The Vengeance

by Allison Rios

  AJ stood his ground as the crowd began slowly making their way towards him in torturous parade. They filtered around Abraham, the old man staying put with a wicked grin plastered across his face. With only ten yards or so closing in between them, AJ clenched his hands into tight fists and prepared. He’d focused so intently on the Grims that he had failed to notice the arrival of another.

  “AJ!” Robert yelled while stepping next to the Healer. “Get in the house! Go to the girls!”

  AJ glanced over at him and overrode the initial instinct to pound the man into oblivion for his betrayal.

  “AJ, I didn’t mean for all this to happen. I just wanted to come back and know my daughter. This is my fault and my fight. Go to them. Go protect our girls!”

  Robert grabbed AJ’s arm, forcing into him the visions of the moments spent with the old man and others, of how much he loved the women inside. He had meant no betrayal.

  He leaned over and pushed the Healer towards the door although AJ didn’t budge. AJ debated only for a second whether to stay or do as the Grim asked, hoping that this was not yet another betrayal by Robert. He glanced back at Robert as the Grim stationed himself between the crowd and the stairway to the house.

  “We protect them together then.”

  “I’ll hold them off,” Robert replied, watching as the Grims in front of him chuckled, enjoying the show.

  “Won’t matter much how you do it,” Abraham replied. “It’ll all be over soon for you both.”

  “I didn’t know they’d come after them. Don’t let Rose turn into this AJ. Make sure she knows I’m a good man. Make sure she knows that about her Daddy. Now go!” Robert screamed and used all his force to push AJ towards the house before diving into the crowd with fists poised.

  AJ finished climbing the stairs onto the porch. The screen door slammed behind him and he shut the heavy wooden door and locked it in place. He only had a moment to glance out the window as he watched the crowd surround Robert. It was in his nature to run back out and fight and protect the father of a child he dearly loved. He knew it would do no good. He prayed for a swift death for the Grim and a sense of peace in the afterlife. He made a beeline for the room he could feel the group in.

  Shutting another door behind him, he raced to Rose, Addie, and Gram and wrapped them in his arms. Benjamin was at the window assessing whether they could make a getaway that way, but they were too close to the front to do so.

  “What’s going on?” Addie screamed as she pulled Rose as close to her as possible.

  She was frantic, her voice and tremors mimicking those AJ had watched that night in the barn as Rose’s leg was speared.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  The sobs burst forth from her and she hugged Rose tightly. Rose began crying as well. AJ’s mind couldn’t work fast enough to determine what to do next. He didn’t care whether he lived to see tomorrow; his only mission in life at the moment was to keep any harm from befalling the family.

  “Benjamin, any ideas?” he bellowed? “I’ll only be able to slow them, not stop them.”

  Benjamin remained calmly looking out the window. He showed no fear and no anger. AJ wondered if that’s what happened when you became an elder. Perhaps, he thought, you just ceased to feel anything. It would surely make the job much easier.

  “Benjamin!” AJ screamed, but still no response.

  He was going to have to do this alone, he thought.

  The white lace curtains in the window were a stark contrast to the melee taking place outside. Robert’s screams had ceased and AJ knew what that signified. The crowd would now be moving inside. He darted to the window and looked at the lawn. At least two other bodies lay on the ground beside Robert’s. AJ felt a slight quiver of remorse for having doubted the man. No one evil could have produced something as beautiful as Rose.

  AJ ran back over to the door and made sure it was locked before pushing the dresser in front of it. He needed time to think and to refocus his strength. He pushed the four others into the corner of the room and with a simple lock of his gaze, silently asked Benjamin to make sure it all ended quickly and painlessly for them, if the situation came to that fork in the road.

  The dresser began shaking as angry fists pounded at the door. The screams grew louder as the chants outside grew more furious. Abraham’s evil cackle was the loudest of all, echoing through the house as though they were within the confines of a cave. Wood splintered and cracked as the crowd began breaking down the barriers to their target.

  Addie tried to contain her terror, muffling her sobs and screams with her arm as she pushed Rose behind her in an attempt to shield the child. Gram held them both close as Benjamin stood nearby.

  As the dresser tipped over and the door flew off its hinges, the remaining Grims surged forward into the room and stopped short of AJ. It was glaringly apparent that Abraham wanted this to be as traumatic as possible. The old man stepped to the back of his clan in what AJ considered a cowardly move and with a stamp of his cane, signaled them to continue the assault. As they again began their move towards AJ, Rose broke free of her mother’s grip and sprinted full speed to AJ’s side.

  Addie screamed and lunged forward but it was too late; Rose was already too far out of her reach. It distracted AJ enough so that he looked down just as Rose latched onto his arm.

  The little girl let out an ear-piercing scream as her purple floral dress swayed in motion around her.

  “No!” she bellowed, the sound atomic in the air.

  As the word passed through her lips, an intense light encapsulated the entire room. Rushing outwards in waves from her petite form, the strength of it pushed furniture away and peeled paper from the walls. The radiance was blindingly bright and absorbed all sound, creating a fog around all of them. The energy protruding from it continued forth in waves and slid the group back a few feet from their place in the middle of the room.

