CHAPTER 4: The Dark May Be Rising
A metallic click and dull thump woke Will in the middle of the night, but when he fully awoke at the sound of something like a lamp crashing downstairs, he remembered it was probably early morning. Then it hit him. There was someone in the house. He needed to go down and see who it was.
He crept quietly down one flight of stairs to the second story from his attic bedroom. Then he heard muffled voices not too far away, but on the same floor. It was coming from the bit of hallway right outside Anne's room. Growing anxious now, he crept a bit quicker and peered around the corner to where the voices were coming from.
At first, all he could make out were four human shapes in the corridor outside Anne's room. But when he adjusted to the light a little more, he saw two of the shapes were Derrick and Jack, Anne's brothers! The other two shapes Will didn't recognize, but he instantly felt a bad vibe radiating off of all four figures, but especially the two strangers. The same vibe I used to get when someone of the Dark was near... Will thought. He tried frantically to warn Anne inside of her room.
Anne! Anne! Get up, Anne!! Oh, why do you have to be a heavy sleeper?! It was no use. An Old One's telepathy could only work on the top layer of the mind when one was asleep, and since Anne was a heavy sleeper, her mind couldn't be accessed when asleep because everything she thought would be on a deeper level of her mind. Just great! The one time I need to talk to her, and I can't! I'll just see what those guys are up to and try to stop them... I can't risk anything happening to her. But, I don't think I'll try to take them head on, because they might be possessed by the Dark, and I'm way out of practice fighting against strong Dark forces.
For the next couple seconds, Will just watched, trying to make out what the foursome was trying to accomplish where they were huddled. Then, just as he was gathering strength to approach them head on, with the element of surprise on his side, one of the unidentified strangers spoke in a rushed whisper.
"Nicholas... will you hurry up? We've only got a couple more minutes before we can safely be down here... without the risk of one of the others showing up."
"I don't know what's taking me so long... I just can't seem to pick the lock! It's like there's some sort of force keeping the room secure... maybe we should come back tomorrow night for the girl." The one Will supposed was named Nicholas spoke.
"That would mean even more risk... we were supposed to have this completely done tonight! The Boss won't appreciate this... and it would be best if we could get the girl instead of just these two nitwits who have next to no influence over Stanton..." The first person spoke again. The other two figures with Nicholas and the other man who had spoken never uttered a word. This was curious to Will, who wondered why they were there if not to help the other two.
Another thump was heard from the floor above Will and the group. Everyone's head jerked up, including the silent duo, and as they lifted their faces, Will saw the distinct jaw line and chin of the Bet quintuplets.
Will had a sharp intake of breath. What? Some of Anne's brothers?
"Bryan, please. We gotta go now. That was probably one of them waking up. What if they come down here and see us?" Nicholas spoke.
"Fine. Hurry. We have to get these idiots back in their rooms. I hope you remember where their rooms are... I sure don't. Come on."
"Yeah, I remember. Make them come." Nicholas started walking the opposite way down the hallway from where Will was hiding.
"Uh... come on, idiots... why aren't they following?" Bryan asked as he started down the hallway after Nicholas.
"You have to address them by their names to command them."
"Uh, what were their names again?"
"Jack and Derrick."
Will's eyes went wide as Bryan gave the two mute humans a command.
"Jack, Derrick. Come."
All four figures disappeared around the corner. Then Will heard footsteps coming his way at his back. He turned around to see Shane rubbing his eyes and slouching toward him.
"Oh, hey, Will. I'm lost. Where's the bathroom?"
Will felt relieved that he didn't sense a dark power being emitted from Shane's aura. "Oh. Uh, well, you just passed one. Just there." He pointed behind Shane and led the way to the nearest bathroom as far away as he could from the hallway where the Dark foursome had been. He stayed in the hallway while Shane used the bathroom to make sure the group didn't come back to hurt Shane, and to mentally check everyone's location and state in the house.
When Shane entered the bathroom, Will sat against the wall near it. He put his face down in his hands and pulled his knees up. He concentrated hard. The first aura he located was Shane's, a completely Dark-free one. Then, he located Anne in her bedroom, her aura untouched, telling Will she was fine. Will heaved a sigh of relief. Okay, then was Colin in his and Shane's room upstairs, with a clean aura. But then, Will was surprised to locate both Derrick and Jack in their shared room on the same floor as he was. How could they have gotten there that fast? He thought. They were fast asleep. But, when Will felt their auras, he found them tinted with Dark. A good portion of them were possessed. It must have been those two Dark workers. Will reasoned. But wait! Where are the Dark workers?
Will couldn't locate the two Dark-marked creatures anywhere in the house. How could they have left without me sensing it? It was too much to handle all at once. Just this morning Will had thought that nothing even faintly Dark had been left on the planet. And now... Now there were at least two completely Dark fledgling roaming about, with a Boss? Possessing humans and even breaking into his own house?
Just then Shane finished up and came out of the bathroom. "You tired too?" he asked Will, when he saw him rubbing his eyes in concentration.
Will faked it. He couldn't have been more awake if he tried. He just couldn't make sense of anything. "Yeah, tired. You done? I'll show you back to your room." He stood up and walked back in the direction of Shane's room. Shane shuffled along behind him.
Once Shane was back in the safety of his room, Will searched again for the two Dark creatures, Bryan and Nicholas', auras. They were still absent from as far as Will's mind could reach, and even though it was in a rusty state from not being used for a long time, it could still reach pretty far outside the house.
Temporarily satisfied that they were gone, and wouldn't try another entry into the house until at least the next night, Will walked off to his own room on the floor below. In bed, trying to get to sleep, Will found that he still couldn't make sense of the situation. Eventually, he tired, and as he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was "What about Derrick and Jack?"
