Generations After: Super Nova
Renesmee Carlie Cullen-Black + Jacob Black
=Sarenee Esabelle "Rennie" Cullen-Black (DoB: 2 April 2014 Mature On: 2 April 2024)
=Carlilliam Edwarlie "Liam" Cullen-Black (DoB: 2 April 2014 Mature On: 2 April 2024)
=Jasmet Charlisle "Jet" Cullen-Black (DoB: 19 March 2021 Mature On: 19 March 2028)
=Alirose Renabelle "Allie" Cullen-Black (DoB 16 June 2022)
Edward Masen Cullen II + Taramina Cullen
= Siena Renesmee Cullen (DoB: 14 December 2014 Mature On: 14 December 2018)
= Chloe Renesmee Cullen (DoB: 14 December 2014 Mature On: 14 December 2021)
= Edward Masen "Edd" Cullen III (DoB: 26 August 2022 Mature On: August 26 2026)
Winona Cullen-Gray + Evan Gray
= Sasha Edward Cullen-Gray (DoB: 31 July 2021 Mature On: 31 July 2028)
Madison Cullen-Racluse + Benjamin Racluse
a= Izeya Cullen-Racluse
a= Nefertiti Cullen-Racluse
a= Noah Racluse
=Abigail Alexandra Cullen-Racluse (DoB: 15 May 2020 Mature On: 25 May 2024)
Mary Cullen + Leonardo Cullen
= Katelyn Rosalice "Kate" Cullen (DoB 21 July 2021 Mature On: 21 July 2025)
= Emmett Jasper "EJ" Cullen (DoB: 22 October 2021 Mature On: 22 October 2025)
Charlotte Cullen-Clearwater + Seth Clearwater
=Harry Emmett Cullen-Clearwater (DoB: 9 November 2020)
=Rosalisa Sue "Lisa" Cullen-Clearwater (DoB: 15 September 2022 Mature On: 15 November 2029)
Zachariah + Freeyah Racluse
=Kara Racluse (DoB: 6 April 2022 Mature On: 6 April 2026)
Lilith Chandra + Judeya Racluse
=Pandora Racluse (DoB: 5 October 2021 Mature On: 5 October 2028)
=Adriana Racluse (DoB: 11 March 2022 Mature On: 11 Mature 2026)
Chapter One
The Awakening
"All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair."
-Mitch Alborn
5th June 2024
Carlilliam Edwarlie Cullen-Black
I am Carlilliam Edwardlie Cullen-Black, the Fire Orb Child son of Renesmee Carlie Cullen and Jacob William Black. I go by the name of Liam, because my name is a handful thanks to my wonderful mother (No, really. I do love her!)
I have a sister called Sarenee Esabelle Cullen-Black, she is much more than my sister though. She is my twin, my other half and my best friend. I couldn't imagine life without her, she is the complete opposite to me, while I love the indoors, computer games, star wars and books, she is into dirt biking, cliff jumping, the outdoors… she is a complete tomboy and she spends a lot of time with the wolves. If we weren't orb children, I could see her being a female wolf like Leah, but that had only happened once so what were the chances of it happening again? And to an Orb Child where is was genetically impossible? The odds were not exactly in her favour.
One good thing about being a orb child was that we had a maximum of ten years of childhood and they we would stop growing at the physical age of a late teenager or a young adult and then we would be immortal.
It was a pretty cool life, and if you counter in the fact that most of my family is immortal, it made life amazing. My cousins were all of different species, my aunts and uncles (my mother's cousins and siblings) were all also immortal.
This made for a very strange and extended family. All in all there were 19 of is in what we classed as the third generation, including the Racluse's children because my aunt Madison and uncle Benjamin made them related to us. Besides Rennie (Sarenee) I also had my younger brother, a dhampire called Jet (Jasmet) and my younger sister who was seemingly human named Allie (Alirose).
Tonight all of my cousins were stopping over at my mom's house. Every month we would have a big sleepover at one of our aunts and uncles houses to make sure that we stayed close as a family, but nineteen people in one room was a lot.
