Jeff watches Rel fade into the light. He sees Arthur on the floor across the room as Sheri walks towards him.
“Jeff? Jeff? Where’s Chris? Where’s Chris?”
PRESENT
“That was the last time I saw my brother,” Jeff takes a breath. “The police ended up saying that Chris was kidnapped. Arthur and Sheri went along with the story.” He stares around at the other Vauns, ending his focus on the little James. He tries to move the conversation away from the attack. “It did not take long. I learned what it meant to be a Vaun. I started listening to Rel and learning. Now my foster parents tried everything they could but they were not able to handle the life.”
“Very few are able,” Professor says.
“I know,” Jeff says. He smiles. “That’s why when you contacted me I was happy. Finally people who can relate, understand.”
“Everyone here,” Professor says. He stops and stares at Rachel. “Well everyone here but Rachel, has had a similar tragedy.”
“Rel went into resting when I was seventeen,” Jeff says. “It was right after I was attacked. He said he needed to become stronger. So for five years I did everything I could to never see the dark.”
“Did Setah attack when Rel was gone?” Rob asks. He wants to know because he is entertaining the idea of Kynar going into resting.
“No,” Jeff says, “and I don’t know why.”
“I know why he didn’t attack you,” Rachel says. She doesn’t like her thought. “He was resting too. Setah is no longer a Fearling. Is he?”
“No,” Jeff says, “he’s not.”
“He could be more powerful than Rel,” Rob says.
“Three years ago Setah attacked. He shattered lights and put me in the dark. But Rel was able to defeat him and keep me safe.”
“Or at least he was the last time that they fought,” Professor says. “We do not know who is stronger now. We just don’t.”
“How would Setah be stronger?”
“When they rest, they can simultaneously travel out to many worlds,” Rachel says. “The take on a character in that world and the more worlds that they travel, the more experience that they gain, the stronger they become.”
“Now they are bound by different rules in each world,” Professor says. “Like here in ours they appear as they do when the darkness allows.”
“The more worlds that they travel to, the more they divide their consciousness,” Rachel says, “the weaker their characters in each world becomes.”
“What?” Jeff says. “How can they be in different worlds at the same time? And where is their world? Where do they come from?”
“They are from many worlds, one of them is known as Ciren,” Professor says. “Sadly we don’t know much about it.”
“We know that if we kill a Fearling or Molawner in our world it doesn’t kill them in theirs,” Rachel says. “But they can never travel here again. Their connection to our world is lost.”
“This is crazy,” Jeff says. He shakes his head. “I mean. I know it has always been crazy but this, it’s just more than I was expecting.”
“What were you expecting?” Professor asks.
“I don’t know,” Jeff says. He sees the focus and lack of fear on the young James sitting next to his father. He tells himself if the boy can keep his focus then so can he. “Give me an example of what you are talking about.”
“Ok,” Rob says. He looks directly at Jeff. “For example, my Fearling’s name is Kynar.” Rob pauses in thought. He doesn’t want to overwhelm Jeff with too much information. However, he knows that’s impossible as everything that they tell him will be hard to accept. He decides just to say a small sample. “Kynar says that he travels only to our world. That all his focus and energy is in his character here and that is one of the reasons he is stronger than Ekabar, or at least was the last time they fought.”
“There are many routes they can take to become strong,” Professor says. “Not all choose the same.”
“Are there more good Fearlings than bad?” Jeff asks. He shakes his head and takes a breath. “How does it work, and why, why are they attacking us?”
“Good, bad,” Professor says, “I do not believe that those words mean the same in the world they come from. I believe that their world is different. They are all about becoming more powerful. And we do not know everything.”
“My family has had one Fearling attacking for two generations,” Rob says. “His name is Ekabar, but each Vaun has had their own protecting Fearling. Like the Professor said, we don’t know everything. My Grandma spent her life worrying about how to protect me.” He looks at his son then back to Jeff and the others. “She was always trying to find answers, answers that would keep me and mine safe. It’s why we have these gatherings and why we are always looking for more Vauns.”
“You will learn from us tonight,” Professor says, “and we will learn from you.”
The forty-year-old Nancy sits beside Rick. She joins the conversation to share her experiences. “Jeff, when I was ten my seven year old sister and I shared a room. Our family is very aware of the Fearlings and what it means to be a Vaun. But, we hadn’t encountered any bad Fearlings. We have diaries, letters and all kinds of documents going back many generations. There was no record of an attack. My Fearling Lelah was our friend. She was part of the family. It had been that way for every Vaun for generations. That’s what I was told. So we were not raised that there was anything to be afraid of in the dark.”
“You slept in the dark?” James asks.
“No,” Nancy says, “When the bathroom door was open the light shined straight onto our bed, my Fearling would be pinned to either side and was not able to reach through the light.”
