Moonlight Denial: Shades of Moonlight Book One

The house that had once belonged to Deloris Mary-Weather stood silent and still. The silence was broken soon enough when the doorknob to the front door began to rattle. It did this for a few seconds before it abruptly stilled and a click sounded. The knob then slowly turned and the door swung open. Three silhouettes stood in front of the doorway and one of them placed its hands on its hips.

“See? As simply as blinking,” Ethan said smugly with a big, chesire grin.

“Jeeze, I’ll admit it…that was pretty cool,” Nicoli said in unabashed awe as he studied the door. The vampire hadn’t even touched it and the door opened by the sheer persuasiveness of Ethan’s mind.

“I always say vampires are born cat burglars,” Felix said with his own smile, but didn’t look as impressed as Nicoli.

“Okay, Kid,” Ethan said, bringing the boy out of his stunned revere and look up at the man. “Go on in.”

Nicoli’s eyes went wide and he leapt away from the door like it had transformed into the Gates of Hell.

“Wait, you want me to go first!?” he exclaimed in shock and horror, looking from the doorway to Ethan.

“Well, you do have to make sure there are no talismans or barriers in the entry room. Remember, I don’t know where they are on the inside, so you’re going to be our lead man from here on out,” the vampire informed him and watched as the boy’s horrified look only increased.

“What? You’re not turning chicken now, are you?” Felix asked with a sly smirk. He placed on hand over the other and rested them on Ethan’s shoulder and placed his chin down on his hand. The look he was giving the boy was one of smug superiority.

Nicoli bristled and glowered at the ghost.

“Shut up! You have no room to talk. Like you said, you’re dead, so you have nothing to worry about. I on the other hand am alive, squishy, and have a high mortality rate. So, talk to me again when you can say the same,” he huffed at Felix, who only smirked at his gall.

“Enough, the both of you,” Ethan intervened before the spirit had a chance to retaliate. The vampire knew just how much Felix could make his words sting if he wanted them to. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. Nicoli,” he then said, turning his attention fully to the human. “You’ll be right ahead of us, within my line of sight. You’ll be fine.”

“Riiiight,” Nicoli said, not believing a word of it. “Your line of sight doesn’t mean squat if I get attacked and there’s a barrier that prevents you from getting to me.”

Ethan sighed. He was hoping the boy wouldn’t see that angle. He then moved so he was in front of the doorway and he peered around inside.

“I don’t see anyone, all right,” he said over his shoulder to Nicoli. “Just quickly go in and make sure there are no protective charms or seals and we’ll be right in after you.”

“Actually, I have an even better idea on how to check,” Nicoli told him.

“And what’s tha – ack!” Ethan cried out when a blow to his back shoved him right across the threshold and into the house. The vampire froze and waited for the inevitable pain of coming near a barrier…but it never came. He looked around cautiously to see the room was free of all enchantments and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

Felix watched this transaction happen with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide. He glided over to float beside Nicoli, who had a very satisfied smirk on his face.

“Man…that was really messed up!” the ghost exclaimed, not believing the human had the guts to do something so underhanded.

“Well, it worked didn’t it?” he asked and his smirk grew smug when Ethan turned around to stare disapprovingly at him. “Oh, come on, weakest link here. I’ve got to put my foot down and save my own skin if we’re going headlong into danger,” Nicoli said, anything but sorry for his actions.

“You have self-confidence issues, don’t you?” Felix asked.

“When it comes to dying? Yes.”

“All right, let’s get over the fact Nicoli is less than a team player and both of you get your asses in here. The coast is clear,” Ethan told them as he ran a hand through his hair.

Nicoli and Felix glanced at each other and the ghost took the liberty of going first when it looked like the human wasn’t prone on moving. He hesitated right before the doorway and cautiously reached out his hand. When his fingers met no resistance and went easily through the threshold he sighed in relief and was immediately by Ethan’s side.

“I don’t get it,” Nicoli said as he inched his way into the house. “Why would Omen put so many barriers and stuff up around the property of the house, but nothing at the entrance?” he asked when he was standing in front of the vampire.

“I don’t know, maybe to get us to let our guard down or something to that extent,” Ethan replied as he then began looking around the room again and wandered further into the entrance room.

Nicoli and Felix were quick to follow, not wanting the distance between them and the vampire to be great.

