“Lights, Grath!” a female voice called out; it was not the same voice from the Dahmshed I had met on my way home from school. “Turn on the lights! I want the young one to watch! If we are not to get blood, let us at least watch him suffer!” The others cheered in approval and the deep voice came yet again.
“Silence! Silence all of you!” At once, all of the noise in the room died. “If you wish him to watch my dear, then watch he shall!” His laugh was deeper than his voice. The others laughed manically with him, and the lights flashed on. My eyes hurt from the sudden brightness. I wished instantly that my eyes would have stayed blind because when I could finally see, I looked around the room to find at least ten Dahmshed surrounding us. The rest of my family was kneeling down with their faces on the floor and their hands over their heads. I was sick to my stomach. They wanted me to watch my family be killed. I didn’t care what they did to me, but I wouldn’t keep my eyes open. They couldn’t make me watch that.
“Hello, my little friend!” the Dahmshed with the deep voice mocked me. He was standing by the door of the room and smiling at me. His canines were easily seen jutting over the bottom row of teeth and coming to a sharp point. Like most of the others in the room, he was wearing a black trench coat, opened in front to reveal his black undershirt and dark jeans. He had a close-cut mustache and beard that met around his mouth. His hair was long and unruly. His eyes…his eyes were like all Dahmshed, the pupil and iris blended together to form one solid, unnatural black sphere with the rest white and dusted with a small hint of bleeding red.
As he walked over to me, a female Dahmshed with long blonde hair seemed to fly gracefully around the room to his side. “Grath?” she said sweetly. “Can’t we just get this over with? I want to eat before we go home.”
Grath stared at her for a moment and then said, “But my darling Rose, did you not want me to turn on the lights so he could watch us kill them?”
“I did, yes. But can’t we kill them all quickly so we can go? I’m growing very thirsty.” Grath smiled at her, exposing his sharp teeth again.
“Alright,” he said, still looking into her eyes. “Christopher, Dylan, Sabrina; to your places, please.” Three Dahmshed glided into place, each behind one of my family members. The Hook family was about to end. We had no more relatives; all of them were dead, most killed by Dahmshed, but luckily none were ever altered. “Positions, please, my children.” Each of the three Dahmshed pulled their victims upright and placed one hand on top of their head and the other below their chin. I could tell my family was in some type of trance because all they did was stare straight ahead with idiotic looks.
“Awaiting your order, Master Grath,” one of the males spoke quickly. I was trying to look away, but I found myself unable. I was just so horrified that my eyes couldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Grath raise his right arm, like he was signaling for a race to begin.
Then, something happened as he began to bring his hand down. Another Dahmshed crashed through the window to my left, seemingly undeterred by the blessed water in the shattered glass. She was dressed the same way as when I had seen her the past two days. Her black hoodie was only a blur as she crashed into the three Dahmshed holding my family. As one, the rest of the Dahmshed in the room dove at her. She fought them all at once, all except for Grath and Rose. Grath had grabbed his wife by the collar of her leather jacket and pulled her quickly out of the room. I was still frozen where I was, watching helplessly as the hooded Dahmshed fought off the rest single-handedly. She was having trouble, but was still able to fight them all.
“Run, Jason!” I heard her voice call out from the pack of creatures slowly wrestling her to the ground. I got to my feet and almost fell over when I realized how wobbly they were. When I finally made it to the door, I looked back to see my parents and Billy still in their trance on the floor. When the hooded Dahmshed saw me looking at them, she yelled at me again. “Jason, go now, and hurry! Run toward the school, and I will find you. I’m sorry, but there is no hope for them now, and you will die with them if you don’t go!” She might have had something more to say, but the Dahmshed Grath had called Sabrina grabbed her around the neck and pulled her back into the fight.
As much as I hated to leave, I knew my family wouldn’t want me to die if there was no hope for them anyway. So I ran down the stairwell, out the front door, and into the cold night air.
Chapter 4
The Protector
Before I even made it out of my driveway, I was drenched from the drizzle. My muscles resisted as they became colder, but I pushed on until I finally made it to the end of the street. The rain began to pick up, and I could hear thunder growing louder in the distance. I couldn’t have been more than ten feet from the end of my street when something fell from one of the trees above me. It made no sound as it hit the pavement.
Grath stood in front of me. He had a wicked smile on his face and his long, sharp teeth seemed bright even in the dark. I backed up slowly, but hit something solid after a few steps. I whipped around to see Rose glaring at me with her black eyes.
“There’s no escape for you this time, my friend,” Grath said loudly over the pouring rain. “My soldiers will destroy her.”
“Her body will be torn apart!” Rose cackled behind me. “Her limbs ripped off! Her head slashed from the rest of her body! Then, she’ll be burned along with you and your family!” She laughed harder and harder with every second until she was in frenzied hysterics.
“Calm down, my dear!” Grath’s smile widened. “We will be there to watch soon, and you can have all the fun you want. But for now, I shall let you break his neck!” Rose stopped laughing and a look of mad joy came across her face.
“Really? I may kill him myself?”
