Chapter 6
The two groups sprinted up the stairs and stopped by the door. Angel held up her hand for silence, and then slowly moved towards the door. She was about to open it when she thought. 'What if there are Hunters right outside? I could be killed!' Angel turned around and faced the group. Peter and Patrick looked at her.
"What's wrong. Angel?" Peter asked, looking at her.
"Oh, it's just that I thought of something. I always get to do the fun stuff, like go first. So I figured that maybe one of you brave, strong, intelligent boys would like to go first this time?" she offered, winking at both of them. Everyone but Peter and Patrick knew what she was doing. They both stepped bravely forward and threw open the door. Acting like the complete idiots they were, they marched outside into the bright sunlight. The others wisely stayed inside.
"You know Angel, that wasn't nice of you to trick them that way," Luke said.
"Yeah, they could be killed if there are Hunters outside," Amber added. Angel simply turned to look at them.
"Better them than me, right?" she asked as Corinne and Bobbi giggled. Alan and Mike started to snicker. Sage and John just looked at her.
"You do have a point," Alex agreed as he tried not to laugh. Just then, Peter's voice came from outside.
"You can come out now. Everything is fine, and I don't see anything." Angel was not truly convinced.
"Patrick, do you see anything?" she asked, knowing that his senses were a little better than Peter's.
"Nope. There's no one out here but us." Angel motioned for the group to proceed, but cautiously. Jake walked outside and started sniffing the wind.
"I don't smell anything, so they must have left after they couldn't find us."
"We'll split up. Everyone find a section to cover. From now on, only use telepathy to talk. That includes you, Peter," Angel commanded as they all went in separate directions. Angel noticed Peter and Peter start to follow her, and quickly made up another rule. "Rule four, guys. Angel works alone, as in solo."
"But Angel, who can we work with?" Patrick asked as he started to whine.
"Work with yourselves. Just don't work with me."
"But Angel-" Peter started to say. She cut him off, eyes flashing quickly from blue, to violet, to green.
"Remember rule three, Peter. I make the rules. You really don't want to find out what happens when one of those rules gets broken. Do you?" she asked as her eyes turned red. Peter and Patrick hastily backed away, as her eyes turned blue once more. Whipping her long hair into their faces, she turned and sprinted into the trees. Swinging herself up onto a branch, she prepared herself to watch the scene. Peter and Patrick would go to the Hunters together. As long as Peter didn't blow his cover, they were both safe. Angel then saw a group of people approaching over the hill. She fixed her gaze on Sage, Lilli, and John, who were right there and could get a good look. 'Who are those people coming up towards you guys?'
'They look like Hunters to me,' Sage replied.
'How can you tell?'
'They're carrying silver daggers, wooden stakes, and metal-tipped spears. It's not like we have any prehistoric cavemen running around in the foothills of Vermont,' John answered as Angel's heart began to race. She quickly calmed herself. 'This is no time to think about hunting when we have a serious situation on our hands!' she chided herself. Just then, Lilli said something.
'Angel, Patrick and Peter are approaching them. The Hunters have stopped. They're talking, and now they're, they're-'
They're what?' Bobbi yelled.
'They're taking us back with them, that's what,' Patrick told them as he and Peter followed the Hunters to wherever they were going.
'Good luck, guys,' Sage called out as they disappeared from .
'Well, phase one is complete. Now we wait for communication from those two,' Angel said, watching them go.
'Yeah. And while we're at it, we can pray that they don't screw up,' Amy added. Angel hoped she was right. They were on their own now. She hoped they came back so a plan could be made to kill the Hunters once and for all.
* * *
Peter and Patrick were shaking as the Hunters looked them over. "So you want to join up with us? May I ask why?" a young man asked. His Southern accent was very apparent to the two Northerners.
"We heard about people who believed in all this weird stuff, and at first we thought it was only a game," Peter began, trying to sound casual.
"Then when we came here for a family reunion, we saw them. It was simply horrible!" Patrick chimed in. Most of the Hunters were now looking at both of them, their eyes wide.
"What did you see?" a young girl asked, hanging on to her spear.
"They attacked our family. A whole slew of them! They came down in all these weird shapes. Some of them looked just like us, but you could tell that they weren't human," Peter took over telling the story. He now had the full attention of the entire group.
"What did the other creatures look like?" the southern boy asked.
"Well, at first there was only these two wolves. Our dad told us not to get to close. Then this big falcon came over the hill, and attacked our little cousin. Then these two big cats came. One was a bobcat and the other was a mountain lion. Those two attacked together. Now if that's not strange, I don't know what is," Patrick continued, trying to lie and look like he was telling the truth at the same time. Even being a vampire, it was hard to do.