  He could feel the power and warmth of whatever the light was. It felt like the aura which extended from his hands as he healed, only on a much larger magnitude. AJ stood frozen and unable to move. His mind frantically wondered what the hell was happening as he tried to assess where his enemies were and how he would stop them. Then the voice entered his mind again.

  “It’s my turn.”

  AJ had no idea how long they were stuck in the burst of light, as time stood still. When the illumination dissipated – as quickly as the brilliance of it had begun – he was left staring at the openness in front of him and an entire mob of Grims piled on the ground.

  With the arm Rose had latched onto he pushed her behind him, readying himself to protect them from the onslaught. He realized then that there was no movement from anyone. He quickly looked around to see if Addie, Gram, and Benjamin were down as well, only to find them still standing in the corner and holding tightly to one another.

  “Rose!” Addie screamed while rushing towards her little girl and wrapping her into a bear hug. “What the hell were you thinking baby? What happened AJ?”

  She frantically brushed the hair out of Rose’s face and pulled the little girl as tightly to her as she could. AJ stepped forward towards the first of the bodies, scanning them for any movement. He reached down and felt for a pulse with nothing pumping back at him. They were dead.

  All of the Grims were dead.

  He counted them, carefully, as Benjamin followed closely behind doing the same. As he reached the front of the house and the last of the bodies, he turned to Benjamin.

  “One is missing,” he whispered, somewhat scared that one of the Grims would come back to life. “I counted them all and one is missing.” He had no idea what happened and felt ashamed that he was as confused and scared as he was.

  “Abraham,” Benjamin whispered back. “He’s on his way out of town. I can feel the distance growing. He’s gone for now.”

  “But he’ll be back.”

  “I’m sure he will. But let’s not worry about that right now. We have a big mess to clean up.”


  AJ looked outside at the bodies on the lawn. He couldn’t look left or right for fear that the entire neighborhood was outside observing, wondering what had happened.

  “Bring them in,” Benjamin ordered. “I froze time when we first began our walk for anyone who doesn’t know about us. I had a feeling something was off and thought it best to keep the entire block from knowing about our existence. No one will be out there watching. As far as anyone knows, their lives will pick up where they left off fifteen minutes ago.”

  Max had already arrived on the lawn by the time AJ made it outside. Together, they carried the Grims into the house as Benjamin directed them. Addie and Gram stayed in the back room with Rose close to them.

  AJ shook his head as Max shot him a look. They’d talk about it later, he mouthed. The last body was Robert’s and they carefully lifted it off of the cool, wet grass and into the house. They set him gently on the couch and placed a blanket over him.

  “What now?” AJ asked.

  A house full of bodies was bound to raise questions by the three women in the back.

  “How are we going to bury all these bodies?”

  “We aren’t,” Benjamin replied as he touched the first one, a blast of light disintegrating it into non-existence. “They’ll receive a proper burial on the other side.”

  Benjamin walked through and touched the bodies one by one as he sent them off to the afterlife. He approached Robert’s body and AJ stepped in front of him.

  “Not this one,” he said. “This one, we bury.”

  “AJ.”

  “No negotiations. He helped save our lives. He’s Rose’s father and he deserves the opportunity to be remembered as a hero by her. Rose deserves that, too.”

  “Have it your way,” he replied.

  The three females came out and looked around, Addie noticing first the blanketed body on the couch.

  “Is that …?”

  “Yes,” AJ replied, nodding.

  Her eyes instantly swelled with tears as she looked down at her little girl.

  “Don’t cry mama,” Rose replied. “Daddy’s not gone.”

  “Oh sweetie, your daddy,” she started, interrupted by Rose’s voice.

  “My daddy is right here in me. He’s a part of me. He always was and he always will be. We’ll see him again someday.”

  “We will,” Addie whispered.

  She was confused at her daughter’s calm in spite of the circumstances. It wasn’t normal.

  “What happened in there?” AJ asked Benjamin.

  “Well, it seems we are right back where we were a month ago, doesn’t it?” he said.

  Addie collapsed to her knees next to Robert. “Did he cause this?” she whispered.

  “No,” AJ replied. “He stopped it. He took all of them on for you and Rose, Addie. Your daddy was a hero, Rose.”

  Benjamin stepped forward and placed a hand on AJ, pushing a memory into AJ’s mind.

  As Gram had pulled up to the house the morning after the battle against Devin, she sensed something was different. The feeling was a familiar one and as she saw Benjamin, she understood why.

  As Benjamin approached the car she had a feeling Rose was the person he was in search of.

  “Hi,” Benjamin said, a smile across his face.

  “Hi,” Rose replied after some initial hesitation, clutching her ragged, stuffed bear to her chest.

  “I’m Benjamin,” he replied, extending his hand.

  “I’m Rose,” she giggled, taking his hand in hers. He bent down and whispered in her ear.

  “You’re very special Rose. Our secret is a very big secret for a little girl. Can I count on you to keep it?”

  Rose nodded.

