will shift on the first full moon. After the initial change to their animal form, they have the ability to shift at will.

"Matt turned fourteen two days ago Grandpa."

"Yes he did, and you turn fourteen in a few days yourself."

"Is Matt going to shift at the next full moon? When is that exactly?"

"The next full moon is on your birthday. Two days from today. Charles has been informing us of Matt's progress over the past few days. I felt it was imperative that Matt be here tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow. It looks as though he made it here just in time."

"What do you mean? I thought you said the first change was on the full moon. And how could Uncle Charles tell Matt was getting close to the change?"

"On rare occasions shifters of the purest of blood lines will change early. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it usually means the shifter will have great power of some kind. And as for Charles knowing Matt was getting close to changing? Fathers have a sixth sense about when their child is getting close to the first change. Charles nearly missed the signs. We are very glad that Matt arrived here when he did. It looks as though Matt is close to his first shift."

"Can I see him? I bet he is terrified being alone. He doesn't know what the heck is going on," I yelled.

"I'm afraid you will have to wait until morning to see Matt. I wanted to speak to you first, to let you know what was happening. I plan to go to Matt and explain his situation as well. We will of course be running together tonight once he has completed the first change."

"Running together?" I asked with a very confused look on my face.

"Wolves run in packs as you may or may not know. Any child that belongs to our pack comes to the mansion for their safety as well as the safety of any humans they may otherwise cross paths with during their first change. The stone wall and gate runs around the entire perimeter of my property. Nothing can get in or out without our knowing about it. Usually when a child changes for the first time their father has the honor of running with them. Charles had to stay behind to take care of some important business in Dallas. I have the honor of taking his place with Matt. There are many wonderful and spectacular things for you to learn about our family and the supernatural world, my son."

"What is going to happen to me, Grandpa?"

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Luke. I believe you have learned quite enough for one night. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to talk, and for you to ask your questions. I know you have thousands of them. I want you to know you are safe here, and nothing can harm you as long as you are inside the mansion. What I need you to do is get settled into your room and get some rest. Your luggage has already been taken to your room and one of my people will show you the way. I must go and be with Matt on his most joyful occasion. I love you very much, Luke, and I am so very happy that you are finally here at the mansion."

Grandpa gave me a big hug and said good bye for the evening. About that time the door he entered from opened, and a beautiful young woman entered. She was several years older than me. She smiled as she approached us and I wondered if she too was some sort of supernatural creature that I just learned even existed. I also wondered how she knew just the right moment to enter the room. I didn't think it was important enough to mention. That and my mind was stuck on the fact that Grandpa had just changed my life forever.

I no longer felt certain what the future held for me. I was utterly terrified at the thought of what creatures might exist outside the mansion, or inside for that matter. I couldn't help but wonder how the whole existence of supernatural creatures was hidden so well for thousands of years from the human race. Most importantly I could not yet understand why my parents left me even though Grandpa tried to explain their reasoning.

"If you will follow me, Luke, I will show you to your room," the beautiful lady said as she motioned for the door leading back to the foyer.

I was quite amazed at the mansion thus far, and couldn't wait to have time in the future for Matt and me to do some major explorations on the rest. We exited the great room and headed up the stairs to the second floor. We headed down a long hallway, which was the same way that I saw Matt being led when we arrived. We passed several doors on either side of the hall and I wondered which of the rooms Matt was in. When we got nearly to the end of the hall the lady stopped and turned to face me.

"This would be you, my dear," she said with a smile, "There is a refrigerator with sodas and snacks. You also have your own bathroom for your convenience. You should be pretty well set until morning. Someone will let you know when breakfast is ready, and show you where the dinning hall is. Get a good nights' sleep. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow," she explained.

I thanked her for showing me the way and entered the room that would be mine during my stay at the mansion. It was the biggest bedroom I had ever seen in my entire life. There was a gigantic king sized canopy bed in the center of one wall. The wall opposite the bed contained a fireplace and a little sitting area with a couple leather chairs, a couch, and some end tables with lamps. The area farthest from me across the room housed a small kitchen area with a refrigerator, sink, stove, and microwave. It was surrounded with cabinets and a little bar that separated it from the rest of the room. To the left of the kitchen was a door that I assumed led to the bathroom the lady mentioned. I crossed the room and went through the door into an equally extravagant bathroom area. This room had pretty much the same dark burgundy color scheme as the bedroom. There was a huge shower, and a bathtub big enough for several people. There was also, of course, a toilet and sink as well as a closet the size of my bedroom back home. I wondered why anyone would need a closet that big.

The only thing I didn't notice was windows. There was not a single window in either of the two rooms. It was quite depressing considering how I loved to look outside, especially when the sun was up. Guess I would have to get used to the no sun thing if I was to be a vampire like Grandpa told me.

I found my luggage piled in the corner of the bedroom, and began to busy myself by putting them away in the chest-of-drawers that was in the room. I put what I could in the drawers. The rest I hung in the closet. I decided to take a quick shower to help me relax, and hopefully fall asleep. I found the food in the kitchen and had a snack before I climbed into bed for the evening. Just as I got settled into bed, I heard a bone chilling howl, much like the one from my dream, coming from outside the mansion.

"The old lady was correct, Master. The child has arrived at the mansion. The pack leader has informed him about our world." The woman said inside the dark cave.

"I need you to watch them closely. The boy will be mine in two days time," replied the man. Suddenly the glowing red eyes under the man's hood grew brighter. The woman backed up quickly against the wall of the cave as he burst into flames. The flames instantly died down and went out completely. The woman fell to her knees before the man. Her master had finally returned to the Earth realm after so many long years.

## 4

I woke up the next morning feeling rested and ready for whatever the day had in store for me. I hoped it was a little less eventful than the previous day, but some how I doubted it. Grandpa had dumped a load of very disturbing information on me the day before. I was having a hard time processing it all. I almost felt as though I had dreamed most of it.

On top of everything Grandpa had told me, I was really worried about Matt. I wondered if he took the news Grandpa had for him any better than I had. I also wanted every detail about how his first change went. I was possibly going to experience the change myself in a day or two. I wanted to prepare myself for it. I checked my cell phone for the time. It was seven a.m. I wasn't surprised about how early it was since I went to bed so early the night before.

I had no idea where anything or anybody was in the mansion. I decided to do a little exploring before anyone came to whisk me away for breakfast. I threw on some sweat pants and my favorite Dallas Cowboys sweat shirt before slipping on my shoes. I opened the door slowly and stuck my head out the door to see who might be wandering around in the hall. I didn't see or hear anyone so I started walking back down the way I came. My room was at the end of the hall, so it was the only way I could go.

I walked slowly from door to door listening trying to hear if anyone else was stirring. I reached the third set of doors, and just as I put my ear to the door, it opened suddenly. I jumped in fear at the sudden movement of the door.

When my nerves settled a split second later I realized there was a young girl about my age standing there starring at me.

"Hello, I'm Ava. You must be Luke."

"Yyyyes." I replied barely able to speak, partly from being rattled from the sudden appearance of her, and partly because she was absolutely beautiful. Ava was nearly as tall as me with the most amazing, curly, flaming red hair. Large red curls framed her face perfectly. I stared at her in awe of her beauty.

"Were you looking for somebody?" She asked with a smile.

"Uh, uh yeah I was looking forrr, I was looking for Matt. He's my cousin."

"Well, last I heard he was going to be in the room right across the hall from you,"

"Th-thank you," I stuttered from complete embarrassment. I couldn't remember a time in my life when I wasn't able to speak, or think, clearly. I backed up a little as Ava came out the door and pulled it closed behind her.

"I'll see you around, Luke. It was nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you," she said as she headed down the hall toward the stairs.

"It was nice meeting you too, Ava," I said, wondering what she had heard about me, and if she had any idea what my grandfather claimed I was. I also wondered if she might be some kind of supernatural being herself.

I turned around and headed back toward the room Ava told me was Matt's. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. No one came to the door so I slowly pushed it open calling Matt's name quietly. It was completely dark in the room. The curtains were made of very thick fabric, and blocked out the sun entirely. The only light entering the room was from the hallway now that the door was open. I could just make out Matt's face in the bed. I called his name again with no reply. I looked for a light switch on the wall, but couldn't find one in the dark. I opened the door a little farther to shed more light as I tip toed toward Matt.

I reached his bed and turned on the lamp on the bedside table. Matt stirred a little when the light came on. He sat up and looked around a little confused.

"What time is it?"

"It's a little after seven. Are you feeling alright?" I asked him in a whispered voice.

"I have only been asleep for a couple hours dude. Why are you waking me up so early?"

"I was worried about you. You looked like you were going to throw up the last time I saw you. Jack had to help you upstairs rather quickly. Grandpa told me what was happening to you last night. I didn't hear anything else after that."

"Luke, I had a really long night. I would love to tell you all about it, but I am exhausted and need to get some more sleep."

"I understand. When you wake up I want all the details for sure." As I was talking to Matt I took the time to glance around his room. I noticed it was almost identical to mine. Matt's luggage was piled in the corner of the room untouched. I didn't figure he had time to mess with it with everything that went on last night. I sat down on the edge of his bed. I could see that he had bags under his eyes. His hair was a complete mess.

"Are you sure you're alright Matt?"

"Yes! I am perfectly fine. I promise to tell you all about last night as soon as I wake up. Please let me go back to sleep now," Matt said in an irritated tone.

"Ok, Matt, I will leave you alone so you can rest. Come find me when you wake up so we can talk," I said as I stood up and walked over to turn off the lamp.

"Um hum," he mumbled as he rolled over facing the other side of the bed. I walked back to the door and turned to look back at Matt. I was dying to know what happened to him the night before, but I knew he needed some sleep. I stepped out of the room and closed the door silently behind me. Just as I pulled the door closed I heard someone walking down the hall. I turned to see who it was.

"Good morning Luke," the lady from the previous night said as she came up the hall toward me.

"Good morning, uh... I didn't catch your name last night," I said.

"My name is Adriana. I am your grandfathers' secretary. I see you found your cousin's room," she said gesturing toward Matt's door.

"Yes ma'am. Ava told me where to find him. I just went in to check on him," I explained.

"Your grandfather is waiting in the dinning hall. He requests you join him for breakfast. Please follow me," she said as she turned to walk back down the hall toward the stairs. I nodded my head in agreement, but she didn't see it because she was already walking away from me.

I followed Adriana down the hall and down the stairs. When we got to the bottom she turned and went thru a set of double doors like the ones that entered into the Great Room. These doors had been closed when we arrived at the mansion. Now I could see that this was a hallway lined with windows looking out over the front lawn of the mansion. We continued down the hall and entered the dinning room through an archway made of stone. The stones were the same as the ones that covered the exterior of the mansion.

As I entered the dinning hall I stopped immediately to take in the gigantic room. The room had three massive dinning tables running down the center. The tables were made of a dark stained wood, and were absolutely beautiful. I could see my reflection in the shine of the tables. Huge crystal chandeliers hung in perfectly spaced intervals down the length of each table. High backed chairs with blue velvet covered cushions surrounded all three tables. I couldn't help but wonder how many people lived with grandpa in the mansion with seating for this many.

I noticed Grandpa sitting at a fourth table positioned at the head of the other tables. This table was about half the size of the others. Chairs ran down one side of it facing the other three tables. The place where grandpa sat could hardly be called a "chair." This seat that held my grandfather could only be described as a throne. It looked like something you see a king sitting in, in a castle with knights and dragons and all that stuff. Wow! I thought. Grandpa must me pretty important to be sitting in something like that.

Grandpa motioned for me to join him at the head table. He pointed to the chair next to him indicating I should sit down.

"Did you sleep well, Luke?" Grandpa asked.

"Better than ever, Grandpa. That bed is so comfortable. It's like sleeping on air.

"Only the best for my amazing grandson," he said with a grin. I hadn't really noticed last night, but now I realized how much joy and happiness Grandpa showed in his eyes when he spoke to me. I never saw Grandpa this happy when he visited us on the very few occasions in Dallas. I couldn't help but feel completely welcome in his home.

"We have much to do today, Luke. Think you're ready for your life to be changed forever?" He asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said with a little hesitation. I had no clue what exactly this could mean, but I completely trusted Grandpa not to let anything bad happen to me.

"Today you will meet Rachel. She is the witch that made it possible to bring you into this world. We are going to tour the training facility after breakfast. Then it will be time to discover what abilities you possess." Grandpa wasn't going to waste any time finding out what my half-breed status was in the supernatural world. I suddenly became quite nauseous as I thought about this.

Rachel, the witch, was going to remove the spell she had cast nearly fourteen years ago. Removing the spell would unleash whatever vampire abilities, or weaknesses, that I possessed. I guess Grandpa noticed the worried expression on my face because he told me not to worry.

"We are going to take this very slow. I promise we will not put on you any more than you can handle. All you have to do is say the word and we will try a different route to accomplish the tasks we face," he said with warmth and reassurance in his voice.

About that time I caught a glimpse of two men out of the corner of my eye. They were coming thru the door to our right. Each one carried a tray with a silver dome covering it. The two men were dressed in black pants and white long sleeve shirts with black vests and ties. I guessed they worked for Grandpa here at the mansion. They brought the trays over and sat one down in front of each of us before removing the covers. I could not believe the amount of food that was piled onto each tray. Every type of breakfast food you could imagine was there. There had to be enough food for at least five people on each tray. There was no way I could eat all of this in one sitting. Grandpa looked at me and smiled when he noticed the shock that registered on my face.

I wasn't the least bit shy as I began to dig right into the mass of food in front of me. I ate, and ate, and ate, and when I didn't think I could eat another bite I ate a little more. Grandpa didn't waste any time putting away his food. He cleaned his entire tray in no time at all. I couldn't imagine where he was putting all of it; he really isn't that big of a man if you ask me.

"Did you get enough, Luke?" He asked as he wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin, and laid it across his plate.

"Oh, man did I ever. I don't believe I could eat another bite if I wanted to," I said with a big sigh. Right on cue, as if Grandpa had called them, the same two guys came out to carry away the trays. Man, these people were really on top of it. Grandpa never had to say a word before somebody showed up to take care of his every want and need.

"How about a little tour of the mansion?" Grandpa asked.

"That sounds great."

"Ok. You have seen the great room, the dinning hall, and the bedroom suites upstairs. The kitchen is straight through those doors. The ones those two men just came in and out of. You are welcome to go to the kitchen any time you please if you are hungry. There will always be someone on duty should you feel the need. You are a growing boy, and you must keep up your strength. If you will follow me, I'll show you my office.

We left the dinning room and headed back down the long hall with the windows. We passed thru the foyer in front of the Great Room. We came to a single metal door in the wall opposite the dinning hall entrance. This door seemed out of place being metal instead of the beautiful wood I noticed in every other part of the house. There was no doorknob on the door. I wondered how we were going to get in. Next to the door, hanging on the wall, was a small screen that looked much like a small computer screen. Grandpa put his hand, with his palm facing forward, onto the screen. The screen immediately came to life. The screen lit up. A single blue line started at the top and quickly went all the way to the bottom. When the line got to the bottom Grandpa removed his hand. I saw IDENTITY CONFIRMED flash on the screen. Next the screen went blank again. I could hear what sounded like gears turning, and the metal door slowly opened.

"Luke, I must tell you, very few people in this world have ever crossed through this door. One day you will be able to enter this office all on your own," Grandpa told me.

"What is this, Grandpa? And why is it locked down like this?" I asked very confused.

"Let me show you." We walked through the door. The room we walked into looked like an office a CEO or a president of a big company might occupy. There was the usual, very expensive looking, filing cabinets and other office furniture. The only difference, I thought, was the numerous computer screens sitting on the desk. I wondered why Grandpa needed so many screens. We walked through the office and entered a long, very elaborate, hallway. The hallway had decorative carpet, and beautiful stained wood trim. Huge statues of knights with polished silver armor ran down the length of the hallway on the left. Down the right side were life sized portraits of men. I had no idea who the men could be, but they all seemed to resemble Grandpa. He began to explain as though he knew what I was thinking.

"These portraits are of previous ancestors who served here at this mansion, Luke. The armor opposite each portrait belonged to the leader depicted in the paintings. We call this "The Great Alpha Hall." I didn't know what all of this meant. I was too fascinated by the suits of armor to ask any questions. I looked at the portraits as we slowly made our way down the hall. I felt as though Grandpa had taken me to a museum.

About half way down, on the right side of the hall, was a set of wooden doors. Grandpa explained as we passed that this was his suite. Nobody in the mansion was allowed in unless they had his permission. I didn't press this issue any further as we continued down the hall and through another door. When we entered this door I immediately could tell where we were in the mansion. The room was circular with no windows. I knew this was one of the towers I had seen from the outside.

This room was bare except for an elevator in the middle of the floor. Beside the door to the elevator was another scan pad like the one Grandpa used earlier. Grandpa's hand was scanned by the blue line. After his identity was confirmed the doors to the elevator opened.

"Where does this go, Grandpa?" I asked curiously. I hadn't the slightest idea what my grandfather meant by what he said next.

"Luke, this is the entrance to the Silent Soldiers' headquarters.

## 5

"The Silent Soldiers? What exactly does that mean?" We walked into the elevator as Grandpa began to explain to me what the Silent Soldiers were about.

"The Silent Soldiers are an organization of very gifted supernatural beings that we are putting together to fight evil. They will protect the secret of the supernatural community, and hide it from the human world."

"So you're like the leader of an army, Grandpa?"

"I am only the leader of the Little Rock pack. We keep guard over these headquarters. I am not the leader of the Silent Soldiers. That has yet to be decided Luke."

We were on the elevator for several seconds when it finally came to a stop. The doors began to open slowly. I wasn't sure what to expect when they opened. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. We entered into a room that had to have been at least the size of the mansion. There was an area containing dozens of television screens on one wall.

A huge man in a black suit watched them from a desk with lots of other equipment on it. I noticed the guard shack at the front gate on one of the screens. I came to the conclusion that these screens were for the surveillance cameras around the property. The man stood and bowed toward Grandpa when he noticed us coming off the elevator. Grandpa nodded to him and the man resumed his task.

I also noticed a number of different vehicles lining one wall of the room. There were motorcycles, cars, and many other types of vehicles. They were all solid black with the letters SS painted on them. I assumed this was the Silent Soldiers logo. All of the vehicles looked as though they were completely brand new. The black paint shined brightly under the fluorescent lights in the room. As we continued down the length of the room I noticed doors on either side. We made our way to the end of the room and entered the last door. As we walked through the doorway I noticed lots of equipment. I couldn't imagine what it was or what purpose it served. There was also a bed in the middle of the floor that looked like a doctors office exam table.

Sitting in the far corner of the room I saw Ava, the girl I had met earlier that morning. She was still as beautiful as ever. I also noticed an older lady in the room. She was nearly as beautiful as Ava. This lady had the same curly red hair as Ava, but hers was much longer. Both of the girls were dressed pretty much the same in black skirts and knee high black boots. The only difference was the style and color of the shirts they were wearing. I immediately noticed their similarity. I came to my own conclusion that this must be Avas' mother.

"This is Rachel Hadison, and her daughter Ava. Rachel is the witch I was telling you about last night. She is the one that created the spell for you to be born." Grandpa explained.

"Yes, sir, and the one that suppressed my powers," I said with a little resentment. I probably shouldn't have said it the way I did. After all, it wasn't her fault. Rachel was only doing what my parents asked of her.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Luke," said Rachel with a sort of shy little smile, "I am so very happy you have finally come to join us. You are a spitting image of your father." This was the first time anyone had referred to either of my parents as living. I really didn't know how to respond to what she said.

"So, both of you are witches?" I asked not being able to think of anything else to say.

"Yes. I am a witch. Ava is a witch in training. She is turning out to possibly be even more powerful than me," Rachel said very proudly. The room fell silent for a few seconds. We all turned to Grandpa to see what would come next.

"Luke, Rachel is going to remove the spell binding your powers today. We plan to run some tests to see what you are capable of, and what vampire weaknesses you may have. I don't want you to worry. We are only going to test the bare essentials. Vampires have so many powers that it would be quite impossible for us to test them all. We plan to do a little at a time, as much as you can handle, and replace the spell once were done. We have to be sure you can control your powers before you get to keep them permanently," Grandpa explained, "Do you think you're up for that?"

"Uh, I guess," I replied. I was definitely more than a little nervous with all of this happening so fast. I was also nervous about Ava being here watching me if I screwed up.

"Ok, Luke, are you familiar with any of the powers that vampires possess?" Rachel asked.

"A little bit. Grandpa explained some of it to me last night."

"First, let's get you to lie down on the table. We are going to apply these restraints, mainly for our protection, just in case you can't control yourself," Rachel said. I climbed up on the table. Rachel and Ava began strapping me in place. As Ava finished the last strap around one of my wrists she leaned close to my ear and whispered.

"Everything will be fine, Luke. Just relax and let us take care of you. There is no reason to be nervous. My mother is very powerful. She will not let anything happen." Her soothing words helped me relax a little.

"I'm ready." For the first time I noticed a huge pentagram drawn around the bed in the middle of the floor. The bed I was lying on was located directly in the middle of it. I watched as Ava went to one of the little closets and began taking out a variety of different candles. She began placing them around the pentagram. I had only ever read stories about witches. What was happening in the room seemed to go along with some of those stories. Next Ava pulled out a very old leather bound book and laid it on a podium that Rachel brought to the edge of the pentagram.

Ava turned the old brittle pages very carefully looking for something that I assumed was the spell they would use. Rachel began to chant softly. All of a sudden the lights in the room went out. The candles began to light one by one all by them selves. This was a little weird for me witnessing magic right before my very eyes. I never knew it even existed up until the night before.

Now that all the candles were lit I saw Rachel walk over to the book on the podium as Grandpa and Ava moved into the corner of the room. It seemed to me as if they were ready to run out the door at the first sign of trouble.

Rachel began reading from the book. Her chanting slowly increased in volume and intensity as she read. The flames of the candles grew much larger. I started to feel my body relaxing. A feeling of warmth started in my feet and moved slowly up the length of my body. I had never experienced anything close to the feeling I now encountered. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the exhilarating feeling of warmth throughout every inch of my body.

I suddenly heard everyone gasp. This immediately brought me back to reality. I opened my eyes to notice that the candles had gone out, and the lights were back on. I looked around at everyone starring at me.

"Did it work?" I asked.

"Well, see for yourself, Luke," Grandpa said as he slowly walked over to my side with a small mirror. I looked in the mirror and could barely believe what I was seeing. My face seemed to be paler than normal. My skin was silky smooth, and completely free of any blemishes what so ever. I also noticed that my canine teeth had somewhat elongated coming to a sharp point. It was nothing like the movies, with the long fangs that were sharp as needles. But, it was definitely very noticeable that I had fangs. I absolutely could not believe it. I had fangs!

"How do you feel?" Grandpa asked.

"I feel fine. I really don't feel any different than before."

"So, you don't feel the urge to jump up and bite one of us do you?" Ava asked as a nervous giggle escaped from her throat.

"Of course not. Why would I want to bite anybody?"

"Well, we were afraid when the spell was removed, and your vampire instincts kicked in, you would have the uncontrollable urge to feed," Rachel explained.

"Man, I ate so much for breakfast I don't think I could eat again for weeks," I said laughing.

"That is a very good sign," Grandpa said with a smile.

"We are going to remove the restraints now, Luke," Rachel said with some hesitation.

"You're sure you feel alright?" Ava asked.

"I feel fine, guys. I told you I don't feel any different than before." Rachel and Ava began to remove the straps while they watched for some sort of reaction out of me. I started to yell boo but I thought better of it with a powerful witch that could do who knows what to me in a split second if she thought there was to be danger. After they removed the straps they helped me up off of the table.

"Well, that went well," I said, "What's next, Grandpa?"

"We need to test your strength and speed, Luke."

"Let's do it!" I exclaimed. I had to admit. I did feel better than ever. I wasn't nervous or scared anymore, and I was a little excited about what I could do. I didn't feel any stronger or faster than I had when I woke up that morning, but we would see. I followed them out of the little room back into the main area of "headquarters," as Grandpa called it. We walked out to the middle of the floor and looked to the far end of the room.

"I want you to run down as fast as you can. Stop when you get to that wall at the end," Grandpa explained.

"Sure," I said. I got down into position, as though I was a track star about to run the hundred meter dash, and prepared to take off.

"Go!" Grandpa yelled. Before I knew what happened I was standing face first against a wall. I turned around slowly realizing that in the blink of an eye I was on the opposite end of the room from where I started. I was speechless and exhilarated all at the same time. I took off again and an instant later I was standing in front of Grandpa back at the other end of the room.

"WOW!" Grandpa said with great excitement, "I have never in all my years seen anyone or anything move as fast as you, Luke."

"Really? Is that good or bad?"

"That's amazing, son. Ready to move on?" Grandpa asked.

"Absolutely! I can't wait to see what else I can do after that," I followed them again into another door across the room from the little spell room. This room was quite a bit bigger with a much taller ceiling. It was stocked full of every different piece of exercise equipment you could think of.

We walked into the center of the room next to a set of weights that were lying on the floor. I noticed immediately that it was full of hundred pound weights; five of them were arranged on each end of the bar.

"You do realize that's a thousand pounds right? There is no way humanly possible for me to lift that," I said.

"You're probably right, Luke. But you have to remember we aren't really dealing with the human possibility," Rachel said with a little laugh.

"Oh, right," I said kind of embarrassed. I walked over to stand in front of the bar and motioned for everyone to back up in case something went wrong. And something definitely was about to go wrong. I bent over and placed my hands around the bar. I positioned myself to lift the weights like the professional lifters I watched in weightlifting competitions. I braced myself and lifted with all my strength. That was when the trouble started. I lifted the weights so fast that when it reached the end of my arms length it slipped out of my hands and went flying up in the air. It crashed through the ceiling above me. I immediately ducked for cover. You know what goes up must come down. That's just what the thousand pounds of weight did. It crashed into the floor with such force that it cracked the concrete floor on impact.

"Absolutely incredible," Grandpa said in shocked disbelief.

"You are stronger and faster than we ever could have imagined," said Rachel.

"Sorry about the floor...and the ceiling," I told Grandpa.

"Don't worry about it, Luke, it can be repaired," he said with a smile.

"Shall we move on?" Ava asked. "Only if Luke is up to it," said Rachel.

"Bring it on!" I said. Next we headed back to the spell room. Rachel asked me to climb back up on the bed. I watched as she went to the closet and took out several small boxes and brought them over. She sat them down on a small work table close to the bed.

"We need to test your weaknesses now, Luke. I have to tell you that some of this might not be very comfortable. Some of it might in fact be painful," Rachel explained.

"We don't know if your body will react to these things the same way as a normal vampire," Grandpa said.

"I'm ready. This has to be done so we might as well get it over with," Rachel opened the first box and pulled out a little vial that contained an off white, milky looking substance.

"This is garlic, Luke. As you may or may not know vampires are allergic to garlic. It will in fact burn their skin," she explained. She proceeded to open the vial and dip a long swab into the fluid. She brought the swab close to the back of my hand very slowly. Seeing that I wasn't having any strange reaction she rubbed a small about of it on my hand. To everyone's amazement, nothing happened.

"Unbelievable," she said. Next she tried holy water and silver. Much to our absolute astonishment and disbelief, I had absolutely no reaction to any of it.

"This is outstanding!" Grandpa exclaimed.

"I can't believe he doesn't have any allergies to any of the things normal vampires react to," said Ava.

"He is definitely, by far, not a normal vampire by any means. Even testing all of these things want tell us what his weaknesses could be. And, when he comes into his shifting powers, those weaknesses could change all together," said Grandpa.

"That is very true. We are only testing the things we know vampires have reactions to. With Luke's genetic make up he could very well react to something that doesn't effect other vampires. His strengths are much the same way. Vampires have many other powers than the ones we are testing for. Luke could also have powers that normal vampires don't. For now, that leaves one test to be performed," explained Rachel.

"And what exactly would that be?" I asked nervously.

"Sunlight," they all said in unison. The day had been very productive so far. The spell binding my powers had been removed. I had super speed and strength, even compared to other vampires, and I had no reaction to any of the things that normally effect other vampires. The only other thing I had to worry about was whether or not I would be able to go out into the sun.

"Are you ready for the final test, Luke?" Grandpa asked.

"Absolutely. Let's get this show on the road." I got up from the exam table and followed them yet again out into the main room. This time instead of going into one of the other doors, we went back to the elevator. Grandpa scanned us in, and we all got in together. Grandpa took a chain from around his neck containing a key. He put the key into the slot on the elevator's control panel and turned it. The elevator began going down again. A second later the doors opened and we stepped out into another smaller room. This room was completely empty in the floor area. I noticed barred doors along two of the walls that looked much like prison cells. The other wall contained regular solid doors.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"This is the holding area. Sometimes we must detain supernatural creatures until they can have a fair trial before the elders," Grandpa explained. I followed them to one of the solid doors. Rachel opened it for us to go in. This room was empty except for huge light bulbs covering the walls. Another exam table was located in the center of the room. There was a door into what appeared to be an office. This area contained a control panel that I could see thru the observation window beside the door.

"These bulbs are used to simulate the sun. We can turn them on and off from the control room. This will let us know if you are effected by sunlight," Grandpa explained. They told me to lie down on the bed, as they proceeded to go into the control room.

"Just relax, Luke," I heard Grandpa say thru a little speaker.

"We want let anything happen to you. There is going to be a flash of very bright light. It will only be a flash. Prolonged exposure to this light could cause you to burst into flames if you are not able to withstand the sun. We definitely don't want you to burn," Rachel explained.

"I'm ready," I said. In the next second I realized two things. Number one; there was a huge blinding flash of light. Number two; I had the most important vampire abilities, and none of their weaknesses!

## 6

After the sunlight test we went back into the main room of headquarters. Grandpa told us we should sit down and discuss a few things about what we had learned that day. We followed him into another of the rooms that was located around the main room. This room turned out to be a large conference room with a huge table. Grandpa motioned for us to sit down while he began to pace nervously back and forth thinking about what he should say to us.

"What we have learned today, about Luke, is this. Luke obviously has the super abilities of the vampire, while at the same time seems to have none of their weaknesses that we know of. This is very interesting. We haven't heard of a single being ever having the power that Luke possesses. We can definitely see now why they would want to capture him and bring him over to evil," Grandpa said.

"What do you mean?" I asked very confused.

"Luke, this is the reason your parents put you in your uncles care all these years, and why they themselves went into hiding. The power you possess could greatly be used for evil, and your parents didn't want that for you," Rachel explained. Now I began to realize a little more about why my parents did what they had when I was born. Apparently they knew at my birth, somehow, that I would be very powerful.

"How exactly would they or anyone else know what I would become when I was just a baby?" I asked. Grandpa and Rachel looked at each other for a minute like they really wanted to tell me something, but weren't sure if they should. After a period of silence and questioning stares Rachel began to explain what they were talking about.

"Luke, long before you were born there was a powerful shifter with the gift of prophecy. This shifter foretold of a child that would be born of two races. She said this child would grow into great power that could save all races from the evil that has plagued the world for centuries. We didn't find out about this prophecy until after your birth. When word began to spread throughout the vampire and shifter communities of you being born of both races this prophesying shifter came to your parents and told them about the prophecy. Not long after, there were a series of attacks against your parents in attempts to kidnap you and take you to the underworld to be raised for evil. The beings that came against your parents were sent by a very dark wizard that had control over the underworld. His name was Nhados."

"You say was. Is he...dead now?" I asked.

"We don't know for sure if he is dead, Luke. Your parents and Rachel fought a great battle against Nhados. Rachel cast a very powerful spell that banished him from the earth realm. No one has seen any sign of him since that dreadful night," Grandpa explained.

