Fearlings Two (The Fearlings Series Book 2) (3 page)

PAST

It is three months after
Ekabar
took Grandma and Tom. Rob and Ann are married and they have found out that Ann is pregnant. Rob is trying to keep his control and is following Grandma’s path before she was taken. He has met the Professor and stays in regular contact with the man his Grandma trusted.

The Professor has found two
Vauns
. Rick, whom they already know about, and Rachel, the nineteen-year-old from the east coast. They are meeting with the two
Vauns
at a location Rachel has picked.

It is at the high school where Rachel graduated a year before and they meet in the cafeteria. All four sit at the end of one of the long tables. The Professor and Rob sit on one side and Rick and Rachel sit on the other. They are in the middle of a conversation where the Professor is not hiding his dislike for Rick’s hesitations.

“Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, you know that Rick?” Professor asks. He rolls his eyes in doubt. “You believe what, that knowledge does not make one stronger? Is that what you truly believe, really?”

Rick stands. He paces a few feet away. He turns back to Rob who stares at him.

“If that is what you believe then why are you here?” Rob asks.

“I am here because of your Grandma,” Rick says. His tone is quiet and direct. “I met her just once. We talked forever that night. We talked to each other and to Shanawl and
Sevol
all night long. She was an amazing woman. She would have helped me without needing to be asked. You do not always meet people like that. I don’t know what you all want from me.”

Rachel turns to Rick. She smiles her youthful and energetic smile. “Don’t be like that. It is so cliché.”

“My Grandma, my best friend,” Rob says. His tone is serious, matching the look in his eyes. “And now my wife is pregnant. I need to know everything. It’s as simple as that. I need to know everything. We all do.”

“I agree,” Rachel says. She smiles just because that’s what she does. She bounces her stare from Rick to Rob as she talks. “My family history is not like yours or yours. We do not have the history of the attacks and people being taken. And we have lots of records from the generations.”

“Those are items I would like to study,” Professor says.

“Sure,” Rachel says.

“Your family has never been attacked?” Rob asks.

“No,” Rachel says, “and our records go back a few hundred years or something like that. I have not read all of them but I do know most of them. But our stories are different.”

“Amazing,” Professor says, “No attacks, just amazing.”

“We meet our Fearlings at eight just like your family Rob,” Rachel says, “but at thirteen our Fearlings go to their resting and we do not see them for five years. They return to us as
Molawners
. Like
Teelah
, she is a
Molawner
and she can protect up to thirty feet not twenty like
Sevol
. She is very powerful.”

“Five years,” Rob says, “You went five years without seeing her? I can’t imagine not seeing
Kynar
for that long. And you’re not afraid of the dark during this time?”

“Well,” Rachel says. “That’s when we get a little not normal.”

“What?” Rick asks.

“We don’t do the whole dark thing during this time.”

“What?” Rick asks again, “The dark thing?”

“Yeah,” Rachel says. “For five years we don’t see one bit of darkness. Always lights, candles. We even have a house in Alaska, you know for like when it goes for a long time without night?”

“Amazing,” Professor says. “For five years you see no shadows. Amazing, the discipline your family has, just amazing.”

“Can
Kynar
do this resting and become a
Molawner
?” Rob asks. He doesn’t like the idea of not seeing his Fearling for five years but he likes the sound of
Kynar
becoming a
Molawner
, becoming stronger to help protect his family. “Can he?”

“Yes,” Rachel says.

The Professor stands and walks across the floor to the wall. He reaches for the switch then stops. He turns to the others. “I say we all introduce ourselves.”

Rick turns to the Professor. He doesn’t like the idea but he knew that they were going to do it so he is ready.

Rob takes a breath then nods yes.

“Yeah,” Rachel says.

The Professor has an eager smile on his face. He flips the switch and the room darkens. The hall lights shine through the open doorways on both sides of the large room providing visibility to all but a dark area in the middle. That is where the three shadowy beings fade into vision. The smaller
Kynar
is first and is quickly followed by
Teelah
and
Sevol
. They each step forward to the edge of the darkness.

Rob stands and takes a step back. He stares at the three beings in front of him. He is not afraid but the sight intimidates him a little.

“Amazing,” the Professor says, “You three are amazing.”

PRESENT

The Professor looks around his empty hotel room and continues to talk as if someone is present.

