Spirit Bound: Chapter Twelve
#14 of Spirit Bound
This chapter contains violence, death, and swearing. Not much else.
Chapter 12: Et Tu?
Geoff led his friends behind the house and into the forest. It was only five in the evening, so it was still bright, even under the dense foliage. He saw Nathanial shiver and move a bit closer to him, while Nicholas seemed a bit happier. Micah was still wound up and bounced around in the trees. "Sprite, stay close." They were quickly out of sight of any houses, "Nathanial, if you would give us some cover?" Nathanial just nodded and suddenly dense fog billowed out from the bushes, in seconds Geoff had trouble seeing more than an arms length away. He smiled, "Faelen, you better take the lead. Keep in contact with the person in front of you, grab a tail if necessary. Nathanial, can you keep an 'eye' on everyone, and the area?" He didn't get an answer, "If you nodded, I can't see you."
Nathanial appeared in front of him, like a ghost, "Yes, I can. Micah, get back here. Nicholas," Nathanial disappeared back into the mist, "Here, take my paw. Micah! Leave the frogs alone! Here! Take Nick's paw and lets go." Nathanial reappeared, "Sorry, Geoff. Faelen is three steps ahead, slightly to your left." Geoff stepped forward cautiously and felt Faelen grab his paw. Faelen had manifested, and was impossible to see, even at less than an arms length, "Nick, here, the underbrush is dense, we should go single file, grab the strap of my book bag." He sighed, and the fog let up slightly, Geoff could see about ten feet (three metres) away. "Sorry, Faelen. It'd take all night to get home like this."
Geoff could hear Faelen grumble insincerely, but he kept hold of Geoff's paw and began to swiftly lead them through the trees. It was a fairly quick trip, despite the Akitas' lack of outdoors experience. Nathanial was able to point out routes that seemed to have less underbrush and Faelen was able to find easier paths through along that route. It still took almost forty minutes to get to the wall behind Nathanial's house. Geoff created a stirrup with his paws, "Faelen, could you hop onto the wall? Nathanial, step here," He nodded at his paws, "And I'll lift you up. Faelen will help you onto the wall, and then down the other side." He saw Nathanial think, and shake his head.
"Over here, there's cover between us and the house, and nothing against the wall." Nathanial walked a distance along the wall before stopping and pointing. Geoff walked over and helped Nathanial scramble up. Faelen helped pull him onto the eight foot (two point four metres) wall. Nathanial sat there for a moment before letting Faelen lower him down the other side, and dropping the last little distance. Nicholas followed, a little easier than Nathanial did, and then Micah practically flew over. Geoff just tossed him up to Faelen, making Micah squeal in excitement. Geoff jogged back from the wall and took a run at it. His claws scraped on the wall as he made two steps up it, then he flipped over the top and landed on the other side. Faelen jumped down and suppressed his Spirit. The house was hidden by a small stand of white pines, they were pretty twisted trees, like gigantic bonsai. "There is a back door over there. I think Mom is home. I..."
Geoff saw Nathanial frown, but he couldn't figure out the cause, "Is something wrong?"
"I... I'm not sure. It's Wednesday night, she shouldn't be home. Dad was also supposed to call her and talk to her about some of what happened, I would have expected her to avoid us even more than she normally does. She was rushing home last night, just before..." He stopped and shook his head, covertly casting a glance at Micah and Nicholas. "Let's sneak in the back, and you guys stay downstairs. Start cleaning up and I'll talk to her." Geoff saw Nathanial's hackles rise slightly, he was more concerned than he was letting on. From the look on Nicholas' face he thought something was up, too. Fog was slowly forming between the trees and rising up from the ground. "Let's move into the trees there, stay out of sight of the windows. I can't sense anyone, I mean Mom, in the house, but her car is here." Nathanial's hackles were fully up now, and a faint growl rumbled in his chest. Nicholas was staring at Nathanial, spooked, but he glanced at Micah, and tried to put on a reassuring expression. Micah was busy stalking a grasshopper.