"Then what happened?" asked a girl who stood with her hands on the shoulders of the first young girl. She was holding a stake tightly in her hand.
"Well after these animals attacked, then these, these... Things came out of the trees. They looked human, except that their teeth were really long and really sharp. It was like they were part animal!" Peter continued, taking the pressure off Patrick for a little bit.
"Vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters is what you saw. They were probably working together to get what they all need to survive," said a boy who was about the same age as Peter and Patrick.
"What do they need to survive?" Peter asked, trying to sound nervous.
"Werewolves need the heart and liver of their prey. 'Shifters need the flesh, and vampires need the blood," the young girl with the spear answered. She bent down to tie her shoe, and the point of her spear leveled directly at Patrick's heart. He gasped and backed away in fear, and Peter immediately saw why. The tip of her spear wasn't metal, it was wood. A few of the people, including the southern boy, saw this reaction and became suspicious.
"What's wrong, don't like wood?" he asked, sneering at Patrick, who shook his head and backed up.
"Why not? It's not like we'd slip and stake you," the girl with the stake told him, pretending to come at him. Peter saw that this was not going according to plan, and then he suddenly thought of something.
"Patrick, we really should tell them what those freaks did to you. Maybe they know a way to reverse it or something," he suggested, putting his arm on Patrick's shoulder to reassure him.
"They did something to you?" the girl with the stake asked, stopping mid- way to raising her weapon. Patrick understood what Peter was trying to say and nodded, a sad look on his face.
"What did they do?" the older boy asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. Patrick decided the best way to tell them was to show them. He opened his mouth a little and extended his teeth. While doing this, he had to resist the urge to dive on the young girl in front of him. Horrified gasps echoed up and down the group as a few of them stepped away from the young Night Worlder.
"So you're a, a-" the southern boy started to say.
"A vampire. And believe me, I am not proud of it. Those rejects from a horror film did this to me. My brother was luckier. They were going to use him as food. Then you guys came and scared them off. We owe you," Patrick explained, finishing the story. He only hoped that they believed him.
"So they turned you into one of them?" the spear-girl
"Yeah. I don't know why they wanted me, of all people. Can you help us?" he replied, motioning towards Peter.
"Well we have good and bad news. We can't turn you back into a human, but you can get revenge on the creatures that did this to you." the older boy said.
"How can we do that?" Peter asked, wondering what sort of plan they had.
"Since he's one of them, he can walk into their midst unharmed and get information that we can use. Once we have the info on what they plan to do next and where their hideout is, we can infiltrate their sanctuary and destroy them once and for all," the young boy said as the group nodded their heads in agreement.
"Come with us for now. We'll show you around our place, and then tell you all the details about the society you're about to enter," the girl with the stake added, as they led Peter and Patrick into the valley. They both tried to look scared.
"Oh goodie," was all Peter said in response. After entering the valley, they walked for quite some time until they came upon a small shack, nestled among trees and boulders from the nearby mountains. Once inside, the floor dropped out from beneath them. It took Peter a moment to realize that the floor was an elevator, and that they were going underground. When the elevator stopped, the older boy motioned for everyone to get off, whereupon the elevator rose to the surface again.
"Where are we?" Patrick inquired, his eyes wide in genuine awe.
"Welcome to our humble abode. From now on, consider it your home," the girl with the spear said.
"Great. Now that we're considered part of your group, can we at least learn little things like your names?" Peter asked, as he looked around the hideout. About twenty or so Hunters were already down there, not to mention the ten he had come down with. Neither of the boys knew if any other Hunters were on the surface. Looking at the spear-girl, Peter couldn't help but smile. It was contagious, and she smiled back.
"My name is Melody. I'm sixteen," she introduced, offering her hand to Peter. He took it and was surprised at her strong grip. She smiled devilishly. The older girl then stepped up.
"I'm Julie, and I'm seventeen," she told them, smiling at Patrick and taking his hand. Her grip was also strong for a human girl.
"They call me Clint. I'm only fifteen, but I still fight good," the boy with the southern accent bragged as he offered his hand. His grip was relaxed, unlike the two girls. The older boy then stepped forward.
"My name is Drake. I'm nineteen and leader of this hunting party. I'm also Julie's brother," he told them, smiling at Julie. She just rolled her eyes and looked heavenward. They were definitely related.
"I'm Peter and this is my brother Patrick. We're the last of our family that still survives as far as we know," Peter fibbed, trying to sound upset.