I honestly couldn't wait for the sleepover to start though, but first I had school. I was in my junior year now, and I could honestly say that I didn't belong in that year. Everything was so easy, everything we learned was so simple. I don't know if it was because I was smart or the fact that everybody else was.. well… not smart, or it could have been the fact that I was supernatural, but the classes I too just seemed to be painfully slow, boring and there seemed to be no point in them for me.
My mom said that I was just like Grandpa Edward, I was too smart for my own good.
I finally arrived at my aunt Tara's and Uncle Eddie's house. Chloe was sat outside on the porch swing reading a book, I read the title; The Hobbit. She had probably borrowed the Lord Of The Rings books from her brother. He was a complete and utter dork.
"Hey, Clo! Where's Edd?!" I yelled to her from across their large, ornate garden as she continued to swing.
She looked up a little dazed, glancing around until she met my gaze. "Oh, he's in his room on his Xbox Guardian." She muttered before brushing her hair out of her eyes and getting back to reading her books.
"Thanks," I muttered, though I know it was a lost cause because she was so deep into the book she could probably not even hear me.
i walked into the house oblivious to knock, we never knocked on each others houses because each of our cousin's homes was just a second home to us.
"Liam!" My aunt Tara called as she walked out of the kitchen with a tray of food, "Nessie said you were coming over. Tell Edd to come down and get some food or he isn't allowed back on the xbox." Tara smiled at me and I had to smile back at my aunt.
"He's going to kill you, you know? He hates having to come off his xbox." I laughed a little and watched as she placed the tray of food on the large dining room table and began to spread it out into each space.
"Do you want any?" She asked me, and I nodded. If there was one thing I loved about Aunt Tara it was that she was a fantastic cook; maybe even rivaling that of my Great Grandma Esme!
I walked turned around and walked up the stairs, the house was quite a bit smaller than ours, I knew my way around just as well as I knew the way around my own house though.
"Edd!" I yelled out to my cousin as I walked into his room, as I stepped into his room, he was hunched over his xbox talking down the headset. He looked at me and then placed down his pad.
"A F P." he said down the headset and then he pulled the headset down to his neck and grinned at me, "Hey, Liam!" He chuckled and saw him twitching, looking at his pad, clearly wanting to pick it up and play back on it.
"What the hell doe mean?" I asked with a slight frown forming on my lips, I hated asking what something meant because I was usually the one who was asked questions like that.
"A F P? It means away from pad." Edd grinned at me his brown eyes that were a replica of mine, sparkling with the glint of humor they held.
"Well that's stupid. Why not just say 'Away From Pad?'" I felt my eyebrows furrow. I would never understand slang speech, especially on gaming devices!
"I don't know. It's just a thing gamers use. Do you want a go?" Edd motioned to an extra pad and head set he had next to his own, which his sister, Chloe sometimes played with him.
"I don't know. You know I get bored after a while of those games." I eyed the xbox and the game he was playing, 'Call Of Duty: Shadow Dust II.' I had to admit, I didn't mind call of duty so much, but some games I could barely even tolerate.
"Aww, come on. Half an hour and then we'll go do something you wanna do." He stuck his bottom lip out and I rolled my eyes, sat down and grabbed the pad and pulled back on the head set. I decided I may as well have played on the live version of the game if Edd was.
"Ready?" Edd asked me and then after I nodded he pulled his head set back up and began to talk into the headset, "B O P." He said and then he began to play the game again.
I quickly entered the game, introduced myself and then began to run around and shoot people; pretty much the only aim of this game.
Abigail Alexandra Cullen-Racluse
"Just because you're half human doesn't mean that you couldn't beat another supernatural in a fair fight. You may be weaker than your opponent, but you have your intelligence and cunning." My father said to Nefertiti as she growled at herself, getting frustrated with the fact she couldn't seem to master the basic fighting skills that my dad and mom were trying to teach us.
Izeya seemed to pick the skilled up the quickest, then Noah and me were probably a draw and then Mathias and Massiah were also a draw, but not as good as Izzy, me or Noah, but Nefertiti couldn't even pick up the very basics like punching, kicking and blocking.
"I can't do it dad! I'm not a fighter okay? I'm not like Izzy or Noah or even Abby! I'm half human! Weak! Stupid!" Nefertiti growled enviously and then she sighed heavily, "I just wish I could be like you guys."
