Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER I OWN NOTHING

The sun was setting, casting long shadows that engulfed the town in darkness. Deacon Jones stood at the door to the church and watched this, a sense of dread grew in the pit of his stomach, something was coming tonight. He went back inside and shut the doors and locked them, before walking to his desk and sitting down slowly, as to not overwork his hips. He grabbed the phone on the desk and dialed a number. After several rings Jonathan Whistler answered.

"Hello" he said.

"Jonathan this is Robert Jones, we have a problem" he said, the man on the other side of the line fell silent, "It's starting again, I need your help."

"… Alright meet me out at the farm" Jonathan replied, before hanging up. Deacon Jones listened to the dial tone, it sounded like a death rattle to him. As he stood there came a hard, loud pounding at the door. The old man felt his heart go cold as the doors swung open with a bang. A tall blond man stood there, he smiled broadly before stepping over the threshold.

"Forgive me father for I have sinned" Marcus said, mockingly. Deacon Jones fumbled inside his jacket pocket and pulled his crucifix, he held it out, his hand shaking. Marcus stumbled back and covered his face, "Aah put it away! Put it away!"

Deacon Jones stood and as fast as he could walked across the floor, his strength returning to his body. The vampire backed up until his legs hit the pew and he fell onto it, he writhed and jerked as the priest came close.

"You will leave the Lord's house!" Deacon Jones shouted, "I command you to leave!" Marcus stopped writhing and lowered his arm, a wide smirk was on his face, he started to chuckle and stood up, Deacon Jones held out the crucifix and waved it furiously at the other man, before backing up slowly, "Stay back… Stay back!"

"You stupid old man did you really think you could stop my plans so easily?" Marcus asked, "With only yourself and who else who will believe you? Your nothing but a fool." Marcus grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the floor. His handsome face changed to show a hideous snarl as his fangs grew. As he leaned forward to bite the sounds of a car doors shutting caught his attention.

"Why are we taking your priest a pie?" Geoff asked.

"I told you momma wants to thank him for all the years of service he's done" DJ replied.

"But why makes us do it? "Geoff asked, "she could've just come down here and gave him some hair pi-" he didn't get to finish as DJ punched him in the arm.

"Don't you dare talk about my momma like that!" he exclaimed.

"Alright sheesh calm down" Geoff replied. The two walked toward the church and noticed the doors were sitting wide open. They looked at each other before moving on, they entered the door as something dropped the priest to the ground and flew up through the roof, leaving a hole. The two teens watched as the old man climbed to his feet slowly, holding his hip with one hand. They rushed over and help him as he started to fall.

"Are you okay?" DJ asked.

"What was that?" Geoff added, the deacon looked at both of them gravely.

"Give me a ride out to the Pederson road and I'll tell you on the way" he replied, they each grabbed an arm and help the old man toward Geoff's car.

Whistler hung up the phone and looked off at the setting sun. Time was short and he had to be ready, just in case. He walked toward the gun cabinet in the den and opened it. Several different guns stood leaning against the back wall, he pulled out a double barrel shotgun, it's weight brought a feeling of safety. He placed the large gun on the adjacent table and then removed two hunting rifles, these had killed several grizzlies, cougars and the occasional vampire in their long history with him. He placed the guns on the table and opened a drawer at the bottom of the cabinet and the gleam of silver caught his eye. The aging hunter brought out half of the shells, these never failed him. He loaded the shotgun and was in the process of loading the first rifle when there came a loud whinnying from the barn.

He placed the rifle on the table and walked out to the porch. He grabbed the pitchfork leaning against the house and walked toward the barn, he didn't need to waste the ammo on a cougar. As he approached the barn the sounds of panic stopped suddenly, he eased one of the doors open and slowly edged his way in. in the gloom he could make out the stalls, as he walked toward the stalls the soft sound of slurping and smacking lips caught his attention, his blood ran cold at the sound, this wasn't a cougar. Whistler started walking back toward the door, he felt a chill go up his spine when he turned to a scrawny brown haired boy. His eye glowed green like a cats as he smiled widely.

Whistler stabbed the pitchfork forward, sinking the prongs into the teen's chest, the boy only smiled. Whistler let go of the weapon and stepped back. Cody pulled the pitchfork free with a wet sliding sound and dropped it to the ground, before walking toward the old man. Whistler turned to run to the other door but was stopped by Duncan and Trent blocking his way, blood staining their chins. He held up his hands and stepped back, Whistler turned half way and was forced back into a stall, the three boys smiled widely as they blocked his way.

"Stay back" he said, his voice cracking, they started toward him, "Stay back!"

As he stepped back from their advance a hand came over his shoulder and snaked around under his chin, he glanced back to see Gwen, blood staining her chin, smiling. He glanced down to see one of his horses, blood ran from a large wound in it's neck. As Whistler tried to move away Gwen bit into his throat, he struggled against her but the girl forced him to the ground. The others watched as she drank her fill and stood, before the others moved to have their turn.

END CHAPTER 4

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