The air was thick with anticipation as everyone took their places, each member of the family and our allies knowing their roles down to the last detail. The Talbots, silent and vigilant, had melted into the shadows of the tree line, their forms nearly indistinguishable from the dense forest that hugged the property. Their keen eyes were locked onto the house, muscles coiled like springs, ready to explode into action at a moment's notice. Their speed could close the distance between the trees and the house in the blink of an eye if the signal was given.
The gypsies, enigmatic and powerful, held their ground closer to the house, their presence almost casual as if they were merely passing through. But this was all part of the ruse, a carefully crafted facade to lull any observers into a false sense of security. By positioning themselves at the heart of the property, they could project their abilities outward, their powers rippling like unseen waves across the land. They were the unpredictable element, the wildcards in our extended family, capable of turning the tide of battle when needed most.
My own family had spread out with meticulous precision, each person taking up a position that offered both strategic advantage and a line of sight to one another. Martin and Charles, our most powerful, had stationed themselves with Annabelle, their sole focus her protection. We all knew that Phineas was a force to be reckoned with, his strength and abilities shrouded in mystery. Even Charles, with all his experience, couldn’t fully gauge the depths of Phineas’ power. Chimeras could have varieties of power that would differ between one to the next, so there was no real way to prepare for him. This uncertainty had led us to dedicate Martin and his elder to Annabelle's defense, a decision we all hoped would be enough.
As we all settled into our positions, the tension that had initially gripped us began to ease. There was a shared understanding, an unspoken agreement that we were all here for the same purpose: to protect what was ours, to face the coming storm together. The presence of Martin and Charles, two vampires of considerable might, offered a sense of reassurance. If anyone could keep Annabelle safe, it was them.
Annabelle herself was a picture of serenity, her calm demeanor almost unsettling in the face of what was to come. From the very beginning, she had carried herself with a quiet confidence, a certainty that bordered on the eerie. While the rest of us could feel the weight of the impending doom, the palpable sense of danger that hung over us like a dark cloud, Annabelle seemed untouched by it all. There was no fear in her eyes, no anxiety in her movements. It was as if she had already accepted whatever fate awaited us, and in doing so, had found peace.
Even Bartley admitted to me to the side that his own sight was limited. He told me there were “blind spots” in his visions. It was like entire sections of existence were wiped out and he didn’t understand. He was relying on his mother’s greater power and experience.
And so, we waited, each of us poised on the edge of action, hearts pounding in our chests. The night was still, but it was a deceptive calm, the kind that came before a violent storm. We knew that when it broke, it would do so with a ferocity that none of us could predict. But in that moment, surrounded by family and allies, we found a strange comfort in our readiness, in the knowledge that whatever came next, we would face it together.
The Wicklows had done something to connect our minds. It was like we were all linked to the same comms, but we had no gear. It wasn’t like telepathy, you had to say the words, but we could all hear each other. It was bizarre but extremely useful.
We were all coiled in the tense silence, every breath held as the seconds dragged on like hours. And then, it happened. A light flared up roughly forty yards from the house, a sudden and small flash of fire that seemed almost innocuous, hovering eerily in the stillness of the night. But before any of us could react, the light erupted violently, a savage detonation that tore through the air with a deafening roar. Flames surged outward in a furious wave, engulfing everything in its path.
The shockwave slammed into me like a truck, knocking the wind from my lungs. It was like being hit by a freight train, blinding light and searing heat all at once, leaving us stunned and disoriented. I could feel the blast rattling through my bones, my senses reeling as I instinctively reached for my weapon, fingers fumbling in the confusion. But there was no time to think, no time to act. It was just raw, visceral panic as we scrambled for cover, each of us desperately trying to shield ourselves from the inferno. My thoughts panicked as I thought about my girls. Where were they, and were they okay?
Then, in the midst of the chaos, something hit me. A paralyzing force that snapped me entirely still. It wasn’t just me; it hit everyone, freezing us in place as the fire raged on sporadically around the property. The flames licked at our bodies, scorching the air around us, yet we couldn’t move, couldn’t even scream. The heat was unbearable, a living, breathing entity that pressed down on us like a suffocating blanket. It felt as though the very earth had turned against us, trapping us in a hellish nightmare from which there was no escape.
