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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. Upon his arrival at his grandfathers’ estate he learns the world he lives in and what he is, is not what it appears to be. Luke finds himself fighting for his life with a team of supernatural kids his age against a powerful dark wizard and all his minions. 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.
Citation preview
TRAVIS STINNETT
Text copyright © 2013 by Travis Stinnett
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or
retrieved system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Travis StinnettVisit my website @ http://eeriealliance.blogspot.com
First Paperback Edition February 2013 by Travis Stinnett.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Anysimilarity 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 hisuncle 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 journeyto his grandfathers’ house for the summer.
Filled with demons, faeries, vampires, werewolves and more, this novelwill 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: B00BGRGRV2ISBN-10: 1482389371
ISBN-13: 978-1482389371
For my family. Thank you to my beautiful wife and three amazing kidsfor 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 forencouraging me through this entire writing and publishing process. Cliff Pennington withPennington Graphics Solutions for all the amazing graphics work especially thespectacular book covers for the entire novel series.
Don’t miss Book Two inTHE 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?”