"You don't need to be like us, Tee. You should be happy to just be yourself. do you remember when you got attacked in the Terettan war and I managed to fend off the vampire until dad came and saved us? I was physically eight. I shouldn't have been able to do that, but with my will power and my strength in here," Izzy touched Tee's heart, making her smile, "I managed to beat that vampire so that you could still be here today, but I'm not always going to be there. Neither is dad or mom, you need to learn to fight for yourself, to protect yourself because if not, we're supernaturals and we live in a dangerous world. If you don't learn to defend yourself you're never going to have any kind of freedom, and I'm sure you want freedom."
"I want to be free more than anything, but do you know how discouraging it is to be physically weaker than every single one of your siblings? I'm not special in any way, I can't run fast, I'm no good at hunting, fighting, my power is relatively useless." Nefertiti sighed, sitting down and placing her head in her hands in defeat.
"Hey, don't say stuff like that. You're power is amazing." I encouraged and went to sit beside her, smiling slightly trying to cheer her up.
"It's nothing compared to your powers though. Izzy has the ability to copy the opposite of anybody's power. Including her own. So really she can copy any power. Noah has the ability to block people's power or use their power. You have the ability to take away powers and copy them, and to turn invisible and teleport!" Tee sighed again in frustration, "What good is being a seductress? Am I going to seduce somebody into not killing me?"
"Don't be silly, Nefertiti." Noah face palmed himself and then went over to sit next to his sister as well.
Mathias and Massiah walked over to Nefertiti and both sighed at the same time, using their twin telepathy they both spoke together, "You'll get better."
Now all of us were sat together, it made me smile how much we all looked like each other. You could see that we all looked a lot like our father, the shape of our faces and our lips were all definitely our fathers, but weirdly Izzy looked almost the spitting image of me, or rather i looked the spitting image of her. What was strange was the fact we didn't have the same mother, yet we had the same dark wavy hair, the same shape eyes that were neither my father's or my mothers, high cheek bones and grey eyes, though they were different shades, I had inherited my mother's grey/silver eyes that she got from when she was resurrected and brought back as a shade.
"Look, Tee. I'm not great at fighting. Ninety-nine percent of the time I have my head stuck in a book and I'm too oblivious to the world around me when really I should be watching my back more." i encouraged, thought the truth was i was just like my mother, I was completely and utterly aware of my surroundings, so it was no surprise when Nefertiti snorted and then looked away from me.
"You know that's not true. You're just like mom, you're aware and react fast. I'm just… ughh!" She groaned in frustration as she picked up a rock and launched it at a tree. The sturdy maple tree groaned under the power of the stone as it sliced into the trunk, and then ever so slowly it began to fall. With a small triumphant smile she looked at her father.
"Well if you have the power to throw a pebble so that it can knock over a pretty large tree with the force of it, I'm sure you can knock over an opponent if you put your mind to it." Noah told Nefertiti, I saw her smile widen a little more.
"You may be right, brother." Nefertiti stood up and then got back into a defensive position. "Again." She whispered to Noah who rolled his eyes and got back into his defensive position.
"I'm gonna bail, I have some stuff to be getting on with." Izeya said to our family. My dad didn't look very happy at her for this, but he dismissed her with a wave of his hand as Nefertiti began to circle with Noah and practice her new found strength.
Izeya Esmeralda Cullen-Racluse
I ran ahead of my family, running deep into the forest trying to figure out this new feeling that was coming over me, I had been mature for years now, and to be quite honest the fighting lessons were slightly pointless for me, I was a brilliant fighter compared to my siblings. Only Noah could beat me occasionally and that was when I was not feeling great.
I began to slow as I smelled a familiar scent… one that I had smelled a whole lot of years ago. One I could still remember perfectly.
I began to run again heading towards the intoxicating scent, that perfect, sweet scent that made me want to run weak at the knees, that perfect scent that had been etched; no. BRANDED into my brain the day the cloaked man had saved us, with no explanation at all except the small matter of us sharing a destiny.
"Come out cloaked man!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, I hadn't smelled that scent for years- but it was one of the things I dreamed of every night, that scent mixed with intoxicating darkness that wrapped his arms around me and held me… I shivered in response to the cold voice that greeted me.
