Everyone was in position. The wolves were in the tree line, where they waited to attack. Their speed could close the gap to the house quickly if needed. The gypsies stayed close to the home in the center of the property. They wanted to seem unaware of an impending attack. This way, they could radiate any sort of effect or manifestation from their abilities outwards. They were the real wildcards of our extended family. My family was spread out strategically for the best chances of success. Martin and Charles stayed with Annabelle.
We knew Phineas was strong, but even Charles couldn't tell us of the extent. We had committed Martin and his elder to the sole purpose of protecting Annabelle. Once everyone calmed down and saw that we were all here for the same thing, we all agreed that the two vampires shouldn't have a problem defending Annabelle.
Annabelle had no issue with either of them. She had this calm demeanor about the whole situation from the very beginning. She didn't seem worried, even though we all knew the doom that came our way.
The Wicklows had done something to connect our minds. It was like we were all linked to the same comms, but we had no gear. It wasn't like telepathy, you had to say the words, but we could all hear each other. It was bizarre but extremely useful.
We were all waiting in the darkened, nighttime property, and that's when it happened. A light appeared about forty yards from the house, a small flash of fire that hovered in midair. It violently exploded outwards, sending a wave of flames in every direction. The shockwave of the blast immobilized us all. We were all blinded and disoriented, scrambling for our weapons and then for cover. But then, something snapped me entirely still. It hit everyone as the fire burned across the whole area. The heat licked at our motionless bodies.
I clutched my gun tightly in my hands, unable to use it. I couldn't move my feet from their places. I could only watch. I looked around to find my family. Frank was lying on his back, struggling to get up. Jane was right beside him, locked in a kneeling position. Eleanor and Autumn were just out of the tree line. Autumn was on her hands and knees while El had her rifle up and aimed directly at the center of where the blast had originated, yet unable to do anything further. I couldn't spot any of our other allies in the chaos as I could barely move my head.
When I could make things out again, I saw two figures standing at the epicenter of the burning property. There was a tall, strong-looking red-haired man with a wild grin. Next to him, a shorter woman with dark hair and eyes to match. At first glance, the red-haired man looked to be more dangerous; however, I could feel the power coming out of the woman. She was the one binding us in place. This was them, Mercy and Phineas.
"Well, well, well…" She spoke as she peered towards the house.
The front door of the Wicklow's burning house opened slowly. Annabelle stepped out calmly and walked straight across the burning grass to her attackers… not part of the plan. We all screamed in our minds, yet were unable to physically produce a noise. It was her. Mercy had us all under her power.
"This the lass yer worried about?" Phineas looked down on the old gypsy with a smile. He had an Irish accent that thickened his words.
"Don't be fooled by her kind. They have their ways of getting inside your head," Mercy warned.
"I know why you are here," Annabelle finally spoke.
"Oh," Mercy acted surprised. "I couldn't tell. I assume you think it is by accident that I let loose a spell on all of your fighters, as soon as I stepped through the fire."
"We knew how you'd all try'n fight," Phineas laughed. "Even you… Charles." Phineas was looking towards the inferno of a house like someone was standing right there.
Just then, Mercy lifted her hand and waved it towards herself. Charles' body came flying through the jagged front window. Shards of glass and dirt littered his silver hair as he slid towards the witch.
"Was it you, Charles? Did you attack my coven? Kill my young Charlotte, did you?" Mercy continued to toy with them both. "Or was it you?"
Annabelle seemed untouched by the powers of this witch. She stood with the same calm and empathetic face she always had.
"You're wrong," Annabelle said.
What was she talking about? How could she challenge such a powerful being? She was going to get herself killed.
"Oh, am I?" the heinous witch laughed viciously. "Please tell me… I'm dying to know."
Annabelle closed her eyes and got down on both knees. Her calm face went into one of focus and concentration. Of all the time I had known Annabelle, I had never felt this. I could feel an opposing force in the air, a shaking of power that rose to rival Mercy's. Then, Martin appeared beside Charles.
Mercy laughed again, "All this power for what? To break only one free!" She seemed genuinely disappointed.
"It is not my power you should fear…" Annabelle spoke with her closed eyes, still concentrating.
"I never feared you. I only came to turn you to dust," Mercy said, raising her hands in attack.
Before she could act, a visual pulse came from within Annabelle. It was a disruption in the spell that bound us. It only let us have a second, but I took two steps forward. I could see everyone who was locked up move as well. Then I heard the sound of Eleanor's rifle.
In the few seconds of freedom we had, she let her bullet fly. It sailed across the expanse right into Phineas' head. El was a smart hunter, and she knew her best chance was to take out the chimera with a silver headshot. None of us knew his weaknesses, but she took a chance with our best weapon.
Blood spattered across Mercy's face as the bullet exited Phineas' head. It changed everything, shaking her resolve. I saw fear in the witch's dark eyes. For a moment, I thought Eleanor succeeded, and he was dead.
Before his knee could even touch the ground, Phineas regained control of his momentum and turned directly towards Eleanor. He raised his arm up and into his chest, and I saw the path the bullet had carved down the side of his head. It had missed his brain, shielded by his hardened skull. Strange-looking barbs came out of the skin of his forearm. I could see them from where I stood. Then, almost too quick to see, he flung his arm out towards Eleanor. The barbs shot across the gap and peppered the side of Eleanor's legs, dropping her to the ground immediately. She didn't freeze like the rest of us did. She was free of the spell, but I soon knew why.
"NO!" Martin roared. "What have you done!"