“Wow…” Nicoli breathed in awe as he looked up at an iron wrought chandelier above their heads. It was once used to hold candles, but whoever owned the house presently upgraded it to be able to use electricity and the candles were transformed into light bulbs.

“I don’t get why Deloris Mary-Weather’s house is so big,” he then said. “Isn’t this kind of extreme for just one woman to live in?”

“No, because she didn’t live here alone,” Ethan answered. “Apparently she had a very large family and they all lived here together.”

“Though after the dunder heads of the town killed her, the family got their asses out of here,” Felix chimed in.

“How sad…” Nicoli murmured as he looked around the rest of the room. Besides the size and the chandelier, it wasn’t too impressive. Some small tables lined the walls with vases filled with flowers on them and paintings of landscapes and fruit were hung up on those same walls, maybe to give the house a “homely” feeling. Besides the front door there were two other doorways that led further into the house. One door in front of them and another off to their right.

“I’m going to have to go on alone now, aren’t I?” the boy asked softly, an unpleasant shudder passing through his bones.

Ethan looked to him solemnly, but could offer no reassurances to quell the boy’s fear.

“I’m afraid so,” the vampire told him. When Nicoli didn’t move Ethan decided to show the human just how dire his help was. The vampire went to the door that was right in front of them. He flexed his fingers before he reached out his hand toward the knob.

Nicoli literally jumped a foot in the air when a pure white shock shot out at the vampires hand and a force field made up of the same white energy glinted over the door before vanishing.

“That’ll be a most definitely,” Ethan corrected through clenched teeth and held his hand to him. He raised a brow when the teenager was instantly by his side and took the vampire’s injured hand in his own to look at it.

“Holy shit…” the human murmured, not believing what he saw. The vampire’s hand looked as if it were burned. The skin that had been hit directly had deteriorated away and left the meat and muscle exposed.

Nicoli thought he was going to be sick to his stomach so he tore his eyes away from the sight to look up at Ethan.

“This is what they do to you? I thought they just forced you back or something,” he said.

“No, I’m afraid not, Felix gets off easy in that aspect since you can’t really harm a ghost, but I, on the other hand…” Ethan trailed off as he took his hand from Nicoli’s. He had been surprised that the boy sounded worried and was glad his display had proved to the human why he was needed.

Nicoli was silent for a moment. Now he felt awful for pushing Ethan through the doorway when barriers could have been in the room. He guessed putting himself first in this situation wasn’t the best thing to do after all. He was brought out of his guilt ridden thoughts when the sound of Ethan’s shirt ripping sounded in the room.

“What are you doing?” Nicoli asked as he watched the vampire tear the lower half of his shirt off.

“Vampires heal quickly, but when injured by things of this nature it takes just a bit longer for the healing process to take effect,” Ethan explained as he tried to tie the strip of fabric around his hand.

Seeing he was having trouble, Nicoli was about to help when Felix, who had made himself solid, bumped the human out of the way. The ghost threw a dirty look at the living boy before binding Ethan’s hand with the piece of shirt.

Nicoli gave a disgruntled huff and turned his head away as the vampire smiled appreciatively at Felix. The human had been more than capable of tying the shirt, but he could see why the ghost would be upset with him. Nicoli had been the asshole after all.

Once Ethan’s hand was bound and secured the three went back to business.

“So…which door should I check out first?” Nicoli asked, looking from one to the other.

Ethan was pleasantly taken aback that the boy was being completely compliant now, but he was thankful for it all the same.

“It’s up to you,” the vampire replied simply. “You’ll have to go through both eventually. The question is which one do you want to get over and done with now?”

Nicoli was silent as he turned to one door then the other then back. Even his mind was quiet as he debated his choices. Finally the boy moved toward the door straight ahead of him. He hesitantly touched the doorknob, half expecting it to reach out and attack him like it had Ethan, but, of course, that didn’t happen and the human was left unharmed.

He looked back at the vampire and ghost. His expression that of great reluctance and a sliver of hope that some cosmic power would prevent him from going off alone, but no higher power helped him and Ethan just encouraged him with his teal eyes while Felix shooed the boy impatiently with his hands.

A sigh that almost sounded like a whimper left Nicoli as he turned the doorknob.