“Yes, my darling, you may.” Rose jumped into the air, clapping madly. “But do it quickly, for I want nothing to go wrong this time.”
“Of course!” She stopped clapping and grabbed me with an unbelievable force. Her hands wrapped around my head in preparation. My heart was beating fast, but I wasn’t going to cry or scream or beg for my life. I was going to meet death with whatever dignity I had left. “Are you ready?” Rose whispered into my ear.
“No! He’s not!” I heard the hooded Dahmshed’s voice yell. How she was still alive after so many others had attacked her was a mystery to me, but I was very glad to see her, even if she was going to kill me herself, later. Rose was ripped away from me, and I heard her scream as she went flying into the woods on the other side of the road. Then I saw Grath try to run, but the hooded Dahmshed caught him and went straight for his head. He was able to get a punch to her face, but she held onto him and went for his head again. Just when I thought she’d kill him, two more Dahmshed flew over me and crashed into her. Grath escaped from her grip and ran into the woods where Rose had been thrown.
The two new Dahmshed attacked hard, but the hooded Dahmshed was angry now. She tore both of their heads off within a few seconds and left them on the ground as she ran after Grath and Rose. I stood, freezing, in the pouring rain, alone again. If any of the other Dahmshed were still alive, it would have been their best chance to kill me.
The hooded Dahmshed jumped out of the woods. She grabbed me and threw me over her shoulder. Then, we were flying, or at least, I felt like we were flying. She was moving so fast and so smoothly over the ground it felt like she wasn’t touching it at all. I was even colder now as the wind swept over me at the high speed we were going, but I was so amazed I was able to ignore the chill.
The way she ran was amazing. She was on all fours, like a dog or a wolf, but unlike a human, it didn’t look awkward. It was almost as if her arms were extended, or her legs were shortened, so that they were all the same length, but when I looked at either of them they appeared to be normal size. Her legs simply swung through her arms to propel us faster and faster.
Then, without warning, she stopped, and I was on the ground.
“Are you hu
rt?” she asked me.
“What? No, I’m fine,” I responded in a slight daze. “But, what about my family? Are they okay?” She didn’t answer. All she did was sweep me over her shoulder, then we were flying again.
I had no idea where we were. I could see trees flashing by in blurs, which meant we were in the woods somewhere, but we could have been miles away from my house already. After five minutes had gone by in the seemingly unending run, I was so cold that my limbs were becoming numb, and I felt like I was going to pass out.
Before I even realized it, I was in a cave on my back with a load of blankets over me. My clothes had been changed, and I was actually warm. I must have passed out, because there was no way I missed all of this happening, even with how fast this Dahmshed could move.
I started to get up, but I was pushed back down. The hooded Dahmshed stood over me with her foot on my chest.
“Stay down,” she said. “I really don’t want you to get sick, and after being in the cold rain like that, your chances are high.” She lifted her foot from my chest and sat on a rock by the cave wall.
“Where are we?” She looked up and down the cave before responding.
“A place I used to call home. I lived here for a long time when I first came to New York. It’s only a couple of miles from where you lived.”
“Lived?” I picked up on the past tense up instantly.
“Yes. You can’t go back there. Ever.” Her words shocked me.
“Why not? What about my family?”
“They’ll be watching that house until they find you,” she said.
“Who’s they?”
“They are the enemy.” I looked at her questioningly, and she continued. “Yes, Jason, Dahmshed have enemies, too. Although, I have more than most, I’m what you would call the ‘good guy’. I’m here to protect you from them because they want you dead.”
“Me? Why me?”
“Technically, they wanted your entire family. The reason for that is a little unclear at the moment, and there’s no point in me worrying you with it right now.”
“So, my family is…?” I couldn’t finish my question. She put her head down.
“I’m very sorry, Jason. They were lost before I even got there. There was nothing anyone could have done for them.”
“Why?” My entire body began to shake. I was becoming light-headed and dizzy.
“They were cursed,” she said coldly, “with the Trance of Israfil. It’s close to impossible to do and even harder to undo.”
“So is it possible for them to still be alive?”
“I doubt it,” she said, and my heart sank. “But since you’re still alive, they may have taken them hostage to draw you out. Don’t get your hopes up, though,” she added when she saw the small smile on my face.
“And you,” I questioned her to change the subject, “Who are you, and why are you helping me?” She seemed to look straight at me, but her face was still hidden beneath the dark hood.
“My name is Aderes. I’m here on behalf of the resistance to help you survive.”
“There’s a resistance? A resistance against what?”
“There is a small group of us that are trying to protect the human race. The other Dahmshed are killing all of you and before long, no humans will exist. The resistance is small, and we’ll take all the help we can get. Unfortunately, becoming a Dahmshed is an evil thing, and most people succumb to the temptation of the power. It’s difficult to find allies we can trust.”
“So you think I’ll be able to help you? You want me to become one of you?” Anger began to fill my voice. I didn’t want to become a Dahmshed, especially if I didn’t have a choice in the matter.
