While the Black Knight haunted George’s dreams with his harsh words, another thing became apparent to him. The Black Knight did not appear to be human, as he had first thought. While the Black Knight was verbally ripping George a new asshole for not capturing the people that George had passed by, deeming them insignificant, he noticed a change in the man he thought to be his friend. Under the cowl of his robe his eyes glowed with intense ferocity. One moment they appeared to be a blazing yellow, as if a fire burned somewhere behind them, the next moment they shifted to a deep red, as if the blood flowing through them was trying to seep out. That wasn’t the only thing George noticed about his friend either. It could have been some kind of trick being played by the surrounding shadows, but George could have sworn that he had also seen the size of the man change. His appearance had gotten significantly larger. Perhaps it was just George’s imagination, but he could have sworn that the Black Knight’s hands had changed, too. Somehow growing longer, making his fingers look more like claws.
It was at this point that George had awoken in the abandoned house in Haven. Covered in sweat, he sat up in the bed and rubbed his face vigorously. The sun was beginning to come over the horizon as daylight trickled through the room's small window. The Black Knight’s final warning was still fresh in his mind. “You should get moving. Your enemies grow stronger as we speak. You should have killed them when you had the chance. Now you will have to spend time that could have been better spent trying to stay out of their reach.”
Deciding that he should heed the Black Knight’s warning, George had quickly gathered his wits and mounted his horse, intending to leave Haven and his dreams far behind. He needed time to think.
After traveling the dirt road out of Haven for days, a road that was not much more than a pair of wheel ruts created by the occasional wagon, his head had cleared considerably. Even though, at times, he felt like he was being watched, George had not seen a single person on his journey westward. He had an impulsive urge to seek out new scenery. Preferably an area slightly more populated than where he was now. He made up his mind to return to the outpost; there he could get on the strange boat that referred to itself as Morgana and plot a course for another outpost. He would be able to concentrate more fully on his task if he could just do what came natural to him. He was determined to shake this feeling he had right now; that of feeling like prey. George was used to being the one hunting others and this new feeling angered him beyond belief.
He brought the horse to a stop and glanced back over his shoulder. George knew that there were mountains a few days travel east of here, but the trees lining this godforsaken road were too tall for him to see their jutting peaks. He could backtrack for a while until they came into view and he got his bearings. Or, he could get off the road and try to use the position of the sun for a guide. He tossed the pros and cons of each decision around in his mind for a couple of minutes. In the end, George decided on using the sun for guidance. He could always use the mountains later when they came into view. With the decision made, George turned the horse off the road and into the woods heading to the northeast.
Chapter 23
An hour had gone by since Edward located the spell his father had used in his daydream. He successfully cast the spell over the area where Mike had been sitting. Edward was sitting on the cave floor, about ten feet from the opaque bubble, next to Katie. She had her knees drawn up to her chest with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She had her fingers crossed and a huge, hopeful smile spread across her face.
As daylight began to shimmer through the now lightly falling water of the waterfall, a groan broke the near silence of the cave coming from behind Edward and Katie. They whipped their heads around to find the source of the sound. Using one hand to try and prop herself up, and the other to rub her head, was the woman that had introduced herself as Melissa Short. She appeared to be dazed and bewildered. Then she noticed Edward and Katie looking at her.
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” she spat in hostility, not recognizing them at first because their clothing was different. Before Edward or Katie had a chance to answer her questions, Melissa caught sight of Amber out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head slightly to look at Amber and screamed. She could see right through the woman! Melissa began to slowly scoot away from Amber, clearly frightened, but wanting to make sure she didn’t come any closer.
Katie got up and walked over to where Melissa was cringing. She was so close to the far wall of the cave that it looked as if she were trying to become part of it. Melissa didn’t even notice Katie coming toward her, so when Katie reached out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, Melissa nearly jumped out of her skin and screamed again. “It’s just me. Katie,” she said softly, hoping to soothe Melissa.
“Katie?” she asked in a shaky voice. Melissa glanced up at her face, trying to place the name. A few moments later, recognition began to show on her face. “You’re … that girl from the alley,” Melissa stammered in disbelief.
“Yes I am. I was beginning to think the knock on the head you took before we brought you here had affected your memory.” Katie smiled.
Melissa’s eyes nervously scanned the immediate area, trying to comprehend what had happened. “Where am I?” she asked nervously. “How did I get here? And why are you dressed like that?” Melissa added before Katie had a chance to answer.
“Well … um,” Katie began, “do you remember the portal in the alley?”
“I seem to recall seeing something similar to that,” she pointed at the portal near the back of the cave, “if that is what you are referring to.”
“That is exactly what I’m talking about,” Katie continued. “You fell down in the alley and knocked yourself unconscious. Rather than leave you lying on the ground in that state, we decided it would be best if we brought you through the portal with us.”
As Melissa looked into Katie’s eyes she got the feeling that she wasn’t being told the entire truth. “What gave you the right to drag me out of my world?” Melissa asked defiantly.