Geoff put his arm around Nathanial and whispered into his ear, "Shh, calm down. Your scaring the pups." The vibrations from the growl travelled up his arm, "There is more than you are letting on, what is it?" They were right behind the trees now, the fog was up to Geoff's waist. He saw Faelen sit down, and vanish. He must have re-manifested. "Don't go scouting, Faelen, but try to conceal our presence. Pups, sit in the fog." Geoff saw fog spilling over the wall and adding to the mist in the yard, Nathanial must be trying very hard to make it look natural, but still have it fill in quickly. Nicholas and Micah sat down by him, Nathanial sat facing him, "You must be very concerned about something to not want to walk across your own yard."
"I'm being cautious. Now, let me concentrate. I'm trying to fog in half the neighbourhood." Ten minutes later the fog was deep enough to cover Geoff when he stood, so they carefully crept across the yard to the back door. It opened directly to the basement, across from the laundry room. "This door is almost never used, I doubt Mom even remembers there is a back door. It's essentially a fire escape, nothing more." It was primarily empty space, with some tools and yard equipment along one wall. Faelen suppressed his power again as he entered the basement. Nathanial flicked on a light. "The basement's warded, the whole thing. We can't be scried on. Follow." He strode over to the laundry room door, and put his ear against it. A second later he stepped back and motioned for Faelen to take his place.
Faelen listened for a minute, then stepped back and whispered, "I can faintly hear voices, more than one. It could be a radio or TV, it's too faint to make out."
"There is a dumb waiter for us to send laundry up and downstairs. We have to do Mom and Dad's laundry, and we just send it back up for her when it's done. That way she doesn't have to come downstairs, and we don't have to intrude on her. You're probably hearing something upstairs." Nathanial cautiously opened the door and peeked through. Micah and Nicholas were obviously very scared now. Nathanial held up a finger to his lips, asking for silence. He stepped in to the laundry room, ears twitching. Faelen pointed at his ears and the small elevator to his right, indicating that was where he was hearing the noise. Nathanial pointed at the door in front of them. Faelen listened at it and shook his head. Nathanial relaxed and motioned Geoff to close the door to the rest of the basement as he walked into the living area. Faelen and the pups followed him. Geoff closed the two laundry room doors and walked into the trashed room. "Okay, guys. Get to work. I'll see what Mom is up to and start dinner. Faelen and Geoff, see if the acid is still active. There's a bunch of baking soda in the cupboard there to try to neutralize it, or get Nicholas to grab the pool chemicals in the back room. I doubt it's still active, or we'd have holes right through the foundation. Nick and Micah, get to work on putting the books and stuff back. I'll be down in five minutes." Geoff set the alarm on his phone, he noticed Nicholas also set his. "Calm down, guys. It's just Mom." Nathanial didn't sound convincing, especially after the effort he put into sneaking in. He must have seen the disbelief in their expressions, "Sorry. I was thinking Hunters had found where I lived. If there were Hunters, they would have been down here. Mom wouldn't want them trashing stuff upstairs. I still can't believe they'd risk losing the little support they have from the Society to attack me." His tone was almost jaunty, and he swished his tail as he opened the door to the stairs and slipped in, closing it and locking it behind him.
Geoff saw everyone staring at the door, "Okay guys, you heard him. Let's start." Micah handed him a key, and looked at the door for a second before grabbing some BluRays off the floor. Geoff put it in the lock and went to check the acid.
The staircase was dark, the upstairs door was closed, and only the two nightlights lit the narrow passage. Nathanial felt himself relax, before remembering he still had his book bag on. He put it by the door, as far out of the way as possible. He reached in and grabbed the plush bat, he rubbed the fur for a moment, before stuffing it into a pocket in his school jacket. He slunk upstairs, still concerned he couldn't sense his Mom's presence, or the presence of the people who must have come in the two SUV's parked by the front door. He knew several members of his Mom's church drove black SUV's, so it could be something innocuous. He made sure he was as presentable as possible before opening the door at the top of the stairs. His Mom was in the kitchen making coffee. She was an Arctic Fox and Akita cross. She was only five foot four (one point six metres), and her features were very delicate, courtesy of her Fox half. Her gold eyes were set off by the slinky dark blue dress she wore, and the delicate gold and emerald necklace. Her face was cold and impassive, like always. "Hello, Mother. I was not expecting you home tonight. You have company?" He closed the door behind him, and he could finally feel her presence, if faintly. He focused a bit more on her, and noticed she had another necklace on. It was very thin, gold, and had a medallion on the end. He couldn't see what the medallion was, it was tucked in her cleavage. But he could guess, and he didn't like his suspicions. "I haven't seen that necklace before. Is it new?"
