Luz, inside their shared tent, knelt in front of her siblings. Sara and Geiney glanced at each other. Lea stared at Luz in thought. Her hands were folded in between her knees.
Geiney silently stayed still. This can't get any worse. Every day we spend here our situation gets worse and worse. What else could possibly go wrong?
Sara turned back to her sister, "Are you sure you heard a scream?"
Luz nodded, "Positive." She was so sure what she had heard was a scream from someone in their group. That scream couldn't have been a wild animal. She didn't think mountain lions were even close to where they were. Or were they?
"That scream was consistent with Greg's story too. They were hiking at one of the trails' when they heard a scream. Like mountain lions. Greg said mountain lions sound like a woman in pain."
"Greg said he thought they were mountain lions too." Luz told them.
"But you don't think they're mountain lions." Geiney made a statement rather than a question.
Luz shook her head no. "I think it was one in our group. But who, I'm not sure."
"It can't be. No one was left alone. I've noticed everyone has a buddy." Sara explained, "Felix and Melinda, Chris and Lisa, Greg and Laurie, Alyssa and Ramiro, and then there's us."
"How would we tell us apart if we get taken?" Geiney asked.
"Greg said they could copy our look. I don't think they could copy our powers."
"I don't know…" Geiney stretched the word in thought, "The Navajo believe you can become a skin-walker by using magic. It's possible they can copy our powers too." He was skeptical that they could copy their actual powers. After what he had seen with Luke and his power absorbing Athame though, anything was possible. The idea that he was around a Skinstrifer in their family's skin was unsettling to him. He felt like prey and these creatures were predators stalking him nearby.
"I doubt it. We each have unique powers. I don't think a Skinstrifer could summon a wind ball or move things with their mind." She retorted. She shuddered. She never would want to go up against a force like that.
"So how do we test that theory out in case you guys have doubts?" Lea asked.
"I guess we expose ourselves." Luz answered after a beat.
"No way." Geiney shook his head.
"These guys, our family," she pointed outside, "are in danger. If we expose ourselves we can show ourselves who's the real us. And then knock out any other doubt in the group."
"That's risky. What happens if we survive this? We'd have the entire family asking questions. Chris and Lisa already think you two were raised entitled; imagine them chasing after you because you know witchcraft." Geiney said.
"That's not going to be nearly as bad as the body count." Lea argued. The tent fell silent if only for a moment.
Luz laughed at the irony, "Damned if we do, damned if we don't. There is no happy ending here guys. We either expose ourselves when the time is right and kill the Skinstrifers or we wait until they kill everyone else and then we kill the Skinstrifers. I'll expose myself before I let someone die."
"Sara, what do you think?" Geiney turned to his sister.
She wore a scowl on her face, "I don't know. But we can't sit here. The longer we play sitting ducks the more these damn creatures are going to crawl the camp. Worse case scenario we beat the shit out of these damn creatures."
"Not if we're overwhelmed twenty-to-one. They were intelligent. They figured out a way to flank me. They were cunning enough to figure out a way to disarm me. No matter how strong you are sis, you can't beat large numbers either."
The tent was silent again and Sara thought back to what her little brother told her. Geiney thought back to Greg's story. The more he thought back to it the more things didn't quite match what Greg said. He wanted to put an end to whatever this camping trip had become. He needed to confront Greg.
"I'm gonna go play detective. I'll use my powers in the open if I have to. If I'm gonna expose myself it'll be in defense." Geiney said.
"Okay. But change into something comfortable to fight in. Take the walkie in case you get in any trouble." Luz instructed.
"And stay close to the campsite. We shouldn't be too far from each other." Sara continued, "We'll carry a walkie, too. We'll be together if you need us." She instructed.
"Then I guess I better turn back into a cat." In an instant Lea turned back to his cat form. While Geiney changed, Luz took another opportunity to check his stitches.
"You're healing faster than I expected. It must be your anthro blood." Luz told him.
"Alright. Let's go, Lea." Geiney called from the other room.
"Knock, knock!" A woman's voice called out from behind the tent.
"Is that Laurie?" Geiney smiled.
"It's me, kiddo." Laurie answered and unzipped the flap to the tent. She poked her head in. "Hey, you want to take a walk with me? Looks like no one wants to walk right now."
"Can I?" He turned to her sisters.
"Of course." Luz nodded, "Hi, aunt Laurie!"
"Hi, sweetie!"
"Come here, Lea." Geiney beckoned, patting his knee.
Lea meowed and stayed close to his charge.
...
"It's a beautiful day outside." Laurie commented. Laurie had arrived alongside Alyssa and Ramiro. She had insisted on cooking for the family and made some of the best grilled chicken and wings the family had ever tasted.
"Yeah, it is. Perfect for another barbecue?" Geiney hinted.
"Are you trying to ask me something?" Laurie teased.
"Please make some of your grilled chicken. Please!" Geiney put his hands together in plea.
Laurie laughed, "I'm glad you liked it. I guess I can make some more. We should still have chicken in the coolers. If I start cooking when we get back they should be ready for lunch."
"Yay!" Geiney squealed.
"You know, that recipe was an improvised one. I had to help cook for a potluck in a mess hall that was being rented out. My assistant forgot to bring the ingredients I needed and I used what I could find at the mess hall. It turned out better than my original recipe. I keep those ingredients a secret."
"Well, it turned out great!"
"Thank you."
"Where's uncle Greg? I thought he'd be down for walking with us."
"He went ahead before I could ask to join him."
"So he's alone?" There was concern in his voice.
"Not really. He's just taking laps around the campsite. We might actually run into him first." She answered nonchalant.
Geiney watched as Lea jumped ahead to explore the little clearing they were heading in.
"How's school going?" Laurie asked Geiney.
"It's going good. I made some new friends this year."
"Are you excited to go back?"
"Heck no!" Geiney whined.
"Tell me about your friends."
"Alice was my first friend in school. I met her on the first day of kindergarten. I remember being too shy to be around the other kids. I was coloring something when she came over. I had a color she needed and I let her borrow it. I remember she actually stayed coloring next to me. Soon we became fast friends.
"Then there's Luke. He's been my friend since grade school. He's very intelligent especially when it comes to history. You should've seen it when I asked him what was so great about the American civil war." Geiney laughed at the memory, Luke had given him a two hour lecture on the rise and fall of the South.
"Then there's Charlie. Luke introduced me to Charlie some time afterwards. We started as simple classmates until we learned we both loved a certain game series.
"Then I met some new friends this year. I met Lea."
"Oh, your cat?"
Geiney was taken aback but forced himself to keep his mouth shut. She didn't know he was a were-person. "Yes, my cat. That's right. I met him outside. He seemed friendly enough so we took him in."
"Then I met Ruby. I met her through Charlie. Actually, all my new friends I met through Charlie. They are a colorful bunch! Ruby is very athletic and she's the lead in our track team.
"Shera is this cool girl. She kinda likes taking on the bullies in the school. She's pretty scary when she's mad. Good thing she's on my side, right?
"Sherry is pretty athletic herself. She plays sports but she's not on a team. I could see her stomping people in basketball though."