“That night we learned a lot and became stronger for it. I will say this. That
Kynar
is stubborn. He will not do the resting. He will not leave Rob. He says that he has to protect him, always. Well, we can do that while he is resting.” The Professor is annoyed at his own words. “And if he returns a
Molawner
, he will be able to protect Rob with ease over
Ekabar
who would still be a Fearling.” He walks over to the bed and sits down. He takes a breath then stares across the room. “Well, it doesn’t matter, little James is going to meet his Fearling. Tomorrow could be very interesting.”

CHAPTER 5

The next day there is a small gathering for James Kelly’s eighth birthday. Julie is there with her son Stewart and they sit in the kitchen across the table from Rachel and the Professor. There are several flashlights on the table within reach of Rachel and the Professor.

Ann stands beside Rob at the counter. They both nervously watch their son opening his last present. They know that as soon as he is done he will be very eager to meet his Fearling.

“Look at him,” Ann says. Her eyes tear as she thinks about the night Grandma and Tom were taken. Quick images of
Ekabar
dragging them away flash with her thoughts. Her eyes tear but she keeps her calm. “He doesn’t know what could happen.”

“No,” Rob says. His thoughts are deep and excusatory. “What were we supposed to do, scare the hell out of him from the time he was born. There is a reason that we wait. There is a reason they have always waited. It is what works best most of the time.”

“I know,” Ann says. “It’s the reason every room in our house has lots of lamps, candles, lighters, matches and flashlights.” She watches her son smiling as he stares at the new chess set he just got from the Professor.

James puts the box on the table. He looks at his friend Stewart who shares his excitement of meeting the Fearling then he turns to his parents standing a few feet away. He wants to flip the lights off and meet his Fearling. He gets up and runs to the light switch. “Can I mom?”

“Look at you,” the twenty-five year old Rachel says. She has known and stayed very close to Rob and his family over the last eight years. She has, without letting Rob or Ann know, innocently talked to and prepared James for this moment. “Can’t wait another second, just like me when I was your age.”

“Wait,” Ann says. She knows that there is nothing she can do. This moment has to happen. She and Rob reach for the flashlights on the counter at the same time. She stares at her friend Julie sitting at the table. They exchange the same look of fearful caution.

“Go ahead,” Professor says. He doesn’t have the hesitation the others have. He is like Rachel, welcoming the new experience. “Go ahead James.”

James flips the switch and the room darkens. The adults tighten their grips on the flashlights they hold as they stare around the dark room.

The shadowy images of
Kynar
standing beside Rob and
Teelah
standing behind Rachel fade into vision. Everyone stares around the room waiting, anticipating. Several seconds pass.

“Maybe the boy does not have a Fearling,” the Professor says. His tone shows disappointment. At that second two shadowy Fearlings the same size as James fade into vision on either side of the eight year old. “Look at that,” the Professor says, “Two. The boy has two Fearlings.”

“Did not see that coming,” Rachel says. Her tone shows surprise but no fear.

Julie pulls her son Stewart back, close to her. “Mom,” Stewart complains.

“Rob?” Ann’s tone shows fear of the unknown.

“I,” Rob says. “I ... didn’t know.”

“What are your names?” James asks. He isn’t afraid.

Their voices are soft, whispery as they answer their Vaun.

“
Drawk
.”

“
Hydron
.”

“What does this mean?” Rob asks. He looks across the dark room to the Professor.

Ann walks to the switch and flips the lights on. The shadowy beings fade into the light. “Light the candles.”

“Hey,” Stewart says.

“Mom,” James complains.

“We all need to talk,” Ann says. She sees the look on her son’s face and cuts him off before he can speak. “You wait James. We all need to talk.”

A few minutes later James and Stewart sit at the table playing with some of the birthday gifts. There are several candles lit throughout the room and multiple lights on.

In the living room, Julie sits in a chair while the Professor and Rachel sit on a couch. Ann and Rob pace around the room as they talk, Ann is full of worry and keeps looking back toward the kitchen.

“Ann,” Professor says. “Relax. Heaven forbid anything happens, the children are still within
Teelah’s
range of protection.”

“There are two of them,” Julie says. “Does that mean that there can be two more Fearlings that attack us?”

“No,” Rachel says. “This has happened once in my family, a couple hundred years ago or something like that. There were twin Fearlings but there was only one bad Fearling. The fact that James has two means that he will have twice the protection. You can even have one stay when the other goes into resting. He could have two
Molawners
protecting him. He would be safe from everything.”

“We are taking James to the gathering tomorrow,” Professor says. “Yes, right?”