“I’ll be back,” he said as he opened the door. “Hopefully.” The murmur trailed after him as he disappeared through the doorway into the next room.

Felix sighed when the living boy was finally gone and with a wave of his hand the door closed on its own.

“What are you doing?” Ethan asked, looking from the door to the ghost.

“Making sure I don’t go after the twerp and wring his little neck,” Felix snarled and glowered at the now closed door.

“Felix –”

“He could have killed you with that stunt he pulled!” the spirit snapped before the vampire could say anything. “Or if not killed you, you could have been severely wounded. Why aren’t you more pissed at him?” he demanded.

“Because I’m trying to have patience and self control,” Ethan said, his gaze flicking away from Felix’s imposing stare. “Nicoli is a child, a scared one at that. He’s never been a part of something like this before so I can see why he would be only thinking of himself instead of others. Of course that doesn’t excuse him of his actions, and I am upset over almost becoming barbequed, but I’ll be patient with Nicoli as long as I need to be. And if he happens to pull something like that again then I’ll slap some sense into him,” the vampire explained and grinned, trying to lighten Felix’s anger.

It didn’t work as well as he hoped as the ghost continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes. He then sighed and shook his head as he looked back to the door.

“You need to stop being so lenient on that brat. Being human or young gives him no right to put others in danger.”

“Well, maybe this experience will teach him that,” Ethan offered with a shrug of his shoulders. “If you happened to notice he was very shocked by the effects of the barrier and seemed sorry for what he had done.”

Felix only growled and crossed his arms. The ghost was obviously not going to give the human boy the chance to redeem himself.

Ethan sighed lightly. He loved Felix for his protectiveness and quirky qualities, but he wished the ghost and the boy could reconcile their differences and actually work together for once. He had seen a brief glimpse of it that had given him hope when the two worked on Nicoli’s essay together, but now it was like that moment in time had never existed and the two were on pins and needles with each other constantly.

To lighten the mood before Nicoli returned Ethan changed the subject.

“Aside from all the blasted barriers and talismans, I think we’re extremely lucky,” Ethan said as his eyes trailed up to the ceiling.

“Why’s that?” Felix asked with an arched brow, his curiosity stirred.

“It doesn’t appear that Omen will grace us with his presence tonight.”

Now Felix looked stunned by the words and he blinked at the vampire.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Elementary, my dear Felix,” Ethan said with a cheeky smile. “The only heartbeat present in this whole house is Nicoli’s and, even though there are a multitude of human scents here, I can’t pick out Omen’s at all.”

Felix stared at him a moment longer before imitating Ethan and looking up at the ceiling and all around the room.

“So…you’re saying he just set up the talismans and barriers and hasn’t bothered to come back? He just left it at that? Doesn’t that seem a bit too…easy?” the ghost asked uncertainly.

“Perhaps,” Ethan said with a shrug. “But I’ve never been the one to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Felix frowned. Why couldn’t Ethan take these things a bit more seriously? This was all so unsettling. Omen going against his usual MO and using protective charms then not even bothering to stick around to make sure they worked? It was all too fishy for the ghost’s liking and he felt in no way should any of them let their guard down. Felix had a feeling the night was only going to get worse before it got better.

Time ticked on and the night crept by as Nicoli went from room to room tearing down barriers and smashing talisman. It was harder now since one, he didn’t have Ethan telling him where they were, and two, Omen had been far sneakier and hid the charms in subtle, hard to find places.

More than once Nicoli thought he had destroyed every item in a room only to be proven wrong when the vampire and the ghost came to inspect and one or both of them had been hurt. After awhile they came up with a way to dampen the blows to Ethan. They took a table cloth and wrapped it around the vampires arm so when he would cautiously approach a room and a barrier activated the cloth would absorb most of the shock.

Unfortunately for Felix there was little they could do for the ghost if Nicoli overlooked a talisman, which were harder to find since they could be made out of any kind of inanimate object. At one point Felix had been propelled from a room by a talisman only to be thrown threw the wall into another room that had a talisman hidden in it. Ultimately the poor ghost was turned into a transparent pinball and was thrown between the two rooms multiple times.

Awhile later the entire first floor was almost devoid of all talismans and barriers after a tedious search by Nicoli and profuse apologizes when he failed.

