#edtf

She had demanded the full team be at this meeting and had reconfigured the space accordingly. A large circle of chairs, with an appropriately sized open space for Wei, sat in the center of the room and a projector cast a map of Alaska on the closed door. Margaret would have preferred to have this meeting in the comfort of her office, but with their newly enlarged numbers and the sheer size of Wei and Coyote, this had been far more reasonable.

Atticus and Kim had followed her here, and since Wei, Iktomi and Coyote had been staying out here of their own accord, they were already present as well. Next came Jomo and his two recruits, followed a few minutes later by Sophia and a truly exhausted looking Benoit. Next came Lehman and Hayden, Olivia between them since no crutches were present on base, an oversight Margaret had already put an order in to correct. Last came the Raven, more surly than usual after word that Iktomi would be allowed to not only stay among them, but sit in on this planning session.

With everyone finally present, Margaret got going. “Before we get into the thick of things, I’d like to introduce our newest members, or soon to be members, Ramon Ocampo and Aldo Haddad. We are about to go over some very sensitive information here, but before we start…” Margaret stopped as Aldo raised his hand. A bit flustered, Margaret said, “Yes?”

“Uh, not to be rude, but what are...they?” Aldo asked, looking at the section of their circle where the Raven, Wei, Iktomi and Coyote sat hip to hip.

“We are hunters of the great wilds,” Wei said in a booming voice that filled the now closed garages. “Your allies and friends. You have nothing to fear from us, Aldo Haddad.”

“Ah, well that explains it then,” Aldo said, eyebrows as high as they could go.

“They are from the same place as the creature we found in Maine,” Jomo clarified. “They have come here and agreed to help us beat back encroachments into our world.”

“Do not be scared of us,” Coyote said, grinning in a way that showed all of his teeth. “A friend of Hayden’s is a friend of ours.” Hayden, who was seated next to the bestial figure, waved at Aldo to clarify this statement.

“All of this will be made clear to you in time,” Margaret said impatiently, “but for now we need to discuss rescuing Allen and his people in Alaska. From what Allen has conveyed to me, Elliot and Kevin have been seriously injured and Micah doubts that he can keep them stable much longer without additional resources. We need to find a way to both extricate our wounded and bring in fresh reinforcements without notice.”

“I’m not sure that’s doable,” Olivia said. “I understand it’s what needs doing, but I can’t really think of how we could manage it. We need to use a plane, which takes Wei and Coyote out of the equation, and even then we’d need to land in Fairbanks and that is a no-go for even the Raven and Iktomi. That being the case, I can’t see what good sending more of us into the lion’s den is going to do.”

“Agreed,” Jomo said and Margaret was shocked to hear her head of security agreeing with a plan of non-action.

“Well you two can’t be comfortable leaving them stranded up there?” Margaret said.

“Of course not,” Jomo shrugged, “but just rushing off to die with them isn’t a good idea either.”

“Well we have to do something,” Atticus said.

“Obviously,” Hayden agreed. “I’m still willing to lead a team north if you can get us there.”

“Well now that Jomo is back I think…” Margaret began, but Jomo cut her off.

“I’m sorry Margaret, but at this juncture my place is here with you. I didn’t like you being here alone before and I like it far less now,” he said. “Plus, we need to be ready to bail Noah out as well. If Hayden is willing, let him lead the group north, if there’s even going to be one, which it doesn’t seem like there will be.”

“Ok, let’s table that for a second,” Hayden said. “If we did go, who would be coming along?”

“Well I’m out,” Olivia said.

“Me too,” Benoit grunted.

“Ok so no Jomo, Liv or Benoit,” Hayden said. “How bout the newbies?”

“I for one need to see that you people can accomplish something without getting anyone killed,” Aldo said in a tone Margaret did not care for at all.

“I will go,” Ramon said. “Though I can’t say I’ve ever been so far north before. I’ll need gear.”

“Not a problem,” Margaret said.

“Ok so me, Ramon, the Raven and Iktomi,” Hayden said with a raised eyebrow.

“I will join you,” Coyote said, looking hurt that Hayden had left him out.

“You’re welcome to if we can manage it,” Hayden said, patting his friend on the back.

“I will also come if it is possible,” Wei said, though Hayden knew that was out of the question.

“Well there we go,” Hayden said. “You make it happen and we’ll get it done.”

“I’ll see what I can pull together,” Margaret said.

“Well that’s settled then,” Atticus said. “Jomo and Sophia will be on standby in case Noah and Joseph need help.”

“How are they doing?” Olivia asked.

“So far they’ve found a whole bunch of nothing,” Atticus said.

“It will not stay this way,” the Raven said darkly.

“Probably not,” Margaret agreed, “but we can appreciate the calm while it lasts. If anyone needs me I’ll be in my office trying to figure this all out.”

“We’ll be waiting,” Hayden said.

Margaret resisted the urge to smack him as she left the others behind, Kim in tow.

---------------------

Allen washed the blood from his hands and changed into the new shirt the others had brought him. Elliot was stable, but he had lost a lot of blood and had slipped into unconsciousness on the couch while Micah had worked on him. They’d put Kevin in Killian’s bedroom down the hall and then Earl had set off to move the body of Allen’s would-be assassin. Moving into Abel’s room, Allen, Micah and Hector took stock of their situation.

“What do you have them moving the body for?” Hector asked as they shut the door to the bedroom.

“A good number of them saw that thing when it was attacking us,” Allen said, sitting heavily on the deceased man’s bed. “The rest should get a good look at it and make their own decisions about what’s going on. Watching it fade should help too.”

“Margaret sending backup?” Micah asked.

“Can’t imagine so,” Allen sighed. “Only way to do it would be to land a plane out here and that’s a no go. Coming by van is ridiculous and with the Prince gone we can’t count on him just flitting over here. Far as I see it, we’re on our own. Only choice now is to stay or run.”

“I hate to say it,” Micah said, “but I think we should bail. I can’t keep these two stable if either gets worse. We need to get them to a doctor asap. I say we lead everyone south and then come back when we’re in better shape.”

“Fuck that,” Hector said. “We run now and it will just follow us. Give it a few hours and those people who went south will prove me right. The Raven was on it; we’re being tested. I say we fucking hang tight and let it come to us. Didn’t go so well for it this time. I’m willing to bet we can make that happen again.”

“Hector’s right about heading south,” Allen said, “at least I agree with his guess. I think our best bet is to hope Margaret thinks of something and hold our ground until then. I know you’re worried Micah, but I trust you can keep Elliot and Kevin safe until someone comes.”

“I’m glad you think so highly of me,” Micah said, “but even if I had the training, I don’t have the supplies or equipment.”

“Make it work until you do,” Allen said. “All we can do for them for now.”

“Kyle?” a voice said through the door. Opening it cautiously, Allen found Earl. “Some people want to talk with you.”

“Everything alright?” Allen asked, not opening the door all the way.

“That thing is...going,” Earl said.

“Oh,” was all Allen said as he let the door swing open and stepped out into the hallway. “After you.”

Allen left his men behind as he followed Earl down to the municipal building where they were housing the children. Allen entered the building behind his guide and his gaze instantly fell on the eleven small bodies under tarps in the far corner of the room. Tearing his eyes away, Allen moved deeper into the building and found himself in what looked like an office in the back.

Lying on the table was the figure that had stabbed Elliot and killed Killian and his brother Abel. The clothes had been stripped off and the form in front of them was fully naked, though this wasn’t as scandalous as it seemed. The thing had no genitals to speak of and its body seemed more like deep blue ice than skin and flesh. The face that Allen had seen looking into its own was ruined now, the right side caving in on itself and melting into nothingness despite the left side remaining intact. Even as he stood there before it, Allen could see pieces of it falling away, never to hit the ground.

Seated around this thing was the same crowd from Mrs. Voight’s sitting room, sans Mrs. Voight and in her stead her oldest son. A few new faces were scattered among the vaguely familiar ones, but Allen could see they weren’t going to press him as they had before. The librarian, Wallace, was the first to speak and there was no malice or accusation in his voice.

“Did you know this was here? That it was coming?” he asked.

“No,” Allen said. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” A half truth, but easy enough to say.

“Of course, of course,” Wallace said.

“Earl says this fella came right for you,” Harris said.

“Stabbed my friend,” Allen shrugged. “Can’t say if it was coming for me or not.”

“Earl seems sure,” Harris replied. “Damn sure.”

Earl said nothing to this, but did not correct the other man.

“So you think I’m involved with that thing somehow?” Allen scoffed as convincingly as he could.

“Can’t see how you could be,” Wallace said.

“Neither can I,” Harris said as if that disappointed him.

“Can you help us?” Wallace asked, looking ashamed to have done so.

“I think so,” Allen said. “As unnerving as this guy was, Earl finished him off with one shot. We just need to keep to the earlier plan; stay together, keep a watch at all…” Before Allen could finish there was yelling and the screech of tires from just outside the building.

“The hell is that?” Earl said, turning to go, but the sound of the front door opening behind them told everyone in the room that whatever had happened was coming to them. Moments later a group of men came rushing inside. All stopped in horror at the sight of the thing on the table and, for a short moment, the cramped room felt truly chaotic. “Hey!” Earl yelled suddenly and far louder than Allen would have expected. “You all can shut it and use some damned sense!”

“Sorry Earl,” one of the men who had barged in said. “But we found John and his people. Killed, all of them. Stabbed and fucking poisoned from what we could tell. Looked like they might have got whatever did it, but we didn’t see a body or anything like that. Just took some pictures and got our asses back here right quick. Seems like you all had some excitement of your own,” he added, looking at the assassin in the center of the room.

“You could say that,” Earl growled. “Thing killed Killian and Abel and stuck one of Kyle’s people.”

“Think it was the same thing that did John and them?” one of the other men asked fearfully.

“Might have been?” Earl said. “Who could know?”

“What makes you say they might have killed it?” Allen asked.

“Outline of a body in the snow with a bullet right where the head would be” the leader of the new group said. “Looked like whatever it was ran them off the road. Found Tony with a goddamn spear in his chest. Frank had one too, but in his fucking neck. It was a massacre Earl.”

“Jesus,” Earl groaned as Harris rose to help support him.

“You said you have pictures?” Allen asked.

The talker of the search party handed Allen his phone with the gallery open to his most recent photos. Flicking through them Allen didn’t like what he saw. Most of the men had been killed with what he had to assume was a spear thrust or throw. Only one of the men showed any other signs of trauma. He had been found lying next to the truck and Allen saw the classic signs of being poisoned on his bloated face. How any of this had happened was anyone’s guess, but he did share the men’s opinion that this thing was no longer out there. Allen thought that if it had been, none of these men would be here now.

“The fuck is happening?” Earl muttered as he shook Harris off and took the phone from Allen, swiping through the pictures himself.

