Wolves Don't Just Howl At The Moon
The following story is a work of pure fiction. Some material may not be suitable for individuals under the age of 18. This story is copyrighted and not intended for print. Please enjoy and I would love to hear what you think! I have a lot more to this story and plan on putting up others. Your feedback will be highly appreciated. (^_^) E-mail me at howlatthe@gmail.com. Also, don't forget to donate at http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html.
Thanks, Star
Chapter 3
The Countdown Begins: Day 1
I stand in a field of beautiful calla lilies. Their refreshing aroma flowing into me, relaxing my body with ease. My eyes are closed as I listen to nature and center myself. My arms are crossed over my chest as I enjoy the sun shining down on me rejuvenating me with energy. A gentle breeze blows my hair up and over my shoulders. I get a scent of him and hear his footsteps walking over to me. He reaches me and I feel his arms, strong with power wrap around me. His right arm comes around my stomach pulling my waistline into him, as his left arm goes over my left shoulder and his hand goes in under my right upper arm intertwining his fingers with my own. His chin hooks onto my right shoulder as his nose buries into the nape of my neck, breathing in my essence. I open my eyes to a head of wild dirty blond hair. I lean my own head back onto his left shoulder and close my eyes again, feeling the strength of the man I love. He holds me close, as if nothing in this world could keep us apart. The fear of that happening causes a tear to fall from my right eye and fall onto his face. His head lifts up and I am instantly turned around to face him with my eyes still closed. I finally open them and am instantly lost in his amethyst eyes searching mine for the cause of my sadness. He opens his mouth to speak.
"Gabriel wake up we have to get to work." Interrupts Sam's voice and I'm awoken from my dream in utter annoyance.
I reluctantly open my eyes. I look around the room unaware of my surroundings at first. Then, remembered, I came into dads' room last night. I look over and see that father, Michael, and Samantha are gone. Damian and Sophia are still fast asleep. I think of my room and teleport out of the bed and into my own. I get up and head to my closet. I change into a black sleeveless thermal shirt and a pair of sweatpants. After I'm dressed I head over to the bathroom and handle those morning activities. About twenty minutes later, I'm walking into fathers' office. He is at his desk typing on his computer, Michael is talking on the phone next to him, and Samantha is sitting in a chair opposite of father. I take the seat next to her. She looks over and her eyes glow for a second. I feel my vision brighten signaling mine glowing as well. As soon as it starts, it's over. I have all the knowledge they have discussed so far. Father is looking into the official documents of the whereabouts of Raiden's property and Michael is on the phone with Cameron discussing the actions his father has taken thus far. Samantha gives me a reassuring smile and gently squeezes my thigh. Father finally finishes his research and looks over at Michael. He is still taking notes on whatever Cameron is telling him. Father looks back at Sam and myself.
"Samantha is going to take you to the pack gym so you can begin your self-defense training. As well as some offensive maneuvers. You will also be taken to the range to practice you weapons handling. The way you're able to pick up information I'm sure this will only take a couple of hours before you have fully mastered all of them." Father says looking at me with concern in his eyes.
"Dad what is it? You look really distressed." I ask leaning forward and taking his hand.
"My youngest shouldn't have to be going through such a difficult time as this. You are my baby boy and I will make sure that this is all taken care of. With much effort I hope a fight isn't going to take place. But, we need you to be prepared just in case." Father says leaning back in his chair as he takes a deep breath. "I know that you have had it very rough since you were born. But, we are all going to make sure that your future is for sure." He says quite frankly. I hear no uncertainty in his voice and it puts me at ease.
"I just want to be able to help you and Michael. If this helps, then I'm fine with it." I say whole heartedly.
"Since you're already dressed for the occasion we can head over now." Sam said smiling at me. She stands and reaches out for my hand. I take it smiling and stand with her. We walk out of the office heading to leave.
We get to the gym and see no other cars there. We walk to the entrance and head in trying to think where Connor could be. The door to the main gymnasium is open and I can hear movement and heavy breathing. As we enter, I see Alex and Cameron fighting with hand to hand combat. Connor is observing them, taking notes every now and then. I just look on as we walk in. Sam and I walk past a fan and suddenly they stop fighting and turn looking at us. Connor looks up from his notes as well.
"Now that I have all of you here, let's get to work." Connor says handing the note pad to Samantha. She flips to a blank page and writes something down. "Okay you two..." He say's pointing at the other two. "...go ahead and get in some weapons training. You know what you need to work on. So, get to it." Connor says dismissing them. They run off joking with each other as they head over to a weapons simulator. "Now, Gabriel. Let's see what you got for me to work with. I know that you've had some training in the past but, that was just defensive. So, I'll see how that has evolved. I'm gonna throw some move at you and I want you to defend all of them." He says. I nod and stand ready for him.
