Chapter Eight
The Emerson household was quiet in the late morning hours. Grandpa and Michael came home around the same time. Lucy had told them about the events of the night. Grandpa was hurt that he wasn't called to come help. Michael was angry about everything, David being an asshole, the twins getting hurt and ruining his night with Star, and he was hungry but no food would fill him up. So he went to bed without so much as an apology to his mom or Sam for not being home.
Lucy tossed and turned for about an hour, thinking about everything. The guy she was dating is a vampire, and he cared for her. Her twins are severely injured, but healing due to being newly turned half vampires. Who, are also mates to two vampires. Her eldest son is turning into a jerk. Sam, her precious Sam, was first to see his sisters in distress. And Lucy had this overwhelming feeling her family is in mortal danger, and not from the vampires. She will have a nice, long talk with her children about everything before deciding what to do next.
Sam couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he would see his sisters lying on the floor bleeding to death. It took months for him to stop having nightmares after reviving Jade. He made a promise to himself that he will never let them get hurt like that again if he could help it. Finally, after two hours of tossing and turning, Sam grabbed the extra cot from the linen closet. He carried it to the attic and set it up between the twins' hammocks, and laid down. He fell asleep to the sound of their breathing.
Nanook was the only one awake. He was shut inside his human's, Sam's, room during all the chaos. Then when Sam opens the door, Nanook could smell blood and predatory creatures. He sniffed the whole house. Two of his humans smelt like the creatures again, but stronger. One of the other humans didn't smell like a human anymore. When Nanook growled at him, the human growled back before slamming the door on the dog. Nanook followed his human into the attic and paced a little bit before laying down under the cot. He stayed awake and on alert until the sun warmed his fur.
Once the sun was nearing the position of 'high noon' the eldest member of the Emerson house walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Grandpa took a deep breath and looked around his home. Shaking his head at the clean floor of his living room that was soaked in blood last night. Two members of his family almost died and he was on a date. He felt guilty and upset. His eldest grandson was drifting from the family, the twins are recovering, Sam is scarred for life, and Lucy is dating a vampire. Yeah, he knows about Max and those boys. Santa Carla is known for its ability to attract the supernatural. Grandpa will continue to support his family no matter what they decide, just don't touch the second shelf.
Sam rolled over only to roll onto the floor. "Ow. Stupid cot," Sam stood up and stretched feeling several joints crack and his back pop. He turned towards Kayla and watched her sleep for a moment before checking on Jade. He stepped closer to Jade, placing his finger under her nose. He felt her warm breath on his finger and exhaled a sigh of relief. Sam folded up the cot with the blanket tucked in the middle and headed for the stairs, "Come on, Nanook." The dog wagged his tail, stood, and stretched before trotting down the stairs. Sam put the cot away and took Nanook downstairs to be let out. He joined his grandpa in the kitchen with his own cup of coffee. He was thinking about taking a shower then spending the day doing little things around the house. Sam didn't want to go too far from the twins just in case they needed something.
Feeling exhausted, Lucy dragged herself downstairs. She was supposed to work today. However, she was too tired. She called Video Max and talked to Maria. Lucy was informed that Max left a note stating Maria will be covering for Lucy during a family emergency. Maria was sad to hear about that but thankful for the extra hours. Thanking Maria, Lucy hung up the phone, wrapped her robe around herself, and sat down at the table. "Morning Sam. Hey Dad," she sat at the table while Sam poured her a cup of coffee. "Thank you," Lucy grabbed the coffee mug with both hands and sipped on it.
Nanook's barking from outside the back door jolted the three individuals from their thoughts. Sam opened the door to let him in. Sam closed the door after his dog walked in. He looked at his jeep through the window panels of the door, thinking about his sisters. "I'm going to check on them. See if they need anything." Sam passed by his mom, she stood up and gave him a hug. "I'm proud of you Sam. You were there when they needed you," Lucy hugged her son a little tighter.
She let go and sat back down, "I'm going to go run some errands later. Do you want anything?" Sam shook his head, "I can't think of anything. Just worried about the twins. Mom...It was so bad. Kayla was shot five times. And Jade. I couldn't even look at her without feeling sick. She was skinned, mom. Who would do something like that?" The dam broke, both Sam and Lucy were in tears. Lucy stood up and pulled Sam into a bear hug while they cried. Sam's mouth was muffled by her shoulder, "And Mike wasn't here. He promised he'd be here. I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. I didn't...I-I-I panicked and froze. Kayla had to tell me what to do. She was bleeding out, in pain and had to rely on me until the guys showed up. The twins almost died last night and Mike wasn't here."