"They all sound like good people. I'd like to meet them one day."
"Yeah, that would be great! And maybe you could make them some of your chicken?" His voice turned higher in pitch towards the end.
Laurie rolled her eyes but couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, alright. I'll make you your darn chicken."
They walked casually talking. They reached the clearing and stayed for a while exploring the little area. Geiney watched a yellow butterfly float around him.
"I wonder how long until we reach uncle Greg." Geiney thought aloud.
"He's probably in the middle of the hiking trail."
Geiney turned to his aunt, "I thought you said he was taking laps around the campsite?"
"I did?"
Geiney felt a throb in his head. He began hearing words speak in his head and then everything was calm.
"I said Greg was hiking, remember?" She asked him.
"Oh, yes you did."
Jasper stood frozen in his spot. That was not what she had said earlier. She had said Greg was walking laps around the campsite. Why did Geiney just agree with her? His mind went back to Greg's story. They could change memories!
"Geiney! She's a Skinstrifer!"
"What?" Geiney turned to Lea.
"Who said that?" Laurie looked around, puzzled.
There was no time to react. Geiney went into panic mode. He didn't know what to believe but he trusted his familiar. In an instant he launched himself and tackled Laurie to the ground. He turned Laurie's body so it faced him.
"What are you doing?" She spoke shocked.
Please don't let me be wrong about this. He thought to himself.
While she was pinned on the ground, he sent a flurry of punches to her face. Left-right, left-right. Then his fist hit the ground. He winced, and he tuck-and-rolled off her deflating body. A hump appeared like something underneath a pile of clothes.
A Skinstrifer shoved the flesh and clothes off of itself. The naked pale green creature stood up. It hissed as it turned to Geiney. Lea lowered his head and neck and elevated his hindquarters. He hissed and hummed while he stalked the creature.
Geiney got up. "You really wanna go?" Geiney summoned a windball in his hand and threw it in front of the Skinstrifer. The skinstrifer jumped back and hissed angrily when the ball exploded and left a small indent in the ground. It fled shortly after.
"How did you know it was a Skinstrifer?" He knelt down to Lea's level.
"The first time when you asked about Greg she said Greg was taking laps around the campsite. The second time she said he was hiking. You doubted her, then you said she was right. That thing changed your memory."
"Damn it!" He groaned.
"Wait, why weren't you affected?" Geiney asked.
Lea tilted his cat head in thought, "Maybe because she thought I was an animal? She doesn't know that I'm an anthro. That makes sense, right? That's why she only changed your memory and not mine."
Geiney nodded, "Can they change the memories of an animal?" He shook the distracting thoughts away, "But if she's a Skinstrifer how was she taken? She was always paired off with Greg."
"Wait, I thought she came to the campsite earlier today?"
"What do you mean? She was here when Alyssa and Ramiro showed up yesterday. Laurie drove Alyssa and Ramiro and got lost. That's why they were a day late."
"No," Lea drew out the word, "She showed up this morning. I saw her from afar socializing with the family. I thought you guys knew her so I didn't say anything."
"What? Lea, she made chicken yesterday," He pointed to the side like he was showing off a memory, "I gave you some because it was the best damn chicken I ever tried."
Lea shook his head no. "You never gave me any chicken. You guys cooked polish sausage foods yesterday. You gave me nothing, mind you." He stressed. Lea really wanted to try it. "Geiney, only Alyssa and Ramiro showed up to the party yesterday. It's only been Greg, Felix, Melinda, Lisa, Chris, Luz, Sara, you and me."
"… The hell?" Geiney's moment of panic washed away, "They can change memories." He confirmed, "That's some pretty advanced illusion skill. Wait, then who was alone?"
Geiney and Lea answered at the same time, "Greg".
"Of course. Everyone had a pair. And If Laurie never existed Greg was the only one without a pair. But he would be fighting against the Skinstrifers if they had infiltrated the camp, right?"
"Unless this Greg is a Skinstrifer and the original was already taken. Come to think about it, Greg's been alone for parts of the day since your arrival. He could've been taken at any point."
"Son of a bitch!" Geiney cursed.
"What should we do?"
Geiney stood up and fixed his pants, tightening the belt around his waist. "We confront Greg. We need to get to the bottom of this."
"Greg's supposedly running laps around the campsite." Lea reminded him.
"Or he's alone."
"Come on. Let's go look for our suspect." Lea turned back to the campsite and led the way. He wasn't very good at sniffing people out. His sister was better at that than he was. However, he still had canine blood in him. He would track down Greg.
...
Back at the local Valentine Family Clinic Center, a doctor and his only nurse tried to right the chaos that seemingly happened within the hour. People returned holding up the wrong prescriptions or were on a cell phone with their insurance company put on hold.
"You gave me Viagra when I asked for allergy medication! I had a very awkward talk with my wife!" Began one young man, "I don't need Viagra! I can get it up just fine without it!"
"I got an inhaler! I don't need help breathing! I need help breeding!" An older gentleman man whined.
"Why am I paying for a routine doctor checkup out of pocket? My insurance should've been able to cover this!" A woman slammed her palm on the counter.
"I was told I had cancer! I only got a physical to play sports!" A teenage girl complained.
More complaints and angry mutters began filling the doctor's office. Some of the other patients already left during the commotion. It seemed that more problems began arriving at the clinic like a flood.
Sierra tried her best but it wasn't enough. She had not paid attention to what she was doing and mixed documents together and called patients back with the wrong information. The entire week was rough and today was the worst day of her working life. Why couldn't she just hide and watch her soap operas in the lounge like she normally would? Why did Luz pick now to go on vacation?
Doctor Danson crumbled up the medication slips and some insurance claims in his hands. He shouted out above the crowd and Sierra was sure the whole world could hear the doctor's cry.
"Where the hell is Luz!?" He demanded an answer from the heavens. He wasn't one to believe in a deity but he would make an exception if any or all would give him one simple answer: the whereabouts of his best nurse in the clinic.
...
Luz shivered and felt her ear ring, "Someone must be calling for me. Who could it be?" She muttered to herself. Luz and Sara had walked to the river on a little stroll. A walkie was strapped to her waist. All radio traffic would reach her walkie so she could listen for Geiney's call.
"Did you mean what you said?" Sara asked her sister, skipping a rock down the river.
"You mean about exposing ourselves?" Luz clarified. She threw a pebble in the river and watched the splash from afar.
"Yeah."
"Yes. I was completely serious."
Sara grabbed a rock with a flat edge and rubbed the dirt off of it before skipping it down the river, "I didn't think you would actually do that. You were always by-the-book. You always followed the rules. I can only remember a handful of times you ever bend the rules. You never really broke a rule now that I think about it. You only broke the rules when we smuggled Geiney away from the magic school." Sara continued.
Sara whistled when she beat her previous record the rock skipped in the river. "Miss goody-two-shoes." She teased.
"I was not a goody-two-shoes." Luz returned, "You were the rebel. I was just one that understood why the rules were there."