I close my eyes, breathe in finding my center of balance, and exhale opening my eyes. He suddenly moves faster than I anticipated and throws a left hook at my face. I duck it and moved under his arm. Grabbing his right elbow as it swings back around towards my face. He responds quickly with a back kick that I block with my arms making an 'X'. The force throws me backwards but, I catch myself doing a back tuck and landing in a defensive pose. A second after I land he's on me with a barrage of attacks. A mixture of punches and kicks. I am able to block most of them. Well, I'd say I blocked about 80% of them. It wasn't bad for just hopping back into fighting but, bad because I know he was taking it easy on me. Since, I am able to use so much of my brain, I was able to memorize his movements and understand his attacks. After about five minutes of getting my ass handed to me, I had ten minutes to get my bearings and use all the attacks he threw so far to help me block him. Then, I was able to block all of his moves. We took a break as Sam brought us both over some water. I looked at Connor and he barely looked like he broke a sweat. Meanwhile I was soaking wet and in need of a break. I downed half the bottle before regaining my energy and ready to go another round.
"Not, bad for your first go. You picked up my movements and attacks pretty well." He said nonchalant and I just knew a downside was coming. "If you were a human you'd be at the level of a high school karate student at a state tournament. That's not nearly as close as you will need to be as the battle draws near. So, I'm gonna turn the heat up a couple of notches." Connor says smirking.
He closes his eyes and breathes in deeply a few times. Samantha steps back a few paces, taking our water bottles with her. Something about him changes. He opens his eyes and I see a spark flash in his eyes. It throws me off my game and in a flash he's in front of me. I wasn't even able to block his palm strike as it lands directly on my chest. The force causes me to fly back into the netting in front of the wall behind me. I fall landing on my knees. Trying to recover the air I lost. I look up just as he appears with a round house kick to my jaw that flips me upside down. As I'm falling he does a back kick with his other leg that sends me back into the rope netting. Feeling a bit angry and in some major pain. I remember we upped the game. He's using some of his power. It's time I do the same. I stand in time to see him coming in for another round house. I teleport to a safe distance away. I am able to catch my breath and focus again as he comes at me again. He goes out of my view and I teleport again. I see him as he lands from a drop kick. I think about it. He just told me to defend that doesn't mean I have to do anything. I focused on the air around me. I grabbed onto all the molecules and slowed down their atoms making the air thicker and slowing down his movements. I was able to duck his attempted palm and hammer strike combo. He stopped and smirked at me.
"Nice tactic. You saw a way to take advantage and you did." He said surveying me. Somehow, I felt another but coming on. "But, that trick won't always save you." He said tripping me and holding a blade to my throat. He pocketed the blade and reached out to help me up. "You are a very fast learner and you are quick with adapting to your environment and thinking on your feet. I'll give you a few books to read and you'll be good with defensive maneuvers. Tomorrow we'll pick up on fighting with your cat form. For now how about we head over to the weapons simulator and we can pick you a weapon." He said grabbing his water and notepad from Sam. She smiled and handed me my water as well.
"I already have two weapons I'm good with. A glock 45 and a bow." I said grabbing a good bow and a pack of arrows.
"Remember to breathe and focus. Hitting a moving target is different than hitting a stationary one. You need to calculate the targets speed and the effect the wind will have on the arrow as it travels." Connor said hitting a button on a remote.
The woods came into view as I entered a room. I could hear movement all around me. I saw flashes of fur run past me as well as a few human figures. Never close but definitely within my visual range. A huge wolf came running at me at a fast pace. I pull an arrow out and set the bow. I focused and released the arrow. It enters the wolf's mouth and came out the back of its head. Once he fell, another came from my left. I pulled out another arrow piecing it between the eyes. It hit the ground and two men came running zigzag patterns between each other from behind me. I pulled out two arrows. Turning the bow on its side and taking in a sharp breath, I hold it as I wait for the right moment. Three seconds pass and I release both the arrows into the air. Each arrow pieces each man in the chest. A group of men attack me at once. I grab an arrow releasing it into one man's throat. As soon as it leaves my fingertips, another arrow is ready in its stead. I release it into the other man's forehead. As a man lands from the trees behind me, he swings and I do a front flip over his arm shooting two arrows as I'm in the air. They hit two men through the throat and I stab the man I jumped over through the bottom of his chin, I yank it out in time to shoot the last man as he fly's through the air at me. I see a bunch of movement in the distance coming my way. I reach back grabbing and shooting arrow after arrow until they are all in the air. One by one I see about eight wolves fall to the ground with arrows in their chests. The simulation ends and I turn to go grab the 45 confident with my practice. I leave the room to hear Sam clapping and Connor looking a bit positive but, I can instantly see the negative thought's processing.
"Good almost everything fired was a kill shot." He say's pointing the remote at the window. The image appears of and arrow sticking out of a tree. No signs of hitting a target. I rolled my eyes.
"Did I kill everything else or not?" I asked simply, to which he nodded. "Then, I rest my case. I'm gonna try the 45 next." I pick up two 45's and also put on a vest. The vest has two gun holsters, 6 throwing knives, two 9 inch blades, and strapped with 6 full magazines on it. I load a mag in the guns, holster them, and head back into the room.