"This? I wear this one all the time." She fingered her gold and emerald one, "And yes, I have company. I asked some members of my church to talk to you, we're concerned about the company you're keeping, and the activities you've been engaged in. I'd like you to come with me to living room."
"I was referring to the necklace with the medallion. You rarely wear such thin necklaces, and never with a medallion that you don't show off." He could feel some sort magic dampening effect in the room, and began trying to puzzle out how to work around it, he felt he'd need every trick he had, soon, "I also don't know what you're talking about. What friends and activities?" He was stalling for time.
"You've been seen travelling around with strange Wolves, trouble makers at your school. You were travelling with a Rottweiler who threatened a defenceless girl in your lunchroom, and then who murdered two men in broad daylight. You were seen skulking around last night, in the dark, too. Again with those Wolves. Your father also said you've been fraternizing with Demons and Fairies." He finally worked through part of the field, he was able to sense things nearby. The medallion was a Templar shield, not a Hunter cross. It was one of the focal points for the magic suppression. He kept working on it, he thought he may be able to break it.
Nathanial felt himself growling, as he glared at Lily, he refused to think of her as 'mother' any more, "Your betray your allegiances. And it isn't to your family. Those Wolves are the first friends I've had in years. The 'murdered' men tried to kidnap me and that Rottweiler, they were thugs and assassins. The police were forced to gun down the third thug. They deserved worse than they got. That bitch at school started vicious rumours about me and my friend because he didn't like her rude and arrogant attitude. Also, why were your 'friends' spying on me with infrared cameras, as they skulked in the bushes and on roofs of the neighbourhood. It sounds like you are the one hanging out with the bad crowd. Know what? I don't care, I don't have time to talk to your friends, I need to prepare supper and clean the basement. Dad is coming home soon and I'm expecting members of the Society this evening. I want to make a favourable impression. And in case you forgot, I'm Olympian, not Christian. I don't care what your church friends think."
Lily snarled, "I'm your mother, don't talk to me like that. I order you to follow me, I don't give a damn about your father or the Society. He's a failure at everything, including your foul magic."
Nathanial didn't like his father, but he hated hearing this woman talk about him like that, "He's the one making the money you toss around so carelessly. And you calling yourself anyone's mother is laughable. You may have given birth to us, but that's it. I'm more of a parent to my brothers than you are. When was the last time you saw us off to school? Have you ever bothered getting up for Micah? Even his first day of school? Have you ever stayed up with us when we were sick? The nurse you had hired for a while when we were young did, but I doubt you even cared, let alone woke up. You? A mother?" He spat on the floor in front of her hindpaws, "Don't make me sick. Take your friends and have coffee somewhere else. You don't belong here, and obviously don't want to be with us. Get the hells out!" He found the weak point in the enchantment on the medallion and slipped a sliver of magic into it. The enchantment quickly unravelled.
Lily was completely stunned, Nathanial was usually very meek and compliant. She recovered quickly and stepped over to him, raising her paw to slap him. He let her swing before stopping her arm with his magic, making sure to squeeze hard enough to hurt, "I've told you to never use magic on me, you ungrateful brat. David! Saul!"
"I don't give a fuck about what you said. I have nothing to be grateful to you for." Two Hunters came into the kitchen. A small Rat and a Cougar. Both wore what he was starting to believe was the Hunter uniform. Long leather coats, gloves, pants, and what seemed to be bullet proof vests, now that he could see it close up. They also wore masks over their lower faces and mechanical goggles on their foreheads. He guessed they were enchanted in some way, probably night vision and/or infrared. They both had swords strapped to their backs and pistols on their hips. In their hands were small rifles. Nathanial snarled, "I thought so. How much did you promise them, Lily? It must be a lot to risk calling the Society down on their cowardly heads. The world would be a better place if the Unseelie Court had wiped this trash out."
Lily ignored him, "You wanted him alive? You'd better hurry before I silence him, permanently. Don't forget to kill the other one. And the monster, too." Nathanial felt the world go in slow motion again, like the last time he faced Hunters. The Hunters were after him, specifically, and wanted him alive? His 'mother' wanted to kill Nick and Mike?
