Chương 34: The Gathering Storm

I was sprawled in my smart recliner, half-watching Shelly as she tidied up the cabin, when the first thread pulled tight. FEAR. It wasn't mine. It was from someone else, bleeding through the totem connection like smoke under a door. It was from Pierre. Earlier, I'd felt the connection for the first time. It had been an odd feeling. I could sense Pierre making a sacrifice to get my attention. After that, he followed it with an offering. I'd been amazed. There'd even been a notification about the totem link.

I hadn't known what that meant until Pierre prayed to me. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. Apparently, the totem link could be opened with sacrifices and then followed with an offering. Prayer was also apparently necessary. Whatever the case, I'd gained my first follower. I was a little surprised by this. Then again, I guess I shouldn't have been. Tala was my 'companion' and Shelly was more like a house guest. As for the others, they were more like allies. It was weird that someone I viewed as…

anyway, it was strange. I would never have imagined my joke had turned into Pierre becoming my first follower. However, Pierre was a friend and needed my help, so I was more than willing to assist. Especially since he was willing to make a fool of himself. I couldn't resist laughing a little at the memory, causing my whiskers to twitch. Still, the feeling I was getting from him wasn't comforting. My follower was in danger. Life threatening danger.

Although I wanted to do something, anything, I couldn't think of what I could possibly do. I couldn't see what he was doing. I just felt a connection to him. He wasn't even thinking of me, at least until that fear suddenly faded into the background as relief surged forward. That was when I realized he was thinking about coming to see me. While I waited, I watched videos on YouTube but wasn't really concentrating on what I was seeing. Instead, I was thinking about the totem connection and what it meant.

Anyway, there was nothing new on the videos. I absently noted reports of animals that were seemingly intentionally stepping in front of cars. There were even stories of animals coming up to the dead body of the animal after it was killed and bringing it back to life. There were also a few about missing hikers in the Ozark area. While this normally would have been something that would fascinate me, I was more worried about what had happened and how I could help the others using the totem link.

Finally, I heard something. I sat up, ears swiveling toward the window. Shelly noticed immediately.

"Abe? What's wrong?"

"Pierre," I said, unable to explain how I knew.

"Something happened. He's…" Headlights swept across the cabin wall. It wasn't Pierre's truck. Nor was it Luke's truck. A moment later, tires crunched on gravel and doors slammed. There were multiple voices, Pierre's, Luke's, and... Claire? Then the door burst open. They didn't even knock, which annoyed me a lot more than I was willing to admit. A man's home is his castle, I thought. This is my domain. How dare they storm in here? Still, I said nothing since I knew something had happened.

Now, if it happens again, I let that thought trail off. Pierre stumbled in first, still wearing those ridiculous Team Edward clothes. They were torn now, muddy, splattered with something dark, probably mud. His face was pale and he actually looked scared, something I had never imagined seeing. Luke followed, looking like he'd aged ten years. His hands were shaking. And Claire, who was always so composed, so professional, looked like she'd seen the end of the world.

Sweet merciful acorns, Tala sent a thought to me from her perch. What happened to them? Shelly was the one who actually asked out loud, "What happened?" She was clearly upset at seeing how her friends were acting. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Pierre opened his mouth. Then he closed it. Then he opened it again. No words came out at all though.

"Sit," Shelly commanded, already moving toward the kitchen.

"I'll make tea. Or something stronger."

"Stronger," Luke said immediately.

"Definitely stronger." They collapsed onto my couch, well, Luke and Claire did. Pierre just stood there, staring at nothing. I wondered if he could sit down with how tight the pants were. I could barely take my eyes off of him. He was like a 5-car pile-up. I could also feel something through the totem link. The echo of whatever he'd experienced. Part of me was feeling a little guilty that he had to go through whatever he went through in clothes I knew he wouldn't want to be caught dead in.

"Pierre," I said quietly.

"What happened?" He finally looked at me. Really looked at me.

"We found them," he said, voice rough.

"The things that scared Dave. The things that took Frank."

"Took?' Tala asked.

