TRAVIS STINNETT

Text copyright © 2013 by Travis Stinnett

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or

retrieved system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Travis StinnettVisit my website @ http://eeriealliance.blogspot.com

First Paperback Edition February 2013 by Travis Stinnett.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Anysimilarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not

intended by the author.

Stinnett, Travis, 1978-The Silent Soldiers / by Travis Stinnett.__2nd ed.

Summary: Luke is an ordinary young boy, or so he thinks, living with hisuncle and cousin after the death of his parents shortly after his birth.

Little does Luke know, he is about to embark on a life changing journeyto his grandfathers’ house for the summer.

Filled with demons, faeries, vampires, werewolves and more, this novelwill put Luke through a gauntlet of trouble and turmoil, leading up to a

final climatic battle.ISBN 978-1482389371

[1. Vampires—Fiction. 2. Young Adult—Fiction. 3. Supernatural—Fiction. ]

I. Title. II. Series: Stinnett, Travis. The Silent Soldiers ; bk. 1.

ASIN: B00BGRGRV2ISBN-10: 1482389371

ISBN-13: 978-1482389371

For my family. Thank you to my beautiful wife and three amazing kidsfor sticking by me through this daunting process. I love you guys!!

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my writing coach Timothy Stavetieg. Also, my wife Crystal forencouraging me through this entire writing and publishing process. Cliff Pennington withPennington Graphics Solutions for all the amazing graphics work especially thespectacular book covers for the entire novel series.

Don’t miss Book Two inTHE SILENT SOLDIERS SERIES:

BACK TO SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION

“It is almost time Master. The child will come of age in less than two weeks. How

soon will you be able to return to the earth realm?” asked a woman’s voice.

“It has been nearly fourteen years since the child was born, and I was banished. I am

waiting for the precise moment in which I can make my return,” said a man wearing a

long black cloak.

A hood completely covered the figures head. The only part of the man’s body, that

was visible beneath the dark colored garment he was wearing, was his glowing red eyes.

The man was standing in the middle of a cave barely lit by the fire of a single torch

hanging on one wall. Suddenly the man’s image started to fade and I realized he wasn’t

in the cave at all. The man had projected his image from some unknown location.

“I have completed the final arrangements for your arrival. We are ready to assist you

in capturing the child, Master. The woman’s voice came from the shadows of the cave

just out of reach of the light from the torch. The outline of her body was visible, but it

was impossible to see any of her features.

“Have you located the child? My plans can be carried out much more smoothly if we

can take him before he learns about our world.

“No, Master, I have not. We have done everything in our power to locate and capture

him. His parents went to great lengths to ensure that no one would find him. We have a

lead that he could possibly be hiding in the Dallas area. We are searching the area day

and night I assure you.

“You have done well my child. According to the prophetess the child will be

returning to the mansion soon,” the man said looking toward the old lady crouched

against one wall of the cave.

The old lady against the wall was bound with small silver chains wrapped around her

body. She whimpered softly. Suddenly a long silver whip flashed out from the woman in

the shadows. It struck the old lady in the back causing her to scream out in pain.

“You will keep quiet in the presence of our Master,” says the woman fiercely. The

chained old lady became instantly silent before the man began to speak again.

“We must obtain the child. He is a key element in my plans to rule this horrid planet

the humans call earth. If he unites with good he will forever be my enemy.”

“That will not happen, Master. Your plans will not fail. I have worked very hard in

your absence to guarantee your success.” the woman says proudly.

“We shall see, my child.” The woman bowed to the cloaked figure. He nodded

slightly before he completely faded from the dark cave. The woman walked out into the

light of the torch and it became apparent that she too was completely concealed by a dark

colored cloak. She walked gracefully over to the chained woman. She kneeled down on

one knee next to the old lady.

“Master will be returning soon. I know you have been withholding information about

the visions you are having you old hag. When Nhados is in our realm once again you will

have no choice but to tell him what you know. He has ways you could never even

imagine to force you into telling him what he needs to know,” she spat the words out at

the chained lady.