"How many family members were at this reunion?" Drake asked, wanting to get all his facts straight.
"We had close to fifty people there when they attacked. But they only outright killed about fifteen people. We don't know what happened to the others." Patrick replied, forcing remorse and sadness to creep into his voice.
"They probably took some of your family to eat or play with later. The others... Well let's just say that they'll probably wake up a whole different person. If you know what I mean." Julie murmured, telling the boys point-blank what would happen to their "family".
"Do they really just turn humans into others of their kind for fun?" Peter asked, playing the stupid human role. He wanted to find out not only what, but how much these Hunters knew.
"Can I tell them? Please?" Melody begged, looking at Drake.
"Clint can help you if you miss anything important," he replied as the younger boy beamed at his leader's praise.
"These creatures belong to a secret society called the Night World. At least, it was secret until the Hunters started learning about it. There are four groups of Night Worlders. The main group is the vampires, and there are sub-groups of them. One group is the lamia. They're the vampires who are born vampires. They can grow old, have kids and get to be very powerful. The most powerful lamia family is the Redferns. They're all over the place. Their leader is Hunter Redfern, one of the original Redferns. The other group of vamps is the made ones. These guys are born humans, but if a vampire bites them and they drink the vampire's blood, they're turned into vampires. That's what you are, Patrick." Melody said as he slowly nodded his head, like he was trying to process all this info at once. Clint then picked up where Melody left off.
"Another group in the Night World are the werewolves. These guys are like shape-shifters, except that 'shifters can be any animal, and wolves are just wolves." he said as Peter suddenly thought of a question.
"So you mean that 'shifters can shift into any kind of animal? Like a panther, a bear, or even a dog?" he asked, trying to sound cynical.
"No, they can't shift into all the animals. Only one animal is theirs. You can usually tell what animal they are by their first or last names. But they're called 'shifters because they can be any animal that's not a wolf. Wolves are just "specialized" 'shifters."
"So what's that last group in this "secret" society?" Patrick asked, just to sound impressed. Julie answered him.
"The last group are the witches. They're the ones who most resemble humans. They don't change into animals, and they don't grow teeth. All they are is people who have amplified psychic power. They aren't that different from us," she replied, scorn in her voice. Peter sent Patrick a silent message.
'What do you think Kat and Amy would do if they heard this?'
'Probably strike them down with a really big spell, knowing them. Amy is not someone to fool with when she's mad.'
'Neither is Kat, if you catch my drift.'
"So are there any rules in the Night World?" Peter wondered.
"There are really only two rules, but breaking them means certain death for the Night Worlders and any humans that are involved," Melody answered, smiling.
"What are these two rules. I mean, if I'm going to go there, I should know them," Patrick wisely stated.
"The first rule is to never tell humans that the Night World exists. But somebody screwed up that rule, or else how would Hunters know so much? You see, the Night Worlders say that it's okay to play with, torture, fool with the hearts of, or even kill humans. The second rule is a lot bigger than the first. This is why Circle Daybreak is becoming so popular. The second rule clearly states that no Night Worlder can fall in love with a human." Drake said, making the boys realize that Circle Daybreak was doing a very good job of telling humans everything.
"What does this rule have to do with Circle Daybreak?" Peter wondered.
"Circle Daybreak goes against everything the Night World stands for. They tell humans about themselves, they befriend humans, they leave the Night World forever, and they usually have human soulmates," Julie explained.
"Soul-what?" Peter asked, playing dumb.
"The soulmate bond is a love-bond. It ties two people, who may not have anything in common, together. Now more and more, Night Worlders are finding out that their soulmates are human. So to protect themselves and their mates, they leave the Night world and join Circle Daybreak. There's also the Wild Power thing going on," Melody added, seeming to totally confuse the two boys.
"Wild Powers? What are they?" Patrick questioned.
"The Wild Powers are four teens from the Night World who are the only ones who can save the human race when the Millennium comes. The witch Maiden Aradia gave a few prophecies about them. One has already been found. A half- human, half-vampire crossbreed by the name of Jez Redfern. The other three are currently still at large," Clint chimed in. Now came the clincher. If these Hunters knew the prophecies, Circle Midnight was in deep trouble.
"What are the prophecies?" Peter wondered, looking eager to know them. Drake and Julie nodded their heads, and Drake began to recite them from memory.
"One from a land of kings long forgotten; One from the hearth which still holds the spark; One from the Day World where two eyes are watching; One from the twilight to be one with the dark. And there are also a few prophecies about what they need to do." Julie picked up on this point.
