Chapter 31

Zachary scowled as he followed the others. Teether was in the lead, stealthily leading them in the direction of the tooth. Behind Teether was Xavier, holding Teether’s leash. Xavier wore a scowl similar to Zachary’s since his ulhi’maos had won the battle to come along with them.

Nikki was oblivious to Xavier’s mood as she kept her eyes and ears open for any sign of humans. Xavier had tried his best to argue with her, trying to get her to stay behind in safety, but she had refused to back down. Zachary was just about to lose it when Xavier relented, but he’d insisted on bringing Jules along to have someone else there to protect Nikki.

Zachary hadn’t cared who was going along so long as they hurried it up. He was getting anxious, thinking the longer they took to get things underway, the more probable it would be for something bad to happen to Kristine. Finally, they were on the way with Nikki at Xavier’s side and Zachary and Jules taking up the rear.

Xavier, Zachary, Jules, and Nikki were constantly scanning the area as Teether led them from the barn through the park and across several acres of wild land. Thankfully, the entire area seemed deserted so that they didn’t run across any humans. Plus, the tall, undisturbed grasses and trees gave them plenty of shadows and places to hide.

It wasn’t long before Teether came to a stop in the tall grass and crouched down so low his belly touched the ground. His voice sounded in all of their heads, Kristine is in there.

As one, they all looked straight ahead to where Teether was looking to see a huge round structure that was flooded with lights on the inside. As they crouched down with Teether, hiding themselves in the grass, it was Nikki’s voice they all heard next.

That’s the Tallamud Stadium. Where most of the high school football games used to be held. She frowned, I didn’t think that place had electricity any more. Why would they have Kristine there?


She is in there, repeated Teether.

Nikki nodded, indicating that she believed him. They all sat silently for a few moments checking the stadium out before Zachary spoke.

So, any idea where they would be holding her, Nikki? And how would we get her out with the least amount of trouble?


I don’t think they’d be in the center of the stadium since it would be too open. They might have her in one of the locker rooms on the ground floor or in one of the boxes on the upper level.


No, came Teether’s reply, she feels like she’s still on the ground. I wouldn’t be able to feel her so well if she was off the ground.


Okay, then, it’s got to be one of the locker rooms.


How many locker rooms are there? asked Jules.

Nikki scrunched her face for a moment before replying, I think there are about four. Two for the teams and two extras.


Do you know where they are located? asked Zachary.

I know where one of them is, but I’m not sure about the other three.


Well, let’s hope she’s in that one, said Xavier.

Once more they all turned towards the stadium to study it again.

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Kristine paced back and forth near the door of the locker room they had thrown her in. As she reached the door, she stopped and banged on it again, “Hey! I know someone is out there! Where is my mother? I want to go where ever it is you took her too! You hear me! Where is my mother!” she yelled.

Still there was silence and she growled, kicking the door once more before resuming her pacing. She hoped Zachary and the others were looking for her and didn’t give up when they found her house in ruins. She knew they’d burned it down. She had heard the flames even through the trunk of the car she had been in with Amy as they drove away.

Her mother had been banging on the trunk and spewing obscenities at the gang members all the way through the ride. When the car had finally stopped, she’d gone quiet and pulled Kristine into her arms as if she could keep her protected that way.

When the trunk had been opened, several pairs of hands had grabbed them and yanked them out. The two of them had been dragged into the old stadium and just as they got inside the gates, the ones holding her mother, began to move away from Kristine and her captors.

Immediately, both Kristine and Amy began kicking, struggling, and cursing up a storm, trying to get back to each other. But the women were no match for all of the guys who had them. All Kristine could do was struggle vainly as the others dragged her mom away.

Kristine’s captors had then dragged her kicking and screaming down the long hall until they’d reached the locker room and tossed her in. She’d landed on her butt and tried to scramble up to the door, but they’d slammed it and locked it from the outside. She’d pounded and demanded that they put her with her mother, but there had never been an answer.

