Monster

I was running, barreling crudely through the darkened streets of St. Louis. As I navigated to Martin's location, I sprinted in human form over the blacktops and between buildings. I felt the drive inside me, willing my legs to go faster and faster, fueled by the panic in my mind. I felt the monster waiting behind my eyes, right at the door, ready to take over as soon as my will broke. Once my hold for control failed… it would take over.

In these last few days, I started to think of it as a separate entity altogether. When things got me worked up and emotional, I felt it struggling against me. I could feel the monster stirring every moment of every day since I last saw my friends. It tried putting its hands on the wheel when I was so wrapped up with Autumn before dinner. Anger tried to crawl across my mind at the dining room table; the anger towards Zeke for questioning me. It was subtle but there. Something had changed within me slightly, but why? The beast in me was growing in some form. Pushing against the walls of its invisible cage. If I hadn’t slowed down from the killing lately… I might not have noticed it. It was pushing now…

Just a few minutes earlier in the night, Martin called me. I was shocked at the appearance of his name on my cell phone, especially since I hadn’t spoken with him yet. I answered it curiously. It was a conversation that lasted only a minute or two, but it had me bounding across the city in a controlled fury. I was running to meet up with him. We had to get to a location he knew the Chasses would be.

Our conversation wasn’t about catching up at his bar, it was a more dire situation. The other Chasses I had met at Carter’s home were a different breed of hunters. This branch of the family didn’t fight as strategically or preplanned as my friends did. Autumn, Carter, and many others had said they never got into a fight they knew they couldn’t win. They plan, they prepare, and they hunt. Zeke, Arthur, and Kayla were way more aggressive. Once Carter and Zeke spoke more in-depth about the man I killed and the details I had learned, they felt they had to act.

That’s when our current predicament was born. They formulated a plan quickly, not well planned, and loaded out to go on a patrol. Martin told me over the phone that they had found a place they thought people were being held. Martin had contacts in the supernatural world who had heard eerie stories of a place where people had been being taken. So naturally, Martin had already been keeping tabs on the same site. When Carter had told him what they were planning, Martin panicked. That’s when he called me, asking for help.

The more I learned about the Chasse family, specifically Carter, the more I understood the direct relationship with Martin. Carter and Martin talked often… very often. There probably wasn’t a day that went by that they didn’t exchange information in some way. Carter always had an ace in the hole with his vampire friend. When they went out on any kind of hunt that seemed to be more than anything Carter was comfortable with, he’d notify Martin to have him in the area as backup. Martin was a very old vampire, and his strength, speed, and various skills from his long life would be waiting somewhere very near when Carter called for him. I did not think that all of the Chasse family knew about the frequency of Martin’s presence on their hunts. Carter was a planner, and his backup plans had backup plans. When all else failed they’d have a supernatural creature swoop out from the shadows as the final redundancy, if needed.

In my vicious sprint through the darkened city, I came upon a compound of buildings that were all closely smashed together, except for a few that traced a further edge of the area. A tower shot out into the sky of one of the structures. There was a name written across the brick. Then I realized where I was; the Lemp Brewery. It was a very old set of buildings that looked more akin to some sort of castle than a modern brewery.

I planted my legs into the earth as I stopped, shoving off the ground explosively to propel myself vertically. I clawed and scaled up the old bricks of the tallest tower, ascending higher into the night sky. A shadow that scrambled up the red bricks. Once atop the structure, I saw a dark silhouette staring off the other side. Martin was there… watching. He stood across at the far edge, eyeing the area below.

It had been a long time since I’d seen Martin, but he looked the same as he always did, never aging. The black hair that outlined his unchanging face was accented greatly by the pulsing red eyes. He glowered down to the scene below.

“Martin,” I spoke as soon as I flung myself over the edge to the roof. “Where are they?”

“They’re here,” Martin answered. “They’re alright for now. They’re just circling the place.” Martin turned to look at me, “It’s very good to see you again, Sam. It’s been too long.”

“Thanks for the call,” I replied.

“Oh please, thank you for showing up. I will take all the help I can get to keep my family safe,” the old vampire’s claim on the Chasses was present in his words. “Perhaps, we can catch up after this is done.”

I nodded as he turned back to gaze over the side of the roof, “Yeah. I’ve been meaning to come talk to you.”

