The Silent Soldiers

by Travis Stinnett

for my room. I told mom I was going to freshen up a little, and that she could come up to my room when she finished with Grandma.

  I was a little disappointed when I topped the stairs and turned down the hall headed to my room. Matt, Ava, and Jenna were standing in front of Ava’s door talking. I knew immediately that alone time was pretty much out of the question, so I invited them to my room. We took our places around the fireplace as Ava went to the fridge and got us some sodas.

  “Are you ok, man? You seem a little sad to have just gotten your mom back,” said Matt.

  “My dad’s dead,” I said as I told them every detail I could remember from my mom’s story. I didn’t realize until after I finished telling them that tears had again started rolling down my cheeks. Ava moved closer to me on the couch and put her arms around me. I had so wanted to be alone, but I was glad Ava was there to comfort me.

  “Luke, I am sorry about your dad,” said Jenna.

  “So am I. And we are very happy for you that you have your mom now,” said Ava as she continued to hold me there on the couch.

  “We have to do something about Nhados,” said Matt.

  “Yeah, I think we should do something before he attacks us again,” added Jenna.

  “No,” I said a little more loudly than necessary as I sat up straight and moved away from Ava a little bit.

  “I really think they are right,” said Ava.

  “I think for now we need to just stay here at the mansion where it is safe. I know Nhados will probably attack eventually, but he has to break through the protection barriers first. I think that we should spend some time preparing for the day that he does come instead of running into another battle. I definitely don’t want to lose anyone else to Nhados,” I explained. I lost my father, and I refuse to lose another family member,” I said looking at each one of them directly for a few seconds. I wanted them to know I care for all of them as though they were family.

  “That definitely makes sense,” said Matt.

  “That would probably be a very smart thing to do,” added Jenna.

  “I think we need more training before we rush into battle with this murderer. I also think that even though we are technically still kids, we need to grow up and start thinking more like adults. We can’t get all hot headed and rush into things that could potentially cost one of us our lives,” I tried to explain to the group.

  “You’re right. I couldn’t take it if one of us were to die,” said Ava.

  “I know we are headed toward a great battle against Nhados. I have already accepted that. I will avenge my father’s death if it is the last thing I do. I also know that if I were to go to battle now, my emotions would take over and I wouldn’t be able to focus on the battle through my anger. I want him dead more than anything right now, but I don’t want any of us to die in the process,” I told them.

  “Hey! Why are you guys not in class?” I asked changing the subject completely.

  “Jack didn’t show up for class,” said Ava.

  “Yeah, so we had a free period,” said Matt.

  “Oh,” I exclaimed.

  “It’s time for us to be getting back though,” said Jenna. The rest of the gang excused themselves from the room to head back to class. When everyone was out I closed the door and headed for my bed. I decided to lie down for a while. I was still pretty worn out from sleeping in the chair next to mom’s bed all night.

  As soon as my head hit the pillow I blacked out and a new vision came into focus. I was standing in a room looking down at someone in a hospital bed. I didn’t think I was in a hospital, but the man was definitely in a hospital bed. The man had all sorts of hoses and tubes coming out of his body in every direction. I walked closer to the bed to see who it might be. I felt completely terrified to find out who it was. As I reached the side of the man’s bed I noticed that his face was badly injured. His face was cut and bruised to the point that he was completely unrecognizable.

  I came to looking up at the ceiling in my bedroom. I couldn’t remember ever being in a room like the one from my vision. I wondered if the room could be somewhere in the mansion. I came to suddenly. Thoughts flooded me from every direction about the vision I had just experienced. Was this someone I knew? Was it someone I had already met, or someone I would meet in the future? My train of thought caused my stomach to do a flip flop as the next thought rushed into my head. I decided immediately to keep this vision to myself until I figured some things out. The more I thought of the vision the more I came to realize it might actually be true.

  I knew the man in the bed was a vampire. I could see his fangs extended with his mouth hanging slightly open. Who could this man be? The thought was in my head but I didn’t know if I could say it out loud. Was the man from my vision my father?

  Come join Travis to learn more about The Silent Soldiers series and other writing projects in which he is currently working on.

  BLOG:

  https://eeriealliance.blogspot.com

  FACEBOOK

  www.facebook.com/trvsstinnett

  TWITTER

  www.twitter.com/trvsstinnett