-Plan C-
"The covenant formed by the Sons of Ipswich from long ago was rumored to have created a life force that would allow any heirs of the five families to return to life after death unless they are killed in a certain fashion which remains unknown."
-Excerpt from the Chronicles of Ipswich 1136
Sunday 2:32 p.m. (Yesterday) Haversfield
"He isn't answering his phone. What if something's wrong?"
"You need to chill, Selene. That guy brings trouble on himself. Otherwise, he's fine. Chill."
"Jason, I don't know... Is it too clingy to worry as much as I do?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
Selene threw herself on her bed, resting on her stomach and tossing her cell phone toward the pillow. She came home because Chase wanted her to be where she belonged and safe. He didn't know what she did though. How many times she had done it.
Under her parents' roof was rough. They asked her every day to please stop seeing Chase and put him in the past. She couldn't forget him like he never existed. Her mother was especially mad she failed what she was told to do. Staying here protected Chase though. She had to hold onto that and be happier. Hard to be happy when a friend was gone.
"How selfish am I? Trish is dead and I'm only thinking about Chase."
Jason leaned back in the chair for her desk near the window. "I wonder whose fault it is she got killed."
She frowned, confused. "A pack of wild dogs attacked her."
"That's what the newspaper said. What did Chase say?"
He didn't seem very sad or upset Trisha was dead. They were friends too. It was probably a guy thing, hiding how he felt. Chase did it sometimes. He was more open with her than others, but that macho crap was there. Violence before reason if someone was being a bully or whatever. It was annoying.
Her friend adjusted his t-shirt and brushed a strand of curly blond hair out of his eyes. "You look beautiful today, you know."
Selene sat upright when her mom knocked on the door and pushed it open. "Do you have something for us?"
"No," she replied immediate. "You don't want me to see him so why should I know where he is now?"
"Selene. Sweetie."
"Go away!"
"It's okay, Mrs. Rogers. I'll take care of it."
Her mom smiled. "You're a blessing to this family, Jason. Thank you."
"Take care of what? Me? I don't need you to take care of me, Jason!"
"It's a shame he grew up in that home," her mom murmured, leaving. "You should date someone like Jason Mathers."
Selene got on her feet and pushed the door shut. "It's none of your business, Mom!"
Her dad tried to forbid her from dating Chase since they met in school. It was ridiculous. Her parents always went on long tirades of how they wanted her to be normal. She loved her parents so much and did as they asked when they demanded supervision over Chase's location all the time. Her cousin mattered to her and it broke her heart what happened. Dead by supernatural means. Dead by Chase Collins found in his car in the woods. He was spying on him for her parents. Getting stalked in the woods was creepy and she wouldn't have killed him, but it could have been self-defense or...
He had to kill him so no one knew where he was. Her parents hid where he was from her too. Then sent her to report on his whereabouts, knowing he wouldn't kill her. That's what they believed. Trisha let her know where he was and she went because she wanted to see Chase. Letting her parents believe she was doing what they wanted while she got to do what she wanted worked. For a time. It was all so confusing.
"What about Christian? You're gonna let him get away with murder because you like the guy?"
Reading her mind? More probably reading the situation and her overbearing parents.
"I love Chase. And no, not okay with it because I love him. I'm okay with it because I know him. He wouldn't have done it unless he thought he had to do it."
"You're okay with a guy killing someone? Hm." He stood. "I've got something to do tonight. For now, do you want to go downstairs and watch a movie, eat some popcorn?"
She smiled and shrugged. "Why not?"
Chase joined the covenant for her. It was meant to protect him. It would, yeah? This magic being real and in select bloodlines was hard to swallow. She could worry about all of that later. She did what she could pushing Chase toward people like him, who could understand and know him. It should be enough. Selene reckoned she could get her happily ever after with him later.
/
Monday 1:14 a.m. (Today) Gordon residence
They pulled up and Chase burst out of the car. Tyler caught sight of Reid's hand moving from over the steering wheel and Chase appeared to trip, hitting the grassy ground hard. Reid shut off the engine of the rental.