Martin charged forward and slammed his body into Phineas' with animalistic fury. It was rage. It was everything I was feeling but couldn't express.
My eyes locked onto my wife's writhing body, screaming in pain as she clawed through the grass. The barbs were some kind of poison, and it was visibly traveling through her system. Blackened veins were crawling up from her leg, making it to her throat in only moments. Her skin tone changed pale, and her movements weakened. I stood still, even though every cell of my body was fighting against the evil power restricting me. I needed to get to her. The tears flowing from my eyes were the only things moving on my whole body.
Autumn was crying, merely feet away from her mother, but unable to do anything but watch. She couldn't reach her, take care of her, or even just hold her through the pain.
Martin rolled through the fiery chaos with Phineas as they battled for control. I only saw them through my peripheral vision, but I could hear the snarls of pain and fury as they clawed each other. Then, I heard Phineas laugh.
A loud crack ripped across the battlefield, and Martin was soaring back into a kneeling Charles. After their bodies collided, Charles got up.
"Let's see if two of you can best him," Mercy suggested as she let her grip loosen on Charles.
Charles and Martin looked at each other for a second, agreeing internally on some kind of plan of action. Then, they morphed into beasts almost unrecognizable from the empathetic nature we had come to know. They were wild, truly unleashed. Red eyes and razor claws circled the chimera. They flung themselves in with no regard for themselves. They were out for blood. The creatures swarming Phineas in a murderous rage were only shadows of Martin and Charles. They were going to kill him no matter what it meant for themselves. They had to win, because if they didn't… Eleanor wouldn't stand a chance. None of us would.
The next few minutes, however, were merely a display of just how powerful Phineas was. Martin and Charles were tossed about, beaten, and bloodied in and out of consciousness over and over again. Phineas would let out a snarl that sounded more akin to a reptile or a snake. He would let them get the upper hand, only to overpower them both at the same time. Phineas was a monster. An unstoppable amalgamation of only the strongest creatures that he chose to consume and incorporate into his being. Having had multiple lifetimes to perfect himself into the most dangerous monster imaginable.
How could we win? How would my family survive? The Talbots, all immobilized, would be next once Martin and Charles had no fight left. Then, Mercy would kill all of the gypsies, just to ensure her power wasn't threatened by any other. Then my family, the hunters, we'd go last. We couldn't stop them. This was the end, and I knew it. I could barely see my wife and daughter across the expanse through my tears. They seemed to be getting further away as the truth rose and presented itself to me. I'd never touch them, hug them, or have a moment of happiness with them again. This was it… It was over.
It hadn't even been a fight. None of our planning or usual means mattered. These two were too powerful and stopped us before a fight even started.
Mercy laughed wickedly, "You thought these two would be enough? I should fear them?" She talked down to the still-focusing Annabelle.
Annabelle's face finally eased off, and she opened her eyes. She braced her old knees as she stood back up to speak to the older witch.
"It isn't any of us you should fear," Annabelle finally smiled the same way she always did.
Mercy didn't know what to make of her. She looked confused. Yet, her pride came through as it had since she arrived. She was too powerful to show fear, at least in her mind; this was the reality.
"That's good, because I don't," Mercy raised her hands, which quickly became engulfed in a swirl of bloody flames. She was about to destroy Annabelle.
Annabelle simply said, "It's him…" and pointed with an elderly, shaky finger toward the shadows leading into the woods.
We all heard it, and we all felt it as soon as Annabelle said the words. I cut my eyes over to the darkened entrance of the woods. There was someone there. They were steadily walking out of the darkness, coming straight for us all. It was a tall silhouette. His stride was resolute, and his steps bound towards Mercy and Annabelle; he was coming. As he got closer, I saw that he was covered by a dark hood hiding his head and face. He brought with him an ominous presence that was overwhelming as it seemed to engulf the area. There was something… wrong about him.
"He's the one… The one you all have been searching for so intently. He killed all those in your coven. And now, I'm afraid… he's here," Annabelle said, with a slight unsettlement in her tone.
Mercy's full attention turned toward the figure, as did everyone else's.
"Do you feel it?" Annabelle asked, almost trying to teach her something. "Nothing… absolutely nothing. I can't feel or see anything about him, and neither can you."
Suddenly, I fell forward into the dirt. The power that kept us all frozen solid was gone. Mercy's spell was dissolved. Her attention had shifted to the figure, and she wanted her full power against him. In that brief instance… I knew she was scared.
I got up, ignoring the doom I felt all around us, and ran toward Autumn. She was sitting up against a tree, holding her mother as she struggled in pain. Nothing else mattered to Autumn, she went straight to her mother.
"Mom… It's going to be okay. Annabelle will know what to do," she pleaded.
"El!" I yelled as soon as I slid through the charred grass and leaves to my wife and daughter. "El, we have to go." I picked her up and ordered Autumn to follow. She could still stand with our help, and she limped towards our vehicles as we carried her. She yelped and screamed in pain as she moved weakly. I heard Annabelle speak one more time before the real fighting started.
"That's why you never saw him coming," Annabelle smiled.
Phineas threw Charles into the dirt and shifted his attention to the dark figure that came from the shadows. He could sense something that made him change targets. He violently bounded toward him, like a tiger in the last few steps before the kill.
The hooded figure never faltered and actually started to run towards the danger. He was charging straight into the immensely powerful chimera. Just before the two collided, his hood came off, and his solid black eyes reflected the flames that engulfed the battlefield. His shifting face opened my eyes… It was Sam.