Nicoli was in the last room that had to be checked before the group made their way upstairs. He didn’t know how long they had been at this, it felt like hours, and he was tired and disappointed that they had made no real progress. With each room that had been cleared the trio would then do a thorough search to see of anything that could be of importance was found. Nothing had turned up yet and the boy was beginning to have his doubts that anything would.

“There we go,” Nicoli murmured as he watched the magic fizzle from a talisman he just smashed to bits. He returned the hammer to his belt and did a once over on the room to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

“My God, when the hell did Omen have time to put these things in the most random places possible?” Nicoli said as he found a barrier wrapped around to stem of a candlestick holder attached to the wall, similar to the chandelier in the entry way. The boy reached up and was able to rip the barrier effectively. He watched it glow and become neutralized before sighing in relief. He was sure he had taken care of all of the charms. Or at least he hoped.

Nicoli was about to turn around when something made his body freeze and his heart still before it began beating madly. A creak. A very distinct creak from the floorboards sounded right behind him. He tried to calm himself and not jump to conclusions as he reached out with the mind link.

“E-Ethan?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes? Something wrong?” the vampire asked curiously.

“Are you still in the entry room?” The answer that came made Nicoli’s throat close up and fear burst throughout his whole body,

“Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Nicoli didn’t answer as he whirled around. A gasp escaped him and his eyes widened in horror.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh–”

Both Ethan and Felix gave a start as Nicoli’s bloodcurdling scream tore through the house. If the scream wasn’t enough of a scare the way it abruptly ended was terrifying.

“Nicoli!!!” Ethan shouted and bolted off in the direction the shriek came from.

“Ethan, wait!” Felix called after him before – seeing no other option – took off after the vampire.

Ethan’s superior speed took him to the destined room in a heartbeat, but what he saw when he entered the room made him skid to a complete halt.

“Nice of you to join us, Ethan,” the last voice the vampire wanted to hear greeted him.

Standing in the middle of the room was none other than Omen. What petrified Ethan was that the man had one arm around a shaking Nicoli and his other hand held his crossbow up so that the arrow rested right under the boy’s jaw.

“Long time no see,” Omen said with a sickening smirk. “You’re true to form as always, Ethan. I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me, but you did surprise me somewhat with your little accomplice here.”

A terrified squeak came from Nicoli and a shuddering breath escaped him as Omen lifted the crossbow enough to graze the tip of the arrow down the young man’s cheek before letting it settle back in its original resting place.

“Stop it,” Ethan snarled. His fangs descended and he bared them threateningly. He couldn’t understand it. It made no sense. How had he not detected Omen’s presence? Even now, with the man right in front of him, he could not hear his heartbeat or smell his scent. It was as if he wasn’t there, but Ethan could see him with his own eyes. “How is it that you –”

“Slipped under your notice?” Omen finished for him. “Oh, well, let’s just say some items have come into my possession that I’ve been finding very useful.” The arrow left Nicoli’s vicinity – who practically sagged in relief – and caught on a necklace around Omen’s neck. With a simple pull Omen revealed an odd looking ornament attached to the thin thread.

Ethan’s eyes widened as he recognized it.

“No, a suppression charm.”

“That’s exactly right,” Omen sneered as he placed the crossbow back to Nicoli’s throat, making the boy tense and whimper.

A suppression charm was similar to a talisman, but instead of repelling a specific creature they masked the wearer’s presence to anything that would be able to detect them with enhanced senses or abilities.

Just then Felix entered the room and he stopped just behind the vampire as he took in the scene before him.

“Oh, shit.”

“Ah, Felix,” Omen said, completely disregarding the vampire. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you as well, you tricky little spirit.” The man then shifted his focus to the boy in his grasp, whose eyes flickered up to meet his gaze fearfully.

“You know, I did find it quite strange,” Omen said softly and calmly as he continued to tease Nicoli’s flesh with the arrow, delighting in the way the teenager flinched. “This boy’s death seemed far too, what’s the word? Convenient. It just never sat right with me and, I do admit, has been bothering me for awhile, but now it all makes sense. The way the cliff just happened to collapse at that exact moment. That was your doing, wasn’t it, Felix?”

The ghost grunted but didn’t reply. His eyes kept moving from Omen to the arrow to Nicoli. Why couldn’t anything be made easy for them? Just once?