Now she simply paced and pounded every few times hoping someone would get tired of hearing her ruckus. She lifted her gaze and looked around the huge locker room once more frowning as she caught sight of the two narrow windows high on the opposite end of the room.  She knew she could squeeze out of them, but the problem was they were too high up the wall for her to reach. She’d already tried to push one of the benches in the room under them, but they still hadn’t been high enough for her to reach.

She’d tried jumping up, but her arms weren’t that strong and she couldn’t hold herself up with one arm long enough to really break the glass which seemed to be made out of some kind of really strong substance. Whatever it was made of also gave it a milky appearance, so there was no way she could see out, or anyone could see in.

Kris? She froze and began looking around the room for the voice she’d just heard. Kris, can you hear me?

“Nikki? Is that you?” asked Kristine as she whirled around trying to find her friend. “Where are you?”

Kris if you can hear me, it’s because I’m thinking to you. Think back at me so I can hear you.

Kristine blinked at that. Think at her? What was she talking about? Suddenly, she remembered that one of the things they had told her that the Wahani could do was speak mind to mind. Her eyes went wide, but how did Nikki do it?

She closed her eyes and focused as she thought, Nikki? Is that really you?


Yes, it is chica. We are all here.


But, how are you doing this?


Xavier and Teether are helping me with their strength. Now listen, we don’t have too much time. You need to tell me where they are holding you and your mom so we can get you.


I’m in the locker room, the home teams locker room. I don’t know where they took mom. As soon as we arrived, they separated us.


Do you know if you are being guarded?


I think so, but no one’s answered me since they tossed me in here.

Okay, hold tight, we’re going to figure out what to do and I’ll get back to you.


Nikki! Is Zach okay?


Yes, he’s here and worried about you.


Tell him I’m fine, I’m just worried about mom. Nikki, when they came for us, mom was yelling at them telling them that her friends would get justice and Scully told her how could they if they were going to burn too.

There was silence for a moment before Nikki said, Okay, Kristine. Let me tell the others this. Don’t worry, we’ll find your mom too, she’ll be okay.


Okay. Kristine could feel the sudden silence in her mind and she knew Nikki was gone. She swallowed and went back to pacing.

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Nikki leaned back against her husband as she opened her eyes and looked at the others who crowded around her. Taking a few breaths, she whispered, “She’s in the locker room. The one I know. But she doesn’t know where they took Amy. She mentioned that when they were captured her mother said her friends would retaliate. The leader of the gang told her they couldn’t do that if they were going to burn too.” She frowned as she looked up into Xavier’s eyes. “What do you think he meant by that?”

Zachary growled, but kept his voice low as he said, “Are they insane? Could they really be serious about burning all those people?”

Xavier sighed before answering in a low voice, “I wouldn’t put it past them, but they could have just destroyed their homes too and rounded all of them up.”

Jules nodded, “Yes. It makes sense as to why they would pick this place.”

Nikki sat up straight as she realized what Jules said was true. “He’s right! They rounded all of those people up and put them in the stadium! It’s going to be a massacre! Oh my God! They’re going to execute them all!”

As she started to scramble out of his arms, Xavier grabbed her and pulled her back, “Nikki! We can’t just go running in there!”

“They’re going to kill them! What if they already have?”

Teether, who had moved away from them to look at the stadium again, swung his head back in their direction. I don’t think they have. There are too many human scents to make me think it’s just a few gang members.

Nikki frowned, “You don’t know for sure.”

I don’t smell burned flesh or blood for that matter. I believe they are all still alive.

That made Nikki pause as she turned to look at the stadium again. Teether was right. If they had been burned, shouldn’t there be a stench or even a hint of smoke rising out of the middle of the stadium? She sighed and turned to look at the others, “So, what do we do?”

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Kris, can you hear me? Kristine stopped her pacing once more and closed her eyes.

Yeah, Nikki, I’m here. 


Good, now I’m going to need you to do something for us okay? When I give the word, you are going to have to make a lot of noise. Yell and bang on the door. We need you to cover the sounds of us getting in to you.


How are you going to get in?


The windows.

Kristine’s eyes flew open as she turned to look at the windows. Can you guys fit through there?


I know I can and I think Jules and Zach can also. We just need to get in so we can get you and let Teether and Xavier in through the front.