The old lady began to cry softly again. She knew the cloaked woman was telling the

truth. She had indeed been under Nhados’ power in the past. When Nhados captured her

many years ago she suffered his wrath for a short time. She began to sob loudly dreading

the coming torture from the terrifying dark wizard. An evil laugh came softly from the

cloaked woman. Her laugh became louder and more evil as she stood to her feet. The

woman kicked the old lady in the ribs swiftly causing her to scream out in pain once

again.

1

Each morning for the past week, I awake from the same dream. I’m walking in a

beautiful valley somewhere, not sure where exactly. The breeze is blowing the back of

my neck making the hair stand up a little. Suddenly, it turns to night with the moon full

over my head, and unusually large. I look around the valley at the wood line and see pairs

of glowing yellow eyes surrounding me. I freeze with fear as I try to search through the

darkness to find out what is surrounding me. Slowly the pairs of eyes start moving closer

to me and my fear grows more intense paralyzing me. I desperately search every

direction trying to find a way to escape, but I am completely surrounded. I am sweating,

yet my flesh is chilled and my muscles clenched as I begin to hear a very low rumbling

growl coming from every direction. The growls slowly get louder and more threatening,

and I can feel fear growing stronger. All of a sudden I hear a single wolf howl. I wake up

screaming, and drenched in sweat.

I have thought day and night about what this dream might mean but I’m too

embarrassed to ask my uncle what he thinks. It is embarrassing having to tell your uncle

you’re dreaming of the big bad wolf.

Luke had grown up living with his Uncle Charles and his cousin Matt since birth.

They were about the same age, Matt having been born only five days before Luke. In

many ways, being so close in age made them like twins. They had always been very

close. They were practically inseparable.

I have asked about my parents many times but I can never get any information

from my Uncle. When I ask him what happened to them all he can tell me is there was an

accident, and I had to come live with them. I feel like there is more to it than just an

accident. I only want to know what happened to them, and what they were like. I guess

it’s too hard for him to talk about losing his only sister. Maybe someday I will meet other

family members that might be able to tell me about my parents.

I do know my grandfather, my mom’s dad, is still around. Samuel Carrington, my

grandfather, is apparently a very wealthy man and does some kind of real estate business

in every part of the world. This is what Uncle Charles has told me about him. I have only

seen him a couple times in my life, usually around holidays. He never stays more than an

hour or two at the most so I never have time to get him alone to talk about my parents.

I have never met any of my dad’s family. I feel like there are lots of secrets

regarding me and my family. Uncle Charles seems to be hiding things from me but I

can’t find any proof. Maybe when I get older I can do some searching and see what I can

come up with.

“Luke, we’re going to be late!” yelled Matt from the hallway outside Luke’s

bedroom.

“What time is it?” Luke mumbled.

“It’s seven o’clock, man. Get your butt out of the bed or we are going to miss our last

day of school.”

“Why are you so excited about getting to school? You haven’t cared whether you

went to school or not all year, and now you’re ready to go all of a sudden?”

“Yeah man, the quicker we get there, the quicker we will be out for summer and the

quicker we can go on vacation.”

Luke was kind of excited about going on vacation. They were planning to spend a

couple weeks at his grandfather’s house in Arkansas. He wasn’t sure if his Grandpa

would actually be there very much since he is away on business a lot. He hoped his

grandfather would find time to talk to him a little about his parents. Samuel lived in

Eerie, a few miles outside of Little Rock, the state capitol. His Uncle told him Eerie was a

very small town, but that Little Rock was much bigger. Charles also said there were lots

of things to keep him and Matt entertained while they were there. They had no idea just

how entertained and busy their life would become once they arrived at their grandfather’s

house.

Luke, Charles, and Matt lived in Dallas, Texas. There were always things to do

there. His uncle said Little Rock was not nearly as big as Dallas, so he hoped they had a

good time and were not completely bored for the next few weeks.

“The bus will be here in five minutes,” said Matt as he knocked on Luke’s bedroom

door and pushed his way in.

