Fall into Darkness

Chapter 16: Ambush

When Hermione informed her she was going onto the World Wide Web, Bellatrix had told her in turn that she wasn't afraid of spiders, but wasn't eager to seek them out either. After Hermione was done laughing, she had told her that it was an amazing way to share pictures, stories and even buy and sell things from all over the world. Together they had looked at pictures of houses for sale. Highrises in Dubai, private islands in Canada, a beach house in Florida, a cottage in the forests of Russia, until they finally decided on their new home.

It had been a bit of a hassle to get everything approved by the Program at first, and after all the paperwork was done it was a mere formality to have Hermione arrange for the purchase as she still controlled all of Bellatrix' wealth and had to approve of all her expenditures.

Their new house being a ranch in the outskirts of Helena, Montana. Surrounded by mountains, forests and rolling hills. A large log house, a former horse ranch, loomed in the distance as they stood on the driveway. The center of the house was a large vaulted room with a loft, while two wings sprawled outward to either side. The left wing was connected to a garage with three doors through a mudroom. Several acres of land, mostly consisted of empty horse pens dotted with now unused stables surrounded the properties. Set against Helena National Forest behind the house and a beautiful lake in front, they could see the city of Helena in the distance.

The house was a compromise in many ways. The house was smaller than Bellatrix was used to and larger than Hermione was used to. While Bellatrix didn't like being around people, Hermione had grown up an urbanite, meaning its location was quiet enough for Bellatrix but close enough to a city for Hermione to be comfortable.

"It's still surreal," said Hermione as she stood next to her. "I still can't quite believe it's yours."

"Ours," Bellatrix corrected somewhat tersely. "Get that through your thick skull, hm?"

"Yes, yes," sighed Hermione. "Not a cent of mine went into this house, you know?"

"I'd say you've put plenty of effort in for the past years," said Bellatrix as they moved to the front door.

The house itself still needed plenty of work done to get it up to their standards. Contractors had already been hired and the work would start tomorrow. Though the vaulted center of the house was gorgeous, they were going to have the center loft converted into a master bedroom. Seeing the sunrise from the east through the forest would be amazing. The front of the vaulted room would be a perfect sitting room to hang around in the evening or receive guests.

The entire right wing would be converted into an office and library for Hermione. One of the bedrooms had a bay window which, after having some walls removed, would be a perfect center piece of the library and a lovely place for a soft divan where her girl could have a lovely reading nook. In the right wing was also the kitchen, which would be altered and improved to be up to Bellatrix' standards. The left wing would be largely converted to an atelier of sorts, aside from holding the guest rooms. Bellatrix had recently taken up painting and sculpting and thus required more room.

"I think," said Bellatrix, putting a finger to her lips. "That room right next to the mudroom would be a perfect exercise room. It's big enough for at least three pieces of equipment and it's right next to one of the bathrooms."

Hermione sighed. "Oh, here we go again."

Bellatrix grinned as she patted Hermione's stomach. "Poor girl. If you keep this up, you'll be so round I'll have to roll you through the house."

"And whose fault is that?!" Hermione pouted. "With all your culinary temptations!"

"Oh, pish posh," Bellatrix chuckled. "It all balances out with regular exercise."

She took a moment to pinch Hermione's bicep. "Ow! Hey!" was Hermione's reply.

"Do you even lift?" Bellatrix winked. "Stick-girl."

Hermione made a face as they passed through the mud room and into the garage. The huge, cavernous garage which had room for something which Hermione called 'six hummers'. She wasn't sure what a hummer was supposed to be, but she was quite certain that Hermione's small car would be swallowed up by this huge building.

"A lot of negative space here," said Hermione.

"Hm, I see some opportunities," Bellatrix replied. "A meat and cheese curing room, for example. Maybe a walk-in freezer."

"A walk-in freezer?!" exclaimed Hermione. "There's only two of us! Why would we even need a walk-in freezer?"

Bellatrix bit her lip. "Better yet, a dry-aging room!"

"A dry-aging room?!"