“We were just looking out for your well-being,” Katie said defensively. “Besides. We could really use your help. We wanted to ask you for it before we came through the portal, but we weren’t sure how long it would stay open. We couldn’t risk getting stranded on the other side. As for why I am dressed the way I am,” Katie continued, “it is just something that happens to everyone when they cross from one world to the other.”
Melissa diverted her attention from Katie’s face to inspect her own clothing. Her jaw dropped open in disbelief as she saw that Katie spoke the truth. For the first time, Melissa noticed that she was clothed in the same manner as Katie. She was getting ready to ask Katie about how and why this change of appearance had happened, but dismissed the question as irrelevant. She returned her gaze to Katie and asked another question that seemed more pertinent. “You said that you needed my help. Why me? What could I possibly do that would be helpful?”
“When I first met Edward,” Katie began to explain, “we talked in depth about the need to create a group of people with different skill sets in order to successfully complete our quest.”
“I’m not sure that I follow,” Melissa said with a confused look.
“From what we discussed,” Katie continued, “we would need a bare minimum of five people. Of those five, we needed to have one person that could use magic. That would be Edward.” Katie briefly nodded her head in his direction. “One person needed to have the ability to hunt and gather food for the group, which would be myself. One person would need to be skilled in fighting with the use of physical force, including the utilization of weapons.” Katie considered indicating the opaque bubble near Edward that Mike was likely sleeping beneath, and then thought better of it. It would only serve to complicate things more than they needed to be right now if she told her about Mike at the moment. “One person skilled in healing and binding wounds,” Katie gave a brief pause, “and I’m assuming that you would b
e able to fill that role,” she added hopefully as she pointed at Melissa. “And lastly, we would need one of our traveling partners to be a priest, in case we encountered anything supernatural.” Katie heaved a sigh.
“Whoa! Hold on just a minute!” Melissa exclaimed. Her cheeks began to flush as her anger quickly mounted. “You make it sound as if you would have brought me here against my will, even if I had been conscious! Because I was someone you needed! Couldn’t you have found someone from this world to suit your needs instead of dragging me here?” she asked furiously.
Katie quickly tried to think of a way to placate the increasingly irate woman. She slid a few feet to one side, so that she would be directly in front of Melissa, hoping to block her view of the portal in case she had thoughts of trying to go back to the other side. “I am truly sorry if we have upset you,” Katie said apologetically. “When Edward and I originally discussed where we would get the people that he felt we would need to be successful, he told me the only way we would succeed was if the group was comprised of people from Earth. So far, it has been my experience that each portal we have encountered has led us to an individual that would be helpful to us.”
“So that’s it then,” Melissa retorted angrily. “I have no say in this matter.”
“That’s not true! If you really don’t want to help us, we will let you go back; even though, to do so would mean we would still need to find another healer.”
“So if I say that I want to go back to Buffalo, you will let me?” Melissa asked hopefully, her anger subsiding.
“Yes,” Katie said sadly. “We would let you go, but I really hope that you decide to stay. We really, really need you!” Katie pleaded.
Melissa considered her options. Was getting back to her hectic, under appreciated life something she really wanted to do? Things might be confusing to her in this world, but what if Katie was right? For whatever reason, Melissa felt that if she were to stay in this world she would never feel taken for granted again.
Suddenly, the cave erupted with an ominous laughter that seemed to come from all directions at once. Melissa had made up her mind to stay and help the others, but the laughter bouncing off the walls of the cave frightened her worse than anything in her life ever had. She bolted past Katie and headed for the portal. As she ran, an intensely brilliant flash of light sprang up in front of her. Melissa quickly stopped and shielded her eyes. The blinding light only lasted for a moment, but even after it was gone it took everyone's eyes a couple of minutes to adjust. During that time, the maddening laughter continued to bounce around inside the cave, but the sound seemed to be gradually diminishing in volume.
As Melissa's vision cleared, she gasped ... the flash of light had dissipated. She sagged to her knees and started to weep hysterically. The portal was gone!
Chapter 24
After witnessing the strange disappearance of the portal, Edward and Katie spent a considerable amount of time trying to calm Melissa down. She was no longer hysterical, but still pretty distraught. The three of them now sat in the darkest corner of the cave, near the place that Amber stood, because if she strayed too far from this spot the others would no longer be able to see her. Jack did not join the rest of the group. Instead, he opted to stay close to the opaque bubble that Edward had created, as if he were standing guard over Mike. Edward wasn’t sure why Jack insisted on doing this. Perhaps, since both of them were supernatural creatures Jack felt a kinship with Mike the others couldn’t understand, or possibly, he didn't trust him. As Edward contemplated the reasons why Jack seemed to feel close to Mike, Melissa spoke up, bringing his attention back to their little gathering.
“Who is that?” Melissa asked, pointing toward Jack. “And why does he sit there staring at that strange bubble instead of joining us?”