"Four to stand between the light and the shadow. Four of blue fire, power in their blood. Born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision. Four less one and darkness triumphs," she recited, sounding so much like a witch chanting a spell that Patrick forgot for a moment that she was a human.
"Any other prophecies we need to know?" Peter asked, shifting his gaze from Drake to Julie and back again.
"There is one more. I think it goes like this: In blue fire, the final darkness is banished. In blood, the final price is paid," Clint said, screwing up his face in concentration as he recited the lines. Peter and Patrick looked at each other and sent the same message.
'They know all the prophecies! We are in trouble!'
"So what do you guys think about all this?" Melody wanted to know, looking at the two boys. It took them a moment to recover from the initial shock.
"All I can say is… Wow! You really know your stuff," Patrick finally managed to spit out. Peter nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
"Ditto." Drake and Julie were talking to each other, and occasionally Julie would look at the two boys.
"I still don't think they're ready to do this. They could be killed if they don't know what to expect," she kept saying. Drake kept shaking his head.
"They'll do fine, Julie. You have to stop worrying about everyone all the time. This is a chance for us to kill those freaks of nature, and for Patrick and Peter to get revenge for their family," he told her as Julie started to protest again. He moved away from her and stood in front of the Night World boys.
"Listen Drake, me and Peter are real eager to get those killers once and for all. Can we leave now?" Patrick wondered, eyeing the older boy. Drake nodded.
"Sure. Just do us a favor and take these small radios. They'll allow you to keep up communications with us. And good luck to both of you," he said, handing them two small walkie-talkies, and they put them in their pockets. They got on the elevator and were about to leave when Melody came up holding two stakes. Handing the weapons to them, she kissed them both on the cheek.
"Good luck, my handsome knights," she whispered, batting her lashes. Both of them completely melted at the sight of the pretty girl. Once on the surface, they ran all the way to the door. Peter walked up, and without thinking, threw it open. A second later, strong arms locked around him and pulled him inside. Peter tried to scream, but a hand clamped over his mouth and cut him off. When Patrick went to investigate, he was also grabbed. The door slammed shut on the outside world. Inside, the two boys struggled against the people holding them. Suddenly, a voice pierced the darkness"
"Wait! It's Peter and Patrick!" came a female voice. The hands dropped, and as Peter's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out four figures standing there. Patrick, who could see better, knew who they were.
"Tyrna, Matt, Luke, Amber. What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised and relieved at the same time.
"Making sure that no curious Hunters found this place," Tyrna replied, looking at the door with a worried frown.
"So how did your little interview go?" Luke wanted to know.
"Well we have one thing to say... We're in!" Peter nearly shouted.
"Hey, that's great. Go tell Angel. We'll be down as soon as Kelsey and Iris get here. Oops, never mind, here they are," Matt said as the vampire and 'shifter came up the stairs. With a whoop of excitement, he grabbed Tyrna by the arm and almost dragged her down the steps. Amber and Luke followed at a dignified, but still anxious pace. Peter and Patrick were the last ones down. The others were all in Angel's room talking. The talk immediately stopped when the group walked in.
"What did they say?" Amy asked, eyes shining brightly.
"Well we got accepted, if that's what you want to know," Peter said casually.
"I told you they'd fall for it!" Jake yelled.
"Stupid humans," Bobbi and Mike said together.
"This is great!" Alex cheered, hugging Amy.
"Yes, yes, yes! Ow!" Kat cried as she stood up and started jumping around. She quickly sat back down as a shooting pain went up her entire arm.
"Now we can kill those stupid humans!" Corinne noted.
"They'll never know what hit them," Alan added, smiling broadly.
"A fight. Just what we need around here," Lilli pointed out.
"We still need to see what happens with the plan before we celebrate," Sage said calmly. John looked at him.
"Oh lighten up, Sage!" he teased, getting into it. Bobbi and Corinne started laughing insanely, both eager to get into a fight.
"Finally, revenge for my family's name," Luke swore as his eyes clouded over. Amber squeezed his hand.
"Don't worry, Luke. We'll get the vermin who hunted your family."
"Yeah. They haven't got a prayer," Matt agreed, trying to support his friend.
"We'll kill them all. Maybe that'll teach Circle Daybreak a lesson or two." Tyrna spoke up as a hunting light came into her eyes.
"We will kill the Hunters. We will destroy Circle Daybreak. We will win the Millennium War, and then we shall rule it all!" Angel screamed as resounding cheers echoed up and down the room. They penetrated the walls until every Circle Midnight member was yelling a cheer at the intended victory over one of their greatest enemies... MAN.