"IMAGINE!" Bellatrix grinned, interrupting her flabbergasted girl. "A prime cut of 120oz angus ribeye, ripened for 24 days in your very own dry-aging room. Lovingly pan-seared after having been sprinkled with garlic and black pepper. Served with home-made bourbon sauce and a side of spiced fried potato wedges and bacon-wrapped asparagus. Imagine the explosion of taste on your tongue. Perfectly cooked, crispy and spicy outside and soft and supple on the inside."

For a moment it seemed as if Hermione's brain had ceased to function as her mouth hung slightly agape due to rampant food fantasy.

"Alright," she spoke with a tiny voice. "You've sold me."

"Of course I did."

Bellatrix took her girl back into the vaulted room where they plopped down on the large sofa. Apparently, it was a thing in the States to sell houses furniture and all. Not that Bellatrix was complaining. She snapped her fingers and the logs in the fireplace burst into flame before the two cuddled up against each other.

"This is going to get some getting used to," said Hermione.

"In what way?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "In every way," she replied. "Whole new country. Whole new life, really. And then the weird idea that we won't have to hide anymore because we're so far away from everything we've ever known."

"A new beginning," said Bellatrix. "I rather like the idea. Cissy and Andie are going to love this place."

"Andie will. Not so sure about Cissy," said Hermione. "Narcissa hates me."

"Eh, she doesn't."

Hermione gave her an incredulous look.

"Well… maybe a little."

"Maybe a lot," Hermione corrected. "She really doesn't like me holding your leash."

"If you were anyone else, I wouldn't either," winked Bellatrix. Before she knew it, she sighed. "I'll never be free of this Program, will I? I'll be under watch and guard until the day I die."

"You don't know that," said Hermione. "Officially, the Program doesn't have an end. It has… phases. You're not in the final phase yet, but the final phase allows for a lot of freedoms. But… you will be on probation for the rest of your life, yes. Does that bother you, Belle?"

Bellatrix thought a moment. "Nah."

Hermione smiled. "Would it have bothered you if I was anyone else?"

Bellatrix leaned in and pushed the giggly girl onto her back, hovering over her while Hermione's arms wrapped around her waist. "I certainly wouldn't be about to kiss that anyone else," she grinned.

Their lips met. Hermione held her tighter as she moaned into her mouth when she deepened the kiss. The two of them lay on the sofa, Bellatrix stroking her fingers through her girl's long brown hair. "We have a pool now," Hermione snorted. "A bloody pool. So decadent."

"And a sauna," Bellatrix grinned wickedly. "I'd love to see you sweat."

A giggle escaped her lips right before another kiss followed. "It's so liberating not to have to look over my shoulder anymore."

A blinding light suddenly flashed from the large windows as Bellatrix became aware another entity was in the room. But it wasn't the thing in the woods, it was something else. Something familiar. The light was so bright she could not see who or what was at the center. In fact, the light was so bright that it was starting to give her a splitting head-ache. A gravely male voice sounded in her head. "I wrote it," said the voice. "To keep it safe. Safe in the light."

Safe in the light…

The cold, harsh light of fluorecent light bars above her were oddly welcoming as her eyes blinked open. The first thing Bellatrix noticed was that her head felt as if it was about to explode. The second thing she noticed was that the inside of her mouth felt like an old leather football. The third thing she noticed was that she had been unceremoniously tossed onto a concrete surface. The fourth thing she noticed was that a wet tongue was being swept over her cheek again and again.

"Uuuuuuhhhhh," escaped her mouth as she stiffly swatted at Max. The dog merely moved slightly to the side and continued licking her chops.

Bellatrix was quite familiar with the concept of a hangover, having experienced more than a few during her clubbing days back in the Seventies. At least she still seemed to have all her clothes on and hadn't vomited in her sleep. Two points of improvement over that wild night back in '74. She grunted and pushed herself off the ground with some strain. The last thing she remembered was… that stupid muggle Nightingale at the Anderson farm. Was she still there?