“Omen, enough, let him go,” Ethan demanded. He had unconsciously moved into an offensive position, ready to lunge at the first hint the vampire hunter was going to hurt the boy.

Omen saw this and, instead of complying, tightened his grip on Nicoli and pushed the arrowhead harder into Nicoli’s skin to the point it almost broke the flesh.

“Ah, ah, ah, Ethan, don’t do something stupid,” the man warned. “You wouldn’t want to get your little pet hurt, now would you?”

“He has nothing to do with this,” the vampire snapped back. “This is between you and me, so let him go.”

That caused Omen’s smirk to turn into a frown.

“Oh, please. Don’t undermine my intelligence. This became just as much about him the moment he helped you in those woods and the second he destroyed that first talisman tonight.” The man then smirked and pressed his cheek against Nicoli’s as the arrow traced invisible symbols under the boy’s chin. “An interesting course of action from someone who doesn’t believe in vampires and thinks they’re nothing but fiction.”

Nicoli screwed his eyes shut and tried hard to ignore the lethal weapon making its presence known under his chin or the man’s face against his own. He wanted to go home and be in his nice, warm bed, sleeping soundly and safely. How had he ever let Ethan talk him into this?

“I-in my defense,” Nicoli stuttered, the first words he had spoken since Omen’s appearance. “I really did believe that when I first said it.”

Omen hmphed and straightened his posture to face the vicious looking vampire.

“Oh, don’t look so upset, Ethan,” Omen cooed to the vampire teasingly. “I’ll make sure that the boy will not be able to make anymore foolish mistakes like joining sides with a vile creature like you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Ethan growled and his face twisted with a snarl when the ever present crossbow moved again, only this time it pointed its projectile right at Nicoli’s temple.

“Now, now,” Omen said when the vampire’s entire body tensed, as though he would pounce at any second. “We all must pay for our sins. You have no one but yourself to blame for seducing this boy into your graces and ultimately to his death.”

Felix was getting tenser by the second as the conversation continued. Omen meant to kill Nicoli right in front of Ethan. He knew such an event would have devastating consequences for the vampire and would make Felix’s greatest fear become real. He couldn’t let that happen.

Just when Felix was going to try a risky move to save the human he realized that Nicoli was staring directly at him. As Ethan and Omen continued to talk – or snarl and taunt at each other – Nicoli was gesturing at something with his eyes. Felix’s brows furrowed as the boy kept looking at him then something down near the human’s side then back. He did this several times before the ghost caught on. Nicoli was drawing Felix’s attention to the hammer hanging onto his belt. With no words spoken between the two they concocted a plan that hopefully would work. That had to work.

With only a miniscule flick of Felix’s finger a light bulb in the shape of a candle flew out of its handle and smacked against the wall.

As quick as a flash Omen whipped his crossbow around to point at the source of the noise, thinking the two detestable creatures were going to attack him with something. He never saw the hammer coming.

With him distracted, Felix used his power to wrench the tool from Nicoli’s waist and make it strike the hunter under his chin with as much force as its momentum allowed. With his grip loosened Nicoli pulled his arm free and rammed his elbow into Omen’s chest, making the man stumble back and allowing the boy to dart by a stunned Ethan.

“Come on! Run!” Both Nicoli and Felix yelled as they fled the room.

Ethan overcame his shock and ran after the two before Omen could recover from the double blow. He caught up with the fleeing boys’ quickly and, to help their escape go faster, he slipped his arm around Nicoli’s waist as he went by and carried the startled boy like a sack of flour.

“Can I ask what the hell all that was about?” Ethan asked as Omen’s thundering footsteps sounded behind them.

“It’s called us saving my damn skin, no thanks to you,” Nicoli snapped as he clung to the vampires arm. It unnerved him that the floor was just a few feet away from his face and he curled his legs underneath him so they wouldn’t drag against the floor and slow them down.

“And why wasn’t I let in on that? I could have helped,” the vampire huffed.

“Ha! Are you kidding?” Felix said, twisting in the air to throw some picture frames down the length of the hallway to try and slow Omen down. “That psycho’s full attention was on you. If he even suspected you two were planning something he would have put that arrow through Nicoli’s skull.”

“And I like my skull the way it is, thank you.”

“But how were you two able to plan that without–”

“Some things just don’t need words, my friend,” Felix told him as they came to the dining room. “You two keep going, I’ll slow him down,” he said before falling back and watching the two disappear out of another door while Ethan’s voice trailed behind them.