A metallic click and dull thump woke Will in the middle of the night, but when he fully awoke at the sound of something like a lamp crashing downstairs, he remembered it was probably early morning. Then it hit him. There was someone in the house. He needed to go down and see who it was.
He crept quietly down one flight of stairs to the second story from his attic bedroom. Then he heard muffled voices not too far away, but on the same floor. It was coming from the bit of hallway right outside Anne's room. Growing anxious now, he crept a bit quicker and peered around the corner to where the voices were coming from.
At first, all he could make out were four human shapes in the corridor outside Anne's room. But when he adjusted to the light a little more, he saw two of the shapes were Derrick and Jack, Anne's brothers! The other two shapes Will didn't recognize, but he instantly felt a bad vibe radiating off of all four figures, but especially the two strangers. The same vibe I used to get when someone of the Dark was near... Will thought. He tried frantically to warn Anne inside of her room.
Anne! Anne! Get up, Anne!! Oh, why do you have to be a heavy sleeper?! It was no use. An Old One's telepathy could only work on the top layer of the mind when one was asleep, and since Anne was a heavy sleeper, her mind couldn't be accessed when asleep because everything she thought would be on a deeper level of her mind. Just great! The one time I need to talk to her, and I can't! I'll just see what those guys are up to and try to stop them... I can't risk anything happening to her. But, I don't think I'll try to take them head on, because they might be possessed by the Dark, and I'm way out of practice fighting against strong Dark forces.
For the next couple seconds, Will just watched, trying to make out what the foursome was trying to accomplish where they were huddled. Then, just as he was gathering strength to approach them head on, with the element of surprise on his side, one of the unidentified strangers spoke in a rushed whisper.
"Nicholas... will you hurry up? We've only got a couple more minutes before we can safely be down here... without the risk of one of the others showing up."
"I don't know what's taking me so long... I just can't seem to pick the lock! It's like there's some sort of force keeping the room secure... maybe we should come back tomorrow night for the girl." The one Will supposed was named Nicholas spoke.
"That would mean even more risk... we were supposed to have this completely done tonight! The Boss won't appreciate this... and it would be best if we could get the girl instead of just these two nitwits who have next to no influence over Stanton..." The first person spoke again. The other two figures with Nicholas and the other man who had spoken never uttered a word. This was curious to Will, who wondered why they were there if not to help the other two.
Another thump was heard from the floor above Will and the group. Everyone's head jerked up, including the silent duo, and as they lifted their faces, Will saw the distinct jaw line and chin of the Bet quintuplets.
Will had a sharp intake of breath. What? Some of Anne's brothers?
"Bryan, please. We gotta go now. That was probably one of them waking up. What if they come down here and see us?" Nicholas spoke.
"Fine. Hurry. We have to get these idiots back in their rooms. I hope you remember where their rooms are... I sure don't. Come on."
"Yeah, I remember. Make them come." Nicholas started walking the opposite way down the hallway from where Will was hiding.
"Uh... come on, idiots... why aren't they following?" Bryan asked as he started down the hallway after Nicholas.
"You have to address them by their names to command them."
"Uh, what were their names again?"
"Jack and Derrick."
Will's eyes went wide as Bryan gave the two mute humans a command.
"Jack, Derrick. Come."
All four figures disappeared around the corner. Then Will heard footsteps coming his way at his back. He turned around to see Shane rubbing his eyes and slouching toward him.
"Oh, hey, Will. I'm lost. Where's the bathroom?"
Will felt relieved that he didn't sense a dark power being emitted from Shane's aura. "Oh. Uh, well, you just passed one. Just there." He pointed behind Shane and led the way to the nearest bathroom as far away as he could from the hallway where the Dark foursome had been. He stayed in the hallway while Shane used the bathroom to make sure the group didn't come back to hurt Shane, and to mentally check everyone's location and state in the house.
When Shane entered the bathroom, Will sat against the wall near it. He put his face down in his hands and pulled his knees up. He concentrated hard. The first aura he located was Shane's, a completely Dark-free one. Then, he located Anne in her bedroom, her aura untouched, telling Will she was fine. Will heaved a sigh of relief. Okay, then was Colin in his and Shane's room upstairs, with a clean aura. But then, Will was surprised to locate both Derrick and Jack in their shared room on the same floor as he was. How could they have gotten there that fast? He thought. They were fast asleep. But, when Will felt their auras, he found them tinted with Dark. A good portion of them were possessed. It must have been those two Dark workers. Will reasoned. But wait! Where are the Dark workers?
Will couldn't locate the two Dark-marked creatures anywhere in the house. How could they have left without me sensing it? It was too much to handle all at once. Just this morning Will had thought that nothing even faintly Dark had been left on the planet. And now... Now there were at least two completely Dark fledgling roaming about, with a Boss? Possessing humans and even breaking into his own house?
Just then Shane finished up and came out of the bathroom. "You tired too?" he asked Will, when he saw him rubbing his eyes in concentration.
Will faked it. He couldn't have been more awake if he tried. He just couldn't make sense of anything. "Yeah, tired. You done? I'll show you back to your room." He stood up and walked back in the direction of Shane's room. Shane shuffled along behind him.
Once Shane was back in the safety of his room, Will searched again for the two Dark creatures, Bryan and Nicholas', auras. They were still absent from as far as Will's mind could reach, and even though it was in a rusty state from not being used for a long time, it could still reach pretty far outside the house.
Temporarily satisfied that they were gone, and wouldn't try another entry into the house until at least the next night, Will walked off to his own room on the floor below. In bed, trying to get to sleep, Will found that he still couldn't make sense of the situation. Eventually, he tired, and as he drifted off to sleep, his last thought was "What about Derrick and Jack?"