Sara waved a hand in protest, "Rules were meant to be broken, sis. It's what I've been doing my whole life." She thought back, "Hell. If I hadn't done it I wouldn't have been able to protect you at the magic school."
"Then I guess it's a good thing you did." Luz smiled. She picked up a red pebble with a smooth surface and threw it at the river. She watched it splash and let her mind focus on the ripples it created.
"I like breaking the rules when something is not right. It's the reason why we got out of the magic school. We were trained like soldiers. It wouldn't be right to let them do the same thing to our baby brother."
"You were more the impulsive kind of girl. I was the more rational one."
"Are you saying you're smarter than me?" Sara playfully threatened.
"I'm saying I got us out of trouble a few times." She quipped, "Of course if you hadn't kicked that attack to my potion and almost killed me…"
"That was like twenty years ago, woman! Let it go!" Sara complained.
Luz laughed, "I'm just saying I had a carefully thought out plan and you ruined it with a kick."
Sara pouted and crossed her arms. "Yeah, whatever." She dropped her voice to a mutter, "it was a stupid plan anyways." Instead of skipping the rock she grabbed a rock the size of a basketball and threw it into the river. The audible splash echoed in the trees.
Luz was ready to throw another pebble when the sound of muttering stopped her. She turned to her sister, "What?"
"What?" Sara returned, a blank look on her face.
Luz turned back to the river. "Exposure is better than the body count."
Sara hummed in response and turned to look at her sister.
Luz continued, "That's what Geiney's friend said. I agree with him. We can live with them knowing our secret. If they can't be trusted we can always wipe their memory. But I would rather fight these creatures than have a body count on my conscious."
"Yeah. The knucklehead friend of his wasn't wrong. Then we expose ourselves." Sara concluded.
"Speaking of which, we need to talk to Geiney about his friend. With the Skinstrifers infiltrating the camp we haven't had a chance to talk to him. If he has another boy sleeping in the same room as him then he needs 'The Talk'. Besides, I don't wanna walk in on them doing something naughty, you know what I mean?"
Luz rolled her eyes at the thought, "Alright. I'll talk with them."
"I was thinking I should talk with them alone." Sara gave a confident smirk.
Luz blinked, not sure how to feel about this. "Um. Sure. I just thought since I had the medical experience I could speak with them. I've done it hundreds of times with some of the teenagers that come to the clinic."
"Yeah but," she started waving a hand in a circle, "we don't need Geiney feeling like he's getting a lecture. This should be between him and his oldest sister. Besides, I'll cut straight to the point and tell them no hanky panky in the house. I don't want to hear let alone see them doing that." She shuddered.
"O-kay? Sure, you can do that. If you need me to answer any questions you don't know the answer to give me a call."
"Will do."
...
"Uncle Greg." Geiney started as he jogged up to his uncle. His uncle ended up walking just outside the perimeter of the campsite.
"My boy! How's my little nephew?" He asked.
"I'm doing good. I just had a question for you." Lea stationed himself next to Geiney and meowed.
"Why, hello little guy!" Greg greeted the cat, "What's your question my boy?"
"Who was taking pictures in your story again? I forgot already." He fibbed.
"It was Chin."
Geiney hesitated and shook his head no. "No it wasn't. Chin never took the pictures. It was Isaac. Isaac was in the top of the science class. Chin had the goatee. Isaac had the camera."
"Well, it has been a long time…" Greg thought.
"You keep telling me that you're very good at remembering detail but you forget who holds the camera?"
"Well, yes I am an old man, kiddo. I forget things, too." Greg defended himself, feeling embarrassed at Geiney's interrogation.
"And another detail you seemed to have gotten wrong. You mentioned the Skinstrifers were pale-white. The Skinstrifers I've seen were pale-green. Explain that!" Geiney cried upset.
"You've seen them?"
"I've fought them! They damn near overtook me and my cat! Why did you get the details mixed up?"
Greg stood looking at Geiney with surprised eyes.
"They are not that strong unless they have numbers with them. Your story never mentioned their clever strategies to get someone alone." Geiney continued
"Where did they attack you?"
"At the giant rock formation."
Greg cursed, "I knew they were here. The day of our walk I saw the strange footprints from a Skinstrifer. The day after, I saw one run away from the campsite with something in its hand. It looked like a necklace of some sort."
Geiney thought back, "That was Chris' pendant."
"It saw me but it growled and left." Greg continued.
"I need to know if you're a Skinstrifer..." Geiney looked down, he hoped he was wrong.
Uncle Greg gave Geiney a sad looking smile. "Do what you have to, kiddo. I won't stop you." Greg extended his arms and left himself wide open.
Geiney's heart beat a mile a minute. Many thoughts raced through his mind on what he should do. Should he expose himself already? Should he beat up his uncle? He remembered a small detail in the story and decided it was his best approach.
Geiney stepped forward and roundhouse kicked his uncle in the chest. His uncle fell back in a coughing fit. Geiney felt his eyes water. It was truly his uncle.
"Uncle Greg!" He cried, helping his poor uncle up. "Oh, god. I'm sorry!" He cried into the man's chest.
His uncle recovered and embraced his nephew. "I'll be okay." He coughed. Lea's ears drooped. The man was not a Skinstrifer but someone in the camp was. While his hypothesis wasn't wrong, he had guessed Greg was indeed a Skinstrifer. He was wrong and now Geiney had attacked his uncle just to find out he was in fact human.
"Why would those creatures want that stupid pendant?" Greg asked. Geiney wouldn't let him go.
"The Skinstrifer really wanted that pendant." He sniffled, "The pendant gives off this calming energy. It's what was able to keep Chris level headed. It's why her mother only gave it to her so she could keep calm through everything." Geiney let go of his uncle and began pacing. He wiped the tears from his eyes, "They've already started infiltration. Laurie was probably leading me away from the campsite so she could attack me. But I found her out first."
"Laurie was a Skinstrifer." He repeated.
"Yeah. She never existed. Think back; who arrived late to the party yesterday?"
Greg realized something, "Yes, my memories don't coincide with her arrival. I remember Alyssa and Ramiro arriving. Then next thing I know I'm at the picnic tables watching Laurie cook something. That's not right... what should we do to get rid of the other Skinstrifers in the camp?"
"We flush them out."
"How do we do that without attacking the wrong person?" Greg asked.
"With Chris' pendant." Geiney said.
Lea had volunteered to sneak into the tent this time. He made sure the tent was clear inside before he scurried to find his objective. However, he could not feel the energy of the pendant in the tent. It has to be here, Lea thought to himself. The tent didn't get cleaned up much. He hated to think this was how their homes looked like. Everything was still in disarray.
Geiney and his uncle kept watch. Chris and Lisa were nowhere to be seen. Alyssa and Ramiro were seen socializing with Felix and Melinda off to the distance. It was hard to tell who was taken. Everyone seemed normal... or did they?
"Uncle Greg?" Geiney asked in a low voice. "You said Ramiro likes to swim?"
"Yeah?" The question made Greg think. He turned to Geiney and both shared the same look.
"Alyssa and Ramiro?" Greg asked Geiney.