Grandpa had joined their little huddle. The three of them hugged each other until Sam calmed down. Lucy brushed Sam's hair out of his eyes, cupped his face, wiped away his tears with her thumbs. "You were brave last night. Your sisters will tell you the same thing. They are alive thanks to you. If you weren't here, they would have died. Now, go wash your face and then check on them. Okay." Sam nodded his head as he went upstairs to the bathroom. He washed his face, then walked up the stairs to the attic to sit with his sisters.
Late Afternoon
Lucy had gone to the grocery store for the missing ingredients for dinner, and various snacks and lunch meat. She was making Homestyle Chicken Noodle soup with homemade biscuits. Something light on the stomach for everyone, even the twins if they wake up. She was putting everything away when she heard two motorcycles pull up. She knew it wasn't those boys, the sun was still up. It could only be, "LUCY, I'm home!" A long-running inside joke between Terra, Eli, and herself. The two girls walked into the house without knocking. They are family, and family doesn't knock. Lucy calls out, "In the kitchen." They join Lucy in the kitchen, Terra gives her a hug, "Hey ma, how are you?" Terra let go and moved to the side so Eli could hug their ma. (You know how you're friends with someone for so long that their mom is like your mom.)
Lucy gives the best hugs. "Well, we had an eventful few weeks." Terra sat down at the table, "Oh?" She gave the opening for Lucy to elaborate. Eli sat down across from Terra, Lucy leaned against the counter. "Well, Michael has changed, he's become distant and aggressive. He made some new friends and then he just drifted. The twins bought Sam a nice Jeep that he loves dearly. The twins took a job and came home severely injured. Both them and myself are dating vampires." Lucy's voice was real quiet towards the end.
Eli sat up straight, "Come again? I thought you said you and the twins are dating vampires?" Terra chimed in, "How bad are their injuries?" Lucy took a deep breath and explained everything. By the end, Terra was ready to drag Michael down the stairs and string him up by his ankles. Eli wanted to clarify something, "So, the twins are now half vampires?" Lucy nodded her head. "Ok, Terra, let's check on them and then deal with Michael," Eli says as the two of them stand. Lucy tells them how to get to the twins' room. They stand to leave the kitchen and head upstairs.
Coming up the stairs to the attic, Terra heard someone's feet shuffle. She slowed down her ascent, lightened her steps, and peered over the stair railing. "Heya Sammy," Terra moved to the top of the landing. Sam relaxed and sat back down on the nook under the larger bay window. Eli sat next to him and draped an arm over his shoulders, she didn't say anything, just sat with him. Terra checked over Jade first. Lifting her shirt carefully to look at her back. The muscles and skin were slowly growing back. Terra was amazed at the rate she was healing. Jade should be fully healed by tomorrow night. She turned to Kayla, again her bullet wounds have fully closed up but still bruised. "Remarkable. Kayla is almost fully healed," Terra moved to sit on the other side of Sam. He leaned into Eli's hug, the stress of the night catching up to him. "Are you guys staying here?" Sam asked. Terra pursed her lips, "Yeah. Ma filled us in about what happened. We're going to need to stick together."
The Lost Boys
'Sweet tobacco and Cherries...Fuck!' The scent struck David like a brick to the face. He now knows how Marko and Paul felt and still feels. 'Lilacs and Honeysuckles,' Dwayne linked to his brother. 'It seems we're all mated.' 'I don't like it,' David made that perfectly clear to everyone. They stayed asleep until the sun went down, and the cave became dark. They dropped down from where they slept, put on their shoes, and flew into the main room of the cave. Star and Laddie were waiting for them. Laddie jumped off the couch next to Dwayne, "Are we going to get food?" Dwayne picked him up, "Do you want to go to the boardwalk with Star or stay with us?" Dwayne walked out of the cave still carrying Laddie, "Where you guys going?" He set Laddie down, "We're going to see the twins and Miss Lucy." Laddie looked back and forth from Dwayne to Star, "I want to go with you." Star hung back a little, "I'll stay here." David had mounted his bike, "Suit yourself." The boys took off to the Emerson household, the ride was quieter than usual. No hollering, laughter, or crazy driving.