"We believe the spell has in fact kept Nhados at bay this long. We do not know if it will hold him forever. We do know however that Nhados has many followers to do his bidding. We believe he will send them for you if he ever finds out where you are. We also believe he has been attempting to track you for the past thirteen years," Rachel said.

I suddenly realized that my parents really did send me away to protect me. I had lots of anger inside for what they did, but I did understand the reasoning behind it. I longed to be the normal kid I thought I was back in Dallas with my uncle and cousin. I knew that was all a thing of the past, and there was no turning back now.

"We have one other issue at hand, Luke," Grandpa said.

"And what would that be, Grandpa?" I asked.

"Tomorrow you turn fourteen, and it is the full moon. We don't yet know about the shifter half of your genetics. We think we have learned most of your vampire half. Now we must overcome your shifter side as well. We are going to reapply the spell that binds your powers until after you change the first time. We do not know what to expect with the change, much like we didn't know about your vampire powers. We need to learn more about all of your powers before you can have them permanently. We still do not know about your vampire hunger and whether or not you must feed on blood, or if you can eat normal human food."

"Well I can tell you I really could go for a cheeseburger and fries right now. I have really worked up an appetite today," I said with a little laugh.

"So, you are actually craving human food instead of wanting blood?" Ava asked.

"Well, yeah, I don't want blood. The thought of drinking it definitely makes me LOOSE my appetite. GROSS!" I said.

"That is wonderful news, Luke," Grandpa said very happily, "It will be great to find out you can survive on normal food and not blood."

"We must not let anyone outside the four of us know about our findings here today. If word of Luke's power reaches the outside world he could be in great danger," Grandpa said.

"Ok, so we all agree on this. Nobody can find out about me. Unless we are down here alone, we need to have the spell in place. I can live with that if it will possibly save my life," I said. Rachel reapplied the spell to suppress my powers and we decided to keep all of this to ourselves. I couldn't wait to talk to Matt about all of this. There was no way I was going to keep this from him. Grandpa said after the change we would remove the spell for testing and training for a while until we had more time to figure everything out. We headed for the elevator, and more importantly the dinning hall. I was starving!

Back in the foyer I parted ways with Grandpa and Rachel. Ava decided to tag along and grab a bite to eat with me in the dinning hall. Grandpa told me he would see me again later, and that Ava would probably have lots to tell me about what went on around the mansion. Ava and I reached the dinning hall and I grew very excited to see Matt at one of the tables. He was shoveling in a monster sized amount of food, like I had that morning, like it might run away from him. Matt and I had always had good appetites, but I don't think I had ever seen him put away food like he was now.

"Hey, Matt, glad you decided to join the land of the living man," I said as we approached the table where he was sitting by himself. He was the only one eating in the dinning hall and I wondered why they needed all of these tables if nobody ever used them.

"Who's your friend, Luke?" Matt asked. "She's hot!" he exclaimed as I took the seat next to him.

"I'm sorry, Matt, this is Ava, Ava, this is Matt," I said. Ava and her mother are witches. They live here at the mansion," I said.

"Yeah, my mom and I live here. She works and I go to school here," she explained.

"They have a school here?" Matt and I asked at the same time.

"Yeah it's not like a regular school; it's for all the supernatural kids whose parents work here. We learn to use our powers a little, and learn all about the different supernatural creatures that exist. We also do normal education stuff too, but mostly it's supernatural." Ava went on to explain that everyone who worked at the mansion lived here, and that all of their children attended classes. She said there were about fifteen kids all together.

"Most everybody goes away for the summer, but with the full moon being tomorrow night a lot of the shifters will be back some time tomorrow."

"How long have you lived here?" I asked.

"I have lived here all my life. My mom moved here after your parents went into hiding. She knew she was pregnant with me, and didn't want anything to happen to us if someone found out she had created the spell for your parents. We have been here ever since," she said.

"That's cool," I said not really knowing what else to say about it. Ava asked what I wanted to eat and left for the kitchen to place our order. I took the opportunity to talk to Matt for a second.

"Dude you will never believe what happened today," I said.

"Man, after what happened to me last night, I would probably believe just about anything," Matt said.

"I wonder when your dad will get here. Have you heard from him?"

"I haven't heard anything yet, but we should talk to Grandpa and see if he knows. I can't wait until he gets here and we can run together," Matt told me looking and sounding totally excited.

"What do you think about Ava?" I asked kind of shyly. Matt let out a little laugh and said,

"I told you she was hot. You like her don't you?" Matt asked.

"I just met her today while I was looking for your room. She told me where you were. Man, we have so much to catch up on. Let's go up to my room after we eat and talk. I'm sure Ava can tell us a little more about what the heck is going on here," I said just as we noticed Ava coming out of the kitchen. Our lunch arrived shortly after Ava came back to the table, and we ate pretty much in silence. We all had a lot on our minds, and I couldn't wait to get upstairs and talk about things with my cousin and my new friend.

"Let's go back to my room," I said.

"Ok," Matt and Ava said together. We got back to my room and the first thing I noticed was that my bed had been made perfectly, and all of my dirty clothes and towels had been carried away. Someone had left a small stack of books lying on my bedside table. I motioned that they should have a seat around the fireplace. It was way too hot for a fire to be going being that it was summer and all. I walked over to the bedside table and picked up the books. I noticed they were the size of regular text books we used in school. The book covers read; Vampires 101, Shape Shifters 101, and Witchcraft 101. The more I looked at them the more I realized that's exactly what these were. I carried the books back over to my friends and sat in one of the empty arm chairs.

"What are these, Ava? And what do you think they are for?"

"Oh, man, looks like they have you signed up for summer school just like me." Ava told me.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I asked

"Dude, I hope they don't have me in summer school," Matt said with a little nervous giggle.

"Why don't you run to your room and see if they left you any books. Then you will know for sure."

We waited for Matt to run to his room to check. While he was gone I looked through the Vampire 101 book. A couple minutes later Matt burst through the door with a look of utter shock plastered on his face and the same three books under his arm.

"Looks like we will all be in the same classes for the summer," Ava said very excited.

"Man this sucks. I thought we were only going to be here for a couple weeks for vacation. I didn't think we were staying the whole summer to go to school!" Matt exclaimed a little hysterically.

"Calm down a little bit bro. I'm sure there is a logical explanation for all of this," I said. Matt took his seat and I was ready to get down to business.

"Ok, let's catch up on everything that has happened since we arrived at the Mansion," I said. I started telling Matt everything that happened yesterday evening after we arrived, up to the point of hearing the wolf howl and falling asleep. Next it was his turn.

"Well, I wasn't feeling very good so I went to my room and crawled in bed for a few minutes. It wasn't long before Grandpa came in and explained what was happening. He told me I was about to change into a wolf. Can you believe it? Well I couldn't believe it either and laughed at him. He was serious, man. He told me to watch as he changed into a wolf right there next to my bed. I didn't know whether to scream for help or run like hell. Anyway, he immediately changed back to his normal self and told me I needed to come with him. By this time it felt as though my bones were turning to liquid or something. We barely made it out to the back garden before I started to change, and oh my, it was exhilarating," Matt explained.

"What happened next?" I asked excitedly.

"Well, I don't remember a whole lot after that other than running super fast alongside two other wolves. One I recognized as Grandpa from his change in my room. The other was a much smaller wolf with a light brown coat.

"That must have been Adriana. She is your Grandpas' secretary, and second in command until your dad gets back, Matt," Ava said.

"What do you mean until my dad gets back?" Matt asked. I could see the confusion on his face, but it all began to make complete sense to me. I began to tell Matt what I was thinking.

"Grandpa is the leader of the pack here in Eerie."

"Actually, he is the leader of the whole Little Rock pack," Ava cut in. I continued. I told them that Matt's father, who was Grandpas' oldest child, was second in command under Grandpa.

"Remember all of those times over the years that your dad left for long "business trips?" I asked. "Yeah, he left us in the care of that hot babysitter, Becca," Matt said starting to understand what I was getting at.

"That's right, and I bet if we looked up all the dates that he was gone, most of them would be during full moons," I said.

"Man, that explains so much," Matt said.

"You guys never knew any of this?" Ava asked.

"We had no idea. Uncle Charles never told us anything," I said.

"Matt, your dad has been at the mansion for every pack meeting that I know of. I have seen him for most of the full moon runs as well," Ava proclaimed. Next it was my turn to talk. I started telling Matt all about the underground headquarters. I told him about the locked down entrance, and all the cool stuff that was down there. I started to tell him what all had happened to me that day when Ava suddenly stopped me.

"Luke, your Grandpa told us not to tell anybody what went on down there today," Ava reminded me.

"I have to tell Matt. He is my cousin, and my best friend. We never keep secrets from each other," I told her.

"Ok. But I'm not getting in trouble for running my mouth, so, you're on your own with this one. So, I continued with my story. I told him all about me being part vampire and part shifter. I also told him about the spell that had been placed to suppress my powers all these years. I went on to explain every detail about what I went through with the spell being removed, and all the tests. Then I told him about having the spell reapplied, and Grandpa telling us not to tell anyone and why. Matt stared at me the whole time with shock and disbelief plastered on his face.

"They think I fill some kind of prophecy of a savior that will aide in ridding the planet of evil," I said laughing. Matt began laughing with me and we were both laughing so hard we fell out of our chairs rolling on the floor.

"You shouldn't be taking this lightly," Ava said with great authority in her voice, "You are destined to be the great leader of the Silent Soldiers. You are the whole reason the Silent Soldiers was established in the first place."

Matt and I both stopped laughing while Ava talked, and now we sat on the floor staring at her in shock.

## 7

"What are you talking about?" I asked Ava.

"Your Grandpa didn't tell you the whole story about the prophecy and the Silent Soldiers. I probably shouldn't even be telling you myself, but I think it's important that you know what you're getting into. Your parents told your Grandpa about the prophecy and what they were told. After you went into hiding with your uncle, and your parents fled to Europe, he began preparations here at the mansion for your return. I was too young to remember the construction that took place here at the mansion, but my mother has told me stories for as long as I can remember. She told me stories about what the mansion looked like before. And, she told me all about the creation of the Silent Soldiers headquarters. She has also told me for years and years about you, and that one day you would return here to lead the soldiers against evil."

"So, you're saying all of this is for me? It can't be, I'm just a kid," I said.

"You may be just a kid, but you could grow into the most powerful being any of us has ever seen."

"Man, that is super cool, Luke," said Matt. I sat there staring at the empty fireplace, not able to speak, with a million thoughts pouring through my head. All of this information was flooding me so fast over the past couple days that I wasn't sure I could take anymore. My family turned out to be supernatural creatures. I, myself, was a mixture of these creatures with unheard of abilities, and I was destined to lead a group of soldiers that my Grandpa created into battle against evil. Was I leaving anything out? Oh, yeah, I had to go to school all summer.

I asked that Matt and Ava let me have some time alone to think about all of this. They agreed, and headed for the door. I looked over at the stack of books on the floor beside me and suddenly realized how exhausted I was from everything that was going on. As the door closed behind my two visitors I stood and walked over to the bed and climbed in. I fell asleep with tears streaming down my face.

Just as I dozed off, the dream started again. The dream was pretty much the same as before, only this time I noticed much more detail about my surroundings. For one, I noticed in the distance through the woods I could just make out the mansion with all of its security lights. Another thing I noticed was the great rock wall that surrounded Grandpas' property. I suddenly realized that I had in fact been dreaming about being on this property before I even knew it existed. Next came the glowing yellow eyes. I couldn't explain it but somehow, now that I had learned so much, I sort of knew that the eyes surrounding me were there for my protection. I felt completely comfortable even hearing the sudden, bone chilling, wolf howl so close to me.

That's when the next difference came into effect. Instead of the huge black cat running after me I heard a voice that said:

"Come to me, my son, and take your place at my side where you belong," the voice spoke with a very heavy accent that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I looked to the top of the wall in the direction of the voice and immediately became frozen in place. Towering over me was a huge figure of a man dressed in a black hooded cloak. The cloak covered his entire body, arms and hands included. The only thing I could see was his glowing red eyes. The same cat like eyes I had seen in my last dream.

"Who are you?" I asked, barely able to speak.

"I believe you know who I am, my son," said the cloaked figure. I really did feel that this was the guy Grandpa told me about. What was his name again? Nhados, I thought silently to myself.

"Come to me," the voice repeated.

"I will never come to you, Nhados. I will never stand at your side. I will never be evil," I said with as much confidence as I could possibly generate.

"It will be such a waste to have to kill a young being with so much power," the voice boomed.

"Just try it, and see what happens, Nhados," I yelled, not completely realizing what I was saying until it was out of my mouth.

I could tell that the cloaked figure became furious by the sudden flare of his glowing red eyes. In one swift movement Nhados leapt into the air. On his way to the ground, he transformed into the terrifying black cat. This was the same black cat that had attacked me in my last dream. This time I didn't turn to run. I, instead, stared straight into the cats' eyes. I could see in my peripheral vision that wolves all around me were getting closer as they began to circle around the cat and I. There was a sudden flash of purple light. I closed my eyes instantly from the blinding power of it. Just as I got them closed I heard the chilling sound of the cat as it began to scream. I couldn't tell from the sound if it was from anger or pain. I hoped that it was pain as I shot up out of my bed wide awake.

"Ok, that was just freaky," I said out loud. Nobody was there to hear me. I checked my phone and realized it was late in the afternoon. It was a little after five. I thought that maybe Uncle Charles would be here by now. I slowly walked out of my room and across the hall to Matt's door. I knocked a couple times with no answer. I headed down the hall to Ava's room. Nobody came to the door at her room either so I decided to go downstairs to look for them. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, Adriana came out of the great room. She told me,

"Just the man I was coming to see. Your Grandpa will see you in here." She opened the door and motioned for me to go in. She smiled at me sort of strangely as I passed her into the room. Her look and smile frightened me a little. It wasn't the kind, warming, smile she had given me the night before. I couldn't explain it but she gave me the feeling she knew something she wasn't about to tell me. I brushed it off and went on into the room.

"Glad you could join us," Grandpa said. I looked immediately toward his voice and noticed that he wasn't alone like I had hoped. Ava and her mom sat on the couch next to Matt.

I had made up my mind to tell Grandpa about my dream in hopes that he could shed some light on what it might mean. I wasn't about to talk in front of anybody else.

"Hello Luke. Grandpa says we are moving here to the mansion permanently," Matt said a little more excitedly than I would have expected with this news. I thought Matt would be a little sad about having to leave all of his friends back home, but apparently he was happy about this idea. I, on the other hand, felt happy at the thought of not returning to Dallas. The only real friend I had back home was Matt, and he would be here with me. The more I thought about it the happier I was in fact. My best friend was here with me, and I got to be with Grandpa full time. I was definitely ok with living at the mansion.

"That is correct, Luke. You, Matt, and Charles will be living here at the mansion while you are in training," Grandpa explained. Now that I had learned more about what was going on here I was quite anxious to begin this "training."

"That sounds great," I said.

"Please join us," Grandpa said motioning for me to come take a seat. I realized Matt had caught me off guard. I was still standing across the room from them. I made my way across the expanse of the "great" room. I took a seat in the other empty chair.

"I hear you went against my wishes, Luke. I have to admit it angers me a little that you disobeyed me. I do, however, understand you needed someone you knew to talk to about what you are going through," Grandpa said with much sympathy in his voice. "Matt will be a great companion for you as you take on this important task of learning to control your powers," said Grandpa.

"So what have y'all been talking about?" I asked curiously.

"We were going to bring Matt up to speed on everything we learned today, but as it turns out he already knew the whole story and then some," Grandpa said as he looked over toward Ava.

"Yes, sir, I told him all about it. Ava also told us more about the Silent Soldiers," I said expecting Grandpa might become angry with her.

"She has told me about your little chat. I can't say that I blame her for filling you in on more of the story. How do you feel about all that you have learned?" Grandpa asked.

"Well, to tell you the truth, it sort of scares me a little. But, at the same time I feel a lot of excitement about the things to come. I can't wait to learn more about my powers, and I'm curious to learn more about the supernatural world," I explained.

"I take it you found the texts that I left in your rooms?" Grandpa asked as he looked from me to Matt.

"Yes, we got them," Matt said before I could answer myself. Grandpa went on to explain that Matt and I were starting late in our education, and that was the reason for summer school. He also told us that Ava was planning to retake the courses with us so she could help bring us up to speed over the next few months. I was starting to like Ava even more the more we got to know each other. She could be enjoying her summer, but she chose to help us instead. I was gaining a lot of respect for this girl I had just met.

"Tomorrow is Sunday. It is also the full moon. We will see what the day brings us. Monday, you will begin your classes, and your training," Grandpa told us. The room fell silent after that and I assumed this little meeting was over. I asked Grandpa,

"Can I speak to you alone?"

"Of course, Luke," Grandpa said as everyone immediately began to stand. When everyone was nearly out of the room Matt stopped and looked back at me and said, "Come find me when you're done here, man."

"Ok, sure," I replied. Grandpa motioned for me to sit on the end of the couch closest to him. I didn't know exactly where to begin or how to explain my dreams to Grandpa, so I just dove right in.

"What's on your mind, Luke?" Grandpa asked.

"Well, Grandpa, I've been having these dreams for several weeks. They have been pretty much the same the whole time, that is, until today."

"Please, tell me all about them," he said. I began by telling him about the first dreams with just the valley and the wolves. Next, I told him about the addition of the black cat in the dream I had yesterday on the plane. I could see my grandfather had become quite nervous by this time. He began to change positions in his chair and lean in a little closer toward me. Last, I told him every detail and every word about this last dream that I had today. I even told him about the change in the feelings I had toward the wolves. He gave a little nod as if he understood. After I finished telling him all about the dreams we sat in silence for a few minutes. I could tell Grandpa was deep in thought. I gave him a couple more minutes to think about what I had told him. When I couldn't wait any longer I asked him,

"The dreams are about Nhados, aren't they?"

"I believe so, Luke, but I am quite confused. I can't quite understand why Nhados himself would risk coming to the mansion. I told you before that nothing could hurt you here, and that is the truth. There are many barriers that Rachel has set up around the perimeter of this property. Nothing that I know of can break through those barriers. The only possible way that the barriers could be broken is if someone informed Nhados about the exact spells and charms that were in place," Grandpa explained.

"That would mean someone working or living inside the mansion would be informing him directly, right?" I asked.

"That is correct. But I find it very hard to believe that someone would risk their life in this way. Betraying the pack is punishable only by death," said Grandpa, with anger rising up in his voice.

"Maybe this isn't true, Grandpa. Maybe there is some other explanation that we are overlooking.' "Maybe I'm just crazy and all of these dreams are from the stress I have been through."

"You may be right, Luke, or maybe there is a much better explanation. I think you may be gaining a power that we didn't anticipate. I am beginning to think you could possibly have inherited your grandmothers' gift of prophecy," he said with much despair in his voice. I felt a chill run down my back as the pieces all began to fit together. I had never once heard anyone speak of my grandmother. I guess it never occurred to me to ask about my grandfathers' wife. Suddenly, I realized that she must have been the one that fore told my birth and my rise to power over evil.

"Luke, I must ask that you tell me the details of the dreams that you have from now on. We must not overlook the possibility of this being visions, and we have to discuss what they could mean," Grandpa said.

"My grandmother?" I asked, still hung up on the idea of her.

"Yes, your grandmother was a very gifted woman. She was, of course, a shifter. But, she was also so much more. Your grandmother, Eleanor, also possessed the gift of prophecy. She is the one that fore told of your birth, and then came to your parents after you were born. Your grandma was an extraordinary woman, and I miss her greatly.

"Where is she? What happened to her?" I asked.

"Eleanor couldn't live under the laws of the pack. She didn't understand the reasoning behind some of the rules we live by. I want go into detail about these rules and laws, but know that she was easily persuaded by Nhados to join him. She left us to be at his side and use her powers for evil instead of good.

"I don't know what to say, Grandpa."

"There's not really anything to say about it. She made her choice, no matter how devastating it was for us, and left us forever. The only time she has been seen since was when she came to your parents after your birth. She told them you had great power, and that you would in fact grow to defeat evil. The only thing I never understood was why she came to them with this news instead of doing Nhados' bidding, and try to take you to him. That definitely has pulled at my mind all these long years," Grandpa said. I could tell that talking about her caused him much pain. I decided not to ask any more questions about her for now.

## 8

We sat in silence for quite some time. Both of us had a lot to think about with this new revelation. I didn't really think it could be true, but Grandpa was determined that I had a new power nobody ever imagined I would have. I didn't know what to think about prophecy. I never believed in fortune telling, but then again, I never believed in vampires and werewolves either and look where we were now.

I couldn't help but think there was more to my grandmothers' departure from her husbands' side. I didn't want to believe that she had in fact abandoned him and my parents. I also wondered if she was still alive, and whether or not I would ever find out what really happened. I stored this information in the vault that is my head. The vault, that seemed to be filling up more quickly than I felt comfortable with.

About that time Adriana entered the room and informed us with a little hostility in her tone that, "Mr. Williamson has arrived." I could see the happiness replace the despair on Grandpas' face as he rose to his feet. "Tell Charles to join us please, Adriana," Grandpa said. "Yes sir," she said with much less enthusiasm than should have been used when talking to her leader. I thought for a second about what could be her problem, but again, added it to the vault to ponder over later as Uncle Charles entered the great room with a huge smile on his face.

Uncle Charles made quickly the distance across the room and hugged Grandpa. Next he came over to me and pulled me to my feet and gave me the same sort of exhilarating hug that he had just given his dad. I knew for sure that my uncle was overjoyed about finally being able to "come home." I couldn't begin to imagine what it would feel like if I could have the opportunity to reunite with my own dad.

"Where's Matt?" My uncle asked right away. "He is probably in the dinning hall feeding his face again if I know my cousin at all," I said laughing. "That's my boy," Uncle Charles said with a big grin.

Suddenly I realized that I was pretty hungry myself and suggested that we go find him and let him know his dad was here. We all stood, and made our way to the dinning hall. Grandpa and Uncle Charles walked ahead of me a little ways deep in conversation. I followed them trying to arrange all of the thoughts that seemed to be filling my head very rapidly. We arrived in the dinning hall and I immediately noticed that Matt and Ava were in fact having dinner. It was getting closer to dark, and I wondered if Matt had to change again tonight or if it could wait until the full moon. I was surprised I hadn't thought to ask him that earlier.

"Dad!" Matt yelled. "Hey son. I heard you had quite a night," said Matt's dad. "You could say that," said Matt. "I am so glad you are finally here, Dad." "It's great to be home, Matt," said my uncle. "Looking forward to another exciting night?" Grandpa asked.

Well, I guess I had my answer to the changing question. I was a little disappointed that I was to be left alone again tonight, but I was also happy for Matt. He would have the time of his life tonight being able to change and run with his father. I did feel a little depressed that I couldn't change and run with them, but maybe I would have my chance soon.

All of a sudden a very peculiar feeling came over me. I felt like I might even faint. Suddenly my sight went black and the all too familiar dream came into focus. This dream started exactly the same as the one before, only this time, instead of closing my eyes with the flash of purple light I was able to see what exactly was going on around me. I realized that the purple light was actually a glowing purple sphere that circled me and a tiny little person standing right beside me. The closer I looked at the little man I began to realize I had seen him before. Wait, this was the little man that had met Matt and me at the airport. "What are you doing here Mr. Rathburn?" I asked. "Not now, Luke, there will be plenty of time for explanations later. Right now I have to protect you," he explained.

I suddenly remembered where we were and the shape we were in. We were surrounded by wolves that continued to circle closer and closer. The huge cat was standing just outside the purple sphere that Mr. Rathburn was producing from one of his tiny hands he had raised in the air. I wasn't quite sure what he was or what he was doing, but I soon realized that he was saving me from the cat. The cat began to scream the dreaded sound from the previous dream. He also extended his claws and reared on his back feet and began to slash at the sphere trying to break through.

Nhados quickly realized he wasn't going to accomplish his desired task. With one final scream, and a very swift movement he leapt back into the air, transforming back into the cloaked figure, and flew out of sight over the stone wall. After this I suddenly came to, and realized I was back in the dinning hall. I was lying on the floor looking up at everyone staring down at me.

"What just happened?" I asked. "Did you have another dream, Luke?" Grandpa asked. "As a matter of fact I did. How on earth could I have a dream while I was wide awake?" I asked. "Well, I think you have just confirmed that you have in fact inherited your grandmothers' gift of prophecy," Grandpa explained. Everyone looked around at each other not knowing what to say or what to think about what they had just witnessed.

"You must tell me what you saw straight away," Grandpa said rather anxiously. "Well it was exactly the same as before, except for one thing. Instead of the purple light blinding me, I could see what was happening this time. Jackson Rathburn, the little man that picked us up at the airport yesterday, was there. He was generating some sort of shield around us that kept the cat from getting to us. The cat slashed and screamed but could not get in. The cat gave up and jumped back over the wall. That's when I woke up," I described in as much detail as I could.

"Is he talking about who I think he is?" Uncle Charles asked. "I believe so," said Grandpa. I could see the look of fear cover the faces of the three adults. Curiosity took over Ava and Matt.

"Uh, a little help would be nice," I said and stuck my hands up in the air. Matt came to the rescue and pulled me up to my feet. I sat down at one of the huge tables to try and collect my thoughts about what just happened. This was all getting weirder by the minute. Matt and Ava made sure I was ok while the three adults were in a heated discussion. I guessed Grandpa was telling them a little bit about my new "gift."

"You must not go outside the mansion alone, Luke," Grandpa told me with enough authority to scare me a little. "If it is true that you have the gift of prophecy, you must not leave the mansion under any circumstances. If your visions are correct, it can only mean that Nhados has in fact returned to the earth realm. It also means that he has found a way around the protection barriers that Rachel has in place," Uncle Charles explained. "That's not possible," said Rachel. "Well, the only way it could happen is if there is in fact a traitor among us. Luke and I discussed this earlier. Someone living or working inside the mansion must be responsible. We will find out who is giving Nhados information," Grandpa said with a vicious growl escaping from deep in his chest. "I can not wait to get my hands on whoever it is that is betraying the pack. I will find great pleasure in ripping them to pieces," said my uncle with the same sort of growl that grandpa had just displayed.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked. "We must carry on normally. Nobody can know about your visions, Luke. We must keep this between the six of us in this room if we are to capture the traitor before they escape. We must all keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious going on here for the next few days. I believe that sooner or later the traitor will become known to us," Grandpa said.

We all agreed to keep quiet, and keep a watch out for the traitor. Grandpa said he had urgent business to attend and headed out of the dinning hall. Uncle Charles told us he and Matt had to go. They had important things to see to. I knew they were chomping at the bit to get outside, now that it was dark, so they could go off on their run. I hollered at Matt to come to my room as soon as he woke up in the morning as they ran out of the dinning room. I heard him shout, "ok," as they ran down the hall together.

That left Rachel and Ava there with me. We sat in silence for a few minutes not really knowing what to say to each other. I excused myself and headed to the kitchen where I asked the staff to fix me a little something to eat. I didn't care what it was as long as it was food. They agreed and told me they would bring it to me as soon as it was ready. I asked that they bring it to my room instead and they nodded their acceptance. I grabbed a couple of sodas to take with me and added a mental note to check the fridge in my room to see if there was anything in it.

I headed back through the dinning hall and said good night to Rachel and Ava. Rachel returned the good night and left for the hall leading out of the dinning hall. Ava asked a little shyly if I was interested in having a little company for the rest of the evening. I told her that would be great as we headed for the exit doors. We walked in silence back up to my room. I told Ava I was going to take a quick shower while I waited on my food to arrive. She nodded and headed to the sitting area. I grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. I took as quick a shower as my body would allow so I wouldn't leave Ava waiting alone for very long. She was posted up on the couch with one of the texts Grandpa had left for me when I exited the bathroom.

"What are you reading?" I asked as I made my way over to where she was sitting. "Just reading a little about Vampires," she said as her face blushed a little. "Are you sure you want to waste your summer trying to tutor a bunch of losers like Matt and me?" I asked with a smile. "You are definitely not a loser," she said as she got up and walked over to stand in front of me.

I could feel the heat begin to rise in my face as I noticed her slowly inching her way toward me. I had never been this close to a girl, and had no idea what I was doing in that department. I decided to go for gold. I started leaning closer to her and slid my hands around her waist to pull her to me. Just as our lips were about to touch there was a knock at the door. Talk about bad timing. We both jumped and moved away from each other very quickly. I regained some of my composure and headed to the door as someone knocked again. I opened the door and the kitchen worker brought in a tray and placed it on the little bar in the kitchen area.

Ava and I both said "thank you" at the same time a little embarrassed. He gave a little bow and headed out of the room closing the door behind him. I offered Ava one of the sodas and we both sat down at the bar. We didn't talk a lot while I ate, and we definitely didn't talk about what just happened. After we ate Ava thanked me for letting her join me, and much to my surprise bent over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. That was the closest I had ever been to actually being kissed by a girl. It sent a chill down my entire body. Ava said a quick good night and left the room just as quickly.  
I hoped really soon we might have the opportunity to finish what we started before we were interrupted. I covered the tray and climbed in bed. For once, in the past two days, I didn't have a million thoughts running through my head. I only thought of one thing as I drifted off to sleep, and that was all about the beautiful Ava.

## 9

I woke up the next morning realizing I didn't have a single dream all night, which was a good thing. I remembered I wanted to check the fridge to see if there was anything in it. Much to my surprise, it was full of sodas. There were also some of the essentials like milk, lunch meat, cheese, and stuff for sandwiches. I decided to explore the cabinets and found cereal, bread, and tons of snacks. I thought to myself I had died and gone to heaven. This was every teenage boys dream to have a room full of sodas and snacks. I found dishes in some of the other cabinets and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. When I finished my breakfast I brushed my teeth and got dressed for the day.

I decided to read through some of the text books I would be using for summer school. I still had not warmed up to the idea of having to go to school all summer. At least I wouldn't be taking the boring stuff like math and science. It made me feel a lot better about the whole idea. I settled on Vampires 101. I made myself comfortable in the big armchair next to the fireplace.

I opened the book to chapter one, titled, vampires in history. This chapter told all about the origin of vampires, and about some of the most famous ones throughout history. It even told quite a bit about "Dracula." I thought Dracula was a fictional character in movies. I scanned through the rest of the book and noticed chapters on different Vampire abilities. There were also some on weaknesses as well. I was surprised when I realize I already knew some of the things in the book.

One chapter in particular that caught my interest was the chapter on "Turning." This chapter I studied a little more closely. It didn't go into a lot of detail about how to turn someone into a vampire. It more or less told the details about turning them in general. I laid the book aside and picked up the Shape Shifter text and began looking through it. I learned that true, full blooded shifters could change at will, but they normally only changed into one form. The form they were able to change into depended on the genetics of their parents. Normally whatever the parents' shifter form is determines what the child would change into.

As I was scanning the rest of the book there was a knock at the door. I got up to answer it. It turned out to be Matt.

"Hey Matt, you finally decide to get up?" I asked with a laugh.

"Man these long nights are killing me," he said with a grin.

"Grab a soda from the fridge and come have a seat. I have just been looking through the text books Grandpa left us. Turns out the classes might actually be pretty interesting.

"Man I am starving. You want to go down to the dinning hall?" Matt asked.

"Nah, I ate some cereal a little while ago. Why don't you order something up from the kitchen?" I asked.

"No way! You can do that?" Matt asked.

"Yeah man, Ava and I had dinner up here last night after you and your dad left," I said before I thought about what I was saying.

"Awww, Luke's got a girlfriend," Matt said in his most teasing of voices.

"No, Luke does not have a girl friend," I replied with a smile. I could feel the heat rise in my face and knew I was blushing.