The images change into a dark dank looking warehouse. I walk in further and realize there is only one light on that is over a big open space. Around the center are some crates ranging in sizes from about three feet to five feet. I figure that is the best place to use for some type of cover. As I head to the center, I see that the outside area has two floors with a catwalk over head. I look around figuring out the possible obstacles to get in my way. I suddenly feel a mass of bodies heading towards me. I pull out my guns and step behind a crate. I realize that there are a lot more people coming at me than the last simulation. I feel them as they fill the spaces all around me. Then, I hear it. The sound of guns being cocked. I take a big whiff of the scents rolling around the room. I get the smell of wolves. I smirk as my brain processes the new information and quickly formulate a plan.
"You have fifteen seconds to give yourself up. If not, you will not leave here alive. 15... 14..." A deep voice yells. I close my eyes and let me senses take over as the plan unfolds. "13... 12..." He continues as I release my breath and take action. "11... Te..." I stand with my hands up. And smirk.
My right hand is aimed at the light. I tilt my left hand at the man who spoke and pull both triggers at the same time. As the lights bursts and darkness takes over, I teleport to the catwalk above. I use their gunfire to mask my own. I kneel down and close my eyes. When they open again my night vision kicks in. I begin firing at the men along the catwalk one by one they begin dropping to the floor below. The smell of blood fills the room and I know they know I am up here. I teleport to the other side of the catwalk and look around seeing the catwalk is clear. I jump to the ladder along the wall sliding down. As I reach the ground, I tuck and roll behind a crate looking around. All the gunfire stopped. I hear clips and magazines hit the floor and being switched out. I take the opportunity and run out. I see guys all over ducking behind crates. A smirk hits my lips and I eject my clips and replace them swiftly. I raise them as I begin firing shot after shot running down the walkway of the balcony. Bodies start to hit the floor as I pass.
Then, an uncalculated incident happens. Emergency lights come on as an alarm buzzes. Everyone looks over at me and I am forced to teleport into the darkness of a stairwell. I reach out with my mind and see how far away they are. I roll out and begin firing, finishing off these two magazines. Once they are empty, I eject them rolling back into my stairwell. I hear the sound of footsteps running up the stairs. I pull out two knives and two guys appear. I throw the knives at them and finish loading the new mags. The two guys grab their throats as they hit the floor. I lean with my back against the edge of the wall. There, was a brief moment of silence where there was no movement then I heard the sound of footsteps getting closer. I jump out in a midair barrel roll shooting the guys getting closer. I teleport behind them shooting the rest. I pick up the sound of a gun cocking behind me and dive behind a crate, just in time to evade being hit by a shotgun round. I teleport to a crate, behind me and on the other side of the aisle. I pull out a throwing knife and use its blade to see the guy's reflection. I stand sending the blade into his left temple. His eyes widen as he hits the ground. I holster the guns and pull out the two blades. I take a breath closing my eyes. I am able to focus more on the area around me. I am able to detect the presence of every person in the building. I exhale the breath and open my eyes seeing that the only people still against me, reside on the first floor. I take off running down the stairs.
I jump off the last step flying through the air and catch the first guy in the chest with my feet. As he hits the ground I land on top of him with my blades piercing his heart. I hear the last beat, so, I jumping up and continue on my path not looking back. Running I see men lined up in front of me. Kneeling down I teleport right in front of the first guy. I appear crouched down in front of him and rise slitting his throat and teleporting out of sight. I appear behind the last guy stabbing him through the back of his neck severing his spinal cord and through his right temple. I take off after the next man before the last guy hits the floor and slit his throat as I run in front of him. The men turn and start shooting at me.
I continue running as I disappear in a zig-zag pattern to the next man. I jump in front of him and disappear, appearing next to him taking him out with a blade through his back. I teleport to the left of the next guy, using the blades to sever his head and quickly disappear. I appear running at the last guy. He is holding an AK47 and shooting around sporadically. I start running in a big circle around him. I feel myself becoming lighter the faster I go. Before long I start to disappear. Teleporting so fast, it appears like I am multiplying. I slowly move in closer. The guy starts to scream out in a mixture of anger and fear. Suddenly, I appear face to face with him with one blade in his skull from under his chin and the other in his chest through his heart. I turn walking out but hear movement behind him. A wolf comes running at me. I pull out the last three throwing knives. I throw two pinning its front paws to the floor causing it to flip forward and whimpering. It glares over at me. But, it's too late. I teleported behind it and struck the last knife through its muzzle. Its eyes roll back and it falls over. I close my eyes standing and walking out as the simulation fades to the normal room. The guys are standing by the monitors in total amazement. Sam looks over at me winking with an approving smirk.
"Can we call it a day now? I am seriously tired of over exerting myself." I ask walking to the weapons table and placing the vest down.
"Uh..." Connor says sounding genuinely amazed for the first time today. "Yeah... Same time tomorrow." He says pressing a few things on the key board. Sam and I begin to head out of the gym not even looking back as we exit.
"I'd like to get home and see what Michael and dad have found out so far. I want to put in as much work to help them as I can. Raiden's son is a possible threat and I need to know what it is that I can do to stop him." I tell Sam as we get into her car.
"I know what you mean but, don't push yourself too far, over exertion can have some very severe even deadly effects. I also need to do some research on Raiden's son. His ability is just a myth from what I've heard." Sam says pulling out of her parking spot and driving back to our estate.