"Not killed?"

"I don't know," Luke said, accepting a bottle of whiskey from Shelly with a grateful nod.

"We didn't find a body. Just... just blood. And drag marks." Claire made a small noise. Not quite a whimper but probably caused by whatever she had seen. Shelly motioned for everyone to sit, which they did. Then she said "Start from the beginning. What did you find?" Pierre finally moved, sinking onto the couch next to Luke. I was impressed no one said anything about his clothes. I guess the atmosphere was a little too oppressive for levity and distractions, though.

"We followed Frank's trail," Pierre began.

"Luke and I. He'd gone looking for whatever traumatized Dave, and when he didn't come back…"

"Someone had to check," Luke finished.

"We volunteered." I gave him a look but didn't voice my doubts. More than likely, Pierre volunteered and Luke felt obligated to back him up. I'm surprised Pearl let him do it, I thought.

"Idiots," Tala muttered, but there was no heat in it, just concern. That, alone, was unnerving. Tala was a fearless fighter, despite her small size. While she might be small, she did have divine blood, which made her much more powerful than regular animals.

"We found his clothes first, where he took them off to change shape," Pierre continued, voice flat, completely unaware of my thoughts. He spoke like he was filing a report instead of reliving trauma.

"A few miles away from where we found his clothes, we encountered the Wild People in a clearing."

"The who?" I asked. First Moon-Eyed People, the Moonbound People, and now the Wild People. God, who's naming these people? Fricking moron, I thought. Shelly actually looked like she knew the answer, which she quickly proved true.

"They're a lot like the in-bred, redneck, evil cousins of the Moon-Eyed People. Think of them as evil dwarves or bearded goblins." I nodded, thankful for the clear and concise visual she gave me. Still, my stomach dropped. Just what we need, an evil supernatural race, as if vampires and werewolves weren't scary enough for the humans. Now there's an actual supernatural threat.

"And then?" Shelly prompted gently. Damn, she's good at this. Maybe I should get her to be one of my priests, I thought. Luke took a long drink straight from the bottle.

"Goddess. The blood. There was so much blood. There had to be multiple victims. They were most likely attacked there with their bodies removed, or eaten. Recently too, within the last forty-eight hours based on color and coagulation." Luke's medical training was showing, I realized. He was cataloguing details to keep from thinking about what they meant.

"There was a symbol," Luke continued.

"It was carved into an oak in the center of the clearing. It glowed green, but not like Abe's blessing. This was... sick. Wrong. Looking at it made my eyes hurt."

"Can you draw it?" Shelly asked, already pulling out paper.

"I don't want to," Luke said honestly.

"But yeah. I can." His hand shook as he sketched.

"I don't know what it is, "Shelly said after looking at it for a few seconds. She clearly looked offended that she had no clue about the symbol. Tala looked at it too but shrugged and said nothing. Obviously, it wasn't well known since she would probably know if anyone did.

"What about the goblins?" Shelly asked, obviously hoping to find something that she could sink her teeth into. At least she knew about them.

"They came out of the shadows," Pierre said.

"At first I thought they were Moon-Eyed People. Short. They were tiny, bearded people. But then I got a better look."

"Wild People," Luke said, and even saying the name made him flinch.

"They're basically cannibal dwarves. I thought they were extinct, or legends."

"Wild People?" I asked, looking at Shelly and Tala. They'd already mentioned them, but I still needed more information. Especially if they were going to ask my opinion. So far, all the supernatural creatures I'd encountered had been friendly. Hell, the Moon-Eyed People treated me like royalty. This was the first race that truly seemed… threatening. And if that wasn't enough, they were summoning, or awakening, allies. The thing was, why were they doing that? What were they planning? Was this only the beginning?

Sighing, I shook my head and wondered how this would affect normal people? Were these the first monsters people would face? Fudge me, I thought, wondering just how many of them there were and how powerful they were. I leaned forward, absently popping popcorn into my mouth while I listened to Shelly as she explained more about these monsters. They just might be the first monster invasion signifying the end of the world.