“I’m ready Matt, let’s get going.”

Luke and his cousin were in the seventh grade. Matt was about a foot shorter and

weighed several pounds less than Luke, but so did everyone else in his grade. Matt had

dark skin, short brown hair and brown eyes. All of the girls were crazy about him, and he

knew it. Luke, on the other hand, had very pale skin. No matter how much time he tried

to spend in the sun he couldn’t seem to get any darker. It definitely was not fun growing

up as the pale giant of your class. Luke was big, pale, had shoulder length blonde hair,

and blue eyes. His uncle told him he had his father’s complexion and his mother’s hair

and eyes. Luke didn’t know exactly where his size came from though.

So, here they were on their last day of the seventh grade. It seemed like any other day,

but Matt was super stoked about it for some reason. Luke was trying his best to be in high

spirits for Matt’s sake. He couldn’t help but feel as though something weird was about to

happen. The memories of his dreams continued to haunt his subconscious mind. Every

time Luke let his mind wander, the thought of the dreams would surface again.

The first half of the day went by really fast for him. He made it through English,

Math, Biology, and Spanish class with flying colors. Next came lunch. He and Matt

didn’t have any classes together, unfortunately, but they had always sat together at lunch.

Luke had never been a real people person like Matt, so he never made many friends in

school. Matt was always surrounded by lots of friends. His friends pretty much accepted

Luke because he was part of Matt’s family.

Luke had spent most all of his free time learning and perfecting his interest in martial

arts. He had been in Karate and Tae Kwon Do classes for as long as he could remember.

He currently held a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Everyone was excited about the things

they were planning to do on vacation. Luke pretty much stayed to himself, as usual,

thinking.

The time he spent now, thinking, led his thoughts back to the recurring dream about

the glowing yellow eyes and the howling wolf. He continued to wonder what the

meaning behind the animals in his dream was. He had never in his life even seen a real

wolf. Luke couldn’t help but think that the wolves felt almost as though they were

familiar to him for some reason. He grew more puzzled the more he thought about them.

The end of the day finally rolled around, and Mat met him at his locker. He grabbed

the rest of his stuff and left it empty for whoever was to have it the next year. He

slammed the locker shut before they headed for the bus to take them home. When they

got home his Uncle’s truck was already in the driveway. Luke realized instantly that

something was going on. It was very unusual for Charles to be home so early. He

normally worked until five or later every evening.

“I wonder why dad is home so early,” Matt said.

“I don’t know. Lets find out.” They walked in the front door and found that their

luggage had already been packed and now waited for them in the living room. Luke

thought this was kind of odd since his uncle told them they needed to pack as soon as

they got home from school. He told them they were leaving first thing the following

morning for Grandpa’s.

“Dad?” yelled Matt as they walked through the living room to look for Charles. They

found him on the phone in the kitchen.

“That’s right. I need two flights to Little Rock as soon as possible,” said Charles into

the phone.

“What’s going on, Matt?” Luke asked curiously.

“I don’t know man. I thought we were driving up to Grandpa’s in the morning.”

About that time Charles hung up the phone.

“Get everything loaded in the truck,” said Charles.

“What’s going on, Dad?” asked Matt.

“We have to go to Grandpa’s tonight. We can’t wait until morning to leave.”

“What’s going on?” Luke asked curiously. “Why only two flights?”

“I’m sending you and Matt on tonight. I have some important business to take care of

in the morning and I’ll drive up tomorrow evening.” Luke found it kind of peculiar that

his uncle would fly them to Little Rock tonight instead of waiting for all of them to leave

tomorrow. Luke decided to keep this thought to himself. Charles seemed to do things

lately that made Luke wonder if he was hiding something, but he never asked questions.

He knew it was not polite to question grown-ups about their business.

Matt didn’t seem to think anything was out of the ordinary. At least he didn’t let on

that he did. Matt was just excited about the thought of getting to fly. Neither of the two

boys had ever been on a plane. Luke finally admitted to himself he was a little bit excited

too.

Charles failed to tell his son and nephew the true reason he was sending them early.