He gave a howl as he summoned his magic and released it in a telekinetic burst. Lily was thrown against a door frame and knocked out cold. The Hunters raised their arms in front of them and were merely knocked back a few feet. He felt the throbbing in his jaw that accompanied Liam's use of Chi. Hunters may not use magic, but it seemed they could still bring supernatural abilities into play. He summoned a dense bank of fog into the kitchen, dense enough to block all sight. The Hunters reached up to lower their goggles, so Nathanial gathered moisture over his fur and clothing and cast 'Chill' on it, encasing himself in a thin layer of ice. Between that and the fog, he should remain essentially invisible. To make sure he slipped into the sitting room, and ducked down behind the wall Lily was slumped against. Any heat signatures they saw would be attributed to her. His body hummed with the magic he'd gathered, that and adrenaline. The Hunters began moving carefully through the kitchen, looking for him. The rifles they had seemed to be tranquilizer guns. He could tell they had some sort of potion in them, but he couldn't get a read on them. He smiled grimly, and levitated the knives out of the holder on the counter. 'I won't let them get near my brothers. No matter what. I swear this before Mount Olympus.' He began to carefully float the two largest knives behind them, and placed two more in Lily's paws. He started to move her like a puppet, he placed her hindpaws flat on the floor and lifted her up, as if by a string. He tried to make it as Vampire or Zombie like as possible.
The Rat gave a hiss as he jumped, "Lily, get out of here. Have the rest circle the house, and make sure no one leaves. We'll catch the target." He moved Lily closer, she was difficult to move smoothly. Even as a petite Fur, she was still really heavy for him. But he could feel it was working, both Hunters had their attention fixed on her, uncertain about what was happening. The knives were almost behind them. They were on opposite sides of the island, but it didn't matter. He raised Lily's arms and had her slash at the Rat, he was closer, as he moved the floating knives forward to slash their throats. The Rat ducked and rolled back and to the side, away from the floating knife. He seemed to have noticed it at the last second. The Panther wasn't so lucky, he noticed the second knife, too, but a little to late. He received a shallow cut across his neck, but it was enough to cut a vein and bleed profusely. He dropped his rifle and clutched the wound. The Rat shot Lily with one of the darts. Nathanial could tell what they were, now. Powerful sedatives and magic suppressants. Unfortunately for them, Lily wasn't awake to be knocked out. He made Lily lunge and slash a few more times, harrying the Rat with the other knives, trying to keep him in the kitchen. The Rat seemed to be getting concerned that the tranquilizer wasn't working, and finally pulled out his pistol. He shot Lily in the head before Nathanial could react, "Sorry, Lily. The mission comes first."
Nathanial made the corpse lunge again, startling the Hunter, and cut his cheek. Blood began to trickle down the Rat's cheek, it was only a superficial cut. 'Sorry, bastard. My brothers come first.' He cast 'Chill' across the wet floor, turning the kitchen into an ice rink.
"Necromancer! The brat's a Necromancer!" Three more bullets shredded the thick white fur of his mother, each would have been a lethal shot if she was alive. He felt the suppressing fields move closer, one coming from the living room further behind him, and one from the front porch, past the Rat. Nathanial cursed in his mind. The footing was decidedly poor, and Nathanial had the corpse and two floating knives distracting the Hunter. He carefully pulled the pistol free of the Panthers holster, the large cat was starting to slip in and out of consciousness. He eased it up over the counter and lined up his shot. He slid Lily to one side and stabbed with a knife from behind the Hunter. The Hunter slid forward and to one side, away from Lily, right where Nathanial expected, he pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the Rat in the head. He dropped Lily and dashed into the staircase. He began to shake as time began to move at regular speed, and stumbled down the stairs.
He was halfway down when Geoff unlocked the basement door. Relief spread across the Wolf's face, "I was getting worried, pup." He saw the expression on Nathanial's face and stopped, "What happened?" Geoff ran up a few stairs to meet Nathanial, "What happened!?"