Pulling up to the old farmhouse, the Lost Boys see two 1980 Harley Davidson Sportsters. The scents lingering called to David and Dwayne. They were just better at hiding it. They knew the names and scents of their mates but not what they looked like.
Dismounting their bikes and heading for the porch when the doors flew open and Michael tumbled out. Michael rolled down the stairs onto the dirt driveway. His face was beaten black and blue, eyes swollen, nose bleeding, and lip split. He landed near Dwayne's feet. Michael was trying to get up but he has been badly beaten again. So he just laid in the dirt as the boys stepped over him and went to the door which is still open. David calls out with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, "Knock, knock." They were already invited, they just didn't want to walk into whoever knocked the shit out of Mikey.
Lucy called from the kitchen, "Come on in boys. Dinner is almost done." The boys walk into the house and into the kitchen. Lucy was pulling the second batch of biscuits out of the oven. Her eyes are puffy and red from crying. Paul stepped over to her, "Miss Lucy, are you alright?" Lucy exhaled a sigh, "It's Michael. He's just been so disrespectful and cruel. I asked him to stay for dinner so we could talk about everything and he snapped at me." She started wiping down the counters, cleaning up the flour from rolling the biscuit dough. "If this is how he's going to be after fully turning, I don't think I want him around." Lucy turned to face the boys, "You guys may be arrogant, and snarky, but not once were you rude to me or my girls." Paul and Marko hung their heads in shame.
David stole a biscuit before going outside. Dwayne leaned against the counter next to Lucy, "He's going to talk to Michael. Sometimes the thirst can cloud our judgment. Michael should have fully turned already but he is fighting it." Lucy rubs her forehead, "I don't like the idea of killing people. I learned to accept it with the twins, Terra and Eli. They go after some real pieces of work. Killing an innocent person just doesn't sound appealing." Dwayne chuckled, "Oh, we never go after the innocent." He looked to his brothers, "Go check on them." The other two vampires head to the attic. "The girls haven't moved. And Sam slept in the room with them. He hasn't left their side since," Lucy feels tired and run down from the fight with Michael. Terra had come down from the attic long enough to beat Michael black and blue because he was being such a jerk to everyone.
Paul and Marko reach the attic stairs, they hear three voices and only one is familiar. They are unnecessarily heavy-footed going up the last flight to the attic landing to announce themselves. Sam greets them from the nook, his voice strained from crying, "Hey guys. This is Terra and Eli." Eli gave a small wave to both the boys. Terra had a stern look on her face, "I really don't want to go into big sister mode but I will since Mike hasn't been doing his job. Normally, Mike would warn off any boy interested in his sisters to the point they have never dated….Ever." Terra kept her eyes on the guys. Eli stood up to leave grasping Terra by the shoulders, "Terra is still wound up from setting Michael straight. However, she's not wrong." Terra and Eli left the room, leaving Paul, Marko, and Sam with the sleeping twins. "Um...Kayla has been getting restless, but Jade hasn't moved. Mom and Terra have been checking on her back. It seems to be healing pretty quick." Sam walked out of the room, the smell from the kitchen made his stomach grumble.
The two vampires just stared at their sleeping mates. Paul brushed a strand of Jade's hair away from her face, lightly brushing against it. The normally stoned rocker is surprisingly sober and kicking himself for it. "I don't want to sound like a sap, but I can't lose her. I'd rather be staked than lose Jade." Paul leaned down and lifted the top of Jade's shirt so he could look at her back. "She's almost healed. I'm glad she's sleeping through the pain." Paul may act like an idiot but he is far from it. He just prefers to have a carefree attitude.
Marko held his hand in front of his face, biting his thumbnail. Kayla, his Kayla, is probably going to hate him. The pain he and his brother experienced when the twins saw them with those skanks. He never wanted to feel that again, only to feel like his heart was being torn out as Kayla was dying. "I know how you feel. Just hope they can forgive us," Marko continued to bite his nail.
"You guys are loud, you know that." Kayla slowly cracked her eyes open. The room is dimly lit by a small lamp on Jade's desk. "Mind explaining why you two are standing here staring at us?" Kayla could see Marko was nervous. The hand that he wasn't chewing on kept fidgeting with his jacket sleeve. "Do you remember anything from last night?"
