The Silent Soldiers

by Travis Stinnett

got nearly to the end of the hall the lady stopped and turned to face me.

  “This would be you, my dear,” she said with a smile, “There is a refrigerator with sodas and snacks. You also have your own bathroom for your convenience. You should be pretty well set until morning. Someone will let you know when breakfast is ready, and show you where the dinning hall is. Get a good nights’ sleep. You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow,” she explained.

  I thanked her for showing me the way and entered the room that would be mine during my stay at the mansion. It was the biggest bedroom I had ever seen in my entire life. There was a gigantic king sized canopy bed in the center of one wall. The wall opposite the bed contained a fireplace and a little sitting area with a couple leather chairs, a couch, and some end tables with lamps. The area farthest from me across the room housed a small kitchen area with a refrigerator, sink, stove, and microwave. It was surrounded with cabinets and a little bar that separated it from the rest of the room. To the left of the kitchen was a door that I assumed led to the bathroom the lady mentioned. I crossed the room and went through the door into an equally extravagant bathroom area. This room had pretty much the same dark burgundy color scheme as the bedroom. There was a huge shower, and a bathtub big enough for several people. There was also, of course, a toilet and sink as well as a closet the size of my bedroom back home. I wondered why anyone would need a closet that big.

  The only thing I didn’t notice was windows. There was not a single window in either of the two rooms. It was quite depressing considering how I loved to look outside, especially when the sun was up. Guess I would have to get used to the no sun thing if I was to be a vampire like Grandpa told me.

  I found my luggage piled in the corner of the bedroom, and began to busy myself by putting them away in the chest-of-drawers that was in the room. I put what I could in the drawers. The rest I hung in the closet. I decided to take a quick shower to help me relax, and hopefully fall asleep. I found the food in the kitchen and had a snack before I climbed into bed for the evening. Just as I got settled into bed, I heard a bone chilling howl, much like the one from my dream, coming from outside the mansion.

  “The old lady was correct, Master. The child has arrived at the mansion. The pack leader has informed him about our world.” The woman said inside the dark cave.

  “I need you to watch them closely. The boy will be mine in two days time,” replied the man. Suddenly the glowing red eyes under the man’s hood grew brighter. The woman backed up quickly against the wall of the cave as he burst into flames. The flames instantly died down and went out completely. The woman fell to her knees before the man. Her master had finally returned to the Earth realm after so many long years.

  4

  I woke up the next morning feeling rested and ready for whatever the day had in store for me. I hoped it was a little less eventful than the previous day, but some how I doubted it. Grandpa had dumped a load of very disturbing information on me the day before. I was having a hard time processing it all. I almost felt as though I had dreamed most of it.

  On top of everything Grandpa had told me, I was really worried about Matt. I wondered if he took the news Grandpa had for him any better than I had. I also wanted every detail about how his first change went. I was possibly going to experience the change myself in a day or two. I wanted to prepare myself for it. I checked my cell phone for the time. It was seven a.m. I wasn’t surprised about how early it was since I went to bed so early the night before.

  I had no idea where anything or anybody was in the mansion. I decided to do a little exploring before anyone came to whisk me away for breakfast. I threw on some sweat pants and my favorite Dallas Cowboys sweat shirt before slipping on my shoes. I opened the door slowly and stuck my head out the door to see who might be wandering around in the hall. I didn’t see or hear anyone so I started walking back down the way I came. My room was at the end of the hall, so it was the only way I could go.

  I walked slowly from door to door listening trying to hear if anyone else was stirring. I reached the third set of doors, and just as I put my ear to the door, it opened suddenly. I jumped in fear at the sudden movement of the door.

  When my nerves settled a split second later I realized there was a young girl about my age standing there starring at me.

  “Hello, I’m Ava. You must be Luke.”

  “Yyyyes.” I replied barely able to speak, partly from being rattled from the sudden appearance of her, and partly because she was absolutely beautiful. Ava was nearly as tall as me with the most amazing, curly, flaming red hair. Large red curls framed her face perfectly. I stared at her in awe of her beauty.