"Izeya Cullen." The voice was emotionless, but as I turned I saw exactly what I expected, a tall hooded figure, the ever illusive cloaked man.
"I have news or you, Izeya. Your time in the Great War is coming. You alone will either unite or destroy the very foundations our new alliance is built on." The man's voice seemed to fill the air with an air of mysteriousness and darkness.
"What do you mean? What great war?" I asked, "The great war ended many years ago!" I blurted to him, feeling my control slip as I heard his velvet voice whisper my name.
"The grasp peace between on the supernaturals is slipping. There may be peace at the moment, but do you really think that can stay? What we need is somebody who is of all three worlds. Werewolf, Vampire and of Witch blood." The man said strongly, "That is why I have decided at all costs I will join you as future leader. I said we shared a destiny, now is your time to join me."
"What do you mean?! The angels left me as the soul leader!" I snarled at the cloaked man, stiffening my muscles slightly to prepare to spring on him.
"You think too much girl! You think your birth status could save you from somebody as powerful as myself?!" He laughed darkly and then he placed his hands together, in a quick flash and or of light took form in his hand. Suddenly he began to throw the orbs of light at her, each one exploded at her feet as I dodged them.
I had to think! My power! I had trained to cast spells and I had my father's power after copying the reverse of my own power from him after he had copied mine, now I had many powers that I should have been able to use against him.
I tried to read his mind to no avail, he had some kind of mental block. I tried and tried to dodge the light balls as I thought, I moved rapidly, dancing around the estranged man as he continued his assault on me.
I had tried this before. This… game with him, in her dreams. Could it be that the dreams were something more than just my strange fantasies? He wouldn't stop and I knew that I wasn't powerful enough to defeat him, not without knowing the old and dangerous magic he weld so thoughtfully. My father is almost three thousand years old, this man must be only a small fraction younger than him to be able to weld such power.
"What are you?" I hissed at him. He began to chuckle at my confusion and then I saw him gaze into my eyes as he continued to throw the bright fiery balls at my feet.
"I am the same as you! Half werewolf and half vampire with witchblood in me you fool!" He laughed and then I froze. I completely stopped moving, I didn't know why but something within me told me to stop moving, I was probably been a fool, but when something tells you to stop moving and you're in danger, you follow that damned instinct!
His throw faltered instantly and he took in a sharp breath, "What are you doing?!"
"If you want me dead so badly, just kill me." I stood there with my arms folded, completely at his mercy. He raised his hands again, his cloak still covering much of his body.
The blue light began to form in his hand and with one quick motion he held it up as if he wasd going to throw it at me, "I will give you one chance to run." I saw a small smile curve on the part of his lips that were visible.
"No." I whispered, fearing my time would come to an end. All of a sudden, the light ball was flung at me, and I put my hands up instinctively, curving them around the ball of power. I spun around and tried as best I could to deflect the ball. And to my surprise, it followed my hand and was sent straight back at Joseph who gasped and ducked as the ball flew into trees sending it up in flames, it was sort o like what Po did in kung fu panda two when he deflects the cannons away from himself.
"How the hell did you do that?!" He snarled at me. I gulped and then looked at the tree that was almost already fully burned away.
"I have no frikin' idea but that was awesome!" I yelled. He stood up with an angry roar. His hood fell away to reveal the most beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. His hair was shaved completely short, with a strong, nose and cheekbones and a well-developed jaw, but what really made me cringe and filled me with awe at the same time were his violet eyes."I will kill you for that!" Joseph snarled as he ran towards me. I stood there, holding my ground and he stopped surprised in front of me.
"I'm not scared of you." I blurted, and I saw his eyes narrow dangerously.
"Everybody is scared of me you fool!" He yelled at me, I couldn't help but smile.
"I'm not a 'fool.' My name's Izeya." I said to him, trying to confuse him and make him maybe not rip out my throat, though he knew my name because he had helped me save my family before and he had saved me before as well.
"Izeya…" He tasted the word on his tongue and then with one swift motion, he grabbed my arm and pulled me roughly into him, crushing his lips on mine. His kiss was rough and considering it was my first kiss, I didn't know what to make of it.