He didn’t have time to explain all of the things they would soon find out. He needed to

get them out of the state. When Luke was born he was placed in the care of his uncle.

Charles, after the recent death of his wife, had to move from his home in Eerie. He

moved to Dallas to hide his newborn nephew from the dark and evil forces that were

hunting him. Charles feared that after all these years their location had been

compromised. That was the real reason he was sending them to their grandfather

immediately.

They quickly loaded their things into the back of Charles’ truck. It definitely seemed

like a lot of bags for a couple weeks, but Luke again decided not to ask any questions.

Luke ran up to check his room one last time to make sure everything he wanted to take

had been packed. They were out the door in quite a hurry.

“How are we getting to Grandpa’s once we get to Little Rock?” Matt asked his dad.

“Grandpa is going to send a car. It will be waiting on you as soon as you land.”

Charles explained.

“And you are coming tomorrow, right?” I asked.

“That is the plan. As soon as I finish what I have to do, I will head that way.” Charles

looked funny to Luke. He almost looked as though he was terrified of something. Luke

couldn’t imagine what had his uncle so scared. He hoped everything worked out the way

Charles wanted.

“The shifter has been spotted leaving the house,” said one of the two men standing in

the dark cave. The men knelt before the cloaked woman as if she was their queen. They

dared not look the woman in the eyes. It was apparent the men feared this woman.

“Then what are you waiting for?” screamed the woman, “Why are you here with me

when this could be the perfect opportunity to capture the boy?” she added hissing the

words at the men. The two men began to slowly creep backwards away from the woman.

It was impossible for a human to move their body parts the way these men did.

“Yes, Madame,” said one of the creeping men.

“They are being trailed as we speak. We will go to them immediately,” said the

second man.

“If you value the air you breathe, you will not let the boy get away. The master is due

to arrive at any time. He will not be pleased if the boy is allowed to escape,” spat the

woman. The two men bowed their heads to the woman and instantly burst into flames.

When the flames went out the two men no longer knelt before her. They had magically

teleported back to wherever they came from.

Luke, Matt, and Charles arrived at the airport in Dallas. Uncle Charles said his good-

byes before unloading their luggage onto a rolling cart. The airport was huge. Luke

couldn’t imagine how they would ever find where they were going on their own.

“I have to go, but Mr. Coleman here is a friend of your Grandpa’s. He will help you

check in and get to your assigned terminal.” Charles told them. Mr. Coleman, to their

surprise, was a giant man with dark tanned skin and a buzzed haircut. He wore a black

suit with dark sunglasses. Charles took the man aside and spoke to him for a second.

Luke watched as the giant man nodded his head in agreement.

Luke had been watching his uncle closely since they left the house. He watched as

Charles drove unusually fast as he weaved through the heavy afternoon traffic. Luke

knew they were in a hurry to get to the airport. He couldn’t understand why his uncle had

watched his rearview mirror so closely. Luke had started to get nervous as he watched his

uncle drive. As Charles talked to Mr. Coleman he scanned the cars that were coming and

going at the front entrance of the airport. The nervousness Luke felt on the drive suddenly

turned to fear as his uncle, and then Mr. Coleman began to look frantically around at the

other people walking in and out of the airport.

“He’s kind of scary looking, huh?” Matt asked.

“Yeah man he is freaking me out a little bit,” Luke agreed. Luke wondered if Matt

had even noticed the strange way his father had been acting since they got home from

school.

“You are in good hands with Mr. Coleman. He will make sure you guys get on your

plane safely.” Charles explained. “I love you boys. I will see you both soon at Grandpa’s.

The boys waved bye to Charles as he practically ran back to his truck and took off in

quite a hurry. They followed Mr. Coleman into the airport. Luke wondered why Charles

was in such a hurry now that they were safely to the airport. They checked their baggage

quickly before they rushed off to the terminal. Luke thought they would never get where

they were going. The airport appeared to go on for miles. He thought they walked at

least a hundred of those miles before they finally arrived at the right terminal.