  “Were you looking for somebody?” She asked with a smile.

  “Uh, uh yeah I was looking forrr, I was looking for Matt. He’s my cousin.”

  “Well, last I heard he was going to be in the room right across the hall from you,”

  “Th-thank you,” I stuttered from complete embarrassment. I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t able to speak, or think, clearly. I backed up a little as Ava came out the door and pulled it closed behind her.

  “I’ll see you around, Luke. It was nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you,” she said as she headed down the hall toward the stairs.

  “It was nice meeting you too, Ava,” I said, wondering what she had heard about me, and if she had any idea what my grandfather claimed I was. I also wondered if she might be some kind of supernatural being herself.

  I turned around and headed back toward the room Ava told me was Matt’s. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. No one came to the door so I slowly pushed it open calling Matt’s name quietly. It was completely dark in the room. The curtains were made of very thick fabric, and blocked out the sun entirely. The only light entering the room was from the hallway now that the door was open. I could just make out Matt’s face in the bed. I called his name again with no reply. I looked for a light switch on the wall, but couldn’t find one in the dark. I opened the door a little farther to shed more light as I tip toed toward Matt.

  I reached his bed and turned on the lamp on the bedside table. Matt stirred a little when the light came on. He sat up and looked around a little confused.

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s a little after seven. Are you feeling alright?” I asked him in a whispered voice.

  “I have only been asleep for a couple hours dude. Why are you waking me up so early?”

  “I was worried about you. You looked like you were going to throw up the last time I saw you. Jack had to help you upstairs rather quickly. Grandpa told me what was happening to you last night. I didn’t hear anything else after that.”

  “Luke, I had a really long night. I would love to tell you all about it, but I am exhausted and need to get some more sleep.”

  “I understand. When you wake up I want all the details for sure.” As I was talking to Matt I took the time to glance around his room. I noticed it was almost identical to mine. Matt’s luggage was piled in the corner of the room untouched. I didn’t figure he had time to mess with it with everything that went on last night. I sat down on the edge of his bed. I could see that he had bags under his eyes. His hair was a complete mess.

  “Are you sure you’re alright Matt?”

  “Yes! I am perfectly fine. I promise to tell you all about last night as soon as I wake up. Please let me go back to sleep now,” Matt said in an irritated tone.

  “Ok, Matt, I will leave you alone so you can rest. Come find me when you wake up so we can talk,” I said as I stood up and walked over to turn off the lamp.

  “Um hum,” he mumbled as he rolled over facing the other side of the bed. I walked back to the door and turned to look back at Matt. I was dying to know what happened to him the night before, but I knew he needed some sleep. I stepped out of the room and closed the door silently behind me. Just as I pulled the door closed I heard someone walking down the hall. I
turned to see who it was.

  “Good morning Luke,” the lady from the previous night said as she came up the hall toward me.

  “Good morning, uh… I didn’t catch your name last night,” I said.

  “My name is Adriana. I am your grandfathers’ secretary. I see you found your cousin’s room,” she said gesturing toward Matt’s door.

  “Yes ma’am. Ava told me where to find him. I just went in to check on him,” I explained.

  “Your grandfather is waiting in the dinning hall. He requests you join him for breakfast. Please follow me,” she said as she turned to walk back down the hall toward the stairs. I nodded my head in agreement, but she didn’t see it because she was already walking away from me.

  I followed Adriana down the hall and down the stairs. When we got to the bottom she turned and went thru a set of double doors like the ones that entered into the Great Room. These doors had been closed when we arrived at the mansion. Now I could see that this was a hallway lined with windows looking out over the front lawn of the mansion. We continued down the hall and entered the dinning room through an archway made of stone. The stones were the same as the ones that covered the exterior of the mansion.

  As I entered the dinning hall I stopped immediately to take in the gigantic room. The room had three massive dinning tables