He pulled his lips from mine with a dangerous smile and then said, "I'm Joseph, and I will be your worst nightmare if you ever try and cross me. Step aside Izeya, a child is not fit to lead an entire world on her own, if you don't join with me, you will be nothing. I am the rightful leader and I will take my place if it is the last thing I do!" He then threw my arm away, making me stumble back a few steps and when I looked up again, he had vanished.
Later
Third Person
Renesmee Cullen-Black sighed as she finished cooking for the last of the sleepover, like every time all her children's cousins and extended cousins stayed over, she cooked like crazy, it wasn't like she was a fantastic cook or anything, but she could cook small things like sausage rolls and dump a few bags of crisp into a bowl.
"How's it coming?" Jacob asked as he came up from behind Renesmee, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Renesmee smiled as she leant into her husband's chest with a happy sigh, "Pretty good. I'm almost done here. Just a few more things and I'll be done for the night."
"And then what are you doing?" Jake wriggled his eyebrows at Renesmee with a knowing grin.
"Jacob!" Renesmee elbowed him playfully. "There's going to be more supernaturals in our house that I can count on both of my hands with super hearing. I'm not having sex with you in that kind of environment!"
"Aw, come on Ness. They won't notice if the T.V's on or something-"
"Jacob Black! No means no," Renesmee scolded at him.
Jacob sighed, and began to give his wife what looked like a puppy dog look. This only had Renesmee laughing as she then playfully nudged him in the side.
"Come on, Nessie. We've done it before when the kids were here." Jacob stuck his bottom lip out like a begging three year old.
"Yeah Jake, when they were physically three years old and unable to understand what the noises meant. Now go wash up." Renesmee tapped him on the butt with her wooden spoon and he sighed heavily and took the spoon and walked over to the sink.
Renesmee laughed to herself as her children then entered the room. Liam and Jet, and Rennie who was carrying her little sister Allie in her arms.
"What are you laughing at?" Jet asked his mom with a little frown forming on his face, his dimpled cheeks smoothing as he relaxed his muscles into a frown.
"Nothing, Jet." Jacob gave Renesmee a knowing look, and then they both burst out into simultaneous giggles.
"You guys are going to end up being those parents that show the naked baby photos when the kid brings their date home. I can feel it in my bones," Jet said, shaking his head.
"Oh my god. You better not." Rennie looked at her parents in horror as they both glanced at each other with evil smiles forming on their faces.
"Great, you just jinxed it now." Liam rolled his eyes at his brother and gave him a small shove on the head.
"Hey!" Jet rubbed the back of his head, "How can a guy who is all scientific believe in Jinxing. isn't that like Karma?"
"No. Not really, you can tell by the evil way mom and dad are looking at each other they're plotting ways to embarrass us." Liam face palmed himself and then turned back around to his sisters, holding his arms out to hold his little sister Allie.
Allie smiled as she then reached for Liam. She loved her elder siblings, but for some reason she loved her eldest brother the most, or maybe she didn't love him the most, but he was definitely her favourite!
"Hey there Allie girl," Liam said, lifting the little girl in his arms.
"Hey Leelam." She smiled at her brother as she then rested her face in the crook of his neck. Liam smiled at her. He adored his little sister just as much as she adored him. He never wanted to see his little sister grow up, especially when she was introduced to the world of boys. Liam swore to himself that if a boy ever broke her heart, or even Rennie's, he would go after the boy and ring their neck.
"So when are they coming over again Ma?" Jet asked as he leant against the kitchen counter.
"In a little bit, so why don't you help your dear mother and make sure everything is all ready for the sleepover," Renesmee told her son.
"Fine." he sighed dramatically as he then turned to look at his siblings. "Anyone want to help me?"
"Nah, I'm going to go see if Kate is ready to come over. Or I might just chill over there for a while until everything is sorted out here!" Rennie chirped and then dashed off out of the door.
"Liam? Allie? One of you? Come on, doesn't anyone want to help out ole' Jet?" he asked, looking at the two.
"Let's go help him out Allie." Liam chuckled as he swung Allie onto his hip, following his younger brother to the other room to help lay the table of food out and decide what films they would watch.