  “You are going to do great things very, very soon. You have your mother’s heart and your family’s strength, combined with the innocent beliefs of childhood. Believe with all of your heart and you will change lives. I’ll see you again soon.”

  Rose giggled the innocent laughter of a child and then instantly sleepy, she wrapped her arm around AJ and fell against him in a new dream world; one from which she’d awaken.

  “Rose?” AJ was stunned. “I thought Healers aren’t revealed until their early twenties.”

  “That’s true,” Benjamin replied, crouching down to Rose’s level as the little girl smiled.

  “Then how?”

  “Rose isn’t just a Healer. She has the blood of both clans flowing through her veins. Luckily for her she has her great-grandmother’s disposition and a family who has loved her with all their hearts. Upbringing can make a world of difference to a person, AJ. And since she has the blood of both running through her veins, she is the strongest of any being on earth. More powerful than you and I combined, actually. And with a heart as pure as hers, I’m not surprised that her strength is revealed early. Only happens once in a lifetime.”

  “So you knew when you visited before?”

  “I did. Which is why I couldn’t wipe her memory.”

  “How did she do what she did in there?”

  Rose giggled, finding it all very funny.

  “She believed she could win and she did. She wanted to save you and protect all of you. Her belief gave her strength.”

  It was a lot to process. AJ looked again at Benjamin and wanted to plead for the suspense to be over.

  “I know you came to strip my powers for what I did to Addie.”

  “Actually, no. I came to check on Rose here and see if she’d discovered anything, which quite obviously she has.”

  “But you said before that the rules are rules.”

  “They are indeed. But you didn’t break any. You didn’t heal Addie.”

  “Then who?” He stopped himself short and turned his attention to Rose. “You?”

  “Me,” she smiled. “I told you all along she’d be okay. I just did what you did when you fix people. I put her hand in mine and I believed I could fix her and it worked, just like with the bird.”

  “The bird? The bird with the broken wing? I thought that was me.”

  “Nope. I just pictured the birdie flying again and then it did.”

  “You’re just full of surprises,” AJ smiled.

  Turning back to Benjamin his tone became more serious.

  “So what now?” he asked.

  “That’s up to you, I believe,” Benjamin replied.

  AJ looked down at Rose and then over to Addie. He took a few steps towards Addie and then his arms were around her, pulling her close. She smiled as he reached his hand up to the side of her still-trembling face and brought his lips to hers. He kissed her long and hard to make up for all of the moments over the last few months that he’d wanted to and hadn’t been able to. Picking her up and pulling her back into him, he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “I choose her.” He set her down as her smile ignited the entire room and turned to face Benjamin. “I understand what this means and I accept all consequences, but I choose her.”

  “Rose, I leave you in good hands,” he said. He turned to face Addie and AJ.

  “Wiping your mind would do me no good, Addie. I can see that no matter what, you’ll always remember your love for this man. I trust that with your ancestry known, you make the choice to keep it a secret for us. Your daughter is special and will need your guidance to become the woman she is meant to be.”

  “I promise,” Addie replied.

  “And AJ,” Benjamin said as he turned towards the Healer. “Sometimes rules are made to be broken, as long as no one is hurt in the process. You will never be able to heal Addie which is why I leave you with my blessing to be together. With Rose around, you’ll never have a need to. Her strength supersedes all others. Rose and the children like her are bound by a different set of laws than the rest of us. Max can help her learn. And since he never actually broke any of our laws, I see it only fair that I return his Healer status to him.”

  Max’s body quivered as the warmth returned. He was whole again.


  Benjamin turned and walked to the door.

  “Don’t ever think that life is filled with happy endings. Today’s battle ended, but it is just the start of something greater and more evil to come.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Today, we remember a great man: a man of strength and integrity, one who served the world with dignity. A father and a friend, Robert is someone who will be missed greatly and forever loved by those that knew him.”

  As the gentle music started playing, Rose let go of Gram’s hand and stepped forward to place a single red rose on the casket. She looked back at her mother and great-grandmother, women who had seen more and knew more than most would in a lifetime. She stepped back into place as one by one, the others placed their roses on the casket to say their last goodbyes.

  With one hand in Addie’s and another in AJ’s, she watched as they lowered her birth father into the ground. She hadn’t known him long but she knew she’d see him again one day. And more importantly, she would always carry his memory in her heart.

  As the group began to disperse, Gram bent down to Rose’s level.

  “How are you child?” she asked, as she swept her great-granddaughter’s hands in her own.

  “I’m okay,” Rose whispered back. She smiled at her great-grandmother. “Daddy told me something that he said would help me understand someday.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “I’m not the only special child around here, am I?”

  Rose smiled at her grandmother then flitted off to join Addie and AJ.

  “Indeed you’re not,” Gram laughed.

  About the Author

  Allison Rios, raised in Joliet, Illinois, has been writing as a hobby since childhood. An avid reader, she devours books from all genres and began creating her own short stories at a young age. A mother of two and a full-time worker, she spends her free time typing out her daydreams into stories and creating new worlds with her imagination – a trait she shares with her children. Writing has taken her through many different aspects in her career and she loves being able to bring characters to life in novels like The Touch and The Vengeance.