Nathanial sagged into his love's arms, "Down! Get into the basement and barricade the door!" Geoff manifested and carried him down, closing and locking the door. Nathanial summoned a thick bank of fog, cutting visibility down to ten feet (three metres). Micah squeaked in surprise at the sudden fog, and he felt Faelen instantly manifest as the first droplets of mist touched his fur. "Nick, take Micah into his room! Faelen the fog outside is still going. If you can, see if they are outside. I want to leave. There are at least two Knights, they're wearing medallions that act as magic dampening fields. I can't sense them." Nathanial turned on the light in his room, it being the furthest from the stairs. He turned off the rest. Nathanial pulled out his phone and sent a text to Conor and Liam, "Locked in basement. Hunters/Knights attacking. 4+ left". Faelen had slipped out of the living area and was approaching the back door. Nathanial spoke a little louder, to make sure Faelen could hear, "Cavalry's coming. Your dads are going to be pissed when they get here." He felt Geoff pale. He felt the door at the top of the stairs open and then vanish as the medallions nullified his senses. "Incoming." Faelen started running back.
Geoff pulled Nathanial back a distance and focused. He wanted to block the door, but he didn't know how to chain it shut, without having something to chain it to. So he settled for a barricade. A large square block made from darkness appeared in front of the door. Geoff shrugged, "I have no idea how heavy that is. I wanted to make it heavy and hard, but it's just darkness."
Nathanial shook his head, "I don't know what the wards do, exactly, so I don't know how much they will help, either. I just know it's really hard to scry through both doors when they're closed. One door should interfere with any magic they have. I doubt they have any, if they have those bloody medallions. Any little delay brings your dads closer. Though I'd like to kill a few more, before they get here." Geoff felt his blood run cold at the bloodthirsty tone, and he stared at the normally meek and timid dog. "They want to kill Micah and Nicholas. They want to capture me alive. Mom, I mean, Lily sold us out. She's dead, now."
"Y-you killed... your mother?" Geoff's stomach dropped to his hindpaws, and he felt queasy. He heard gasps from Micah's room.
Nathanial's tone was vicious, "No one threatens my brothers! I swore to protect them, from anyone! Even my parents. That creature was not a mother! She may have given birth to us, but that's where it ended. I raised Micah, and practically Nicholas. I'll kill any one who tries to hurt them!" The air began to vibrate the same way it did when Nathanial had that nightmare this morning, but Geoff didn't see the nightmare creatures. He hugged Nathanial to try to calm him down, but he felt he was the one that could use some comfort. Nathanial was scaring him terribly.
"Please, calm down. We'll protect them, but you're scaring us." The door knob rattled, and then a loud clang rang out from the other side of the door. 'They must be trying to cut the doorknob off with a sword.' He saw cables from the entertainment systems line themselves around the top of the door, like snakes waiting to strike. Micah was out of sight in his room, but Nicholas was crouched at the edge of the door, peeking out. He probably couldn't see anything in the dark and fog. There was a second clang and the doorknob came off.
"They have night vision and heat vision goggles. I think it's both, but I'm not entirely sure. That's why I coated my fur and clothes in ice. Can you drop the temperature of the fog, or raise it?" Geoff focused on draining heat out of the fog, it swiftly fell to just above freezing. He also focused on blocking any form of light or heat from travelling toward the door. The door moved slightly, they were trying to push it open, but the dark block seemed to be hindering their progress. Geoff heard another figure move forward, and his block melted away.
Nathanial gave a menacing chuckle, "Gotcha!" The cables had begun to fall, the magic holding them up gone, when they stopped in midair. They, then, struck through the crack in the door, and Geoff could hear a muffled choke followed by the slash of a sword. "Their swords disrupt magic on contact. Problematic." Geoff shivered. He was used to emotionless and impassive comments from Sensei, it was damned creepy from Nathanial. The cables continued to strike down through the doorway, "Close the door again, if you please." Geoff gave a sidelong glance at Nathanial as he formed another block. "I disabled one. I do hope she is dead."
"Nathanial, they are people. Don't think that." Geoff smacked his head, "I can't believe I'm feeling sympathy for Hunters. But hearing you wish people ill is just wrong. You're kind, considerate, and empathetic. This isn't like you."