"Yep." Geiney nodded, "Isn't it weird how they showed up a day late?"
"Yes, it is. Felix told them ahead of time." He scrunched his face, "Come to think of it, I thought I heard Felix say he received a message from Alyssa saying they had already showed up. When we didn't see them there Felix texted them back saying they were probably at the wrong campsite. He hadn't received a reply since."
"What if they did already show up? We just missed them. They got here before anyone else but then they were ambushed. They could have easily been taken and replaced by Skinstrifers."
"It's entirely possible." Greg looked around. "Are you sure this plan is going to work?"
"100% uncle! I'll bet my life on it."
Greg gave him a scolding look, "That's not funny, kiddo."
"Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Just stay behind when things hit the fan, alright? Me and my sisters will take care of the rest."
"You're going to be endangering your sisters?" He realized something, "Hell, I'm already endangering you!"
"We can handle ourselves. Trust in me. Everything will be fine." He reassured his uncle with a pat on his arm.
A meow drew their attention to the ground. Lea shook his head no.
"Damn it!" Geiney cursed.
"No pendant?" Greg turned to Geiney.
"Maybe I should look."
"No, if Jasper didn't find anything, then there isn't anything there." Let's go find my sisters." Geiney grabbed the radio that was attached to his belt and pressed the talk button.
"This is North Wind looking for Brute Force and Med Kinetic. Over." Geiney called.
"What the heck was that?" His uncle asked the boy.
"Our code names. Oh, right. We gotta give you one... How about Horror Flick?"
"Horror Flick?" His uncle could not understand why he was receiving that code name.
"Because you tell scary stories?" Geiney hinted.
The radio whistled, static was produced for a moment before his sisters voice was heard on the radio.
"This is Med Kinetic to North Wind. What do you need? Over."
"Meet us back at base. I'm with Horror Flick. We need a plan to flush the Skinstrifers out. Over."
"Who the heck is Horror Flick? Over."
"You'll see when we meet up at base. Over."
"Roger that. We will meet at the tent in 0015 hours. Med Kinetic over and out."
"North Wind and Horror Flick over and out." Geiney started off to their shared tent.
"Why not Strifer Hunter? That's a better name than Horror Flick!" Greg argued.
...
"Who the heck is Horror Flick?" Sara asked ernestly.
"Well, a horror flick is a movie that tells a scary story."
The realization hit them like a ton of bricks. "Uncle Greg!"
"Why does the Tyke think he can involve our uncle in this mess?" Sara complained while running her hand roughly through her hair in frustration.
"One thing's for sure. That kid is creative with these code names." Luz applauded.
"He couldn't have thought up a better name though? Horror Flick would probably be more suitable for Stephen King." Sara ranted. She crossed her arms over her chest.
Sara looked up at her sister, "Wait, does he know?"
"He has to. He fought the Skinstrifers once already." Luz replied.
"Then the Skinstrifers are hitting our campsite soon if the twerp and our uncle have a plan."
"They must be. Are you ready to expose magic to our uncle?" Luz had her hand out to her sister.
Her sister slapped Luz's hand with her own. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's kick some Skinstrifer ass." They jogged back to the campsite. It wasn't a long jog but the faster they could get to the campsite the faster they could round up and vanquish these creatures from their lives.
...
With no amulet, the siblings and Greg met at their shared tent. They sat in a circle contemplating what their next move should be. They needed to strike first; otherwise the Skinstrifers could overtake them. The tent was quiet as their collective minds worked to figure out a way to expose the beasts and take them down.
Geiney sighed, "That amulet was going to be the key to bring the other Skinstrifers down." He had recounted that Lea entered Chris' tent but did not find the mystical amulet that allowed her to be calm.
"The amulet wasn't in their tent." Greg started. He turned to Geiney, "Then again, maybe your cat just doesn't speak English."
Lea cocked his head up and meowed angrily at the older man. He still played as the cat but if only he could say what was on his mind...
"Trust me, he speaks English." Geiney said with confidence.
"The amulet might have come in handy but it's not impossible to figure out which ones are the Skinstrifer." Luz voiced her thoughts.
"Well, no. It does mean it's going to be a pain, though. We don't want to attack the wrong person." Greg sent a knowing look to Geiney.
"I'm sorry!" Geiney cried, thrusting his arms towards his uncle.
"So from Greg's story, how do we tell us apart from the Skinstrifers?" Luz asked.
"The way you can expose them is by physically attacking them." Greg recounted.
Geiney remembered how he threatened his sisters when they came looking for him. The gust of wind he pushed them with proved they were human. If he could gather everyone and hit them with something not permanently damaging, he could figure out how to out these monsters.
"What if we had a strong enough gust of wind?" Geiney offered.
"It would have to be pretty strong. Enough to knock someone down at the very least. They don't really use the actual skin; they can fabricate it on their body. Consider it a second weaker layer of skin."
"So that may mean that you could knock the flesh off of them literally." Luz finished.
"Exactly!" Greg chanted, "But of course that's not realistic since we can't make a blast of wind like that with no technology here. We would need to think of something else."
"You let me handle the wind, Uncle Greg. I got this!"
"But there's no wind." Greg argued.
"Which is why I said let me take care of it." Geiney stood up in a rush.
"But there's no wind!"
…
Geiney was paired off with Sara and Lea. They were tasked with rounding the family up at the picnic tables. Luz and Greg were stationed at the picnic tables. Greg and Luz had gathered rocks the size of baseballs and placed them on the ground next to the table they were occupying. The plan was to lure the family over and expose the Skinstrifers. Luz and Greg would take to the table area and keep them from escaping to the forest while Sara and Geiney kept them from spreading too far out from each other.
Geiney would use his magic to expose the impersonators and then everyone would play their parts by exterminating the Skinstrifers trying to escape. It wasn't the best plan but it was enough to flush out the imposters. These creatures were finally going to pay for what they had done to at least one of their family without any hesitation.
"I still don't see how that kid is going to produce a large gust of wind." Greg muttered.
"Geiney is a—" Luz stopped herself, not sure what she would say. "Uncle Greg, can I ask you something?"
"Sure thing, Sweetie." Greg pulled a tarp tight connecting it with a nearby tree. The tarp spanned a good twenty feet out. It gave them a bit more control over their area. They stationed themselves at the sides of the tarp. Now the Skinstrifers would have a shorter area of escape. They were confident enough to cover that area by themselves.
"You believe in these Skinstrifers and their otherworldly powers to impersonate a human being. What do you think about witchcraft?"
"Witchcraft, huh? I believe there is a side to it that has to be real. In the Navajo culture, they believe a skin-walker is a witch who had the ability to morph into an animal. They are evil creatures. If witchcraft is able to do that, then it has to be real." He explained.
"What if I told you witchcraft can be used for both good and evil?"
"I doubt it, hon. Most stories of witches I'm told are evil. It fits into the Navajo legends that a witch is evil."
"Not all witches are out to destroy things, Uncle Greg. Every group has those that fight for others, right?" Luz heard Greg hum to signal he was listening. "The truth is, Uncle Greg. We're witches. We have these powers that help us protect the innocent. Those powers are what's going to help us out today."