Rennie headed towards the door where she began to watch for her friends. She smiled when she saw her Aunt Mary and Uncle Leo's car pull up, followed by Aunt Tara and Uncle Eddie's car.
They all appeared to be a little early, because it was only 4:30, they were all suppose to arrive at 5:00!
"Looks like we weren't the only ones with the idea to come early," Eddie said as him and his small family stepped out of the car.
"Yeah, well we just figured Ness and Jake could use some help," Mary said, shrugging as she came out of the car.
"Hey guys!" Rennie greeted her family from the doorstep. "You're here early!"
"Who's here early?" Renesmee questioned, popping her head out from behind the door. "Why are you all here so early?"
"Because we decided to come and help my dear sister," Eddie announced, smiling at his elder sister.
"We know how stressed you can get on these days, Nessie! So i suggested to Eddie we could come and help you." Tara said to her childhood best friend and sister.
"Well that's sweet of you. I have tea or coffee, if you guys wouldn't mind stick around for a little bit to help," Renesmee said, leaning against the doorway.
"No, we're good. Just show us what you need help with," Tara said, smiling at Renesmee.
Soon the two girls are chit chatting away while Eddie, Mary, Leo, and Jake began to get into a conversation as they helped set up a few things.
Meanwhile, the others began to start the sleepover slowly. Most of the girls stuck around by the front of the house while the others all made their way towards the other room.
"So, how have you been?" Rennie asked her two her best friends.
"You know, same old same old," Siena said, shrugging as she looked at her nails, looking very bored like she didn't want to be at the sleepover, and the truth was that she didn't want to be at the sleepover. She would have much rather been with her boyfriend, Darryl and his friends than stuck in a cramped room with all of her rowdy cousins.
"I don't even understand why we have to be here today, it's just stupid." Kate said rather bluntly, she hated the family gatherings almost as much as Siena did, though she was much more vocal about it, refusing to hide her feelings on the situation.
"I do agree with you there. Maybe we'll just go do our own thing. We could hang in your room, right Rennie?" Siena asked.
"I don't see why not. Everyone else will be too busy downstairs," Rennie said, shrugging at her cousins.
"So you guy are going to go up to your room while the rest of us stay down here." Chloe frowned as she looked towards her sister and cousins.
"Yeh, Chloe. You can stay down here with the little kids." Siena spat at her sister.
"Hey! I'm not a little kid! I'm the same age as you!" Chloe protested.
"Yeah, but you're half human so I matures faster than you, which makes me more mature and older." Siena narrowed her eyes and the two sisters stared each other down for a few seconds.
Everybody could feel the sibling rivalry in the air and they could almost taste the hostility in the air.
"Okay guys, break it up," Eddie said, coming in with Tara. "Siena, Chloe is the same age as you, may I remind you. And anyway you should all be down here as a family because that's what we do as a family, so everyone march into the other room now. No if's ands or buts. Got it, or you're all in trouble."
"Fine," All the girls grumbled as they headed towards the room where Jet, Liam, and Allie were getting the movie set up.
"God, do I miss them being little kids," Eddie murmured as he looked at his two daughters. "It seems as they get older Chloe and Siena bicker with each other more. They use to be best friends when they were children."
"Aw, Eddie. Don't worry. You have sisters; you know what it's like." Tara giggled as she kissed her husband on the cheek.
"Maddie and I use to have our fights, if you remember. Remember that one time Maddie and Winnie got into that fight when Evan imprinted on her? Heck, even you and I did, it's a natural thing," Renesmee said as she came over to her brother's side.
"Yeah, well you, Maddie, and Winnie seem much more closer as sisters than Siena and Chloe have been," Eddie mumbled.
"Don't worry baby. It also has to do with the fact that the girls are complete opposites at times. Siena is our sassy sweetheart girl and Chloe is quieter good natured girl. Siena is into shopping, Chloe has her head in a book half the time. It's just a part of them growing up," Tara told him, rubbing his arm gently.
"I know, I just wish they could be our little girls a little longer, it feels like they are growing up way too fast!" Eddie exclaimed sadly as he watched his daughters throw dirty looks to each other from across the room.
As everybody began to arrive, the house got packed full, and that's when the fun really began to start….