Nathanial practically hissed his answer, "Then they shouldn't have threatened my brothers! If I have to personally hunt down and brutally murder every one of those bastards to keep them safe, I will!" A sword stabbed through the door, dissipating the block. The door was kicked open, knocking it off the hinges. Fog rolled into the staircase, so Geoff drained more heat from it. A layer of frost coated the goggles, rendering them almost useless. Four Hunters quickly moved out around the door, there was two more inside. A third lay crumpled on the ground by Nathanial's book bag, a Wii Nunchuk wrapped around the Crocodile's neck. He dashed forward and joined Faelen in attacking them in hand to hand combat. He was surprised at how well they could respond, even while blinded. "Chi. They can detect movement once it is close enough to them. I believe it has a limit of two to three feet (two thirds to one metre)." Nathanial once accused him of reading minds, now he was wondering if the reverse was true. He danced back from a sword strike and focused, creating a swarm of dark bats. He sent the first ones to harass Faelen's opponents. His former targets began to cautiously move out from the stairs.
One of the Hunters snarled, "Jocelyn, I thought those bloody medallions were supposed to block magic! Do something!" Faelen ducked and bobbed away from a series of sword strikes, the Hunters had moved far enough from the door that the last two stepped into the room.
Nathanial laughed mirthlessly, "I've disabled those trinkets. Now, face your doom." Geoff saw the pistol of the fallen Hunter come free of its holster, along with the sword. The body rose to a standing position, making Geoff stifle a shout. Geoff had created a large swarm of bats, they were swooping in and biting, serving as a good distraction. The reach provided by the swords was still difficult to overcome. Faelen managed to duck under a strike and make a deep gash in the thigh of his main foe. The other Hunter made a shallow gash on Faelen's side, but Geoff could see the wound begin to heal over. Suddenly, the last Hunter, an Arabian Horse, that entered the room pulled a rod out of her pocket and struck the wall. The rod began to glow brightly, causing everyone to wince and gasp. The Hunters flipped off the goggles, cursing, but Geoff was blinded, and his powers diminished. Half the bats vanished. The corpse of the Crocodile shot at the Horse, but it missed and she slashed across his neck, cutting the cord free. He began to fall but jerked upright, and stabbed at the paw holding the glowing rod. Faelen was cautiously circling his foes, still invisible. Geoff felt himself get suddenly yanked back, and the breeze of a sword pass by his head. A concussive blast of magic exploded forward from Nathanial, knocking two of the Hunters off their feet, and staggering the Horse. Geoff's sight was returning and he saw the Hunter that must have slashed at him get stabbed by his own levitating sword as he tried to climb to his hindpaws.
Nicholas had moved out of Micah's room, holding two spheres of fire. He hurled them at the Hunters by the stairs, but they were easily deflected slashed by their swords. They didn't fizzle the way everyone seemed to think, but instead made small explosions and pitted the blades. The metal was glowing red, with smoke rising from them. The Hunters stared at Nicholas for a second before ignoring their previous targets and rushing him, shouting, "Demon!"
Nathanial went into a frenzy, ripping the TV from the wall and hurling it, along with everything else he could grab at them. He knocked the Horse down with the TV, making her drop the rod. It shattered before it hit the ground, and the shards flew back into her face. She screamed, echoed by Nicholas' yelp of terror. Darkness descended on the basement again. Several more balls of fire shot out at the Hunters and exploded against blades, but they seemed to be getting much closer to Nicholas. Faelen and Geoff managed to draw off the last three, but it still left two to advance on the pups. Micah suddenly cried, "Stop!" His voice had that same wild quality it did when he closed the portal. The Hunters paused less than a second, but it was enough. One Hunter caught two balls of fire on his chest and he burned to ash in seconds, too fast to even scream. Faelen snapped the neck of another, while Geoff crushed his opponents windpipe. A gunshot and sword strike from floating weapons took out the last two. In the silence, a faint sobbing from the Horse could be heard, before a gun shot brought complete silence to the basement.
"Nathanial! Was that necessary!? She wasn't a threat anymore!" Faelen yelled out in surprise and anger.
"She was still a Hunter. That makes her a threat. And..." Nathanial's voice became small and scared, "She was in pain. I- I couldn't let her suffer like that. And I couldn't let her go. How would this be explained? I left things upstairs in a way that I can make a story for, but this, the basement? Her wounds, everything else? We need to call the police for M- Lily. But I don't know..." Geoff was shaking in shock, and it looked like everyone else was, too. Both from the attack and in fear of Nathanial. Nathanial's eyes had lost focus. Suddenly, small pools of light appeared beneath each of the corpses, and they fell through the light and vanished. Nathanial sagged to the floor. Geoff cautiously moved over and reached for him, but drew his paw back before touching the trembling Akita. He sighed and put his paw on his love. Nathanial didn't react, so Geoff knelt and wrapped his arms around him. Nathanial clung to Geoff's chest, shaking violently. "Your Dad's here. It seemed there were a few more Hunters outside. They've been dealt with. He is on his way, he's not happy." Geoff heard the door to the patio explode into the sitting room. Faelen ran upstairs, calling for Conor to stop.