Luke and Matt were practically running through the airport as they tried desperately

to keep up with Mr. Coleman. Luke watched Mr. Coleman as they ran. He couldn’t see

the man’s face as his head turned back and forth scanning the crowds as they rushed

toward their destination. The flight attendant was just about to close the door to the gate.

“WAIT!” yelled Mr. Coleman. The attendant was more than a little shocked at the

outburst, but she smiled gently at them.

“You almost missed your departure,” she said as she made her way over to greet us at

the check in counter.

Luke was out of breath when they made it to the check in counter at the terminal. He

looked around at all the people in the airport as he tried to catch his breath. Suddenly

Luke spotted a figure standing across the airport through the crowd. He knew instantly

something was different about this person he was looking at. He wondered why nobody

else seemed to notice someone wearing a heavy cloak that completely concealed every

part of their body. He couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. Just as he was about to

reach out and touch Matt to get his attention a large group of people walked between him

and the cloaked figure. Luke craned his head trying to get a better look at the person.

When the group passed the cloaked person was gone.

They boarded the plane quickly after the attendant got them checked in. Mr. Coleman

went his own way since his job with the boys was complete. Luke really wanted the

chance to talk to Matt on the plane, but getting tickets at the last minute caused their seats

to be too far apart. He wanted to talk to him about what he saw at the terminal. Luke

began to think maybe he hadn’t even seen the person at all. He pushed it out of his mind

as he settled into his seat for the trip.

The flight was boring to Luke after the thrill of the initial take off. He decided to take

a nap. He was not really tired, but he wanted to be well rested to talk to Grandpa. He had

hoped his Grandpa would be home that night, and he would get the chance to talk to him

alone. Luke fell asleep quickly after he closed his eyes.

The familiar dream started all over again. Beautiful valley, turning to night, glowing

yellow eyes, and the howling wolf. This time was different though. Luke hadn’t woke up

when the wolf howled. He had never dreamed past the howling before. He didn’t know

what to expect after that. He looked around at the glowing eyes surrounding him. He tried

to anticipate what would happen next. Luke caught a glimpse of something out of the

corner of his eye. When he turned to look, there was a huge cat running toward him at

full speed. The cat was solid black with glowing red eyes and the sharpest teeth he had

ever seen. Luke guessed it was some sort of panther or something of that nature. Just as

Luke turned to run, he felt something rip through the flesh of his back.

Luke woke up jumping from his seat on the plane screaming at the top of his lungs.

He looked around and realized everyone on the plane was starring at him. He

immediately remembered where he was and turned red with embarrassment as he sank

back into his seat.

“Are you ok?” The flight attendant asked as she made her way over to check on him.

“I just had a bad dream,” Luke replied. The dream had appeared as though it was

getting weirder. Luke was more confused as to what it meant. He tried to shake the

lingering feeling of fear as the captain instructed the flight attendants to prepare for the

arrival into Little Rock.

2

“We failed you, Master,” said the woman’s voice as she kneeled before him. The

men she sent to the airport to retrieve the boy had failed her. She punished them severely

for their failure. Now, even though she knew her master wasn’t actually standing before

her, she must answer to him. She would take whatever punishment he felt she needed.”

“I was at the airport myself. There was no way for the child to be taken without

causing a scene in front of all those pathetic humans,” said the already fading cloaked

figure. The woman suddenly realized she had dealt punishment to innocent beings. She

wasn’t the least bit sorry about it. She wanted to impress her master by capturing the boy

before he returned to the Earth realm. She now knew she missed her last chance for that

to happen.

“I am sorry, Master. I should have gone and finished the job myself,” said the

woman sarcastically.

“And ruin your place within the pack? That would be even more stupid than

causing a scene in front of the humans!” The man yelled down at her. The woman

flinched at the tone of the man’s angry voice as though he could cause her harm. The man

had again projected himself into the cave from whatever far away dimension he had been

banished to. “You must be smart. We need you to hide within the pack to inform me of

their actions, and to keep a close eye on the boy. The time is coming for me to return and

bring the boy to stand at my side. We must be as prepared as possible. That responsibility

lies with you alone,” The man told her. His voiced calmed steadily as he again explained

her importance.