Allen said nothing, but watched as the people around him began to panic. He understood the urge even if he was able to suppress it, but he knew that if this hysteria spread, things would only get more complicated. “Listen up everyone,” Allen said in a loud voice. All eyes turned to him and he cleared his throat before saying, “Two of my people are injured and I won’t risk moving them at the moment, but I think it would be wise for the rest of you to consider getting out of town. If that thing was still out there it would have attacked, so I think a retreat would be safe. If our friend lying on the table here is any indication, so long as you bring enough guns and stick together, you should be fine. Just keep your eyes peeled and don’t let your guard down.”

The others all looked at him with varying expressions. Some looked relieved that he had suggested a retreat while others, the minority to be sure, seemed offended by the idea. Slowly his audience began muttering to one another and Allen made no effort to recapture their attention. This was their call to make and whatever they chose to do would likely affect the decisions of everyone else in their town. Allen was an outsider in this and his only role was to make the suggestion and let the rest play out as it would.

After a few minutes, the room seemed to have come to a consensus and, instead of looking back to Allen, they turned to Earl for direction. The part time sheriff did not shirk from this and began directing traffic. “Find out how many cars we need to get everyone out of here and then start getting people organized. Leave anything that isn’t essential. We need to get going as fast as we can. Make sure everyone who has a decent stock of supplies leaves a key here with Kyle and his people. Least we can do. Now let’s get moving! We don’t have much daylight to work with!”

Allen watched as the others dispersed around him and was eventually left with just Earl and the body on the table. “I think you’re making the right call,” Allen said to the other man as he noticed the assassin’s left arm begin to wither away.

“Wish I could say the same to you,” Earl said. “Sure you won’t come with us? Ain’t nothing to protect if we aren’t here. Isn’t a soul in town that wants you dying over their house.”

“I’ll give it a day or two and then follow you,” Allen said. “Do you mind if I give you a bit of advice?”

“Sure slick,” Earl laughed, “shoot.”

“No matter what you and I know, all anyone can ever prove is that two men and eleven children died here in town and a handful of others in a car accident that same week. It’s a lot, and nothing you’ve seen will fly with the people that are going to come asking questions. Best thing you can do is make the police aware and then not say a damn thing besides that. You found the kids, you found the brothers and you found John and his people. They won’t like it, but it will be hard to pin it on any one person if you all just keep your mouths shut,” Allen said. “You tell them this, what really happened, and you’re headed for a long stay in a place you don’t belong.”

“I’ll mention it to some folks, let the words spread on our way out,” Earl said slowly. “Doesn’t seem right, but it does seem smart. Good to know the difference in times like this I guess. Can’t say no one’s gonna drop your names. I won’t of course, but John’s wife…”

“Not worried about it,” Allen said.

“Didn’t think you would be, uh, Kyle,” he said with emphasis that made Allen smile. Earl wasn’t as part time as he let people believe.

“I’ll be at Killian’s if you need me,” Allen said.

“I’ll pop by before we head out,” Earl nodded.

“Good,” Allen said.

“What do you all plan on doing once we’re gone?” Earl asked as he headed out the door.

“Keep watch,” Allen said.

Twisting around to look down the mountain side, he saw bits and pieces of the tail end of the RV everywhere, and standing down on the ground at the base of the mountain, Coyote. Doing a painful sit-up to look up the mountain, Hayden found a much more dire situation. The front half of the RV, likely with Olivia still inside, was wedged precariously between a few trees that were even now bending under the weight of the vehicle atop them.

Worse still, up at the top of the mountain side, near the destroyed guardrail that had failed to keep them from danger, stood a hulking figure, moving from side to side and looking down at the front half of the RV as if it wanted to attack, but was unsure of how to get to it yet. Hayden couldn’t see many details from his current position, but from here it looked like some sort of monstrous gorilla. He couldn’t know of course, but he now worried that, once this thing found a path down to them, their handguns might not be able to stop it.

Realizing the best thing he could do was get out of this position, Hayden pulled himself up to the tangle that held his ankle and began trying to work it free.

------------------------

Coyote had plummeted into his fair share of trees on the way down the mountain side, but he was unhurt for the most part. His body was stronger than ever, even if his mind was starting to seem weak and foreign to him. He should have known the smell of the stink graul, but the host of other new scents in this place had thrown him off, possibly with fatal consequences.

He could see Hayden above him, caught up in some foliage like a clumsy child, but he could not see the woman who had been carting them around in that metal beast. Judging by the graul’s fixation on the front half of the transport though, he guessed she was still in there.

Coyote did not want to let either of his companions die, that would mark the end of his time here in the Shadow without a doubt, but he also knew that to charge a graul who held the high ground was suicide. If the beast came down to him, he would meet it in battle willingly, but until then, the woman and Hayden were on their own.

If they perished, he would flee this place and try to find peace elsewhere. It was not his first choice, but far better than facing renewed imprisonment or the Raven’s wrath. Looking up the mountain at the others, he bowed his head and prayed for the Old Gods to help them. They were the only ones who could.

----------------------------------------

Olivia had stayed loose and calm even as whatever the hell that thing was had pushed them out over the guard rail. Dropping into the trees had been painful, she felt like she might have dislocated her shoulder, but she was alive for now.

The thing that had attacked them remained unseen, but she could hear and feel it moving around above her and knew it was only a matter of time before it came to inspect the remnants of the RV. Looking down, she saw that the driver’s side door would open to a ten foot drop, followed by a tumble down the mountain side. Not exactly the ideal escape plan, so she kept her seat belt secured as she tried to see what was keeping her in her current position. It was hard to tell for sure, but she was almost positive that if she just wiggled the front wheel around enough, she would be able to dislodge herself. There would still be a pretty violent fall, but she would be more protected in here than outside.

Without being able to know if either of her companions were alive, Olivia gripped the steering wheel in both hands and, ignoring the pain in her left shoulder, began trying to break the RV free of the trees. Just as it started to work, she heard something large moving down the mountain side towards her.

-------------------------------

Hayden finally got his foot free as he heard a creaking and shuffling above him. Olivia, it had to be her, was trying to shake the RV free as the thing that had attacked them was moving down towards her, using the larger trees to control its descent. Drawing his weapon, Hayden pointed it up at the creature, but couldn’t risk discharging it as the RV broke free.

Hayden watched in horror as the battered front half of the RV dropped close to ten feet to the ground below and then began to slide, gaining speed as it went, down the side of the mountain. Even as Hayden himself made to go after it, something large flew by him. Hayden stopped, ducked low, and watched as a mass of muscle careened down after the RV like a dog chasing its favorite toy. This closer look showed him deep teal fur and skin that made him think of glacial ice along with a mane of shaggy red hair that ran in a kind of mohawk down its neck and back.

Hoping Coyote was ready for the monster headed his way, Hayden began sliding down the leaves on his ass, like a fool, hoping he might still be able to help take this thing down, even if everyone else failed.

---------------------

Coyote watched the stink graul charging down the mountain after the woman and decided to act. Using his front claws to gain speed, Coyote charged up at the graul, coming at it from the side. The thing never saw him coming as he hurled himself at the creature’s massive legs, taking them out from under the beast and sending them both careening to the ground as the front half of the metal transport reached the bottom of the hill and slowed to a halt. If the woman in there was alive, she was far more resilient than Coyote had given her credit for.

Seeing that the graul was disoriented and struggling to rise, Coyote darted forward and leapt onto the thing’s broad, muscle corded back. The smell was almost intolerable, but Coyote sunk his teeth into the graul’s neck anyway and tore at his chest, sides and back with both sets of claws. For its part, the graul bellowed hoarsely and pummeled Coyote with powerful if inaccurate blows from its fists. Coyote held on as long as he could, but a third wild shot to the snout stunned him enough that he fell from the graul’s back, eyes watering, his vision clouded.

Spinning around and planting its fists on either side of Coyote’s prone form, the graul bellowed into Coyote’s face, enveloping him in a noxious stench that made his stomach turn and his fate clear.

Snarling, Coyote let out a roar of his own. He was not afraid to die, he only wished he’d been here a little longer and not fallen to a beast such as this.

Then, suddenly, the graul’s bellowing stopped as short, loud popping sounds filled the air.

----------------------

Hayden’s first bullet came just in time and struck the roaring creature in the side of the head. Knowing these things could be tough as nails, Hayden kept firing, filling the thing’s arm and shoulder with bullets as it tried to protect its now damaged skull. This proved a poor strategy as Olivia, one arm dangling uselessly at her side, used the other to fire her own shots into the other side of the thing’s face. Backing away from them and bellowing in pain, arms raised to protect its head, the thing looked ready to run, but Coyote did not let it.

Lunging up from the ground where he had just been pinned, Coyote ducked under the thing’s raised arms and sunk his teeth deep into their target’s throat. The thing tried to pull him off, but it was too late. With a vicious tug, Coyote tore its throat free. The thing, now dying, dropped to its knees and grasped at its ruined neck.

Hayden moved forward, but Olivia beat him to it. She fired two bullets directly into the back of the thing’s head, killing it quickly and mercifully.

Spitting out the mouthful of gore, Coyote said, “Disgusting.”

“Very,” Olivia agreed, though Hayden didn’t think Coyote understood that he was the object of her disgust.

“Tastes rotten,” he said, licking the fur of his claw-like hands as if that would rid him of the taste.

“The hell is that thing?” Hayden asked.

“Stink graul,” Coyote spat. “Graul are common enough in my world, but these kind are rare and foul. No match for us though.”

“What is your plan for all this?” Olivia said, ignoring Coyote and referencing the surrounding carnage.

“Take the license plate and leave it,” Hayden shrugged. “Let the local police figure it out.”

“You don’t think the guy that sold it to you is going to say something if they trace it back to him?” Olivia said.

“No one’s dead and no one comes out here,” Hayden said. “Even if someone does find the RV, I think you're overestimating how much cops give a shit about something like this.”

“It’s your ass,” Olivia said.

“How’s your arm?” he asked.

“Dislocated shoulder,” she winced. “You ok?”

“Not a scratch on me,” Hayden said.

“Maybe some of Noah’s luck rubbed off on you,” she grimaced. “How are you planning to get out of here?”

“Walk,” Hayden sighed. “Not hard to get back and we can do it all in the woods and out of sight. You think you’ll be ok?”

“Just help me get it in a sling and I’ll tough it out,” she said. “If we had been in the van, we’d be dead.”

“Very possible,” Hayden said as she walked him through making a sling out of his sweatshirt. “You want to call this in or should I?” Hayden asked once he was done.

“I’ll do it,” she said, wrestling her phone out of her pocket with one hand. Standing there with the phone against her ear for longer than Hayden would have expected, she finally said, “Called Atticus, no response.”

“Call Margaret then,” Hayden said.

“That’s not like him,” she said.

“Call Margaret,” Hayden said again.

“Fine,” Olivia said. Hayden gave her her privacy as she checked in with Margaret and was unsure of what look was plastered across her face when the call finally ended.

“What’s up?” Hayden said.

“Atticus picked up two more of them,” Olivia said, sounding a little stunned.

“More of what?” Coyote said, now looking up from his self cleaning regimen.

“You,” she said.

“Who is it?” Coyote asked, looking wary.