Caleb got out of his own car after parking next to them, looking apologetic toward the guy on the ground. He looked to Pogue driving up on his repaired motorcycle. Getting the hint on what his friend's aim was, Tyler left the passenger seat and used a little power to push Chase back to the grass when he was lifting himself to stand again.
"Don't use your power so casually!"
He made a face. "I'm not enjoying it. That has to count for something."
Reid got out of the car and shut the door. "I am. Probably should be more conscientious of that so I don't get addicted."
Tyler and Chase looked at the other guy, no doubt both pondering the level of concern they should have about his use. He put him out of his thoughts and paid attention to his original purpose here.
"Chase. We just want you to slow down. If you freak out, you'll be tempted to use out of emotion and that's a recipe for addictive trouble."
His advice had the opposite effect, panic rising on his face. "Do you think something's-?"
"Guys!"
All of them standing now, Caleb was nearest to the front door of the house and Pogue was coming over. The door was wide open, blood smeared on the white paint. Tyler chased after Caleb when he started running for the side of the house. He wished he hadn't followed. Bodies of little girls.
Caleb was quicker on his toes and spun around, running back and into Chase.
"What? What is there?"
"Check the house. Hurry."
It worked and Chase ran for the open door. Pogue was standing there and they went inside together. Tyler turned away from the bodies and joined Caleb and Reid. None of them said anything. This was worst-case scenario.
"This has to be Austin," Caleb finally said. "Going directly at Chase didn't work so he used Trisha and now the Gordons."
The car headlights illuminated the three of them and Tyler peered toward the lights, uncertain what to say. Caleb's eyes blackened and returned to normal in a few seconds. Pogue telling him what they found, he guessed. He didn't share it with them because they knew what was in there. More bodies. Chase...
His eyes blackened again and this time he repeated whatever Pogue was passing on to him. "Scratches on the walls and floor. Wolves."
Tyler backed up and pointed to the trees. "Guys!"
Two wolves emerged from the woods, a black wolf and a brown wolf. Strolling out of the trees seconds behind them was a man. Austin. He was in no rush crossing the yard, passing through a section of the fence that had been smashed through some prior time. Tyler thought on how strong this guy's power was. Three people he forced to will their power to him and there were three to fight him. He sought guidance.
"What do we do?"
Caleb spread out from them and he and Reid copied the move. They faced the approaching enemies head on. This was a fight a long time coming and it would be in their best interest to finish it. Tyler exhaled his nerves. He could kill someone. He could. If they didn't end it here, these people would keep coming. Their secret covenant wasn't so secret to them.
"Avoid a scratch or bite," Reid said, and Tyler could feel the power building in his friend.
He could tell the other two were trying to be steady and angry in place of the fear and grief threatening. At least, it was how he was feeling. He wanted to be furious so he didn't fall apart and cry. A whole family dead for no good reason.
"Wish we had silver," he remarked.
"Granddad, ah, did start having me carry this .38 around."
He and Caleb gawked at the revolver Reid pulled out of his coat pocket, the latter uttering, "You're carrying a gun?!"
"Around the time Pogue's grandfather started talking about killing Chase to end his bloodline. Granddad is the only one of his generation who thinks accepting the fifth bloodline after all this time is a good thing."
"What does that have to do with-?"
Reid interrupted Tyler. "A gun loaded with six silver bullets? They know about Austin. He wasn't the first-born son but he figured out how to get power anyway. The idea the fifth bloodline survived was always out there as an idea. But it's like incubi, love spells, and werewolves. Rumors and myths can be true."
Caleb shook his head, definitely angry about more now. "They never told us the fifth Son could actually be out there. Such bullshit."
"Well, Chase was adopted. Maybe they didn't know somehow."
They looked at Tyler like they were thinking about what he said. Austin interrupted their thoughts.