We step into the house and I head up to my room with the books that Sam grabbed from Connor. I am so deep in thought about everything that I have mentally blocked out everything else. I walk into my room and begin undressing. I go into my bathroom and turn on the water. I step over to the sink pulling off my hair-tie and comb my fingers through my sweat soaked hair. I get into the shower and let the warm water relax my muscles as it flows down my body starting from the top of my head. I grab my shampoo and begin washing my hair. Thinking back to both of the simulators, neither one of them was actually at the accurate speed to be a were-anything. Connor must have known that I would have easily figured that out. Hopefully he was just testing out my ability to hold my own in general. I wash out the shampoo and grab my conditioner. I massage it into my hair and scalp. Now that I think about it we could have easily added some work with my leopard today. Why waste more time than necessary? This should have been thought out more. I feel like I am being withheld important information about this plan. I grabbed my washcloth and my pomegranate body wash. Squirting a bit into the wash cloth, I set the bottle back down and begin lathering up. I also find it so awkward that my snow leopard is drawing so much attention to me. Her presence demands so much that it makes me the center of everything. I begin spreading the body wash over my body using the wash cloth. I think back to my dreams. They are beginning to feel a lot more like visions of the future than dreams. I close my eyes looking back on my past lives memories. Images and pictures of my previous lives begin to show up in mind. I soon her a woman's voice.
"You have grown so much Gabriel. I am so proud of all that you are and all that you are going to be. My only regret is that I wasn't able to be there for the family. I am so sorry to leave you with such a huge burden my son." She told me. An image of a woman materialized in front of me in my mind. There was a brief moment when I felt the water stop hitting my body. I opened my eyes instantly. I saw nothing but light all around me. A presence formed behind me. I turned ready to fight but, when the woman threw up her hands in surrender with a smile on her face, I relaxed.
"Who are you? Why are you so familiar to me? Where are we? How did we get here?" I began to ask one question after another. So many thoughts going through my head that I was oblivious the obvious.
"Slow down Gabriel." She smiled walking closer to me with her arms out stretched as if for a hug. "For the first two questions I am surprised you haven't recognized me yet. You see my picture every day. You are such a thinker like your father. He forgets the simplest stuff as well when he's in deep thought." She smiled down at me. Until now, I hadn't even realized that she was floating. Then, what she said began to sink in. I looked at her face. Really looking at her face this time and she was right. Like a light bulb, I knew who she was. My eyes filled with tears of pure happiness. She was right. Her image was the first thing I saw every morning when I woke up in my bed.
"Mom?" I ask taking a step closer to her. Fear that if I touch her, she would disappear. As if she heard my thoughts, she grabbed me and hugged me so hard I thought I would die from the love and kindness she radiated. "How?" I cried hugging her back.
"I am apart of you. I am a past life of yours. But, we will have to discuss that later. At the moment we have more important things to discuss and I don't want to overload you with too much information at one time." She said stepping back and with one arm on my shoulder she leads me to a bench that seemed to materialize out of nothing. "For today we will start with the basics. This is the realm of the afterlife. Since you're a spirit carrier, you are able to travel in between our two realms. However, since you are only a carrier and not a full fledge spirit you are only able to meet the past carriers of the spirit that is traveling inside you. Every time you appear here I will be with you. Even if you are here to meet the other lives, as your parent, I will be here to guide you." She smiled over at me taking my hand. The light above us began to turn dark like storm clouds. "For your final question. Until you have mastered all of your, abilities we will only be able to meet when your spirit calls out in emergencies. This meeting was paramount in your growth and knowledge at this point. You don't have to keep it a secret from the family. They cannot access this realm so they won't have any impact on this place. For, now you must return back to your realm. They are waiting for you." She said as she kissed my forehead while hugging me.
"I'm not ready to leave you yet though mom. I have so many questions and I don't know where to start." I say frantically. I hold onto her as I begin to lift up towards the clouds. Tears falling from my face. Her smile never faltered.
"It's not goodbye young one. With what is going on now, I know we will see each other very soon." She released my hand and I was sucked into the clouds and felt the shower still running. The water running cold now. I shut it off and hopped out. I grabbed all the water drops outside of my body and released them from my body as I walked into my room. Drying instantly, I head into my closet to get dressed. After I was dressed I went to my father's office, where I found everyone. They all looked at me. My families faces all changed when I got closer to them, the all had a look of confusion. Sam's eyes filled with tears and she began to cry as she walked over and hugged me. I quickly hug her back. Everyone else, had a look of surprise. They didn't realize her tears were of joy.
"Am I the only one that is totally lost about what is going on right now?" Dominic whispers to the others.
"Not a clue." Alex says shrugging his shoulders.
"Dad, what's going on with them?" Damien asks father quietly.
"I'm not entirely sure but..." Dad looked at my face. "I think I have an idea though." Sam let go of me and stepped back a bit wiping her tears.
"Sorry everyone." She begins. She turns to father. "I saw the images of mom talking to Gabriel and I lost it. It has been so long I couldn't place it right away.
"You finally met her." Father finally said smiling. "I was beginning to wonder if it was going to happen or not. She told me before she died that you might be able to be with her in the future. I was never supposed to tell any of you because Gabriel had to figure it out on his own. Also, to not get all our hopes up just in case he wasn't able too." He finished walking over and hugging me.