“Good luck, Felix!”

The ghost smirked before turning to face the door that Omen would come through. Closer and closer Felix could hear the man’s hurried footsteps. Without another second to waste Felix closed his eyes and called all of his strength to him. The room crackled with power and all the items in the room – dishes, candles, portraits and paintings on the walls – began to shake and rattle.

The moment Omen burst into the room Felix’s eyes snapped open and all hell broke loose. Every object that wasn’t nailed to the floor hurled itself at the man, aiming to do harm.

Without missing a step Omen dodge and weaved skillfully around everything thrown at him.

In a final attempt to stop him Felix directed all of his power to the dining room table and sent it sailing through the air. The spirit smirked, thinking that would be enough to slow him down, but the next second the smirk was replaced by a shocked look when a perfect line went down the middle of the table and it split in two.

Felix saw a brief glimpse of a silver axe before the man darted right through and past him. The ghost turned around in alarm. For most people, walking right through a ghost would immobilize and freeze them for at least a few minutes, but Omen just kept going and disappeared through the door the other two had gone through.

“What is he? A tank?” Felix murmured before giving chase.

Meanwhile Ethan and Nicoli had never stopped in their quest for escape. They had both heard the commotion behind them and hoped whatever happened had stopped their pursuer.

A confused grunt left Nicoli as Ethan stopped in front of the staircase that led to the second floor and put the boy down.

“What are you doing?” the human asked.

“We’re going to split up,” Ethan answered. “You go upstairs and find a place to hide.”

“But what about you?” Nicoli asked, his voice full of concern.

“I’m going to lead Omen away and figure out what to do from there. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” the vampire said with a reassuring smile when the boy still looked doubtful.

Both their heads turned when they heard footsteps coming towards them. Ethan was quick to turn the boy and push him towards the stairs.

“Hurry. Go. Go!”

With no further encouragement Nicoli bolted up the stairs. Ethan watched him go for a moment before leaving for a different part on the first floor, to hopefully lead the man away.

On the second floor there was nothing but a hallway that led to several rooms. Nicoli ran to the end of the hall and looked at the last door. He took the doorknob in his hand and was about to open the door when he stopped. He slowly turned to look at the staircase.

He could hear Omen’s footsteps, but what petrified him was that they weren’t following after the vampire, but coming up the stairs. Ethan’s plan had backfired.

Nicoli yanked open the door and hurried inside the room. He looked around in a panic to try and find something to barricade the door. He had come into what looked like a study. A desk was pressed up against one wall and a bookcase was next to it and another was pressed up against the wall next to the door. It looked like wallpaper made of vines decorated the room, but the vines were actually carved into the wood themselves.

Nicoli didn’t have time to appreciate the wood work as he heard Omen come closer to his hiding place. He hurriedly went to the closest bookcase and began to push against its side to try and move it in front of the door. It was no use. The bookshelf was too heavy.

“Ethan!” he called out to the vampire hysterically. “Your plan didn’t work. He’s coming after me!”

“Shit. Hold on, Kid!”

Nicoli could only pray Ethan would reach him in time, but that seemed impossible as the creaking of the hallway floorboards came closer and closer. Trembling and terrified Nicoli could only press himself up the only bare wall and watch the door as each agonizing second ticked by.

A horrified inhale of breath sounded when Omen’s shadow could be seen in the gap on the bottom of the door. Nicoli was pressed so hard against the wall he could feel all of the carved vines and leaves pressed into his back. It was then something strange happened. Nicoli blinked and looked down when a wooden leaf his finger had been pressed against sunk into the wall.

“What in the…”

A sharp cry issued just as the door was kicked open. Omen leapt into the room and had his crossbow up and ready. He quickly and carefully looked around the room, ready to shoot at anything that moved, but there was nothing.

“Where are you, Boy? I heard you come in here,” he called out, but there was no answer. The room had no occupant he could see. He whirled around to face the door when he heard a crash come from somewhere downstairs. It was most likely one of his targets trying to catch his attention.

Omen cast a wary eye once more around the room. Perhaps he had been mistaken. He then went to follow the sound of the crash. He left the room that was empty and bare, where not a soul could be found.

=========================================Ch. 18 End