She opened her eyes and got her answer. The concrete floor, as well as the light bar above, belonged to a prison cell. Its smalled single barred window revealed the darkness beyond. It was still night. Or again night. She had no way to tell. This could only be the Bright Falls police station. Yes, she recognized the cell, its depth and the high window. And she wasn't alone. The dog Max was wagging his tail eager for her attention, apparently having been locked in there with her. On the cot to the side lay Nymphadora, groaning in pain and generally looking about as ill as Bellatrix felt.

Fortunately, a hang-over cure was easy for a witch. She put two fingers to the side of her head and let the magic flow. Magic hang-over cures involved pain-soothing and hydrating magics. Relief was instant. Nymphadora was as of yet too out of it to apply the cure to herself, but lucid enough to complain about it.

"Uuuuuh," her niece groaned. "Never bloody drinking again…"

"That's a lie and you know it," said Bellatrix. She stepped over to her niece and applied to fingers to the side of her head, applying the same cantrip to ease her out of her hang-over. Nymphadora instantly let out a sigh of relief before she sat up. When she reached to rub her forehead, she yelped in surprise after turning her head. When Bellatrix whipped around, she too almost jumped out her skin.

Stood there, with his nose almost pressed against the bars of the cell door, was agent Nightingale. For the first time, Bellatrix got a good look at him. He was a middle-aged man, in his late forties, hard-nosed and slightly overweight. He was a full two heads taller than her and clad in that silly FBI jacket of his. His graying hair was thinning on top and his eyes? His eyes burned with hatred… hatred aimed squarely at her. Merlin only knows how long he'd been stood there, simply staring at them.

He seemed unhinged as he gloated and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Well, I got you now, wicked witch of the west," he slurred a little. "No more running for you."

Bellatrix put her hands on her eyes. "I don't even know who the bloody hell you even are!"

"So you deny being at the heart of a conspiracy to murder a federal agent?" he snorted. "Likely story."

"Is this about the trailer park?" Bellatrix crossed her arms. "Need I remind you that you were the one who started shooting at me. Why are you even looking for me in the first place?"

"An anonymous tip from a friend."

Nymphadora laughed from her cot. "Want to deliver her to your boss, you mean? Oh yeah, we listened to the tape. Hartman's been playing you for a fool, you tosser. He used you like he bloody used everyone."

Nightingale slammed his first against the bars, the metal reverberating from the impact. "The lodge was destroyed! Everyone is gone! What did you do?! Where is Hartman?!"

Bellatrix closed her eyes and sighed. "You have absolutely no idea what's going on out there, do you?" It was a sobering thought.

"I know about those things in the darkness well enough!" the man slammed his hand against the bars. "I know about the disappearances. I know that despite everyone in dark meets a grisly end, you somehow manage to travel by night unmolested! Now why is that, witch?!"

The dark witch gave the man an incredulous look before throwing her head back and letting out an elongated cackle. This seemed to unnerve Nightingale greatly, causing his hand to inch towards the inside of his jacket. Not that Bellatrix cared. As soon as she was doing laughing, she locked eyes with him and smirked. "Oh believe me, it's been trying its utmost."

"I don't believe you, witch!" he spat back.

Bellatrix snorted again. "You seem to know what we are. Then you must also know this measly cell won't hold us. Not for one moment."

Nightingale's hand shoot to his jacket, showing her his weapon. "I'm the one with the gun here."

Bellatrix laughed again. "Oh, see me tremble in fear at the sight of your cock-extender, muggle!"

"Lead works on arrogant witches well enough," he gave her a slightly unnerving lopsided grin.

Nymphadora groaned from her bunk. "Will you two stop yelling so loudly?!" she muttered. "My bloody head's still pounding!"

As her niece applied more healing magic for herself, she could only roll her eyes at today's young people's apparent lack of alcohol tolerance. Her twenty-year old self would have been able to drink her thirty something year old niece right under the table. By now, Max had taken a keen interest in the exchange, abandoned Nymphadora and sauntered over to sit down next to her. Bellatrix gave him a quick scratch behind the ear.

"I can't help notice you walking with a limp," she grinned, pointing at Nightingale's torn trousers.