“No names,” Olivia shrugged. “Just said there were two and that we need to get back asap. Alaska is going poorly and Jomo’s on the hunt. Might need to redeploy.”

“Let’s worry about getting back to the van first,” Hayden said.

The shade looked down at Chiguak’s body and acknowledged the passing of a titan. Whatever had happened in the Shadow was largely a mystery, but one thing was clear; the shade’s master had underestimated this new enemy. All of his minions had been sent back and none of them had much information for him that he didn’t already know. The only true revelation was that the Harbinger had brought two more into his doomed revolution. This complicated things, to be sure, but it was far from an insurmountable challenge.

They would need to bring this to the Great Ones, something the shade’s master had wanted to avoid, but things had spiraled past that now. It would take time to convene a council of the mouthpieces, but they would make it happen. Until then, the shade needed more information about their new adversary. It would create some lesser-shades, further copies of the shade itself, still imbued with the will and wants of their master, and send them through to the Shadow. There they would gather all the information needed to defeat this new foe.

Margaret was a little hungover the morning after their celebration, but only a little. Putting on a suit she generally saved for moments when she needed to make an impression, she walked out to the garages where the non-humans were waiting. “I’m going to be bringing a guest through here,” she said to the five of them. “Look menacing.” Tickled by how amused they all seemed, she walked outside, shutting the garage doors behind her with the push of a button.

She waited only five minutes before a car came into view and she had no trouble identifying who it was. “Agent Saunders,” she said as the woman parked in front of her and stepped out of the car. She was Margaret’s age, with similar colored hair, and was wearing almost the exact opposite of what Margaret had chosen for this meeting; a simple t-shirt, jeans and, of all things, a pair of worn Converse sneakers.

“Ms. Wynters,” Saunders said, smiling wide. “A pleasure to meet you in person. Been a big fan for a long time.”

“I appreciate that,” Margaret said, shaking the woman’s hand as she came to stand in front of her.

“We talking out here?” Saunders said, looking around at the endless view of golden fields.

“We can speak in my office,” Margaret said, turning to the garage control panel. Pressing the open button, she waited patiently while the door rolled upwards. “Just through here please,” she said, leading the other woman inside.

In the garages, the non-humans did not disappoint. The Raven, Ghat-soh and Iktomi glared at them as they passed while Coyote and Wei loomed over them, menacing enough via their sheer size. Glancing over at her companion, Margaret was shocked to see that Saunders was perfectly comfortable. As they passed the motley crew of glarers, she looked up to Ghat-soh and said, “Ma’am.”

Ghat-soh did not respond.

They made their way inside after this and headed to the office. They didn’t see a soul, the night before’s drinking had seen to that, and soon they were inside and Margaret was comfortably behind her desk, Agent Saunders sitting placidly across from her. “Nice place,” Saunders said, looking around. “This building is mainly used for that defense contract you picked up, yeah?”

“Mostly,” Margaret nodded. The elephant in the room was massive, but Margaret wasn’t going to address it until this other woman did. She was no fool.

“I assume this is where Mr. Benjamin has been living?” she asked. “Since leaving North Carolina that is.”

“He has,” Margaret nodded. “We have a number of in-house employees here.”

“And what exactly does he do for you?” Saunders asked. “No offense to him, but this seems pretty far outside his skill set.”

“Why don’t we just have the conversation you came here to have?” Margaret said tersely.

“I would if I knew how,” Saunders said, meeting her eyes. “You know what I saw out there when I found your people?”

“I’ve heard a description,” Margaret nodded.

“Then you know why I didn’t freak out when we saw your muscle in the garage,” she said. “I’m a true believer Ms. Wynters, I told your man Noah that as well, I just want to know what it is I’m believing in.”

“Why?” Margaret asked, leaning towards her across the desk. “You know what happened in Minnesota, Doumont and North Carolina. You know there are bodies tied to these things, things we can’t ever prove were really here, at least not easily. Why would you want to know more, especially in your position? Wouldn’t your job force you to report this?”

“I mean I should report it, if that’s what you mean,” Saunders laughed, “but nothing is going to force me to do anything. I know this isn’t something you have to worry about, but I’m facing mandatory retirement in a couple of weeks and I’m far from done being able to do my job. When I picked up on Noah’s involvement in a handful of unsolved cases, I poked around more or less because I had time and I liked the kid. After a while though, I started worrying about what he’d gotten involved in. Figured he was in over his head and it looks like I was right. At this point, I just want to know what the hell is happening. Seems more than a little ominous.”

“And if I refuse?” Margaret asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Then I wasted a lot of my time,” Saunders shrugged.

Margaret did not respond to this, but searched the other woman's face, looking for any sign that she was being played. From what she could tell, this woman was being genuine and despite her quirkiness, seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. “You want the truth of it?” Margaret said finally.

“More than anything I’ve wanted in quite some time,” Saunders said, leaning forward now herself.

“I have an old friend who wound up in some sort of secret Catholic Order. Apparently they’ve known about these things for a while and figured out that there was a way to tell they were coming and where they’d end up. Unable to handle it themselves, they brought in two of my other friends. Only after their venture had cost one of them his life, was I brought in,” Margaret said.

“This friend was Jack Andrews?” she asked.

“Yes,” Margaret said. Hearing his name was still painful.

“Go on,” Saunders said.

“Well after I was brought in, I kind of kicked everything into overdrive resources-wise. I used the defense contract as a bit of a front, though we are doing good work there, and have been sending people out to different crossover sites around the country. Doumont was one of these. While I can’t say we’re doing everything the most efficient way possible, we have managed to send these things back where they came from each time,” Margaret said.

“What made you feel like this was your responsibility?” Saunders asked.

“Would you honestly trust the government with this kind of knowledge?” Margaret replied.

“Probably not,” Saunders conceded. “You understand the type of legal jeopardy this has put you and your people in?”

“I do,” Margaret nodded. “How could I not?”

“And yet you aim to keep at it?” Saunders prodded.

“Until we are forced to stop or finish the job,” Margaret said.

“Well then in that case I have an offer for you,” Saunders said. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but this whole flying around by the seat of your pants thing you all have been doing might have worked so far, but it’s only a matter of time before it bites you in the ass. Hard. From what I can see, you need someone who can keep you from doing some of the little stupid things that allowed me to end up here in your office. I think I could be that person. If you’re willing to take me on of course.”

“You want a job?” Margaret asked. This woman was turning out to be just as odd as Noah had claimed.

“I have no interest in retiring quite yet,” she said. “This seems like a good lateral move for me. I assume it pays well if you’re involved?”

“You won’t starve,” Margaret said edgily.

“I’d only have one condition,” Saunders said.

“And what would that be?” Margaret asked, still mulling over the other woman’s proposal.

“I’d need to speak with Hayden Fritz,” she said. “We worked together a long time ago and I’d like to pick his brain a little. See what he thinks of how things have been going.”

“How did you know Hayden was here?” Margaret asked.

“Peeked at your payroll,” Saunders said. “So are we in business or am I heading home empty handed and worried about monsters popping up in my neighborhood?”

“You ok answering to me?” Margaret asked. Another alpha was the last thing they needed.

“As long as you’re ok with me critiquing every little thing you’ve done so far to keep you out of jail,” Saunders laughed.

“Then we have a deal,” Margaret said. “I’ll go get Hayden.”

-------------------------

Naomi Saunders took her spot behind Margaret’s desk and waited for the young Mr. Fritz to arrive. There was a chance he’d make a fuss, they didn’t actually know one another, but she was willing to bank on the fact that he’d come up here quietly. She had some questions for this infamous colleague of hers before she would be comfortable working alongside him. He had quite a reputation in their shared circle and very little of it was good.

A sharp knock on the door announced his arrival and Naomi pushed the button Margaret had shown her to let him in. He looked far different than she’d expected, slimmer and younger than the man she had pictured when she’d heard what he’d gotten up to during his time as a part of the country’s elite law enforcement agency. “Morning,” he said as he made his way to the chair she had been occupying moments before.

“Good morning to you Mr. Fritz,” she said.

As he took a seat he said, “You know, for an old friend, you don’t look very familiar.”

“That white lie was for your benefit,” she said and there was no warmth in her voice. This was more or less an interrogation and she wanted him to view it as such. “I’m from the Bureau and possibly about to jump ship to come work with Ms. Wynters.”

“So this is about me and my past then,” Hayden said, sounding unconcerned.

“It is,” she said. “You know what’s been said about you?”

“Of course,” Hayden said. “Which bits are bothering you the most?” His nonchalance was making him seem like either an innocent man prepared with a familiar defense of his actions or a complete sociopath unbothered by his past wrongs.

“Let’s start with the accusations you faced while working sex crimes,” she said.

“What do you want to know?” Hayden asked.

“Did you kill those men?” she asked.

“Sure did,” Hayden said, meeting her gaze without shame.

Naomi was a little put off by how easily he was talking about this, but had worked too long at this job to not keep digging. “Did they have you both dead to rights?”

“Oh yeah,” Hayden said. “I was ready to go to jail for that shit, or at least lose my job, but the higher ups seemed to understand.”

“Understand what?” Naomi asked.

“That guys like Logan Klein and Sammy Tulson weren’t your average pimps or traffickers,” Hayden said, anger creeping into his voice, though it was clear it was not directed at her. “These are the type of guys that kill a woman just to keep the others in line. The type of men who procure children for other men. To take those two in would have ended in painful trials for everyone but them. They were animals. Forcing their victims to face them in court would have just been another way for them to get off. So we handled it.”

“You shot them?” she asked.

“I did,” Hayden said, again with that effortless calm.

“No regrets?” she asked.

“Sometimes I think prison would have been worse for them,” Hayden shrugged. “Other times I think they just would have brought their sadistic shit with them and that I made the right call.”

“What about Terry Becker?” she asked, hoping to catch him off guard with a quick change of subject. “Isn’t his brother Allen working here as well?”

“Terry made it clear he was going to kill me,” Hayden said. “He was making too much money screwing over dealers and suppliers to tolerate my noncompliance. I just beat him to the punch. That one cost me my job, but I’d rather be alive than an agent if I’m being honest with myself.”

“Does his brother know?” she asked, more curious than anything else.

“Allen?” Hayden said. “Yeah. We’ve discussed it. He knew who Terry was. Water under the bridge.”

Finding that hard to believe, she asked, “Do the others know?”

“About all this, no,” Hayden said. “Though I think Eli, Noah's kid brother, might have done some digging. He’s been looking at me like I caught the plague or something lately.”

“I hear Jack Andrews was the one who brought you into this,” she said. “He always spoke highly of you from what I remember.”

“He knew why I did the job,” Hayden shrugged. “He never judged me for any of that shit. He didn’t like it, but I think he understood.”

Naomi tried to wrap her head around all this while the two of them sat staring at each other over Margaret’s desk. She had never worked sex crimes herself, but knew it was a rough gig where things like what Hayden had just described happened from time to time. How could they not? On top of that, she knew Jack Andrews well enough to know his seal of approval carried weight. If he had trusted Hayden to be a part of this, who was she to question that? “If I join up,” she asked, already knowing she was going to, one hundred percent, “what do I need to look out for? What are their weaknesses as you see them?”