Greg turned back; his face showed he was unamused. "Luz, that's not funny. This isn't a joke. We could all die here."
"And I'm not laughing." She looked down at the rocks in disarray on the floor. She waved one hand and curled her fingers into her palm. The rocks gently levitated upwards. They had gathered more than forty rocks that Greg was to use as ammunition. The rocks evened themselves out in a pattern and floated gently up and down.
"Oh my god." Greg exhaled, his eyes were fixated on the pattern of rocks that swayed gently in mid air.
"We're witches, Greg. I can move things with my mind. Sara can amplify her physical abilities. Geiney can control the wind." Luz pulled her hand down and the rocks gently stacked themselves one over another. The finished product was a pyramid of rocks on top of the picnic tables.
"Geiney will flush them out and we will fight the rest off. Our job is to keep them from escaping. This Skinstrifer nightmare has to stop. Believe me when we say we won't be dying today."
Greg stared wide eyed at Luz. "How long have you been…" He lost the word he was going to use.
"Witches?" Luz finished for him.
Greg nodded his head.
"All our lives."
…
"I swear to god, Geiney. If this doesn't work the Skinstrifers will be the least of your problems." Sara muttered. They walked ahead of the group. They had managed to convince everyone to come and try one of Greg's special luncheons. Geiney counted the heads behind them; six people.
"What? You have a better idea? You guys are the strategists! Help me out here." Geiney muttered angrily at his sister.
"Strategies work when we know the enemy!" She countered.
"Good thing I know the enemy then."
Sara growled but calmed down shortly after. "I'm sorry. We've never exposed ourselves before and I'm having trouble coming to terms with it."
"You said you were down for it." The boy returned.
"It was easier to say I would do it then actually going through with it. But here goes nothing."
"What are you two arguing about?" Felix prodded.
"Sibling rivalry, Uncle Felix." She smiled.
"For my sake it better work." Geiney bit his lip. He knew his sister didn't mean what she said but still…
...
"Hey! Where's the food!?" Melinda argued. The group agreed and began voicing their unhappy opinions.
"Alright! Alright!" Geiney settled down the group. "Greg is still cooking the feast. I wanted—"
"The grill ain't even on!" Lisa complained.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't focus too much on that." Geiney raised his hands up. Now was the moment to unleash his power but he still felt nervous. He could pull this off; it wasn't hard to make strong wind. Exposing his powers to his family was something he never imagined doing on a pleasant vacation like this, though. Geiney hesitated.
Lea meowed. Geiney looked down and smiled at his friend. A boost of courage…
"Maybe we can eat the cat!" Chris laughed.
Geiney turned back with an angry scowl. "Don't talk to my friend like that!"
"Ha! Friend? He's only your friend because you feed him." Chris continued.
"Stop it."
"Yeah, we're so hungry we could eat a person!" Alyssa whined.
Lea stepped forward and hissed at Chris.
"Ah! Get that stupid furball away from me!" Lisa shrieked. Chris stomped on the ground to scare the cat away.
"That's it!" Geiney angrily stomped forward and shoved his hands in front and let go of the magic his anger had built up. The first gust was like a slap to the face. The group covered their eyes and groaned.
Geiney clenched his teeth together and pushed harder. Dust erupted from the ground and whipped at the group. Sara held her ground, rooted to the earth. She was too close to Geiney and she had felt the push against her back. Even with her martial arts training this power was stronger than she could have imagined. She stood in an awkward stance, her hands raised over her face trying to keep her hair from landing in her eyes.
With one final push the six flew back to the ground. The wind died down. Geiney collapsed to his knees.
From a not so far distance away Luz helped Greg up from the ground.
"Was that Geiney?" He stood on shaky legs.
"Yeah. But he's never done a gust that big before. I didn't think he had that in him." Luz looked at their makeshift barricade.
"So much for trapping them." She whined. They were completely open now.
"Get up! Get up, now!" Sara urgently cried out to the remaining three people.
"What the hell was that!?" Lisa shouted.
Felix, Melinda, and Lisa sat up from their spots. A few feet away lay the deflated skin of Alyssa, Ramiro and Chris.
Confused and disoriented the three human beings sat on the ground staring at one another.
Lea howled, "Get out of there!"
Sara glanced down at Geiney. He looked up but the kid had used up a lot of his magic at once to produce the continuous gust of wind. He was out of breath and didn't seem to want to move. Geiney needed time to recover. With no other option she turned back to the three deflated bodies of the people she once knew.
Three Skinstrifers jumped up from the skin and growled.
"Geiney, Lea, fall back!" She pressed forward at a full run towards the Skinstrifers. The creatures jumped up. She grappled the first Skinstrifer and managed to contain its head and shoulders in her hands. The second Skinstrifer jumped and stabbed at Sara with its claws but she used the body of the first creature to block its attack. The beast in her hands howled in pain.
She shifted her hands so she could hold the Skinstrifer by its wrists. She swung her new weapon at the second Skinstrifer. She heard a pair of whines coming from them both. She swung back like she was playing golf and knocked the second Skinstrifer away.
The third approached carefully. It circled around Sara and vaulted up. It jumped on her new weapon and glided itself over Sara. Sara stepped forward and made a cross slash with the creature in her hands. She spun around and kicked the third Skinstrifer away from her.
The Skinstrifer she had used as a weapon looked disoriented and dizzy. She smiled wickedly and spun around and whipped the creature like she was shaking a towel. The creature moaned. With one final effort she threw the Skinstrifer in the air, jumped up with a spin and kicked the Skinstrifer in between two trees.
"Goal!" She sang her victory.
While Sara defended herself against the Skinstrifers, Lea morphed back into his human form and grabbed hold of Geiney, putting an arm around his shoulder.
"Everyone, run! Those things will kill you!" He beckoned everyone over to the tents. Felix helped Melinda up and Lisa wobbled to her feet. The three stayed close to Geiney and Lea. Geiney's legs felt like jelly as they could barely hold him up.
"Thank you, Lea!" Luz took Geiney and sat him on the ground.
The group shouted in panic and Greg tried to keep the three remaining survivors calm.
"You did good, Geiney." She patted him on the back.
"Thanks, sis." He said, his voice weak.
Sara spat at the Skinstrifer she had kicked in between the trees. She heard the rustle of leaves behind her and turned to see the pale green naked creature get up. It held its injured head and took a deep breath. The sound that escaped its mouth was not something Sara was expecting. A loud inhuman screech that sounded like nails on a chalkboard; the high pitch scream reverberated in a complex echo.
She winced and launched herself forwards and side kicked the creature out of her way. She exhaled calmly. Bumps began to appear up and down her arms when she heard the same beastly cry a distance away. One cry, then two, then many. She turned her head side to side; trying to find where these cries were coming from. Her heart began to race when she saw them.
The Skinstrifers came out from behind trees and beckoned others to come out. They climbed down or they jumped down from the trees. She noticed how they seemed to laugh and taunt her even from a distance away. The laughter got louder. Their taunting turned into a battle cry with little arms raised into the air.