He narrowed his eyes at Max. "If you must know, that goddamn mutt of yours wasn't too keen on me dragging your drunk asses into the car. But I ain't shootin' no goddamn dog."

"Good," Bellatrix spoke with an eerie soft voice. "Because if you had, we wouldn't be speaking right now."

"Posture all you wish, witch," said Nightingale. "I still got you two. You might have gotten rid of Hartman, but that doesn't change a goddamn thing. I'm still going to expose you and your lot. Every dirty little secret! Every conspiracy! Every dirty claw you've dug into our government. The world's governments. Hartman knew! Hartman believed! He knew you're one of the cabal's leaders! They'll finally listen!"

Nymphadora groaned, still rubbing her head. "Let me guess, you listen to Alex Jones on the regular," she muttered.

"Is that what Hartman told you?" Bellatrix laughed. "He lied to you, just like he lied to everyone else. I take you never listened to the tapes we took from the lodge."

"So you admit it!"

Bellatrix closed her eyes and sighed. The man was a raving lunatic. And, having been a raving lunatic herself, she realized quickly enough that talking to him in this state would be pointless unless she'd be willing to put in years worth of therapy and trust-exercises. Her thoughts quickly went towards escape tactics instead. Had she a wand, blasting out the wall would be easy enough. Might be a bit tougher without wands, but between the two of them it would be doable. Of course, that would leave Nightingale all the time in the world to gun them down… as much as she was loathe to admit it, the gun in his pocket was still a threat. Hm, opening the door would be easy enough with a simple cantrip and then shoving the door right into his mug with enhanced magical force for good measure. One of them would have to shield the other to protect against bullets, however, and she doubted Nymphadora would be coherent enough at the moment to catch on.

Any tactic would have to wait. Behind her, Nymphadora stood up from the bunk while swaying on her feet, but two sets of footsteps were leading into the hallway, a stride obviously with purpose. Their source was revealed to be Sarah Breaker along with Grant. The sheriff had a look of determination on her face while a hand hovered dangerously close to her holstered side-arm. "You!" shouted the sheriff. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Nightingale whipped around, somehow trying to keep an eye on the two of them in the cell and glare down the two bearing down upon him from the corridor at the same time.

"My job!" challenged Nightingale. "I have claimed your cell to detain dangerous insurgents! You should be grateful for doing a service to your country, Breaker."

"What's Max doing in there?!" Grant challenged. "Since when are dogs considered dangerous insurgents?"

Sarah narrowed her eyes, hand never far from her weapon. "I found out some things about you, Nightingale. Did some calling around. My dad did too. And my dad has a lot of buddies in the FBI."

Nightingale suddenly paled visibly.

"First of all, this Nymphadora Tonks woman? She's interpol. With a level of security clearance that would make an NSA agent's head spin! Why do you think we let her go in the first place? Second of all, you're not even with the FBI anymore! You were fired three weeks ago. Something about being obsessed with 'witches and wizards' living among us or shit like that! You no longer have the authority to arrest anyone. So I'll be releasing them and you'd better choose your next words carefully if you don't want to end up in that cell yourself," said the sheriff, until she intensified her glare. "You know what. You are going to end up in that cell. Aside from the wrongful arrest, you illegally conscripted my men and got them all killed in the woods by god knows what!"

It was at that point that Nightingale lost it. "LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" he shouted and drew his weapon, prompting Breaker to do the same. The sheriff and the agent squared off, bare meters apart but revolvers drawn, while the unarmed Grant took a few steps back. "I'M ABOUT TO BLOW THE LID OF A WORLDWIDE CONSPIRACY AND NO GODDAMN HICK-TOWN COP IS GOING TO STOP ME! THIS IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF US!"

In the cell, Bellatrix could barely suppress a grin. She was about to bear witness to the complete and utter destruction of a man's life work and all she had to do was to sit back and enjoy.

Or she would until she noticed Max was growling. At first she considered he might simply be growling at the spectacle unfolding in front of them, but when she looked down she saw that Max was actually turned towards the window of the cell. Instantly, the air became heavy, sounds seemed more muffled and the stench of rot started to invade the air. Bellatrix and Nymphadora exchanged a stricken look as they both realized just what was happening.