Hayden leaned back in his chair a bit before saying, “On the whole, the biggest problem is that they’ve put their trust in the wrong people. Margaret may have more resources than the rest of us put together, but she doesn’t really know how to run something like this. She keeps defaulting to Allen Becker or Atticus Daniels. Neither of them is useless of course, but Atticus is completely out of his depth most of the time and Allen is used to following orders, not coming up with battle plans. Most of our worst mistakes can be traced back to those three.”

“And how would you rectify this?” she asked.

“I would try to get Margaret to see that Allen is a very nice, very loyal, grunt. Then I’d give her someplace else to look for advice other than Atticus or her people. If you put Margaret on the right path, she’ll handle the rest. Getting her there seems to be the main issue,” he said. “I’d also try to get them all to change their mindset towards our targets and allies downstairs.”

“What do you mean?” Naomi asked.

“They see these things, these sentient beings, as animals or sub-humans,” Hayden said, sounding genuinely annoyed. “I get they aren’t like us in a lot of ways, but mentally, up here,” he said, tapping his head, “I’m starting to think it’s all the same.”

“When has this difference in mindset affected your goals negatively?” Saunders asked. Whatever his faults, Hayden seemed to have a sharp mind and she was appreciating his openness.

“A few days back,” Hayden said, “when we were up in Alaska, Allen and I found ourselves face to face with one of these things. He was an evil little shit, but he was willing to talk and I was willing to listen. There is a political element to the place where these things are coming from and I’m worried we don’t understand it well enough yet. Anyway, this little guy is feeding me information when Allen decides to get hung up on these kids he killed. Don’t get me wrong, that kind of shit makes my blood boil too, but it was obvious that he was just baiting Allen to get a rise out of him.”

“And Allen took the bait?” she asked.

“Iced the bastard without hesitation,” Hayden said.

“Which cut short your little information exchange,” she said, understanding the other man’s ire all of a sudden.

“Like I said,” Hayden replied, “Allen’s a good man, but he can be dumb as shit.”

“Did you say anything to him?” she asked.

“No point,” Hayden said. “I was involved in a similar situation which ended in the same fashion. Only difference was, my target came at me. I doubt he’d see it that way though.”

“If I come on board,” Naomi asked, willing to let the Allen bashing end without further prodding, “will the others have a problem with it?”

“What’s Margaret going to have you doing?” Hayden asked.

“Running the investigative side of things,” she said.

“Well people will be thrilled then,” Hayden said. “Anyone is better than me as far as most of these folks are concerned.”

“Well maybe we can change their minds about that,” Naomi said.

“Maybe,” Hayden said. “We done?”

“We can be,” she nodded.

“Good,” Hayden said. “I’m the only one who hasn’t taken a vow of celibacy that didn’t drink last night. I’d like to go be bitter about that before everyone else wakes up to complain about their hangovers.”

“Understandable,” Naomi said as she stood up and made her way around the desk to join him. Shaking his hand, she said, “Thank you for being so open with me. I look forward to working together.”

“If you need anything else, just ask,” Hayden said. “It will be good to have someone in the know to report to now.” Naomi watched the complicated young man leave and as the door shut behind him, she wondered just what she was getting into.

----------------------

The Raven was waiting on the roof when Ghat-soh finally came up to meet him.

“Why must we meet up on this damned roof,” she said once she had extricated herself from the vertical shaft that led up here.

“Privacy,” the Raven said as he looked down at the remnants of last night's fire below him.

“From whom?” she said in an exasperated voice.

“Any who might listen,” he said, turning to face her. “I am glad you have returned.”

“As am I,” she said. “I had begun my death song when they fell.”

“I heard it,” the Raven said, “and my heart wept for you. We have too much left to do to fall this early.”

“I hear we have made a new tribe,” she said, graciously not mocking him for his uncommon display of sentiment.

“We have,” he nodded, “I spoke for you at council. You may renege your membership if I have erred.”

“You may always speak for me at council, Tenoshin,” she said. “You have done well to bring so many of us together.”

“Five is far from many,” the Raven said.

“It is far more than I would have guessed would come,” she said. “To see Coyote and Iktomi among us is strange, but good I think.”

“Iktomi will not last,” the Raven said harshly.

“Well until she fails,” Ghat-soh said, “use her. She has far more in her mind than the rest of us and knows things that we do not.”

“I will heed your advice,” he said.

“Now tell me why we are up here?” she asked, hands on hips.

“I did not want to alarm the others were they to overhear,” the Raven said. “War is coming.”

“How can you be sure?” she asked. “Perhaps they have shown them the Shadow is no place to play their games?”

“Not yet,” the Raven said, shaking his head. “They will come again with greater force. We must be ready.”

“We will be,” Ghat-soh said.

“If our allies here fall, they cannot help us in the end,” the Raven said, “and without them we have no chance of victory at home. I worry that with so much hanging in the balance, that I will miss something and our cause will be lost forever.”

“That may come to pass Tenoshin,” she said, “but I have faith in you. The others do too. Where you lead, we will follow, even if it is into darkness. We are with you.”

“Do you truly mean to retake our home?” a far off, hollow sounding voice asked.

The Raven looked up to see the Princeling of the Moon-Eyed People floating down towards them. Whether he had been there the whole time or had only now come to be there, the Raven did not know. “I do,” the Raven said as the Prince came to float at his eye level.

“How?” the Prince asked.

“Can you not see it in my mind, imp?” the Raven said.

“I have not entered your mind since first we met,” the Prince said.

“I mean to use Allen Becker and his tools and weapons,” the Raven said, somewhat relieved to know the little glowing thing was not inside his head. “I believe they can locate the lair of the Usurper. I will do the rest.”

“Allen Becker has agreed to this?” the Prince asked in his monotone voice.

“He has,” the Raven nodded.

“Then this changes much,” the Prince said, the light within him flickering for reasons unknown to the Raven.

“You must keep this to yourself, sprite,” Ghat-soh said. “Margaret Wynters does not know of Allen’s commitment to our cause. We believe it is better this way.”

“I do not disagree,” the Prince said. “Can you make me a promise, Tenoshin of the Shotone?”

“What is the promise?” the Raven said, gritting his teeth in anger at the sound of his true name and lost tribe.

“That when the time comes to take back the First World, that you will allow me to join you,” the Prince said.

“I thought your kind had abandoned our home?” the Raven said.

“Things have changed,” the Prince said again, and the Raven knew it to be true.

“Then count yourself among us,” the Raven said. “When the time comes, we will take back what is ours.”

“Be well, Tenoshin,” the Prince said.

“Be well, Princeling,” the Raven said as the Prince faded from view, off to wherever it was he cared to be when he was not needed.

“Your conspiracy grows,” Ghat-soh said.

“And our victory comes into view,” the Raven agreed. “The end is nearing.”

“I am ready,” Ghat-soh said, placing a warm hand on his cold shoulder.

It had been four days since his sit down with Naomi Saunders in Lakeview and Noah was glad to be back at headquarters in Nebraska. Margaret had sworn him to secrecy, but did not seem upset with him. She did seem a little nervous, but Noah could understand that. Genial as she had been, Agent Saunders was still an unknown entity. Since Noah had made it back, the rest of the team had trickled in, Allen and company arriving the latest and looking dead on their feet. Noah had heard Margaret had some sort of celebration in mind, but had put it off for a few days so the Alaska team could rest.

Olivia, Kevin and Elliot were still nursing their injuries, but all of them were on the mend and in good spirits. Noah had paid them all a visit a few times since he’d been back, still somewhat shocked that he was even here at all. The memory of the church and that strange dirge that Ghat-soh had dragged out of him was still fresh in his mind, and the idea that he had survived the onrush of corpses by seconds still made his pulse quicken a little when he thought about it.

On the morning of his fourth day back, he decided to head to the gym. He needed to focus on something other than his current thoughts and figured that was the most productive way to spend his time. Before he could get there though, he found Olivia and Hayden alone in the common area, chatting on one of the couches. Making his way over to them, he dropped into one of the armchairs across from their couch.

“Looks like we all made it,” Noah said.

“Barely,” Hayden said. “I heard the tape. Glad I went where I went.”

“Lovely,” Olivia said, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t blame you,” Noah said. “That’s as close to getting zombied as I’d like to get.”

“Getting zombied?” Olivia said.

“You’d get it if you were there,” Father Rigali’s voice said from behind Noah.

“How did things in Alaska turn out?” Noah asked.

“Not as well as they could have,” Hayden said and he sounded sour about it.

“You all got back in one piece,” Father Rigali said. “That seems good enough for now.”

“What can I say,” Hayden shrugged, “I’m an overachiever, Father.”

“You’ve always struck me as such,” Father Rigali said snidely.

“Hey Noah,” Eli’s voice said from his other side.

“Hey, what’s up?” Noah said, turning to face his brother. They hadn’t talked much since Noah had gotten back, but he’d heard from others that Eli hadn’t taken Noah’s situation in Minnesota well. Noah was trying not to be happy about that, he wouldn’t have wanted to be in Eli’s position, but he kind of was. Nice to know the big lug cared.

“Can I grab you for a second?” Eli asked awkwardly, looking at Hayden a few times in a way that the other man definitely noticed.

“Sure,” Noah said, getting up out of his chair and following Eli away from the others. “What was that about?” he asked as they made their way out of the common area and towards the garages.

“Not here,” Eli said as he moved into the gym.

“Yes here,” Noah said, stopping in the middle of the room. “What’s going on? What did you do?”

Eli looked annoyed by the accusation, but he said, “Something I shouldn’t have, but I can’t unsee what I’ve already seen, you know?”

“Eli…” Noah said.

“I just wanted to make sure I had some leverage if they tried to pin the Prince thing on me,” Eli said in a low voice, looking around as if he expected someone to be listening in. “I deleted it all before I even knew Margaret was going to be cool about everything, most of it was nothing anyway, but some of it...some of it was bad Noah. I think...I think Hayden has killed people. Like illegally. Murder.”

Noah looked at his brother and tried to decide how angry he was. Noah by no means thought his fate here was tied to Eli’s, but he had vouched for his brother and he took that seriously. “What did you do exactly?” Noah said in a measured tone.

“I just went digging for some...info, just to keep me safe in case...you know,” Eli said, but he wasn’t meeting Noah’s eyes anymore.

“What did you find out about Hayden?” Noah asked. He really hated this, but if it was a safety issue, he wasn’t going to let it slip by him. He liked Hayden, in a way, but the man had made him uneasy from day one. If that feeling was valid, it was best to know why.

“Just that when he was working in sex crimes he may have killed some people instead of, you know, like arresting them or whatever. Then I read that he killed Allen’s brother in self defense. Real shady shit south of the border. Looks like they let him go, or let him walk, after that. I know he seems like a normal guy, but Noah, this is bad,” Eli said imploringly, trying to show his seriousness despite his shame.