The two groups sprinted up the stairs and stopped by the door. Angel held up her hand for silence, and then slowly moved towards the door. She was about to open it when she thought. 'What if there are Hunters right outside? I could be killed!' Angel turned around and faced the group. Peter and Patrick looked at her.
"What's wrong. Angel?" Peter asked, looking at her.
"Oh, it's just that I thought of something. I always get to do the fun stuff, like go first. So I figured that maybe one of you brave, strong, intelligent boys would like to go first this time?" she offered, winking at both of them. Everyone but Peter and Patrick knew what she was doing. They both stepped bravely forward and threw open the door. Acting like the complete idiots they were, they marched outside into the bright sunlight. The others wisely stayed inside.
"You know Angel, that wasn't nice of you to trick them that way," Luke said.
"Yeah, they could be killed if there are Hunters outside," Amber added. Angel simply turned to look at them.
"Better them than me, right?" she asked as Corinne and Bobbi giggled. Alan and Mike started to snicker. Sage and John just looked at her.
"You do have a point," Alex agreed as he tried not to laugh. Just then, Peter's voice came from outside.
"You can come out now. Everything is fine, and I don't see anything." Angel was not truly convinced.
"Patrick, do you see anything?" she asked, knowing that his senses were a little better than Peter's.
"Nope. There's no one out here but us." Angel motioned for the group to proceed, but cautiously. Jake walked outside and started sniffing the wind.
"I don't smell anything, so they must have left after they couldn't find us."
"We'll split up. Everyone find a section to cover. From now on, only use telepathy to talk. That includes you, Peter," Angel commanded as they all went in separate directions. Angel noticed Peter and Peter start to follow her, and quickly made up another rule. "Rule four, guys. Angel works alone, as in solo."
"But Angel, who can we work with?" Patrick asked as he started to whine.
"Work with yourselves. Just don't work with me."
"But Angel-" Peter started to say. She cut him off, eyes flashing quickly from blue, to violet, to green.
"Remember rule three, Peter. I make the rules. You really don't want to find out what happens when one of those rules gets broken. Do you?" she asked as her eyes turned red. Peter and Patrick hastily backed away, as her eyes turned blue once more. Whipping her long hair into their faces, she turned and sprinted into the trees. Swinging herself up onto a branch, she prepared herself to watch the scene. Peter and Patrick would go to the Hunters together. As long as Peter didn't blow his cover, they were both safe. Angel then saw a group of people approaching over the hill. She fixed her gaze on Sage, Lilli, and John, who were right there and could get a good look. 'Who are those people coming up towards you guys?'
'They look like Hunters to me,' Sage replied.
'How can you tell?'
'They're carrying silver daggers, wooden stakes, and metal-tipped spears. It's not like we have any prehistoric cavemen running around in the foothills of Vermont,' John answered as Angel's heart began to race. She quickly calmed herself. 'This is no time to think about hunting when we have a serious situation on our hands!' she chided herself. Just then, Lilli said something.
'Angel, Patrick and Peter are approaching them. The Hunters have stopped. They're talking, and now they're, they're-'
They're what?' Bobbi yelled.
'They're taking us back with them, that's what,' Patrick told them as he and Peter followed the Hunters to wherever they were going.
'Good luck, guys,' Sage called out as they disappeared from .
'Well, phase one is complete. Now we wait for communication from those two,' Angel said, watching them go.
'Yeah. And while we're at it, we can pray that they don't screw up,' Amy added. Angel hoped she was right. They were on their own now. She hoped they came back so a plan could be made to kill the Hunters once and for all.
* * *
Peter and Patrick were shaking as the Hunters looked them over. "So you want to join up with us? May I ask why?" a young man asked. His Southern accent was very apparent to the two Northerners.
"We heard about people who believed in all this weird stuff, and at first we thought it was only a game," Peter began, trying to sound casual.
"Then when we came here for a family reunion, we saw them. It was simply horrible!" Patrick chimed in. Most of the Hunters were now looking at both of them, their eyes wide.
"What did you see?" a young girl asked, hanging on to her spear.
"They attacked our family. A whole slew of them! They came down in all these weird shapes. Some of them looked just like us, but you could tell that they weren't human," Peter took over telling the story. He now had the full attention of the entire group.
"What did the other creatures look like?" the southern boy asked.
"Well, at first there was only these two wolves. Our dad told us not to get to close. Then this big falcon came over the hill, and attacked our little cousin. Then these two big cats came. One was a bobcat and the other was a mountain lion. Those two attacked together. Now if that's not strange, I don't know what is," Patrick continued, trying to lie and look like he was telling the truth at the same time. Even being a vampire, it was hard to do.