"Don't be embarrassed about having a little date with Ava because she is fine, man, with a capital F.".

"Shut up, Matt, she is not the reason I asked you to come to my room this morning," I said wanting to change the subject. There was no way I was going to talk to Matt about us almost kissing. I would never hear the end of it.

"Speaking of hot girls, have you been down stairs this morning?" Matt asked as he wagged his eyebrows up and down.

"No, haven't left my room since I got up," I said.

"Dude, there is a blonde down there that is absolutely to die for."

"So I take it everyone is already starting to arrive for the full moon run tonight. That's part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. I'm really nervous about tonight. You know I'm part shifter myself. Grandpa seems to think that I will change tonight.

"Man, I am so sorry, I forgot to tell you Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks," I replied, "So, I don't really know what to expect. I mean you told me all about your change, but I'm worried about changing myself because of my "other" condition," I said.

"I really don't think there is anything to worry about, Luke. I mean the change itself is amazing. And there will be lots of other shifters here to take care of you if something should go wrong, right?"

"You're probably right. Maybe I'm just getting worked up over nothing. I just can't stop thinking about this dream, or vision, or whatever it is that I keep having. The vision always happens at night, and I'm always surrounded by wolves. What if the vision comes true tonight while everybody is here?" I asked nervously.

"I know you're really worried about this, Luke, but wouldn't it be better for everyone to be here to help? Or would you rather it happen when you're completely alone?"

"I guess you're right about that. I would much rather be surrounded by people that could help me. I hate to admit it, but it scares me a little," I confessed.

"I can't say that I blame you there, Luke. I would be terrified to know something was out there waiting on the chance to pounce on me. Just know that I am here for you all the way, man,"

"Thanks. That means a lot, Matt." Just then someone knocked at the door and Matt bolted for it. I heard Matt open it and let out a sigh.

"Luke, it's just your girlfriend," Matt yelled.

"Shut up, man, I told you I don't have a girlfriend. I turned red with embarrassment as Ava walked in the door.

"Why is he looking at me like he wants to eat me?" Ava asked as she sort of slipped farther away from Matt with a worried look on her face.

"He thought you were his breakfast," I laughed.

"Oh," she said. I asked Ava if she would like something to drink and got a couple sodas from the fridge. She said she already had breakfast. Matt's breakfast came and he was in the process of shoveling it down like he was in a race. Matt sat at the bar eating while Ava and I sat around the fireplace.

"So what do you guys have planned for the day?" Ava asked.

"Nothing in particular that I know of, unless Grandpa has something planned for us," I said.

"Mom has the day off today, so I really don't think you will do any training today," Ava explained.

"So what is there to do around here?" I asked.

"Well, we could go for a swim if y'all are up to it," she said.

"That sounds like fun," I said.

"Yeah that sounds great!" Matt yelled from the bar, his mouth overflowing with food.

"I guess it's settled then, let's do it," Ava said excitedly.

"Wait, I haven't seen a pool anywhere," I said.

"Luke, there are so many things you haven't seen. Just because you haven't seen it, definitely does not mean it's not here," she said with a little giggle and a smile.

"Ok, as soon as Matt gets done inhaling his food we will get ready. Why don't you put on your swim suit and meet us back here when you're done?" I suggested.

"Sounds great. It's ten o'clock now. We have to meet in the great room at three, so that gives us enough time to swim and grab a late lunch before we have to be there," Ava said.

"Who are we meeting in the great room?" I asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Your Grandpa said to find you and let you know we all needed to meet him at three to go over the schedule for tomorrow. I guess he is going to let us know what our class schedule will be like so we will not be late in the morning.

"Oh, I see," I said. At that Ava left the room to get ready. I told Matt to hurry up. Not that he wasn't already shoveling the food in as fast as he could. I left Matt to finish his food and grabbed my swimming trunks and a t-shirt from one of my drawers. I headed to the bathroom to change. I heard Matt yell that he was going to change and would be back in a second. I heard the door open and close as he left. I went into the closet and put on a pair of flip flops. As I finished and got back out into the bedroom there was a knock at the door. I yelled for them to come in. It was Ava.

Ava had on a white bathrobe and flip flops and carried a little beach bag at her side. I was probably just imagining it, but I was thinking that Ava got prettier every time I saw her. The white robe really made her curly red hair stand out. I couldn't help but stare at her. She noticed I was staring and before I knew it she had thrown her bag down and was walking my way. She walked right up to me, and as I bent down to kiss her, someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" I yelled very agitated. This was the second time someone interrupted us. Would we ever get to actually kiss? I thought to myself.

"It's Matt, duh," he called through the door.

"We're coming," I said as we walked toward the door together. I opened the door and Ava walked out. I started out after her and just as the door closed I remembered,

"I don't have a towel, hang on a second," I said.

"Don't worry, Luke, they have towels at the pool," Ava said.

"Ok, cool," I replied. Ava led the way, and we both followed her. She headed down the stairs and into the great room. In the great room she went straight across and through the double doors at the opposite end of the room. When we were through the doors I realized we were in a huge room with a glass wall down the entire length of it. The glass wall overlooked a beautiful flower garden. In the center of this room was a swimming pool like none I had ever seen. It was huge. It had diving boards at different levels on one end. It also had an awesome water slide that I could not wait to try out.

Ava showed us the linen closet and the changing rooms and we were ready to swim. Matt took off and jumped into the pool splashing water everywhere. Ava headed to the diving boards, and I headed to the slide. As I reached the top of the slide I looked over to watch Ava. She was on the tallest diving board. She bounced a couple times and jumped. She turned several flips on the way down and hit the water in a perfect dive. She barely disturbed the water as she cut through it like a hot knife through butter. I stared wide eyed in shock about what I had just witnessed. I slid down the slide and swam over to where she was by the ladder closest to the glass wall.

"Wow, that was absolutely amazing, Ava," I said.

"You think so?" She asked a little shyly, "I have been practicing for years here at the mansion. I love to dive, but I have never thought I was really any good at it," she said.

"You are definitely good at it. I have never seen anyone dive like that," I said.

Just then I happened to look out into the garden, and there stood Adriana. She was talking on her cell phone with a look of pure terror on her face. She didn't talk very much, but I could see fear written all over her face.

"Something is definitely weird about that woman. I can't put my finger on it, but something seems off about her. I wish one of us could turn into a bunny, or a bird, so we could listen to what she is saying," I said. While we were talking and looking out at Adriana in the garden, Matt swam over next to us.

"Dude, I promise you definitely do not want to be a bunny with all these wolves running around. You would for sure end up being a bite size snack," Matt said laughing.

"You know she teaches the Shape Shifter class right?" Ava asked.

"No, I didn't know that," I replied.

"Yeah, and she was second in command until your dad returned, Matt," Ava said.

"She came to announce his arrival last night to Grandpa while we were talking. She seemed pretty angry that Uncle Charles was here," I told them.

"I figure she is not too happy about being demoted like this, but she has known all along that she was just a fill in," Ava said.

"I don't trust her," I said.

"Me either. She gives me the creeps," Matt added. We dropped the subject of Adriana and went back to our swim. Matt wanted to race me across the pool, so I agreed. Ava counted to three and told us to go and the race was on. Of course Matt was already finished by the time I got half way across the pool.

"No fair," I said as I reached the other side next to him.

"How do you figure?" he asked with a big smile.

"You just wait until I get to use my powers. I'll be across this pool before you even get kicked off the starting line, Mr. wolf strength," I said and laughed.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," he said knowing I was right. We swam for a while. A few other people came and went. Ava suggested we go back up to our rooms and call up some lunch. Matt and I agreed with her. We all went to our separate rooms to change into dry clothes for the meeting with Grandpa. They both came to my room after they were finished and we had lunch together. By the time we all finished eating; it was time to head to the great room.

We took a seat at the large table in the great room and waited. A few minutes later a girl about our age came into the room. I saw Matt's jaw drop when she came in the door. This girl had really short blonde hair. She wore a short black skirt with a green frilly blouse and black high heeled boots. She definitely looked amazing. I reached over and pushed Matt's mouth closed as she walked over to the table to join us. Matt gave me a sharp look when he saw that I noticed his reaction.

"Hi, I'm Jenna," she said as she extended a hand to Matt. Matt shook her hand very enthusiastically, but just stared at her, unable to speak.

"This is Matt, and Luke," Ava introduced us, "and I'm Ava," she said.

"It's very nice to meet you," she directed toward the three of us.

"I haven't seen you around here before," said Ava.

"I just moved here from Michigan, to live with my dad," she explained.

"My dad is Dante, Dante Sanderson."

"Oh, that's right, he told me about you. I didn't know you were moving here. He didn't tell me that," Ava said.

"Well, it was sort of a last minute decision. I lived in Michigan with my mom. She was recently killed in a pack war back home. I had no other choice but to come live with my dad. He is my only other living relative," she explained as if it was common to lose a parent this way. I could tell Jenna was on the verge of crying as she told us about her mom. She hung her head looking very sad.

"Well, you are lucky to have a dad as great as Dante," Ava replied trying to change the subject.

"So are you guys waiting on the class meeting?" Asked Jenna.

"Yes, Grandpa should be here any minute," I said.

"So, you must be the Luke I have heard so much about," said Jenna.

"That would be me," I said sort of embarrassed. We all turned as the doors suddenly opened and in walked Adriana. She never even acknowledged we were in the room. She walked over to the end of the table and laid a stack of papers down that she had been carrying. She turned and walked toward the opposite end of the room. She turned at the last minute and said,

"Oh, Mr. Carrington says y'all should join him in the dinning hall when you're done here," she said as she turned around and walked out.

"Man, what is her freaking problem?" Jenna asked.

"Exactly what I want to find out," I said.

"I think you're right, Luke, something is definitely up with her," said Ava, She is acting totally strange since, well, since you arrived as a matter of fact, Luke," she added.

"Oh, great, I wonder what I could have done to piss her off. We haven't even started class yet, and the teacher is already mad at me about something."

"This is our schedules for the summer," said Jenna. She had walked over and picked up the papers Adriana left on the table. She handed one to each of us.

"Let's go see what Grandpa wants," I said. We all looked over the schedules and noticed we had Vampires 101 starting at noon the next day.

"Wow, school doesn't start until noon?" I asked shocked.

"Yeah, they can't start early because all the shifters are out running most of the night, especially during certain parts of the month," Ava explained. Oh, man, I so loved the idea of this school so much better than the one back home. We don't have to get up early, and on top of that, the classes seemed like they might be interesting.

We made our way out of the great room and down the hall toward the dinning room. I noticed as we got about half way down the hall that the dinning hall doors were closed. Ava opened the doors and everyone followed her in. I was the last one through the doors. When I stepped through the doors I noticed the dinning hall was fairly crowded with people. Everyone yelled "SURPRISE" all at the same time. I was speechless. I had never had a surprise party before. My birthday parties always consisted of Matt, Uncle Charles, and a few of Matt's friends from school. I was in complete shock as I looked around and saw all the decorations and the huge birthday cake with everyone smiling at me. I didn't think I much liked being the center of attention.

That's when it happened. I felt the familiar fainting feeling coming on and my sight went black. I woke up with people staring down at me. I was lying on the floor on my back again. I noticed one of the faces looking at me was Grandpa and all I could say to him was,

"He's coming!"

## 10

"Everyone please back up and give him some room," I heard Grandpa say as he moved around to help me off the floor. Grandpa sat me down in the closest chair so I could some what gain my composure before he asked me what I saw. I didn't know exactly how to tell him about my vision.

"It was the same vision as before, but this time as he jumped over the wall he yelled, "I'm coming for you," I said.

"You're safe here at the mansion, Luke, I hope you can believe that," said Grandpa.

"But, what if someone is working on the inside like we talked about before? What if someone is feeding him information that could allow him to break through the barriers to get me?" The crowd in the dinning hall began exchanging worried looks, and everyone began whispering to each other. I saw that many of them began to get angry expressions as the news of a possible traitor amongst them began to make its way around the room.

"I'm scared, Grandpa," I whispered so only he could hear me. I didn't want everyone in the room to think I was weak, but I truly was terrified at the thought of Nhados taking me away.

"I know your afraid of him, son, but don't let him use your fear against you. You have to stay strong and believe in your powers. You have to believe that everyone around you will fight to the death, if that's what it takes, to protect you," Grandpa told me.

It's really hard to believe in my powers since the ones I know about are blocked by a spell, and some of them haven't yet surfaced. I noticed that I had begun to sweat quite a bit, and felt very dizzy. I told Grandpa that I wasn't feeling well and asked if I may be excused to go to my room and lay down. He asked Uncle Charles and Matt to help me to my room as he began to calm the crowd in the dinning hall. As Matt and his dad each took one of my arms and helped me toward the hall I heard Grandpa tell everyone else in the room,

"It's nearly his time." I couldn't imagine what he meant by that. I was really too dizzy and sick at my stomach to pay close attention to it. The noise from the dinning hall was drowned away as we headed up the stairs to my room.

Uncle Charles helped me into my bed. I asked him,

"Would you please stay here with me?"

"Of course, Luke, I'm not going anywhere.

"What did grandpa mean when he said it's nearly his time?" I asked once I was able to clear my head a little from the dizziness.

"Well, Luke, he means that you are going to change soon," he replied.

"How does he know that?" I asked.

"Your closest relatives can feel the change coming. You are also displaying all the warning signs that it will happen soon," he explained. Matt had made his way around the bed and sat down. I could see a very excited expression on his face as he took in what his dad was saying to me.

"That's great news. You will get to run with us tonight," Matt said.

"You are probably right, Matt," Uncle Charles said, "You should try and get a little rest. It's still a couple hours before the moon will rise," he continued. I watched as he motioned for Matt to follow and they both went to sit around the fire place to give me a little privacy. I didn't think with everything going on that I would be able to sleep, but it didn't take long for me to drift off. I woke up startled because Uncle Charles was shaking me.

"What are you doing? What's wrong?" I asked in an irritated voice.

"Luke, you howled in your sleep and I think we need to get outside before you change," my uncle told me. But it was too late. My body suddenly began to shake uncontrollably, and I felt my bones begin to move and change shape. In a matter of seconds I realized I was standing on four legs on the floor looking up at Uncle Charles and Matt. Their eyes were both bigger than I thought was possible. Their gaze was fixed on me. Ok, I thought. Why were they staring at me like I had three heads or something? I know Matt is new to this, but had they not witnessed someone change into a wolf before?

Suddenly my body began to shake again and I was standing upright again.

"What just happened?" I asked as I tried to get my brain to wrap around it all.

"You changed!" Matt yelled.

"Well I figured that much genius," I said a little irritated at Matt for stating the obvious. "I know I changed, but why were you two looking at me like I had extra heads or something?" I asked them.

"Well, you didn't have any extra heads," Uncle Charles said like he was afraid to tell me the rest of what he was thinking.

"So, what was it?" I asked wishing they would just spit it out.

"Well, to be perfectly honest with you, we have never seen a white wolf before," Uncle Charles said.

"A what?" I asked.

"Dude, you changed into a wolf, but you were solid white," said Matt.

"What does that mean? Are all wolves the same color?" I asked.

"No, wolves are different shades of black, brown, and gray, usually," Uncle Charles said, "I have never seen one that was white," he continued.

"We have to go tell Grandpa," said Matt. Just then I could feel the heat start to rise and my body began to shake. I was again in wolf form looking up at them.

"We can't go down there like that," Matt said giggling. The next minute I changed back to normal, and Uncle Charles said,

"Let's go." We were out the door running down the hall in no time. We were down the stairs and running toward the dinning hall. Just as we burst through the doors, and everyone was staring at us trying to figure out what was happening, I changed again right in front of everybody. I heard the gasps, and saw the shocked expressions go around the room as I looked up at them in wolf form.

"We should have kept him in the hall and brought Grandpa out, huh?" Matt whispered to his dad.

"I guess so," said Uncle Charles. A few seconds later as everyone continued to stare and whisper to each other about me, I changed back to my normal self.

"If everyone would please go out and prepare for our full moon run, we will join you in a few minutes," Grandpa addressed the crowd. Slowly everyone began to move toward the hall as we stepped aside. Everyone continued to stare at me as they went by, like I would change and bite their leg off as they passed me.

When everyone had made their way out of the dinning hall, Grandpa turned around with a huge smile on his face and looked at me. He said,

"Luke, I want you to know that you have just confirmed the prophecy that your grandmother fore told 14 years ago." I had changed back to human form while Grandpa was talking.

"How exactly did I do that?" I asked not knowing what he was talking about. The only thing I did was change into a wolf, and we already figured that would happen anyway.

"Your grandmother told not only of the warrior born of two supernatural races. She also told that the form this warrior would take was, in fact, a magnificent white wolf," Grandpa said with much excitement and happiness in his voice.

"Oh," I said. It was kind of dumb for me to just say, oh, but that is all I could really make come out of my mouth. Until that moment I guess I didn't really believe the prophecy was talking about me at all. I didn't know what to say.

"You are truly a magnificent boy, Luke, and everyone here tonight has witnessed the prophecy come to pass," Grandpa said.

"Why do I keep spontaneously changing back and forth?" I asked.

"Same thing happened to me," Matt said.

"It's perfectly normal," Grandpa said, "This sporadic changing will soon pass."

I began to hear howls coming from outside the mansion.

"We need to go outside and prepare for the run," said Grandpa.

"This is going to be so awesome," Matt whispered so only I could hear him.

Grandpa turned and headed out of the dinning room. We then went into the great room and out the doors on the other side into the pool room. A few people were lingering here, but most of the crowd had exited out into the garden area that we saw through the glass wall earlier that evening. We continued to follow Grandpa out into the garden and wondered where we were headed. We headed out of the garden and across the lawn. I noticed we began to head up a hill that stood out in the light of the moon.

Just as we reached closer to the top Grandpa stopped and motioned for me to continue on to the top of the hill. I slowly walked up the rest of the way alone and into the brilliant light of the full moon. I suddenly felt the change coming again. In seconds I was standing in full wolf form. As if I had no control over myself I lifted my head and let out an amazing howl at the moon.

" _Luke, my son."_ I heard my grandfather say and looked around for him, " _I am right here in front of you, Luke."_ I heard Grandpa again and realized he was the wolf standing in front of me. How in the heck is he talking to me? I thought to my self. I kept trying to talk back to him but all that would come out were little yips and barks.

" _Don't try to use your voice, Luke, use your thoughts."_ I heard Matt say.

" _Matt, what in the heck is going on?"_ I thought.

" _We can't speak in wolf form. We communicate with our minds,"_ said Matt.

" _Really?"_ I asked.

" _Yes, Luke, this is how we communicate. Are you getting the hang of it now?"_ Grandpa asked.

" _I think so,"_ I replied, _"It sounds just like you guys are talking to me but it's inside my head."_ I realized there were wolves all around me farther down the hill. They were all down on their stomachs with their heads lying on their front paws.

" _What are they doing?"_ I asked nervously _._

" _They know you are the one, Luke, the one that fills the prophecy. They are bowing to you,"_ Grandpa explained.

" _But I'm definitely no leader,"_ I said.

" _You are to them, Luke, we have been waiting for you for many years,"_ said Grandpa. I felt my head rise again as I let out another magnificent howl. Everyone around me joined in with their own howls. I could get used to this, I thought. In wolf form I felt important, and strong, and powerful. I had never before felt any of those things.

I looked at Grandpa and wondered what was next. Grandpa must have known what I was thinking because he let out a series of yips toward the rest of the wolves and they all bolted in different directions to begin their full moon run.

I noticed for the first time that while Grandpa, Uncle Charles, and Matt were all very dark colored wolves, Grandpa in particular was a dark gray color. Uncle Charles, on the other hand was dark gray, but nearly to the point of being more black than he was gray. Matt was completely black, and was nearly half the size of his dad.

" _Are you ready for your first run as a member of the pack, Luke?"_ I heard grandpa ask.

" _Heck yeah! I mean, Yes sir,"_ I corrected my self very excitedly. I saw Matt jump into the air. He landed on my back causing us to roll across the ground a few feet in a ball of fur.

" _Let's go, man!"_ Matt said with a laugh. Matt took off running. I was close behind very easily keeping up with him. We were running at full speed into the darkness of the woods. As we ran I could hear Matt say,

" _Let's go hunting. I bet we could catch something if we work together. The adults say it takes a lot of patience and practice, but I think we can do it,"_ Matt said with great enthusiasm.

" _Sounds good to me, what do you want to hunt?"_ I asked. Matt suddenly stopped running and I nearly plowed into the back of him. I stopped myself just in time.

" _Put your nose to the ground and try to pick up the scent of an animal. Once we find the scent we can start tracking it,"_ Matt said. I saw Matt put his nose close to the ground and start moving around. I did what Matt was doing and started walking around smelling of the ground. It only took a second to pick up the smell of something, but I couldn't ever remember smelling anything like it before.

" _Hey, Matt, I think I got something over here."_ I said. Matt trotted up beside me and started sniffing around at what I smelled.

" _What is that?"_ I asked.

" _I don't know, but it smells weird,"_ Matt said _,_

" _Let's see if we can find out."_ Matt and I followed the scent we had picked up a little farther. We soon came into a small clearing. We followed the scent out into the middle of it, not paying any attention to where we were going. I looked up, suddenly, and my heart sank. I quickly realized where we were. The urge to get the heck out of there washed over my whole body.

" _We have to get out of here, Matt, and we need to do it now!"_ I screamed toward him with all the force that I could. We both turned to run without any further conversation and stopped dead in our tracks. Three dark figures were walking out of the woods from the direction we had just come. Matt let out a sharp whine and then howled. I hoped that he was calling for help because I definitely could feel trouble. Now that the figures were under the moon I could tell they were not human, they were Vampires!

" _How did a bunch of Vamps get over the wall onto Grandpa's property?"_ I asked.

" _Let's stay calm, Luke, I called for help. Grandpa and dad should be here soon, but let's not provoke these things until they get here."_ The three vampires began to spread out and surround us. Matt and I started backing up slowly. I took a quick glance behind me and realized we couldn't go any farther or we would back right into the wall.

" _We can't go back anymore, Matt, the wall is right there,"_ I said. Suddenly the vampires began to circle around us. I feared they were preparing for an attack.

" _Look!"_ Matt said. I looked past the vampires and could see the familiar glowing yellow eyes surrounding us just inside the line of the woods.

Just then I heard the familiar howl from my dreams, and the flash of purple light. Just as the light flashed, the three vampires bolted for us. I looked around and noticed they were clawing and hissing at us through the purple sphere that was surrounding us. Mr. Rathburn was standing between Matt and me somehow generating the purple sphere.

" _What are you doing here?"_ I asked, and realized I wasn't saying anything that he could actually understand.

I noticed that Grandpa and Uncle Charles were coming out of the wood line in front of us. As they crept closer the other wolves surrounding us came into focus. The vampires were so focused on breaking through the shield; they didn't even notice the other wolves. As the wolves got closer and closer I heard Grandpa yell,

" _Don't kill all of these fools. We need to take one alive to find out what they are doing here!"_ In an instant the wolves were in motion. It was hard to take in what was happening all around us at the same time. Grandpa leapt into the air with his huge mouth open and snapped down on the first vampires' neck snapping his head off. He crumpled to the ground in a heap as his head rolled a short distance across the ground. The second vampire to our left was attacked by four other wolves. They began to rip the vampire to shreds as we watched in horror.

Uncle Charles hit the third vampire at the same time as the other two. He hit the vampire directly in the chest and it went over backward with the force of the blow. The vampire landed on his back with Uncle Charles' teeth clamped around his neck ready to snap at any second. The vampire lay in silence, obviously afraid to move in fear of meeting the fate of his two buddies.

Mr. Rathburn let down his hands and the purple sphere instantly disappeared. I didn't know exactly how to make myself change, but I started to concentrate on changing back to my human form. I closed my eyes and focused. Within a few seconds I could feel the change happening. I opened my eyes and realized I was human again. I looked down at the tiny Mr. Rathburn.

"We owe you our lives, Mr. Rathburn," I said.

"Call me Jack," he replied, "And you don't owe me anything. It's my job to protect you, Luke."

"What do you mean it's your job?" I asked Jack.

"We will talk very soon, Luke, and I will tell you everything," said Jack. I noticed that Grandpa had also changed back to human form. He was making his way over to where Uncle Charles held the Vampire captive. The rest of the pack circled in closer keeping their eyes glued to what was happening with the vampire.

"Why are you here?" Grandpa snarled at the vampire.

"I want tell you anything. I'm dead already, regardless of whether I cooperate. You may as well get it over and finish me off," hissed the vampire. At that instant a number of things happened at once: A flash of red light streaked down from the top of the wall causing Uncle Charles to fly into the air and land several feet away. The purple sphere was surrounding us again, and Grandpa changed back to his wolf form. The vampire burst into flames and turned to ash as we watched in shock.

All eyes turned up to the top of the wall where the commotion had started. I was horrified as I realized what, or should I say who, was up there. Standing there, wearing the familiar black cloak was Nhados.

Nhados leapt from the top of the wall to the ground. The circle of wolves backed up and changed their focus to him. Nhados began to circle around the three of us protected by the purple sphere. Grandpa silently changed back to human form behind Nhados as he continued to circle us.

"How did you get in here?" Grandpa roared at Nhados. Nhados didn't even act as though Grandpa had said anything at all. He continued to glare at us as he made his way around the sphere.

"You realize this is only the beginning," Nhados hissed, "One day soon, I will return to take you to the underworld to stand at my side," He said as he pointed at me with an unusually long finger. A sudden chill ran down my spine as I caught a glimpse of what the hideous creature must look like under the cloak.

In a flash Nhados jumped into the sky and flew over the wall out of sight. With the sudden movement of Nhados I instinctively returned to wolf form. When Jack was sure the threat was gone, he let down the purple sphere again.

"Get back to the mansion!" Grandpa ordered Matt and I, "I want everyone else to go with me and watch the perimeter for the remainder of the night!" Grandpa yelled at the rest of the pack. "Charles, you are to escort Luke and Matt back to the mansion and guard them until morning," Grandpa added.

I looked around to ask Jack if he could join us at the mansion, but he was gone. Matt and I took off for the mansion with Uncle Charles leading the way. When we got back to the garden we all changed back to our human forms and headed back into the pool room. We didn't stop until we were safely in my bedroom. Uncle Charles told us we were all staying in here tonight. He told us to try and get some rest, and that he would stay outside the door and guard us for the rest of the night.

I changed into my pajamas and threw Matt a pair as well. I knew they would be big on him, but they would have to do. I went to the fridge to grab a couple sodas while Matt changed clothes. I threw one to him as we made our way to sit down around the empty fireplace.

"Man, that was wild," Matt said.

"You got that right," I replied.

"I'm glad Jack was there to save us from those things," Matt added.

"Yeah, I can't help but keep thinking about what he said, that it was his job to protect me," I said, "I wonder how he knew we would be there, and that we would need help," Matt said.

"I was thinking the same thing," I said.

We both sat there in silence as we finished our sodas. Without saying another word I got up and climbed into bed. I was completely exhausted from the events of the day. The last thought I remembered was hoping the rest of the pack would be safe until morning.

"You failed to inform me the boy was being protected by the elf!" Nhados yelled at the old lady chained on the floor. Bright blue bolts of electricity flowed from his hands striking the old lady. She screamed in pain as Nhados continued to electrocute her.

"I never saw that in my visions," the woman cried from the nearly unbearable torture Nhados was putting her through. Nhados stopped torturing the woman and turned to face the cloaked woman standing on the other side of the cave they were in. Nhados' eyes were blazing red as if they were fire burning from their sockets. The woman fell to her knees in front of her master.

"You told me the boy was alone!" Nhados yelled down at the cloaked woman.

"I assure you I had no idea the elf was with him, Master," the woman cried. She knew Nhados was angry enough to kill her now that his plans had been ruined.

"How much time do we have before the next part of the prophecy is revealed to the boy?" Nhados hissed down at the woman.

"Master, I do not know when they will tell him. I do know we have several months before the deadline. Surely we can come up with a way to capture the boy before then."

"You better hope you are right. We must not fail a second time. If the boy unites with good, he will have to be eliminated permanently," Nhados told her.

"I understand, Master. I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen," said the woman. Nhados suddenly burst into flames. When the flames went out Nhados was no longer standing in the cave.

## 11

When I finally woke up the next morning I was shocked to realize I didn't have any nightmares like I suspected I would. Matt was still snoring away on the other side of the bed. I got up quietly so I wouldn't disturb him and went into the bathroom to take a hot shower. When I finished taking a shower I grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down at the bar to look over the schedule for our classes. I noticed that our first class was the Shape Shifter class taught by Adriana. I dreaded the thought of having to be around her for a whole hour. I didn't know who taught the other classes, but I thought they couldn't be any worse than her.

I finished my breakfast and slipped out into the hall. I had noticed it was only nine a.m. so I still had three hours before class started. I wondered if after last night we would even have class today. I walked down and knocked on Ava's door. She answered and invited me in.

"Hey, Luke, I heard about last night," she said.

"Yeah, we survived," I replied.

"Well that's definitely a good thing," she said smiling.

"I just wanted to make sure we were still going to have class today."

"Unfortunately we are. Mom said to make sure I showed y'all where to go and everything."

"Did you get all of your presents last night?" Ava asked.

"Presents? What presents?" I asked.

"Your birthday presents, silly. There was a table full of presents at your party last night," Ava said.

"I didn't notice them. As soon as I came in the door I had the vision and everything was chaotic after that," I explained as Ava walked over to her bedside table and opened the top drawer.

"I wanted to give this to you in person. After you open this we can run down to the dinning room and see if your other presents are still there," Ava said.

"Thank you so much, Ava, you didn't have to give me anything," I said as she handed me a small gift wrapped box.

"It's not much, but I wanted to give you something. I really like you a lot, Luke, and I'm glad you are here," she said as I took the box and unwrapped it.

I slowly opened the lid of the box not knowing what to expect. Inside was a small blue velvet bag with little black drawstrings. I laid the box on the bed and opened the little bag. I dumped the contents into the palm of my hand. Connected to a beautiful silver chain was a silver tooth. As I looked a little closer I noticed a small blue sphere embedded inside the silver tooth. I examined the sphere even more and noticed that the blue was actually smoke swirling around inside the sphere. The blue color of it reminded me of the color of the sky on a cloudless, beautiful, sunny day.

"Ava, I don't know what to say. It's beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it. It's a mold of a real wolves tooth. Hopefully it will bring you luck, and keep you safe," she explained.

"I love it!" I exclaimed as I put it on around my neck.

"Let's go down to the dinning hall and see about your other gifts," Ava said. She headed for the door and I followed her down to the dinning hall. The dinning room was empty except for the huge piles of presents wrapped in different colored paper. I had never in my life seen so many gifts at a birthday party, especially a party for me.

"Open them," Ava said as she took a seat and waited for me to begin. I started with the smaller ones and found DVDs, books, and a few video games. I also had several sets of clothes and a back pack full of supplies I would need for class. There was a DVD player and a game system that would definitely come in handy with the DVDs and games I had gotten. The next to the last present I opened was a laptop. I totally didn't expect that, I had never owned a computer before, so I was very excited about this gift. The last present, and of course the biggest one of all, was the biggest flat screen TV I thought I had ever seen in my entire life. I couldn't believe all the things I had gotten. As Ava and I shared the excitement of the things I opened, Grandpa came into the dinning hall.

"I see you found your gifts," he said with a smile.

"Ava told me I had gifts down here left from the party, but I never expected all of this," I said, "Who are all of these from?" I asked.

"Well, the TV and the laptop are from me, Luke, and the game system is from Charles and Matt. The others are from the rest of the pack," Grandpa explained with a huge smile on his face. "I hope you like them," he added.

"I love them, Grandpa! Thank you so much!" I exclaimed as I ran over and hugged him.