Kayla shrank further into her hammock laying on her back, "I remember getting Jade and myself home after...Well, after. Trying to get bullets out by myself, Sam was helping as much as he could and then woke up a few minutes ago." Marko could see her eyes panning back and forth as if she was running through the memories, "What did we miss? Why do I feel great, but still tired and really hungry?"
"You were dying. Both of you were. So Paul and I changed you...into vampires." Marko shifted into his vampiric form. He looked her in the eyes and waited. Waited for her to scream at him, punch him, throw him out. He was not expecting Kayla to reach out and touch his face. She traced the rigid lines of definition on his brow down to his cheekbones and finally his fangs. Marko couldn't help but lean into her touch, "I'm sorry."
Kayla dropped her hand, Marko almost whimpered at the loss of contact. She sat up and threw her legs over the side of the hammock, "The one thing about hammocks, sometimes it's hard to climb out of them when you're still tired." Kayla reached out her arms to be helped out of her hammock. Marko scooped her out of it, lifting her away from the hammock with her feet dangling. Kayla laughed a little as Marko kept her suspended in a bear hug, "You going to put me down?" His face was in the crook of her neck, "No, never." "Well, I need to get something to eat, take a shower, and put on clean clothes," Kayla moved her head so she could see the side of Marko's face. She was still mad at him and hurt that he could kiss another, "Can I trust you?" He loosened his grip, lowered her so her feet touched the ground and faced her, "No. I need to earn it back. I can promise you, I will never hurt you again."
Paul could only stand there and listen to his brother and their mate. He could hear Jade's heartbeat. It was slow and steady. He had closed his eyes and just listened to his brother and Kayla talk, as well as the 'thump, thump' of Jade's heart. Paul was so absorbed in listening to everything around him, he didn't notice Jade open her eyes and see him standing next to her hammock.
Unlike Kayla, Jade remembers most of the night. She remembers them showing up, Paul telling her they were vampires and him picking her up off the floor and then blackness. She was debating with herself if she should let them know she was awake. 'Eh, fuck it,' Jade thought to herself as she reached for Paul's hand. Her arm was shaking as she lifted it to his hand. She barely brushed his palm with her fingertips making Paul jump out of his skin. Jade chuckled under her breath.
Jade lifted her head to look around the room. Paul was standing right next to her, Marko and her sister were a few feet away at the foot of Kayla's hammock. Paul knelt down to look Jade in the face, "Hey." Jade didn't hesitate, "I'm still mad at you." One of the many things Paul appreciated about Jade is her bluntness. He looked down at the floor, "I know. And I know I can apologize so many times before you're sick of hearing it. Like Marko said, I will earn your trust back and I will never hurt you like that again." Jade let go of his hand so she could lift herself up. But as she put her arms next to her body, the skin on her back stretched causing her some pain, "Ow, bad idea. A little help." Paul lifted her out of the hammock, had her lean against him before he picked her up bridal style. "Come on. Your mom is worried sick about you two," Paul carried Jade down to the kitchen, following Marko and Kayla.
Inside the kitchen crowded around the table were four vampires, three halves, and four humans. David had scolded Michael for his behavior, told him to feed soon and complete the change or he was going to be forced. Michael said that he will if Star does. Michael had taken off right after that, probably to be with Star. David came inside in time to see Paul and Marko coming downstairs with their mates, "Everything good?" "They're still mad at us," Marko said through the link. David raised an eyebrow in question but left it alone for now. He just followed his brothers into the kitchen and was overwhelmed with the scent of his mate. David looked around the kitchen and saw two new faces. One with very vibrant red hair, and hazel eyes wearing tight, ripped dark blue jeans, a black tank top, combat boots, and a dark denim jacket standing next to a fidgeting Dwayne. "You alright there Dwayne?" David smirked.