“I understand, Master. I must go and prepare myself for his arrival at the

mansion.” As soon as her last word was out, the man quickly faded from the dark cave.

She slowly stood and walked out of the cave. She had a big job ahead of her. She

couldn’t fail her master a second time for fear that he would end her life for good.

The plane seemed to move in slow motion as I anxiously awaited its arrival at our

gate. I could see Matt a few rows in front of me as he stared out the little window next to

his seat. He was lucky enough to get a window seat. I couldn’t see anything as the plane

made its way to the gate. We got our carry on bags out of the overhead compartments and

were on our way to the exit door. As we made our way down the hall into the terminal I

spotted a man holding a sign that read MR. STALLINGS AND MR. CARRINGTON.

You could hardly call the person holding the sign a man. He was about 3 feet tall with

long gray hair and beard. He reminded me of one of Santa’s elves to be perfectly honest.

He was dressed pretty much the same way as Mr. Coleman back in Dallas, minus the

dark sunglasses. I let out a little giggle at the sight of him and Matt caught on to what I

was looking at.

“I guess that would be us,” I told Matt.

“Guess so,” he replied. We slowly made our way thru the crowd toward the tiny

little man. When he finally realized we were headed his way you could see the

excitement light up his tiny little features. The little man hurried over to us.

“You must be Luke!” the little man exclaimed as if he had known me my entire

life. You could feel the excitement pouring from the little man as he shook my hand

enthusiastically.

“It is such an honor to finally meet you,” said the little man.

“Nice to meet you too sir,” I said in a very confused sort of way.

“Please forgive me. My name is Jackson Rathburn. I work for your grandfather,

Mr. Carrington,” he explained.

“It’s very nice to meet you Mr. Rathburn,” I said.

“Oh no, no, no, you must call me Jack,” he said with a huge smile.

“Ok, Jack. This is my cousin Matt,” I said.

“Oh, please forgive me Matt. It is definitely a pleasure meeting you as well,” he

said as he blushed with embarrassment.

“Same here,” said Matt with a very annoyed look on his face.

“I will be escorting you to the mansion to meet with your grandfather.” I couldn’t

help but feel nervous and excited at the thought of my grandfather being home, and about

the possibility of getting some alone time with him. I had so many questions popping into

my head as we followed the little man named Jack thru the airport in Little Rock. The

airport wasn’t nearly as big as the one in Dallas, but it still took us some time to get

outside to the car. We followed Jack out the front doors of the airport and I spotted a

huge limousine with another of the black suited men waiting to load our luggage into the

trunk.

“Looks like we’re riding in style Matt,” I said.

“Wow! Grandpa must be loaded sending a limo to pick us up,” said Matt. Matt

and I had never known exactly what our grandfather did for a living. We knew he was in

real estate. We were beginning to realize he must have loads of money. Neither Matt nor

I had ever been to Grandpa’s house. We really didn’t know what to expect with “the

mansion,” as Jack put it, but we were both overflowing with excitement about our first

plane ride and our first ride in a limousine. This was almost more excitement than either

of us could handle in one day. The man that loaded our luggage now opened the door at

the back of the limo. The three of us climbed into the back seat. We heard the front door

open and close, the engine started, and the car began to move. We couldn’t see the driver

with the window to the front seat being completely blacked out. Jack didn’t seem to be

bothered by it. We watched out the windows in anticipation as the car made its way onto

the freeway headed to Eerie, the town where our grandfathers’ mansion was located.

“Would you care for something to drink?” Jack asked Matt and me.

“Sure, what do you have?” Matt asked.

“See for yourself,” Jack said as he opened the limos mini fridge. It was packed

with every sort of soft drink you could imagine. We both settled for our choice of canned

drink, and Jack closed the fridge. We sipped our sodas as we exited the interstate.

“So, how long have you worked for Grandpa?” I asked Jack.