"So, what have we found out so far? Anything that we can use to our advantage?" I asked as father walked back over to his desk and looked at his monitor over Michael's shoulder.
"We were actually waiting on you so that we could begin." Michael said focusing on the monitor. I became really embarrassed and Sophia walked over and led me to sit next to her. Her presence reminded me of mom. I leaned into her as we sat down on the chaise.
"Okay, so far, this is what we've got." Dad says picking up his tablet. He touches the screen a few times. The lights dim and a 3D projection appears on a table in the far side of the room. We all walk over and take the seats around it. The image presented, is a map of the United States. A dot appears in Kenosha, WS. "This is where all the information we gathered from Darien leads too for Raiden's property. His company in the human world is a cover up for the headquarters of his pack. The location of it is this location." Father says doing a few things on his tablet. The image of the map rapidly zooms in on the location of a dot that appeared in Chicago, IL. Another 3D blueprint of the building appears. "The top is the functioning company of the human world. The maze of tunnels under it are the important parts to take notice of. There are about two miles of meeting areas and various areas underground that are used by the pack." The image zooms back out to the image of the map. A path from Chicago to our location appears. "This is the fastest path that he would take to reach us. Since he has so many at his disposal, he will probably have trucks with the company label to keep from arousing suspicion. We have calculated the time from when the attack from the visions happens, to when they would have begun traveling." A few pin points appear on the projection. "They left about 26 hours ago. We were able to hack into one of the phone carrier's global positioning satellites from Darien's cell phone and track down where they were based on when they left. We found their location." A bulletin with an image appears. A truck stop that had about five SUV's, four pick-up trucks, and five semi-trucks. There was the sound of a collective gasp in the room. "Now that we see what we are up against, we all know what we have to be ready for." The image dissolves and the lights come back on. "Connor, what is the status of our people and the teams?"
"Alpha, we have safely evacuated both packs to our safe houses around the globe. Their flights took off at noon. None of them were given any means of communication, nor were they informed of their locations. There are trusted drivers at the airports that they will be arriving at to take them to their final locations. Once all this is over, they will be sent back here. Until then, they are under the Theta Protection Code." Connor says. Father nods in understanding. "The teams that you requested have been given their orders and are making the preparations, with orders to inform me when they have been completed. With both packs combined we have about 63 fighters including those in this room." He looks at father who nods his head signaling him to continue. "All training is being over seen by myself and Cameron. We will all be ready by the time the full moon rises. By the look of it. Our best bet, is to focus on training our wolf and cat forms to their limits. This will give us the best advantage in animal form. No matter how skilled their weapons handling is."
"Very well. Continue to do what it is that you are doing and keep me informed." Father says making notes on his tablet. He looks up as he continues. "Alpha Dominic, is there anything else we need to discuss or are you content with ending the meeting as is?" He asks sincerely.
"At the moment, all of my best fighters are practicing and patrolling the property. Some are mapping the area and finding the best places to inform us of Raiden's approach. Other than that, we are simply standing by for your orders Alpha." He replies respectfully.
"Understood. Please don't hesitate to inform us if there is anything else that you need. Michael..." He say's turning back to his desk. Michael finishes what he was doing and looks up.
"Yes Sir?" Michael forever the perfect soldier says, causing me and my siblings to smile.
"When you are finished with what you have been working on please accompany me to the office. We have some much needed work that needs to be done. As well as getting in contact with the council of elders." My father says before rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "That alone is going to stress us both out."
"Yes father. We may leave now if you are ready. I just finished." He said standing and walking around the desk to stand next to father.
"Alright. Alpha Dominic, I would like for Alex and yourself to come along as well. I would like for you guys to get familiar with the company as well. The workers seeing your faces will be good as well." He says smiling to them as he begins to leave. We all stand upon his exit.
"It would be our pleasure Alpha." Dominic says following father out.
As Michael walks past me, he places a hand on my shoulder and smiles at me. I smile back and he nods leaving the room with Alex who glances over and smiles at me. I see Connor on the phone. He appears to be giving instructions to Cameron who remained at the gym. I walk over to him and wait for him to finish.
"Okay... Keep me informed... I should be back shortly... Goodbye son." He hangs up turning to face me. "How may I help you Gabriel?" He asks with a smile that seems to genuine to be real.
"I have a question for you." I tell him with my own smile.
"Of course, shoot." He insists. My smile falls and I instantly take on a serious look. His smile cracks for a slit second. As soon as it happened it was gone.
"You said we were taking this a day at a time. I understand that and I am okay with it. However, I do have a problem with the way the simulations were set up. You saw how good I was yet, you still set it as if I were fighting against average humans. Why is that?" I ask as I begin to walk around him. Stalking like a predator waiting for a moment of weakness to pounce. But, I may have overestimated my thinking or underestimated his ability to remain composed under pressure.