Of course, that smirk was wiped off his face when he saw her. Light brown hair, Sky blue eyes, beautiful body, wearing all black. Black combat boots, black leather pants, silk, black top, and a leather jacket. Fingerless, black leather gloves with studs adorned her dainty hands. She looked delicate and deadly at the same time. His mate, his Terra, is sitting at the table talking to Eli. David played it cool. He was still the arrogant alpha of their gang. David stood on the other side of Dwayne, his brothers noticed the shift in their leader. None of them said anything to David. Lucy and Sam were serving those who were hungry bowls of Chicken noodle soup and biscuits. The four girls, Sam and Laddie are the only ones eating. Paul sat in one of the chairs at the table with Jade in his lap. She couldn't lift her arms without them shaking, so he was helping her eat.
Terra did a double-take, "Kayla, where are your shades?" The question caught everyone in the room off guard. Kayla dropped her spoon and rubbed her eyes. She didn't realize she wasn't wearing any, her eyes didn't hurt and she didn't have a headache. Moving her hands from her eyes, they were watering, she gave a humorless laugh then started crying. "Sixteen years. Every waking moment for sixteen years. I couldn't be around lights that were bright without shades for sixteen years." Kayla shocked Marko when she stood up from her seat and gave him a bone-crushing hug that would hurt if he was human. Her voice cracking, small right next to his ear, "Thank you." Marko stood there stunned for a moment before he wrapped his arms around Kayla nuzzling her neck and inhaling her scent.
Someone cleared their throat, "Ahem. I hate to break this up, but I need to speak with the girls if you don't mind. I'm sure they'll share everything later," Terra sat at the table, tracing some of the patterns in the wood. She wanted to get this conversation out of the way as soon as possible. Especially since The Company will be sending every associate after them.
David caught on. Terra wasn't exactly kicking them out, it's just the conversation is private. "Let's give the girls some privacy," David pushed away from the counter and walked out of the house. Dwayne gave a slight nod to Eli before following his brother. Marko and Kayla pulled apart, he gentlemanly pulled her chair out for her to sit and pushed it in. Marko gave Kayla a peck on the cheek before walking out. Paul was reluctant to remove Jade from his lap. She had finished eating. He had helped her to eat half of the bowl and a biscuit. Paul didn't think helping her eat wouldn't feel so intimate but it did. And now he has to leave to go feed. He carefully stood up and set her in the chair, giving her a small kiss on the cheek. Both vampires didn't want to push their luck by kissing them on the lips.
Revealing News
With the vampires gone, Lucy went to bed, and Sam took Laddie up to his room to read comics. Terra broke the silence, "Be honest, how are you really feeling?" She was genuinely worried about her sisters. Kayla was still in shock that her eyes are not as sensitive to light, "I feel great but tired. A little weirded out without my shades. I have worn them for so long, to be without them I feel naked." She laughed a little about that. Jade could sit up without too much pain, but wanted to go back to bed, "Tired and everything hurts. Embarrassed that Paul had to feed me because I can't lift my arms. However, I'm not really bothered about being turned into a vampire." "I feel the same. I'm not really bothered by it. We kill people all the time. At least now, if we get injured it won't be as bad," Kayla voiced.
Terra got up to retrieve her backpack from the living room and sat back down at the table. She pulled four overstuffed files and one slim folder. "Eli and I may have done a little recon at The Company's file room. We snatched our files, our original files." Terra slid the twins their individual files and placed hers and Eli's in the middle of the table. "Open them to the third tab. It has all of your vital information and has been recently updated. If you look at the lines stating your parentage, both have names." Jade had Kayla open her file after opening her own. They looked over the page and saw their biological mother's name, Teresa Murtz, as well as their father's name. Terra stood up and opened her file to the same tab, joined by Eli's file. "Now read mine and Eli's." Jade leaned forward to read the files, "You got to be fucking kidding me! All this fucking time! The Company knew who our father was and didn't say anything?!" She was hurt and pissed. The four of them are related by their father. Her best friends that she considered sisters were in fact her half-sisters. Kayla just sat and absorbed the information.
"And that's not the kicker. Our father was an assassin, a really good one. He specialized in tracking. The Company tried to recruit him for years, and he always told them no. He didn't like the way things are run at The Company. So, when he refused yet again, they put a target on his back. I read his file. Orn Furyan was shot point-blank by an associate. However, there are too many holes in the associate's story, and no body to recover." The four sisters sat in silence, reading over the files. Kayla turned to the tab with their last known location and saw Grandpa's house listed as the current address. She threw the file onto the table, "Is there a reason you stole our files?" Jade forgot that Kayla didn't know, "Kayla, we've been blacklisted. The Black Demons have become targets."