"I'm glad," he said as he hugged me back, I'll have the staff bring everything up to your room while you're in class," Grandpa said.

"That would be great!" I said as I grabbed the backpack and the laptop to take with me.

"Let's go up to my room and see if Matt's up yet so I can tell him what I got," I told Ava.

"I will see you later this afternoon, Luke, after your last class. I want to test your powers a little more, and discuss a few things with you and Ava if you don't mind," Grandpa said as we headed out of the dinning room.

"Ok, Grandpa, we'll see ya later," I called out. We ran all the way to my room. I was so excited about the presents I had received for my birthday. I opened the door and noticed Matt sitting at the bar with a huge tray of food. He obviously had already ordered up some breakfast.

"Why don't we order a pizza from the kitchen for lunch?" asked Ava.

"That sounds good," I said.

"Yeah that sounds great!" Matt replied with a mouth full of food.

"You're going to eat all of that and pizza? Where the heck do you put it all?" I asked.

"I can't help it, dude, I'm a growing boy," Matt said with a laugh.

"Keep eating like that and all you're going to do is grow out instead of up," I said as Ava and I laughed together.

"Man, you will never believe all the presents I got for my birthday. I got movies, a DVD player, and I even got a freaking big screen TV. Thank you and your dad for the Playstation, man, it's awesome. Oh, and I got this," I said and held up the box with the brand new laptop in it.

"You got a Playstation and all that stuff too?" Matt asked with a shocked look. "Yeah, Grandpa said you and your dad got the Playstation for me," I said.

"Well hell, we got you one, and I don't even have one myself," Matt said with a sigh.

"Well you're welcome to join me in playing mine on the new big screen," I told him. Matt finished his breakfast and headed for his room to shower and get dressed for the day. Ava helped me unpack my laptop and get it all set up so I could use it. I was somewhat familiar with computers using them at school, and what little I did on the one Uncle Charles had. I was super excited about having my own now.

"There is Wi-Fi everywhere in the mansion," Ava said.

"That's awesome," I replied as she began to show me how to connect to the mansion's network. The pizza had arrived by that time, and Matt returned to my room as if the smell of it had lured him back. I grabbed everyone a soda and we dug in to the pizza.

I noticed the Silent Soldiers logo as an icon on the desktop screen of my laptop and clicked it. The program opened and asked for a user id and a password.

"Look at this," I said as Ava and Matt looked over at the screen to see what I was talking about.

"What's that?" Matt asked.

"I don't know, but it's definitely something to do with the Silent Soldiers," said Ava.

"I wish we could get in and see what it is," I said.

"Hey, I know somebody we could talk to about it. We need to ask Jenna if she knows how to get in," said Ava.

"Who's Jenna?" I asked.

"You know, Dante Sanderson's' daughter. The one we met yesterday while we were waiting on our schedules. The blonde that Matt was practically drooling over," Ava explained with a little giggle.

"I was not," Matt yelled and immediately turned bright red with embarrassment.

"Anyway, Dante is the tech guy for the whole mansion. He works on all of the video and computer stuff. She may very well have picked up some of her fathers skills. She might be able to help us hack into the system," Ava excitedly told us.

"It's definitely worth a try," I replied. We finished our lunch by that time, and I looked at my phone to check the time. It was about a quarter to twelve so I threw my books and my laptop in my bag and we headed for class. Matt and Ava grabbed their books from their room on the way. Ava led the way as we headed through the great room and into the room where the pool was. We took a right and went through a big wooden door.

The door opened into a long hallway with doors on either side. I noticed the rooms were numbered as we continued down the hall. We made it to the end of the hall and turned left down another hall. This hall was much like the first only shorter. We came nearly to the end of this hall and entered one of the last doors.

We followed Ava into the room. To my surprise it looked just like the classrooms back home. Chalkboards covered the wall in the front of the class. Rows of desks faced the chalkboard just like any other classroom you have ever seen. The only difference in this and a normal classroom were the posters and paintings that decorated the other three walls. These were definitely not anything I had seen before. They contained pictures of different forms that ShapeShifters took when they changed. There was also a picture that showed the different phases of the moon. We all took a seat on the front row. I pulled my ShapeShifter 101 book out of my bag along with a notebook and pen.

A few seconds later Jenna bounced into the room as if she thought she was going to be late.

"Hi!" Matt said a little louder than necessary. He immediately dropped his head and blushed with embarrassment.

"Hey, Matt, is it?" Jenna asked.

"That's right," Matt said a little surprised she remembered his name. As Jenna took the seat next to Matt, Adriana came swiftly into the room and slammed her books down on the table. Adriana bent over and put her hands down on either side of the desk as she glared at us. She looked as though she was ready to pounce on us at any second as she told us,

"You will address me as Ms. Grayson. I did not choose to be here any more than you did. We will not meet every day of the week like some of your other classes," she said. I thought that was probably the best thing I had heard in quite some time as she continued, "Your first assignment will be a five page essay on the history of the ShapeShifter. It will be typed, single space, using a 12 point font. Anything other than those specifications will not be accepted. A sixth page will be a cover sheet with the title, as well as your name and the date it is due. We will meet again on Friday and you will turn in your papers. There will be no excuses for not having it finished and lying on my desk by this time Friday. She scooped up the things she had brought with her and marched back out of the room.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Jenna asked.

"Well, we haven't quite figured that out yet," said Ava.

"At least we don't have to look at her everyday," I said.

"Amen to that," replied Matt.

"So, guess that means we're free until our next class starts," I said happily.

"Let's go out and sit in the garden until our next class," said Ava. Ava stood and headed toward the door and the rest of us followed her lead. We followed her out to the garden and took a seat at a picnic table under a huge old Oak tree.

"This gives us the perfect opportunity to talk to you about something, Jenna," Ava said.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Well, we wanted to ask if you had learned any of your fathers' computer skills," Ava told her.

"I've picked up a little. Why do you ask?" Jenna replied. I had my laptop out and booted up by this time, and I pushed it over in front of Jenna so she could see it.

"We are trying to log into this program," I said as I clicked on the Silent Soldiers icon.

"That's easy, I only need to get online and download a program that cracks passwords," she said as she began to click and type her way through a number of different screens. A few minutes later, to our amazement, she was done. She scribbled some numbers and letters onto a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"This id and password will sign you in until somebody realizes that the system has been hacked," she explained, "Then I can just go in and do it again," she added with a smile. She turned the laptop back to face me. I began to type in the letters and numbers she gave me. I hit the login button and Access Granted showed on the screen. Next a different screen popped up. The next screen had a number of buttons to choose from. One button in particular that immediately caught my interest read MEMBERS. I clicked on it. The next screen was the same except for what was on the buttons.

Each of the five buttons had a name on it. We were all shocked to see that four of the names in the list were our own. I clicked on Matt's name first. His picture popped up at the top of the screen. As I scrolled down it told everything about him, his name, height, weight, eye color, his shifter form, and under the special powers title it said "undetermined."

"You have a special power?" Jenna asked Matt.

"Grandpa said that since I changed early I would probably manifest a special power. He didn't say what it was or when it would show up," he said a little confused.

"We knew you were to be the leader of this group, Luke, but I didn't know they planned on us being a part of it too," Ava said.

"Who is this Dakota Gazini that is the other name on the list?" Jenna asked.

"I have never heard that name here at the mansion," Ava said. Matt and I both shook our heads to let her know we didn't know either.

Just then we heard someone clear their throat. We all four jerked our heads toward the sound, as I quickly closed my laptop.

"Hi, mom," Ava said.

"Did you all plan on sitting out here all afternoon, or were you planning on coming to class soon?" Rachel asked in a rather stern voice. None of us realized it was already time for class to start. We had been glued to the computer for nearly an hour. We all gathered our things and followed Rachel to the Witchcraft 101 class.

"I am Rachel Hadison for those of you that don't already know me," she said in a very cheerful voice.

"I will be teaching you the introductory class on Witchcraft. Everyone that attends school here at the mansion must take this class, but only those destined to become witches will proceed to more advanced witchcraft classes. Ava has already completed this class and will act as my assistant. She will also be available to tutor any of you that feel you need the extra help," Rachel explained. I took the time while Rachel was talking to take a glance around the classroom. There were a variety of posters around the room that contained what I figured to be witch related things. There were also a couple tables in the back covered with what appeared to be chemistry sets with test tubes and burners and things.

Today I will be discussing a brief history of the craft. After I go through some of the history, we will begin learning about things that are actually important in the craft like spells, and charms, and more practical things. Where we came from as witches is not nearly important to me as where we are going, so we are not going to dwell on the past. Rachel then told us to get out our notebooks so we could take notes, and she began her lesson. I found the information she was giving us to be very interesting. Before I knew it she was dismissing us for the day. She had a homework assignment written on the board to finish reading chapter one and also read chapters two and three.

We gathered our things and went across the hall to our next and final class of the day, Vampires 101. I was really looking forward to this class. I had read through some of the text, and I was anxious to find out what parts of it pertained to me. To my great surprise, Jack Rathburn was standing on a little raised platform at the front of the class.

"Jack!" I said as we entered the room.

"Hello, Luke, how are you today?" he asked.

"I'm doing great. I didn't expect to see you teaching this class," I told him.

"Yes, well, I'm not the permanent Vampire instructor, but Mr. Carrington asked me to fill in for the summer," he explained.

"I normally teach the class on Elves," he added. Well, that definitely explained why he reminded me of one of Santa's elves, he actually was an elf. A giggle escaped my throat as I made my way to one of the desks at the front of the class.

"This class is normally after dark. The vampire that teaches it is only available after the sun goes down," Ava whispered as we took our seats. I guess that made sense I thought to my self. I hoped Jack had as much knowledge as an actual vampire because I knew I would have lots of questions for him.  
Jack began the lesson for the day. I listened as attentively as possible as he also went through history. When class was over Jack asked Ava and I to stick around. Matt told us he would catch up later and headed out the door with Jenna. Jack allowed them time to leave before turning to us. Mr. Carrington asked that I bring the two of you downstairs for Luke's further testing. Ava and I both expressed our understanding and followed Jack out of the room.

We followed Jack out of the classroom and down the hall. He led us into another classroom that must have been his actual classroom by the looks of the posters on the walls. We followed him through the classroom and into a small office. When we were inside he closed the door behind us. He went around to his desk and pulled out a small white crystal. He told us to both take hold of his shoulders as he raised his hand holding the crystal into the air. The crystal began to glow, and the light instantly got so bright that we couldn't see anything. When the light began to fade, we realized we were no longer in his office at all. We had transported into the Silent Soldiers headquarters.

"Whoa," was all I could think to say as I stared shockingly at Ava. Jack looked at us with a little grin and in an instant he was gone. One second he was there looking at us and the next he was gone. He disappeared right in front of our eyes.

"Ok, that was strange," Ava said.

"For real," I replied. We heard footsteps walking across the floor heading our way, and we both turned to see who it was. Grandpa was coming over to us looking happy to see me as he always does.

"Come with me," he said as he approached us. We followed him into the room that Rachel removed and applied the spell on me last time I was down here. I noticed the exam table had been removed from the room.

"Where do you want me?" I asked.

"I have something to show you, Luke," Rachel said.

"I helped mom come up with something a little different than the whole drawn out spell and all," said Ava very happily. Rachel picked something up from her desk and handed it to me. I looked down to see what it was.

"An inhaler?" I asked. I don't have any breathing problems! I protested.

"It's not just an inhaler, Luke," Ava said.

"Ava's right, it may look and work like an inhaler, but it is so much more. Try it out," said Rachel. I nervously put the inhaler into my mouth. I squeezed and inhaled just like someone would that was experiencing an asthma attack. I instantly felt the warm sensation run up my body starting at my feet.

"Cool," I said.

"Ava and I have been working on creating spells in gas form that can be contained in different objects, like this inhaler, and used as we wish. Now, instead of casting spells, we can use whatever object we have chosen. It eliminates the need to carry around candles and ingredients. It also allows a witch to instantly cast a spell that would normally take several minutes," explained Rachel.

"That is amazing!" said Grandpa. Rachel took the inhaler back and stuck it in her pocket. We went through the whole testing routine that we had performed last time. We went through it again to make sure everything was the same as it had been before I changed to wolf form. None of my powers had changed, and I continued to have no reaction to any of the items.

The next step, Grandpa said, was for me to attempt to change into my wolf form while I still possessed my vampire powers. We went out into the main room and everyone turned to watch me as I concentrated on changing. I closed my eyes and focused on what it felt like the night before when I felt my body changing shape. I had the familiar feeling come almost instantly and opened my eyes to realize I was looking up at the others. I watched as Grandpa changed as well.

" _Well done, Luke,"_ I heard grandpa say in my head. _"With a little practice you will be able to change as quickly as I can,"_ he added.

" _I feel great. I wish I was outside so I could run,"_ I told him.

" _Let's try something. I want you to run down to that wall at the end of the room like you did yesterday,"_ Grandpa said. I moved out to the open area that ran down the center of the room and got into position and took off. In the blink of an eye I was at the other end of the room.

" _You still have your vampire speed, I see. Let's see if you have your strength as well. Go over to one of the bigger vehicles and see if you can pull it across the room,"_ Grandpa told me.

I walked over to the biggest SUV in the room and grabbed hold of the middle of the bumper with my teeth. I slowly started to walk backward pulling the vehicle. To our surprise it started to move. I pulled quite easily as it slowly followed me across the floor. I could hear the wheels squeaking their resistance on the metal floor, but the vehicle never slowed down. I knew the vehicle weighed thousands of pounds, but to me, it was light as a feather. We all came to realize I had my vampire powers in human form, as well as wolf form.

## 12

The next few months went by fairly quickly. The summer was drawing to an end, and fall was quickly approaching. The trees around the mansion were changing into the beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and red that we were all familiar with. The temperature outside was no longer unbearably hot. It was actually getting quite cool at night. Soon, the leaves would begin to fall and winter would take hold of South Arkansas.

Over the course of the summer I learned a great deal about Witches, Vampires, and Shape Shifters in my classes. We had final exams much like in a normal school, and we all passed them with flying colors. Adriana was a pain in the butt, but at least we didn't have to see her but once or twice a week. On top of my class work, I had special training down at headquarters everyday. I practiced changing to wolf form quite a bit, and had gotten really good at it. I also went through a series of combat training. My Tae Kwon Do classes back home came in handy with these.

I eventually had to do the combat training after dark when Professor Vance could teach me. Grandpa decided I was never going to learn much unless someone as fast as me could take over my training. None of the wolves around the mansion came close to matching my speed. It was also great having another vampire around to ask questions. I learned a lot more about my powers and the weaknesses of other vampires from Professor Vance.

I continued to use the inhaler to suppress my vampire powers while I wasn't training. Grandpa said we still had some testing to do before I could keep them all the time. Toward the end of the summer we learned that while the spell was removed, and I had the vampire powers, I still ate human food instead of blood. This was wonderful news to me. I really didn't want to go around with the urge to bite people.

I was very proud of the things I learned over the summer. Grandpa continued to tell me how pleased he was with my progress. After the summer classes were over, he told me he had a surprise for me. I couldn't imagine what the surprise could be. He told me to meet him in the great room after dinner one evening.

"I can't imagine what Grandpa wants," I said to the gang. The gang included of course Ava, Matt, and Jenna. We had grown very close over the past few months, and were spending pretty much every waking minute together.

"I bet it's going to be something awesome," Matt said.

"I guess we will find out soon," I replied. As soon as we finished eating I excused myself from the table, and told them I would see them a little later. They decided to wait in Ava's room for me to get finished with my little meeting with Grandpa.

"Hi, Grandpa," I said as I entered the great room and walked over to where he was sitting. Something seemed very different about him. Usually when I saw Grandpa he was very happy. He normally had a huge welcoming smile plastered on his face. I always felt completely welcome in his presence. This time when I entered the room a nervous feeling flooded over me at the very serious look Grandpa had. When he noticed me he attempted to change his composure and put on a smile, but I knew he was trying to hide something from me.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?" I asked.

"We have something very important to discuss, Luke. I told you I had a surprise for you, so let's talk about that first. I am very proud of your progress, and I have decided to remove the spell permanently. I feel that you have progressed enough in your training for you to be able to handle the responsibility of your full powers," Grandpa explained. I immediately felt some of the nervousness change to excitement.

"That's great," I said, "I have waited all summer for this."

"There is another reason for this, Luke," he said. I need for you to be completely comfortable with your powers. Soon you and the Silent Soldiers will face your first mission," Grandpa said. My heart beat double time at this news. I had been anticipating when this moment would come, but I never thought it would be so soon.

"Before your grandmother left the mansion she told not only of your birth. She also gave several other very specific prophecies about you. The first one was your shifting form confirming your identity. That was fulfilled with your changing into the white wolf. The second one told of your initial training that would take place at the mansion. This prophecy has also been fulfilled with your training throughout the summer. The third prophecy, and the one that we are concerned with now, is the basis for your first mission as the born leader of the Silent Soldiers."

"The third prophecy is this: Before the mark of the autumnal equinox after the white warrior comes of age, he must collect the Koichi sword to permanently unite himself to the light.

"What exactly does that mean?" I asked in complete confusion.

"I'll explain. Before the mark of the autumnal equinox is somewhere around the end of September. That gives us approximately three weeks from now for you to complete this mission. The mission is to collect the Koichi sword. If you can obtain this sword before the mark of the autumnal equinox you will unite your self to the light.

"What is the light, Grandpa?"

"The light is the opposite of darkness, Luke. Light means the side of goodness. Light is good, and darkness is evil, or so it is said."

"Let me get this straight. In less than three weeks, I have to collect this sword. If I don't succeed I could potentially be evil?" I asked as I shuffled these thoughts around in my head.

"That is correct," said Grandpa.

"Ok. That sounds easy enough. Just tell me where it is and I will go and get it,"

"Luke, it's not that simple. We believe that Nhados has been at work since his attack here at the mansion. We think he has taken up guard over the sword. The sword is in the underworld. If it is in fact being guarded by Nhados, it could be nearly impossible for you to get it," Grandpa explained.

"We can't just sit around. We have no choice but to get it. I don't want to be evil, Grandpa. Let's go get it.

"We can't rush in unprepared, Luke. We must bring in the final member of the team, and we must prepare for a great battle," said Grandpa. Grandpa handed me the inhaler he was holding. I had been so caught up in all the bad news that I completely forgot about the good news. I took the inhaler and inhaled, removing the spell that had suppressed my powers for so many years. I handed it back to Grandpa and he tucked it away in his pocket.

"Dakota Gazini will be arriving tonight. He is the fifth and final member of the Silent Soldiers. He is coming to live with us here at the mansion. I want to meet with you all after he arrives so I can introduce everyone to him," Grandpa said.

"Ok,"

"I must excuse myself Luke. I have to make final arrangements for Dakota's arrival." Grandpa left the room while I continued to sit there thinking about all that he had told me. I decided I should go and talk to my friends and tell them what we were up against. We also needed to see if we could find out anything else. I was standing to leave when I suddenly heard a voice coming from the pool room outside of the double doors of the great room.

I thought it was odd that I could hear someone talking in another room. I remembered then that I learned about super hearing in my vampire class. That must be the reason I could hear this far away. I focused on the voice as closely as I could and found out that it was Adriana talking to someone. I couldn't hear another voice so I figured she must be talking to somebody on the phone. I snuck quietly over to the door so I could hear what they were saying better.

"He has informed the boy about the sword. I think they will try to take it soon," I heard her say, "I understand, but he has been training extensively all summer, and the final member is scheduled to arrive tonight," she added.

I couldn't imagine who she would be telling this important information to, but I felt that it was wrong for her to be sharing my Grandpa's secrets. I listened again, and heard her say,

"I will let you know if I find out anything further, master." I heard the beep of the phone and footsteps headed for the door I was listening at. I had to get out of here. Adriana was seconds away from walking through this door, and I definitely didn't want her to find me eavesdropping on her conversation. In a flash I ran across the room and was out the door into the foyer. I closed the door behind me as quietly as possible as I heard the door open on the other side of the room. This super hearing could definitely come in handy, I thought to myself.

I raced up the stairs and into Ava's room without even knocking first.

"Knock much?" Ava asked.

"I'm sorry Ava, but I will explain everything in a second," I said. I peeked out the door to make sure nobody was following me. When I was satisfied we were in fact alone I closed the door and walked over to sit down with my friends.

"What's up, Luke, you look like you've seen a ghost," Matt laughed.

"I think Adriana is betraying the pack. I think she is the one that helped Nhados enter the property over the wall the first night I changed," I blurted.

"Are you sure?" Ava asked.

"Let me start from when I left y'all in the dinning hall, and I'll tell you the whole story. I started with meeting Grandpa in the great room and told them every detail of the conversation we had. I told them about the new member arriving soon. I told them about the mission we were facing. I told them everything I knew so far. I also told them about hearing Adriana on the phone and what she said. I also told them how I heard that far away with my super hearing, now that I had my vampire powers permanently. Everyone stared at me in shock as I gave every detail I could remember.

"We have to do some research and find out where this sword is, and how we might be able to get it. We are about to be united as the Silent Soldiers, and I think we need to be as prepared as possible. We know about my powers. I think we need to discuss the powers that you guys have as well. We need to know what were working with," I told them.

"Well, according to my mother, I am a quite powerful witch. She says I'm even more powerful than she was at her age. She said if I could summon the power of Callan, I could possibly reach my full power pretty quickly. It is an extremely difficult ritual, and we would need a fifth person to perform it," Ava explained.

"Do you think your mom would help with it?" I asked.

"She might help us. She knows I have been researching it. This ritual dips into a bit of dark magic, and I think she would rather be there with me than for me to try it on my own. I'll find out," she said.

"Ok, Matt, have you figured out anything about any special powers you might have?" I asked.

"I read in one of the more advanced ShapeShifter books that my mom has, that some shifters can shift into other things. Maybe you can change into something other than a wolf, Matt," said Ava.

"I've been working with my dad for several weeks now trying to figure out what my power is. We haven't found anything out yet," said Matt.

"There is something we could try," said Ava.

"What's that?" Jenna asked.

"It's sort of a long shot, but it might just work. We could try a revealing spell," said Ava.

"What exactly is a revealing spell?" I asked.

"Well, we use revealing spells sometimes when we are trying to find the answer to something. We could try to cast it on Matt and see what happens," said Ava.

"Is there any chance it could hurt him?" Jenna asked truly concerned about Matt.

"The worst that can happen is he will start rattling off secrets he has kept over the years. I think if he focuses on what he wants revealed, and I cast the spell, it just might show us what we want to know. The only thing is it has to be performed outside under the moon," said Ava.

"Ok, I don't think it will be hard for us to sneak out long enough to cast the spell. I know were not supposed to go out after dark with the whole Nhados thing, but I think it will be worth it if we just go out into the garden for a short time," I said.

"That takes care of the three of us, but what about Jenna?" Ava asked.

"Well, I don't know how much help it will be to the team, but I have found that I can harness the power of electricity. Well, not exactly harness it, but I can sort of send my mind into it," said Jenna.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Let me show you," she replied. Jenna walked over to the bar where my laptop sat. She placed her hand on the plug leading from the charger into the computer. Almost instantly we began to see the screen change. A faint image of Jenna's face appeared on the screen. We all looked at the screen with wide eyes as she smiled back at us. We were completely amazed. She let go of the plug and the image disappeared.

"See what I mean? I can go inside the computer through the electricity. I can actually work through the programs like that. I can also go into other things. For instance, I can enter the security cameras and see everything the cameras see."

"That is amazing!" I exclaimed with great excitement.

"Does anybody else know about this?" Ava asked.

"My dad does, but he wanted me to keep it a secret until I figured out for sure what I was doing," said Jenna.

"Ok, tonight after grandpa introduces us to Dakota, we will sneak out into the garden for the revealing spell on Luke. Then, if your mom is willing, we will perform the ritual you told us about, Ava. That should have us all up to speed on the powers issue," I said.

"I'm going to go talk to my mom and get all of the supplies together that we will need for the spell and the ritual. I'll meet you in the great room as soon as it gets dark," said Ava.

"Sounds like a plan," Matt added. Ava left the room at that time. I asked Jenna to go into the computer and look for anything dealing with the Koichi sword. She agreed and went to work on the computer. Matt and I watched in awe as the screen began to change very rapidly.

The screen stopped on a picture of a beautiful sword that reminded me of the ones used by ninjas in movies I had seen. The sword was silver with intricate designs carved into the blade. The handle and sheath were the same pure white color. "It says the sword is of Japanese origin. A powerful Japanese sorcerer hand crafted it and carved the spell that harnesses its power into the blade. I'm guessing that's what those designs are. It goes on to say that a dark wizard killed the sorcerer and took the sword to the underworld to keep it out of the hands of good," Jenna read.

"I'll give you one guess who that wizard was," I said rather sarcastically.

Jenna went on to read that, "The entrance to its location has been hidden for several centuries."

"That all it says?" I asked.

"Yep, and that is the only website I found that even talked about the sword," said Jenna.

"Ok, I wonder if there is anything in the Silent Soldiers database about it. Maybe they have researched and located the entrance. They have to know where it is and how to get it," I said as Jenna grabbed the plug again. The screen switched to the Silent Soldiers login page and then again switched to a page with Koichi Sword as the title. The same picture of the sword was under the title.

"This says the entrance to its location is located right here in Eerie!" Jenna told us excitedly. "It says the entrance has been located in The Devil's Den. There is a map to its location right here," Jenna said as she pointed to the map at the bottom of the screen.

"We know where the entrance is now. Maybe Grandpa will tell us how to get in and what we will face once we get there. I'm sure the entrance itself is protected. The sword will be guarded with everything in Nhados' power for sure," I said.

"It's getting dark now, Jenna. Why don't you check the security cameras and see if Dakota has arrived yet," I said. Jenna touched the charger to my laptop again and told us there was a moving van pulling up to the front entrance.

I packed my laptop into my backpack and suggested we walk down to the stairs to watch as he entered the mansion. We walked down to stand between the two sets of stairs leading up to the second floor so we could watch from above. Grandpa came in the door followed by a boy that looked to be my age. It was hard to tell the actual age of a vampire because once a person is turned they don't age. I wondered if I would continue to age now that I was part vampire full time. I made mental note to inquire about that.

The boy following Grandpa was of African-American descent. His head was completely bald and covered in tattoos. He wore all black leather, from his boots all the way up to his sleeveless vest.

Grandpa led the boy through the foyer and into the great room. The boy glanced up at us as he walked into the door to the great room and gave us a little smile that revealed his fangs a little.

"Let's go down and join them," I said as I turned and headed down the stairs. We entered the great room and noticed Ava was already there waiting on us. The three of us joined them at the large table. Grandpa introduced each one of us to Dakota and we in turn shook his hand. I noticed immediately how cold his skin was.

Grandpa continued once the introductions were done, "This is Dakota Gazini. Dakota has transferred here from a coven located in Nigeria. He is one of the best archers the supernatural world has ever seen."

"My master turned me after he found out I was so good at what I do. My skills have only gotten better since I was turned," Dakota said with a grin.

"Dakota has agreed to live here with us at the mansion, and to join the Silent Soldiers. We have been in negotiations with his coven for several months now. I know you will all get along great. How old are you now, Dakota?" Grandpa asked.

"I was fifteen when I was turned. I have been a vampire for 20 years now. That would make me thirty-five," Dakota said as he added up the years.

"Starting tomorrow at sunset the five of you will begin training as a group. You will be entered into the security system for headquarters in which you will be able to come and go as you please. Dakota can only train and work at night as you all know. I will meet you all here tomorrow night precisely at sunset. We have a lot to go over so please do not be late," Grandpa said, "Ava, if you will please show Dakota to his room. He will be staying next door to you and your mother."

Grandpa bid his goodbyes to the group and left us alone in the great room to get acquainted with Dakota. Once I gave grandpa plenty of time to be out of hearing distance I set in to tell Dakota everything we knew so far. I told him about each of our powers, and what we were planning to do to figure out about Ava and Matts'. I told him what we knew about our first mission and the location of the Koichi Sword, and the location of the entrance to where it was being held.

As soon as we had Dakota up to speed I asked Ava,

"Did you talk to your mom?"

"I did. She has agreed to help. I was right that she would rather be there to help than for me to do it on my own," she said.

"Let's get started, shall we?" I asked.

"Mom is going to meet us out in the garden. She is probably there waiting on us now. She is bringing the supplies we need," said Ava. We walked out to the garden. Rachel was there just as Ava had predicted. Rachel had candles placed around in a circle and was in the process of sitting out other things in different locations around the circle. When she noticed we were there she told Matt to move into the center of the circle. She told us to spread out around the outside edge of the circle, and we spaced out equal distances apart. She walked into the circle to stand next to Matt.

"Ava has told me you don't know what your special power is, and has requested we try a revealing spell. I want you to close your eyes and focus on what it is that you want the spell to reveal. Focus only on that thought. I will cast the spell and hopefully it will reveal your power to us," Rachel explained to Matt. I watched as Matt closed his eyes, and Rachel began chanting. Rachel moved around the circle as she chanted and spoke in a language I had never heard. As she walked to each of the candles and chanted they each lit in turn. When all of the candles were lit she turned toward Matt and said a short series of words directed toward him.

The air around Matt began to fill with smoke. In a second he was completely concealed by the thickness of it. Rachel backed up to the edge of the circle because the smoke surrounding Matt began to get bigger. A few seconds later the smoke blew away as if a gust of wind had come through that exact area and Matt was gone. A huge dragon was standing right where Matt had just been.

I immediately changed to my wolf form having an idea of what had happened to Matt.

" _MATT!"_ I screamed.

" _What the hell is going on?"_ I heard Matt say in my head.

" _Man, I don't really know how to explain this, but you changed into a dragon,"_ I said as Matt began to turn around in circles trying to look at himself. Everyone in the circle had to drop to the ground as Matt's long dragon tail began to whip around in circles over their head. _"Calm down, Matt, before you take somebody's head off with that tail of yours,"_ I said with a laugh. Matt calmed down and looked down at everybody as he towered above them. I stood and watched him as he spread out an enormous pair of wings. In a flash he shot into the sky.

I heard him yell _"Woo Hoo!"_ as he went out of sight into the night above our heads. We all watched in shocked disbelief.

## 13

" _Matt! Where are you going?"_ I yelled after him _._

" _Man you're going to have to give me a few minutes to test this thing out,"_ he said.

" _Well don't be long we have other business to take care of,"_ I told him _._ I looked up to find that everyone had shifted their focus on me since Matt had flown out of sight. I quickly changed back to my human form and began to explain that Matt had indeed changed into the dragon. I told them as I started to laugh about what he told me about trying it out. They all started laughing with me. A few minutes later I heard the beating of wings over head and turned to look toward the sound. Everyone looked back up to the sky as Matt let out a huge ball of fire from his mouth that lit up the whole sky. Matt made his descent slowly back to the ground and landed a few feet outside of the garden. We watched in amazement as he changed back to his normal self.

"That was awesome!" He yelled after he changed.

"The question is, Matt, can you still change to your wolf form, and can you change into the dragon again?" Rachel asked with great concern. We watched as Matt changed to wolf form and back to human form. Next he changed to dragon form and again back to human. To our amazement he even changed to wolf form and then immediately changed to dragon and back to human.

"I think I've got it under control," he said as we stared with our mouths hanging open.

"Now that we have that taken care of, let's move on to our second order of business," I said, "Let's see if we can summon this Callan, or whatever it is Ava called it.

"This ritual to summon the power of Callan is definitely no easy task. It will take the concentration and focus of every person here in order to make this work. This is a very difficult and dangerous ritual. This will require a certain touch of dark magic to work, and I don't generally deal with dark magic," Rachel explained.