Okay. Kristine was a little leery at that plan.

Trust us Kris, we have a plan.


Okay, I trust you. She moved closer to the door waiting for Nikki’s word to begin making noise.

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Nikki led Jules and Zachary through the high grass around to the side of the stadium until she reached the fence near the locker rooms. She waited until Jules gave the clear signal before she backed up and leaped into the air, clearing the fence and landing silently on the other side.

As she straightened up and looked around, Zachary and Jules joined her. With a head motion, she silently led them to the windows of the locker room. With Jules keeping watch, Zachary went to his knees and Nikki climbed onto his shoulders. When he straightened up and moved them to the wall, Nikki stood until she was balanced on his shoulders and lifted a hand to the window.

As she watched her claws sharpen, she gave Kristine the word, Now Kris.

Immediately, all of them could hear Kristine’s voice as she began yelling and banging on the door to her prison.

Nikki didn’t waste any time as she placed her claws against the glass and began to cut a hole into it. As soon as the circle was cut, Nikki pushed it in and caught it before it hit the floor with her fast reflexes. Then, keeping the glass in one hand, she reached through with her other hand to open the window from the inside. As soon as she had pushed it down, she climbed inside and silently jumped to the ground.

As she made her way to Kristine’s side, Jules came through the window having been hoisted up by Zachary. Zachary then jumped up to catch hold of the window, lifted himself up and slid in with Jules’ help. As soon as Nikki saw that they were in, she indicated to Kristine to be silent. Kristine stopped what she was doing and watched as Nikki leaned close to the door and listened quietly. Then she pressed her nose to the crack of the door and took a deep breath.

Turning back to the two men, Nikki nodded and held up two fingers. The men came up to them and Zachary wrapped his arms around Kristine, hugging her close. Kristine returned the hug and was about to say something, but Zachary placed a finger over her lips.

Not yet, Kris. We need to take them by surprise.

Kristine’s eyes went wide, You can talk to me too!


Yes, it’s a little difficult because you’re human, but I can. It helps that I have physical contact with you right now.

She smiled at that.

Zachary looked up to where Jules and Nikki stood by the door and nodded to them before looking down at Kristine. We are going to get the guards to open the door and come in, okay. I need you to stay back out of harms way and let us deal with them quickly so we can go let Xavier and Teether in.


You brought the tiger! Kristine’s voice squeaked in his head.

He grinned, Remember, he’s a li’ani, not a tiger like you are used to.


Right, right. she nodded, okay, I’ll go stand over there.

Zachary nodded as she moved to the back of the room to stand behind some lockers. As soon as she was hidden, Nikki turned to the door and began yelling and pounding on it while Zachary and Jules took up their places on either side of the door.

The three of them could hear the puzzled voices on the other side as the captors realized that the voice of the girl was different than before. Nikki continued to create noise until she heard the latch click. Backing up, she lifted wide eyes at the guard who came in, oblivious to the two shadows against the wall.

“Hey? You’re not the girl we locked up in here!” he exclaimed just before he called out to the other guard to get in there.

Nikki backed up some more, drawing the guard further in. She watched as Zachary grabbed hold of the second guard, snapping his neck before he had a chance to say anything. Jules, slipped out of the door to keep watch just as the first guard turned to see his partner slipping to the ground in a lifeless heap.

“What the hell!” he yelled as he began to lift his gun towards Zachary. Behind him, Nikki swiftly moved to his side, kicking the gun out of his hand before he had a chance to fire it. That was all the time Zachary needed to finish the job as he grabbed hold of the stunned guard.

Nikki quickly went to Kristine’s hiding place and took her hand in hers. “Come on Kris, there’s no time to waste. We have to let Xavier and Teether in so we can find your mother and get out of here.”

Kristine could only nod as she continued to stare at Zachary who was quickly searching the dead guards bodies. Nikki led Kristine to the door and whispered to her, “Remember, don’t make any noise and follow our lead okay?”

“Okay.”

Zachary came up to them and wrapped an arm around Kristine’s waist, “I’ve got her Nikki, you follow Jules. Kris and I will take up the rear.”

