Niamh looked around at the group and started to really fear what they were going to tell her. "Well," Séamus began, "it's kind of hard to explain but I'll do my best. Far away on a planet called Demrâch lives a race of beings who go from planet to planet taking control of and ruling it. On the last planet we heard of they took all human beings hostage and made them into worse than slaves. But they did worse things to others. Some families they kept in their dungeons, well fed and well treated to make treatment later on all the worse. Their opinion was that if you kept someone locked up, hungry and badly treated then they will hate you and long for death. However if they were kept well then their will to live is stronger and they begin to feel secure, this makes it all the worse when they eventually and inevitably come for you. They just come randomly to your dwelling and depending on what kind of mood they're in they will take a certain member of the family, maybe a younger brother, an older sister, mother or father. Then they are taken to a chamber far below the hold and they are tortured until they finally give in and die. That's why they keep people so well fed, they live longer under torture. From the evidence we've seen all over the country, they've already started the process here." A grim and shocked silence greeted the end of this gruesome tale.

Niamh for her part hadn't said a word throughout the whole thing. She was too much in shock!

"But...How...what...there are no..." she attempted to speak but there were so many different things going on in her head and she was so confused that she had to stop.

"Ok," she took a deep breath and began again, "Ok, let me get this straight! There are aliens from another planet who are taking people from their homes and treating them like slaves or royalty and torturing them until they die! And this is happening here in Ireland?" she looked desperately around as if begging them to tell her they were just playing some horrible joke on her! They only looked sadly back at her.

"Yes that's basically it." Séamus replied.

"So where do you guys come into it then? Are ye like Earth's protectors or something?" Niamh was half joking, sure she had gone mad by this point.

"Er..yea, something like that." Said Tom, the one she remembered had the red hair.

"Ok, but how come I don't know anything about them? I mean if they've been taking people you would think others would've started talking. Someone should have seen something! They're so big and...noticeable! How come someone didn't get rid of them sooner?"

"Well if you had seen something what would you say? 'Oh sorry sir, yes I do know what happened to your daughter, she was kidnapped by a huge monster from another planet!'? No I didn't think so."

Hmmm, fair point, she thought.

They kept walking and were nearly there when Niamh said something that had been rattling around her head for a while now.

"How did you guys get picked to do this? Do you have to have special powers or something or are you just out for an adventure?"

"Nah," said Oisín "It's the typical story, none of us know who our parents are, we were raised by some freak with a beard who told us of all this and as usual we were trained from a very early age to do all this. I wish it were more interesting, but the fact is that orphans are less of a risk in these situations and won't be missed by a family if they are killed. Why?" he looked at her curiously.

"Oh, er no reason. Just wondering." Niamh replied and looked around. They were coming out of the gloomy forest and entering a small village with thatched roofs on the houses and a small square in the center of the few shops, tavern and single church.

"We're nearly there. Just down this road for a bit now." Niamh said as she pointed to a small alleyway leading off behind the tavern. The group walked again until they came up to a large manor house in some dis-repair. The walls were covered with age old ivy that had over-grown so much that it covered most of the front windows, there was only one light on in the house that they could see. The front garden was full of aincient weeds and dead plants. The combination of the covered windows, one with the light attempting to shine out from it in vain, the overgrown garden and the mist clinging to it all gave the whole place a decidedly eeiry and forbidding feel.

"You live here?" said Dean, the one with the black hair uncertainly.



"I used to live here, now I just exist here to take care of my stupid drunk idiot of a father. It's terrible, I feel like I'm caring for a bloody baby! I have to do all the cooking, cleaning, shopping! Everything! Well, I suppose it's pretty obvious that I don't really clean anymore but that's only because every time I did he came home and just fecked it all up, so I just gave up. Sometimes I think that if I ran away he wouldn't even notice I had left! Oh he'd notice he wasn't being given his meals anymore, but not that I was gone. Stupid fecker!" Niamh vented, she was really not looking forward to going in there again. She turned to the lads, "So what are you guys going to do now? Are you going to go on or what?"

"Well, we don't really know. We were going to find a place to spend the night but it doesn't look like there's an inn anywhere around." Said Dean.

"You can stay here if you like!"

"Oh I don-" began Séamus.

"No I'm serious, you can stay here for the night and get some good rest. I mean it's not amazing but there is lots of room, and proper beds and I can heat bed clothes by the fire so they're nice and warm when you get in!" Niamh interrupted excitedly.

They looked around at each other and no one could deny that it sounded good!

Oisín shrugged, "Yea, sure ok we'll stay here for the night if it's not too much trouble."

"No, it's no trouble at all! Come on!"

Niamh led them up the overgrown path to the old wooden front door and stepped inside.