“Dad says they can reach through light.”
“I know this James,” Nancy says. Her tone quiets as she speaks. “You, you are a brave young man. When I was your age I was not as brave.” She turns to Jeff. “And you are not the only one in this room who was frozen in fear.”
Jeff stands without movement. He listens with compassion as Nancy shares her story.
“I was ten and my sister was seven. My mom was a nurse so she would work nights.” Nancy stops. The memory is thirty years old and still hurts. She controls her focus and continues her story. “One night while our mom was working my sister and I had just fallen asleep. I was restless and woke up. I had to go to the bathroom. When I got out of bed, my movement startled my sister. I told her to go back to sleep. It was storming outside and I knew that my sister was afraid of storms and I knew that she didn’t like to be in the dark by herself. I was young and I liked to tease my sister.”
PAST
The ten-year-old Nancy walks to the bathroom. Lightning flashes outside and lights the room for a second. She sees her sister roll over, sit up, and look at her.
“Nancy?”
“I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Please don’t shut the door.”
“Be brave,” Nancy says. She has shut the door before and her sister is always mad at her but it doesn’t last long. “Lelah will talk to you.”
“Don’t,” the sister says as she watches Nancy shut the door. The room darkens and she stares around. Lightening from outside flashes and brightens the room for a second. “Nancy.”
The shadowy image of the Fearling Lelah fades into vision in the corner a few feet away from the bed. She turns her stare to the human child. She steps forward as she speaks in the Fearling’s whispery tone. “Protect.”
“Nancy,” the sister says again. She flinches when loud thunder erupts from the storm outside. A second later lightening flashes and the room brightens. Lelah vanishes in the light but returns with the darkness a couple seconds later. “Nancy, please hurry.”
“Turn the light on, silly,” Nancy says from inside the bathroom.
The sister is tired and full of panic. Her young mind didn’t think about turning the lights on. She rolls over and reaches for the lamp on the nightstand. Right before she turns
it on, she sees shadowy movement out of the corner of her eye. Her hand is on the switch but she hesitates. She turns her head and sees something that she has never seen before, another Fearling.
The Fearling’s name is Culav. He wants to take the younger sister. He knows that this family is not ready for an attack. He also knows that as long as he doesn’t attack the Vaun, Lelah cannot help the sister. He looks at the frightened girl and whispers his intentions. “M i n e.” He steps forward as the girl turns the light on.
Both Fearlings fade from vision. The sister sits on the bed terrified and doesn’t move when the bathroom door opens. Nancy walks into the room smiling. She stops when she sees the look on her sister’s face. “What?” The storm outside continues but the room is well lit. She stares around and doesn’t see anything. “What’s wrong?”
“I saw another.”
“What?” Nancy asks as lightning flashes from outside. “No you didn’t. It was the storm outside. That’s all.”
“No. No it wasn’t”
Nancy feels bad. She was just teasing her sister. She didn’t really want to scare her this bad. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have turned the light off. Please don’t tell Dad. We’ll keep the light on. Ok?” She climbs into bed next to her sister. “It was just the storm. That’s all. Did you see Lelah?”
The sister nods yes.
“Do you want me to turn the lights off to show you?”
“No,” the sister says. Her tone is almost pleading. “No. Keep the lights on.”
“Ok,” Nancy says. Her guilt is growing as she watches her sister stare around the room. “We will. I promise. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, and neither would Lelah.”
“I know,” the sister says. “There was another.” She stops as lightning flashes throughout the room. She knows what she saw. “It wasn’t the storm. It wasn’t.”
“Ok,” Nancy says as the electric blinks, startling both girls. “Let’s get Dad.”
The girls get out of bed and walk to the door. Nancy turns the light on as they enter the hallway. It’s quiet in the house except for the storm outside. They can hear their dad walking around in the kitchen downstairs. The power goes out and the house darkens. Nancy doesn’t panic. She has been in this situation before and believes that there is nothing to be afraid of. She turns to her sister. “Hang on.” Her eyes adjust to the darkness. “Let me get the flashlight.” She walks back into her room to the nightstand.
“Hurry Nancy,” her sister says from the doorway.
The Fearling Lelah appears at the end of the bed. She speaks to her young Vaun with purpose. “Protect.”
Nancy hears the words but doesn’t pay attention. She reaches into the nightstand drawer and grabs a flashlight then turns it on. She turns back to the doorway just as the Fearling Culav appears in the darkness behind her sister. She freezes in fear as Culav yanks her sister backwards slamming her into the hallway wall. Culav turns to Nancy at the nightstand. The girl shines the flashlight on him and he fades from vision.
“No!” Nancy yells. She shines the light as she starts to her sister on the floor in the hall.