Then, I heard the crumbling bricks at the edge start to grind against a pressing force. I shot a quick and defensive look over at the edge, willing to kill anything that I thought would threaten the Chasses.

Red hair and tattoos scaled the bricks just behind me. “I hope I’m not too late,” Alex spoke to us as soon as her feet were planted on the roof. “I’d hate to miss out on a fight if this turns out to be vampires.” She didn’t look like she was ready for a fight, only wearing some extremely short jean cutoffs and a white tank top. She looked like she had literally just run out from behind the bar, where she tried to lure in unsuspecting new-blooded vampires.

“Thank you for coming, Alex,” Martin greeted his friend.

“Can you trust her around them?” I asked Martin quickly, slightly angry at her presence.

I felt it beneath my mind… trying to rip out. I fought the monster back for the moment, begging to stay in control. It was getting worse. I was actively concentrating on keeping my human form, much more than I usually had to.

“You’ve killed more humans than she has, Sam.” Martin seemed stressed, actually taking an attitude with me. “We’re all here to step in if needed, don’t forget that.” He spoke to both of us.

“So, it turns out you are much more than just some guy,” Alex started talking to me on the roof. “How many people have you killed?” She asked like she was writing me down as a possible kill of her own, now that she knew I wasn’t human. Her red eyes pulsed and began to match the shade of her blood-hued hair. She flexed her power throughout her body, letting me know she would kill me if needed. She’d try.

“Only ones that deserve it…” I barely offered; still focusing on remaining human. I felt the pressure beneath my skin.

What was happening?

“What are you?” she asked, intrigue filling her words, but hunger in her eyes.

This anthropophagous vampire, as Martin had called her, was a killer of killers like me. Martin said she was strong. Maybe in a previous time in my life, I would have wanted to test my strength against her, hoping she’d end me… but not anymore.

“You don’t want to find out,” I threatened, my eyes slightly darkening staring through her.

She smirked at the sight of my unusual black eyes, “Neat trick…”

“Both of you,” Martin looked back to us angrily, “enough! They’re out.”

I quickly stepped up to the edge, looking down at the vast expanse below us. Just at the side of one of the other buildings was the familiar suburban. There was another SUV that pulled up right behind them. All of the Chasses stepped out of their vehicle at the same time Zeke, Kayla, and Arthur got out to meet them. Then, I saw another person walking around the silver SUV. It was Patrick. He was with them on a hunt.

A little rage swelled in me again. Why was he there? He hadn’t been on a hunt with them like this. Autumn once told me he always stayed within the realm of his own family, all the Wicklows did. Now he was with them… with her. It must have started throughout the past year.

I stepped back from the roof edge in a grunting pain. I felt my insides start to twist and flex while I watched from above. The monster inside of me wanted out, and it was going to torture me until it got time out under the night sky. It wanted to kill. It hungered for death.

I knelt as I breathed through the pain. I felt my eyes already shift completely while my talons were actively piercing through.

“SHIT,” I gritted my teeth through the pain, trying to lock my arms and legs in position. I could feel them trying to move without my command. The beast was trying to make a move.

“Sam,” Martin spoke urgently on the roof. “What’s happening?”

I just shook my head, going down to both knees. My black talons had pushed out on their own, against my will. I gripped my fingers into the surface of the roof beneath me, locking my razors into the hard roof material.

I spoke out loud through my teeth, rage, and venom spilling out, “YOU’RE NOT FUCKING COMING OUT!” I flexed and strained every muscle I still had control over, trapping the relentless beast within my mind once more. It was getting worse… much worse.

Thankfully, after about thirty seconds of continued struggle, it stopped. It felt longer, but I was glad it was finally over. It took everything I had to stay locked in place.

I breathed more relaxed as I stood, Martin and Alex looking at me with concern.

“And you thought I was a problem?” Alex scoffed.

“Are you going to be able to continue?” Martin asked.

“I’m fine,” was all I said as I stepped slowly back up to the edge.

“What was that?” Martin asked with concern.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It’s been happening lately. I don’t know what’s setting it off.”

“Hmm,” Martin filed it away in his thoughts. I knew he’d bring it up again later. “I need you here for this. Are you going to be able to control yourself around them?” Martin doubted the safety of the Chasse family after witnessing my lack of control.