"Sons of Ipswich! Hello there! Come to die? Where's the wayward Son of ours?"
He eyed the wolves growling and preparing to attack on either side of the man. Austin was pissed. He spoke nicely but he was close to the boiling point. It was clear in his tight expression.
"Good thing it's such a cloudy night tonight."
They weren't looking to converse with this monster. Too bad he liked to talk.
"Stupid boy! You refused to give me the covenant to save yourself, refused to kill them when I gave you the gift of-"
"Oh shut the hell up!"
Tyler quit craning his neck and wheeled around to see Chase standing on the roof of the house, having climbed out a second story window. He'd switched on the light of what might have been a bedroom and it was the sole source of light to be seen up there. He couldn't see his eyes but he assumed they were blacker than the dark night right now.
"You think being a werewolf is awesome? It sucks! Real power is what we've got and you know it! That's why you're after it. You were jealous of my piece of shit father and you're jealous of me!"
Austin rose into the air, arms spreading out and energy rippled surrounding his body. "You impressed me with a cure, by the way, but I've had enough of playing with you children. Come get me, boy!"
"Die!"
"Chase!" There was no chance he heard Tyler's shout. "Caleb, he's goading him into using. If he uses too much more, I don't know if we can reign in that addiction. The more you use..."
Their thrown energy crashed in the air above. The wolves charged for the three of them and Pogue exited the house, augmenting his speed to run faster than humanly possible. He smacked into the black wolf and took him down like it was personal. It was, Tyler supposed. Nobody hurt one of them and got away with it.
Reid looked over the gun and he realized it was to figure out how to use it. "Point and shoot."
"It's a little more complex than that."
"It's not that complex," Caleb muttered and raised the volume of his voice. "I'm fighting Austin with Chase. Keep the wolves off us."
Tyler watched him go, speaking to Reid. "Don't waste bullets."
"Make every shot count, blah, blah."
"You're such a dick."
Caleb flew into the air and Tyler turned away from the violent clashing. He sent a wave of energy, alarmed he nearly let the brown wolf reach him. The wolf rebounded and made a second attempt. Pogue threw multiple balls of energy at the wolf to help him out.
A gunshot went off and Reid swore, switching to his magic to keep the creature off him. He shut his eyes. So much for not missing. Tyler hit the ground to avoid his own wolf problem and was terrified to see the black werewolf bite into Reid's arm. Wait. The guy was shrugging out of his jacket and giving up his hoodie with it.
"You bit?"
It took him a couple seconds of dragging away from the monster and tossing a ball of power, but he answered. "No! Move!"
Pogue was gone, fighting Austin, who was holding his own against all three of them while airborne. Great. Tyler struggled to his feet and formed a shield just in time for the wolf to collide with it and him. He stayed standing and decided it was better to drop, so he dropped, and the wolf jumped over. It needed to come back around and Reid appeared, hoisting him to his feet.
Where was the black wolf?
"Point." He trained the weapon on the brown wolf bounding toward them. "Shoot."
The brown werewolf dipped right and Reid shot it somewhere on its furry front. Someone screaming in fury and grief. Chase. He spiraled downward to the ground and Tyler put out his hands, making it so he floated to the grass. Chase stood and the black wolf lunged from the direction of their vehicles. Reid fired at the creature and missed when it changed into a naked man. Still flying for his original target, he slammed into Chase and brought them to the ground.
A glance informed the brown wolf was staying down. Running toward the other wolf with Reid behind him, he saw Chase struggling. The necklace was forced over his head to hang around his neck and he was writhing in obvious agony. Stunned into stopping short of them, Reid stopped with him, wondering.
"What?" He saw the necklace and surprise filtered in. "What? That was in the lead box in the-"
They looked backward to Caleb's car where they'd put the necklace in a lead box he had stored in the trunk. For emergencies, Caleb said. Guy probably put it there the second he learned there was a symbol which could negate their magic. The trunk was open, metal warped. That's where the black wolf went.