The seven year old is staring up at her approaching sister as the Fearling Culav grabs her by the ankle. She yells as Culav drags her down the hallway. Nancy runs out of the room and sees Culav dragging her sister into the far bedroom at the end of the hall.
The sister reaches out and grabs the door’s entrance. She screams as she holds on. At that second the power returns and the hall light is back on. She feels Culav’s grip release as he fades from the light. She cries on the floor as she stares down the hallway at her sister who yells for their father.
“Dad!” Nancy is scared.
Her sister feels its grip and reaches out for the doorway as Culav pulls at her from behind. “Nancy!”
Nancy watches in terror as a shiny black skinned arm reaches out into the light of the hall. The hand wraps around the crying seven year old as Nancy walks forward. She hears her dad yelling to them from downstairs then her seven-year-old sister is yanked from her vision.
PRESENT
“I ran to the doorway and stared into the dark room,” Nancy says. She stares around at some of the others then looks to the new Vaun, Jeff. She is hardened from her experience. Her tone is focused, showing control over her emotions. “I saw my Fearling Lelah standing in front of the bed but there was nothing else.”
“What did you do?” Jeff asks.
“A few seconds later my dad came into the room and he searched everywhere as I cried,” Nancy says. She hesitates and takes a breath, “Like I said before. We were very educated about Fearlings but because there was no record of an attack we didn’t know that Lelah could not help unless I was attacked.”
“You know it was not your fault,” Professor says. Nancy nods yes and he looks to Jeff. “They all have a similar story, well, all of them except Rachel.”
“Why is that?” Jeff asks. “Why don’t they attack your family?”
“I don’t know.”
CHAPTER 9
Ann, Julie and the young Stewart are in the living room. Ann lies on the couch while Julie sits in the chair. Stewart sits on the floor watching cartoons on the TV in front of them.
The two moms sit in silence. They both are lost in thought about Ann being pregnant, and how James has two Fearlings. It is a lot of information and they were not ready for any of it but they remain calm.
The cartoon goes to commercial and Stewart turns around to his mom and Ann. He sees the serious looks on their faces. He is a lot like his friend James. He is excited about it all. “It’ll be ok Mom.” He smiles.
Ann responds with a smile of her own as she stands. “We know.”
“Yeah, James is going to have a little sister,” Julie jokes.
“Or little brother,” Stewart says.
“Yes, or a little brother,” Ann says as she walks down the well-lit hall toward the kitchen. “Does anybody want a drink?” She hears both say no as she reaches for the kitchen lights.
The way they have their lights setup in the kitchen allows for three feet of darkness in the back corner of the room. It allows Kynar to visit with them but pins the Fearling to the corner. If they want the entire room lit, they flip the second switch.
Right now Ann isn’t worried about seeing a Fearling because there are no Vauns in the house. She flips the first switch then walks across the room to the cabinet and grabs a glass. A quiet soft toned voice startles her from behind.
“H e l l o.”
“What the…” Ann says as she quickly turns around. She has never experienced this before. There has never been a Fearling without a Vaun. The tall shadowy figure is bigger than Kynar and his presence scares her. She tries to hide the fear from her tone. “What, who are you?”
“Nanlar.”
“You’re a Fearling, how are you here? There are no Vauns in this house.”
“Wrong. Not a Fearling.”
“What?” Ann asks. She knows what that means. “You’re, you’re a Molawner aren’t you. Like Rick’s Sevol?”
“Yes,” Nanlar nods as he answers. “You, the Vaun is living within you.”
Ann steps back. She understands. The baby inside of her is going to be a Vaun. She still doesn’t understand how the Molawner is here. “Are you the baby’s Molawner?”
“One,” Nanlar says.
“What?” Ann asks.
“I travel here in need of only one.”
“One what?” Ann asks again. She doesn’t like the Being’s evasiveness. She knows that his words can mean many things and not all are good for them. Her tone is more forceful. “What do you need?”
Julie enters the room but stops when she sees the image of Nanlar in the darkened corner. She has enough experience with Fearlings to know not to panic but to be ready for anything. Her thoughts are about reaching out to the light switch.
“Mom,” Stewart says. He walks down the hall toward his mom who is not moving, “Mom?”
“Stay there, Stewart,” Julie says. She knows that there is plenty of light in the living room and hall. She turns back to Ann as her friend continues her conversation with Nanlar.
“Are you here for us?” Ann asks. Her tone shows her fear of the answer as she repeats the question. “Are you here for one of us?”
“You,” Nanlar quietly says. “I am here for you.”
Ann turns to Julie. Their eyes meet and Ann can tell that Julie is about to flip the second light switch. She shakes her head no. “Not yet.”
“No,” Nanlar says. He turns his shadowy head towards Julie standing at the entrance. “She wishes to learn so allow me to stay without struggle.”
Fearlings Two (The Fearlings Series Book 2) Page 4