“I’m fine! I have it under control,” I assured him.

Then, all of the Chasse family, and Patrick, moved into various positions around one of the buildings on the other side of the compound. They entered the building at different points, spreading out in three different attack squads.

“Why are they going so fast?” I asked. “They never rush into anything like this.” I knew their tactics.

“They’re protecting the others. Zeke wanted to go hunt immediately. Nothing would stop him, and they were going on the hunt. They wouldn’t be reasoned with, so Carter and everyone else felt like they had to accompany them to keep them safe. They shouldn’t be here,” Martin explained.

“Why are they so aggressive as humans?” Alex asked. “If they get in a situation where they are outnumbered, then all of those guns won’t matter. Vampires will just swarm them.”

They all entered a blocky building with many levels of windows. They were out of sight, and I couldn’t protect them from the roof.

“Let’s go,” I said.

“Yes…” Martin agreed.

We all ran and jumped in different strides, rocketing to the next closest roof, and leapfrogging over the gaps as we closed in on the hunter-filled structure. We were on an adjacent roof, hiding our forms behind the cover of an exhaust vent as we watched through windows for our friends. That’s when I saw them.

There inside of the expansive fourth story was a group of what smelled to be vampires. There were so many of them, and they were surrounding a group of only four young human kids who were blindfolded, crying, and helpless. All this… for four? It couldn’t be just to feed…

They were all spread out sporadically throughout the level, surrounding the bound children. They all looked dirty like they had been crawling across the city, down every alley from where they had been taken from. There were two girls and two boys in the middle of the red-eyed demons. They needed help.

In only moments, the hunters exploded into the vampire-infested level. This wasn’t like any hunt I had ever seen with them. The hunters broke through doors in waves. The first group that came through was Frank, Clara, and Arthur. They had knives and machetes in their hands, all silver. They rushed over to the alert and now feral vampires that were keen on protecting their captive food.

Then, right before the three close combat hunters met with the closest of the inhuman creatures, Eleanor, Kayla, Patrick, and Autumn all blasted through a door on the far side of the room. They came in hot, sending some kind of projectile into the central area of the massive enclosure.

“Close your eyes,” Martin said quickly.

I only squinted as the flare went off. It was a bright burning pyrotechnic that was putting off some kind of smoke throughout the room.

“Is that silver?” Alex asked Martin in true surprise.

“Yes,” he answered. “The Chasse family is very well equipped, and they have many ways to fight our kind. However, it appears that if we go in to help them, then we too will be weakened.”

Not me. I wouldn’t be affected. I was still ready and willing to send myself flying through the windows.

The burning light flared, and smoke curled like toxic tendrils in the enclosed room, thick and suffocating. The vampires stumbled back, hissing and shielding their eyes, their once fluid movements now reduced to frantic flails. That’s when the third group breached. Carter, Wayland, and Zeke stormed in with brutal efficiency, their mid-range firepower cutting through the haze as they picked off stragglers with sharp bursts, aiming for the heart, the head, and anything that would send these creatures back to the dark.

But the first team was already deep in carnage. Frank and Arthur tore into the leeches without hesitation, their eyes blazing with a vicious, reckless fury. They looked like they’d stepped straight out of a grimy eighty’s slasher flick, wielding machetes with ruthless abandon. The sound of metal slicing through flesh and bone echoed violently, vampires howling as limbs were severed, and torsos split open. Blood sprayed across the walls, dark and thick, as Frank’s blade ripped through a vampire’s spine, sending its body convulsing to the ground. Arthur swung wide, his machete cleaving through the neck of another, the head rolling away in a mess of tangled hair and crimson.

Clara was a force of her own, a powerhouse of muscle and precision that moved with calculated flow and efficiency. Her large, muscular frame twisted and struck with ferocity, taking down nearly as many vampires as the two men combined. She fought with a vicious rhythm, her silver knife gleaming as it plunged into undead flesh, tearing through hearts and skulls in quick, brutal succession. She dispatched one vampire with a savage twist, its eyes wide in stunned horror as she sent it to its second grave. Then she seamlessly moved to the next, a whirlwind of raw power and relentless aggression. She was a fighter born for this; ruthless, efficient, and utterly unstoppable in the face of the undead. All three of them fought without hesitation or fear.