Nikki nodded and walked out of the room. Jules indicated that the coast was clear as Nikki began to lead them through the hall towards the front entrance. Once they were close enough, Nikki indicated where the entrance was and that there were a couple of guards there too.

Before they had gone in, they had surmised that the entrance would be guarded, but since the gang probably had all of the people rounded up, there was really not going to be anyone trying to get in. Besides, Nikki was certain no one knew that the stadium was being used, since she too hadn’t thought so. She didn’t think the gang would have that many guards around the place since they weren’t expecting anyone. Of course, the gang would never have imagined that they’d be dealing with nonhumans.

As Nikki moved to Kristine’s side, Zachary and Jules quietly made their way to the entrance. The girls watched as first Jules, then Zachary slipped out of the gates and efficiently took care of the two guards out there. As they dragged the bodies into the gates and deposited them in one of the ticket booths, Teether and Xavier quietly came through the gates.

Nikki took Kristine’s hand and led her to the others, then pointed in the direction of the center of the stadium. Teether began to move in that direction as the others fell in behind him. Xavier held his leash with Nikki at his side. Zachary and Kristine followed them and Jules brought up the rear.

Teether suddenly came to a stop and Kristine gasped when she heard his voice in her head just like everyone else did. There are many human scents in that direction. I can also hear many fast heartbeats as if they are terrified. Not all of the hearts beat that fast.

Nikki nodded and turned to look at all of them, I was right, they are in the middle of the field then.

Zachary stepped up to her as Kristine looked on with a puzzled frown. He spoke to Nikki, You wouldn’t happen to know where the light switch is would you?

Xavier turned to look at Zachary with a grin as Kristine continued to frown. That’s brilliant Zach! Turn the lights off, the humans will never know what hit them!


Yes! We can get in, dismantle the gang, rescue the humans, and get out without anyone seeing us! agreed Jules.

Kristine kept looking from one face to another with a frown. She knew they had to be talking to one another, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. Turning to look at Zachary, she concentrated on him and said, What’s going on?

Zachary squeezed her hand and replied, We’re discussing how we are going to rescue your mom. Do you know where the light switch is?


Light switch?


Yes, we want to turn off all of the lights in this place. Every one of them, so it’ll be so dark that the humans can’t see us.


How are you going to see them?


We are Wahani, we see perfectly in the dark.

Kristine couldn’t help the faint shiver that went up her spine as those words went through her head. She swallowed before nodding, I know where the fuse boxes are that control all of the power in this stadium.

Zachary grinned and turned to the others to relay the message to them. Kris knows where the fuse boxes are.

Good, came Xavier’s reply. He turned to look at Nikki as he said, Jules, you go with Kris and Nikki to protect them while they turn off the lights. Teether, Zach, and I will go towards the center of the stadium and attack as soon as the lights go off. As soon as we are done and we have Amy, we’ll give the word so you can turn the lights back on. We will be out of there before anyone sees us.

Nikki frowned, I’m going with you.


No, leijha’mi, you should go with Kris.

She growled, I can help you fight them!

Xavier growled right back, Nikki, don’t make me pull rank!

She yanked her hand out of his and stomped towards Kristine, Fine! Have it your way, Your Highness!

Xavier looked at Nikki for a few moments before he turned to look back at his men. Nikki just folded her arms in front of her and refused to look at her husband. Kristine turned a confused look on Nikki as the others began to move away.

Zachary hugged her to him as he said, Lead Nikki and Jules to the fuse boxes. As soon as you cut the lights, the rest of us will move in and handle the gang. When we get your mom and get out of there, we’ll give Nikki the word for you to turn the lights back on so the humans can find their way out safely. Okay?


Okay. She hugged him back, please be careful!


I will Kris. I promise your mother will be safe too.

Kristine stepped back and watched as Zachary joined Xavier and Teether making their way towards the stadium center.

Nikki reached out and took Kristine’s hand as she said, Lead the way, Kris.

Kristine gave her a little smile as she began to walk through the hallway. The three of them kept to the nooks and crannies in the shadows as the inched along in silence. Stopping every so often when Kristine knew they were at a huge intersection so that Jules could make sure everything was clear before they went on.