"Then what happened?" asked a girl who stood with her hands on the shoulders of the first young girl. She was holding a stake tightly in her hand.
"Well after these animals attacked, then these, these... Things came out of the trees. They looked human, except that their teeth were really long and really sharp. It was like they were part animal!" Peter continued, taking the pressure off Patrick for a little bit.
"Vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters is what you saw. They were probably working together to get what they all need to survive," said a boy who was about the same age as Peter and Patrick.
"What do they need to survive?" Peter asked, trying to sound nervous.
"Werewolves need the heart and liver of their prey. 'Shifters need the flesh, and vampires need the blood," the young girl with the spear answered. She bent down to tie her shoe, and the point of her spear leveled directly at Patrick's heart. He gasped and backed away in fear, and Peter immediately saw why. The tip of her spear wasn't metal, it was wood. A few of the people, including the southern boy, saw this reaction and became suspicious.
"What's wrong, don't like wood?" he asked, sneering at Patrick, who shook his head and backed up.
"Why not? It's not like we'd slip and stake you," the girl with the stake told him, pretending to come at him. Peter saw that this was not going according to plan, and then he suddenly thought of something.
"Patrick, we really should tell them what those freaks did to you. Maybe they know a way to reverse it or something," he suggested, putting his arm on Patrick's shoulder to reassure him.
"They did something to you?" the girl with the stake asked, stopping mid- way to raising her weapon. Patrick understood what Peter was trying to say and nodded, a sad look on his face.
"What did they do?" the older boy asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. Patrick decided the best way to tell them was to show them. He opened his mouth a little and extended his teeth. While doing this, he had to resist the urge to dive on the young girl in front of him. Horrified gasps echoed up and down the group as a few of them stepped away from the young Night Worlder.
"So you're a, a-" the southern boy started to say.
"A vampire. And believe me, I am not proud of it. Those rejects from a horror film did this to me. My brother was luckier. They were going to use him as food. Then you guys came and scared them off. We owe you," Patrick explained, finishing the story. He only hoped that they believed him.
"So they turned you into one of them?" the spear-girl
"Yeah. I don't know why they wanted me, of all people. Can you help us?" he replied, motioning towards Peter.
"Well we have good and bad news. We can't turn you back into a human, but you can get revenge on the creatures that did this to you." the older boy said.
"How can we do that?" Peter asked, wondering what sort of plan they had.
"Since he's one of them, he can walk into their midst unharmed and get information that we can use. Once we have the info on what they plan to do next and where their hideout is, we can infiltrate their sanctuary and destroy them once and for all," the young boy said as the group nodded their heads in agreement.
"Come with us for now. We'll show you around our place, and then tell you all the details about the society you're about to enter," the girl with the stake added, as they led Peter and Patrick into the valley. They both tried to look scared.
"Oh goodie," was all Peter said in response. After entering the valley, they walked for quite some time until they came upon a small shack, nestled among trees and boulders from the nearby mountains. Once inside, the floor dropped out from beneath them. It took Peter a moment to realize that the floor was an elevator, and that they were going underground. When the elevator stopped, the older boy motioned for everyone to get off, whereupon the elevator rose to the surface again.
"Where are we?" Patrick inquired, his eyes wide in genuine awe.
"Welcome to our humble abode. From now on, consider it your home," the girl with the spear said.
"Great. Now that we're considered part of your group, can we at least learn little things like your names?" Peter asked, as he looked around the hideout. About twenty or so Hunters were already down there, not to mention the ten he had come down with. Neither of the boys knew if any other Hunters were on the surface. Looking at the spear-girl, Peter couldn't help but smile. It was contagious, and she smiled back.
"My name is Melody. I'm sixteen," she introduced, offering her hand to Peter. He took it and was surprised at her strong grip. She smiled devilishly. The older girl then stepped up.
"I'm Julie, and I'm seventeen," she told them, smiling at Patrick and taking his hand. Her grip was also strong for a human girl.
"They call me Clint. I'm only fifteen, but I still fight good," the boy with the southern accent bragged as he offered his hand. His grip was relaxed, unlike the two girls. The older boy then stepped forward.
"My name is Drake. I'm nineteen and leader of this hunting party. I'm also Julie's brother," he told them, smiling at Julie. She just rolled her eyes and looked heavenward. They were definitely related.
"I'm Peter and this is my brother Patrick. We're the last of our family that still survives as far as we know," Peter fibbed, trying to sound upset.