His name was Carter? Carter. Carter didn't have magic. This was his only recourse against one of them outside of the werewolf form. He was kind of clever. Except he and Reid had magic so what was his plan? They could hit him from here.
"Hey! Don't think about it, pretty boy!"
Tyler balked at what he was called. Reid held out an arm to indicate attacking was a bad idea. Why? Oh. Carter's arm was locked around Chase's throat and his hand grasped his forehead.
"He'll snap his neck." Reid reevaluated. "I can hit him before he does it."
"You bet his life on that?"
Reid reevaluated again. The man's weight was obviously heavy on the guy flattened beneath him straining to bear the pain as his power faded. Tyler's gaze darted to Caleb and Pogue fighting on the ground now, not having a successful go against Austin. If they saw Chase in danger, it might end the fight with their loss. Not gonna happen.
Carter's snarling words brought his attention back to them.
"Will your uncle the power of the covenant or they'll cast you out." Chase tried to get his arms free from beneath him and the hold on his neck and head tightened. "You'll never be able to stop using too much. It's inevitable they rid themselves of a problem. Or..expel them all now. Protect yourself."
"Get-off-me," he groaned, looking close to passing out.
Chase had a harder time with the symbol's drain than the rest of them. It was worrying. Carter's mouth was on his forehead, moving down his cheek to his chin. Was he threatening to eat him when he turned or something?
"I'll bet his life on it." He glanced at Reid's darkened expression, his brother handing him the gun. "I'll blast them apart and you shoot the dog."
Frowning, he returned to looking at their brother threatened and stiffened. Carter was..kissing a mostly unconscious Chase. He narrowed his eyes and raised the weapon, outraged.
Reid blasted sudden, twice in quick succession. It tossed them in the same direction and attached, his hold on his victim firm. Although it knocked them about enough to loosen his grasp. Tyler braved the pain of the symbol and walked up, aiming the revolver. Couldn't miss from a foot away.
"Chase."
Chase groggily lifted his head and fell flat, covering his ears. He fired and the bullet to the shoulder caused him to scream and roll away from the other. He shifted to wolf form and fled. A howl on their left and Tyler watched a brown wolf flee too. Pogue was on the ground but Caleb had to land, which he did a little shaky.
"Is that-?"
Reid grabbed the gun back from him. "Silver bullets courtesy of Granddad. I hit the two sidekicks. It should kill them, right?"
"If it's a fatal shot, yeah. They may be able to dig the bullet out." Caleb's focus diverted. "One of them is dead."
Tyler looked. The brown wolf was a man again. Reid scoffed and jogged over to check he was dead dead, which he announced seconds later. Pogue knelt and removed the necklace, throwing it to Caleb. He wasted no time going to the car to return it to the lead box. Hopefully it was still intact.
"Is Carter dead?"
Pogue helped him to his own knees, hand on his shoulder. "He might be."
"You okay?" Tyler asked Chase.
He wiped at the back of his mouth, spitting into the grass. "Piece of pie."
Clapping drew their eyes to the treeline. The smoking man lowered his hands and took out his cell phone, placing it to his ear. He spoke low and inaudible, hanging up. Caleb was closest to him and appeared to the guy's left, upset.
"Who's with you? Why did you do all this?"
"Is Chase here? Is he safe?"
Tyler was surprised how quickly Chase seemed to recover. He staggered to his feet and waved off Pogue protesting. A woman his mom's age passed by the man in the suit. She spotted Chase and looked over her shoulder.
"Bring the kids!"
/
He promised himself he wouldn't cry but he was crying. Jill and Kiri raced into his arms and he was blinded by all the damn fluid in his eyes. He picked them up and hoisted them on either hip. It was difficult and he pretended it wasn't to hug them close.
"Whoa!" Chase lowered them to the ground and looked for why Tyler was shocked. "The house, it's..."