Soon, they came up to a door that had the words ‘Caution: Only Certified Technicians Beyond This Point’ painted into it. Kristine indicated that this was where the fuses were and tried the door only to find it locked. Jules motioned for her to step back and Kristine watched with wide eyes as his hand morphed into claws which he used to pick the lock with.

When the door was opened, the two girls went into the small room as Jules kept a look out. Kristine went straight to the row of fuse boxes on the wall and opened the first one. As she flipped the switch, she motioned for Nikki to do the same with the others. One by one, the two girls flipped all of the switches.

Kristine was halfway down the row when the room they were in went dark. A few seconds later, a dim yellow emergency light flickered on allowing her to finish the other switches. When they were done, Nikki slid her arm into Kristine’s and they went to stand near the wall to wait for Zachary’s call.

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Mayor Dermot Scully Tobias stood on the raised podium surveying the small group before him. Wearing a sadistic grin on his face, he turned to his son who stood next to him. “Well, done son. You managed to gather all of them here! Now we can take care of this problem once and for all. When this is over, no one will bother us ever again.”

Scully gave his father a proud smile. “Told you we could do it.”

“What about their children?” asked Dermot.

“The ones who are old enough are at the compound. The ones that are too young to know what’s going on have been left behind for others to find them, if they’re lucky.”

“Good, we’ll deal with the older kids when we are done here.” He turned back to look at the group and raised his voice. “Well now, it is good to see you all gathered here for the final part of my trial.”

“You’ll never get away with this!” came a shout from the group. “Just because you kill us doesn’t mean others won’t fight you!”

Dermot laughed, “Au contraire, my friend. You see, this group is the only problem I’ve had in these last few years. No one else has been fighting at all. So, you see, when I’m done with you, there will not be anyone left to fight me.”

The moment he finished saying that, the lights went off in the stadium.

As the whole place was suddenly plunged into darkness, Dermot heard his son exclaim, “What the hell!”

Dermot barked a command, “Send someone to the fuses now!”

He froze as a scream came from what he thought was the direction of the field entrance. “Don’t let them escape!” he yelled. “Kill every last one of them!”

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None of the humans saw them coming. As soon as the place went dark, the Wahani struck. Xavier had unchained Teether and the two of them had taken out the two guards at the field entrance. Zachary had gone in and began making short work of the other gang members surrounding the small group.

As the screams of the gang began to reach their ears, the group huddled closer together in the darkness trying vainly to see what was going on. All they could hear were sounds of flesh hitting flesh, growls, cries of pain, and other unnamable sounds.

The gang members all ran in different directions groping in the dark. One by one, they came up against something they knew wasn’t one of the group. As pain ripped through their bodies, they knew it wasn’t even human. As they begged and screamed for their lives, their blood ran out of them. As they died, they were never able to see what had attacked them.

Up on the podium Dermot curled his hands into fists, he knew it was his men who were getting killed. He heard his son’s receding footsteps and knew he’d gone to join the fighting. He whirled around in the direction of those footsteps and shouted, “No! Scully, they’ll kill you!”

But Scully was already down the steps and groping in the dark for something to pummel.

Xavier turned his head when he’d heard the Mayor’s voice. But it was the other man who caught his attention. As Xavier narrowed his eyes, he watched Scully scramble down the steps and stick his hands out in front of him, trying to find someone, anyone. A low growl sounded in his throat as the man’s past words sounded in his mind. Dad said I could do whatever I wanted with the brunette, and I'll bet that fiery temper of hers serves her well in other areas too, if you know what I mean.

He watched as Scully made his way through the dark, heading towards the group huddled in the center. As he readied himself to attack, a streak came from nowhere and launched itself at Scully’s back. Scully went down screaming at the same time Xavier let out a roar, “Nikki!”

Nikki dug her claws deeper into Scully’s back even as he hit the ground and tried to roll over, arms flailing. She ignored the roar from Xavier and yanked her claws from the gang leader’s back. Scully screamed louder and tried to toss Nikki off of him.