"Oh, shit!" She cursed and ran back to the camp.
"Abort! We're not fighting! Get the hell out of here!"
"What!? We had a plan!" Greg argued.
"Forget the plan!" There's an army of them!" She stopped talking and pointed behind them. Geiney, Luz, Lea and Greg turned to see Skinstrifers emerging from the trees.
"We're surrounded!?" Geiney screeched.
Sara screamed in frustration. "We were supposed to get the drop on them!"
"What's happening!?" Felix cried, holding Melinda in his arms. Lisa looked so pale Luz swore she was going to faint.
"Everyone to the cars!" Greg ordered.
"It's a bit of a stretch! You think we can make it?" Sara grunted.
"Yeah! But we have to go now. Right now!" Greg started at a jog and ushered the remaining survivors to the parking lot. Geiney, Lea, Luz and Sara stayed to the back. Geiney looked back and saw they were only a short distance away.
"Hurry up!"
They arrived at the parking lot with a new problem. Felix, Melinda and Lisa began panicking as they patted their pockets.
"Our keys! They're at the tent!" Felix explained.
"I didn't know I was gonna have to bring mine." Lisa sobbed.
With no more time to lose, Luz readied herself in a battle position.
"Guys, we can't fight these creatures on our own. We need to work together." Luz explained.
"No need to tell me twice" Sara cracked her knuckles.
"Greg! Lea! Find somewhere to take cover and protect the family!" Geiney ordered.
The Skinstrifers were nearly upon them. Geiney raised his shield and pushed with all his might. The shield cleared a path in the army of the pale green naked creatures. Luz, with both hands, telekinetically grabbed a log the size of a car. Like a body builder, she screamed as she threw the log.
The log crashed to the ground and rolled over many of the Skinstrifers. The crunch of dirt and wood overwhelmed their screams. Sara readied herself as she watched two Skinstrifers jump at her. She wasn't sure if this was going to work but it was worth a try.
Her voice echoed in their ears as she gave them the command to aid them in battle. The Skinstrifers mumbled their loyalty and turned back to fight their own Skinstrifers. She grabbed a long stick thick enough to be a broomstick handle.
She stepped forward when Geiney launched another shield at the army of Skinstrifers. As soon as a path was cleared she began twirling the log in her hands like a staff. She began dancing and swinging the staff in all directions.
The allied Skinstrifers had taken down a handful but were quickly taken down by a group of their own. They angrily jabbered at the two traitors who had attacked them.
"Tyke! Let's keep the creatures off of Sara!" Luz told him.
"Right!" Geiney switched from throwing a wind shield to throwing windballs. Whenever Sara began getting surrounded, Geiney would launch his shield and clear part of the path. Luz would use her telekinesis to repel the Skinstrifers who tried to attack her from above.
Sara circled a tree then danced her way back to her siblings.
"Just a few more left." Sara took deep breaths.
"I have an idea." Geiney got down to one knee and held his arms out. He shot finer gusts of wind from his hands at the remaining Skinstrifers. One Skinstrifer tackled Geiney from behind. Sara kicked its rock knife away from its hands and kicked the creature away. It landed gracefully on its feet and sneered at the siblings. Luz used her telekinesis to shove the creature to the side. Its skull hit a nearby boulder with tremendous force and ceased moving. Blood splattered all over and its body lay crumbled in an awkward heap of its own limbs.
They looked around and examined the bloody battle ground they found themselves in. Geiney being the youngest screamed to the heavens in a very amateur way, "We are victorious!"
Sara rolled her eyes but she couldn't help smile.
"We make a very good team when we work together." Luz commented.
"And we saved the rest of the family." Geiney raised his arms up and danced all around.
"Uh, Tyke. I don't think we should be celebrating just yet." Luz looked behind her. Sara followed suit.
"Why?" Geiney laughed.
"Because we now have some explaining to do." Sara said.
"...Oh, right."
…
The family sat around the picnic tables of the campsite. They listened intently as Luz and Sara told them about witchcraft and how they were able to fight off the horde of Skinstrifers.
"We've had magic for as long as we can remember." Sara began, "That manor that your parents used to take you to? The one in the valley between those two small mountains? That was the magic school Josh ran for witches and warlocks. Gifted children from all over the country went to school there."
Luz continued, "The manor was built for those with magical abilities. Our parents trained us to be demon hunters from a young age. The manor was enchanted and protected by illusion magic to appear as a normal building from a distance. But you guys were only allowed in the front of the manor where we lived. If you were to step through the door in the back of the foyer you would see the school."
"The manor," Sara continued where her sister left off, "was also protected by a group of higher angels, the Elders, from harm.
"The reason you guys didn't know was because we were told not to expose ourselves in front of other people. We protect the mortals from the shadows. Demons aren't the only things we worry about, though. We have spirits and monsters like the Skinstrifers from Greg's story that we get wrapped up into fighting."
It was Geiney's turn; he recounted Greg's story in a much shorter form and told them what they had fought. "Skinstrifers are creatures that can mimic the look of a person. They infiltrate a group and separate them so they can kill them and take their skin like sick collectors. Greg fought them once before when he was a young adult. They killed a few of his friends. Now, it seems they killed a few of us, too."
Luz continued for him, "These Skinstrifers like the taste of human skin. They can almost replicate the person they mimic. They do have little ticks that can make someone look suspicious. Ramiro really loved swimming even when he was a kid. During this trip, did anyone see him swim?"
There was silence but Luz saw them put two and two together.
Sara stepped forward, "The first night, Geiney was attacked by these Skinstrifers. That's why he returned so late. He had radioed us during the attack but he was too far out to be rescued immediately. We didn't want to risk your safety by calling you guys out there. We went to rescue him."
"We didn't know they were real creatures; we didn't know the threat when we first came out here. We would have reacted quicker if we had known. The nest was next to the pointy rock formation a few miles into the trail. They seemed to make a lair near good ambush points on the trails out here. Even if someone tried to escape, it wouldn't be too long before Skinstrifers trapped a person. No matter what direction you try to run, those things would get you long before you made it out of there." Geiney concluded.
"So… these things that attacked us, they wanted our skin?" Melinda had a hard time coming to terms with it.
"I'm afraid so." Luz fiddled with her thumbs. Explaining this magical situation wasn't their strongest suit. It was bad enough they were attacked by Skinstrifers; they had to fight a horde of them. Not to mention they used their powers in the open to keep everyone else safe.
"But they got Chris and Alyssa and Ramiro?" Felix was lost. How could he process the sister he grew up with as having been dead; murdered less than a kilometer away without his knowledge? The fact that Alyssa and Ramiro were dead as well made him feel even worse. The grief hadn't hit him yet.
"Yeah. They are." Sara grunted. She was upset that she hadn't done anything sooner. She should've taken action when Geiney got attacked by the Skinstrifers the first time. This foreboding feeling didn't help her calm down at all. She felt like she had done wrong and everyone knew it.