It was normal. The open door was clean of blood. Bodies lying on the grass of these girls vanished. That was a powerful glamour spell. Who could be capable of such powerful magic? It convinced everyone, Austin and them too. Glamour required concentration and they'd been fighting and dying so it couldn't be those enemies doing it.
The man in the suit was without a cigarette. That was different. He nodded in their direction and turned to leave.
Caleb stood next to Chase, speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Gordon. "They are bad people who don't understand us at all. We're sorry you were involved."
Mr. Gordon nodded. He was still frightened, it was in his eyes, but he was tough. His gaze shifted to him.
"Are you okay, Chase?"
"I think so."
He opened and shut his mouth a few times, beginning in a solemn tone, "It would be best if you..."
"Yeah." Chase wiped his eyes. "Yeah. I'm sorry, Frank. I'll say goodbye."
Lowering to look at their cute faces so happy to see him, he patted their cheeks. "I'm leaving. I'll be really busy. We won't be able to see each other anymore."
"What? Whhhhyyy?"
He forced a smile to Kiri. "I had a lot of fun playing with you. With school and my family, it's just, I can't come visit."
"Does someone want to hurt you?"
Chase crouched and bopped her on the nose. She wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "I'm not a baby."
"Nope. You're a big girl who will look after your sister, won't you?"
She grew serious again. "Yes. I will."
"Excellent. Goodbye, Jill. I'm glad I met you." He shook her hand to treat her mature as she preferred.
Caving, she hugged him tight and Kiri mimicked her. He hugged them, rubbing the backs of their heads. "Goodbye, girls."
"Bye."
"I'll miss you."
Their mother and father picked each of them up, carrying them to the house. He searched for the smoking man, wanting answers. He was headed for the driveway leading to the house. His limousine was arriving.
The driver got out of the car, removing his sunglasses and trading places with the man in the suit. He rested a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to speak. Passing him something from his inner pocket, the driver strode to stand in the headlights, peering to the gathered people.
"I've needed one of these cancer sticks for months. Quitting is a challenge I have yet to defeat." He used the lighter in hand to light the cigarette, inhaling with relish. "We should talk when you've had a night's rest."
He sat in the back of the limo which backed out of the drive and left. Chase stared. The smoking man was..the driver? Did he mess up his mother's warning?
Caleb hooked an arm around his shoulders and tugged him close. "The Gordons are safe and Austin's run away for another day. Let's get some sleep."
"Yeah. Okay."
Caleb drove him to his motel. He offered his house and Chase declined, admitting he'd rather be alone. It was the first opportunity to really mourn Trisha and recuperate from what those cops and Carter did. Between the torture and werewolf thing, he was struggling just a bit to see the brighter side of life.
He showered and changed into clean clothes. A t-shirt and boxers for a good night's sleep. Flopping onto the bed, he stared at the ceiling pondering how difficult it would be to fall asleep. No more seeing the Gordons, a thing he always knew was temporary, yet it still sucked. He didn't even get time to wrap his head around the fact Trish put a love spell on him which lasted weeks before she died. Selene was at least safe at home and far away from him.
Sighing, he reached for the lamp and heard a noise. Freezing in place, he lowered his arm to listen. Someone staying next door? No... It almost sounded close enough to be in the room. A mouse?
He shut off the lamp and laid back down. Caleb was right and he should have gone to his home for tonight. He'd feel better and that was a strange thought. The Sons were rubbing off on him. Instead of alone, he would prefer their company.
A noise jarred him from his thoughts. It was definitely inside the room. The room was lit only by the lights for the parking lot outside the window and a shadow climbed onto the bed, mattress dipping. Chase sat up and a body straddled him, hand on his mouth pushing him to the pillow.
"Hi, Chase."
He glared at the intruder in disbelief. "Jason?!"
Sharp pain in his stomach and he choked on a scream. Jason was gripping the handle of a knife he plunged into his side. The guy's left hand remained on his mouth for when a proper scream emerged. His attacker waited him out and smiled, all crazy in those eyes.
"Did you calculate this?"