Xavier reached them and pulled Nikki off the man, turning a glare at her he hissed, “Atia oka esu nomthi esu isa oka-i? Idi tepi-sa esu meco ayme eth Kris!”

“Tosh mais dimos! Tosh kiono-sa eni‘afa dimo!”

“Idi oro! Idi hawi kiono on’hi a’fo esu!”

She growled, “Idi abo nasfi on‘hi!”

“Da’kata go‘malar! Esu isa nantios eth asou o‘syn!”

Nikki turned to look at Scully as he began dragging himself away. “Tosh mais etno-i ayri!”

Xavier roared once more before launching himself at Scully. He hit the man square in the back and sent him sprawling into the dirt. As Scully rolled over, Xavier knelt on his chest and wrapped a claw around his neck. Scully grabbed his wrist as Xavier began to puncture his throat with his claws.

Scully choked and gurgled as blood began to well out of his mouth. “Please,” he whispered.

Xavier leaned down close and growled, eyes glowing red in the darkness. “Just so you know, this is justice for the Parker family you murdered all those years ago.” He slammed his fist into Scully’s chest, curling claws around the beating heart.

Scully’s eyes went wide as his mouth formed a silent scream. Xavier leaned down and whispered into his ear, “And this is for thinking you could ever have my wife, the brunette.”

With that, he sat back and pulled his hand out of Scully’s chest bringing the still pumping organ as he did. Nikki stared in horror as she watched Xavier kill Scully, then toss the heart to the ground. Turning her back to them, she bent over and began gagging.

Xavier cleaned his hand off on the dead man’s shirt before straightening up and going over to his wife. Without another word, he slid his arm around her waist and began to lead her out of the stadium.

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Zachary surveyed the area, noticing that most of the gang members had already been disposed of. The ones that still lived were either too injured or fleeing for their lives. He saw Teether in the distance finishing off another one of the gang members. Looking towards the entrance, he frowned as he saw Xavier escorting Nikki out.

Turning towards the podium, he noticed the dead gang leader on the ground and the Mayor hiding behind the podium. He smirked as he launched himself into the air and landed quietly behind the man.

Crossing his arms over his chest he said, “So, thought you could hide behind that podium while your men died?”

Dermot let out a shriek and whirled around, eyes searching the dark. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Zachary leaned down until he was so close Dermot could feel his breath on his cheek. “I’m the bogeyman.”

Dermot screamed and tried to scramble away, but Zachary caught him and yanked him to his feet. “Nope, can’t let you do that, old man.”

“Please, I’ll give you anything you want!”

Zachary laughed, “I’m not a human you can bribe, you fool!”

“Please, whatever you want!”

Zachary turned to look at his son lying on the ground not to far away and made a face. He growled, “Just so you know, your gang leader is dead.”

Dermot’s eyes went wide, “My son! My son is dead!”

Zachary’s eyes narrowed, “He was your son?”

“My son is the gang leader! He can’t be dead! He’s good at what he does!”

This time when Zachary growled, it was far from a human sound. As Dermot whimpered in fear, Zachary said, “Not when he faces one of us, he isn’t. Just like you.”

“Oh God! I beg you!”

“You were going to kill that group of innocents! You already had countless others killed, you don’t deserve to live!”

Dermot gave another cry and began to fling his fists wildly trying to connect with flesh. Zachary simply turned Dermot around and grabbed his head, twisting sharply. With the snap, Dermot went still and Zachary let go of the now lifeless body letting it fall to the ground.

Turning once more he glanced over the group of people and found Amy among the crowd. Launching himself off the podium, he landed among the group of people and made his way to her side. Leaning over, he spoke in a low voice.

“Are you Amy Dixon?” he asked.

“Who are you?” she countered.

“I’m here to rescue you. I know your daughter, Kristine.”

Amy shook her head, “I don’t know who you are, but if you harmed her…”

“She sent me to get you.”

Amy began to scream, drawing the others to help her. “You’re lying! Help me! He claims he knows my daughter!”

Fists from every direction came at Zachary. He hissed in exasperation and grabbed Amy’s arm, trying to drag her out of the crowd without harming any of the humans. As Amy continued to scream and struggle against him and the others continued to hit him, he sent out a cry for help.