I clutched my gun tightly in my hands, unable to use it. I couldn’t move my feet from their places. I could only watch. I looked around to find my family. Frank was lying on his back, struggling to get up. Jane was right beside him, locked in a kneeling position. Eleanor and Autumn were just out of the tree line. Autumn on her hands and knees while El had her rifle up and aimed directly at the center of where the blast had originated, yet unable to do anything further. I couldn’t spot any of our other allies in the chaos.
I saw two figures standing at the epicenter of the burning property. There was a tall, strong-looking red-haired man with a wild grin. Next to him, a shorter woman with dark hair and black eyes. At first glance, the red-haired man looked to be more dangerous; however, I could feel the power coming out of the woman. This was them, Mercy and Phineas.
“Well, well, well…” she spoke as she peered towards the house.
The front door of the Wicklow’s burning house opened slowly. Annabelle stepped out calmly and walked straight across the burning grass to her attackers. We all screamed in our minds, yet unable to physically produce a noise. It was her. Mercy had us all under her power.
What the fuck? How had this happened? Annabelle said everything would go according to plan… and this was not the plan! What had she done?
“This the lass yer' worried about?” Phineas looked down on the old gypsy with a smile. He had an Irish accent that thickened his words.
“Don’t be fooled by her kind. They have their ways of getting inside your head,” Mercy warned.
“I know why you are here,” Annabelle finally spoke.
“Oh,” Mercy acted surprised. “I couldn’t tell. I assume you think it is by accident that I let loose a spell on all your followers, as soon as I stepped through the fire.”
“We knew how you’d all try’n fight,” Phineas laughed. “Even you… Charles.” Phineas spat as he looked towards the inferno of a house.
Just then, Mercy lifted her hand and waved it towards herself. Charles’ body came flying through the jagged front window and then slid through the burnt earth. Shards of glass and dirt littered his silver hair as he slid towards the witch.
“Was it you, Charles. Did you attack my coven? Kill my young Charlotte, did you?” Mercy continued to toy with them both. “Or was it you?”
Annabelle seemed untouched by the powers of this witch. She stood with the same calm and empathetic face she always had.
“You’re wrong,” Annabelle said.
What was she talking about? How could she challenge such a powerful being? She was going to get herself killed. She was going to get us all killed… and… there was nothing I could do. I was completely powerless… useless!
“Oh, am I,” the heinous witch laughed. “Please tell me… I’m dying to know.”
Annabelle closed her eyes and slowly got down on both knees. She was not afraid and took her time lowering herself in her old age. Her calm face went into one of focus and concentration. Of all the time I had known Annabelle, I had never felt this. I could feel an opposing force in the air, a shaking of power that rose to rival Mercy’s. Then, Martin appeared beside Charles. Somehow broken free of his paralysis inside the house. Now he was free and mobile.
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Mercy laughed again, “All this power for what? To break only one free!” She seemed genuinely disappointed.
“It is not my power you should fear…” Annabelle spoke with her closed eyes, still concentrating.
“I never feared you. I only came to turn you to dust,” Mercy said, raising her hands in attack.
Before she could act, a visual pulse came from within Annabelle. It was a disruption in the spell that bound us. It only let us have a second, but I took two steps forward. I could see everyone that was locked up move as well. Then I heard the sound of Eleanor’s rifle.
In the few seconds of freedom we had, she let her bullet fly. It sailed across the expanse right into Phineas’ head. El was a smart hunter, and she knew her best chance was to take out the chimera with a silver headshot. None of us knew his weaknesses, but she took a chance with our best weapon.
Blood spattered across Mercy’s face as the bullet exited Phineas’ head. It changed everything, shaking her resolve. I saw fear in the witch’s dark eyes. For a moment, I thought Eleanor succeeded, and he was dead.
Everyone locked back up, frozen with paralysis again in that moment of anticipation. Had it worked? If so, then it would be Mercy against Martin. We had a chance… finally, this was it.