Rachel told us to reform the circle. This time Ava was in the center and Matt was part of the circle. Rachel handed each of the four of us a candle to hold. She explained what each candle represented. She started at the first candle and said a few words and the candle lit. Next she moved counter-clockwise around the circle. Each time she came to a candle she said something in a language unknown to any of us and the candles lit. Once the last candle was lit, I began to feel a warm tingling feeling all over my body. She explained that the circle was now cast, and that we should remain in the circle regardless of what happened from then on.

Next Rachel told us to concentrate on Ava. She told us to completely clear our mind and focus only on her. Ava began chanting at this point and the feeling we had slowly began to strengthen. As Ava got louder with the words she was speaking, the tingling grew stronger until it almost felt as though our bodies were vibrating. We continued to watch and focus as Ava's head dropped forward as if she had fallen asleep where she stood.

Everyone stared at Ava in anticipation except for me. I was too busy looking at the wolf's tooth necklace hanging around my neck. I stared in awe as it glowed with a brilliant blue light radiating from the center of the blue sphere. Slowly Ava began to rise up into the air as if she was being pulled up by invisible ropes. She rose until her feet were several inches off the ground. Seconds later there was a flash of blue light. The light was so bright that all we could see was the light itself.

When the light disappeared we noticed Ava was lying on the ground in the center of the circle. My first instinct was to run to her, but Rachel anticipated this and yelled for us not to move. I looked back down and noticed the blue glow to my necklace had went out and was its normal sky blue smoke swirling around. Rachel started with the first candle and said something and blew it out. She continued around the same way she had lit them in the beginning until they were all out. She explained to us that the circle was now closed, and the ritual was complete. I dropped my candle and ran to Ava's side. Rachel joined me next to her daughter. As Ava began to wake up we helped her sit up, and then helped her to her feet.

"The back of my neck and my back are burning like crazy," She said as she began to rub her neck. Rachel moved around to Ava's back and lifted her shirt a little. We all gasped as we noticed Ava's back. Thin black lines began to make swirling patterns up the middle of her back. I looked a little closer and realized it was a tattoo of vines with tiny little thorns all over. Beautiful little purple roses were forming along the vines that ran all the way from the bottom of her back up to the base of her skull.

"The ritual was a success," said Rachel proudly. It was getting rather late by this time, and we were all pretty tired from all of the excitement. That is everyone except for Dakota. The only time vampires are tired is when the sun begins to rise. We all walked in silence back into the mansion and up the stairs toward our rooms. I told everyone they were welcome to join me in my room if they liked. The only one that took me up on the offer was Dakota. I showed Dakota his room, and then we headed down to mine.

I offered Dakota a soda, but he reminded me that vampires can only ingest blood. This led to the subject of why exactly he had followed me to my room.

"What are you exactly?" Dakota asked with a confused look on his face.

"I'm part vampire and part shifter," I said with a smile.

"I couldn't figure you out, man, I knew I sensed vampire in you. Then you threw me for a loop when you changed into that wolf," he said with a laugh. Just then there was a knock at my door.

"Come in," I called, figuring Matt had decided to join us after all. To my surprise it was Professor Vance.

"I came to invite Dakota to have dinner with me," he said.

"I was wondering if someone was going to show me where the snacks were before I had to go and munch on one of my friends, Dakota said with a smile.

"The first thing you will learn around here, Dakota, is that we never feed from anyone that lives at the mansion unless they are willing," said Professor Vance.

"So we have to go off campus to feed?" Dakota asked a little disappointed.

"Not exactly," said the professor, "Mr. Carrington owns a blood bank. He keeps a nice supply down in the kitchen. When you get moved into your room they will set you up with a refrigerator and a microwave for your personal use," Professor Vance explained.

"Oh, cool. TV dinners," said Dakota. We all three started to laugh at that. Professor Vance and Dakota left the room in search of their dinner which left me alone. I began to think about the events of the day, and the conversation I overheard Adriana having earlier with the mysterious person on the other end of the phone. The more I thought about it the more I realized I needed to find out what she was up to.

I decided to test out my vampire senses and abilities to spy on Adriana to see what I could find out. I peeked out of my room to see if anyone was in the hall before I snuck down past the stairs to Adriana's room. I put my ear to the door listening closely for any movement or voices coming from inside. After I had been listening for several minutes I decided nobody was in the room and decided to search the mansion.

I quietly searched the entire mansion with no luck. I decided she must be outside. I thought for several minutes before I made up my mind to continue my search outdoors. I didn't want to upset Grandpa by going outside alone, especially in the middle of the night. I went out through the pool room into the garden making sure I stopped frequently to listen for voices and footsteps. I definitely didn't want to be caught out here. I also focused on staying in the shadows so I wouldn't get caught by the security lights and cameras. I made my way slowly around the perimeter of the mansion as I continued to listen all around. I reached the end of the building and listened for any sounds coming from around the corner before I risked taking a look.

I noticed that this end of the mansion was quite dark compared to the back. I didn't hear anything so I moved just enough to see with one eye around the corner. I searched the yard for any sign of movement. I wondered to myself why the security lights would be turned off as I began to sense that something was wrong. This end of the mansion was completely dark. I couldn't understand why security hadn't already investigated the situation. I could see perfectly well with the vamp vision and realized my vision was even stronger than my hearing. I caught a glimpse of movement along the edge of the woods and focused on that area. I froze in place when I noticed what had caught my attention. A medium sized brown colored wolf was creeping along the wood line concealed by the shadows of the trees. I instantly recognized the wolf to be Adriana from the pack runs we had over the past few months.

I made myself move and ducked back around the corner. I quickly fished my cell phone out of my pocket and sent a quick text to Jenna asking her to tell her dad to check the security lights. I checked to make sure my phone was on silent so Adriana wouldn't hear it go off. Jenna replied asking what's up. I sent back that I wasn't sure yet but something was up with the lights being off. I stuffed the phone back in my pocket and peeked around the corner again just as the wolf turned and headed deeper into the woods. I watched it go out of sight before I shot across the yard so fast there would be no way the cameras could have showed anything. I stopped just inside the cover of the woods. I listened and searched through the darkness. I kept my distance from the wolf as I followed her a little deeper into the woods.

I continued to watch the wolf as it crept slowly. Suddenly the wolf stopped dead in its tracks and quickly snapped its head back to look in my direction. My heart began to beat so fast that I could hear it pounding in my ears as I jerked my head back behind the tree that was concealing the rest of my body. I stood there with my back pressed against it as I tried to calm myself. I nearly let out a startled scream when a hand came around the tree and clamped down on my throat so fast and hard cutting off my air. I was frozen with fear as I was lifted into the air and turned around to face my attacker. I looked down into the fiercely dangerous eyes of Adriana.

"Why in the hell are you following me?" She asked with a growl. I couldn't answer her. For one I didn't really know what to tell her the reason was, and two she still had my air cut off with her hand clamped on my throat. I just hung there in the air staring down at her.

"You are not supposed to be out here alone at night. I should march you straight to your grandfather, but being out here alone couldn't be more perfect. My master will be so pleased with me when he finds out I have captured you for him," she hissed, "Now you will get what is coming to you."

My vision began to get fuzzy from the lack of oxygen to my brain. I knew I had to act quickly before she did what she was threatening by turning me over to Nhados. She didn't have to tell me who her master was. I slashed my nails across her face as I closed my eyes and focused on changing. I landed on the ground on my side and immediately jumped up and looked up at Adriana with a growl. I noticed she had blood dripping down her face and realized there were four slashes running diagonally from her hairline down to her chin on the opposite side. I watched as she too quickly changed into the brown wolf I had been following. I could smell the blood as it dripped from the wolf's chin onto the leaves below. That let me know that I had really gotten her attention. She would think twice before she grabbed me again.

We both looked quickly as we heard a howl coming from back at the mansion. I knew immediately it was Grandpa's howl. Jenna must have talked to her dad, who in turn contacted my grandfather to let him know something was going on. When I looked back toward the wolf, Adriana had disappeared.

" _Chicken,"_ I thought as I heard the wolves running through the woods behind me. I half expected her to say something back in my head as several of the pack members, led by Grandpa, approached me suddenly.

" _Luke, what are you doing out here?"_ Grandpa asked. I could tell he was very angry and wanted to yell at me, but he stayed calm and waited on my reply.

" _I would rather us go back to the mansion so I can talk to you alone, Grandpa,"_ I said in what I hoped was a firm voice. _"You need to look for Adriana and bring her in so she can tell you why she attacked me out here,"_ I told him. Everyone in the pack could hear what I was saying but they waited for Grandpa to give the order. Grandpa let out a series of barks and yips and the rest of the pack set off in different directions with their noses to the ground looking for her scent. I turned and headed back toward the mansion and Grandpa followed.

When I got back to the mansion I changed back to my human form and went in through the door in the garden. I didn't stop until I sat down in one of the chairs in the great room. I heard Grandpa close the door behind him as he came in. Instead of coming in and taking a seat he walked over and glared down from his position in front of me.

"I want to know why you disobeyed me and went outside alone," he said in the same angry voice from before.

"I know I should not have gone out alone, but that is not the problem at hand here. I do apologize for disobeying you, Grandpa." Grandpa walked over to the chair across from me and sat down on the edge with his elbows on his knees. He sat there for a minute staring at me. He seemed to calm down a bit before he spoke.

"Tell me what's going on," he said in a softer and much calmer tone. I started by telling him about the conversation I overheard yesterday between Adriana and the mystery person on the other end of the phone. I told him that after everyone else went to bed tonight I decided to do a little spying on her to see if I could find out anything else. I continued to tell grandpa about looking for Adriana, and about following her in wolf form into the woods. As I told him the details of Adriana's attack, I could see the anger rising back into his face. After I completed the entire story Grandpa sat there in silence as he thought about everything I told him. It took several minutes before he finally spoke again.

"I'm not happy with your actions tonight, Luke," he started, "But I am very proud of your work. You have single handedly caught the person that has been betraying the pack. I can assure you that Adriana WILL be punished." Just then Dante, Jenna's dad, entered the room.

"She left the property before we could find her, sir," he said as he bowed to my grandfather.

"I want guards around the clock searching the property in case she returns," Grandpa told Dante.

"Yes, sir," Dante replied.

"Let the front gate know that they are to notify me immediately if she returns," Grandpa added.

"As you wish," Dante said.

"I can help search for her tonight if you need me," I told Grandpa.

"No!" he shouted, "I want you to go to your room and get some rest," he added in a calmer voice. I could tell it was taking much effort on my grandfather's part in order for him to try to remain calm with me. "Do you realize she could have been leading you into a trap?" I hadn't thought about that before. I shuddered at the thought of being captured by Nhados. I realized how close I had come to being under his control. I knew where grandpa was coming from in looking out for my safety. But I knew deep down that I was stronger and faster than any werewolf.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa," I said as I dropped my chin down to my chest.

"Please, go to bed and get some rest. You have a long day ahead of you," he said. I silently rose from my seat, my pride a little hurt, and walked toward the door to the foyer. "I love you, Luke," Grandpa called out after me. I stopped and looked back at him over my shoulder as a tear began to roll down my face. "I would absolutely die if anything ever happened to you," Grandpa added.

"I love you too, Grandpa," I said and turned my head back around and walked out slowly making my way up the stairs back to my room. Without any further thinking I took off my clothes, threw them on the floor, and crawled into bed. The last thought I had before I drifted off to sleep was the evil stare Adriana had as I stared down from the iron grip she had on my neck. I secretly hoped she would remember what I did to her every time she looked in the mirror.

## 14

I woke up the next morning with someone pounding on my door. I got up groggily and put on my clothes to answer it. I stared out the door at a smiling Ava.

"Rough night?" she asked.

"You could say that," I said a little grumpily as I walked toward the kitchen to get a soda. I heard her close the door behind me as I headed to the fridge.

"What the hell happened last night? The mansion is in a frenzy this morning. I heard someone say you were attacked last night in the woods out back," said Ava. Ava went to the fridge and grabbed a soda of her own and we walked over to sit by the fireplace.

I told Ava the story of the previous night's events, and knew it wouldn't be the last time I had to repeat it. I had hoped to be able to tell the whole group at once but it seemed that wasn't going to happen.

"I can't believe you went out there all by yourself," said Ava.

"I've already been scolded for going out alone," I said sarcastically. I couldn't believe that Ava was giving me a hard time about it too after what I had been through.

"I'm sorry, Luke, it was wrong of me to lecture you. As your friend I should be more supportive," said Ava.

"It's ok; I know I shouldn't have done it. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing." Ava gave me a little shy smile. There was another knock at the door. This time Ava rose quickly to answer it. Jenna and Matt both followed Ava back over to sit down with us. They wanted to know what happened, so I launched into the story of my attack again. By the time I finished I realized I was really getting sick of the story.

"I wonder what she was doing out there at that time of night," said Ava.

"I thought she was probably doing something she shouldn't be out there. That's why I followed her," I replied.

"She was in charge of watching the cameras last night. My dad had the night off. When I asked him about the lights he called down to the desk and nobody answered. He immediately went to inform your grandfather that there was a problem. She turned out the security lights so the cameras wouldn't pick up her going into the woods," Jenna explained.

"She has mentioned her "master" twice now. Once during the phone conversation I overheard. And she mentioned it again last night while she was threatening me. I think we can assume she is more than likely talking about Nhados," I said.

"You're probably right about that. What I don't understand is why she would betray the pack. It's a crime punishable by death in the shifter community," Jenna said.

"I wonder if she will come back to the mansion," said Ava.

"She would have to be a complete idiot to show her face here again," I said.

"Ok, enough about Adriana. Tell me what you guys found out yesterday about the sword," said Ava, conveniently changing the subject. I told her everything we had learned about the Koichi sword. I also told her we knew where the location to the entrance was as well. The only thing we don't know is what we will face, not only at the entrance, but also what will be waiting for us once we enter the under world.

"You know Nhados will be guarding that thing with all the power he can get his hands on," said Matt.

"Let's think about every type of creature we can come up with so we can do a little research about how to kill them," I suggested. We started with the most obvious ones: vampires, shifters, and witches.

"I think I can take care of any of the witches that come our way. Demons come in all shapes and forms. I think the ones that don't die by physical force will have to be killed by magic. I have been studying demonology for the past couple years. It has sort of become a hobby of mine. I think there are a couple spells I can create, especially now that I am more powerful, that will knock out any of the magical ones," Ava said.

"That leaves us pretty much down to one, and that is Nhados himself," said Matt.

"What exactly do we know about Nhados and his powers?" I asked.

"Nhados is a shifter. He takes the form of a black panther," Jenna started. I noticed she had picked up my laptop and was reading from the Silent Soldiers network. Jenna continued, "Nhados is also a very powerful wizard. So powerful that he has been able to keep himself alive for over a hundred and fifty years according to this. He has been in control of some very dark magic for over a hundred years. Several groups have attempted to assassinate Nhados, but he always seems to escape somehow. He has a twin brother that is also a wizard. It says here that his brother, Thados, is an ally to the Silent Soldiers," Jenna read.

"That's it!" Ava exclaimed.

"What's it?" I asked.

"Thados is the key to defeating him," Ava said as if it were completely obvious to everyone.

"And how exactly is that?" Asked Matt.

"Not Thados himself, but his blood. Binding spells made of beings own blood is more powerful than any other spell. If we can create a spell using Thados' blood, we can bind Nhados' powers and attack. Being twins will give their blood the same genetic makeup," Ava explained.

"You know what? That just might work," I said, "Look and see if it tells where to find Thados, Jenna."

"You're not going to believe this but there is actually an address listed," Jenna said with a giggle.

"Jenna, you write down the address while I find Grandpa and tell him we need a car. Meet us in the foyer when you're done. Ava, you and Matt gather any supplies you might need for a spell just in case we run into trouble," I told them.

"Look at you Mr. fearless leader," Ava said with a smile. I smiled back at her before I turned and walked to the door to leave the room. I called back to Jenna to pack up my computer and bring it with her as I walked out the door. She seemed to be the one that used it most often so it might be handy for her to hold onto it.

I found Grandpa sitting in the great room reading a book. I was very nervous, but I was determined to be the leader he hoped I would be. I walked to him with great confidence as I told him,

"I need a car to take us into Little Rock as soon as possible."

"What do you need in Little Rock? I'll have anything you need delivered to the mansion, Luke, you know that," he replied.

"I need blood from Thados," I blurted out not thinking twice about it. That definitely got his attention. He stood up and walked over to me to listen to what I had to say.

"You have my attention, Luke."

"We have less than two weeks to get this sword. In order to get it I have to defeat who knows what down in the pits of who knows where. I have a great team to help me with this, and we have been doing some research."

"Go on."

"We know where the entrance to the sword's location is, and we know how to defeat Nhados. The only thing we need is blood from Thados in order to do that," I said as I watched his eyes get bigger with surprise as what I was telling him sank in.

"You have definitely been doing your homework I see. You seem to have learned as much in a few months as I have in the past 14 years, Luke. I have to admit I am very impressed indeed."

"I will arrange for a car under one condition. You must allow me to escort you there and back. Before you object let me tell you why. I promise not to interfere in any way. I want to make sure you are safe being away from the mansion. I also think u will have greater success with Thados if I am there. He owes the pack a favor," Grandpa explained. He didn't go into detail about why Thados owed the pack. I didn't care as long as we could get what we needed from him.

"Thank you, Grandpa." Grandpa called the car around on his cell as we headed for the foyer. Jenna was already there. Within a couple minutes Matt and Ava hurried down the stairs to join us. We piled in the huge black limo and headed for the front gate. We drove through little rock and headed out of town. Once we headed out of town I noticed that we were entering more mountainous terrain. We drove another half hour or so down very narrow and curvy roads before the car slowed down and made a turn onto a gravel road.

As soon as we made the turn onto the gravel I got a very odd feeling all of a sudden. I remembered that same feeling once before in the garden with Ava's mom. It was the same vibrating feeling I had when we did the ritual for Ava to obtain her power.

"Does anyone else feel a little weird?" I asked.

"We crossed through some very powerful magic just now," Ava said. She answered knowing exactly what "feeling" I was referring to.

Now that we had turned off the main road we were winding our way up into the mountains. The road got narrower and the forest seemed to close in around us as we climbed higher. Grandpa explained to us that Thados, much like his brother, had tapped into dark magic in order to stay alive for so long. He told us that while Nhados chose to use the dark magic for evil, Thados only used dark magic to survive. He said Nhados had been trying for many years to talk Thados into joining him. Many years ago Nhados declared war against Thados and his coven. There was a great battle between the brothers, and with the help of our pack, Thados drove his brother away. Thados swore his allegiance to the pack at that time.

As Grandpa continued to explain to us about Thados, we crossed through an iron gate into a little clearing in the forest. The car stopped and we got out. The house we were now standing in front of was spooky to say the least. It looked like one of those old haunted estates you see in so many horror movies. The hair on my neck pricked up as I thought about all the crazy people in scary movies. The people you try to yell at through the TV to "don't go in there," but they never listen. The house was so old and run down looking that I couldn't imagine a powerful wizard would ever want to live here. The yard was grown up and seemed as though nobody had touched it in years.

"Are you sure someone lives here?" Matt asked as we stared at the old house.

"Don't let the outside deceive you," Grandpa said. Grandpa walked up the old steps onto the front porch and we all slowly followed behind him. I noticed a single security camera over the door following us as we made our way up. Grandpa reached the front door and pushed the doorbell and we waited for someone to answer. Just as grandpa started to push the bell again we heard the door click and slowly creaked open.

A young boy that couldn't have been much younger than me stood in the doorway looking out at us. The boy wore a long flowing dark blue hooded cloak that touched the floor all around him. The hood was down and I could see that he had blonde hair. He had a very serious look on his face but my attention was focused on his piercing blue eyes that reflected the color of the cloak he was wearing as he asked us,

"Can I help you?"

"We are here to see your master," Grandpa said to the boy.

"Master is not expecting any visitors today," the boy replied.

"Tell him Samuel Carrington is here on very important business. We must see him immediately," Grandpa explained. The door slammed in front of us and we looked at Grandpa very confused.

"I never understood why Thados would choose trolls to serve him," Grandpa said with a smile.

"Trolls?" we asked curiously together. Grandpa just nodded his head as he continued to smile and turned back toward the door. We waited there for several minutes before the door opened again very slowly.

The boy had returned and now motioned for us to enter. We followed Grandpa into the old house. We looked around in awe at the room surrounding us. I now realized what Grandpa meant about the outside deceiving us. The inside of the house was immaculate. We all turned in circles as we took in the room around us.

"If you will follow me, Master will see you now," the boy spat out at us. I couldn't believe how rude he was being. I noticed someone coming down the stairs as we started to follow the boy. I did a double take as I realized the person coming down the stairs looked identical to the one that let us in the front door. We followed the boy into the next room. He told us to sit down. We all did as he asked.

"Master will join you shortly," he said as he walked over to a door on the other side of the room. He stood next to the door with his hands clasped together behind him as if he were standing guard over it.

The room we were now sitting in appeared to be the living room. It looked like any other normal living room. There were several doors that led out of this room. The one we came in and the one the boy stood beside. There was also a third door, and we all turned as it opened. We watched in amazement as three more of the little blonde boys walked in.

"Ok, this is really weird," said Jenna.

"I second that," said Ava.

"Not everything is as it appears. They are trolls, and they have an appearance spell on them to hide their true nature. Trolls are quite odd looking. Thados changes their appearance for the comfort of his guests," Grandpa explained.

The three new trolls took up posts around the room as they entered. After a few more minutes of waiting the first one opened the door and in walked a much older man. He was wearing a dark blue suit and tie that was the same color as the cloaks the trolls were wearing. Grandpa stood up as he entered and the man walked straight up to him with a warm smile. He reached out to shake Grandpas' hand.

"To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" asked Thados as he and Grandpa both took a seat.

"I hate to say it, but I believe the time has come," replied Grandpa. I watched as Thados' smile faded and was instantly replaced with fear.

"These must be the soldiers that you told me about, Samuel," Thados said, "And you must be Lucas," he added as he motioned toward me. I wondered silently how Thados knew my name. It didn't occur to me that he probably knew more about the prophecies than I did.

"That is correct. These are the Silent Soldiers minus one that was not able to join us today. I have to admit that they are greatly exceeding our expectations. They have learned as much on their own in the past few months as my team and I have learned over the past 14 years. They also have devised a plan to defeat your brother, which leads us to the reason for our visit. I promised Luke I would not interfere, and so I will turn the rest over to him. I just want you to know he has my full support. Thados acknowledged my grandfather and turned his worried gaze toward me.

"Mr. Thados, sir, we believe we know how to stop Nhados," I began.

"I am guessing you need my assistance with something. That is the reason you are here I do believe. Tell me what I can do to help. I will tell you now that I will not stand against my brother again. I have defeated him once with the help of your grandfather. I am much too old now. He is far more powerful than I will ever be," Thados replied.

"We don't require you to fight with us. We believe we have devised a plan to bind his powers in order to defeat him. We only need you to help us with the spell that we will use to accomplish this," I explained.

"A binding spell, very interesting," said Thados. "It will take great magic to produce a spell strong enough to bind the powers of my brother Mr. Stallings." Thados added. I noted his addressing me as though I was his equal. I suddenly had great respect for him. I couldn't imagine going against my own brother, if I had one that is.

"Yes, that is what we have come up with. We only require that you allow us to use some of your blood to produce the spell. There is obviously no way we could obtain blood directly from your brother. We believe that since you both share the same blood, being twins, that it should work just the same," I said.

"Your grandson is definitely a very intelligent boy," Thados said to Grandpa.

"Actually, Ava is the one that came up with the idea," I told him. Thados turned his attention to Ava. He looked at her for several minutes before he spoke.

"I sense great power within you, child," Thados said to Ava, "I only have one question for you. How do you plan to perform such an intricate spell against someone as powerful as my brother?"

"Ava, in fact, has devised a way to harness spells into objects. She will harness the binding spell into a small glass orb. By doing this, anyone can use the power of the spell against Nhados. I plan to be the one that will get close enough to him to cast the spell and bring him down once and for all," I confidently told Thados.

Just then another of Thados' "troll boys" rushed into the room unexpectedly. We all noticed the very startled expression as he sped to his master's side.

"Master, we have a situation that must be addressed immediately. Someone has crossed the protection barrier onto the property from the North side of the house. "Someone followed you here," the boy snarled at Grandpa.

"Silence!" Thados shouted at the boy. "Gather your brothers and prepare yourselves to intercept this one that chooses to trespass onto my property," Thados ordered. It could not have come at a worse time, but as the trolls left the room my sight went black and a new vision came into focus.

I couldn't tell exactly where I was other than the fact that I was in cave. I could hear a woman screaming in the distance. I immediately began making my way toward the sound. The screams became louder and more agonizing as I grew closer. I also began hearing a snap before each scream. I took great care in peeking around the corner to see where the screams were originating. I was horrified by the scene before me. There was a gray haired woman facing the rock surface of the cave. Her arms and legs were stretched out and secured to the walls with chains. The familiar black cloaked figure stood several feet behind her with a long silver whip in his hand.

"You will tell me what I want to know woman," He snarled at her before he struck her again across an already bloody back. The woman screamed again in terrible pain as smoke rose from her back with each strike.

"You will have to kill me. I refuse to betray them," the woman cried.

"We shall see about that," he said as he struck the woman with the whip once again. I awoke with a start as the woman cried out in pain.

"Luke, are you ok?" Ava asked as she looked down at me.

"I'm fine. I had another vision," I said.

"Thados and your grandfather had to go after the person in the woods. Jenna and Matt went with them. I stayed here to take care of you while they were gone." Just then the door to the foyer burst open with a bang. We watched nervously as an unexpected Adriana walked through the open door.

"Ah! What a surprise," Adriana said with a sneer.

"Looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone. I came to kill a trouble making wizard, and as a bonus I get to bring my master what he desires the most," Adriana continued. I glared at her trying to let her know I was prepared to do more damage like the side of her face. I could tell it was healing but it appeared it would leave a nasty scar.

"You will not lay your hands on Luke again. Not if I have anything to do with it," Ava said.

"Shut up witch!" Adriana shouted, "I will enjoy choking the life out of you in the process."

"I see the damage I caused to your face is sticking around for a while," I told Adriana.

"You want be as lucky a second time I can assure you," Adriana said just before she shifted to her wolf form. I immediately shifted myself and we both growled at each other.

Everything else happened almost too fast to understand. Adriana jumped into the air to clear the couch that stood between her and us. I was too focused on the wolf to see what Ava was doing beside me, but there was a puff of purple smoke all around the wolf as it flew toward us threw the air. The smoke completely engulfed the wolf. We heard a thud on the floor. As the smoke began to clear we looked down at a helpless Adriana. There was a very thin, nearly invisible, silver net tightly wrapped around Adriana in her human form. Adriana wiggled and screamed but it was no use. There was no way she could escape.

I looked at Adriana with wide eyes and immediately turned to Ava. Ava was standing there smiling with her hands on her hips. I could tell she was very proud of herself for what she had just accomplished.

"I tried to tell you that you would not lay another hand on him, but you didn't listen," she told Adriana with the huge smile still plastered on her face.

"How did you do that?" I asked after I changed back to my human form.

"A little capture spell I created," Ava said very proudly.

"That is amazing, Ava," I said. "Looks like the Callan ritual is really paying off." We both turned our gaze back to Adriana. She laid motionless glaring back at us.

"Let me go immediately," she spat at us.

"I really don't think you are in any position to be giving orders," I said.

"Your little trickery will never stand against my master, witch," Adriana said with a snarl. "He is more powerful than you can ever dream of being!" She shrieked.

"We will just have to see about that," Ava said. Just then Grandpa ran into the living room with a very concerned expression.

"What happened?" Grandpa asked. Ava and I both pointed down at Adriana. Grandpa circled around the couch to see what we were pointing at.

"YOU!" Grandpa said as a growl rose up in his chest. Adriana could think of nothing to say as she stared up at him.

## 15

We watched in amazement as Grandpa grabbed Adriana's feet and began dragging her out of the room.

"What are you going to do with her?" I asked.

"She will return with us to the mansion to be judged by the pack," Grandpa said as he dragged her out of the room. A few minutes later Jenna and Matt came back into the room followed closely by Thados, and a few of his trolls. We all sat down again. Grandpa returned and sat down with us.

"Now, where were we before we were rudely interrupted?" Thados asked.

"The binding spell," Ava said.

"Ah, yes, I remember now," Thados replied, "I will be more than happy to assist you in any way I can. Especially if there is a chance you can stop my brother. He has completely crossed over to evil. I don't think there is ever a chance of bringing him back. Do you have the things you need to perform this spell that you speak of?" Thados asked.

"Yes, we do," Ava said.

"Very well, we will go out into the garden and prepare. Please, follow me," said Thados. We followed Thados through the house and out the back into a beautiful garden. We watched as Ava set up the circle to cast the spell. Thados stood just outside the circle waiting patiently to give his donation to the process. Ava lit the candles as she chanted in a language I didn't recognize. When the candles were lit she walked over to the table that was set up in the center of the circle and grabbed a long pointed knife. She also got a small bowl from the table as well. She walked over to Thados and he thrust out his hand toward Ava. She said a few more words and lifted the knife up to the sky. She brought the knife down quickly and in one swift movement sliced a thin line across Thados' wrist. She held the bowl under his wrist as the blood slowly ran into it. She took the bowl back over to the table as she continued to speak in the strange language.

Ava added a few ingredients into the bowl and stirred it around with the knife. Smoke began to rise from the bowl and swirl around up to the sky. Ava picked up a glass ball and held it in the smoke just as the smoke changed colors from white to red. We watched as the ball filled with the red smoke. The glass ball sucked the smoke right out of the air. Ava walked over and handed me the smoke filled ball. The spell was complete. I held the power to bind Nhados in the palm of my hand.

Thados suggested we make a few extra spells just in case we didn't make it with the first. I thought that was a great idea to have back ups, but also distressed that Thados didn't believe in the power of the soldiers.

Ava packed up her things while we thanked Thados for his assistance. We headed back through the house to the front door.

"My debt to you has been settled," I heard Thados tell Grandpa.

"I greatly appreciate your help with this. I know you still have love for your brother, but he must be stopped," Grandpa replied.

"I know. If I didn't think he needed to be stopped I would not have helped you," said Thados. We said our goodbyes and exited the house back into the creepy front yard. We climbed back into the car silently.

"Where is Adriana?" I asked.

"You didn't think I would allow her the comfort of riding up here with us did you? I put her in the trunk." Grandpa said with a smile. No body said much on the way back to the mansion. We sat in silence thinking about the events of the day.

We arrived back at the mansion just as it was getting dark out. Dakota was standing on the steps up to the house. He greeted us as we exited the car. Jenna and Matt walked with him back into the mansion bringing him up to speed on today's excitement. Two men came from inside and walked around to the trunk. They pulled Adriana out and removed the silver net from around her legs so she could walk. They led her in the front door as we followed. We entered the elevator together to ride down to headquarters.

After Grandpa removed the little key from around his neck and stuck it in the slot I knew exactly where we were headed. The elevator began its descent. When the doors opened we were indeed in the holding area. The men led Adriana over to one of the cells and placed her on the bed. One of the men took a syringe out of his pocket and gave the protesting Adriana a shot of the clear liquid. Adriana immediately fell silent and went to sleep.

I didn't know exactly what would happen to Adriana, but at this point she had attempted to capture me twice. I really didn't care what happened to her. I believed she deserved everything she had coming to her. I watched as they removed the silver net completely and walked out of the cell locking it behind them. We headed back to the elevator leaving the unconscious Adriana in the cell. When the doors opened I realized we were on the main floor of headquarters. We followed Grandpa off the elevator over to Dante, Jenna's dad, who was posted up in front of the security camera screens. The two men that had locked up Adriana stayed on the elevator to go back to the main level of the mansion.