The Darkness had come to Bright Falls.

The two of them braced themselves for the inevitable, but first they had to get out of this cell: they'd be sitting ducks in here if the Dark Presence were to make its move. And make its move it did. It all happened so fast.

The door leading into the police station parking lot was yanked from its hinges, out into the night.

Nightingale whipped around just as tendrils of living darkness shot into the corridor.

A shot. A shout. And the agent was pulled outside into the darkness and to his death.

All lights went out at once.

The doorway had become a maw, the inky black living tendrils of pure darkness its tongues as they slithered further inward along the floor, ceiling and walls.

Loudness assaulted Bellatrix' ears as the sheriff rather futilely took a few shots at the living darkness.

The two of them had to act fast. Nymphadora rushed forward and aimed her palm at the door: the door's lock clicked open just as Bellatrix shoved her shoulder into the barred door, taking up a position in between the darkness and the sheriff. With both hands raised, lights exploded from her palms with a brightness that seared her own eyes. The darkness screamed and withered as it retreated back from whence it had come. The entire building shook as the creature, whatever form it had, howled and smashed at the building in revenge. The whole earth seemed to shake, bits of debris falling from the ceiling.

A moment later, the door beyond revealed only the parking lot under the precious moonlight.

By now, Nymphadora and Max had left the cell and her niece was using her own magic to light the other side of the corridor. Sheriff Breaker and Deputy Grant were understandably stricken and confused by what was happening, but this wasn't a time to falter.

The building groaned under the weight of the Darkness as it crawled over the roof, smashing its way to the other side. Walls groaned, pipes burst and more debris were sent out as the police station was in its death throes.

"Light!" shouted Nymphadora. "We need light! And lots of it!"

Sarah Breaker snapped out of it and nodded. "To my office! The circuit box for the emergency lights is right there."

The five of them quickly made their way out of the corridor and to the front desk. Breaker's office would be on the other side of the building at the end of the corridor. Above them, something eldritch stirred on the roof. Nymphadora frantically whipped around with both hands emitting harsh light to make sure than the entire front desk was lit enough to keep no dark corners, when a police cruiser was roughly tossed into the front entrance. It send shards of glass flying inward and, worse yet, made room for living darkness to invade through the new opening. Grant yelped at the living darkness failing into the building just as Bellatrix and Breaker rushed into the corridor to make their way to the circuit box. Bellatrix did her best to keep the entire corridor lit as the building shook around them, as if they were amid an earthquake. If this would take any longer whatever was outside would tear the roof right off the building to get to them. That was, until Sarah Breaker pulled the lid off the circuit box and yanked down the handle inside. Instantly, the lights above them sprang to life.

An alien shriek was heard from all around them as apparently this meant outside lights had turned on as well. Then, silence. And the air return to normal.

The best sign that everything was safe for now was Max, who no longer seemed agitated and simply lay down on the floor panting. For a moment though, nobody dared to utter a word. Around them, the damage to the police station became apparent: windows smashed, walls crumbling, pipes leaking water all over the floor. A glance through the door leading to the cells revealed that they were just… gone. Nothing left but a collapsed pile of rubble.

"Just what the hell are you?" Sarah demanded just as Grant and Nymphadora stepped towards the office. "And don't give me a cock and bull story about Interpol."

"Better that you don't know," said Nymphadora.

Bellatrix snorted. "We're witches," she deadpanned. "We can do magic, we live among you in secret and, no, we have nothing to do with the thing that just tried to kill us."

Nymphadora blinked, her mouth agape. "Well… I guess we have bigger worries than that Statute violation at the moment. Did you know they put people to death for that in the US as recently as in in the thirties? Bet you didn't, auntie," her niece sighed.

"Are you even Interpol?!" Breaker challenged.

Nymphadora bit her lip. "Technically, yes, I actually am. We… witches… police our own. Internationally, if need be."

Sarah sighed. "Right now, I wouldn't give two shits if you were the goddamn Men in Black," said the Sheriff. "I have only two questions. What do you know and what do you need from me?"