Before his knee could even touch the ground, Phineas regained control of his momentum and turned directly towards Eleanor. Blood trickled out of an open wound on each side of his head. He raised his arm up and into his chest. Strange looking barbs came out of the skin of his forearm. I could see them from where I stood. Then, almost too quick to see, he flung his arm out towards Eleanor. The barbs shot across the gap and peppered the side of Eleanor’s legs, dropping her to the ground immediately. She didn’t freeze like the rest of us did. She was free of the spell like Martin, but I soon knew why.
“NO!” Martin roared. “What have you done!”
Martin charged forward and slammed his body into Phineas’ with animalistic fury. It was rage. It was everything I was feeling but couldn’t express.
My eyes locked onto my wife’s writhing body, screaming in pain as she clawed through the grass. The barbs were some kind of poison, and it was visibly traveling through her system. Blackened veins were crawling up from her leg, making it to her throat in only moments. Her skin tone changed pale, and her movements weakened. I stood still, even though every cell of my body was fighting against the evil power restricting me. I needed to get to her. The tears flowing from my eyes were the only things moving on my whole body.
Autumn was crying, merely feet away from her mother, but unable to do anything but watch. She couldn’t reach her, take care of her, or even just hold her through the pain.
Martin rolled through the fiery chaos with Phineas as they battled for control. I only saw them through my peripheral vision, but I could hear the snarls of pain and fury as they clawed each other. Then, I heard Phineas laugh.
A loud crack ripped across the battlefield, and Martin was soaring back into a kneeling Charles. After their bodies collided, Charles got up.
“Let’s see if two of you can best him,” Mercy suggested as she let her grip loosen on Charles.
Charles and Martin looked at each other for a second, agreeing internally on some kind of plan of action. Then, they morphed into beasts almost unrecognizable from the empathetic nature we had come to know. They were wild, truly unleashed. Red eyes and razor claws circled the chimera. They flung themselves in with no regard for themselves. They were out for blood. The creatures swarming Phineas in a murderous rage were only shadows of Martin and Charles. They were going to kill him no matter what it meant for themselves. They had to win, because if they didn’t… Eleanor wouldn’t stand a chance. None of us would. Not even Charles secret family. I knew that Mercy would find them… and so did he.
The next few minutes unfolded like a waking nightmare, a horrific showcase of Phineas’ unimaginable power. What had once seemed like a close battle quickly turned into a brutal and relentless demonstration of his dominance. Martin and Charles, both seasoned fighters with lifetimes of experience, were reduced to little more than rag dolls in his grasp. They were hurled across the area with bone-shattering force, their bodies battered and bloodied, drifting in and out of consciousness as they desperately tried to recover, only to be torn down again.
Phineas moved with a terrifying, serpentine grace, his every motion calculated and precise. He let out a snarling hiss, a sound so inhuman, so cold-blooded, that it sent a chill down my spine. It was the sound of a predator, something far removed from the world of men—more monster than anything else. He toyed with them, allowing Martin and Charles to briefly gain the upper hand, only to crush their hopes with a sudden, overwhelming surge of power. It was a twisted game to him, one where the outcome was never in doubt.
There was no mistaking it now… Phineas was a monster in the truest sense of the word. An unstoppable force of nature, an amalgamation of the strongest, most dangerous creatures he had consumed and assimilated into his being. He had spent lifetimes perfecting himself, evolving into the most lethal abomination imaginable, and now, we were witnessing the full extent of his power. The dread settled in like a cold, dark fog, wrapping around us as we realized that there was no escaping him, no defeating him. Phineas wasn’t just strong, he was the embodiment of death, a living nightmare that we couldn’t wake from.
How could we win? How would my family survive? The Talbots, all immobilized, would be next once Martin and Charles had no fight left. Then, Mercy would kill all the gypsies next, just to ensure her power wasn’t threatened by any other. Then my family, the hunters, we’d go last. We couldn’t stop them. This was the end, and I knew it. I could barely see my wife and daughter across the expanse through my tears. They seemed to be getting further away as the truth rose and presented itself to me. I’d never touch them, hug them, or have a moment of happiness with them again. This was it…
Mercy laughed wickedly, “You thought these two would be enough? I should fear them?” She talked down to the still focusing Annabelle.