"If you think that's a ghost story, let me tell you one." Noah chuckled at the expense of his younger cousins, coming to sit on the couch nearest them. Plates of half eaten pizza, popcorn and DVD cases littered the surface of the coffee table and the cinema room of the Cullen-Black house.
"Oh, Noah." Nefertiti groaned, "You don't know any good, scary storied. We're not going to be up all night shaking if you tell us about the hitchhiker with the hook for a hand, or the baby sitter who gets chopped up by a guy who was making calls from inside the house."
"I saw that movie!" Pandora grinned cheerfully, joining in the conversation.
Nefertiti rolled her eyes, "Thanks, Pandora. Anyways," She continued, "Those kinds of stories are pretty lame."
"Don't be too quick to judge, sister of mine." Noah replied to his sister, "I've got some tricks you don't know about."
Rennie leaned forward, resting her elbows on the carped, "Go on then, tell it to us, Noah. It's probably better than anything these lot could come up with, anyway." She finished gesturing in the rest of her cousin's general direction. Liam screwed up his face and threw a cushion at his sister.
"The story I'm going to tell you hasn't been repeated for hundreds of years." Noah began, lowering his voice slightly to a neutral tone, smoothing his shirt a little, "A friend of mine told it to me on the eve of my other friends death. The friend said, 'Noah, you'll never have to worry about a monster in your closet, and there isn't a monster hiding in the shadows. Those are just stories old people make up to scare little children into behaving."
"Oh, come on, Noah! A monster story? We're not babies!" Jet exclaimed with a frown covering his face.
"Hold on, give it a chance." Noah interrupted again, "So I asked this friend, 'Sonia, why are you telling me this, shouldn't you be worried about John?' He was very sick, and I thought it was really strange that she would chose to talk about monsters at a time like this. She said she was worried about John. 'There's one place you will find monsters, Noah, real ones. You find them trapped in the windowpanes of houses.' She told me."
This time, Kara interrupted, looking around uneasily at the three large windows in the room, "But why there, it's just glass!"
"Well, these monsters, they started out as the souls of people that have died recently, and aren't quite ready to move on. They try to go back home and they get caught in the windowpanes, and over time they just get so angry and frustrated- I mean, wouldn't you? Always watching and never being able o come in? Maybe watching your family leave and seeing a new family come in where you used to belong?" Noah paused momentarily and then surveyed his cousins and siblings. Jet still looked sceptical, but the others seemed to be intrigued and listening with at least some interest.
"Sonia told me that she didn't want John to end up like some of those people, but he'd been sick and unhappy, so she wanted me to know that if I ever saw him in the window, to not be afraid. He was still my friend, and he wouldn't hurt me. But if I ever saw anyone else, then I should get as dar away as I could, because they're very jealous of anyone who lives in their house. The same goes for you too. If you ever see them, stay away from they windows. Tey'll hurt you if they reach you." Noah warned.
"I've never seen any ghosts or monsters in any window." Abby pointed out to her older brother.
"Would you like to see them?" Noah asked with seriousness. The question took the others aback for a moment.
Izeya was suddenly interested, "You'll show us? I mean, really real show us?" Though she didn't believe her brothers story, she was always up for a laugh at the expense of her younger cousins and siblings.
"I don't know if I really want to see." Sasha frowned, looking over his shoulder at the large windows.
"You don't have to look if you don't want to see them." Noah assured his young cousin.
The statement, instead of been reassuring, only served to unnerve them further. It gave the story and honesty the others didn't want to think about.
Chloe and Siena exchanged wary looks with each other for a moment.
Chloe finally drew herself up to her knees and took a deep breath, "I want to see."
"Me too." Said Abby, smiling at her cousin, the two were pretty close because of their love of books, but she also didn't want to be out done by her less daring cousin.
All of a sudden the others were nodding in agreement, readying to see the window trapped souls.
"All right," Noah slid of the couch to join the others on the floor. "Now, we're going to have to do this carefully. We'll try…" His eyes scanned the walls quickly, "That window there." He crawled carefully over the sleeping bags to where some of the others sat, and they all turned to look at the large window he had indicated at. Flat and black, it acted as both a mirror and a window. Superimposing the contents of the room onto the night scene outside. They could all dimly see their reflections in its depths.