“Well if that part about Allen is true, then he must know,” Noah said slowly. “And if Allen doesn’t care, why should we? It may have been justified. Shit like that happens, Eli. As for the sex crimes stuff...I can’t say I don’t get that.”

“What?” Eli said, looking stunned.

“You do a little background check on me?” Noah said.

“Of course not!” Eli said indignantly.

“Well if you had you would have found more than you bargained for,” Noah said. “Back when I was working for Hank, just before he died as a matter of fact, my partner and I got a call. Domestic shit. We roll over, head inside and we find out that this drunk asshole has stabbed his poor wife to death in front of their kid, who was outside shrieking the entire time.”

“What happened?” Eli asked, looking disturbed.

“I beat the fucking shit out of him with my night stick,” Noah said, meeting his brother’s eyes. “Had to get pulled off of him by some other cops. I nearly blinded him. Got off because he was some nobody with a history of knocking his wife around, but that information is out there somewhere. Worst part is, I know I would have killed him if they hadn’t stopped me. I would have bashed his brains in with a fucking stick Eli. You know why? Because in that moment, I knew he deserved it. Whatever Hayden did, he’s out here helping us and not locked up doing time. I’m guessing there’s a reason. Let it die Eli. Keep an eye out, but keep this shit to yourself. Do you understand?”

“Yeah,” Eli said. “I just didn’t want him here if he wasn’t safe.”

“I understand,” Noah sighed.

“What did Hank do?” Eli asked.

“What?” Noah asked, confused.

“After you mugged that guy?” Eli said.

“Tore me a new asshole,” Noah laughed.

“Bet he did,” Eli smiled.

“Any chance you’ll squeeze in some sets with me?” Noah asked as he patted Eli on the shoulder and moved towards the weight machines.

“Not in hell,” Eli said. “You know anything about this party or whatever tonight?”

“Nothing,” Noah said. “Should be fun though.”

“Should be,” Eli said and he left the room.

-----------------------

Allen woke up some time in the afternoon and headed straight for the gym. As he entered the small room full of equipment, he ran into Noah who was clearly just finishing a workout of his own. “Good to see you,” Allen said as the younger man noticed him. “Heard you had a close call.”

“About as close as they get I think,” Noah said, out of breath. “Got lucky.”

“Better lucky than dead,” Allen said.

“Have to agree with you there,” Noah said, rubbing a towel on his head to mop up the sweat. “You know anything about what Margaret’s got planned for tonight?”

“Some sort of victory party,” Allen laughed. “As long as there’s food, I’ll be happy.”

“Heard that,” Noah said. “I’ll catch you around. Need to shower before Margaret kicks me out for stinking up the place.”

Allen left Noah behind and entered the gym. He was still a little sore from their endeavors in the Great White North, but if he didn’t start getting back into a routine, he’d be stuck in his jet lag induced fugue state far longer than he wanted to be. He decided to stick to upper body stuff today and started his usual run through, planning to go easy and take his time.

As he moved through his routine, he kept coming back to the inside of Chiguak’s home and all that had transpired there. The second their enemy had taken the Raven out of the picture, Allen had panicked. Flashbacks to the house where the A’Sin had trapped half their team, rendering them helpless to fight back and completely at his mercy, had begun jumping unbeckoned to his mind. Hayden’s calm had only gotten him more worked up and watching his ally converse with that thing so easily had made it worse. Allen knew that he had taken the bait, that his action had been of no real consequence to the murderous shaman, and that knowledge filled him with shame. He knew it would pass, things like this always faded eventually, but for now it was fresh and weighing on him.

Finishing his workout without accomplishing his desired goal of clearing his mind, Allen took a shower, changed and decided it was about time to touch base with Jomo. He had spoken to both the new recruits briefly, but at this point all that mattered to him was what Jomo thought of them. He eventually found the man reading outside on one of the benches that ran along the backside of the building.

“What you reading?” Allen said as he took a seat on the bench.

“Some garbage Margaret had on one of the book shelves,” Jomo said, tossing the book onto the bench. “Need to order some of my own soon. The crime novels are readable, but just barely. What are you up to?”

“Wanted to talk to you about the new guys,” Allen said.

“You having reservations about Aldo?” Jomo asked.

“No, I barely spoke with him actually,” Allen said. “Is there a problem with him?”

“Not per se,” Jomo said. “He’s definitely not all in and I’m not sure how much of a team player he is. I think he’s far more likely to drop out when the next gate opens than cause any real trouble.”

“Any reservations about Ramon?” Allen asked.

“Hell no,” Jomo laughed. “He’s a tough bastard and he’s committed to the same degree Benoit is. If I could get five more of him, I’d be ready for anything.”

“He fell right in with the rest of us in Alaska,” Allen said. “Didn’t seem to phase him.”

“I think he’s seen his fair share of crazy shit,” Jomo said.

“I think we all have,” Allen replied.

“I do have one minor concern if that’s what you’re looking for,” Jomo said.

“Lay it on me,” Allen said.

“Benoit,” Jomo said, “we need to be careful how we use him. A few more days out there hiking around in Maine and we would have had to leave him somewhere.”

“Got it,” Allen said. “I was also meaning to ask you if there’s someone on your team that you’d like Olivia training to be your group’s emergency medic. After what happened in Alaska, I don’t think we should be in the field without at least one per team.”

“I think Aldo has some prior training,” Jomo said, “but if not I’ll send Ramon to her. Doubt there’s much he can’t pick up.”

“Good,” Allen said, getting up off the bench and ignoring the soreness in his legs. “I guess if that’s all, I’ll be seeing you later tonight.”

“Be prepared to eat,” Jomo said. “Margaret isn’t exactly the festive type, so when she does stuff like this she just goes completely overboard with the food.”

“I think we’ll be able to handle it,” Allen laughed.

Leaving Jomo to his book, Allen checked his watch and found that he only had a few hours left until whatever Margaret had pulled together was going to kick off. That left him enough time to go check on Elliot and Kevin. There was no sick room or anything like that, but to make things easier for Olivia they had begun sharing a dorm since they returned to base. Entering their room he found the two men alone; Kevin watching something on his phone while Elliot snored softly, dead asleep.

“Hey there boss man,” Kevin said quietly as Allen took a seat next to his friend’s bed. “How’s it hanging?”

“Like it should,” Allen said. “How’s the leg?”

“I shit you not,” Kevin said, “it was driving me crazy until the Prince did whatever the hell he did to us to get us back here. Now I barely notice it.”

“Did he heal it?” Allen asked, surprised.

“Fuck no,” Kevin laughed dryly, “it just realigned my understanding of pain. Hear me when I say this Allen, do not let him do that to you. Unbelievable. Surprised Fritz was able to handle it.”

“Hayden is a tough son of a bitch,” Allen said. “I’m not sure many people understand that yet.”

“Seems like kind of a punk to me,” Kevin said, “but whatever you say.”

“How’s Elliot doing?” Allen asked. He’d spoken to the man a few times since they’d been back, but not for long.

“Liv says he’s out of the woods,” Kevin shrugged. “Sleeps a lot but that’s a good thing I think.”

“You coming out to this celebration Margaret’s throwing together later?” Allen asked.

“If one of you wheels me out of here, then yeah,” Kevin said. “Need to get out of this room soon or I’m going to lose it.”

“They keeping all the ugly mutherfuckers in one place now?” Hector said as he and Micah stepped into the room.

“I don’t know Hector,” Micah said, “I think this might be strictly for the, uh, more senior members of our unit.”

“You all bring me anything or are you just here to gawk?” Kevin growled at them.

Micah tossed a pack of cigarettes on his bed and said, “I’ll even wheel your ass outside.”

“I always liked you kid,” Kevin said as he sat up, already unwrapping the cigarettes. Allen opened his mouth, but Kevin headed him off. “You tell me to quit right now and I’ll slap you silly.”

“You going with these two?” Allen asked Hector.

“I’ve had Kevin smoke on me enough for one lifetime,” Hector said. “I was gonna go take a nap before tonight. This time zone bullshit has my head fucked up.”

“You seen Margaret around?” Allen asked.

“In her office I think, but I’d stay down here for now,” Hector said.

“Why?” Allen asked as he helped Micah get Kevin from his bed to his wheelchair.

“She’s up there with the priest,” Hector said.

----------------------

Joe had asked Margaret for a sit down yesterday and she had agreed without hesitation, though that wasn’t necessarily a good sign. The bad blood between Margaret and himself was still alive and well as far as he knew and after all that had happened, he found that, finally, to be unacceptable.

It wasn’t just the fact that he had almost died in that church a few days ago, though that was a big part of it, it was what Kirchmann had said to him back in Rome. He had been living in his past and regressing back to the man he had been during that time when he had hurt Margaret and Atticus so deeply. All of them had. He supposed that was only natural, but in their current situation it was as dangerous as it was personally embarrassing. When he finally arrived in Margaret’s office, he found her and Atticus waiting for him.

“Good to see you both,” he said as he took a seat in the chair next to Atticus and across the desk from Margaret.

“Good to see you,” they both said curtly. It was clear they were worried that this was about to go how it usually went.

“I know that neither of you want to have this conversation, so I suggest you just listen for now. It’s no secret that what happened when we were all younger, much younger, has been coloring our decisions and our temperaments when it comes to our current joint venture. Mine most of all. All I wanted to say to you both is that I am sorry, not just for what happened back then, but for how I have acted since we all came back together. I fell back into the man I was then, not the man I am now. I look forward to showing you both who that is and learning who it is that you have become.” The words left him easily and he suddenly felt free of the weight he’d been carrying for so long.

Margaret and Atticus seemed stunned, though Atticus was getting over it far quicker. The look of shock on his face slowly gave way to a smile even as Margaret’s remained locked in the embodiment of disbelief. “That little trip back to your people did you some good then?” Atticus said.

“It did,” Joe said, smiling now himself. “Though the Prince did cause me some problems.”

“I can imagine,” Atticus said. “Not much room in the Catholic worldview for something like him.”

“You’d be surprised,” Joe said, thinking of Father Jiro and his line of questioning. That man had made him fit.

“Could you give us a minute, Atticus?” Margaret asked suddenly. She still looked out of it, but her face had softened. She looked more like the girl Joe remembered now than she had any time since their reconnection.

“Sure,” Atticus said knowingly. Getting out of his chair, he clapped Joe on the shoulder as he left them alone in the office.

The silence between them once they were alone was heavy, but Joe did not feel any sort of animosity being sent his way. She was simply looking at him like she’d only just realized he was the same Joe Rigali from back in Ohio. “What made you...change your mind?”

“The Monsignor,” Joe said, “though he didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know deep down.”

“I…” Margaret started saying, but the words seemed caught in her throat. Taking a minute to compose herself, she began again, “I was always hurt by what you did, how could I not be, but what hurt worse was seeing you again and feeling like you didn’t care. Your refusal to act properly ashamed like Atticus cut me deep Joe. It was like going through it all over again.”