Annabelle’s face finally eased off, and she opened her eyes. She braced her old knees as she stood back up to speak to the older witch.
“It isn’t any of us you should fear,” Annabelle finally smiled the same way she always did. It was like she was teaching a child a lesson.
Mercy didn’t know what to make of her. She looked confused. Yet, her pride came through as it had since she arrived. She was too powerful to show fear, at least in her mind.
"That's good because I don't," Mercy spat, her voice dripping with venom. Without hesitation, she raised her hands, and an inferno erupted around them, flames swirling violently in shades of deep, hellish red. The fire crackled with a sinister energy, licking hungrily at the air as if starved for destruction. Mercy's eyes burned with a cold, unforgiving fury as she prepared to unleash the full brunt of her wrath upon Annabelle. The fire roared, growing hotter and more intense by the second, a brutal, merciless force poised to consume everything in its path. Annabelle's end was imminent, and Mercy was about to obliterate her without a second thought.
Annabelle simply said, “It’s him…” and pointed toward the shadows that crept from the woods near an unburning part of the land by the trees.
Through the mental link forged by the Wicklows, we all heard it. The chilling echo of Annabelle’s words reverberating through our minds… and in that instant, a wave of dread washed over us. My eyes snapped to the darkened edge of the woods to my left, where something stirred in the shadows. A figure emerged, moving with a steady, relentless pace, each step bringing it closer to us. The silhouette was tall and powerfully built, a looming presence that seemed to swallow the very light around it. His stride was purposeful, unwavering, and he was coming… straight for Mercy and Annabelle, and by extension, all of us.
As the figure drew nearer, the details became clearer, and a sense of doom swallowed the area. A dark hood shrouded his head and face, concealing his features in an impenetrable shadow, yet it was impossible to not feel the malevolent energy that radiated from him. There was an oppressive weight in the air, a suffocating sense of wrongness that seemed to cling to him like a second skin. It felt like the world was trying to reject his presence. This was no ordinary threat; this was something far more sinister. The closer he came, the more palpable the danger became, and it gnawed at our nerves with a dreadful certainty. He wasn’t just approaching; he was bringing with him a darkness that threatened to consume us all. I looked away and back to my wife and daughter. I failed them…
“He’s the one… the one you all have been searching for so intently. He killed all those in your coven. And now, I’m afraid… he’s here,” Annabelle said, with a slight unsettlement in her tone.
Mercy’s full attention turned toward the figure, as did everyone else’s.
“Do you feel that, Mercy?” Annabelle asked, almost trying to teach her something. “Nothing… absolutely nothing. I can’t feel or see anything about him, and neither can you.”
Suddenly I fell forward into the dirt. The power that kept us all frozen solid was gone. Mercy’s spell was dissolved. Her attention had shifted to the figure, and she wanted her full power against him. She was scared.
I got up, ignoring the doom I felt all around us and ran toward Autumn. She was sitting up against a tree, holding her mother close as soon as she was free. She tried to calm El as she struggled in pain.
“Mom… it’s going to be okay. Annabelle will know what to do,” she pleaded.
“El!” I yelled as soon as I slid through the charred grass and dirt to my wife and daughter. “El, we have to go.” I picked her up and ordered Autumn to follow. She could still stand with our help, and she limped towards our vehicles as we carried her.
I heard Annabelle still talking through the mental link.
“That’s why you never saw him coming,” Annabelle smiled.
Phineas threw Charles into the dirt and shifted his attention to the dark figure that came from the shadows. He could sense something that made him change targets. He violently bounded toward him, like a tiger in the last few steps before the kill.
The hooded figure never faltered, and actually started to run towards the danger. He was charging straight into the immensely powerful chimera. Just before the two collided, his hood came off, and his solid black eyes reflected the flames that engulfed the battlefield. His shifting face opened my eyes… It was Sam. This presence… this dread… it was him.