"How many family members were at this reunion?" Drake asked, wanting to get all his facts straight.
"We had close to fifty people there when they attacked. But they only outright killed about fifteen people. We don't know what happened to the others." Patrick replied, forcing remorse and sadness to creep into his voice.
"They probably took some of your family to eat or play with later. The others... Well let's just say that they'll probably wake up a whole different person. If you know what I mean." Julie murmured, telling the boys point-blank what would happen to their "family".
"Do they really just turn humans into others of their kind for fun?" Peter asked, playing the stupid human role. He wanted to find out not only what, but how much these Hunters knew.
"Can I tell them? Please?" Melody begged, looking at Drake.
"Clint can help you if you miss anything important," he replied as the younger boy beamed at his leader's praise.
"These creatures belong to a secret society called the Night World. At least, it was secret until the Hunters started learning about it. There are four groups of Night Worlders. The main group is the vampires, and there are sub-groups of them. One group is the lamia. They're the vampires who are born vampires. They can grow old, have kids and get to be very powerful. The most powerful lamia family is the Redferns. They're all over the place. Their leader is Hunter Redfern, one of the original Redferns. The other group of vamps is the made ones. These guys are born humans, but if a vampire bites them and they drink the vampire's blood, they're turned into vampires. That's what you are, Patrick." Melody said as he slowly nodded his head, like he was trying to process all this info at once. Clint then picked up where Melody left off.
"Another group in the Night World are the werewolves. These guys are like shape-shifters, except that 'shifters can be any animal, and wolves are just wolves." he said as Peter suddenly thought of a question.
"So you mean that 'shifters can shift into any kind of animal? Like a panther, a bear, or even a dog?" he asked, trying to sound cynical.
"No, they can't shift into all the animals. Only one animal is theirs. You can usually tell what animal they are by their first or last names. But they're called 'shifters because they can be any animal that's not a wolf. Wolves are just "specialized" 'shifters."
"So what's that last group in this "secret" society?" Patrick asked, just to sound impressed. Julie answered him.
"The last group are the witches. They're the ones who most resemble humans. They don't change into animals, and they don't grow teeth. All they are is people who have amplified psychic power. They aren't that different from us," she replied, scorn in her voice. Peter sent Patrick a silent message.
'What do you think Kat and Amy would do if they heard this?'
'Probably strike them down with a really big spell, knowing them. Amy is not someone to fool with when she's mad.'
'Neither is Kat, if you catch my drift.'
"So are there any rules in the Night World?" Peter wondered.
"There are really only two rules, but breaking them means certain death for the Night Worlders and any humans that are involved," Melody answered, smiling.
"What are these two rules. I mean, if I'm going to go there, I should know them," Patrick wisely stated.
"The first rule is to never tell humans that the Night World exists. But somebody screwed up that rule, or else how would Hunters know so much? You see, the Night Worlders say that it's okay to play with, torture, fool with the hearts of, or even kill humans. The second rule is a lot bigger than the first. This is why Circle Daybreak is becoming so popular. The second rule clearly states that no Night Worlder can fall in love with a human." Drake said, making the boys realize that Circle Daybreak was doing a very good job of telling humans everything.
"What does this rule have to do with Circle Daybreak?" Peter wondered.
"Circle Daybreak goes against everything the Night World stands for. They tell humans about themselves, they befriend humans, they leave the Night World forever, and they usually have human soulmates," Julie explained.
"Soul-what?" Peter asked, playing dumb.
"The soulmate bond is a love-bond. It ties two people, who may not have anything in common, together. Now more and more, Night Worlders are finding out that their soulmates are human. So to protect themselves and their mates, they leave the Night world and join Circle Daybreak. There's also the Wild Power thing going on," Melody added, seeming to totally confuse the two boys.
"Wild Powers? What are they?" Patrick questioned.
"The Wild Powers are four teens from the Night World who are the only ones who can save the human race when the Millennium comes. The witch Maiden Aradia gave a few prophecies about them. One has already been found. A half- human, half-vampire crossbreed by the name of Jez Redfern. The other three are currently still at large," Clint chimed in. Now came the clincher. If these Hunters knew the prophecies, Circle Midnight was in deep trouble.
"What are the prophecies?" Peter wondered, looking eager to know them. Drake and Julie nodded their heads, and Drake began to recite them from memory.
"One from a land of kings long forgotten; One from the hearth which still holds the spark; One from the Day World where two eyes are watching; One from the twilight to be one with the dark. And there are also a few prophecies about what they need to do." Julie picked up on this point.