“I’m sorry,” Joe said, “I truly am. I always have been.”

“What you said about regressing into who we used to be,” she said, “I think you’re right.”

“It happens,” Joe shrugged.

“I suppose it does,” Margaret said back. “I look forward to seeing who you’ve become Joe.”

“Right back at you,” Joe said, and he meant it. It sounded like she did too.

---------------------------------

Margaret was full of mixed emotions as the night’s festivities kicked off, but she put on a good show for the others nonetheless. She had hired men to guard the entrance road into the facility and alerted the local authorities of her planned bonfire to avoid any precautionary visits. She had then ordered the best local catering she could find and set up a nice little party area out behind the building.

A long tent with tables and chairs beneath it served as the main area to sit and eat, but the center of everything was the massive bonfire she had allowed Wei to build. The fire towered above all of the humans, even Allen, but it seemed well tended and under control. Looking out at her team, the men and women she was responsible for seeing through this, she felt a sense of pride she couldn’t say she’d felt towards other people before, at least not this many and not in this fashion.

Clustered under the tent she could see Allen, Jomo and their men, Kevin and Elliot both in wheelchairs but looking like they were having a good time. Sitting a bit down from them she saw Kim, Olivia, Sophia, Noah and Eli all grouped together and laughing as they sipped at the beers Margaret had provided. Joe and Atticus were off on one of the benches, chatting away like it was forty years ago while Jabari and Lehman sat on the bench down from theirs, tapping their feet to the music and people watching contentedly.

The bonfire seemed to be the epicenter of the non-human revelry and Margaret found it fascinating to look in on their strange group dynamic. Ghat-soh, Wei and the Raven stood together on the far side of the fire. Wei and Ghat-soh laughed openly and often, and seemed intent on spreading their cheer to the Raven. For his part, the Raven seemed more than able to resist them and merely stood there, arms crossed, surveying the others with his intense stare. On the side of the bonfire closer to where Margaret stood looking on, was a far more interesting trio. Hayden and Coyote, already pals from what she could tell, were standing with Iktomi and things looked fairly awkward. Hayden seemed to be trying to engage them both, but Coyote was looking at Iktomi with what Margaret could only call thinly veiled disdain.

Even the Prince was here, though he floated high above them instead of mingling down below. She wasn’t sure quite where she stood with the glowing little man, but this was only one of the many things eating away at her right now.

Tomorrow would be her meeting with this Agent Saunders and, despite the celebratory mood around her right now, she knew that meeting could be the end of all of this. Possibly even the end to Margaret’s personal freedom, though she doubted it would go that badly based on what Noah had said. Whatever this woman wanted, Margaret would give it to her and hope it was enough to keep her from running her mouth or causing trouble. It was all she could do really.

“Speech!” a drunken Hector called out as the night settled in around them.

“Speech!” a few other voices shouted, including Wei’s and Ghat-soh’s.

Realizing it was her they were yelling at, Margaret took a swig of her drink and made her way to the front of the group. All eyes met hers as she cleared her throat and surveyed the people before her. “I guess I’ll take a minute to say just how proud I am of what we’ve all accomplished here so far. None of us could have anticipated any of this and without tooting my own horn too much, I think we’ve responded admirably. There’s still a lot ahead of us, I think we all know that, but for now let’s relish this feeling; they came to test us and we sent them packing.” Raising her drink in the air, she said “To future victories, new allies and a good night!”

“Here, here!” a host of voices shouted as bottles clinked and shoulders were clapped.

“And,” Atticus said, rising to his feet a little unsteadily, “to our fearless leader!”

Noah wasn’t sure he’d experienced a more surreal moment in his life than right now. He was currently sitting in the little diner section of Lakeview’s sole gas station with Naomi Saunders. She had felt comfortable helping herself to the refrigerators and it had only taken her a few minutes to whip up some food. Noah ignored the sandwich sitting in front of him as he watched the older woman digging into hers. The priests and Ghat-soh were outside by Naomi’s request and Noah had not seen any point in arguing with her. His life as a free man was in her hands at the moment.

“I don’t know why,” Naomi said, pausing in her sandwich eating for a moment to finally speak to him, “but every time I find myself on the other side of something like this, I get positively ravenous.” Noah wasn’t quite sure what she meant and felt it was in his best interest to not say anything unless she made him. “Now I can’t tell you what that thing I shot was, but it seemed to knock out the rest of the freak show. Pretty clutch if I do say so myself.”

“Very,” Noah said, despite himself. What she must have done had been obvious the moment Noah had seen her outside the church, but this didn’t make the admission any less impressive.

“So how long until you just up and tell me what’s going on?” she said, sliding her empty plate away from her. The woman could eat. “I hate to admit it, but so far the extent of my knowledge here is that you know stuff I don’t, a lot by the looks of it, and I want to know too. So tell me. I’m already a believer, I just don’t know what I’m supposed to believe yet.”

Noah’s mouth was drier than it had ever been and he found himself wondering just what the stakes were here. This woman might seem motherly and relaxed now, but maybe that was all just a ploy to get his mouth running. “How did you find me?” he asked.

“You paid with plastic all the way up here like a dumbass,” she said with a faint smile on her face. “One of the many signs I’ve seen that make me think you have no idea what you’re doing.”

“You can get that kind of info without a crime being committed?” Noah asked, genuinely disturbed.

“Sure can,” she said. “I also went and talked to your godmother, doing very well by the way, and your old partner Lew. They both seemed to know something was up, same as everyone in Doumont. So far my only lead on any of this was you. I knew you were full of shit the first time we spoke, I just didn’t know why. So lay it on me kid, you’ve got nothing to lose.”

“And if I won’t say anything?” Noah asked.

“That would be very disappointing,” she replied. “Not to mention ungrateful.”

“Shit. Ok, fine. So you know about my godfather, Hank?” Noah said, fighting back the fear that this was a huge mistake as the words left him.

“I do,” she nodded.

“Well the thing that attacked us was like one of the things you see outside,” Noah said, “not the same of course, but something else you couldn’t quite explain to someone that hasn’t seen it too. I managed to escape, but only just. Someone saved me and that thing got washed away in the river, not that having the body would have mattered anyway; these things dissolve, or fade or something, once they’ve been killed.”

“Well that sounds convenient,” she said.

“I’m not making it up,” Noah said defensively.

“I wasn’t doubting you,” she said, “I was dead serious. If those bodies out there are really just going to evaporate into the wind, that will make this easier for all of us.”

“From everything I know and have seen, they will,” Noah said. “Although I’m not sure how being human first is going to affect that.” He hadn’t thought of this until now and the idea that these bodies might just stay here was worrisome. If Agent Saunders had managed to place him here, someone else could too.

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Saunders said impatiently. “What happened after you woke up in the hospital?”

“Well first I had to figure out if what I remembered was real, you know? I was convinced I’d seen this little guy right before everything went to shit and no matter how much I tried to tell myself that I had just lost it, I couldn’t. So I went looking for him. Followed a trail of insane murders that spooked everyone in the mountains for a while until I found him,” Noah said.

“You found the man responsible for all those murders?” Saunders said, sounding shocked.

“He wasn’t a man,” Noah said. “He was one of these things. He tried to kill me, but the same people that saved me before, saved me again. Turned out they were onto it too. That’s where the priests came in. Some sort of Ancient Order looking out for things like these. Anyway, I guess I joined up with them and we’ve been hunting these things down ever since.”

“What’s rabbit girl got to do with all this?” Saunders asked, taking this new information far better than Noah had expected.

“She and a few others come from the same place as all these, uh, bad things,” Noah said, knowing he sounded like an idiot. “They’ve been helping us.”

“Why?” she asked.

“They want to I guess,” Noah half-lied. He didn’t need to tell her everything right off the bat.

“How is Margaret Wynters involved?” Naomi asked. “I know you wound up on payroll right after your godfather’s death.”

Noah paused for a moment. If she already knew that, then the jig was up. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure how outing Margaret would go for him in the long run. “Why do you want to know all this?” he asked instead of answering. “Why not just arrest me if that’s why you're here?”

“Have I given you the impression that’s why I’m here?” Saunders said. “I’m here because you are the key to explaining some yet to be explained things. I want to know what’s happening. That’s all. I retire in a few weeks and just wanted to run down one more bit of information no one else had. Judging by what I rolled up on here, I seem to have done just that.”

“So what, you want in, is that it?” Noah asked.

“Let me hear what I’d be getting myself into first,” Saunders said, which was far from a no. Maybe this would turn out alright, Noah thought, suddenly intrigued by the possibility.

Starting to feel more like a recruiter than a suspect, Noah prayed he wasn’t making a mistake as he decided to go all in. “Margaret wasn’t involved at first. Father Rigali, the smaller guy outside, was a part of this Order I mentioned earlier and he roped in two of his old buddies. They were running things when I joined up, but after one of them was killed by the little guy I told you I was hunting down, they brought Margaret in.”

“She is an acquaintance of theirs?” Saunders asked.

“They all grew up together,” Noah said.

“Who was the man that died?” she asked.

“I’m not sure if I should say,” Noah said, cautious again. “We obviously couldn’t take his body to a coroner. We buried him ourselves.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Saunders assured him. “Like I said, I’m not here to nail you to the wall.”

“Jack Andrews,” Noah said.

“No shit,” Saunders said, looking disturbed for the first time in their meeting.

“You knew him?” Noah asked.

“Barely,” she said. “Knew he was out of touch with his old buddies though. Kind of wish I didn’t know that now.”

“I didn’t know him very well either,” Noah said. “So far no one has come looking though, not around us anyway.”

“Do you think Ms. Wynters would meet with me?” Saunders asked, still looking a little out of it.

“You’re the FBI,” Noah said with a half smile. “Can’t imagine she’d turn you down.”

“Call her,” Saunders said. As Noah pulled out his phone, she grabbed his untouched sandwich and asked, “You gonna eat that?”

----------------------------

Margaret was still a little on edge after Noah’s call, but despite how it all sounded, Noah seemed to have things under control. What had happened in those towns would inevitably make the national news and there was also the matter of this FBI agent. Even if Noah was right about her intentions, the very idea that they had been found out so early in all of this was troubling. Things needed to change around here, she just wished she was certain about what changes to make.

Knowing that this was going to soon be her top priority, she made herself table it for now and focus on the little glowing man in front of her. The Prince had come to just as Noah had called her and decided to wait patiently on her desk while she finished the call. She had asked him to wait for Atticus to get up here and he had acquiesced silently. They had been quietly staring at each other ever since.

“I’m here,” Atticus said as he walked through the door and past Kim into the office.

“Hello Atticus Daniels,” the Moon Eyed Prince said.

“Hello,” Atticus said, taking a seat on the other side of Margaret’s desk. “How are you?”

“Feeling refreshed,” the Prince said as he slowly rose off the desk, spinning so that he could look at the both of them at once. The way his body hung below him made it seem as though his head was what made him float like that. Margaret privately wished Atticus had just come sit on her side of the desk, but that wasn’t important now. “I assumed Margaret Wynters would want to speak with me before I left to retrieve the Raven and his compatriots.”