"You are reading too far into the situation Gabriel. Those simulations are for learning purposes. The day after tomorrow when you enter and begin the simulation again in human form you will understand why it was at such an easy level. Believe me, we know that you are far from an idiot. But, you also need to realize that we are doing everything in your best interest. We are working to make you stronger as well as protecting you in the process." He says placing a hand on my shoulder and moving as if to leave.
"But, then why..." I begin but am cut off.
"Gabriel. You said a question, meaning singular. I answered it as thoroughly as I can. Any other questions will be explained and answered at a later time. I have many matters that require my full attention at the moment. Be patient young one. We have much to do and now is not the time." He says smiling and giving me a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. I nod lowering my head. "Don't worry. Trust us. Trust your father. We have this all covered." He says as he heads to the door and leaves the office. Sam walks up to me.
"So, I had some friend's do some digging in central headquarters for `were' affairs." She said looking at her Kindle. "Most of them said that the files were all under high security clearance. But, what they did find was some type of prophecy or warning of some kind. They are trying to have it translated since it was written in some sort of Latin code." I nodded about to leave but she stopped me. "I am having them look into foresight as well." I turned and looked at her.
"Good. I have a feeling that this may not come out the way that we expected. There is far too much that we haven't calculated as well as the simple fact that they have the advantage of time on their side. Father should know all of this though. So, I guess we'll just trust in his judgement for now. Since the wolves are out there mapping the land, we already know that there are some scouts out already." I said looking at her. She nodded and we both walked out.
I walked out onto the back patio and looked out at the woods as I sat on the top step. The sun beamed down on me. I could feel its vitamins filling me in the form of heat. I closed my eyes and just focused on the feeling. Everything disappeared. There was absolutely nothing going on in my mind. There was complete silence going on in my head. Light erupted and I could hear voices of people talking. I opened my eyes and I saw that I was back in the realm of the afterlife. I turned and saw my mother talking to a man on the same bench as before. She smiled and waved me over. I walked over and gave her a hug.
"It's great to see you again Gabriel." She said releasing me then returning to her seat. "Take a seat." She gestured behind me with her hand. I looked back and saw that a chair had appeared. "Gabriel I'd like you to meet your great, great, great, great, grandfather. Alistair Harrington." I looked over and saw that he was reaching out to shake my hand.
At, first glance I was taken aback at how young he was. He looked like he was maybe 29 if not younger. Now, I know we age slowly after a while but, he looked like he hadn't even reached the slow down point. He started to chuckle softly.
"You are quite right. I wasn't very old when I died." He said. "We are all the same person in a way so, we know you're thoughts. After you have matured a bit more you will also be able to think of us in your realm and know what we are thinking. But, enough of that." He says looking over at my mother. "So, we have been looking over your shoulder seeing what's going on in your realm. The situation is very similar to the situation that I went through." He said looking up at the sky thinking back. "After hearing the ambitions of this Raiden, he sounds like the same type of tyrant that aided in my death. Ryu Izuna." The name stuck out in my head but, I wasn't sure why exactly. "You probably remember him from my memory. He was very much like the man you are going to face soon. The reason I almost died was because the first time we faced him, I stopped him. However, when he came back, we found out that he struck a deal." He started in on the story but, I was kind of lost.
"Wait a second, what do you mean when you say that he struck a deal?" I asked needing a bit of clarification.
"You know that were's are not the only supernatural creatures alive right?" My mother asked me. To which, I simply shook my head. "Why, am I not surprised that your father never taught you what I should have." She continued shaking her head while holding the bridge of her nose. Must be a family trait. We all seem to do that a lot. I chuckled a bit inwardly.
"Let me explain." Alistair began. "Like your mother stated, we are not the only supernatural creatures alive. Ryu was a were-lynx. They are not even close to the power that we are. So, naturally we easily stopped him. I spared his life the first time because much like you, I would never want to kill someone unless it was absolutely necessary."
"But, you were able to stop him the first time so easily why not the second time?" I asked.
"Like I said, the first time I was able to defeat him easily. The second time he almost killed me. Remember, I said that he struck a deal?" He said. I nodded in understanding. "Well, he entered a contract to become stronger..." He paused looking up over his left shoulder.
"Go ahead Alistair. I should explain this part anyway." My mother told him.
"I will return shortly. I am needed for something it shouldn't take too long." He said standing and disappearing. I turned my attention back to my mother.
"I guess I should explain more about us for you to understand." She said, as she poured some tea into two cups that were on the table next to both of us. I hadn't even noticed that it was there. This place becomes more and more curious by the second. "Before our time, humans began tampering with things they weren't able to control. Witchcraft. These witches started being consumed by their greed for power and destruction that they began making deals with the darkness. These deals turned them into the dark side of the supernatural world. One you may be well aware of, is Dracula. Not every supernatural species is of the dark. For example, the `were' species. We were created to fight against the darkness." She said taking a sip of her tea. I used this as an opportunity to ask for clarity.
"You said we are supposed to fight off the darkness." I stated. She nodded for me and I continued. "What is the difference between us? How do we know who they are?" I asked sipping on my own tea. My eyes glazed over from the feeling of the tea.