Kayla threw her hands in the air, "Well we're screwed." Eli voiced her opinion, "Not exactly." "What do you mean?" Kayla asked. Terra gave a devious smile, "How about a massive game of Tally? Company-wide?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Jade worried every time she saw that expression, "The last time you gave us that look, we blew up a small portion of Sicily." "Good times," Eli chuckled. Terra got serious, "I see it like this...We either fight for our lives every moment of every day for the rest of eternity. Especially you two. Go into hiding forever, which does not sound like fun. Or, we take down The Company. I, for one, would rather go down fighting the head honchos than to spend the rest of my life fighting foot soldiers."
Eli sighed, "It's not ideal, no. But Terra is right. I'm with her on this. Cut the head off and the body will flounder." "Plus, our family is nothing more than collateral damage. The Company won't hesitate to kill everyone we hold dear to get to us. Lucy, Mike, Sam, Grandpa. Even that little boy upstairs. So, what will it be? Hide for eternity or bring them down?" Terra was getting more agitated but passionate by the moment. The air was thick with tension from their recent revelation.
Jade slowly pushed herself out of her chair using the table. She looked down at the open files, knowing what needed to be done. "Kayla and I need to fully turn before we take down The Company. We'd have a better chance of surviving." Jade has accepted her vampirism along with Kayla. "Again, I agree with Jade. Being turned has saved our lives and changed them for the better," Kayla sat in her chair with her arms crossed.
The expression Terra was wearing told the twins there was something else they needed to know. She leaned forward, placed her elbows on the table, and clasped her hands together. "I need you both to listen to me very carefully. Remember when Eli and I spent time in Tibet last year for a few months?" She watched the twins nod. "We found out we're more special than we thought. The 'jumping' is just barely scraping the surface of what we can do." To prove that point, Eli concentrated on the contents scattered on the table. In a flash of flying folders, they were closed, stacked, and stored back inside Terra's backpack.
"We need to jump to a wide-open space. I mean, nothing around us for miles." Terra thought of the perfect place right after stating that, "The Mojave Desert. Come on, let's go." Eli grabbed Kayla's hand and jumped. Terra clasped Jade's hand and jumped. They landed in the middle of nowhere, on hard compact dirt surrounded by cacti. Terra helped Jade sit down. The four of them sat in a circle on the cold, hard ground. "Now, I need you both to listen to me. This will be uncomfortable, but you will feel better once it's done."
Sitting with their legs crossed in a meditative position, Terra continued to instruct the twins, "Close your eyes." Jade and Kayla took deep breaths and closed their eyes. "I want to look deep within yourself. What do you feel?" Terra knew she sounded ridiculous. Kayla answered, "Tired, hungry, and cold." "Look past that. Deeper." Terra waited and waited. Finally Jade closed her eyes tighter, "Like I'm half asleep. Not just my body but my mind feels like it's closed off." Eli spoke this time, her voice calm but firm, "You need to grab onto that feeling and wake it up." Eli could tell the twins were confused so she changed tactics, "Imagine your body as colors. Reds are emotions. Blues represent your senses. What you're looking for is probably a dark blue, almost black. It should be a very light blue almost white. To do that, to change the color it needs to be pulled into the light. The light being your body."
Terra and Eli watched as the twins meditated in silence. They were in deep concentration for over an hour when it happened. It was like someone snapped a rubber band and it broke. Terra and Eli felt the shift in the air. Jade was the first to open her eyes, Kayla not that far behind. Their breathing sped up, bodies tense almost painfully. The sudden awakening of such power was painful. Jade and Kayla were knocked flat on their backs, screaming out as the power surged through their bodies. For over a minute, which felt like forever, they felt like their bodies were being torn apart and pieced back together again.
When it was finally over, the twins were exhausted, healed and more powerful than they could have imagined. Jade slowly sat up, trying to get used to this immense power. Her senses were heightened even more since being turned into a half-vampire. She closed her eyes and looked at the changes in colors. The dark blue is now a very bright glowing blue. Jade also noticed something else, a thin gold string wrapped around her heart, a loose end floating into oblivion. Jade opened her eyes and could tell Kayla found the same thing. They closed their eyes again and each followed the gold strings. What was on the other end surprised them.