“I have been with your grandfather for many years, he explained, “Long before either of

you were even born.”

“That’s cool.”

We rode in silence as we continued down the narrow two lane road leading into

Eerie. I noticed that we were driving through nothing but woods on both sides of the

road. I couldn’t remember if we had passed a house at all in the past couple miles. Soon

after that we passed a couple of small houses. We passed a sign that said Eerie,

population 314, and that let me know just how small this town really was. Next we

passed a little convenience store and were running parallel to railroad tracks on the

opposite side. We slowed down to make a right hand turn that took us over the tracks. We

passed a couple larger houses and were again surrounded by woods. We drove a few

more miles when the car began to slow down to make another turn. The driveway opened

up to a little guard shack with a huge black metal gate hung between a massive block

wall. The wall must have been at least 12 feet tall.

I noticed cameras pointed in different directions down the top of the wall. I

wondered why Grandpa needed so much security. The limo stopped at the gate. I noticed

the two guards looked and dressed much the same as the driver and Mr. Coleman. The

guards approached the driver. After a brief conversation one of the guards went back to

the guard shack. The other made a circle around the car. After the guard completed his

search of the car he went back to the guard shack. We watched as the huge black gate

started to slowly open. The guard motioned for us to go in. The car pulled slowly forward

through the gate.

Matt and I both stared out our windows as we made our way down the drive and

through more woods that surrounded us. At one point we crossed a small covered bridge

that crossed a creek connecting two very large ponds on either side of the road. We

continued down the driveway as the woods began to thin out and open up to fields all

around us. Just as we started over the top of a hill we caught our first glimpse of our

grandfather’s’ mansion. Our mouths dropped open in awe as we took in the view. We

could see the house across a valley from where we were coming down the drive. I could

hardly put into words how big this place was. It could barely be called a house at all. It

was more along the lines of a castle than anything. Huge gray stones made up the

majority of the exterior surfaces. Massive columns held up the roof that covered the

entryway to what I assumed would be the front door. At either end of the massive central

part of the house, which was at least three stories tall, were two towers. These towers

were like something you would see in a fairy tale story. They were round and extended

above the main level of the house. I had never seen a house as big as this one in all my

life, even in the Dallas area. I couldn’t wait to get inside and start exploring the place

with Matt.

I glanced over at Matt as the car veered to the right around the circle driveway in

front of the mansion. I hadn’t noticed before, but Matt was looking rather pale and was

sweating quite a bit even with the rather cool temperature in the limo.

“Are you feeling ok Matt?” I asked. “Not really. I think I’m just tired from all of

the excitement we’ve had today,” he said. “You’re probably right. I’m a little tired and

worn out myself.”

It was beginning to get dark by the time we arrived at the house. I looked at the

huge spotlights that illuminated the area around the mansion. The back door of the car

opened and another black suited giant motioned for us to get out. Two younger guys,

dressed also in black suits, approached the rear of the car and opened the trunk. I was

beginning to get the idea that these black suits were uniforms for my grandfather’s

employees. The younger guys unloaded our luggage and began hauling it into the house.

As we walked up the steps and approached the huge front doors, Jack said, “Matt,

why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you to your room so you can lie down. You

aren’t looking very well and probably need a little rest from all the excitement.”

“That sounds like a great idea, Matt said, I’m really not feeling well at all.”

“Luke, why don’t you go into the great room straight through those doors,” Jack

said pointing to a set of double doors as we entered into what would be the foyer of the

mansion.

“Your grandfather will meet you there shortly.”

“Ok, sounds good to me.”

“Will you be ok, Matt?” I asked.

“Sure man I just need to lie down for a minute,” he replied. A massive staircase

on either side of the double doors leading to the great room led to the second story. I

watched as Jack led Matt up the stairs. I watched until they were out of sight before I

entered into the next room as Jack had instructed.