"The darkness is quite easy to detect. They have the scent of death on them. Darkness is formed once a beings light is gone or if the light enters into a contract. The dark can never be turned into light. Much like, how the dark can never be born. The light is born. The darkness is turned. Creatures like vampires and demons are dark. Vampires, are made after death. Demons, are dark spirits that take on remains of a fallen light being. Their darkness morphs the body into an evil creature. Beings of light, such as were's, were created to protect the world from the creatures of the dark. It sounds kind of unrealistic but, that's how the world has to be. You can't have darkness without some sort of light and vice versa." She finished as Alistair appeared taking his seat.
"Sorry about that. In this realm I am a chairman. Sucks, because I always get called upon for the most mundane situations." He said pouring himself some tea. "Now, where was I?" He said taking a sip. "Oh. Yes. Ryu signed a contract with a demon. That is how he was able to cause such an issue the second time around."
"How exactly, was that an issue? Aren't we supposed to take on these dark creatures and kill them?" I asked still not understanding.
"It's different fighting a creature that is in a contract. Especially, a light contract. Once they are in a contract, if you don't separate the darkness from the light creature it is nearly impossible to kill them. For that you must perform a basic exorcism to expel the dark entity before you can kill the light. However, if the darkness revives the light person, it is no longer a light contract. It is a dark contract. You simply just kill a dark contract." He said adding some more sugar to his tea.
"Is that why you killed Ryu, because he was a dark contract?" I asked trying to figure out how my own situation may work out.
"Unfortunately, not." He said setting his tea back down and sitting all the way back in his seat. "With creatures of the light that have too much ambition for power they become a hazard to all of our wellbeing. Had I realized that to begin with, we could have had a much better outcome. Since I didn't kill him the first time, he entered into a contract that gave him the power to kill more than two packs and almost killed off mine as well. People of light that are on a path of darkness, MUST be killed once they have used their ability and/or strength to kill for a selfish or dark purpose. I thought that just because I beat him we would be safe and Ryu would change his ways after realizing he couldn't win. That was my mistake and a grave one at that. Beings of light that are willing to kill for their purpose, will stop at nothing to reach their goal. So, any reservations you may have about trying to save him or change his mind, stop. The more they kill the more their light turns dark. This Raiden that you will face is no different. And no this isn't pessimism, this is the downside to being born a creature of the light instead of human. It is easy to turn a human dark but, since we are born of the light, it is close to impossible for us to be taken as such." I heard a rumble as storm clouds began to roll in again. I felt a pull of my body not like last time but stronger.
"Tell them, I said I miss and love them all." My mother said hugging me.
"I will." I said returning the hug and kissing her cheek.
"Don't forget to share this information with your father. This could be even more useful than you think." Alistair said standing to hug me as well. I released my mother and embraced him next.
"I will." I answered. His hug was protective and strong. I was close to the same size as him but he had me beat in strength. Once I let him go, I began to raise. "I love you both." I smiled down at them.
"I love you too Gabriel." They both said at the same time causing us all to laugh.
I was sucked into the clouds. It was like, once I blinked, I was back in my realm chuckling still. I stood up turning to walk inside but, stopped. Damien, Sam, and Sophia were standing behind me. Damien and Sophia looked like they were really pissed off. Sam looked mad, until her mind and mine touched again. She smiled at me and walked over hugging me. Damien and Sophia were still mad but, they were also surprised at what was happening.
"Sam why do you keep doing that?" Damien asked. "This is the second time today he has left without telling us. Dad is gonna flip if he finds out." I was a bit confused.
"What do you mean, when you say I left?" I asked. "Wasn't I sitting on the steps the whole time?"
"Uh, no you just teleported here." Sophia said. I was surprised that I was taking my physical body with me. That's why Sam kept hugging me. She could feel mom's presence.
"So, that's how you could feel her." I said to Sam. She nodded not letting go of me.
"Samantha, what is he talking about?" Damien asked.
I simply raised my arms for them to hug me too. They came over and hugged me as well. About ten seconds of them hugging me awkwardly they began to feel it. They instantly started to crush me with their hugs.
"She said, she loves and misses you guys." I tell them, to which I begin to feel them tighten and my shirt starts to absorb some wetness. "You guys, I'm not back to 100% yet. Take it easy on me." I chuckled. So, they reluctantly eased off, and wiped their tears away.
"How are you able to physically be with mom?" Damien asks.
"I am able to travel to the realm of the afterlife. I am carrying a spirit inside of me so, I am able to see the spirits of those that carried it before me. Mom is there to aid me as a guide." I answered.
"Have you met anyone else there yet?" Sophia asks next.
"Well this is only my second time going. I am not able to travel there at will yet, but, I have met our great, great, great, great, grandfather..." I said be for Damien interrupted me again.
"Wait, you met Alistair Harrington?"
"Um, yeah. How do you know about him?" I questioned confused but, with a bit of amusement.
"He is the most known were-cat in the Northern Hemisphere. Bro, we have an archive of history in dad's office. I'm guessing you never actually read any of it." He says ruffling my head causing my hair to go all over my face.
"Well, I guess I could see why that would be." I say fixing my hair. "He is a chairman now in the realm of the afterlife. Speaking of, what do you guys know about demon contracts and exorcisms?" I asked them. They looked at each other not wanting to be the ones to have to explain this.