Carter, Zeke, and Wayland all had silenced weapons that I knew were loaded with silver hollow points. They weren’t there for anything other than to kill vampires. Martin was right… this hunt was more aggressive compared to the usual calculated hunt.

A few panicked vampires tore away from the bloodbath, limbs flailing as they scrambled for the exit near Autumn and Eleanor. One snarl cut through the chaos as a vampire, eyes wild and feral, leaped toward them, its claws bared and thirsting for blood. It was barely ten feet away when Autumn pulled the trigger of her silenced rifle. The bullet punched through the vampire’s skull with a sickening crack, blood and brain matter splattering the walls as it collapsed in a twitching heap.

But the chaos only intensified. More vampires rushed at her in a rabid frenzy, a blur of teeth and claws that filled the air with desperate, inhuman screeches. Autumn, Eleanor, and Kayla moved with cold precision, their shots chirping in quick, rhythmic bursts. Each bullet found its mark, tearing through flesh, shattering bones, and painting the walls and floor with a fresh coat of crimson. They moved like a well-oiled machine, each shot timed perfectly, flowing with the brutal dance of combat. But Patrick lagged, his shots erratic and frantic. His aim was shaky, bullets ricocheting off walls and sending splinters of wood and concrete flying. He was hitting the targets… most of the time, but his shots lacked the deadly finesse of the hunters. It was painfully clear they were covering his mistakes, dragging him along in the bloody whirlwind.

Then, three vampires charged Autumn at once, their faces twisted in fury and hunger. Her rifle clicked, jamming at the worst possible moment. Panic flickered across her face as her mother and cousin’s bullets whizzed past, blowing the brains out of two of the assailants. One vampire’s head exploded like a ripe melon, chunks of flesh and shards of bone spraying across the room. The other fell with a shriek, its skull caving under the relentless barrage of gunfire.

But the third vampire was too fast. Patrick fired wildly, his bullets tearing through the rafters above in a spray of wood and sparks, missing the mark entirely. The vampire lunged, closing the distance in a flash, claws slashing toward Autumn.

I jerked forward to run, sprinting like a fucking wild man across the roof. I was going in, and I was going to rip that vampire into two separate pieces. Yet, as soon as I took a few steps, the monster squeezed my insides. It brought me to my knees again, my momentum slamming and dragging my face across the graveled roof.

I pried my face up from the hard surface to see Autumn. In an instant, Autumn tossed her rifle as she sidestepped the incoming supernatural, pulling a more extended version of her normal silver blade from her side. She sliced through the vampire’s neck with a flash of skill, silver glinting as the blade followed through to the end of her swing. It fell to its knees as soon as she recovered from her swipe, its head flopping off backward to hang from the body. Only a few strands of flesh kept it from totally falling off. Blood ran down its torso before falling over completely, painting itself in death.

As I lay on the roof in sheer agony, my insides twisting and contorting as I truly saw them for the first time. Everything I had seen and learned from the hunters up until that point was merely stories and theory. I had never been on a true hunt with them… not like this.

The only time I had ever seen the Chasses hunt any kind of creature was the first night I met them, and when they were surprised by Mercy. I had never seen them in their prime of battle. But this… this was something else altogether. They moved with precision, they never slowed, and they took no prisoners.

Autumn had said it once before… a long time ago, ‘We don’t leave any survivors.’

The Chasses were more than I thought. They were far more than hunters picking off stragglers in the dark. They were a force against them. It was more than I had ever seen normal humans to be. It was probably one of the most shocking things I had discovered in this new life.

The night they went to fight Mercy and Phineas, they were ambushed and taken out before a fight could even happen. I began to wonder… did Mercy fear them? At their full strength, using all their skills, techniques, and weapons… could they have fought Phineas and won? I started to think it might have been possible. Why else would Mercy have frozen them in place as she did?

After witnessing the slaughter by my adoptive family, I realized something. The Chasse family was not as helpless as I had always worried. They were trained killers, every single one of them. Even Autumn… even Eleanor.

I pulled myself from the ground, Martin steadying me with a grip. The beast relinquished its control for the moment.