The room I entered was indeed a “Great” room. It was bigger than our entire

house in Dallas, which made it a bit overwhelming. The walls were covered in a dark

colored stone from floor to ceiling with dark hardwood floors. There was nothing down

the center of the room except for a thick rug. On the left side of the room was a very large

fireplace surrounded by an over sized brown leather couch and matching chairs. The

other side of the room had a huge table that could seat at least two dozen people

comfortably, with chairs all around. The rooms’ ceiling was at the level of what had to be

the same height as the second floor ceiling. Statues, plants, and trees of different sizes

decorated the room. A huge chandelier lowered down from the ceiling to what should be

the first floors ceiling in the center of the room.

I walked around the room looking at all of the paintings hanging on the walls. I

made my way back around to the sitting area in front of the fireplace. About the time I sat

down on one of the large chairs, I heard the door at the other end of the room close. I

looked up to see Grandpa, with a big smile on his face, walking toward me. I stood and

he came up to give me a big hug.

“I am so very happy you are here, Luke. I have waited so long for the day that you

would join me here at the mansion.”

“I’m so glad to see you Grandpa. Is Matt ok?”

“He will be just fine, son, don’t you worry about him. You are both in very good

hands now that you have arrived at the mansion.”

“I have so many questions for you Grandpa. I have been waiting for years to ask

them.”

“Well, let’s sit down and talk for a while. I know you have lots of questions for

me. I have lots of things to reveal to you as well.” We both sat down with Grandpa in one

of the big chairs, and me on the end of the couch closest to him.

“I’m just going to come out and ask you this, Grandpa. I hope that I don’t upset or

anger you for asking.”

“I want you to know you can ask me anything and I will never get upset or angry

with you, Luke.”

“Ok. I want to know what happened to my parents. I have asked Uncle Charles

several times over the years and all he ever tells me is that there was some sort of

accident. I want to know what happened to them exactly.”

“Luke, Charles was correct about the accident. After your parents placed you in

his care they took my private jet to flee from Nhados. They decided to return to England,

to your fathers’ home country. Your father believed that with you in hiding, and them in

the protection of his people you all would be safe from Nhados. Somewhere in the middle

of the ocean the plane went down. The plane crashed into a small island and exploded on

impact. I sent a team to look for any survivors, but none were found,” explained Grandpa.

“I have something else to tell you that you probably are not going to understand.

The world and the things in it are not what they appear to be. There are many things that

you have never seen or experienced. Some of the creatures that you have experienced

only in movies live right along side us in everyday life. The supernatural world exists in

great secrecy from the human race. I’ll explain what I’m talking about later. Some of it is

just too much for you to comprehend all at one time. Your mother and father were very

powerful, very important, supernatural beings.”

“What exactly do you mean by beings Grandpa?”

“Luke, I need for you to just listen to everything I tell you and believe that I am

telling you the truth.”

“Ok, Grandpa, I trust you.”

“Fifteen years ago your mother and father met and fell in love instantly. This love

was strictly forbidden in the Supernatural community because they are of different races.

I don’t mean the color of their skin. Your mother was a shifter and your father was a

vampire.”

3

“You’re kidding, right? Vampires are just characters someone made up for the

movies, Grandpa. And, what exactly is a shifter?” I asked.

“Vampires very much do exist, Luke. Please allow me to finish. A shifter is

someone that transforms into an animal during the full moon. Full blooded shifters can

change anytime they choose. Your mother was a shifter. She was of the race that changes

into wolf form, better known as werewolves.

“So, my dad was a vampire, and my mom was a werewolf?” I laughed at Grandpa

as I thought about my parents playing the part of these make believe characters in the

movies Matt and I watched growing up. I let my laughter fade away when I noticed the

very serious look he was giving me. I was finding it very hard to believe what he was

telling me.

“Yes. That is correct. Many years ago your parents met and fell in love. Love

between different races of supernatural creatures was strictly forbidden. Your parents

kept their relationship a secret for quite some time. After a while they decided they

wanted to have a child together. This normally would be impossible since vampires can’t

reproduce. They paid a very powerful witch to create and cast a spell on your father to

allow your mother the opportunity to conceive his child.”

“And they had me?”