"Well, I guess we can start at the basics." Sophia says gesturing over to the patio furniture. We all walk over and take seats around the table. "How much do you know about them?" I proceeded to tell them all that mom and Alistair explained to me. "Okay, well that's the basis of demons. Now, as far as contracts go, those are a bit harder to explain. They are a bit tricky but, they are made one of four ways. The first and most common way, is by signing a seal in blood. There are a lot of seals that were created to capture or kill dark beings and spirits. Signing your name in blood over the seal will open a contract. The second way, is by using a summoning spell. The root language is Latin. Thus, all spells would be spoken in Latin. Using a summoning spell is not as easy as any of the others. Once the demon appears, he has to be willing to open a contract for you. Nine times out of ten, the demon will try to kill you instead. The third way, is only used by witches. They use their soul's energy to do a spell that binds the demon to their body. Once trapped inside, the demon fuses with the host. This method has the most server consequences, since the host is human. It carries a fifty/fifty chance that the demon will consume the host's soul. The fourth and final method, is by drinking all their blood and consuming their life force. It's the most frowned upon but, is also the most effective." She pauses as we are joined by Darien. He waves coming to stand over my left shoulder. We all greet him in our own manner and focus back on Sophia. "Sam, I think you should take over this next part. You're the only one that has personal experience with it. So, your knowledge exceeds all of ours."
"Alright. It's really not that difficult though. The number one thing you need to know about performing an exorcism, is that if your will is not stronger than your expectations of the outcome, you might as well not even perform it to begin with. Like Sophia said before, all of the linguistic roots are Latin. So, you're basically performing a Latin prayer that is powered by your soul. If you have any doubt or wavering focus, you will be killed in the process. You have to be a hundred percent focused and confident with your words. As soon as it begins, the host or spirit will be paralyzed. But, if either your will, confidence, or focus falters by even point zero one percent the paralysis will fall and you can be killed or possessed. Now as far as the phrases used, they all depend on the host. Such as, if it is a light contract or a human contract you will exorcise the darkness out of the host. But, if it is a dark contract you will simply banish the darkness to the afterlife." She explained. We all grow quiet as we hear cars speed up to the house screeching to a stop. Father's voice can be heard from all over and he doesn't appear to be the least bit happy.
"Everyone to my office now." He orders.
We all look at each other before rushing into the house and running up to his office. We all enter right behind dad, Michael, Dominic, Alex, Connor, Cameron, and a few other people I didn't recognize. They all took seats, where my siblings and I stood along the wall. Michael was already on the computer typing and clicking away. Father is standing leaning against his desk. His face is unpleasantly looking over everyone's faces.
"Dad, what's going on?" Sophia asks breaking the silence.
"We have been informed of a situation. There were apparently some campers in the mountains. But, they have gone missing. They are teenagers not much younger than Gabriel. The alert said that, they left Thursday night for the mountains but, never came home when they were supposed to Sunday. The parents said they would wait until Monday evening to report it since it would take 24 hours before the police could get involved. Then, they got calls from all the schools saying that they never showed up. So, this is going to cause a major issue. Dominic says that his patrols have not found any traces of them being on the mountain." My father says, gaining a nod of agreement from Dominic. "The problem is that this is my property that we are talking about. We have never had any issues like this in the past that I am aware of. This is going to cause a major issue seeing as we have less than a week before the full moon rises. An even bigger problem, is that there are more than 15 kids missing without a trace. We need to find them quickly, as well as be on high alert. The police will be showing up sometime tomorrow and I would like to have them gone before night fall. I assume that the scouts from Raiden's pack have something to do with their disappearance." Father says. Darien stands raising his hand gaining the rooms attention as he stands.
"Your assumption is accurate." He says walking over to my dad with his cell phone. "I have a text order to standby. There is somethings in work that will give them the upper hand." He ends handing his phone over. Dad looks at it and hands it to Michael.
"Thank you Darien. Your help is much appreciated." Dad says placing his hand on Darien's shoulder. "That is as I figured we all should be aware of what is going on." Dad says as a dismissal of the group. I step forward to stop them.
"Father, I actually have some stuff to tell everyone." Dad turned to me nodding his head for me to continue. "Well, my mother and great, great, great, great, grandfather Alistair informed me of somethings I didn't know about and told me to pass them on." I explained what I was told and dad seemed to immediately know where this was going.
"That information may give us the edge we needed to turn the tides a bit." Dad says. "Dominic, Connor, and team leaders we have a few more things to discuss. Everyone else is dismissed." He kisses my forehead and the rest of us leave.
I yawn turning and heading back to my room to call it a night. I feel like not a lot happened today but, all this new information, made me so exhausted. I walked into my room and headed to my closet. I changed into some lounge wear. Coming out of my closet, I dive onto my bed. I do another yawn and roll over. Before I can even open my eyes from my blink, I'm already in dreamland.
-----------TBC-----------
Thanks for reading. I also created a group for the story on Yahoo. It will have pictures and updates. As well as open discussion for all of you views. Check it out at https://groups.yahoo.com/group/donthowlatthemoon Until next time.
Stay awesome. (^3^) Star