"Hi, dad," Jenna said as we approached Dante.

"Hi, baby girl," Dante responded. I saw Jenna blush a little at her fathers response.

"Dante, I need you to enter the soldiers into the computer so they will have access to headquarters," Grandpa told him.

"Absolutely, Mr. Carrington," Dante said. We followed Dante over to another of the many doors located off this main floor. This room was quite small, and contained several pieces of computer equipment. Dante started with me and asked me to place my hand on what appeared to be the same type of scanner that was on the wall of the elevator. Dante punched the buttons on the keyboard and I watched as the light scanned my hand.

"You're good to go, Luke," Dante said. Dante continued with each of us until we were all entered into the network.

"I know you all have been in the network already thanks to Jenna and her amazing talent, but now you can access it on your own. Just use your full name and your temporary password is your birth date. You can change them both once you sign on. Now if you all will head back upstairs to dinner, Luke and I have a couple things to discuss," said Grandpa.

I told them I would find them a little later and watched as they headed out the door. When they were gone Grandpa walked over to what appeared to be a safe. It had a keypad and he proceeded to punch in numbers.

"I am giving you a key that will give you access to the cells. I trust that you will only use it when completely necessary. I know you will probably want to question Adriana. I completely understand. I just ask that you take the rest of your team down there when you decide to do it. We will not do anything with her for a few days. This should give you plenty of time to uncover the things you need to know for your coming battle. I'm positive with the help of your team you will get her to talk. Feel free to use whatever means necessary for that to happen," Grandpa told me.

I couldn't believe the authority, responsibility, and trust that Grandpa was instilling in the soldiers. I felt much pride in my heart and gained much respect for Grandpa in that very instance.

Grandpa dismissed me from the room to speak to Dante. I headed back upstairs to join my friends for dinner. I thought to myself as I headed up the elevator that nobody had even asked about my vision this afternoon. There had been so much excitement that I hadn't even thought about it myself until now. Who could the woman have been that Nhados was torturing?

It was getting pretty late in the evening by the time I reached the dinning hall, and my friends were the only ones there.

"Hey, Luke, are you ok?" Ava asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I asked Ava.

"You look as if something might be troubling you," she replied.

"I was just thinking about the vision I had back at Thados' house. I forgot to tell Grandpa about it. It was quite disturbing," I said.

"Tell us about it," said Jenna. Everyone focused their attention on me as I began to tell them the details that I remembered from the vision.

"Who do you think it was that Nhados was torturing like that?" Matt asked.

"I don't have any idea," I replied.

"I would think it has to be someone significant or you probably wouldn't be having a vision about it right?" Ava asked.

"You're probably right, but I really don't have any idea who it could possibly be. I'll just have to wait and see if I have another vision about it," I said.

"Grandpa kept me down there after you guys left to give me this," I said as I pulled out the key he had given me.

"What is that?" Matt asked.

"It's the key to the elevator. It unlocks the holding area. He suggested I take you guys down there and see what we can find out from Adriana. He said we had a few days before they would decide what to do with her," I explained.

"You actually think she is going to tell us anything?" Jenna asked.

"Grandpa said he thinks we could probably come up with something to make her talk," I said.

"I'm pretty good at persuading people to talk," Dakota said with an evil grin.

"What about a truth spell?" Ava asked. "That would work as long as we ask her the right questions," said Matt.

"I have an idea. I don't know for sure if it will work, but it's worth a try," said Jenna.

"Let's hear it," I said.

"Well, you know that I can enter stuff through electricity right? What if we were to hook her up to like an EKG machine and see if I can search her head? There is a small amount of electrical current in the brain. Maybe I can go in and see what she is thinking. I know it sounds like a long shot but it's worth a try," Jenna explained.

"That just might work. It is definitely worth a shot. I'll prepare a truth spell just in case," said Ava.

"Ok, you get the spell ready and meet us at headquarters. Do you think we have some type of equipment we can use down there?" I asked Ava.

"As a matter of fact there is a room down there that they use for people who have been injured. There are tons of first aide supplies, and I believe there is some equipment as well," Ava said.

"Let's do it. We will meet you down there," I told Ava. We all headed to the foyer, and Ava separated and headed up the stairs to her room. I scanned us in at the door in the foyer and we headed for the elevator. When we reached the main floor of headquarters Dante pointed us to the medical room and we searched for something we could use. We located the EKG machine in the corner of the room, and searched the drawers for some of the little sticky pads that connect the electrodes to the skin. We took the equipment back to the elevator. When the doors opened, Ava was standing inside. We all piled in the elevator with Ava and headed down to the holding area.

We got off the elevator and realized that Adriana was still unconscious. This was to our advantage for sure. I was afraid we would have to wrestle with her to get her secured for the procedure we were about to perform. I went into the room that they used to test out my sunlight sensitivity and rolled the exam table out into the main room. Dakota helped us load Adriana onto the table and get her strapped down in case she woke up. We hooked up all the little electrodes according to the diagram on the machine and turned it on. Jenna walked over to the machine and laid both hands on top of it. We all watched as Jenna did her thing inside Adriana's head. Several minutes passed before Jenna spoke.

"I'm not getting a lot of clear thoughts. It's as though I'm looking through her eyes, but I'm really not getting complete pictures," Jenna said.

"Keep trying," I told her. Suddenly Adriana began to move a little and opened her eyes slowly. As soon as she saw us standing around her she started to struggle.

"Oh, wow, things are a lot clearer now," said Jenna.

"What the hell is she doing?" Adriana yelled as she stared at Jenna.

"Shut up!" I yelled back at her, "We are going to find out exactly what you know."

"No! Get her out of my head. I can feel her in there," Adriana screamed as she made every effort to get off the table. Adriana let out a fierce growl and I knew exactly what she was about to do.

"She is going to change!" I yelled. But Ava was already on top of it. There was suddenly a puff of smoke around Adriana. When the smoke cleared we noticed that the thin silver net was again binding her in place. I smiled over at Ava as Adriana began to scream with frustration at being outsmarted again.

"I am going to enjoy killing each and every one of you when I get out of here," hissed Adriana.

"And what exactly makes you think you are ever getting out of here?" I asked.

"You really don't think the pack will let you go after you betrayed them do you?" Ava asked.

"They will surely take off your head before they allow you to be a member of this pack any longer," said Dakota as he walked into one of the rooms off the main room we were in. We waited for him to return. When he did he was carrying a big roll of duct tape and held it up with a smile so we could all see it. He tore off a strip of it as he rejoined the group and fastened it securely over Adriana's mouth.

"That should shut her up," Dakota said.

"Let's continue," said Jenna. "As I was saying, I can see much more clearly now that she is awake. I see a cave. Adriana is going into the cave. She is walking along a tunnel. She walks for quite a ways before she comes to what appears to be a dead end. She puts her hands against the wall. The wall seems to start rippling like when you throw a stone in water. Now she is walking through the wall. Everything goes black for a second and then opens up into a beautiful forest. I have never seen trees and flowers like these anywhere.

She must have entered another dimension. She is looking all around. There are creatures all around her. They are looking out at her from where they are hiding. She must have shifted because she is much closer to the ground, and she is running through this forest. There is a stream on her right, and she appears to be following it. She is still running following the curves of the stream. I can see another cave in the distance. She shifts back to human form as she approaches the cave. She is going in."

Adriana began to thrash around again trying to free herself. When she realized it was no use she became still again. I could see fear and anger in her eyes as Jenna continued with a play by play of her Adrianna's actions Jenna was pulling from her head.

"She walks through the cave for quite some time. There are many tunnels leading off in different directions but she keeps straight. She comes to a stone wall with a door blocking her way any further into the tunnel. There are vampires guarding the door. They bow to her as she opens the door and walks in. She enters a room that is completely empty except for someone standing in the middle of it. It's a tall figure standing there. It is wearing a black cloak with a hood pulled up over its head. She is walking around to stand in front of the person. Wait, the room is not empty. There is a small stone pedestal in the center of the room holding up... It's the sword!" Jenna exclaimed. Jenna let go of the machine and looked around at us.

"I think we just found out how to get to the sword," Jenna said,

"The figure in the room was standing over the sword moving his hands around it slowly. Every time he got too close to it blue sparks would fly and he would jerk his hands back very quickly," Jenna explained.

"I'm guessing he can't take it for himself," Ava said.

"What else did you see?" Matt asked.

"Did you see what we might be up against?" Dakota asked.

"The only creatures I saw were the ones after she walked through the wall and the two vampires at the door into the room with the sword," she said.

"Surely he has more than a few demons and a couple vampires protecting the sword," I said.

"That's all I saw," said Jenna. I walked over to the head of the exam table that Adriana was securely fastened to. I reached down and took hold of the corner of the tape over her mouth and gave it a swift pull yanking it off of her face. Adriana let out a scream.

"I want you to tell us what Nhados has protecting the sword," I told Adriana.

"I'm not telling you anything," she replied.

"You can either tell us, or we can go back in your head. One way or another we will find out," I said.

"The least you can do after betraying the pack is to tell us what we need to know," said Matt. I watched as Adriana closed her eyes. A few seconds later she opened them.

"Only Nhados himself knows the protection he has up around that sword," she began in a much softer voice. If I hadn't already been through so much crap with her I might have felt a little sorry for her.

"You will never defeat Nhados. He is more powerful than you could ever imagine," She said.

"We have a few tricks up our sleeve," said Ava. I could tell Adriana truly believed that there was no way we would ever over power Nhados.

"I know I am as good as dead now, but I honestly can't tell you what I don't know. Nhados keeps everything secret. He doesn't trust anybody, not even me," Adriana said as a tear ran out the corner of her eye. I don't know why, but I actually believed her.

We untied Adriana and put her back in her cell while Ava stood ready to throw another capture spell at her if she got out of line. She went quietly back in and we put away the equipment we had been using. We were headed back to the elevator when another vision hit me.

This was the same vision as before. I followed the sound of the woman screaming to find Nhados torturing her with the whip again. He continued to whip her, and she continued to scream. This time, just before the vision ended, the woman raised her face toward the top of the cave and screamed with all of her might,

"Luke, please help me!" I woke up with my friends starring down at me again.

"She knows me!" I exclaimed.

## 16

"Who knows you?" asked Ava.

"She called out to me. She said my name. She was begging me to help her," I explained.

"You can't tell who the woman is?" Dakota asked.

"No, I can only see her from behind. I haven't seen her face, but from the back she doesn't look like anyone I know." Matt helped me off the floor. We went back to the main floor of the mansion. We came to Grandpa's room and I stopped to knock on the door. Nobody answered so we continued on into the foyer. I went into the great room and nobody was there either. I really wanted to talk to Grandpa about what we had found out from Adriana. I also wanted to tell him about my vision. Guess it would have to wait until morning. We all headed upstairs and went to our own rooms in silence.

I decided to take a shower before I climbed into bed for the night. I called the kitchen and asked them to bring me up something to eat before I got in. When I got out of the shower my dinner was waiting for me on the bar.

I signed into the Silent Soldiers network while I ate. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but I wanted to check it out anyway. I browsed through the files on each of us. I noticed they had updated Ava, Matt, and Jenna's powers. I finished eating and put my laptop away. I didn't see anything on the network that I didn't already know. I turned out all the lights and climbed into bed. I didn't realize how tired I was. I fell asleep instantly. I woke up the next morning feeling rested. I couldn't believe I actually woke up on my own. Usually somebody was knocking on my door at the crack of dawn. I looked at the clock on my phone and noticed it was getting close to noon. I grabbed my computer and slipped out of my room heading for the dinning hall.

I noticed that more and more people were starting to be in the dinning hall for meals. I knew it was getting close to time for school to start back and everybody was finishing up their vacations. I went in and requested a sandwich and chips and waited while they got it together. I took my lunch and grabbed a soda out of the fridge and headed for the library. As I headed through the great room to get to the classrooms and library I noticed Grandpa sitting next to the fireplace. I decided now was as good a time as any to tell him about the visions. I walked over to where he was sitting.

"Hi Grandpa, how are you today?" I asked.

"Well, hello Luke, I'm doing quite well. How are you?" he asked.

"I wanted to tell you about the visions I had yesterday if that's ok."

"Of course you can, Luke, have a seat," said Grandpa. I began telling him about the visions, and the difference between the first and second one.

"The woman calls out to me for help, Grandpa," I told him.

"Can you tell who the woman is?" He asked.

"No, I only ever see her from the back," I said.

"I feel like I'm being pulled to help this woman, but I have no idea where to even begin to find her," I said.

"I'm sure in time it will become clear what you are supposed to do, Luke," Grandpa said.

"I'm sure you're right," I replied.

"I think we need to go after the sword soon," I said.

"I was planning to talk to you all this evening once Dakota has risen, but yes I agree we should go soon," he replied.

"Let's meet downstairs this evening so we can discuss the mission," I said.

"I will meet you all just after dark," Grandpa replied. I told Grandpa I was going to do a little studying in the library and that we would definitely see him this evening. I sent out a text message to everyone letting them know the plans. I told them I would be in the library, and that they should all come to headquarters just after dark.

I had never been to the library before. I had seen the sign on the door in the hallway that held all of the classrooms. When I entered the hall I noticed it was completely dark except for light coming from one open classroom about halfway down. I searched the walls for a light switch with no luck. I walked slowly down the hall listening for any sound of movement or voices. As I approached the open doorway I began to hear voices in the room. I stopped and listened to see if I could tell who was in the room before I passed the doorway.

There were a number of different voices that I could hear. I knew there were several people in the room. The only voice I recognized was that of the elf, Jack, which protected me from the attack by Nhados. I listened closely to what was being said.

"Queen Ezelah has in fact been a devoted ally to this pack for many years. They have fought at her side through many battles," I heard Jack say.

"And the Queen greatly appreciates all the pack has done for the faerie world," a female voice said.

"I just don't know what we faeries can do to assist the pack against such great power," another female added. I had inched my way as close to the doorway as possible without anyone inside the room being able to see me in the hall. I couldn't resist sneaking a peek into the room once I was close enough. I wanted to see who Jack was talking to, so I moved my head close enough to see into the room with one eye. I heard someone say,

"Somebody's out there," and instantly heard several little pops, like the sound of a cork shooting out of a bottle. Jack was standing on the little platform at the head of his class as though he were teaching. When I looked around the class there was nobody there. I could see a shimmering dust on top of several of the desks along the front row. It looked as though someone had sprinkled glitter on them.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" Asked Jack in a confused voice.

"I was headed to the library when I heard voices coming from your class. I was just going to stop in and say hi," I said, not telling him the whole truth, "Who were you talking to?" I asked looking around the room once again.

"It's safe, guys," Jack said. Again I heard the little pops and my eyes grew large as I realized what was making the noises.

"What are they?" I asked as I inched my way closer to Jack. I tripped over the platform where Jack stood and nearly fell flat on my face before I caught myself.

"THEY, are faeries," One of the tiny little creatures said from the top of the desk where they all stood.

"Are you for real?" I asked giggling, "You've got to be kidding me." I watched in shock as one of the little creatures darted off the desk and grabbed the front of my shirt with its tiny little hand and lifted me off the floor.

"NEVER question our existence," I recognized as the male voice I heard from the hall.

"Put him down, Ralah," said Jack.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you," I said as I stared at the tiny little man. He slowly lowered me back to the floor and took his place next to the other tiny faeries standing on the desk. They all were about three inches tall with transparent little wings coming out of their backs. They seemed to shimmer much like the dust that littered the desks I saw when I entered the room.

"This is Luke, Mr. Carrington's grandson," said Jack.

"Hello," I said shyly.

"It is definitely an honor to meet you," said one of the female faeries. I gave her a little nod and a smile as I noticed the faerie Jack called Ralah scowling at her.

"I am very sorry I interrupted your meeting," I said.

"It's ok, Luke," said Jack.

"We will deliver your message to Queen Ezelah, and will return with her answer to your request soon," said Ralah.

"Very well," said Jack, I hope to hear from you soon." With that the faeries began to pop and disappear as I stared at them in disbelief. As each one vanished I could see the shimmering, glitter like dust float slowly down to the top of the desk. Ralah disappeared lastly and I turned to look at Jack.

"It's great to see you again, Luke," he said adding that faeries were so messy leaving their dust everywhere they went.

"You too, Jack," I responded.

"I guess you are wondering what they were doing here," said Jack.

"What?" I asked. My mind was still occupied with the thought of the faeries that were now gone.

"The faeries," Jack said, "I was trying to convince them to fight with us against Nhados. Faeries are very reluctant to go into battle, but we can use all the help we can get."

"Oh," I replied.

"I sent word to the Queen that we would appreciate their help when we face Nhados," said Jack.

"We?" I asked, "I thought the Silent Soldiers were going alone."

"I will not allow you to go to battle alone!" Jack exclaimed.

"I see," I said, but really didn't know what he meant by it.

"I must be off. I have much to do before the battle," said Jack.

"Wait!" I said but it was too late. Jack had already vanished before I could finish what I was going to say. I left his classroom very confused about what just happened. I didn't understand what he meant about having a lot to do before battle. I assumed my friends and I were going to get the sword on our own. Grandpa never mentioned anyone going with us. I shook away the thoughts that were running through my head as I headed for the library.

I pushed open the door to the library and let out a "WOW!" as I entered the magnificent room. The room contained two levels. Along the first level, on all four walls, were shelves full of books. The shelves were so tall that a ladder was attached to rollers running the length of each wall. A set of stairs led up to a walkway that ran along the perimeter of the room on the second level. It mirrored the first level with the shelves full of books and the ladders. In the center of the ceiling hung a magnificent chandelier that shed a dull light around the entire room. The light was not very bright, but it was more than enough light to see the shelves of books. The center of the room was filled with rectangle shaped tables with chairs at each one. Each table contained a lamp that lit them up with brighter light for reading. The tables were arranged in two rows. At the end of the row of tables was a desk with a computer on it.

I walked over to the computer and moved the mouse and the screen came to life. A screen came on that identified the computer as the card catalog. I had learned how to use the card catalog in school so I decided to get to work. I originally came to the library just to see what type of books were here, but now I had something to research. I typed in Faeries into the box on the screen and clicked the search button. I jotted down the numbers it gave me and began searching the shelves of books.

I had to go to the second level before I found the section that contained the book I was looking for. I found it pretty easily and pulled it from the shelf to carry back to a table on the first level. I took a second and looked at some of the other titles. There were books on vampires, and werewolves, and all kinds of other creatures I had no idea even existed. I grabbed one titled Demonology. I also pulled another one titled Supernatural Beings Explained. I headed down the stairs to look at what I had found.

I opened the book about Faeries first and began scanning the pages. I learned that faeries not only had great strength, which I witnessed first hand only a few minutes earlier. They also were beings that could quickly and easily travel between different dimensions. I learned several other interesting facts about faeries as I continued to scan the book. As I closed the book and put it to the side I heard the door open behind me. I turned to see who it was as Ava closed the door and walked toward me.

"Hi," I said as she took a seat across the table from me.

"Hi Luke, what are you reading?" She asked.

"Well, I was looking through this book about faeries," I said.

"Why are you reading about faeries?" She asked giggling.

"I had a strange encounter with some a few minutes ago. I found Jack talking to several in his classroom on my way here," I explained, "I just wanted to find out a little more about them.

"Really?" Ava asked. I told her what all happened on my way to the library as she listened intently.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, "I thought it would just be us going after the sword."

"Yeah me too. Grandpa never said anything to us about having help," I said.

"Jack must be organizing help for us on his own," said Ava,

"But why would he do that?"

"I don't really know, but he made it very clear that he would not allow us to go to battle alone," I didn't tell her he said he wouldn't allow "me" to go alone.

"Something seems weird about this," Ava said.

"What do you mean?"

"First, Jack shows up at just the right time to protect you from those vampires and Nhados. And second, he seems to be taking it upon himself to organize help for our mission," she explained, "Does that not seem a little weird to you?"

"I guess," I said a little confused about what she was getting at.

Suddenly there was a pop, and Ralah stood in the middle of the table staring up at me. Ava and I jumped at the noise. We both stared back at him shocked with his sudden appearance.

"Queen Ezelah requests your presence," Ralah said with a hint of disgust in his voice. I guessed he still had hard feelings toward me about interrupting them earlier.

"Who?" Ava asked. Ralah turned his head around sharply to glare at Ava and I saw her move back away from him slightly.

"Ezelah is the Queen of the faeries," I explained to Ava.

"The Queen sent me. She asked that I bring you to our world to speak with her," said Ralah.

"I will only go if Ava can come with me," I told Ralah confidently.

"Fine, but we must leave this instant. There is not much time if we are to successfully obtain the Koichi sword," he explained.

"What?" Ava and I both asked as he threw the familiar shimmering dust toward both of us. The dust flew at our faces at the same time. I heard the pop sound faeries make when they appear and disappear. I couldn't see anything. I began to scream as I felt myself falling through the air.

## 17

It seemed like several minutes that I had been falling, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. I felt myself slow down and suddenly made contact with something solid and realized I was lying on my back. I opened my eyes and was starring up at a beautiful blue sky. I had never seen a sky as blue as the one I was looking at now. I stood up quickly and found Ava. I helped her to her feet and we both turned in circles taking in our surroundings. We were standing in the middle of a forest. There were trees all around us reaching up to the sky. The plants and flowers located around the floor of the forest were unlike any I had ever seen. They were all shapes and sizes from the tiniest little bloom to some that were nearly as big as we were. The colors were so bright they appeared as though someone had painted them. Ava and I were both speechless.

"Follow me," I heard Ralah say in the distance. Ava and I both turned toward his voice and stared in amazement. I wasn't sure if he had grown or if we had shrunk, but he was now the size of a normal human.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"I have brought you to the faerie world to see the Queen. You two look as though you have seen a ghost," Ralah laughed.

"You're so big!" Ava exclaimed.

"No, I am my normal size. It is you two that are so tiny. The faerie world is quite small, and we can't have some big giants walking around crushing our world under their huge feet," Ralah explained. We had been shrunk down to Ralah's size.

"This way," Ralah said as he turned and began walking away from us. Ava and I started following him and continued looking around at the beautiful forest that surrounded us. We walked for several minutes before a tree, much larger than any others we saw in this forest, came into view in the distance. Ralah told us we were nearly there as we continued to follow him. The tree seemed as large as the mansion. As we got closer I noticed several openings big enough for us to walk through up and down its trunk. Ralah stopped just before we reached the base of the tree. We nearly ran into the back of him as we stared up at the huge tree before us. He explained that he would have to carry us up to the Queen's level. He grabbed the back of our shirts with each of his hands and we were suddenly flying up toward the top of the tree.

We made it nearly to the top before he swooped into an opening in the tree and dropped us to the floor. We were standing in a room inside the tree now. Everything was made of wood, leaves, and other things found in the forest. There was furniture in the room all fashioned from forest materials. Ava and I both caught sight of the over sized chair at the same time. A beautiful faerie sat in this chair. She had long beautiful curly blonde hair. She had absolutely the brightest blue eyes ever. She wore a very long flowing dress that nearly matched the color of her eyes. She also wore a crown of flowers on her head. I knew immediately that this must be Queen Ezelah.

"Please, come," she said in a soft mesmerizing voice. We walked toward her as I continued to take in her beauty. We walked over to stand in front of her and watched as she motioned to one of the other faeries in the room. This faerie was a boy about our age. His clothes were made of leaves and things found in the forest. He had a very muscular build and was nearly as beautiful as the Queen herself. He grabbed two chairs and brought them over for us to sit in.

"Thank you, son," said Ezelah.

"Mother," he said with a little bow to the Queen.

"I understand you are ready to lead the Silent Soldiers to acquire the Koichi sword," she began.

"Yes ma'am," I replied. The Queen wasted no time getting to the point.

"I believe we can make it a very simple task for you, Luke. That is if you are willing to accept the help of the faeries. We owe your grandfather and the pack tremendously. I have decided to help him with this task. Jack asked us to join in battle, but I don't believe there needs to be any sort of battle to obtain the sword. Mekah, my son, has scouted the area and finds it to be lightly guarded at the present time.

"I believe that Ralah can take you into the underworld and get the sword very quickly," said Ezelah.

"I really don't think it's safe for Luke to go down there alone," said Ava. Ezelah began to explain how Ralah could take me in to the sword undetected and get me back out before anyone knew the sword was gone.

"So you have been scouting the sword for a while now? How is that possible when Jack only spoke with Ralah about it less than an hour ago?" I asked quite confused.

"My dear boy, a few minutes in the human dimension is the equivalent to several hours in the faerie world. In the span of an hour since Ralah spoke with Jack we have had days to scout around where the sword is located," Ezelah explained.

"Oh," I replied.

"So he is going to take you directly into the cave, grab the sword, and bring you straight back out just like that?" Ava asked.

"More or less, you are correct," said Ezelah.

"I don't like this idea one little bit! We have been training and planning for quite some time now for this mission. Now the two of you are just going to dance your way in there and bring the sword out alone? I want allow you to go alone!" Ava yelled.

"This is not your decision child. Luke is the only one that can obtain the sword. It must be him that decides to go through with this plan," Ezelah told Ava.

My mind was racing as I thought of what the Queen said about getting the sword so easily. It would be awesome to just go in and grab it and get out without having to fight Nhados or any of his minions. I was snapped back to reality at the sound of Ava and the Queen bickering back and forth about my safety.

"I'm going with him or he doesn't go at all," I heard Ava say as she and the Queen glared at each others stubbornness.

"I agree that Ava should go with me if we are going to do this," I said, "I really would rather the whole team go, but if they can't at least I will have Ava.

"Very well, if she must go then I must send another faerie with you. My son, Mekah, will accompany Ava and Ralah will take you," The Queen told us. I could sense the Queen was not pleased at all by this turn of events, but she agreed none the less.

"We must leave at once, my queen," Ralah said. Ava and I turned toward his voice and noticed he and Mekah were now standing right behind us. Queen Ezelah motioned for us to stand. Mekah walked around the chair to stand beside Ava while Ralah did the same taking his place beside me.

"We will arrive in the underworld just outside the cave entrance where the sword is located. We all will be invisible, and the two of you will continue to be our size. We will carry you straight into the chamber where the sword is being held. We will have to make Luke his normal size in order for him to actually take the sword. Once he has it we will shrink him again and come back here," Ralah explained,

"We should be back here in a matter of minutes."

"I hope y'all know what you're talking about," Ava said sarcastically. Nobody responded to Ava's sarcasm. The Queen only glared down at her.

"Let's do this," I said. The two faeries standing beside us threw the dust in our faces again and we popped into the darkness as we had before. The only difference this time was we didn't seem to be falling. I could feel Ralah's grip on the neck of my shirt. I seemed to be hanging in place. The next second we were standing in another forest looking up at a massive hole in the side of a mountain. I immediately realized this must be the cave entrance that Ralah explained to us. Ralah told Ava and I to stay there while he and Mekah searched the area. I looked around and noticed that we appeared to be in some sort of tunnel. The inside was fairly dark and there was light shinning at both ends. I walked over to the entrance of the tunnel where I realized it wasn't a tunnel at all. We were actually standing in a hollow log.

"Luke, I don't trust them one bit," Ava said. I turned to face her.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Faeries are not to be trusted. They are very clever and cunning creatures. They are not always what they appear to be. I have always been fascinated with the faerie race, so I have studied their culture," Ava said.

"So you think this all might be a trap or something?" I asked confused.

"I don't think it's a trap as much as I think there is a reason they are helping us. Faeries only do things that will benefit themselves in the long run. We just need to be very careful and keep our eyes on those two," Ava pointed as I turned to see Ralah and Mekah coming back to the log.

"Its all clear," Mekah said as they approached us and grabbed the collar of our shirts. Ralah lifted me into the air and we were instantly flying into the cave. We flew through the cave for a while and noticed several tunnels leading in different directions from the main corridor in which we were traveling. I remembered Jenna's explanation of the cave as she searched through Adriana's mind. I noticed in the distance a door in the wall of the cave as we came to the end of the corridor.

I was shocked that we hadn't noticed a single guard since we arrived here. Where could they possibly be? Why would Nhados risk leaving the sword unguarded? I had the bizarre feeling that something bad was going to happen. We all watched as Ralah flew up to the door handle and turned it. The door slowly began to open. We walked through the door and into an empty room.

This room was completely dark except for the dull torch light that shone from the corridor outside. I watched as Ava raised her hands toward one wall of the room and a flame shot out from her fingertips and a torch hanging there burst into flames lighting the room. Ralah lifted his hand toward me and threw dust causing me to grow instantly to my normal size.

I looked at the stone pedestal in the center of the room and the beautiful sword mounted on top of it. I could not believe we were this close to the sword and not a single drop of blood had been shed. I walked over to the sword and stared at it completely mesmerized by its beauty. I slowly reached out and took hold of the handle. As soon as my hand grasped the handle a brilliant white light filled the room.

I can't describe in words the feeling I got with the sword now in my hand. I can only say that an overwhelming power flowed through my body and the light became brighter and brighter causing me to close my eyes. My body slowly began to calm after the surge of power. I slowly opened my eyes. The light was now gone as I looked around the room. Ava stood just behind me and to my left. She was also back to her normal size. She stood there staring at me with her eyes wide.

"What?" I asked confused. Why was she looking at me like that? She didn't say anything as she began to search in her purse for something. She walked over to me and handed me her compact.

"I don't think I need any makeup right now," I said with a giggle.

"Use the mirror goofy," she replied. I opened the compact with the sword still grasped firmly in my hand and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My hair was no longer the blonde shade that it had been all my life. Instead it was now as white as snow, and my eyes were as blue as the ocean. Then I noticed my arm holding the compact and jumped a little in surprise as I noticed my clothes were different as well. I was now wearing a solid white leather jacket. I spun around looking down at what I was wearing. I realized my pants and shoes were white as well.

"What the hell happened to me?" I asked as I looked back up at Ava. She was still staring at me as though I had turned into a ghost. I wasn't completely sure I hadn't the way I was dressed in all white with white hair.

"I-I-I-I don't know," she stuttered.

"Ava, snap out of it. It's just me," I told her.

"It obviously was something to do with the sword," she said.

"Where are the faeries? And how did you get back to your regular size like me?" I asked.

"When I opened my eyes, after the flash of light, I was like this. I have no idea where the faeries went. How in the crap are we going to get out of here now?" She asked with a touch of panic in her voice.

"I don't know, but we definitely need to go NOW!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah I don't want to be anywhere near this place when Nhados returns. I really can't understand why he isn't here," she said.

"Me either, but we need to get moving. Jenna described the way to the cave from the entrance. Maybe we can find our way out," I said as I grabbed the swords sheath and put the sword inside it. I attached the sword to my back and headed for the door.

Ava and I ran down the corridor toward the cave entrance. When we reached the first tunnel that branched off I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" asked Ava. I suddenly realized that the sound I heard must be too far away for Ava to have picked it up. I motioned for her to be quiet as I listened with all my might.

"HELP!" I heard a voice yell from the tunnel.

"Someone is down there," I told Ava.

"Dude, I still don't hear anything," she said.

"It's too far for you to hear, but someone is yelling for help down there. We have to go see about them," I said.

"No way! We are getting out of here right now!" Ava exclaimed.

"It will only take a second. Maybe it's the woman from my vision. I can't leave her here if it is," I said as I darted down the tunnel. I heard Ava sigh as she said;

"Wait for me." We ran down the tunnel as quickly as Ava could move. I listened closely as we made our way toward the voice. I could hear the woman's plea for help as we made our way closer. The tunnel was just light enough for us to find our way through. We could see light ahead of us and I knew we must be getting close.