Bellatrix stepped up, Max sitting down next to her. "There's a large entity out there made from living darkness. Avoid it. It's beyond all of us."

"Gotcha. Next?"

"There are shadow-men out there. They are part of the larger creature somehow and controlled by it. They can be hurt and killed, but only in the light once the living darkness has been burned away from them. They are... your missing people, but they're not human anymore. Don't hesitate, don't falter or you're dead," said Bellatrix.

"Light. Check. Application of bullets after light. Check," Sarah nodded. She walked over to a cabinet and removed two large weapons from them, along with boxes of ammunition. Back in Montana, her neighbour Pete had a whole collection of these. Shotguns, they were called. Just as Sarah handed one to Grant, Bellatrix couldn't help but admire Sarah's no-bullshit attitude after just having endured something which would mentally break most muggles.

"Grant, Twilight Zone protocol is in effect," Sarah told the rotund deputy.

Grant nodded grimly. "I'll go make the calls."

After stepping out to go back to the front desk, Sarah Breaker started loading her shotgun. "Okay," she said. "I hope you two have a plan, because I sure as hell don't."

"We need to find Cynthia Weaver," said Bellatrix. "She's the key to all of this somehow."

"Right," Sarah chuckled. "Crazy light lady has the solution to crazy living darkness trying to eat us. I should have known. But we might as be on the other side of the planet way things are now. She lives in the old decommissioned power plant near the dam and that's quite a bit away from here. Other side of the county. We'll be lucky to make it out of town way things are going."

Nymphadora snorted. "Who the fuck lives in a power plant?!"

"Someone who's crazy and obsessed with light," Sarah returned, before putting her fingers to her lips. "Hm… I can get you there pretty quickly in a rescue chopper. It's parked at the fire-station just outside of town."

The memory of a flock of darkness-afflicted birds smashing themselves to death to bring down another one of those flying windmills in less than seconds was fresh on her mind. Bellatrix didn't feel like going out in a blaze of fiery glory. At least, not tonight and not before Hermione would be freed from the darkness. "Not wise. We're even more vulnerable from the air."

"Between the two of us, we can shield the helicopter," said Nymphadora. "Oh yeah, I've seen the birds, remember? It's our best chance."

"Fine, we have a plan," said Sarah as she led the group back into the lobby. By then, Grant was already making calls, both over the phone and over the police radio. The term 'Twilight Zone' was often the only words she spoke before moving on to the next number or person on her list.

"Grant, we're making our way to the fire-station. Meet us there as soon as you're done," said Sarah.

"Don't worry," said Grant. "The generator is running and the place is well lit. I just hope I can get through to everyone to warn them. With that thing crawling around town, I working on warning the people in town first."

A gasp sounded from Nymphadora, a stricken look on her face as if she had just been hit over the head with a hammer. "Shit!" she suddenly paled. "Rose. What time is it?! What day is it?! She's out working today at the diner!"

Without saying another word, her niece rushed back into the corridor towards the parking lot! "DORA!" shouted Bellatrix. "Agent Tonks, wait!" Sarah added. Both utterances fell on deaf ears as her niece rushed off into the night. Inwardly, Bellatrix groaned as Nymphadora's recklessness, even though an equal part of her was quite proud at her niece's willingness to throw herself into danger to protect someone she loved, though inconvenient as it was…

"I suppose it's just the two of us, then," said the dark witch with a grin. "Very well, I shall carve you a path to the fire-station."

Sarah bid her farewell and good luck to Grant and the two of them made their way into the parking lot, past the collapsed cells. Thankfully the building was still structurally sound enough to keep the roof from collapsing on top of their heads. The sheriff raised her shotgun as she looked around the parking lot. The police station had become a beacon of light in a town entirely bathed in darkness. "Looks like the power failed," said Breaker.

"Or was cut," Bellatrix motioned toward a fallen power pole in the street beyond, the lines still sparkling with electricity.

