Chapter 116
Charlie POV
There was a change in the air, something was happening, and there appeared to be some sort of storm brewing, I could see faint flashes of lightning through the kitchen window. Dermot and Siobhan had been acting strange, they had made an excuse to leave me alone in their kitchen, and I hadn’t seen them since.
“Charlie? Are you there? Are you safe?” I heard Daniel's scared voice in my head, it confused me.
“I’m here, I’m safe. I’m in Dermot and Siobhan’s house. Why wouldn’t I be safe?” I asked.
“The vampires are attacking. I’m coming for you, just stay inside, stay with Dermot, and I will come get you. Do not leave.” Daniel demanded.
“If the vampires are attacking us, I need to be with you!” I argued, I got up from the table and moved to the front of the house.
“Charlie, it's too late... Hyacinth's protections have failed, they attacked it head-on, I saw it. If you leave the protection of the house, you’ll be killed, please? I’m begging you, don’t leave that house!” He begged, and I felt my chest constrict painfully.
“But my powers can help?” I feebly sobbed, I was terrified I had kissed him for the last time, seen his face for the last time.
“Baby, if you come anywhere near the cottage, you’ll get me killed. I will be too worried and distracted by you. Just stay where you are, and I promise I will come get you.” He said with such forceful determination I couldn’t help but smile despite my tears.
“I love you,” I whispered, while silently praying, although to whom I’m not sure, it wouldn't be my last words to him.
“I love you so much, baby.” He breathed, and a memory of him brushing my hair off my cheek came to my mind. A low rumble, almost like an earthquake brought me back to the moment, I stumbled to the window to look out at the street. I saw several of the town’s people, peeking out of windows, I could even see two witches crouched behind bushes in the front yards. A flash of light caught my attention, and I realised there were several quite large crystals strategically placed throughout the gardens. I remained hidden behind the curtain, but from my vantage point, I could see part of both the street I was on and the next one over, thanks to a playground across the road. I watched frozen in horror as a wave of monsters fought over each other to get to the front of the tsunami barrelling through the next street over. Some of the creatures peeled off from the horde, climbing over fences and walls like spiders with their elongated limbs.
“Daniel, they’re here,” I whispered, I was unsure if the connection was still open, my mind was overwhelmed by what I was looking at. It was then I realised it wasn’t just the oddly proportioned limbs that reminded me of spiders, but they were all incredibly skinny, gaunt even. Their mouths looked too big for their faces with the rows and rows of shark-like teeth, but it was even more pronounced due to their hollow cheeks. “And they look like they're starving.”
“Stay inside, the protections should hold. I’ll be there soon.” I heard Daniel’s voice before he cut the link and I saw the two witches who had been hiding suddenly run into the middle of the playground, two more witches I hadn’t been able to see joined them. All four women looked remarkably similar, their hair was a few shades darker than Hyacinth's but was very vibrant, they all had the same bright blue eyes, and spattering of freckles on their cheeks. They formed a circle, then turned their backs on each other, held hands and looked to be saying something under their breath. The movement had not gone unnoticed by the remaining vampires, who were crawling their way back towards the witches with incredible speed. The witches suddenly let go of each other's hands and began moving them in front of their chests in strange shapes, almost like they were writing on a large canvas. The one closest to me looked up as a vampire lunged towards one of her group. Her eyes were glowing with a soft green colour, and a static, the same colour green as her eyes appeared like a dome around the women. The static threw the creature off, it sent it bouncing down the road, snarling, and growling, before it turned, its claws dug into the tarmac, and charged back towards the women. The woman to the right of the witch closest to me made a symbol or something with her hand and the static started growing. I watched the vampire claw and slash at the static, feral in its attempts to get inside, like a mindless animal. The four women each took three steps forward away from each other, closer to the edge of the dome, one of the women was only a foot or two away from what looked like a ravenous beast, but she didn’t react, instead, she made some movement with her arms I couldn’t see, as her back was to me, and the dome grew again until its border hit the crystals in the street. The static became lightning, violently flashing around the women like a cage. I watched as the last woman drew her symbols, and all four women touched the crystal closest to them. The cage sprang up and outward, going well past what I could see from where I was, but I could still hear the snarling from the creatures as the cage pushed them back. The four women, whose eyes had returned to normal, embraced each other warmly, as people warily started coming out of their houses.
“Is it safe?” I heard someone call.
“For now!” the witch closest to me yelled back, which encouraged more people to come out of their houses and enquire as to what was happening. Dermot and Siobhan came running down the stairs, both with terrified looks on their faces, Dermot paused when he saw me, but his wife had tunnel vision as she ran out of the house.
“What were you thinking? Taking on vampires like that! What about your children?” She shrieked at the women before she pulled them into a tight hug and started sobbing. Dermot looked at me apologetically and ran to join his wife.
“You should have told me, or Hyacinth should have told me, someone should’ve told me!” He cried as he and Siobhan hugged and kissed the women.
“No one could know Dad; it was a failsafe.” The witch that had been closest to me replied with a sad smile, and I realised they were their daughters.
“How long?” Dermot asked with a frown.
“We volunteered when Niamh got her powers and we realised we could combine our gifts long enough to cast a spell, without risking taking from our essence, and the result was almost as strong as Hyacinth. But it wasn’t until about ten years ago when Hyacinth was convinced it was safe for us to do, that we put the pairing crystals in strategic places around the town. And we were told that if we were under attack, and Hyacinth’s barrier fails, to get here and perform the spell.” One of the other women in the group said, over her mother's sighs and huffs of indignation.
“You still should have told us; we could have helped,” Dermot said, but with concern, not disappointment. I watched, a little envious, from the doorway as the couple each fussed over their daughters. “Oh, Charlie, I would like to introduce you to our daughters, Meabh, our oldest,” Dermot said, indicating with his hand to the woman who had been talking for the group. “Eithne is next.” He pointed to the second woman who made the hand gestures. “Then it’s Cadhla, and the youngest of the group, Niamh.” He said, moving behind the other two women, he clasped a hand on each as he introduced them to me. “Girls, this is Charlie, a friend, and the future Luna of a Lycan pack in America.” He said it like it was fancy, or important, which made me chuckle.
“Hello... can I ask? What did you just do?” I asked them, I felt incredibly ignorant.
“The barrier?” Meabh asked, in a suspicious tone.
“Yeah, if that’s what the lightning cage was?” I replied, unsure of what to say. “I was brought up human, so I have no idea about any of this stuff.” I guffawed, I was feeling more and more intimidated by the incredibly beautiful and strong women before me every second.
“It was a barrier spell, we aren’t as powerful as Hyacinth, so we had to use crystals to keep ours powered up, and we couldn’t make it invisible like she can, but it will have to do for now. The thing we need to worry about is, it doesn’t cover the whole village, and it won’t last forever, they will get through it eventually.” Eithne pitched in.
“So, what do we do? Daniel is coming here to get me!” I told them, as my anxiety grew.
“He won’t be able to get past the barrier, and Hyacinth’s home isn’t inside it.” Meabh said she was watching me for my reaction.
“So, again, what do we do? We can’t just stand here waiting for the barrier to fall!” I replied as I fought back tears.
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