“Sam, what is going on? Is something happening to you?” Martin asked urgently.

“I don’t know,” I shook my head, calming myself once Arthur had slung his machete right into the skull of the last moving vampire.

Frank and Arthur were grinning at each other as they claimed victory. They raised their bloodied fists and bumped them together. All of the combatants that went hand to hand were drenched in blood from the slaughter. Everyone else was clean, except for Autumn. She had a spray of blood that stained her shirt from the vampire that got too close. Patrick was dirty, but only because he tripped over backward as he fired into the creatures of the night. Kayla was laughing at him, lending him a helping hand. She said something to him that I didn’t catch, and then she slapped his ass aggressively.

“Kayla!” he yelled at her, annoyed that she was always pestering him. He was a little embarrassed at his inept skill, especially in front of, and compared to, Autumn.

Kayla laughed in his face, while Autumn hid her smile from the entertainment of his clumsy awkwardness in a fight.

If I could describe my new friends in one word, it would be… deadly. The speed, the coordination, the skill… they were trained to the highest degree. I thought of them differently now. Stronger. It made me feel like I didn’t have to worry so much about their safety.

I was monitoring them all carefully, scanning the floor for any movement from a vampire that clung to life. I was so focused on their safety, and distracted by my internal issues, that I didn’t sense anything else.

“Something else is coming,” Alex warned.

“Shit,” Martin spat, repositioning himself on the roof. “There are sublevels that lead to caves right beneath this place. That’s how they’re getting in.”

“What,” my attention shot back to Martin. “Where? Who’s getting in?”

Alex and Martin were bounding to the other side of the roof, “I don’t know who, or what they are, but they’re not friendly. If I remember right, this brewery is positioned right on top of a cave system that is very close to a tunnel. That tunnel goes into the pits.”

“The pits?” I asked quickly as I chased them to the other side of the roof. “Like where Mercy and Phineas came from?”

“Yes,” Martin answered stressfully. “Alex, we’ve got to get in there. We’ll need your help. I don’t know what’s coming, but you’ll tip the odds.”

We looked into the fourth floor, where the family was untying the captured human souls. They were trying to calm and lead the kids to safety. They had no idea what was coming.

“We can get to the base level and head them off there,” Martin said as he took a few steps back, preparing to leap from the roof to the ground floor.

Alex and I mirrored his movements, ready to dive down from the great height and kill the beasts that clawed up from the pits. I had many questions, like why were these people being held here? For what reason? Who was behind it, and why were they taking so many people, especially kids?

“Let’s go,” I urged. None of the Chasses knew what was coming. An unknown threat was rapidly climbing toward them from below, and they weren’t ready. They were occupied with the children they had just saved. They were so small, cold, and shaking on the dark and bloody floor.

I took a step forward, ready to make the jump with the two vampires, and then I felt my legs give out. I fell forward into the rough surface of the roof, scraping some skin from my face as I skidded to a stop. The pain twisted and flexed my body into strange positions as the monster tortured me from within. This was the worst pain yet.

They both stopped abruptly as I faceplanted in agony.

“Sam,” Martin said hurriedly, feeling the pressure of the incoming threat closing in on our friends below.

“Martin, what’s wrong with him,” Alex asked with slight concern as I twisted in pain on the roof.

“I don’t know,” he said, torn with what to do.

I couldn’t think straight as I writhed in pain. The monster took control of my voice and lungs, keeping me silent and unable to breathe. I twisted and flexed on the ground as Martin and Alex watched, unable to help me.

“Alex, come on. We’ll leave him for now. We have to get down there,” Martin said as he stood from his crouching position above me.

“Okay,” she agreed, but she had questions. Martin still hadn’t told her everything about me, and this only added to the oddities of my existence in her mind.

I saw them run and leap from the side of the roof while I painfully gritted my teeth, feeling the burning of my lungs as they begged for oxygen. The two vampires fell below my line of sight and were gone.

I was alone on the roof. The intensity of the pain never relented, actually growing in its potency. I felt like the monster would literally rip me to pieces as it fought for a way out. I just lay in the dark, unable to move. Unable to break free. All I could do was be still and endure the fire burning me from within.