"We were all in danger. I'm sorry I didn't do anything either. Truth is, as Geiney said, I did encounter these Skinstrifers once before. I knew all the lore, all the signs that a Skinstrifer was here. But I didn't do anything about it. I just let them infiltrate the camp." Greg's tone sounded sad like a very deep apology. He looked empty. Now that everything was calm in the camp he finally got to sit down and think.
Greg had seen the tracks of an abnormal paw. When he left Geiney to continue his hike he went back to observe them. He had seen those tracks once already back when he was camping with his friends. Not wanting to alert anyone he kept silent. It was the worst mistake he had ever committed. He felt foolish. If Geiney was a normal kid, he would be long dead by now...
"My sister is dead because you four didn't do anything to protect us!" Lisa lashed out. Greg looked up; she faced him directly.
"We're sorry. This hurts me as much as you." Greg apologized.
"No! Don't give me that bullshit! You knew those creatures were here but no one did anything to stop them until it was too late!" Lisa screamed.
"Yeah, I did know they were here. I should've said something. But all my life you told me all I told were scary stories."
"Don't try to pin this on me! This is blood on your hands, Greg! You let Alyssa and Ramiro," Her voice cracked and tears built up in her eyes, "and Chris!" She sobbed.
"Even if we did say something, no one would have believed us," Luz argued, "What would you have done if we told you these creatures existed?"
Lisa hesitated, "The truth is you let our sister die because you were too selfish to tell us these creatures existed!"
Luz looked away. A new wave of guilt hit her hard. Images of Brandon flashed through her mind.
"That's enough!" Sara stepped in. "By law, we're not allowed to expose ourselves. This is the reason why we can't." She pointed to the dead Skinstrifers some distance away from them, "The world would be even more dangerous if we did. Our last resort was to fight these Skinstrifers off or we would have all died."
"More dangerous?" She scoffed, "You only did it to save yourselves. You should have used your stupid witchcraft to save Chris. You can't wash the blame so easily! You know this is all your fault!"
Sara was taken aback. There was a moment of silence. Everyone else didn't know how to react.
"We should pack up. We don't want to be here for very long. There could be more of them." Felix took over. " Let's go while we can."
"Whatever. Just get them the hell away from us." Lisa slapped her hands on the table to pick herself up.
"No one at this table can tell anyone what happened here. Especially not the witchcraft part." Luz said, her voice failing to be strong.
Lisa gave a very dark chuckle, "No one would believe me anyways. Right? Stupid..." Lisa walked off to her tent.
Geiney turned to his siblings, "Let's go pack our stuff." Making sure the rest of the family wasn't listening, "We need a spell to wipe their memories."
"I don't think that's going to work this time." Sara pondered.
"Why not?" Geiney inquired.
"We're three short in the family. If we wipe their memories, someone's going to come looking for them. We shouldn't do anything right now."
"But we can't just let them go like this. What if they tell someone?"
"I doubt they will. Wiping their memories may have more consequences then they are worth. Let's just leave them be. We should be the ones not forgetting that we let family die." Luz said, her shoulders slumped.
"We should pack up and get away from this nightmare." Lea clapped Geiney on the shoulder. "I'll help you out."
…
Luz and Sara packed their items in silence. Sara knelt in place and began stuffing the radio equipment in its portable luggage looking case. She put back on the charging dock the handheld radios. She noticed one was noticeably dirty and had a small dent in one spot. That was the radio Geiney used in his fight, she concluded.
When she made sure all the antennae and all the wires were tucked in their respective places she closed the lid of the case and locked the clips in place with a click.
She turned around when she heard her sister sniffle. She observed Luz meticulously fold a blouse. Luz wiped the tears only to refold the blouse in a different way.
"Hey, don't tell me you're crying." She chided softly.
"No..." She sniffled again.
"You are." Sara walked up to Luz and wrapped her arms around her sisters stomach. "What's eating you?"
"She's right. We should've acted sooner. Maybe if we did we wouldn't have lost Chris. Alyssa and Ramiro were too young to die."
"We couldn't have known we were going to be overrun with Skinstrifers." There was a pause, "But you're right. We should've believed Geiney right away. We could've taken the fight to their nest instead of having them attack our campsite. This is our fault." Sara petted Luz's hair down.
They didn't know what to do. The guilt was heavy on their conscious. Losing another innocent was hard on them the first time with Brandon, and now they had the blood of their family on their hands. Sara wanted to scream. They had supernatural powers that they could use to save the lives of many and all it got the people close to them killed.
"This is like Brandon all over again." She turned around and hugged her sister, sobbing into her shoulder. "I couldn't stop Brandon from dying and now some of our family is dead."
"Hey, don't say things like that. This was an accident." Sara tried to console her but the guilt was eating at her too.
"It's all true, you know. Why do we have these powers if we can't protect the people we care about? Why can't we fight to protect people?"
Sara stayed silent; her sister voiced exactly what she was thinking. She couldn't get the image out of her mind when she saw Chris, Alyssa and Ramiro's skin on the ground. She watched the image in her mind like someone had pressed pause on life. She failed to protect them.
Sara's eyes teared up as she watched memories of Alyssa and Ramiro in her mind. From the time that Ramiro, six years old, proposed to Alyssa with a candy diamond ring. Alyssa consoling Ramiro when he had fallen and scraped his knee. She watched in her mind when Chris lied in a smooth way to get their group out of trouble when they were caught doing something they shouldn't have.
"Yeah, we failed to protect our family. They're dead because of us."
...
In the other room, Geiney had heard everything. He sat cross-legged on the bed. Depression washed over him. He looked at his hands, feeling the magic flow through them.
The same thoughts were repeated in his head. They were supposed to be the protectors of people. Heroes, with unknown identities. Instead, they let three of their relatives die because they needed to preserve a secret. That wasn't very heroic...
A warm hand wrapped around his wrist. Geiney looked up and met Lea's eyes.
"It's not nice to evesdrop." Lea whispered.
Geiney flashed a smile that vanished just as quickly as it appeared.
"I feel horrible. We let family die today." Geiney whispered, the sadness evident.
"You did what you could. Not everyone can be saved. In a perfect world, you could save everyone. But it just isn't like that." He paused, "You saved Felix, Melinda, Lisa and Greg. You three worked together to fight off an army. You guys did everything to keep them from killing you guys off."
"Why do we have to keep up this secret anyways?" Geiney pondered aloud.
"I think it would cause more mayhem. You remember the Salem Witch Trials? People are afraid of something they don't understand. Things would be bad for me if I exposed myself as a were-person at school." Lea explained.
He gave Geiney a hug and stood up, stretching his lithe body. In his normal voice he continued, "Come on, Geiney. Let's finish packing so we can get out of here. Now that the cat's out of the bag I want to eat real human food."
"Wait, I thought you liked the cat food?"
"I tolerate the cat food. I love the cat treats though."
"Of course you do..."
...
Veketh silently approached the siblings as they separated from their surviving family members. Once they were just about to pack the last of their things, Veketh showed himself. "Hello, Cuentas kids."
Sara was the first to take a stance, jumping between her younger siblings and the newcomer. "Oh great, more trouble."