Geoff put his finger under Nathanial's chin, and lifted his head up so they were looking into each other's eyes. Though Geoff still wasn't sure if Nathanial was actually "seeing" in the dark, or something else. "What did you do to the bodies?"
"I made temporary portals beneath them, they fell into the harbour, far out. I hope they won't be linked to back here when they're found. I don't think I could do that, again. I was... in a heightened state or something from when they attacked, it's gone now." Geoff could hear Faelen talking to Conor and Dirk upstairs. "I need to call the police, bring Nick and Mike through the back door and up to the porch. I'll talk to your Dad about what to do with the other bodies, try to make sure the pups don't see anything." He paused.
Faelen came trotting down the stairs, "You're not going anywhere without me, Geoff. Not even around the side of a house." Nathanial slipped out of Geoff's arms and upstairs. Geoff stared after Nathanial for a moment, before collecting himself and going into Micah's room, with Faelen following. Faelen spoke, "Geoff and I are here." They were still manifested, and neither pup could see them. Faelen wrapped Nicholas in a hug, and Geoff picked up Micah. Micah buried his head in Geoff's neck and cried.
Nicholas was now close enough that he could see Faelen, and he looked at Faelen with a haunted expression, "Mom? She's dead?" Faelen nodded, "Nats. Did he? I mean, he, he... Mom? Not Nats. But, for us? He k-killed Mom and lots of Furs, for us? We made him a killer? I did, too. I b-burned..." He began to cry, big heart wrenching sobs. Faelen picked him up, and walked out of the room. Geoff followed him out through the back door of the basement and into the yard. The fog was still thick and deep, Faelen led the way around the house, in the opposite direction of the pool. They quickly made it to the front porch, noting the two large SUV's, and sat on the steps. They suppressed their Spirits. The two pups continued to cry, curled up on their laps, as the sun began to dip behind the houses. The dispassionate part of Geoff's brain noted that the clouds on the horizon looked like they would bring rain overnight or tomorrow morning.
Geoff looked over at Faelen, "I think there won't be any school tomorrow." He sighed, "I wonder when the Society will get here. I don't want to leave them alone." He rubbed Nicholas' back and licked his ear. Liam walked out of the door behind them, "Sensei? What are you doing here?"
Liam rubbed Micah's head and licked his muzzle and then went over to Nicholas. He spoke to Geoff first, though, "Nathanial said you were under attack. I came to help. I heard much of what happened, I would like to speak to Nicholas for a while. Alone, if possible." He put his paw on Nicholas' head. Nicholas nodded and the two moved off. Now that Geoff wasn't being strong for someone else, he began to feel the effects of the stress, and curled up against Faelen. Faelen put an arm around him, and Geoff rubbed Micah's back, each drawing comfort from the others. Geoff could see Nicholas nodding to whatever Liam was saying, and he seemed to be calming down some.
A few minutes later Conor, Dirk, and Nathanial came out of the house. Conor and Dirk were wearing bone armour. Nathanial sat down and took Micah from Faelen. Conor looked down at Geoff, "We're leaving. Sensei will remain for now, while Nathanial calls his father. There is no possible way the Society can delay once they hear of this. They will likely teleport right in, we must go. Nathanial will call you when it's safe, Dirk and I will come pick them up. Unless the Society brings Mr. Marks with them. If they do, Nathanial will inform you of what is happening." He put his paw on Nathanial's shoulder, "Be safe." He patted Micah's head and rubbed his ears, and walked over to hug Nicholas. Dirk copied his boss as he followed him.
Geoff and Faelen stood up, "Don't forget I love you, pup." Geoff knelt and gave Nathanial a quick lick on the muzzle, "Call me soon." The four Wolves climbed into their car and drove to the gate, Nathanial let them out.