Then, I felt a pulse of something else. It was far more potent than the pain and torment that imprisoned me inside of my body. The force that was pinning me to the ground was blasted away like dust in the wind. As soon as the pain was gone, I heard the voice.

“Fall,” it was the being… speaking to me. This wasn’t a vision.

The night sky vanished, and I was ripped from the world of the living.

“Wake up,” I heard a monotone voice order me from my sleep.

My eyes shot open at the same time I sucked in a sharp breath, ready to bolt from the roof and save my friends from the incoming assault. Then, I realized I was somewhere else. I was in a dark forest, the sky completely blacked out from the canopy above. The leaves were only at the top of long trunks of ancient growths, grey and thick. These trees formed a forest of what resembled bones protruding from the earth. The leaves were almost black, with maybe the tiniest hint of purple in those shadows. A light fog floated a few inches from the leafy forest floor. The only light that penetrated the depths of this place came from somewhere far in the distance, between the great trees. Shadows hung so densely in that place that I could almost feel them.

I jumped from the ground, looking for anything that made sense. I turned and saw someone that scared the shit out of me. Once I saw his face, I knew what this was. A few feet away from me, standing against a tree, was Jon.

“Jon,” I said perplexed. “I thought you were… how are you…” I had too many questions, and everything was confusing. “What is this place? Where am I?”

“We’re in the fields, just beyond the place you’ve seen. This is where you were changed.” Jon spoke strangely, different than the last time I saw him.

“What?” I asked, confused. “I was in Texas when it happened…”

“That’s where you were taken. I brought you here to give you my power. This is where the beast in you was first created,” Jon spoke calmly, but something was different. “That’s why you woke up in a different place. When I sent you back after the transition was complete, I sent you far away. It was far enough that you’d have time to undergo your first transformation without consequences.”

I was unsure what his words meant at that moment, but I was frantic. “Why am I here? I need to get back… my friends are in trouble. I was about to help them, but then,” I remembered the agony on the roof. “Something is happening to me. I don’t know what, or why it’s happening now, but I’m losing control. The monster keeps trying to come out, and it’s getting stronger. I can barely keep it inside.”

“You are getting stronger, but that’s not the reason for what is happening to you. Someone is trying to kill you, or at least disable you when needed. They are poking and prodding the monster as they try and figure out a way that will work. They are trying to figure out what you are. The beast is getting agitated, lashing out at the unseen forces that are attacking it. They are getting closer to a power that will work against you. They most likely think that they succeeded tonight. You have to figure out who it is and stop them before they get too powerful,” Jon spoke plainly. “This is why I pulled you here fully, not just your mind. This person thinks they know how strong you are and is trying to take you out before they are revealed.”

“Fully?” I asked, latching onto a small detail in his words.

“This is only the second time you have been here. I had to bring you here physically to change you, and now to cut you off from the power that was binding you. All the other times I have merely pulled your mind to this place,” Jon explained. “Your attacker is growing powerful… tied in with something… old.”

I had many questions about what he had just revealed, and this location, but I knew more important things were afoot. “Who is it?” I asked.

“They’re hidden, cloaked behind the power that they’re channeling,” Jon seemed different as he continued. Then I noticed his eyes, they were different than the last time I saw him; darker, and cold with no emotion.

“Jon… what happened to you? I thought you got to pass on and be with your family,” I said as I remembered the last time I saw him. He was walking off into the horizon with the cloaked figure that commanded us both.

He looked at me for a few seconds, silently. He never blinked the entire time I had been speaking with him. “I am not Jon.”

As soon as he said the words, his eyes went entirely black. I felt a tingle spread through my face as I realized what it meant. Then, something from within him was unfurled and spread out in the forest like it was the air itself. There was a ringing in my ears that was deafening, and it made everything go hazy. My vision blurred as the vibrating hum shook my organs and cells. It felt like an eternity would pass as I was trapped in his will. I was locked in place by the dominating power, or maybe it was fear…

Then, it stopped. His eyes returned to the previous cold version, and the power was tucked away from where it came. I stood in silence once I could think straight and see clearly.

“I chose this form since it is familiar to you, in this place. I cannot present myself to you yet, you’re not ready. This is just what I am allowing you to see, so we can communicate in a way you can understand.”

I had so many questions… where did I start?

“Who are you?” I asked eagerly.