Adriana shivered, "You can count me out. I'm not going over there."
"It's okay, sweetie. You can sit right here with the little ones and watch us do it. No shame in that." He turned to the large group that wanted to follow him and look into the window. "It's actually a really good night to do this, it's just the right temperature outside so that the glass will be fairly cold. Now let's go. Carefully now."
Crawling along the carpet, the others followed Noah, Edd, Liam, Abby and Chloe were the closes to him, clearly the most curious. They crawled over the rough terrain of the room to their destination; just below the windowsill.
"Now, what we do is peek over the windowsill just a little bit. One of you, doesn't matter which can do it first, then when they give the all clear, the others can peek over too. Now, who's going to do it." Noah told the group.
Edd and Liam looked towards Abby and Chloe. "Rock, paper, scissors?" Chloe offered to Abby.
The exchange was brief and the outcome was in Chloe's favour. Abby made a soft frustrated sound and slowly pulling herself up to her knees, peered cautiously into the window, her reflection staring back at her.
"I don't see anything." she said, hesitantly.
"So far, so good." Noah whispered. "Okay, now, Chloe, you go ahead and get up there too. Go on."
"You guys are freaking me out!" Adriana whispered from under her sleeping bag as she watched the group from afar.
Chloe rose to her knees and joined Abby at the windowsill. "Okay," she said, looking over hse shoulder at Noah. "Now what?"
Noah, "Now we all look into the window." The others all rose quietly and looked into the window, "Now, we look straight ahead into the window and we blow on it. Fog it up a little bit so that it gets cloudy. They're easier to see then. You'll have to do it, since you're the ones that want to se them."
"You're sure they're there?" Pandora looked uneasy.
"Positive." Noah answered his tiny cousin.
Abby and Chloe looked at each other. Abby offered her hand, and Chloe gripped it tightly. They looked into the window again, inhaling, and then they breathed warmly onto the cold glass.
The white mist spread over the surface of the window and Noah placed a hand on each of the girls shoulders, the others watching the two bravest girls. "Now look, see? Right there."
Chloe leaned closer, "Where?"
"There, look, you can see it moving." Noah said.
They both leaned forward, staring hard at the ghostly patch. Patterns coalesced on the misty surface before their eyes and Abby leaned even closer trying to follow the phantoms with her eyes. She could almost make out the face in the window…
Something moved quickly in her peripheral vision and Chloe shrieked. Abby cried out in response and fell backwards, frantically scrambling away from the window on her back side. Adriana was screaming with her head buried in her sleeping bag while the younger children looked terrified, and the others who were at the window had also jumped back with a gasp.
And Noah and Izeya were… laughing?
Heart beating furiously and trembling from head to toe, Abby could only gape at her sister and brother as comprehension dawned on her face, "Noah… Izzy? What-?"
"And you thought I couldn't scare you!" Noah chuckled sitting back on his heels.
"What's going on?!" Adriana asked, voice muffled, "I can't look!"
Chloe laughed, relieved, "Noah was playing a joke on us. Oh man, was that a good one. When you grabbed me, I thought I was going to die!"
Siena giggled then at her sister, "I shit myself when you both screamed!"
"Me too!" Mathias chuckled.
"Good going, Bro. You really had me going." Only, now Abby kept seeing that almost-face looking back at her in the window.
"Right, I think it's time to go to sleep now." Noah chuckled at the group who all looked a little shell shocked.
Everyone said their goodnights and in the darkness everyone silently unzipped their sleeping bags and crawled in, hugging their pillows close to their chests.
"Your brother is a nut," Sarenee remarked to Izeya with a laugh, "But that was an awesome story he told."
"Yeah," Izeya agreed, "I didn't know she had it in her."
Minutes passed by silently, there didn't seem to be anymore to say. One by one everybody dropped off to sleep, but Izeya stayed awake thinking about the incident that had happened earlier. Joseph had finally come back into her life; the hooded man she had dreamed about for years had finally come back.
Without warning, a sharp crack suddenly sounded through the darkness, Izeya sat bolt upright, clutching the edge of her sleeping bag. In the dim light of the street, she could see the window had splintered and a hand print lay on the condensed breath of her cousin and sister.