"Calm down. I'm not here for your pesky little Skinstrifer problems." Realizing he said too much, Veketh raised his arms to show he had nothing up his sleeves. "I'm not here because of those demons that tore your family's mansion down."
Luz stepped forward and cried out. "You know about that!?"
Veketh stared her down. "The woman that hired me wanted it done. I'm not here for her, though. She also tasked my mortal enemy to kill you guys. Luckily that kid kept them off ya so far."
"Kid?"
A sly grin came upon Veketh's face. "He's not your concern. The concern is the Roseblood Gang. They were the ones that cursed him in the first place. His dad's dead because of what it does." Pulling a small seed out of his pocket, he twirled it between his fingers. "You see, if it's put in the body of a mere mortal without powers..." Opening a portal next to him, he pulled out something. Luz nearly broke into tears when she realized it was the body of Ramiro, likely the real one, fall out. Before Sara could stop him, Veketh dropped the seed into his open chest.
Within seconds, dark red tendrils exploded out from the corpse, coming from his mouth and coating him in its deathly red thorns.
"You bastard!" Luz begun to cast her signature spell but Geiney grabbed her arm. "What!?"
"Don't! He was... Why do you have his body!?" Geiney screamed in anger, preparing an attack himself if needed.
"Why do I have 'their' bodies?" Snapping his finger, another portal opened and two more fell to the ground before the trio. Alyssa was mostly intact, her eyes closed but her mouth open in a scream. The other body was much worse off, having been skinned from head to toe. Geiney vomited at the sight of it and Sara's blood ran cold.
"Chris...?"
Veketh frowned and tossed the amulet at the still furious Luz, who narrowly caught it in time. "Your ancestor Javier Cuentas founded that school Josh ran. With this trinket of his, you might be able to revive him temporarily to ask him about the Gang."
Sara studied the demon cautiously. "Why do you know this?"
"That gang killed my family because my father was one of them!" Veketh's demeanor changed. "They killed my son! I became this way to fight them! If your Elders ever did anything for normal men, I wouldn't have to be here right now! If you want to blame your family's deaths on anything, remember that the Elders left those creatures alive long after they attacked Greg and his friends!"
"You bastard!" Luz lost it and opened her palm to destroy Veketh. Before she could finish it, the amulet started glowing and she paused herself. "...Do you seriously mean you want to stop them?"
Veketh nodded with angry tears in his eyes. "I promise you I mean it. This blade I have is the Roseblade. If their souls are forced into it, the spell will break." Removing the ornate dagger from his pocket, he held out the handle to them. "Javier knows the location of the last member and two others roam the streets. One attacked that vampire friend of yours; the other, Chief Robert's team. I suspect you'll be able to locate both. Just make sure to take them down with THIS blade or it won't work. They'll be able to come back one day and spread it further."
Geiney, pale from his recent expulsion of whatever he had eaten that day, coughed out. "And if we can't?"
"I'll finish what I was paid to do, kill you, take it back, and have my boss do it for me." With those cold words, Veketh shimmered out of their vision, leaving them with one last sentiment. "Take the bodies. You might want to bury them or something."
Once again alone in the forest, Geiney, having never seen something so horrible before, finally felt tears run down his face and he fell to his knees. "We... we should have left! We should have believed Greg!"
Sara looked over the bodies of people she had known for decades and wondered if he was even wrong. Was it their fault for hiding their powers? Were they no better than the Elders?
She felt her heart hurt because she feared Veketh had a point after all.
...
Greg finished packing his things in the siblings' vehicle he had rode in. The red station wagon reflected the sunlight from above. He heard a car door shut next to him. He turned to see Felix stare at his reflection in the darkened rear window.
"There was nothing any one of us could have done to prevent this." Greg tackled what was on Felix's mind.
"I guess not... But there's always that what if." Felix leaned on his vehicle, "What if we didn't come here? What if we chose a different spot? What if we did know these things existed?"
Greg hummed, thinking. "If we didn't come here then the next group would be dead. I doubt knowing about the Skinstrifers' existance would have helped. Those creatures are cunning; evil. I was one of three remaining survivors many years ago. If we didn't have Luz, Sara and Geiney we would have all died."
"Yeah, you're right. But losing my older sister is not something I can forget about." Felix's eyes glazed over. The man fought to keep himself from crying.
Greg gave him a hug, "Don't hold your emotions in. Let them go. Don't poison yourself with your grief."
Felix listened and began sobbing into the man's shoulder. Greg bit back the bitter feeling creeping up in his throat. Lisa was right in the end; all of this was his fault and because he failed to act on time, if at all, they would probably all be safe.
When Felix felt better he wiped his eyes. "Take care of yourself, Greg. We'll catch up again."
"You too, Felix. Go ahead of us. I'm riding with the witches."
Felix smiled, "I always thought witches had pointy hats and green skin."
Greg laughed and shrugged, "I guess the stereotypes changed."
...
"Can I help you with that?" Greg stepped forward watching Lisa struggle with her luggage. Clothes were leaking out of the bags as if they were thrown in carelessly.
Lisa didn't want to be alone in her tent and stuffed whatever she could find into her luggage bags. She tore that tent apart in a literal manner looking for her necklace. How she wished she could have it. For the first time in her life she felt like she lost everything she cared about. Chris was dead and her coveted necklace was lost. The necklace which kept her so calm was what she wished she could hold in her hand, even for a moment.
"Get lost, Greg!" She screamed, she sobbed as she struggled to put the heavy luggage in her car.
Greg stepped in, lifted it to her trunk and placed it gently down. Lisa stepped back and Greg put the next two bags in the trunk.
When he closed the trunk Lisa stepped forward, turned Greg to her and slapped him.
The action was sudden and unexpected. He exhaled sharply as pins and needles sprinkled over his right cheek.
"I hate you! I hate you with every fiber of my being, Greg! I wish it was you who died by those goddamn creatures!" Her voice shook along with her body. Her eyes were swollen by her sobbing, and she looked like she was going to explode in a rage.
"I'm sorry!"
"You're not sorry! If you were, you would have done something about those creatures and Chris and Ramiro and Alyssa would be alive right now."
She turned and sobbed as she opened her car door to get in. With shaky hands she put the keys in the ignition and turned the car on. Greg stepped back, the pain numbed by his own guilt. He watched Lisa pull out in a hurry and floor the vehicle. The tires scraped and screeched on the gravel parkinglot as the car propelled itself forward.
Greg continued to watch the car as it disappeared around a bend.
"May god protect you all..." He prayed.
The crunch of gravel from behind him let him know his family was behind him.
"Is everything okay, Uncle Greg?" Geiney asked.
"No. But, it's better than being dead, Kiddo." Greg turned to his nephew, "Are we ready to leave?" He asked.
"Yeah, we are. This is the last of our things. Let's stuff this in the trunk and forget this nightmare ever took place." Sara said.
"But we won't forget the dead, sweetie. None of us will forget who died today." Greg reminded them.
"Why don't you spend the night with us, Uncle Greg? I don't want you to drive six hours after we get home. Not after all this."
Greg nodded, "I think that's a good idea. Let's go."