“No,” was all he said. “You’re not ready for that.”

“What am I?” I asked next.

“You have to figure that out for yourself. When you make it there on your own, you will be able to accept what that is, and what it means,” he said.

“Why? Why can’t you just tell me?” I asked. Then I was scared I was getting too comfortable in my speaking with him. I felt what he could do to me if he wanted.

“I know how it happens. I’ve seen it countless times. Jon asked the same questions… as did the ones before. I give the same answers. This is how it has to be for you to become what you’re meant for,” he spoke with no leniency. The words he spoke might as well have been etched into stone. There was only one way. He did give me a little more. "We are restricted by binding. Rules were placed long ago. Things must be done a certain way."

I was silent for a moment, thinking about all the questions I had, and which ones he was more likely to answer.

“Is everything Jon told me true, or was it a lie to get me to take this… life?” I asked.

His look never changed, and neither did his monotonous voice, “You had the choice, and you made it yourself. Whether I saw that or not, changed nothing. You are what you are because I chose you, you survived, and then you decided to remain. Every person before you was given the same path. Some chose to return to their lives; others chose death.”

“Where’s Jon?” I asked, worried for my predecessor. Where had he gone?

“He has moved on. He is at peace.”

I nodded, thankfully. I had a surprising worry and protectiveness for the real Jon. The short time I knew him I must have gotten attached. I think living this life for the time I had, gave me a glimpse into what his long centuries were like, and I wanted him to have his peace. I was glad he found it. I was hoping I too would one day find what Jon had gained. I wanted to be with my family… all of them. Maybe one day, when I got to rest, both of my families could meet each other. Vicky and Autumn could meet, Carter and Eleanor could meet my parents, and I could be reunited with my brother, Seth. Maybe… I could see Caydee. We’d be happy.

“What should I call you?” I asked, knowing my time in the shadowed forest was coming to an end.

“For now, call me Jon. This is how I will appear to you,” he informed. Then he reminded me, “This isn’t like when I show you a vision and give you the name. I cannot see the person that is doing this to you. They have yet to tip the balance, and they are being hidden by something much older than anything you have learned of yet. They are using powers from another place. Powers that can only be gained by acts that will throw off the balance eventually. You are on the right track with this your friends, stay on this trail,” he spoke hard. “And Sam,” he stepped forward, “there are powers in this world that you wouldn’t believe. Both natural and unnatural powers that defy human logic. Watch out for them. Some can trap you in ways you couldn’t imagine. There are places like the fields, other planes, or dimensions that you can be lost to, and since you cannot die, it would be perpetual torment. I cannot step in and save you all the time. You must continue to grow in strength. Be on guard and keep your secret close.”

I nodded, “I will.” But then I had another question present itself in my thoughts. “Why haven’t you given me anyone? It was nonstop for a long time, but now… nothing?”

The being disguised as Jon stared at me blankly before answering, “You are where I need you. Breaking Allen Chasse away from the power that cursed him started what is happening now. We are making moves, we are hunting. Only, this is prey that has remained hidden from the world for a very long time. This will take time. You are just now feeling the first tendrils of its power.”

In those few moments in the forest just beyond the Fields, I felt new confusion and a feeling of powerlessness from the entity… Jon, I guess I’d call him. Before, I felt like I was being lied to, and played like a fiddle. Now, I knew that this was just absolutely beyond my scope of understanding. I was a part of something… something I still didn’t have a single fucking clue about. Even when I thought I was free, between the names and visions, I was exactly where it wanted me. Now there was some other thing. Something that my entity was hunting; something so old that the world had forgotten it…

What the fuck was I supposed to do?

“You’ll return right where I took you. You will find the one that’s attacking you,” he told me as fact. “You’ll have to be fast if you want to catch them before they disappear again. The power they have been granted will allow for many new things you have yet to experience.”

I just listened and nodded into his powerful gaze.

“Trust the power I have given you. It will protect the things you hold dear and guide you to where you need to go… as it did with Allen,” Jon said, giving me an insight into what I was capable of. “Now, prepare yourself.” He closed the distance between us in the skeleton-like trees of the forest, his eyes blackened, his power unrestrained, shaking the very shadows of the forest.

“Rise.”

White light overtook my vision, and I was gone.