"HELP!" the woman yelled again. We slowed down nearly to a stop as we realized how close we were to the voice. The tunnel made a sharp turn. I slowly took a peek around the corner. I was looking at the end of the tunnel we were in. There were torches lighting the area. I immediately caught sight of the woman from my visions. She was chained facing the wall with her hands raised toward the ceiling just like in my vision. I was very happy to learn that she was alone down here and not being whipped by Nhados.

I grabbed Ava by the hand and we darted into the area where the woman was.

"Hello?" I said to the woman.

"Who's there?" The woman asked, horrified to find out she was no longer alone. She slowly turned her head to look at us. The woman was truly horrified as she anticipated who she would find. I could see that her cheeks were stained with tears. The dress covering her back was now torn bloody threads.

"Who are you?" the woman asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm Luke, and this is Ava," I told her. I heard the woman inhale suddenly.

"I knew you would come," said the woman,

"I have been calling out to you for days. I sensed you could hear me."

"You know who we are?" asked Ava.

"Well, by looking at you I can see much resemblance to Rachel. I am guessing you must be her daughter. And I definitely know Lucas," the woman told Ava.

"Who are you, and how do you know my mother?" asked Ava.

"I am Elizabeth Carrington. I am your grandmother, Lucas," the woman said. I immediately drew the sword with my right hand as I grabbed Ava's hand and pulled her back away from the woman chained to the wall.

"Let's go," I said as the woman stared at us in horror at the thought of us leaving her there.

"Luke, we can't leave your grandmother here," Ava said with nearly the same horrified look as my grandmother held.

"She is a traitor," I said with disgust. Ava and I looked up at the chained woman as she began to sob with tears running down her cheeks.

"Oh, Lucas, that is so very far from the truth. I could never betray my family or my pack. I have been a prisoner here since you were born. Nhados captured me shortly after I told your mother about all the visions I had of you. I have wondered all these years why your grandfather never came to rescue me," The woman explained.

"How can we know you are telling the truth?" I asked.

"Lucas, you have to believe what I am telling you. Please don't leave me down here to be tortured any longer," my grandmother said as she began to cry again.

I let go of Ava's wrist and in one swift movement I moved close and sliced through the chains with the sword. I grabbed both of the chains and wrapped them around my hand and turned the woman around toward me.

"I am taking you back to Grandpa so he can deal with you," I told her.

"We have to find a way to get back to the mansion," I told Ava. I pulled the woman with me as I walked back over to Ava and returned the sword to my back.

"We must hurry back to the mansion. I overheard Nhados talking. He said they were going to attack tonight. I can show you the way," said my grandmother as she followed us down the tunnel.

"That explains why nobody was guarding the sword. We have to hurry. Our family and friends could be in great danger if she is telling us the truth," I said. We broke into a run and in no time we were at the cave entrance looking out into the very strange looking forest.

"We must follow that stream back to the entrance," Grandma said. We ran through the forest following the stream for a while before Grandma told us to stop. Ava and I turned around to look at her.

"Between those two huge trees that are close together is the entrance to our dimension. All we have to do is walk through those trees and we will return to The Devil's Den in the Earth realm," my grandmother explained.

"Let's go," I said. We ran over to the trees and slowed to a walk as we went between them. Everything went dark like Jenna had described and then we were in another cave. We walked down the tunnel and out into the crisp night air.

"We are not too far from the mansion. I want you to stay here with her, Ava. I'm going to run home and bring a car back to pick you up. It shouldn't take more than a couple minutes to get back here with my speed and all," I told them.

"We can't stay here. What if they come back while we are waiting for you?" asked Ava.

"Good point. I hadn't thought about that. Let's do this then. Walk along this highway but stay just out of sight in the woods. We don't want any passersby seeing you pulling her along by chains. And we definitely don't want Nhados or any of his men finding you. I will text you when I get here with the car," I explained.

"That sounds a lot better," said Ava. I took off toward the mansion running as fast as my super speed would take me. It felt amazing running so fast. It was the first time I had used my speed out in the open. I made it back to the mansion in no time. I didn't bother going through the gate I cut through the woods and jumped over the fence. When I got to the house there were people everywhere outside. I noticed Matt standing by the front door and I stopped running only inches from his side. Matt jumped at the sight of someone appearing out of nowhere so close to him. He calmed a little when he realized it was me.

"Luke, where have you been? And what happened to you?" asked Matt as he looked me up and down.

"It's a very long story that I really don't have time to tell you right now. What happened here?" I asked.

"Nhados' army attacked us while you were gone. And on top of that Adriana is gone," said Matt.

"Sounds like we both have long stories to tell. I need you to do me a favor while I go and talk to Grandpa. Take a car and go to The Devil's Den and pick up Ava. When you get close text her, and she will come out to the road to meet you. She is walking in the woods following the road back here," I explained to Matt, "We can talk about everything later. Do you know where Grandpa is?"

"Last time I saw him he was in the great room," replied Matt. I left Matt telling him to please hurry to pick up Ava as I walked in the front door of the mansion. I sprinted through the foyer and into the great room. I found Grandpa sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. He looked up as I approached him. I saw relief spread across his face as he jumped up from his seat to hug me.

"Luke, you have no idea how worried I have been. I have half the pack out looking for you. I see you have put yourself in great danger for the second time by going to the underworld alone," he said as his relief turned to anger.

"Grandpa, I will tell you everything. Right now I have something very important to tell you. Matt is going to pick up Ava right now, and she has a prisoner with her. We must prepare for their return," I told him.

"Prisoner? Who have you taken prisoner, Luke?" Grandpa asked.

"You will never believe this, but we have brought your wife Elizabeth back from the underworld. She claims she has been a prisoner all these years," I said as I watched Grandpa's face fill with anguish at the thought of his traitor of a wife coming back to the mansion.

## 18

I told Grandpa about finding Grandma chained to the wall in pretty bad shape. I also told him everything she told us about never betraying him or the pack. Grandpa was speechless as he stared down at me.

"Why did you go to the underworld by yourself, Luke? It was very irresponsible of you to take the risk," said Grandpa. I started by telling him about the meeting I interrupted between Jack and the faeries. I then told him all about Ava and I being taken to the faerie world to meet with the Queen. Grandpa listened intently as I explained the events of the day. When I finished telling him everything he was quiet for a few seconds. When he spoke again all he could say was,

"faeries!" I waited for him to say something else, and when he didn't I asked,

"What's wrong Grandpa?"

"Luke, you must never trust the faeries. They may seem wonderful in the beginning, but their good deeds only benefit themselves in the end. Even if it causes harm to the ones they are helping."

"That's the same thing Ava said, but we were already in the underworld when she decided to share the information."

"Luke, I understand that the faeries tricked you into doing this. And I am greatly relieved that you were able to obtain the Koichi sword unharmed, but you still have much to learn. You simply can not go off on your own. You have to rely on your team to help you."

"I know Grandpa," was all I could say as I hung my head in shame. I was saved from the uncomfortable situation as Matt burst through the doors into the great room.

"Luke, Ava has taken her straight to the holding area. I think we should go down and make sure everything is in order," Matt said. I stood and headed toward the door. I stopped just before going out and turned back toward Grandpa. He was just standing there staring at me.

"Grandpa, you have to come with us. You know Jenna can find out if she is telling the truth," I told him. Grandpa closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he finally opened them he slowly made his way over to us.

"Matt, we need Jenna and Dakota to meet us down there," I said.

"Way ahead of you, dude. I text them to meet us there on our way back to the mansion," said Matt.

"You're awesome, Matt!" I exclaimed.

"I know, man, I been trying to tell you that for years," Matt laughed.

"What exactly happened while I was gone?" I asked as we waited for the elevator.

"Well, we don't really know at this point. We thought we were being attacked. Vampires jumped the fence all over the property at once and started slowly toward the mansion. Security informed me of the situation and I gathered everyone to hold them off. We shifted and began chasing the vampires all over the property, but they never engaged us in battle. We continued to chase them until they eventually gave up and jumped back over the fence. We thought they were just messing around with us, or testing our forces. When we reviewed the security tapes from the mansion we realized the vampires were just a distraction. We watched as Nhados entered the mansion. He used magic to gain access to the holding area. He actually came to rescue Adriana. I am completely puzzled as to why he would take on the pack to rescue her," Grandpa explained.

While Grandpa was bringing me up to speed on what happened we entered the elevator and began the descent. The doors now opened to the holding area. The rest of the gang stood there looking into the cell where they had my grandmother. They had removed the chains from her wrists before locking her in the cell.

"Elizabeth, why have you returned after all these years?" Grandpa asked.

"Sam, I know you don't believe me, but it was never my choice to leave you," my grandmother said as tears started falling down her cheeks.

"We will see about that," I said before I jumped into action. Moving faster than any of the others could see I opened the cell door and grabbed my grandmother up. I strapped her to the exam table we used for Adriana.

"Do your thing, Jenna," I said as we watched Matt and Dakota hook her up to the machine that would allow Jenna to access her mind.

Jenna acted as a polygraph machine to let us know if my grandmother was telling the truth to the questions we asked her. I explained to her what we were going to do before we began with the questioning.

"What would cause you to betray us, your family?" Grandpa asked first.

"Samuel I would never betray you or the pack. Nhados captured me and took me to the underworld. He tortured me into telling him about the prophesies. I have always loved you, Sam, and I always will," Grandma told him as she began to sob.

"She is telling the truth," said Jenna.

"But I watched you run into the forest the night you disappeared. Nhados was nowhere around," Grandpa said as tears of his own escaped and made their way down his face.

I watched as Grandma closed her eyes holding back more tears as she began to explain.

"You didn't see me running away. Nhados is more powerful than you can imagine. He has found a way to combine his wizard powers with his shifting powers. By combining these powers he can shift into anyone or anything he chooses. You saw what Nhados wanted you to see that night. You thought you saw me running away, but what you really saw was Nhados shifted to my form running into the woods. He wanted you to think I abandoned you and the pack to join him. It seems as though he succeeded. I have longed for you to rescue me all these years, Sam."

"Why did Nhados leave you and the sword unguarded to rescue Adriana?" I asked. I watched as Grandma began to smile.

"Well, Nhados knew that I had a vision. He whipped me until I could hardly bear the pain. The vision was of you and Ava coming to get the sword with the faeries. I knew I couldn't tell Nhados about my real vision, or he would have captured you both with ease. Instead I convinced him the vision was of Adriana capturing you and bringing you to him. I explained to him that Adriana was the key to bringing you over to evil. It worked out better than I thought when he took every available guard and headed for the mansion. I knew when you would come, Luke. I started yelling for help in hopes that you would hear me and come to my rescue," Grandma explained. We all looked to Jenna.

"Everything she says is true," said Jenna. We all watched as Grandpa removed the straps holding Grandma to the table and took her into his arms. They hugged each other and began to let out heavy sobs together. I motioned for everyone to follow me so we could give them some privacy. I knew they had lots to catch up on, and would want to be alone. We all headed back up the elevator together.

"Man, what happened to you?" Dakota asked. I pointed to the sword attached to my back as if nobody had noticed it.

"I can't believe you went after the sword without us," said Matt.

"It wasn't our fault. The faeries warped us to their world and had it all planned out. I don't know exactly what they had up their sleeve by helping us get it, but once Luke grabbed it the faeries just disappeared," explained Ava. We got off the elevator and went into the conference room. I told them the whole story of the day with the faeries and our trip to the underworld. After that, Matt told us what happened at the mansion while we were gone. It was mainly for Ava's benefit because I had already learned what happened from Grandpa.

"I've been thinking since we got back to the mansion about something and it is really getting to me," I said.

"What's up?" Jenna asked.

"Well, Nhados waltzed in here and rescued Adriana from the holding area completely undetected. All he had to do was throw out some vampire interference and the mansion was left wide open. We have to find a way to keep him away from the mansion or none of us will ever be safe. Don't you think he is going to be super pissed to find out that not only did I get the sword, but that his psychic has also been taken?" I asked.

"That's a very good point," said Jenna.

"I haven't thought about that," said Dakota.

"I can't understand how Nhados keeps getting passed my mother's protection spells," said Ava.

"Has she put up any new ones since we found out about Adriana being a traitor? If not, that is how he is getting in," said Matt.

"Ava, you and your mother need to get together to work out some new spells to put up to keep Nhados and his army from getting back in here," I said.

"Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do it tonight if possible," said Dakota.

"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past Nhados to attack anytime after he finds out there is no chance of bringing me to his side now. Ava, talk to your mom and let us know if there is anything we can do to help. Jenna, you should help your dad with security duty tonight until they can get the new spells up. It would be great if you could go into the camera system to keep a closer watch than what the cameras themselves pick up. We definitely don't want Nhados in the mansion again or anywhere else on the property. Dakota, Matt, and I will patrol the perimeter. I will talk to Grandpa about helping out with patrolling," I explained.

I looked at Ava as she reached into her bag to pull out five of the spell orbs she had created.

"What are those?" Jenna asked.

"Well, I distributed the binding spell I made from Thados' blood into five smaller ones. Each one of these should be more than powerful enough to bind Nhados' powers. I made one for each of us. I think we should keep them with us at all times," said Ava as she distributed the orbs to each of us.

"That is definitely a great idea, especially until the protection spells are up," I said. Ava dismissed herself from the group to find her mother. I told her to text us as soon as she found something out.

"It's going to be a long night," said Matt.

"I'm used to it," Dakota said with a laugh as we all stood to go about the duties I had assigned. Jenna went to the security center with her dad while the rest of us headed for the elevator. Grandpa walked out as the doors opened.

"I was just coming to look for you," I told him. I gave Grandpa a quick rundown of our conversation and plans for the evening. He agreed that it was a great plan and pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

"Every available member of the pack will be on patrol tonight. As soon as Ava and Rachel are done with the protection spells we can patrol in shifts," Grandpa said after he was done with his phone call.

"We will be on the first shift since Dakota will have to retire at dawn. Then we will go and get some rest to prepare for the next one," I told Grandpa.

"I'm going to take the next shift. Your grandmother and I have much to discuss so we will be in my suite if you need us," said Grandpa as we headed for the elevator. Once we were outside Matt took to the sky in his dragon form. He could scan the fence line much better from the air. Dakota and I decided to patrol the perimeter. I shifted to my wolf form so I could utilize my sense of smell. Dakota didn't say much as we walked around the property. This was mainly due to the fact that I couldn't talk back to him while in wolf form. I could only talk to other shifters. We patrolled for several hours before Dakota received a text from Ava and he relayed the message to me.

"Ava says they have the spells in place."

"Awesome. I am exhausted," I said after shifting back to human form. Dakota said he would continue to patrol until dawn. I told him I would see him tonight after he rose. I shifted back to wolf form so I could tell Matt he was clear to go to bed for the evening. I also told Uncle Charles that the first shift could retire for the evening.

When I finally made it to my room all I wanted to do was crash. I realized I hadn't eaten all day so I ordered up some food and decided to take a shower while I waited for it to arrive. When I got out of the shower I was shocked to find Grandma sitting by the fireplace waiting for me.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I made my way over to sit in the chair across from her.

"Luke, I need to tell you something very important," she said. I really didn't want to learn anymore news tonight whether it was good or bad, but I could see the concerned look on my grandmother's face and knew it must be very important.

"What is it Grandma? You know you can tell me anything," I told her.

"Well, I am sure your Grandpa has told you I have visions, right?" she asked.

"Yes, he has. In fact, I inherited your gift of sight myself," I said. Grandma's facial expression showed much confusion and excitement all rolled together.

"Are you serious? That is absolutely wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"Is that what you came here to tell me at this time of night?" I asked a little too bitterly.

"Of course not, Luke, I am just so pleased and shocked by this news," she told me. "What I came here to share with you are the details of my latest vision," Grandma said as I watched her begin to get very nervous about what she was going to tell me. Her hands fidgeted with a book I just now noticed she was holding. She couldn't sit still in her seat.

"Tell me, Grandma," I said.

"Luke, the vision I had, only hours ago, was about your parents. In my vision you were reunited with them," she said.

"How is that possible when they both died in the plane crash?" I asked after the butterflies in my stomach settled. Was there really a possibility that my parents were alive?

"My theory is that they could possibly have staged their deaths to throw off Nhados,"

"But how can that be? Their bodies were found at the site of the crash," I said.

"The bodies they found in the wreckage were not able to be identified. The number of bodies found corresponded with the number that left on that flight, but that doesn't mean that your parents were ever even on that flight," said Grandma.

I was completely unable to wrap my mind around the possibility of my parents being alive in my current state of exhaustion. I ate most of my food while Grandma talked. Now I could barely hold my eyes open as I tried to comprehend what grandma was telling me.

"Grandma, can we please talk about this again in the morning? It has been a heck of a long day. I am very tired. I need to get some rest now," I told her.

"Of course we can Luke. I will talk to you again in the morning. Good night," she said as she stood and made her way out of my room. I went to bed as soon as she was out of the room. My mind was completely shutting down as I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up and looked at my phone to check the time I realized I had slept for nearly fourteen hours straight. It was almost eight pm. I made a sandwich with stuff from the fridge and grabbed a soda.

I hadn't noticed the stack of books on the floor beside my door before I went to sleep. I didn't know if they were already there or if someone dropped them off while I was asleep. I couldn't believe they brought them with everything that happened yesterday. I brought the books over to the bar to look through while I ate my sandwich. There were six books, and most of them were normal classes. There was a book for English, Biology, Math, and History. The only two books out of the ordinary was a Demonology book, and the sixth one was titled "Supernaturals and the Human Race," by some name I couldn't even begin to pronounce. The Demonology book was the same one I looked at in the library.

I opened the Supernaturals book to the table of contents and started scanning the chapter titles. Most of the titles indicated they had to do with the laws that governed the different supernatural races. Not necessarily the race themselves, but their interaction and secrecy from the humans. I wondered how the supernatural community had been kept secret from humans for so many centuries. Maybe this class would shed some light on that mystery. I pushed the books aside and finished my sandwich just as a knock came at the door. Grandma stood in the doorway looking a hundred percent better than she had when I found her in the cave yesterday. It's a wonder what a shower and a change of clothes will do for someone.

"May I come in?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Sure," I replied. I stepped out of the way for her to come in and closed the door behind her. She headed for the sitting area and I followed her.

"Have you thought anymore about what I told you last night?" Grandma asked.

"A little bit," I lied. It really hadn't crossed my mind since I woke up.

"If it's true that they could still be alive, where would they have gone?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not really sure," she said.

"Do you think they could have still gone to England?" I asked.

"It is possible that they kept with their plans to go to your fathers' home country, but I think they figured too many people knew where they were headed. I think they decided to go somewhere else," she said.

"How would we ever find them?" I asked.

"Well, I am going to contact your father's family in England to see if anyone has heard from them over the years. It's got to be the best place we can start looking," she said.

"Luke! What's wrong? Are you ok?" I heard Grandma saying as everything went black. When the vision came into focus I had no idea where I was. By the looks of my surroundings I definitely was not in the South. I could tell instantly I was somewhere in the mountains. A light snow was falling all around me. I was running through the forest in wolf form. It felt great running free.

" _Luke!"_ I heard a woman's voice say. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around looking for the source of the voice.

" _Luke, I have waited so very long for this moment,"_ I heard the voice again.

" _Who's there?"_ I asked as I continued to search the woods around me. Suddenly a wolf came into view in the distance. The wolf was more beautiful than any I had seen before with its light blonde colored coat, and brilliant blue eyes. The wolf stopped and stared into my eyes.

" _Come to me my son,"_ the woman's voice said. Can it really be? I asked myself.

" _Mom?"_ I say as I continued to stare at the wolf.

## 19

The next thing I know I am staring up at Grandma.

"Honey, are you ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine," I responded.

"Tell me about your vision." She helped me up and back to my chair as I began to tell her what I saw.

"Your mother is just as beautiful in her wolf form as she is in human form," Grandma said when I finished telling her about it.

"We have to find her. Seeing her in the mountains narrows the search somewhat, but there are still dozens and dozens of places she could be," I said.

"I'm going now to try to reach your father's family. I will let you know as soon as I hear anything." I walked her to the door, and she turned around and gave me a hug before walking out.

I was still in my pajamas at this point so I changed clothes and put on my shoes so I could go and see about patrolling. Matt was coming out of his room as I headed down the hall to the stairs.

"Hey Matt, did you sleep well?" I asked.

"I slept pretty good, but not nearly as good as you," he said with a laugh, "I have been up for hours."

"Yeah well I was pretty tired I guess."

"The good news is we don't have to patrol tonight. Grandpa has everything covered in that department. The protection spells seem to be holding up. The security cameras picked up several vampires trying to get over the fence not long after we went to bed this morning. None of them were able to get close to the wall though," said Matt.

"That is definitely a good thing. I see they left our new books for school."

"Yeah I dropped those off for you earlier. Grandpa gave them to me, and asked me to give you yours. He gave me our schedules too. The four of us seem to have all the same classes," explained Matt.

"That's cool. What about Dakota?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I figure he will go to class at night."

"So, what do you have planned for the evening?" I asked him trying to get off the subject of school.

"The girls want to watch a movie down in the theatre."

"We have a theatre?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah," he said with a laugh.

"That sounds fun. I think I could use a bit of normal after all the mess I have been through lately," I said with a smile.

"Let's go there now. They are probably down there waiting." I followed Matt down the hall not having any idea where the theatre was. I didn't even know the mansion had a theatre. We walked down the stairs and headed through the great room into the room where the pool was. We turned left and headed into the area of the mansion I had never been. We walked down a long hallway with several doors off to our right. We were nearly to the end of the hall before we turned right into a set of double doors.

The room was just light enough to see. This theatre had reclining seats in rows leading down at an angle like other movie theatres I had been to. The seats were arranged in a half circle around an enormous screen mounted on the wall. I spotted the girls sitting about half way down in the middle of the room.

"Hi Luke," said Ava as I sat down beside her.

"Hey, how are you?" I replied.

"I'm ok."

"I'm great," I told her. I didn't want to ruin the mood by telling them about my vision. I was looking forward to spending time with my friends instead of worrying about staying alive. Besides, I didn't even know for sure if my vision was real. I mean, what if the vision was sparked by Grandma telling me she thought my parents were alive? I definitely didn't want to get excited by the possibility only to be torn to pieces if I found out they were really dead.

I put on my happy little smile and settled in next to Ava to watch the movie. I didn't know what movie we were going to watch, and to tell you the truth I really didn't care. About an hour or so into the movie I was so comfortable in the chair I was sitting in that I dozed off. I started to dream as soon as I fell asleep.

I was in the mountains again. I guessed these were the same ones from the vision because I instantly heard the woman's voice again.

" _Luke,"_ calls the woman's voice.

" _Mom, is it really you?"_ I asked.

" _Yes, son, it is me. I am glad that you finally found me, Luke,"_ she said as I watched the beautiful blonde wolf emerge from the woods in front of me.

" _Why did you leave me, alone, for all this time?"_ I asked as I inched my way closer to her.

" _Luke, there will be plenty of time for me to explain everything soon. Right now, though, I need your help,"_ she said.

" _What is it, Mom? I'll do anything I can."_

" _I fear there is great danger coming my way, son."_

" _What danger? What can I do?"_ I asked desperately. The next instant I watch in horror as a large black shadow flies through the air from one of the nearby trees above my mother's head. The shadow lands directly on her back knocking her to the ground. I begin to scream,

" _MOM!"_ As I jump from my seat awake and back in the theatre in the mansion. I look down to see everyone staring up at me in confusion. Ava jumps to her feet and grabs my hand to try and comfort me as she asks,

"Luke, what's the matter?"

"Mom is in trouble! I have to find Grandma!" I exclaimed.

"Luke, it was just a dream man," said Matt.

"I thought your parents were d..." starts Jenna but trails off before she finishes the last word.

"I wasn't going to bother you guys with more news tonight. I wanted to have a normal evening together with my friends. I have to tell you something," I said as Ava turned off the movie.

"You can tell us anything, Luke. You know that," said Ava.

"Grandma and I have had visions of my mother. Grandma had them first, but now I'm having them too. Grandma thinks my parents could still be alive," I told them. They stare at me in shock at this bit of information.

"That's awesome, Luke," said Matt.

"Yeah, Luke, that is great news," said Ava as she took my other hand in hers.

"If this is real, I think she is in trouble," I said as I began to tell them of the vision and the recent dream. "I have to tell Grandma what I have seen," I added. I bolted from the room leaving them staring at each other in confusion. I had to find Grandma before it was too late.

I raced around the mansion in search of my grandmother, but couldn't find her anywhere. I decided she must have already gone to bed and headed for their bedroom. I knocked on their door desperately, and waited for someone to answer. Grandpa answered the door and I could tell he was angry about being disturbed. He instantly changed his expression to concern when he realized it was me.

"What's wrong, Luke?" Grandpa asked.

"I need to talk to Grandma, now," I said.

"She's already asleep. Can't this wait until morning?"

"No! It is very important that I talk to her."

"Come on in, Luke," said Grandma from inside the room. Grandpa stepped out of the way and motioned for me to enter.

"Grandma, have you talked to Grandpa about my mom?" I asked as I turned to see my grandfather's response. I could see confusion register as he looked to Grandma to explain.

"No. I wanted to be sure before I troubled him with the information," she replied.

"What's going on here?" Grandpa asked.

"Sam, I had a vision about Sandra. Luke had a vision as well," she explained.

"Make that two visions," I added.

"Tell me about it, Luke," she said. I started with the first vision to bring Grandpa up to speed, and then went straight into the newest one. I heard Grandma gasp as I finished with the attack on my mother.

"Have you heard anything from my fathers' family?" I asked. I spoke with someone a little while ago. They refused to tell me anything over the phone. They prefer to tell me what they know in person.

"So, when do we leave for England?" I asked.

"We are not going anywhere," said Grandma to my surprise.

"We have to find her! Mom is in danger. I refuse to stand around and risk losing her for good!" I yelled.

"Calm down, Luke," said Grandpa.

"Luke, it is too dangerous for you to go traipsing around England. One of the main reasons your mother put you into hiding is so your fathers' people couldn't lay claim to you. I will not risk having you kidnapped by a bunch of vampires," she explained.

"I will leave first thing in the morning for England to see what I can find out about your parents. In the meantime I want you to tell me about any vision you may have. I promise we will do everything in our power to find her, Luke," said Grandma as she walked over and took me in her arms.

"I'm worried about her," I said.

"I know you are, honey. I'm worried about her too, but we have to be rational about all of this," she said. "We must be careful. Nhados would like nothing more than to find out your mother is still alive. He would use her to lure you to him. He knows he can't win you over now that you have the sword, but he will continue to be a threat until he is defeated. He will stop at nothing to kill you, Luke," said Grandpa.

"Luke, you need to get some rest. I will let you know as soon as I find out anything," said Grandma. I hugged them both before leaving the room.

Jenna and Matt were finishing the movie when I got back to the theatre. I decided not to disturb them. Instead I made my way up to Ava's room. She answered the door quickly. She looked just as confused and concerned as she had when I left her.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

"Of course," she responded. She closed the door and took my hand leading me toward the stairs. "Let's go for a walk." I couldn't explain the feelings I had for Ava. I had never felt the way I did for her. I loved just being around her. She made me feel important and special like no one ever had. Not important because of who or what I was, but important as a person. She made me feel like I actually meant something to her. I was nervous beyond comprehension when I was alone with Ava. I could only hope that she felt the same way about me. We walked in silence for a while, enjoying each others company. I got the feeling that she didn't really know what to say about what happened earlier so I started the conversation.

"Grandma is leaving for England in the morning," I said.

"Really?" She asked.

"She talked to my father's family on the phone earlier and they told her they would only speak in person. I'm guessing they are taking every precaution to keep my parents' whereabouts a secret.

"Grandpa says if Nhados were to find out they were still alive he would use them to get to me. I guess it makes sense," I told her.

"Yes it does. I'm very happy for you, Luke. I never met my father, but there is nothing like having your mom around."

"So, I have to sit around and wait to hear from Grandma with any news," I said, changing the subject a little. It was a little too uncomfortable talking about my Mom that way.

"I just want you to know that I am here for you anytime you need me."

"Thanks, Ava. That means a lot," I said as we made it out into the garden and sat down on the bench. It was a cloudless night and stars filled the sky. Ava and I looked at each other for a few seconds before I decided to make my move. I put my hand gently to her cheek, and slowly moved it down to rest in the bend of her neck. I let my fingers wrap around touching the back of her neck as I pulled her close to me.

We stared into each others eyes as our lips met. I had never kissed a girl, but I caught on pretty quickly. I could feel her mouth open slightly, and I followed her lead as our tongues found each other and moved slowly together. I could have kissed her forever, but of course we were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. We both snapped apart and looked in the direction of the sound.

"Get a room!" Matt exclaimed. Jenna let out a little giggle at what Matt said. I had never been more embarrassed in my life than I was at that moment. I guess we should have gone somewhere a little more private.

"What are you guys up to?" I asked trying to change the focus off of me a little bit.

"Well, we were hoping to be alone out here just like you," said Matt with a grin.

"It's definitely a beautiful night," said Ava. I could tell she was just as embarrassed as I was about being caught.

"It definitely is," said Jenna. I decided to change the subject completely, so I told Matt and Jenna about my discussion with my grandparents.

"What can we do to help?" Matt asked.

"I guess we have to wait and see what we hear. There really is no way to find her on our own. She could be anywhere," I said. It was getting pretty late by this time, so we all decided to go to bed and talk about it the next day.

Ava and I walked hand in hand following Matt and Jenna who were doing the same. I walked Ava to her door and she gave me a peck on the lips before hurrying into her room. I stood there looking at her door for a few seconds thinking about the amazing kiss from earlier. I wondered what this meant between us. Were we a couple now? I assumed she had feelings for me since she had kissed me back. I snapped out of the day dream world I was in and headed for my room.

I kicked off my shoes and was just about to climb into bed when I heard a voice that completely startled me. Before I knew it my instincts kicked in. I had the sword out from under my bed where I hid it and out of its sheath in the blink of an eye. I stared at the very wide eyed Jack who was sitting in a chair beside the fireplace.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I didn't mean to startle you," he said as I put the sword away.

"You scared the crap out of me!" I exclaimed.

"Please forgive me."

"What are you doing here in my room?" I asked suddenly very confused by his presence.

"I needed to talk to you," he said. I walked over and sat in the chair across from him.

"I'm listening."

"First, I wanted to apologize for the faeries actions yesterday. I had no idea they would put you into such danger. Had I known they would take you to the underworld, I would have been there with you."

"I am just glad that we made it out of there in one piece. Did you know that they just left us down there alone?" I asked becoming irritated at remembering what they had done.

"I can assure you they didn't leave you on purpose," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly very confused.

"Well, one of the protection spells on the sword caused anyone wishing to obtain the sword from its rightful owner to flee from its presence. Whenever you took possession of it the faeries were cast completely out of the underworld," He explained.

"So, if I understand you correctly, the faeries were not helping me get the sword. They wanted it for themselves?"

"That is correct."

"Oh," I replied.

"If it means anything at all, the Queen asked that I send you her apologies. She didn't know that Ralah and her son were conspiring together to get the sword. She was only attempting to repay some of the debt that she owes the pack. She asked that I let you know they will definitely be punished."

"I do have one other thing to tell you," Jack started again.

"What's that?"

"I hear you have learned your mother is still alive?"

"Well, we don't really know for sure, but Grandma and I are having visions about her."

"Please, tell me about them," he pleaded. I started with Grandma's vision and finished with the dream I had that night. Agony washed over Jack's expression as I told him of the attack.

"This is definitely not good!" he exclaimed, "I should not have left her side." I was completely speechless at what I had just heard.

"What?" I finally managed to ask. I watched as Jack looked down at his tiny little feet trying to find the right words.