“Good assumption,” Margaret said.

“You are concerned,” the Prince responded.

“How could I not be?” Margaret said back, a little annoyed. “You just up and disappeared without a word while our people were in danger.”

“Your people,” the Prince said. The correction came without any sort of nastiness, but she did not like it all the same.

“So what happened exactly?” Atticus asked, eyeing Margaret worriedly. He seemed to think that if she was too forward with this little fellow, it might go badly for her. He might be right, but that didn’t change a thing as far as she saw it. If she wanted answers, she would get them.

“In what sense?” the Prince asked.

“When you linked up to Eli’s laptop,” Margaret clarified.

“Ah,” the Prince said in his hollow voice. “That was an experience that I did not anticipate. When Elijah Benjamin told me of this unseen information network that your kind uses, I became intrigued. I left my earthly body behind while I took in all that there was to offer.”

“When you say all…” Margaret said.

“I mean all,” the Prince nodded.

“All what?” Atticus asked, looking from one to the other.

“Are you claiming to have read every bit of information on the internet?” Margaret asked, ignoring Atticus for now. He was very far out of his depth here.

“I took it all in,” the Prince said. “I did not go over it all piece by piece, but I looked through enough to see just what this world, and those within it, are.”

“And this made you run for the hills,” Margaret said, feeling a pit growing in her stomach. The modern internet was not the introduction she would want any outsider to get in regards to humanity as a whole, mostly because she knew the negative picture it would paint.

“For a time,” the Prince said. “My kind are not like yours. We possess very little individuality and to work against our own would be suicide. We are part of a whole, as you are, and see things as such. Your kind...you are petty. You misunderstand your role in things and have caused so much pain and destruction...it was hard to acknowledge. I thought you and your people here were representative of your kind. I was wrong.”

“But you came back,” Atticus said.

“I did,” the Prince nodded.

“Why?” Margaret asked.

“I calmed myself,” the Prince said, “and was honest about the fact that nestled within all the bad, was good. Nothing that could right the wrongs of your kind, but evidence enough that humanity is not a monolith and that even if your kind was not as noble as I had hoped, your cause still was. To put your lives on the line for the ungrateful and uncaring masses is a selflessness I will never, can never, know. When I knew you were in need of me, truly in need, I returned.”

“And will you stay?” Margaret asked.

“I will, though I may need to leave from time to time,” the Prince said. “I worry that I need to grow much stronger than I am currently if we are to survive this in the end. I am not yet ready to say how I plan to do this, but know that a plan is being formed and that I will not abandon you without warning again.”

“You didn’t abandon us,” Margaret said diplomatically, “just took a short hiatus. Can I ask you something before you go?” Margaret asked.

“Anything, though I may not have the answers you hope for,” the Prince said.

“When you came back to help Allen, you must have known Noah was in trouble,” Margaret said carefully, avoiding an accusatory tone at all costs. “How did you know he would be ok? Or did you make a choice?”

“Noah Benjamin had help on the way,” the Prince said. “While I had no way of knowing if it would play out in his favor, I had hope.”

Not sure if she liked that answer or not, Margaret said, “This woman, the one who saved Noah and his team, do you know anything about her?”

“She is no enemy of ours,” the Prince said. “To glean more than that would require an invasion of the mind. I promised you I would refrain from that.”

“Fair enough,” Margaret said, suppressing the urge to ask the Prince to do it anyway. “Drop the Raven and his buddies in the garages if you can. Wei won’t fit anywhere else.”

“It will be done,” the Prince said, and he was gone.

“So was that a bullet dodged or…” Atticus said.

“I’d say so,” Margaret sighed.

“Who is this woman you two were talking about?” Atticus asked as he rose to leave.

“Naomi Saunders,” Margaret sighed. “An FBI agent that tracked Noah to Minnesota. She’s requested a meeting with me at the end of the week.” That dropped Atticus right back down into his seat and put a smile on Margaret’s face for the first time that day. “Better yet,” she said, deciding to use the moment for her full amusement, “she knew Jack.”

Eli was surprised by just how quickly he’d managed to get from Rome to Nebraska. He’d made it to the airport with less than twenty minutes to spare, but just like Margaret had said, all he’d had to do was flash his Wynters Tech ID and security had gotten him right to his gate without any lines or hassle. From there it had been Rome to London, London to DC and DC to Omaha, all with zero layovers, followed by a two hour cab ride to the dirt road leading to the base. Considering all he’d done the past few hours, it was amusing to think the worst part of his trip was going to be walking from the public road to the Wynters Tech facility.

Luckily he hadn’t brought much with him, but it was still a decent walk. By the time he reached his destination, he was sweating despite the chill in the air. Knowing they weren’t supposed to enter through the front doors, he went around to the garages and found them open. Making his way inside, he found the rest of the building deserted, though once he was in the common area it was clear people were here. Somewhere. Not worrying too much about it, he went back to his old room and dropped off his bag. Spraying himself with a little deodorant, it had been a long flight, he decided to head up to Margaret’s office.

He made it up the staircase leading to her quarters without seeing a soul, but when he reached the first of the two security doors, someone pushed it open to greet him. “Hurry inside,” Kim said with a worried look on her face.

“Is everything alright?” Eli asked awkwardly as he followed her through the hallway and then the door into Margaret’s office.

“No. I don’t think so,” she said as they entered.

Eli didn’t know what was going on, but he could tell it was important. Margaret, Atticus, Jomo and Olivia were all huddled around her computer screen looking worried while Sophia, Benoit and some other men he didn’t know sat across the room from them. Father Lehman was also present, just off to the side of everything, looking even more jittery than usual. Kim beckoned Eli over to the computer where he fell into the tight circle with the others.

“Is it Noah?” Eli asked.

“Yes,” Margaret said looking up at him. “He’s getting us a live feed set up now. It isn’t looking good.”

“What does that mean?” Eli said, shocked by how calm he sounded.

“We aren’t sure yet, but it seems like they’ve been surrounded by upwards of thirty targets,” she said.

“What are they?” Eli said.

“We believe they are the missing residents of the towns Noah and his team were investigating. Whatever came through up there is like some sort of virus. It seems like it spread to a large number of people who have now boxed your brother and the others in a church. They say it’s defensible, but not indefinitely,” she said.

“That sounds like a shit ton more than thirty people,” Eli said, his inner alarm now finally creeping into his voice. “Why aren’t we sending people up there to help? Everyone’s just standing around.”

“We’d never get there in time and we can’t just…” Margaret started, but Eli wasn’t having it.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eli said. “Where’s the Prince? Get his ass moving! Get him…”

“He’s gone dark,” Kim said calmly, nodding to the husk in the far corner of the room. “We don’t know when he’s going to be back. If that happens, in time, of course we’ll send him. Right now that isn’t an option though.”

“What about the Raven and all of his buddies? Where the fuck are they?” Eli was panicking now. How could they all just be sitting here? How could they not have some sort of plan?

“Hello?” Noah’s voice said from the computer speakers.

“Noah,” Margaret said loudly, waving at everyone to quiet down. Eli held his tongue with effort. He knew this wasn’t what Noah needed to hear right now.

“Well it works,” Noah said, to the others there with him, Eli assumed. “Yeah it’s us.”

“Has anything changed?” she said.

“Oh yeah,” Noah said. “Much worse. Our barricade at the back of the building is giving way and I wouldn’t feel stupid saying there might be three hundred of these things trying to get in the church right now. I think we might be fucked here.” The room seemed to shrink as Eli heard his brother’s steady but fear tinged voice.

“Is there anything you can do to kill it?” Olivia said.

“Ghat-soh thinks if we can find and kill the original, the rest will follow, but she also claims it won’t come at us like this. Since we can’t get out, that seems like a no go.” Noah really was trying not to sound worried, but it wasn’t working. That fact alone made Eli feel like he was going to throw up.

Suddenly there was some sort of commotion in the background on Noah’s end followed by shouting and gunfire. “Noah!” Eli said in a hoarse voice as he pushed his way to the computer, but no one could answer back.

---------------------

Noah heard the back door give way and charged towards it with the others. They had a plan for this, but they still needed to see what they were up against before trying to beat them back long enough to secure the second door between the back office and the main church against this mob. Ghat-soh was the first to reach the back room, but Noah was close behind. What they found was not promising, but Noah stuck to the plan. It was all he could do.

Instead of opening the door, these things had simply broken it inwards, shifting the furniture back and creating an opening on one side, near the top right corner of the doorway. Noah had flashbacks to the boathouse he had been trapped in when he’d first seen one of these creatures from another world a few months back. There a giant cat-like beast had squeezed through a narrow window in a way it should not have been able to in order to get to him. A similar thing was happening now, though these things seemed less pliable and simply more willing to injure themselves to get into the church.

Two had gotten inside, but Ghat-soh was already dispatching them with ease so Noah focused on the door. A pair of purple skinned, humanoid looking things were coming in now and Noah dispatched each with a shot to the head. These bodies clogged up the entryway for a moment until the creatures behind them pulled them loose and two new creatures took their places. The priests joined them now and for a moment it seemed as though they might be able to hold them off, but Noah quickly saw that, as they felled these strange corpses, the weight of them was forcing the door lower and lower, widening the entrance into their only refuge.

“Fall back!” Ghat-soh yelled just as the idea came into Noah’s mind to do so.

The priests backed out first while Noah and Ghat-soh followed them, still dropping bodies into the bottleneck they had hoped to create. “You sure you know which key it is?” Noah yelled over the noise of gunfire and the moaning things as they attacked and died in turn.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Rigali yelled. “But this door won’t hold long!”

“Only needs to hold long enough to get a barricade up,” Noah yelled back. “Are we ready!?”

“Go,” Ghat-soh said as she let arrows fly with practiced speed and accuracy.

Noah fired a few more shots indiscriminately at the door as he backed out before the long eared woman. Once Ghat-soh had come out behind him, they slammed the door shut while Rigali locked it tight with shaking hands. Without needing to say another word, the four of them slid the altar in front of the door as well as the chairs that had surrounded it and two pews they had wrenched up out of the floor.

Stepping back from their meager barricade, the four of them raised their weapons and ignored the rest of the horde pounding on the double doors behind them and the others trying in vain to force their way through the window slits in the thick stone walls. It only took five minutes for the door that stood between them and the things in the back room to give. The center split under the intense pressure from behind it and Noah watched as the rest of it was torn away without effort. Only when the door was more or less gone, did the four of them open fire.

As their enemies fell before them, Noah saw that their plan had been a dud and that this was more than likely the end. As the bodies fell, they budged the barricade further and further away from the doorway and the reality that they did not have enough ammunition or people to survive this set in. Feeling his knees begin to shake and tears at the corners of his eyes, he took a deep breath and kept firing.