“His name is Jack,” Edward told her. “After his town was attacked by an odd looking mechanical creature, he fled into the nearby woods. He found us the next day, camped beside the road, and has been traveling with us ever since.”
“That reminds me,” Katie said, turning her head toward Jack, “where is Natasha?”
At the mention of his wife’s name, Jack turned toward Katie. “A man that rode a strange looking mechanical beast killed her,” he stated, in a hitching voice. Tears streamed down his dirty face, leaving twisted trails of clean skin. “He beheaded her and tied her head to his saddle like a trophy,” Jack wailed.
“I’m so sorry, Jack,” Katie murmured sadly. “We had no idea.”
“I, too, grieve for your loss, Jack,” Edward said somberly. “I would completely understand if you decided to leave us to hunt this man down and avenge her death.”
“I have thought about doing that a lot,” Jack confided, “but the more I think about it, the more I feel it would be a bad idea for me to go after him alone. I will just bide my time and stay with you folks. I’m sure it won’t be the last time that we cross paths with him.” Jack hung his head once again, hiding his sorrow and rage from the others, indicating that he no longer wished to speak about the topic.
Deep in thought, Edward turned back toward the others. He was considering telling Melissa what Jack and Mike were, but wasn’t entirely sure that she would be able to handle the shock. While he continued to contemplate the impact it would have on Melissa’s already fragile mind, Katie made the decision for him.
“I know this may be hard for you to handle, but I feel you should know the truth now. I don’t want you to be angry later, if you found out on your own, because we didn’t tell you,” Katie calmly said to Melissa.
“I’m not sure I really want to know,” Melissa remarked hesitantly. “What truth?”
“When I first found out, I had trouble believing such things really existed, too,” Katie confided.
“Please, just spit it out!” Melissa told her.
“Um. How do I put this delicately?” Katie asked in a soft voice, more to herself than anyone else. She thought for a moment and saw no other option than just being blunt. “Jack is a werewolf and Mike is a vampire,” Katie blurted out.
Melissa’s jaw dropped open as if it had come unhinged. She began to back away from the group with a frightened look on her face. She then stood up and looked around wildly for a way to escape the cave. She continued to backpedal away from the others until her back bumped into the wall and she realized she couldn’t go any further. She saw no way to safely get past Jack. The front of the cave was too narrow for her to get past him. There was also only this one large chamber inside the cave. No tunnels or anything else led out of the room.
Edward gave Katie a quick look of frustration then began to stand up. He slowly walked across the cave toward Melissa, holding out his hands to her. “There is no reason to be afraid,” he said softly, trying his best to sound reassuring. “They are on our side. They will not hurt you.”
Melissa shook her head vehemently. Her brown eyes reminded Edward of a frightened rabbit, looking for an opportunity to bolt. “I’m having a nightmare,” Melissa tried to tell herself. “Such things don’t exist in the real world. I want to wake up!” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye and slowly ran down her cheek.
Edward was close enough to touch her now, and he reached out to grab her hand. He looked into her glassy brown eyes and closed his hand softly around one of hers. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “Everything will be all right.” Edward began to slowly back up toward where they had previously been seated, gently pulling Melissa with him. At first she resisted, but when she realized Edward was not going to give up, she relented and allowed herself to be led. He maintained eye contact with her all the way back to where Amber and Katie were. “Sit back down please,” Edward said softly. She hesitated for a moment and then sat down, feeling as if he had somehow hypnotized her. Once Melissa was seated again, Edward resumed his former place and sat down.
Katie smiled. She was happy to see that the calming affect Edward had on her wasn’t an exclusive thing. He just seemed to have a way about him that put p
eople at ease, no matter how dire the situation. Unless, of course, it was Edward that was doing the panicking. “I guess we need to figure out what to do next,” Katie said, starting the conversation up again.
Chapter 25
During George’s travels, since leaving Haven, Natasha’s head had begun to decompose. The smell didn’t faze him, but he had to reposition the skull from its former place. The skin had begun to slough off. Gelatinous chunks of flesh would randomly fall onto the ground with a wet-sounding plop. The hair had begun to fall away as well. Instead of hanging from his saddle, the head, which was not much more than a skull now, rested gruesomely over the pommel.
He had steadily been making his way through the forest, using the sun as a guide, to make sure he stayed on a northeasterly course. After three days of travel, George had begun to feel like he was being watched again. The feeling washed over him from all directions. He thought that perhaps it was time to make a course change. If his assumptions were correct, the outpost should be almost directly north of his current location.
Hoping to escape, from what felt like a multitude of eyes, he turned his horse about forty-five degrees to the left. Judging that he was now facing north, George pushed the head forward as far as the pommel would allow. The horse took off very swiftly. For a brief moment, he was confused because he had expected the horse to begin galloping. George had gotten so used to riding the strange mechanical beast that he had temporarily forgotten that it had six legs. Instead of the bouncing gait he had been expecting, the beast had begun to run like a spider scurrying from danger.
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