The town itself looked very different from the cheery town they had seen from the ferry. The air was oppressive as it was bathed in darkness. Some of the buildings had living shadows moving across their walls. The smell was abhorrent, the air was stale and even the light of the moon above was having trouble piercing through the dark fog above their heads. It was as if the very air they were breathing had become infected.

The parking lot itself looked as if a giant had decided to make it its playground. The few police cruisers parked here and been flattened like old tin cans and Hermione's Toyota Sienna, still parked in its spot, looking to be impossibly more damaged than before. The building itself was also in poor shape looking from the outside: parts of the roof had been ripped off, and some of the walls looked to be on the verge of collapsing. Bellatrix looked around to see how Nymphadora could have gotten out. Her eyes were drawn to a torn chainlink fence, which allowed for a person to climb out if they were careful enough to avoid some of the razor-sharp metal. Evidently, Nymphadora had not been careful as was proven by the blood spatters on the ground and the metal barbs at knee height.

"Here. Cover me while I tie the gate's systems into the emergency power grid," said Sarah as she put down the shotgun and Bellatrix did her best to light up the area around her while she worked. "Don't worry about your niece. We'll pass the diner on the way out of town. They can hole up there and wait for us, if they're smart."

"That's one thing I would never accuse my niece of. Let's hope the waitress gets the same idea you had," Bellatrix nodded. Though she trusted her niece, she hoped she would be alright. Andromeda would certainly never let her hear the end of it if she wouldn't be. "So, what exactly is this 'Twilight Zone'?" asked Bellatrix as Sarah worked. Out of the corner her eyes, the shadows seemed to move with purpose but when she turned, nothing was there. Still, she felt as if she was being stalked by something that could jump out at any time.

"It's a stupid in-joke that the town is the inspiration for the TV show," said the sheriff. "This town can get really weird at times."

Bellatrix bit her lip, snapping her head to a shadowy corner. "I quite agree," she hissed.

"This situation is... extreme," said Sarah. "There'd be missing hikers of course, some never found and some… found in weird places. Like thirty miles from where they were last seen. Some poor bastard ended up fused with a tree. That was a weird day. Of course, this county also gets an insane amount of Bigfoot sightings. Twilight Zone Protocol was developed by my father. He went through some weird shit in the Seventies and Eighties. But that was all centered around Cauldron Lake and not the town itself."

Seventies and Eighties. Thomas Zane and the 'eruption' and then whenever misadventures the Andersons got into. Both periods when the Dark Presence was most active. That was no coincidence.

"So Twilight Protocol was something he came up with," said Sarah, continuing her story. "It's basically a calling list to a key group of people who in turn contact their friends and family. Then they batten the hatches, load up any weapons they have and stay indoors until they get the all clear sign. Granted after what we've just seen that might not do anything, but at least it will discourage people from seeking out trouble they can't handle."

Bellatrix glanced beyond the gate and towards the darkened buildings in town. How many people were in there? How many people had already been taken? If things went sour, the Dark Presence would have a veritable army of fresh recruits to throw at them.

As if sensing her thoughts, the sheriff gave her a grin. "Don't underestimate us 'hicks'," she said. "We're smarter and hardier than you might think."

"After what I've seen the past days," said Bellatrix. "Excuse me if I won't take your word for it."

Max sniffed the air as the gate started to move, making more of a loud grinding noise than Bellatrix felt comfortable with. A few moments later, Bellatrix, Sarah and Max stepped into the darkened town of Bright Falls. Though the town itself wasn't very large, it was big enough to house two main streets running parallel to the docks. The town itself was getting ready for Deerfest, as was evidenced by the sheer number of floats parked along the side of the streets.

Not a light was on, not a sound was heard. The cheery cartoon deer on the floats and posters, the colourful bunting, the portable grandstands lining the road and the many empty market stalls were eerie in just how wrong they looked in this situation. Sarah, her shotgun raised as Bellatrix lighted their way with her hands and Max followed, seemed to be very much on edge. "Road's been cordoned off for Deerfest. Public safety and all that. We'll have to move through the side-streets towards the other side to get to the fire-station."

Great. Just great.

That meant a thousand and one places for them to be jumped by shadow creatures.

And just then, Max started to growl.