As he finished his first of three clips, he heard an unearthly sound from his left Stealing a glance in that direction, he found that it was coming from Ghat-soh. While he could normally understand all that she said, now he found that he could not. The words were no longer in the inexplicable English she normally used, but instead sounded unlike anything Noah had ever heard. It was almost lyrical, but harsh and changed the tenor of her voice entirely. Whatever she was singing was unquestionably mournful, but it did not make Noah feel like falling into despair. To the contrary; it made him want to die a man, on his feet and defiant to the end.

Raising his reloaded weapon, he found himself singing along, though he did not know how the words were coming to him. All he knew was that this was it, the final fight, and that he was ready.

-----------------

The spirit wiped drool from the corner of Chip’s mouth as it watched its hosts closing in on the church. They had failed to get the holy man who had blockaded himself inside, but that had been easy to overlook; there had been plenty to eat for all of them after Lakeview had been subdued. Now that they had fed though, the hunger had returned. Chip was feeling it as bad as any of the others, but the fear that all could be lost if the spirit exposed itself too early was still at the forefront of its primitive mind.

As it shared in Chip’s anguish and hunger, even as its hundreds of other hosts prepared to devour those they had trapped in the stone building, the spirit saw something from the corner of Chip’s eye. A car, alone and with only an old woman inside, just sitting there, watching the main body of hosts at work.

“Please,” Chip mumbled in his own voice. “So hungry. Please.”

The spirit hesitated. It felt the hunger too, almost as badly as the fear of discovery or destruction. The woman was old, which meant she was weak. And she was alone. And distracted. Chip just needed to get her out of the car…

‘Feed!’, it said and Chip took off, his glee shared with the spirit over their coming feast.

---------------------

Naomi thought she might be having some sort of stroke as she looked out at the town of Lakeview. This place was not deserted, far from it, but she had no idea who or what these people, if you could call them that, were. She could see what they were up to though and that was nearly as alarming as everything else. An old stone church was currently the object of their attention and she had to imagine that meant there were people in there.

Feeling her pistol in her right hand, she tried to figure out what she could do to help whoever it was that was in there. She supposed she could try to lead them away in the car, though there were more than enough of these things to both try to run her down and keep trying to get at the folks in the church. No, that wasn’t the answer any more than stepping out of the car and going all Rambo with her small caliber pistol was.

Trying to figure out how any of this was even possible, she sat in her car, staring at a problem she hardly believed could be hers to solve. Trying to clear her mind, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As she exhaled, something slammed forcefully into her driver’s side door.

Her eyes shot open as she looked at her window, now cracked so thoroughly that she couldn’t see a damn thing through it. Assuming this was only the first assault on her vehicle, Naomi moved fast. Clambering over the console between the front seats, she pressed her back against the passenger side door, placed her feet on the side of the driver’s seat and dashboard and raised her weapon, leveling it at the cracked window.

Her intuition, common sense really, had been right and within seconds of taking her defensive position, the thing came back at the window, pushing through this time, if not completely. Naomi froze for a second as she looked at the thing now stuck in the glass of her window from the neck up. The face was almost human, but its skin had a purplish hue and the eyes were glowing faintly, yet somehow lifeless. The mouth was full of sharp and broken teeth unlike any she had seen in the mouth of a human. Despite the damage the glass was doing to this horrifying thing, it still seemed to be trying to reach her.

The initial shock was great, but short lived. Flicking off her safety, she blew the thing’s brains out.

------------------------------

Noah had been firing his last shots as the things broke through the barricade, rushing towards them with greedy mouths and merciless eyes, when it happened. Even as he elected to fight these things with his bare hands, they fell, the nearest slamming into him and nearly taking him off his feet. As he staggered backwards, he saw that the church floor was now littered with bodies, none of them moving.

“What the fuck happened?” Noah said, shocked but already feeling relief washing over him unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

“The head has been removed,” Ghat-soh said, comprehensible again. She sounded shocked. In awe.

“By who?” Joe said in a shaky voice. His legs had failed him apparently and he was currently sitting on the floor.

“Let’s find out,” Noah said as Jabari helped his fellow priest off the ground.

The four of them doubted they could move the massive front doors with bodies laying in front of them, so they clambered over the corpses lying two deep in the back office. They had to move quite a few bodies to finally make it outside, but it was well worth it to escape the confines of their near-tomb. As they came around the side of the church, Noah saw a woman walking towards them. A woman he recognized.

“Oh shit,” Noah said as all relief fled his body.

“Oh shit indeed,” Agent Naomi Saunders said as she joined them.

“Should I kill her, Noah Benjamin,” Ghat-soh said, stepping into view, an arrow pointed directly into the older woman’s face.

“Fuck no!” Noah said, stepping in between the long eared archer and the FBI agent. “Terrible idea.”

“Who is this Noah?” Joe asked cautiously as he came out from behind the church.

“FBI,” Noah said.

“Jesus,” Noah said as they pulled up to the outskirts of Lakeview. Noah had been forced to stop the van at the border of town because so many bodies lay in the street.

“What on earth happened here?” Rigali said quietly as he pulled out his rosary and clutched it tightly in one hand.

“A massacre,” Ghat-soh said from the back of the van.

“We should go,” Noah said, trying to pull his eyes away from the bodies lining the street. Nearly every building in town showed signs of forced entry and from what they had seen already, Noah highly doubted there was a living soul anywhere in the area.

“Look at the church,” Jabari said, pointing to the small church they had visited a short time ago. Noah did and saw to his amazement that it seemed untouched. “We should go see if our brother managed to hide in there,” he added. “Only place in town that looks like it might have been spared.”

“I would not advise that,” Ghat-soh said.

“I agree with Mustafa,” Joe said, though he seemed far more frightened than the other man. “We can’t leave him or the host here if this place is lost.”

“Will you watch our backs if we check it out?” Noah asked Ghat-soh, swiveling around in the driver’s seat to do so.

“Of course I will, but it is…” she began, but Noah had heard enough.

“We will be quick,” Noah said. “Bring your guns,” Noah added to the priests as he stepped out of the van.

The first thing that hit him was the odor. In the other towns the stench of death had been faint, sickly sweet beneath everything else. Here though it was all that Noah could smell. Waiting for the others to join him, the four of them made their way down the street to the church. When they finally reached the heavy double doors, they found them locked.

“Let’s check the back,” Rigali said once they tried to force it, “there should be an administrative entrance back there.”

Rounding the church, they found a sight that was cause for immediate concern. The back door had been forced partially open and the only thing keeping it from being fully ajar seemed to be a pile of furniture pressed up against it from the inside. “Let’s get in there,” Jabari said, sounding alarmed. It wasn’t easy, but they managed to make enough room for Noah to squeeze through and soon enough he was in the church.

What he found inside was not promising. Lying on the floor was Father Wilson, though there were no bite marks or wounds of any kind that Noah could see on his person. Moving the furniture away from the door, he let the other three inside. Rigali and Jabari rushed to their fellow priest’s side, but Noah didn’t think there was much to do for the man.

“He’s gone,” Joe said. “I think he had a heart attack.”

“No,” Mustafa said, “look at the carpet.” Noah looked with the others and saw that the dark green carpet around the man was wet. Jabari, his hand wrapped in his robes, dragged one of the dead man’s arms out from under him and exposed the man’s wrist and forearm. The older man had cut a vertical line from the base of his wrist almost all the way up to the elbow.

“May God watch over his soul,” Joe said, eyes wide.

“His soul is lost,” Jabari said. Noah may not remember much from his days as a practicing Catholic, but he did know that suicide was the surest way to keep yourself out of heaven. For a priest to have taken this option to avoid whatever had happened here was deeply troubling.

“I don’t mean to be callous, but can you two please get what you need,” Noah said, hating himself for doing so. “We shouldn’t stay here.”

“Of course,” Joe said. Turning to Jabari he asked, “If I get what’s in here, will you clear out the tabernacle?”

“I will,” Jabari said. “It will only take a moment,” he added to Noah before disappearing into the church proper.

Following him more to get out of the room with the dead man than anything else, Noah found himself in the main worship area. The pews looked rather ominous now in the unlit church and Noah could see why they hadn’t been able to get in. The double doors had not just been locked, but the heavy bar that Noah assumed was mostly decorative had been put in place, adding a second layer of protection. How the little priest had managed it alone was a mystery, but Noah guessed that fear could kick up the adrenaline in anyone.

Moving past the altar, he inspected the building and realized it was probably the safest place in town to ride something like this out. The windows weren’t exactly windows, but narrow slits in the stone walls that let in just enough light to keep the inside of the church from being too dark. The fact that there were only two doors was a nice feature too, though it hadn’t really helped the place’s single occupant very much in the end.

“We’re ready,” Jabari called from the dais where the altar stood.

“Let’s split then,” Noah said, making his way back towards the administrative area.

Noah met Jabari near the altar and then walked back to where Rigali and Ghat-soh were waiting. Gesturing for the others to leave before him, Noah was the last out and consequently the last to know that they had made a serious error when they had left the van. Not bothering to close the door behind him, Noah walked directly into Jabari as he tried to leave the church behind.

“What’s the holdup?” Noah asked, but the answer became clear as soon as he looked past the massive priest’s back.

There were things moving towards them from every direction and Noah felt his legs go weak as he realized what they were. The residents of Northwood, Ashland and Lakeview, the ones that hadn’t been eaten anyway, had returned and they seemed intent on reaching their little group en masse. “To the van!” Noah said, but no one but Ghat-soh seemed able to move. “Go!” Noah yelled even as he saw more of the things emerging from the tree line a mere twenty feet from the van.

“Too late,” Ghat-soh hissed as she notched an arrow and dropped one of the nearer things with a shaft through the eye. “We need to retreat inside.”

“Goddammit,” Noah said as he grabbed Jabari roughly and tried to pull the man back inside with him. It only took a little tug to get him moving and Ghat-soh had no trouble dragging Rigali inside behind them. “Block the door,” Noah said and he was glad to see the priests didn’t need another push. There was plenty of furniture left to use, much of it too heavy for one man alone, and soon they had a decent pile keeping the door wedged shut.

“We should not stay in this cramped space,” Ghat-soh said.

“Then let’s get out into the main part of the church,” Noah replied. “I can’t imagine they can break through the doors in there.”

The four of them dashed into the large, high-ceilinged room full of pews just as the horde outside reached them. The light dimmed as the slits in the walls were blocked from the outside and the distinct sound of bodies shuffling and banging on the door could be heard from both the front and back of the building.

“God help us,” Joe said as he made a quick sign of the cross.

“Salvation is lost to us now,” Ghat-soh said and Noah heard pain in her voice. “There is no escaping this. We are lost.”

--------------------------------

Naomi found Ashland in worse shape than she had expected. Unlike Northwood, the violence here had spilled into the streets and the evidence was everywhere. Staying in her car, Naomi did a few laps around town, seeing no one, at least no one alive. After taking in all there was to see here in the streets of Ashland, Naomi decided that there was nothing to be gained from remaining. Lakeview was the last place she knew Mr. Benjamin had been and if she didn’t find him there, unfortunately, she was going to have to assume he was dead.