“The others were very intent on killing you, and I believe there is good reason for that. They believe you could be a threat to them, and if you turn out to be, we could use you on our side. As for your second question, it is totally up to you. I didn’t become this by choice and I will never do it to another soul against their will.”
“What happens if you find out I’m some great weapon that will help you win, and the only way for me to do that is to become a Dahmshed, and I don’t want to?”
“Some of the others may try to force you, but I won’t let them,” she said confidently. “It should be your choice. Just because we’re Dahmshed doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have free will.” There was a long silence as I thought about what she was telling me. My life had just been ripped from my grasp, my family either killed or taken away, and I already had to contemplate becoming a Dahmshed. Aderes must have seen the look of mental exhaustion on my face, because she got up and said, “Get some rest, Jason. You’ve had a rough night, and we must be traveling soon.” She turned to walk away.
“Wait,” I said, surprising myself. “Don’t leave.” I realized then that I was afraid to be alone, and that Aderes seemed to keep me at peace when she was with me.
“I won’t be far, Jason. I just have to take care of some things.” The way she said it sent chills down my spine. I knew that she was going hunting, and I feared for the life of every human in the area.
I quickly forced that thought from my head. When Aderes disappeared around the corner of the cave, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but sleep didn’t come quite as easily as I hoped. Images of the last few hours kept flashing through my mind: Grath’s black eyes darting around the room of bloodthirsty creatures, Rose’s sharp teeth twinkling in the dim light as she laughed maniacally, and of course, my family, kneeling in a line with blank expressions as three Dahmshed stood behind them waiting to break their necks.
But that was the big question. Were their necks actually broken, or were they still alive? Aderes had spoiled Grath’s plan to destroy my whole family, which meant that he still needed me. Even Aderes had suggested that Grath might keep my family alive to draw me out. If that was the case, I could still save them somehow. At the moment, I could only thrive on the possibility that they were still out there somewhere, waiting for me to help them. That one hope would keep me pushing forward, no matter what challenges were ahead.
My family is waiting for me. With that thought lingering on the tip of my tongue, as if ready to become a spoken sentence, I finally drifted off to sleep.
***
When I awoke, it was brighter in the cave. I could see better, and I noticed some wood and sheets in the back that made it seem like a small, makeshift house. It must have been where Aderes lived when she was here because it looked old and worn out. I got out from under the blankets, which were now almost too hot, and walked around the corner towards the cave’s entrance. Aderes sat on a rock just outside the cave in the woods, looking around. Her hood was still up, but her sleeves were rolled all the way up to her shoulders, exposing her smooth, white skin. I walked slowly and silently as I came up behind her, but she still knew I was there.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked without turning around.
“Yeah, I slept fine.” I walked up beside her. She didn’t speak. “Doesn’t that hurt your skin?” I pointed at her exposed arms. It was cloudy but still fairly bright.
“No. Only direct sunlight is bad for us. That’s why this weather is so dangerous; we can be out when no humans believe we should be.” I shuddered at the thought, but didn’t speak again. After a little while, I sat on the ground beside her and looked off into the woods. Little birds flew around, and squirrels chased each other up and down the trees. I even saw a hawk circling way up in the sky. It was so peaceful in the woods that it was hard to believe the events of the day before had even happened.
“Okay,” Aderes said, “it’s getting late. We should get ready to go.” She got up and rolled her sleeves back down.
“What time is it?”
“Almost four. It’ll be getting dark soon.” She went back into the cave and came out with two blankets. One, she told me, held my wet clothes, and the other was to keep me warm as she ran.
“So, where exactly are we going?” I asked her as she gave me th
e blanket to wrap around myself.
“Not far from here. The group lives in an abandoned marina in Stratford, Connecticut.” She paused. “It will take about twenty or thirty minutes for me to run there, so just let me know if you need a break.” She picked up the blanket containing my clothes and handed it to me. Then, she swung me over her back and took off at an unbelievable speed. In the light, it was even more remarkable to see how fast she was going. The speed seemed amazingly increased, if that was even possible. It was exotic, even for a Dahmshed. If someone had seen her running by, they would have thought she was a wolf running really fast. Really, really fast.
It was like driving at ninety miles per hour in a convertible while looking up at the sky. She ran so smoothly and gracefully, it was like she wasn’t even there, and I was just hovering over the ground. Even as the cold November air nipped at my exposed face, I still didn’t want the extraordinary experience to end.
We stuck mostly to the woods, but we had to cross a road or two along the way. A lot of the towns that we passed had been closed off, so there was no one around to see us; although, I feared a Dahmshed might have been peering through some of the boarded-up windows. Aderes’ logic was that once the humans left the town, the Dahmshed moved along, too.
Fifteen minutes into our run, my arms were beginning to hurt, and the cold was becoming unbearable. I tapped Aderes on her shoulder as a signal to stop. She slowed down quickly and let me drop behind her as she stood up. We were hidden in the woods, but I could see cars driving along a road a little to my left. It was scary to think a Dahmshed could be this close to all of those people without them knowing.
Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series) Page 6