Guys! I’m trying to get Amy out of the crowd! The humans think I’m trying to hurt her! I need help!


I’m on my way, came Jules’s reply. Xavier is with Nikki and Kris.

In the next few seconds, Teether’s roar sounded through the stadium which made several of the women scream.

When someone shouted, “Oh God! That thing brushed against me!” Chaos ensued.

As Zachary continued to hold on to Amy, he began maneuvering his way through the now dispersing crowd.  Teether ran silently through the humans from one place to another, let out another roar, then moved to another place and did it again. Effectively keeping the humans disoriented yet not allowing any of them to get hurt or hurt anyone else.

Zachary caught sight of Jules as he raced into the field and began maneuvering his way through the crowd towards Zachary and Amy. Suddenly, he felt Amy collide with another body and turned in time to see her begin to fall to the ground. Zachary caught the unconscious woman just as Jules caught the other human before he hit the ground.

“They knocked each other out!” muttered Jules.

Zachary growled, “Get him somewhere safe. I’ll get Amy to Kris. Hurry! We should leave soon.”

Jules nodded, “Done.”

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Kristine turned as she heard panting coming from the doorway. Her eyes went wide as she realized Zachary was carrying her mother in his arms. “Oh my God! What happened to my mom!” she yelled.

Zachary shook his head, “She’s okay, Kris. She just ran into another man out there in the darkness. They hit so hard they knocked themselves out. They’re both okay.” He reiterated as Kristine came over to him and began to fuss over Amy.

Xavier lifted his head towards the door and nodded, “Jules just gave the word. He and Teether will meet us at the front gate. Go now, I’ll turn the lights back on.”

Zachary nodded, “Let’s go Kris, I’ve got your mom.”

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All of the humans froze the moment the stadium was flooded with light. As they blinked in the brightness, they began to look around, taking in the scene. Members of the Hell’s Angels littered the place like so many rag dolls. Near the foot of the podium was the body of the leader, a hole in his chest and his heart lying a few feet from him. On the podium stand was the body of the Mayor, his neck at an odd angle.

But the one thing they noticed was that none of their group seemed to be harmed. As they began to take count of themselves, someone noticed one of the men propped up against the entrance wall. Upon checking, they knew he was unconscious, but unharmed. The only other thing they noticed before the night was over was that Kristine and Amy had vanished without a trace.

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“If you ever disobey my orders again, so help me I will lock you up!” hissed Xavier.

Nikki continued to sulk the entire way back to the castle. She’d remained quiet and pale, but allowed her husband to keep her tucked under his arm while he led her home. Teether walked silently on Nikki’s other side, brushing up against her leg as they walked. Zachary had a worried Kristine tucked under his arm as her eyes stayed trained on her mother who was now being carried by Jules.

As the small group made their way through the city, Zachary spoke up. “Let’s get the Dixons to my father’s house. They can stay there while Amy recuperates. I’ll send for a healer to check her out.” He looked down at Kristine and asked, “Is that okay?”

She nodded, “Yes, thank you.”

Xavier looked at Zachary as he spoke, “Nikki, Teether, and I are going back to the castle right now. I’ll send the healer to you guys as soon as we get there. Just take them home. Jules, go with Zach, I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded their agreement. As Xavier, Nikki, and Teether continued on the road towards the castle, the others veered off towards Zachary’s home in silence. Despite the fact that they were all tired and a little hungry, they were all glad that no one had been hurt badly.

Translations
leijha'mi - beautiful
atia oka esu nomthi esu isa oka-i - what do you think you are doing
idi tepi-sa esu meco ayme eth Kris - I told you to stay with Kris
tosh mais dimos - he is mine
tosh kiono-sa eni'afa dimo - he killed family my
idi oro - I know
idi hawa kiono on'hi a'fo esu - I will kill him for you
idi abo nasfi on'hi - I can fight him
da'kata go'malar - damn woman
esu isa nantios eth asou o'syn - you are pregnant with our son
tosh mais etno-i ayri - he is getting away