"Four to stand between the light and the shadow. Four of blue fire, power in their blood. Born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision. Four less one and darkness triumphs," she recited, sounding so much like a witch chanting a spell that Patrick forgot for a moment that she was a human.
"Any other prophecies we need to know?" Peter asked, shifting his gaze from Drake to Julie and back again.
"There is one more. I think it goes like this: In blue fire, the final darkness is banished. In blood, the final price is paid," Clint said, screwing up his face in concentration as he recited the lines. Peter and Patrick looked at each other and sent the same message.
'They know all the prophecies! We are in trouble!'
"So what do you guys think about all this?" Melody wanted to know, looking at the two boys. It took them a moment to recover from the initial shock.
"All I can say is… Wow! You really know your stuff," Patrick finally managed to spit out. Peter nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
"Ditto." Drake and Julie were talking to each other, and occasionally Julie would look at the two boys.
"I still don't think they're ready to do this. They could be killed if they don't know what to expect," she kept saying. Drake kept shaking his head.
"They'll do fine, Julie. You have to stop worrying about everyone all the time. This is a chance for us to kill those freaks of nature, and for Patrick and Peter to get revenge for their family," he told her as Julie started to protest again. He moved away from her and stood in front of the Night World boys.
"Listen Drake, me and Peter are real eager to get those killers once and for all. Can we leave now?" Patrick wondered, eyeing the older boy. Drake nodded.
"Sure. Just do us a favor and take these small radios. They'll allow you to keep up communications with us. And good luck to both of you," he said, handing them two small walkie-talkies, and they put them in their pockets. They got on the elevator and were about to leave when Melody came up holding two stakes. Handing the weapons to them, she kissed them both on the cheek.
"Good luck, my handsome knights," she whispered, batting her lashes. Both of them completely melted at the sight of the pretty girl. Once on the surface, they ran all the way to the door. Peter walked up, and without thinking, threw it open. A second later, strong arms locked around him and pulled him inside. Peter tried to scream, but a hand clamped over his mouth and cut him off. When Patrick went to investigate, he was also grabbed. The door slammed shut on the outside world. Inside, the two boys struggled against the people holding them. Suddenly, a voice pierced the darkness"
"Wait! It's Peter and Patrick!" came a female voice. The hands dropped, and as Peter's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out four figures standing there. Patrick, who could see better, knew who they were.
"Tyrna, Matt, Luke, Amber. What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised and relieved at the same time.
"Making sure that no curious Hunters found this place," Tyrna replied, looking at the door with a worried frown.
"So how did your little interview go?" Luke wanted to know.
"Well we have one thing to say... We're in!" Peter nearly shouted.
"Hey, that's great. Go tell Angel. We'll be down as soon as Kelsey and Iris get here. Oops, never mind, here they are," Matt said as the vampire and 'shifter came up the stairs. With a whoop of excitement, he grabbed Tyrna by the arm and almost dragged her down the steps. Amber and Luke followed at a dignified, but still anxious pace. Peter and Patrick were the last ones down. The others were all in Angel's room talking. The talk immediately stopped when the group walked in.
"What did they say?" Amy asked, eyes shining brightly.
"Well we got accepted, if that's what you want to know," Peter said casually.
"I told you they'd fall for it!" Jake yelled.
"Stupid humans," Bobbi and Mike said together.
"This is great!" Alex cheered, hugging Amy.
"Yes, yes, yes! Ow!" Kat cried as she stood up and started jumping around. She quickly sat back down as a shooting pain went up her entire arm.
"Now we can kill those stupid humans!" Corinne noted.
"They'll never know what hit them," Alan added, smiling broadly.
"A fight. Just what we need around here," Lilli pointed out.
"We still need to see what happens with the plan before we celebrate," Sage said calmly. John looked at him.
"Oh lighten up, Sage!" he teased, getting into it. Bobbi and Corinne started laughing insanely, both eager to get into a fight.
"Finally, revenge for my family's name," Luke swore as his eyes clouded over. Amber squeezed his hand.
"Don't worry, Luke. We'll get the vermin who hunted your family."
"Yeah. They haven't got a prayer," Matt agreed, trying to support his friend.
"We'll kill them all. Maybe that'll teach Circle Daybreak a lesson or two." Tyrna spoke up as a hunting light came into her eyes.
"We will kill the Hunters. We will destroy Circle Daybreak. We will win the Millennium War, and then we shall rule it all!" Angel screamed as resounding cheers echoed up and down the room. They penetrated the walls until every Circle Midnight member was yelling a cheer at the intended victory over one of their greatest enemies... MAN.