"Luke, I have worked for your mother since long before you were even born. She saved me from a member of a pack that was visiting from another city. Before that night I was nothing more than a petty thief. I stole a gold chain from this shifter and he found out I did it. He caught me, and was just about to take my life for it. Your mother, being the pack leaders' daughter, forced him to turn me over to her. She changed my life that night. I have been in her service ever since," Jack explained.

"You know where my mother is!" I exclaimed.

"No, Luke, I did know where she was, but I was pulled back here when you disappeared to the underworld with the faeries.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. "When you were born, Luke, your mother asked that I watch over you. She asked that I keep you safe no matter what. I have been with you since the night you were born. You couldn't always see me, but I was there. It has definitely been an honor watching you grow into a fine young man," I stared at Jack not knowing what to say to him. Suddenly I remembered something.

"You said you did know where she was?" I asked.

"When I returned to her location, after I was pulled back to you, she was gone. I haven't been able to locate her since."

"Why would she have left where she was?" I asked.

"I don't know. The only thing I can imagine is that someone found her and she is hiding. I have spent every second possible looking for her, and I will continue to do so," said Jack.

"Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out looking for my mother?"

"I wanted to tell you the truth about me," he replied.

"Find my mother! Please!" I yelled. I watched as jack magically pulled a piece of paper out of mid air and handed it to me. Written on the paper was a phone number.

"What is this?" That is my cell phone number. Feel free to call me anytime, Luke."

"Elves have cell phones?" I asked as an uncontrollable giggle escaped at the thought.

"Of course we do. Why wouldn't we?" I blushed with embarrassment. He looked at me as though it was the craziest thing he had ever heard.

I looked down again at the phone number written on the paper, and when I looked back up at him he was gone. I had so many other questions to ask him, but they would have to wait. I stored his number in my cell and climbed into bed. I didn't think I would ever be able to sleep, but before I knew it I was doing just that.

## Chapter 20

Not a single dream interrupted my sleep that night. I woke up the next morning, which was Sunday, feeling completely rested. Grandma left for England before I woke up. I waited patiently for any word from her or Jack about my mother. Grandpa told me it may be a few days before we got word from Grandma. My fathers' family lived in a very remote area of England, he explained, and it took several days of treacherous travel to get there. This was not what I wanted to hear. I had no choice but to deal with it.

Classes started the next morning. I found out that the Silent Soldiers, minus Dakota of course, were taking our classes separately from the other students. We were told that the reasoning behind this was to keep the other students from getting jealous when we got to miss classes for soldier business. It made sense, but I hoped we wouldn't have to miss much class. If we did it meant we were probably going to be risking our lives in some way. I would much rather be in class than out fighting bad guys.

I looked for Jack in his classroom between classes, but his room was never open. I didn't know if he just didn't have a class today, or if he was out searching for my mother. Toward the end of the day I decided to text him and see what was going on. He didn't respond to my text. I wondered if he even knew how to text at all. That evening when classes were done for the day I called him. The phone didn't ring and went straight to voicemail. I didn't leave a message. It was driving me crazy not being able to talk to somebody. Both Jack and my grandmother told me they would contact me when they found something out. I decided to try to be more patient and wait for them to contact me.

"Let's run tonight after dark," I told Matt and Jenna as we sat in the dinning hall having dinner.

"Ok, that sounds great to me!" Matt exclaimed.

"Heck yeah, sounds good to me too," said Jenna. I saw disappointment flash on Ava's face, but she immediately put on a nervous little smile.

"I just need to take my mind off waiting around to hear something," I said trying to make Ava feel a little better. I definitely didn't want her to think we were ditching her.

"I understand," said Ava, "I just wish I could run with you guys," she said.

"Maybe you can," Jenna said as we all turned to look at her curiously. Jenna blushed as she continued, "I have been doing some searching through the computer system, and I found a bunch of spells your mom had stored in a secret file on the Silent Soldiers' database."

"What kind of spells?" Ava asked.

"Well, one in particular is a Transformation spell. It's a spell using a creatures' blood that allows you to temporarily transform into that creature," said Jenna.

"Show me!' Ava exclaimed as she grabbed Jenna by the hand and practically dragged her out of the dinning hall.

"Well, ok," Matt said.

"So, what's up with you and Jenna?" I asked Matt.

"I think were going out," Matt said shyly, "What about you and Ava?"

"I'm not really sure. We kissed the other night, but we haven't really talked about it," I said.

"Yeah, it looked like y'all were getting all hot and steamy out in the garden," Matt said laughing. I looked down smiling as I felt the blood rush into my face.

Just then my phone rang and I jerked it out of my pocket to answer.

"Hello?" I said.

"Luke, its Grandma. I found out where she is staying, and I'm headed there now," said my Grandma's voice on the other end of the line.

"Tell me where she is so I can come," I said ecstatically.

"NO! I will call you again when I find something out. I don't want to talk too much over the phone in case someone might be intercepting the call. You need to stay where you are until we know something for sure.

"But..." I started, but the phone went dead as Grandma hung up. I couldn't believe she had cut me off. Now I would be waiting even longer to find something out. I so am not a very patient person. Grandma and Jack were killing me with all this waiting.

"Who was that?" Matt asked.

"Grandma thinks she found out where Mom is. She is headed there now. It will take her a day or so to get there, so I'm waiting again," Matt's phone chirped with an incoming text message just then. He pulled it out to look.

"It's Jenna. She says to meet them in the garden in half an hour."

"Cool," I replied. Matt and I made small talk about our classes and stuff while we waited for the girls to meet us in the garden. We sat on the bench and waited patiently for them to arrive. The sun was setting by the time they got there. Ava had a huge smile on her face. I wondered curiously what they had come up with.

"Let's do this," she said excitedly.

"Do what?" I asked. Ava pulled out a little vial of red liquid that looked a lot like blood. She pulled out the cork and put the vial to her lips.

"Bottoms up," she said as she turned it up and drank down its contents. The vial hit the ground as Ava's body began to change its shape. We all stared at her as she dropped down onto her hands and knees. In a matter of seconds we all gasped as Ava's transformation was complete. Ava stood before us completely transformed into an amazing red colored wolf.

"Holy crap!" Matt exclaimed.

"You got that right," I replied. I immediately transformed into wolf form and watched as Matt and Jenna did the same.

" _This is so freaking cool!_ " I heard Ava yell in my head.

" _Ha ha ha,"_ I heard Matt and Jenna laugh. Ava turned up her head to the sky and let out a long echoing howl and took off like a jet toward the woods. I followed right behind her.

" _Hey, wait for us,"_ I heard Jenna say. Ava just laughed and kept on running. It wasn't that long ago that I had my first run, so I knew exactly what Ava was feeling.

"So, how long does this last?" I asked.

"The spell said it lasts for an hour, but I only took half of it. I figure I have a good thirty minutes or so. I didn't want to be stuck in some weird form for very long until I tried it out. I have the rest in my pocket if I need to stay longer," Ava said. We ran and ran through the woods. I always felt completely free in wolf form. I felt as if nothing could touch me. All my worries went out the window as I ran with my friends.

We had been running for about twenty minutes when Ava suddenly stopped and put her nose in the air sniffing.

" _Man, I can smell all kinds of stuff_ ," she said.

" _Yeah, super smell is awesome_ ," said Matt.

" _How far are we from the house?_ " Ava asked.

" _Not too far. We are straight back behind it right now. Why do you ask_?" I asked curiously.

"Does it make sense that I can smell Dakota way out here?" Ava asked. I sniffed the air myself and the hair along my back stood straight up as I crouched down and let out a soft growl. I could definitely smell Dakota. The only problem was his scent was mixed with the smell of fresh blood. I took off with my vampire speed leaving the others standing where they were. Nothing could have prepared me for what I found a few seconds later.

As soon as I located the source of Dakota's scent I shifted back to human form. Dakota lay on the ground in front of me very close to the perimeter wall. I feared he was dead at first sight. Dakota was wrapped in a very thin silver chain. The chain was burned into his flesh everywhere that it made contact with his skin. On top of the chain burning his skin, he had at least a half dozen wooden arrows sticking out of different parts of his body. I bent down and placed my hand on his chest as I heard Ava, Matt, and Jenna coming through the woods behind me.

I heard Jenna scream and Ava whine as I turned around to see that Matt and Jenna were also in their human form now. Ava's transformation spell had not yet worn off. I looked back down at Dakota as his eyes fluttered open. He stared up at me as he tried to speak.

"You have to take the chain off," he whispered, barely able to speak at all.

"Matt, help me with this!" I said as I began to remove the chain. I worked very slowly trying to cause as little pain as possible as I took the chain off.

"I can't touch it!" Matt said as he jerked his smoking hand away from the chain.

"Pull out these arrows," I told him. I could hear Jenna and Ava crying directly behind me, and knew that Ava must also be back to her human form. As quickly as I could I removed the chain just as Matt pulled out the last arrow. We watched in amazement as the wounds covering Dakota's body began to heal slowly.

"I need to feed," Dakota said a little stronger than before.

"We need to get back to the mansion for that," I said. "I'm too weak to make it back," he replied.

"I'm going to carry him. Matt you shift and get Grandpa to the kitchen as soon as possible. Jenna, walk with Ava back to the mansion." I told them. I didn't wait for a response before I scooped up Dakota, as if he were light as a feather, and took off toward the mansion.

Within seconds I burst into the kitchen and lay Dakota on the floor near the refrigerator. The kitchen staff gasped with shock at my sudden appearance in their space. I grabbed two bags of blood from the refrigerator before they knew what was happening. I tore one open and handed it to Dakota before I popped the other one in the microwave. Dakota sucked down the first one and had sat up against the wall as one of the staff brought over the second one. Grandpa and Matt burst into the kitchen as he finished the second bag. A third bag was already in the microwave heating up.

"What's going on?" Grandpa asked.

"I was attacked," Dakota said nearly back to his normal self. I could see that the wounds were completely healed now.

"Where?" Grandpa shouted.

"I always scale the fence to hunt the woods surrounding the property when I rise every evening. I have been hunting animals there for a few weeks now. Someone must have been waiting for me out there. As soon as I jumped the fence I caught an unfamiliar scent. I started to follow the scent, and as soon as I caught sight of the animal I felt the silver wrapping around my body," Dakota explained.

"What about the arrows?" I asked. "I blacked out for a short while, and when I came to I was looking up at you, Luke," said Dakota.

"What was the animal that you found?" Grandpa demanded. "It was a huge black cat," said Dakota in nearly a whisper.

"Nhados," Grandpa and I said at the same time.

"Nhados must have his people surrounding the property. He probably found out you have been hunting on the other side of the fence. He set up a trap for you, but why did he keep you alive?" Grandpa asked.

"I think he just wanted to send us a message. He is just letting us know he is there," I said as I continued to stare down at Dakota. Jenna and Ava had made it back by then, and stood a short distance away.

"Looks like the protection spells are still holding. I think if they weren't he would have attacked already," Ava said.

"I think you are right, Ava," said Grandpa.

"We need to increase security just in case," I told Grandpa.

"I'll get right on it," he replied.

"Can you stand up?" I asked Dakota.

"I think so," he replied as I bent down to help him up.

"Man, I am so glad you're alright," Matt said.

"Me too," the girls said at the same time.

"You saved my life, Luke," Dakota said, "I am forever in your debt."

"You would have done the same for us. I'm just glad we decided to go out for a run tonight," I told him.

"I think I need to sit down again. I'm still really weak and dizzy," said Dakota.

"Let's go up to my room and you can lie down for a while," I told him as Matt and I got into position to help him upstairs. We slowly made it to my room and helped him into bed. Ava and Jenna took off Dakota's shoes and helped him get a little more comfortable.

"You can sleep here for the day if you like. I'll stay with you so I can keep an eye on you," I told Dakota.

"Thanks for everything, Luke," he replied.

"Why can't this dude find something better to do than pick on a bunch of kids?" Matt asked.

"Grandpa says he want stop until he kills me now. He knows I want come to him now that I have the sword," I said.

"Well, crap," said Matt just as I blacked out.

The vision that came into focus this time was completely different from the others. I was no longer in the woods in the mountains. I was standing in a city on a sidewalk. I look around at the buildings towering above me. I look up at the building in front of me and noticed the sign said Peabody Hotel. I wondered to myself what city I could be in.

"LUKE!" I heard my mother's voice call out.

"Mom! Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm here, son, please hurry," said my mother.

"I don't even know where you are!" I yelled back. I woke up at this point and jumped to my feet. I raced across the room and yelled for Jenna,

"You have to look for the Peabody Hotel," I told her.

"Luke, there is a Peabody in Little Rock!" Ava exclaimed excitedly. Jenna jumped into action and pulled up the Peabody Hotel website for us to look at. A picture popped onto the screen and I immediately recognized it from my vision.

"That's it!" I yelled. "What's it?" Matt asked.

"That's where my Mom is," I replied.

"I raced to the bed and grabbed the sword which instantly transformed me into the white uniform from my first encounter with it. I thought it was quite odd that it hadn't done anything to me when I pulled it out the other day with Jack.

"That is way cool," Matt said.

"Let's go," I said as I headed for the door. Dakota must have been feeling much better because he jumped off the bed and followed us down the hall. I sent a text message for Grandpa to meet us at headquarters as we raced down the stairs. Grandpa was standing at the security table as we came off the elevator. He was more than a little shocked when he saw me come off with the sword attached to my back. The other four ran to the dressing room to change as I told Grandpa about my vision.

"She is at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock," I said.

"Are you sure?" Grandpa asked.

"Yes. We need you to drive us there to pick her up," I told him. Just then everyone else joined us at the security station dressed in black uniforms. I immediately noticed the SS Silent Soldiers logo on them. We followed Grandpa over to the large black hummer parked against the far wall. I jumped in the front seat as everyone else climbed in the back. Grandpa got in the drivers seat and started up the engine.

Grandpa drove to the far end of the room as a giant garage door opened to what appeared to be a huge elevator. He drove right into the elevator and punched some buttons on a little console where the stereo should be inside the dash of the hummer. The garage door closed behind us and we started moving up. A few seconds later the door in front of us opened and we were looking at the outside. Grandpa drove out of the elevator and I glanced around realizing that we were driving out of the tower located on the left side of the mansion.

Grandpa barreled down the driveway toward the gate. I saw as we got closer that it was already starting to open. Grandpa never slowed down. He sped out of the driveway and onto the blacktop heading back the way we came from the airport months ago. We picked up speed after we hit the freeway heading into little rock. I had never been to this part of the city, so I had no idea where we were going. Grandpa must have known exactly where the hotel was because he exited the freeway and headed into downtown. A couple minutes later we were pulling into the front of the hotel.

"How do we know where she is?" I asked.

"I will see if I can track her," said Grandpa. We entered the front of the hotel and Grandpa immediately went to work trying to pick up my mother's scent.

"This way," Grandpa said as he opened the door to the stairwell. We raced up two flights of stairs before we followed Grandpa out into a hallway. He slowly walked down the hall continuing to follow my mother's scent. Grandpa stopped in front of a door and knocked sharply. Nobody answered so he turned the knob. Surprisingly the door opened with ease.

"Sandra? Are you here?" Grandpa asked. I heard a soft moan coming from inside the room as I turned on the light switch beside the door. Light flooded over the gruesome scene in the middle of the bed. My instincts took over as I snatched the sword from my back and leaped through the air toward the monster attached to my mother's neck. The sword melted through the vampires' neck causing his head to fly across the room. I landed on the floor and turned back to watch as the body on top of my mother crumpled into a layer of dust covering her body.

"Vampires!" Dakota snarled and whipped an arrow into his bow as he turned around to look down the hall. I bolted for the door and we watched at least a dozen vampires come out of rooms on each end of the hall.

"Dakota, you and I will take the ones on the left, and the rest of you, take the ones on the right," I said as the vampires started to move slowly our way. I realized I still had the sword in my hand as I got ready for the attack.

"Nobody is going to take my mother from me again," I snarled through my teeth toward the group of vampires. A complete rage washed over my body as I felt my fangs extend for the first time. Everything around me suddenly became much clearer. Dakota let the first arrow fly and it hit one of the vampires directly in the chest causing him to turn to dust. I charged into the others with my sword flying. With every strike of the sword I cut off a piece of vampire causing them to crumble to the floor in a pile of dust. In a matter of seconds all the vampires on our end were dust piles on the floor.

I looked up to check on the rest of the team and noticed they too had a dozen or more dust piles on their end of the hall. Matt and Jenna both had swords. Ava, I noticed, was standing with her hands at her sides. An orange red flame engulfed each of them. Wow! I thought to myself as Dakota and I walked back to the hotel door.

Grandpa was standing in the doorway holding my mother in his arms.

"We have to get her back to the mansion quickly," he said as he headed for the stairs.

"What's wrong with her? What did they do to her?" I asked as I followed him down the stairs. "A vampire has nearly drained all of her blood. If we don't get her a transfusion soon she want make it," he replied. Grandpa put her into the back of the hummer and I crawled in with her. Everyone else climbed in and we were rocketing toward the mansion.

I heard Grandpa shouting orders into his phone as we raced down the freeway. "I need Dr. Blevins to meet me at headquarters in fifteen minutes, and I need a cleanup crew to the second floor of the Peabody Hotel stat," he said.

I looked at my mother for the first time and felt greatly troubled by her appearance. Nearly every inch of her skin was bruised, especially the face and neck areas. I noticed the fang marks on the right side of her neck. Her face was so badly swollen and bruised that I couldn't even make out her facial features. We slowed down as we pulled into the elevator and rode down to headquarters. Grandpa screeched to a halt outside of the make shift emergency room and I scooped up my mother from the floor of the hummer. I jumped out and raced into the room as Grandpa opened the back door. Dr. Blevins was already waiting with an IV and a bag of blood. She went to work on my mother as I layed her on one of the hospital beds.

"Is she going to be alright?" I ask the doctor as a tear ran down my cheek. I felt Ava put her arm around my waist as Dr. Blevins said,

"I will do everything in my power to make sure that she is." I started to cry as Ava turned me toward the door and walked me out into the main room of headquarters.

"I can't lose her. I just got her back," I said.

"Dr. Blevins is amazing, Luke. I know she will take good care of your mom," said Ava. Grandpa walked up to us then and told us we should go and try to get some rest. I didn't know how I would ever be able to sleep with my mom laying down in the hospital ward barely alive. All I wanted was to stay by her side until she was better. I didn't want her out of my sight. I allowed Ava to walk me to my room, mainly so I could change into something more comfortable. She brushed my lips with hers before turning to go to her room.

I changed clothes and gave everyone time to get in bed before I slipped out and headed back to be with my mother. Dr. Blevins was gone when I made it back to the hospital ward. All of the lights were off except for a lamp on the table beside the bed my mother was in. I made it nearly to her bedside before a voice across the room startled me asking,

"Can I help you?"

"I came to sit with my mother," I replied.

"She isn't supposed to have any visitors tonight. Mr. Carrington ordered me to ensure she gets plenty of rest," said the woman's voice. I was staying regardless to what my grandfather ordered. I didn't intend to bother her, but I wanted to be at her side.

"I just want to be with her," I told the woman I would not disturb her. I told her I just wanted to sit with her. I pleaded with her but I knew I was staying regardless of what she or my grandfather wanted. She finally agreed. I pulled up a chair at the side of her bed, and stared over at her badly battered upper body. I watched the little drops of blood drip through the clear tube running to a vein in her arm.

I knew Nhados had ordered the vampires to attack her, and they had already been dealt with. I absolutely couldn't wait to get my hands on Nhados. I'm not a violent person, but I would enjoy being able to choke the life out of him with my bare hands.

"Luke," came my mothers voice in such a whisper that a normal person may not have even heard her speak at all.

"Mom, you need your rest. Don't try to talk tonight. We will have plenty of time for that when you are better," I told her.

"Luke, I need to tell you about your father," she said. I could hear the pain in her voice as she spoke.

"Mom, I am sure it can wait at least until tomorrow. We have been through more than enough trauma for one night. I am going to go to bed so you can get some rest. I just wanted to come down and check on you," I said.

"Luke, please don't go, at least until I fall asleep," she pleaded.

"Of course, Mom, if that's what you want," I said.

"Stay with me, and I promise I want talk about anything tonight. I just want you close to me," she said. I scooted the chair close to her bed and took her hand in mine. I tried to be as careful as possible because every inch of her body seemed to be bruised. I definitely didn't want to cause her anymore pain. She smiled at me and slowly closed her eyes. I feared the worst about my father, but I was not going to let her go through the pain of telling me about him in her current state. I continued to watch as she drifted off to sleep. It wasn't long before I too was asleep as I continued to hold her hand.

## Chapter 21

"The boy has turned out to be stronger than we ever could have imagined. We have completely failed at every attempt we made at capturing him. He has the sword, he rescued the pathetic prophetess, and now he even has his mother back!" Nhados yelled from the dark cave. Adriana bowed to Nhados on her knees in front of him.

Nhados and Adriana were no longer in the familiar dark cave. Their location was definitely unknown. It was safe to say they definitely were not in the Earth realm. The night sky above them had a dark violet tint to it. Two beautiful full moons hung low in the sky in the background. The two beings appeared to be standing on top of some type of castle.

Adriana knew she had failed her master time after time. Her biggest mistake had been blowing her cover when she attacked Luke outside the mansion. She had been in the woods heading to a meeting with Nhados. He told her she should have abandoned the meeting to keep the shifters from finding out about her. She had definitely underestimated the intelligence and power the boy possessed.

"Stand to your feet, child," said Nhados with a growl. Adriana slowly stood to her feet and you could see tears running down her cheeks.

"Please forgive me, Master," she said as a sob escaped from her throat.

"You have failed and disobeyed me time after time, Adriana," Nhados hissed at her. His hands were behind his back as he spoke to her. A long silver dagger magically materialized in one of his claw like hands.

"I know we can make this right if you can just give me another chance," said Adriana. Nhados remained silent. His glowing red eyes flared bright as he stepped closer to her. She didn't see the change in his eyes with her head bowed to him. She didn't dare look at his face knowing he was infuriated.

Nhados stepped close to her putting one arm around her shoulders as if to pull her into a hug. Adriana began to cry softly thinking Nhados had found favor with her. Her eyes grew wide as Nhados brought the dagger from behind his back and plunged it deep into her chest. A single gurgling moan escaped Adriana's chest as Nhados shoved the blade all the way to the hilt. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as the last sparkle of life drained from her eyes.

Nhados pulled the dagger from her chest as he allowed her dead body to slump to the ground. He had decided Adriana would fail him no more. Nhados turned around and walked away from Adriana's body. Nhados now faced at least a dozen small figures all cloaked in dark colored hooded robes. They all stood at attention in front of their master.

"Phase one will begin soon. I hope, for your sakes, that you do not fail me as this wretched shifter has. If you cannot succeed in eliminating the boy, you will pay with your lives," Nhados roared at the cloaked figures.

I leaped from the chair I was in when I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. I wheeled around to find out it was Grandpa. I think I scared him as much or more than he scared me.

"You stayed here all night didn't you?" he asked with a warm understanding smile.

"Yes, sir," I replied a little embarrassed.

"I figured you would," he said still smiling.

"I guess I should go up and get ready for school," I said. I definitely didn't want to go, but it's kind of hard to cut class when you live with all your classmates and teachers.

"I have excused you from your classes for the day,"

"Really? That's great!" I exclaimed. I looked down at Mom and was surprised that she was staring up at me with a smile on her face. I thought it must be some sort of miracle, but most of the bruises that covered her face and neck the night before were nearly gone.

"How..." I started, but Grandpa cut off the rest of my sentence.

"We heal rather quickly with a little rest," he said with a giggle.

"We?" I asked confused.

"Shifters," he replied, "We heal at a much faster rate than humans. Not nearly as fast as vampires, but much faster than humans," Grandpa explained. I had witnessed first hand how fast Vampires heal after I carried the nearly dead Dakota back to the mansion after finding him in the woods.

"How do you feel?" I asked Mom.

"I'm still rather sore, but other than that I feel fine," she said as she continued to smile up at me. I couldn't believe how much better she looked.

"I could definitely go for some breakfast right now," she said.

"I'll go get you something," I said as I started to turn for the door.

"Why don't we go together?" Mom asked stopping me dead in my tracks.

"Are you well enough to get out of bed this soon?" I asked. I then noticed for the first time that the IV that was infusing the blood was no longer attached to her arm. I also realized that the lady who took care of her the night before was gone as well.

"Of course, Luke," she said, "I am fine."

"I brought you some clothes of your mother's to put on for now, Sandra," said Grandpa, "I will send someone into the city today to pick you up some new ones."

"Thanks, Dad," she replied. Grandpa bent down and kissed mom on the forehead and said,

"I am so very happy you are home." Grandpa and I stepped out of the room so Mom could get dressed. I waited at the door, and Grandpa excused himself to other business. Mom looked absolutely beautiful as she gracefully passed out of the doorway of the hospital ward. She took my hand, and we headed for the dinning hall. We pretty much walked in silence all the way to the dinning hall. It was impossible to put into words the feeling I had walking hand in hand with my mother for the first time. I was so caught up with my feelings that I couldn't think of a single thing to say.

The dinning hall was empty by this time. Everyone was either in class or at work. We went straight to the kitchen to order food. We took a seat at one of the huge tables and waited for them to bring it out.

"Luke, when you are ready I must tell you about your father," said Mom. She insisted on bringing up the subject of my father. I knew I needed to listen to what she had to say, and get it over with.

"He's dead isn't he?" I asked and waited for her to answer.

"Luke, I want you to know that your father and I were trying so very hard to make it back here together. We couldn't wait to see you, and be together again as a family. He died protecting me," She said as tears began to stream down her face. I looked down at the table not wanting to see her tears. I was trying hard to fight back my own. I had the feeling he was dead, but I didn't want to accept it.

"I don't know what to say. Tell me what happened."

"Your father and I had been hiding out in the mountains of Montana since we placed you in the care of your uncle. We staged the plane crash so everyone, including our families, would think we were dead. Somehow Nhados found us and sent his men to capture us. Vampires came at us from every direction, but your father wasn't going down without a fight. He told me he would hold them off so I would have time to escape. We were to meet at the airport and catch a plane to Little Rock yesterday.

I waited for him for several hours, but he never showed up. That's when I got a flight to Little Rock and went to the Hotel where you found me. I must have been followed because not long after I checked in the vampires attacked me. You already know the rest of the story. You guys got there just in time. A few more seconds and I would have surely died.

I sat there unable to speak. I had never met my father, and now I never would. No longer able to hold back the tears they began to flow silently down my face. Mom reached over and slowly rubbed the middle of my back trying to comfort me. Neither of us spoke for several minutes. I continued to cry, unable to hold back the tears any longer, and Mom continued to do her best in comforting me. She softly wiped the tears from my face as they continued to fall. I finally stopped crying before our breakfast arrived, but I no longer had an appetite. I remained deep in thought as my mother ate her food.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed.

"What's wrong" Mom asked.

"Grandma is still out looking for you," I said as I dug my phone out of my pocket. I sent Grandma a quick text message letting her know mom was here at the mansion now, and that she could come home. I sent Jack the same message. I knew he received the text because a few seconds after I sent it he appeared in the room right next to us.

Mom proceeded to tell him the same story she had just told me of her escape from their mountain hide away. I was relieved to have my mother alive and here with me, but I was very much saddened by the loss of my father. I sat there staring at my mother as she continued bringing Jack up to speed. I jumped to my feet as Grandma came into the dinning hall at that time.

"How did you get here so fast?" I asked her as she practically ran to the table where we had been sitting. Mom stood up and Grandma nearly tackled her into a deep embrace. They hugged and cried together for what seemed like several minutes with neither of them saying a word. Finally they stopped long enough for Grandma to tell me that Grandpa already informed her first thing this morning about mom. She said they got here as quickly as they could.

I wanted to spend time with mom, but I really wanted to be alone for a while to clear my head. I also knew that Mom and Grandma had a lot of catching up to do. I probably could have gotten away with being selfish and keeping her all to myself, but instead I excused myself and headed for my room. I told mom I was going to freshen up a little, and that she could come up to my room when she finished with Grandma.

I was a little disappointed when I topped the stairs and turned down the hall headed to my room. Matt, Ava, and Jenna were standing in front of Ava's door talking. I knew immediately that alone time was pretty much out of the question, so I invited them to my room. We took our places around the fireplace as Ava went to the fridge and got us some sodas.

"Are you ok, man? You seem a little sad to have just gotten your mom back," said Matt.

"My dad's dead," I said as I told them every detail I could remember from my mom's story. I didn't realize until after I finished telling them that tears had again started rolling down my cheeks. Ava moved closer to me on the couch and put her arms around me. I had so wanted to be alone, but I was glad Ava was there to comfort me.

"Luke, I am sorry about your dad," said Jenna.

"So am I. And we are very happy for you that you have your mom now," said Ava as she continued to hold me there on the couch.

"We have to do something about Nhados," said Matt.

"Yeah, I think we should do something before he attacks us again," added Jenna.

"No," I said a little more loudly than necessary as I sat up straight and moved away from Ava a little bit.

"I really think they are right," said Ava.

"I think for now we need to just stay here at the mansion where it is safe. I know Nhados will probably attack eventually, but he has to break through the protection barriers first. I think that we should spend some time preparing for the day that he does come instead of running into another battle. I definitely don't want to lose anyone else to Nhados," I explained. I lost my father, and I refuse to lose another family member," I said looking at each one of them directly for a few seconds. I wanted them to know I care for all of them as though they were family.

"That definitely makes sense," said Matt.

"That would probably be a very smart thing to do," added Jenna.

"I think we need more training before we rush into battle with this murderer. I also think that even though we are technically still kids, we need to grow up and start thinking more like adults. We can't get all hot headed and rush into things that could potentially cost one of us our lives," I tried to explain to the group.

"You're right. I couldn't take it if one of us were to die," said Ava.

"I know we are headed toward a great battle against Nhados. I have already accepted that. I will avenge my father's death if it is the last thing I do. I also know that if I were to go to battle now, my emotions would take over and I wouldn't be able to focus on the battle through my anger. I want him dead more than anything right now, but I don't want any of us to die in the process," I told them.

"Hey! Why are you guys not in class?" I asked changing the subject completely.

"Jack didn't show up for class," said Ava.

"Yeah, so we had a free period," said Matt.

"Oh," I exclaimed.

"It's time for us to be getting back though," said Jenna. The rest of the gang excused themselves from the room to head back to class. When everyone was out I closed the door and headed for my bed. I decided to lie down for a while. I was still pretty worn out from sleeping in the chair next to mom's bed all night.

As soon as my head hit the pillow I blacked out and a new vision came into focus. I was standing in a room looking down at someone in a hospital bed. I didn't think I was in a hospital, but the man was definitely in a hospital bed. The man had all sorts of hoses and tubes coming out of his body in every direction. I walked closer to the bed to see who it might be. I felt completely terrified to find out who it was. As I reached the side of the man's bed I noticed that his face was badly injured. His face was cut and bruised to the point that he was completely unrecognizable.

I came to looking up at the ceiling in my bedroom. I couldn't remember ever being in a room like the one from my vision. I wondered if the room could be somewhere in the mansion. I came to suddenly. Thoughts flooded me from every direction about the vision I had just experienced. Was this someone I knew? Was it someone I had already met, or someone I would meet in the future? My train of thought caused my stomach to do a flip flop as the next thought rushed into my head. I decided immediately to keep this vision to myself until I figured some things out. The more I thought of the vision the more I came to realize it might actually be true.

I knew the man in the bed was a vampire. I could see his fangs extended with his mouth hanging slightly open. Who could this man be? The thought was in my head but I didn't know if I could say it out loud. Was the man from my vision my father?
Come join Travis to learn more about The Silent Soldiers series and other writing projects in which he is currently working on.

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