Lex covered his sister's mouth with his hand and breathed, "Shh," with a finger to his lips. The little girl stared up at him, fear flooding her eyes. They could both hear the strange sounds coming from the other side of the bedroom door. A gasp, a crash, and a growl, followed by the unmistakable sound of their mother weeping.
It was late at night, Ellory knew that much. Outside the window was nothing but pitch darkness. She could only see the outline of her older brother's face and the wild, white curls of his hair in the soft glow of her nightlight.
"Into the closet, little warrior," whispered Lex.
The girl crawled into the closet and pulled her knees up to her chest. Lex crouched before her, brushed the hair out of her face, and forced a smile. Ellory saw right past the fake expression.
"What's going on, Lex?" she asked. Her voice trembled. "Where's mom and dad?"
A loud thud echoed through the house from the other room, and Ellory jumped. Lex glanced over his shoulder before looking back to his sister. The hopelessness and uncertainty in his eyes made her shiver. She blew at a stray strand of hair that had fallen over her blue eye. Lex's gaze darted between that eye and the other â the color of burnt toast â as he searched for a comforting explanation for what was happening.
"I need you to listen to me, Elle," he said. "Very carefully, okay?"
Ellory nodded as her brother sat next to her and began to weave his fingers through her thick hair, separating it into three equal parts and winding it together in a long, wide braid as he spoke. "There are mystics in this world who want us dead. No matter what. They don't care who we are or what we do. It's just their nature."
"I know," said the girl. "That's why we hunt them, right? That's why you train so hard and go to that secret school; so you can protect us."
Lex couldn't keep the tears from welling in his eyes. His sister was so young, nothing more than a child. She didn't deserve the death that would inevitably come to her, and only in a few short minutes. He wanted to hold her close and cry and scream, he wanted to sacrifice himself to save her life, but he knew that it wouldn't work that way. He knew that they would both die tonight, as their parents were undoubtedly dying at that very moment, right on the other side of their bedroom wall.
He nodded, continuing to weave the golden braid of his sister's hair. "Yes, that's why we hunt them. But you know, none of us are invincible. And the more we hunt, the angrier those mystics become. Now they've become the hunters and we've become the prey. Do you understand?"
Ellory stared at her brother as he wrapped a small rubber band around the end of her braid and turned to look at her face. Her fair lashes and sparse brows were so blonde, they were almost invisible against her pale skin.
He remembered the day she was born, and the day she took her first steps, said her first words. Lex had been so proud of everything she did, and so excited to have a friend to walk through life with. He'd always looked forward to teaching her everything she needed to know about the things that go bump in the night, and how to protect herself from them. But he wouldn't have that chance now, because the mystics they hunted had found them, and they didn't stand a chance.
"I need you to remember one thing for me, okay Elle? If we make it through this, there is only one thing you need to remember. Promise you won't forget?"
She nodded.
"Not all mystics are monsters," said Lex. "Just like there are good and bad people in this world, there are good and bad creatures, too. Promise me you'll never lose sight of what's wrong and what's right. Promise me, if you survive this night, you will never forget all that I've taught you."
"I promise," she said. Her face crumpled at the loud pounding on the door.
Lex looked toward the door and steeled his face, squared his shoulders. His nostrils flared as he put on what Ellory always called his hero face.
"Lex?" she whimpered. "Don't leave me."
He sighed as he looked down at the scared little girl who he loved more than anything else in the entire world. The pounding against the door gave way to a creaking and splintering sound as the frame around it began to shatter.
"I love you, Elle. Stay quiet, okay?"
"Lex..."
"Stay quiet." He stood up and closed the closet door.
Ellory clamped a hand over her mouth as she began to sob, tears pouring out of her mismatched eyes and down her round, rosy cheeks.
She heard the door of the bedroom burst open, knocked off the hinges, and then the explosion of sounds that jumbled together in a deafening clash of metal and teeth and claws. She heard Lex grunting and wheezing as he swung his weapon, and then she heard his breath catch in his throat. Everything went silent then, save for a quiet breathing that grew louder and louder as soft footsteps approached the closet door.
She pressed herself against the back of the closet and bit her lips together. Her eyebrows came together as she heard a noise reminiscent of a sniffing dog, and then her stomach felt as though it had jumped into her throat.
The closet door eased open silently, and an enormous wolf appeared before her. Its eyes glowed a bright yellow, its pale brown fur soaked in red. Drool and blood dripped from its mouth as it stepped toward her.
She winced as the giant wolf's cold nose brushed her arm. It sniffed at her, then sat back and stared with its head cocked to the side. She gazed back at the beast, holding her breath, eyes wide, for what felt like hours. And then, just as silently as it had appeared, it turned and padded out of the room.
As soon as the wolf was gone, Ellory snapped into action. She leapt to her feet and reached under her bed, pulling out a rolled-up sheet of leather which she spread out across the bed. Three sharp throwing knives stared back at her. She thrust one of them into her pocket and grabbed the other two with each hand before turning toward the demolished doorway of her bedroom.
Another huge wolf, this one with red eyes and rust-colored stains on its white fur, stood snarling in the doorway. It leaped at her, and she fell back, feeling its teeth sink into her arm. She screamed and jammed one of the knives she held into the monster's side. Her hand felt warm as the blood poured over it, and the wolf collapsed on top of her. She struggled to squirm free from the weight of the beast and scrambled to her feet. Panting, heart racing, she glanced around the room and saw the various shades of blood smeared across the floor and trailing out of the room. Lex's body was nowhere to be found.
Following the trail of blood, Ellory came into the living room to see her mother lying on the floor, her eyes pinned open in horror, a pool of blood surrounding her lifeless body. The girl choked back a sob and continued through the house, finding her father torn in half in the kitchen. She turned away, closing her eyes and putting a hand over her mouth to keep from retching. Still, she could not find Lex. She continued to follow the trail of blood out the front door and saw the wolf dragging her brother away in the distance.
She squeezed her hand tightly around the hilt of her last knife. She could never throw it that far. Looking down at the bite mark in her arm, blood pouring from the ragged wound, Ellory turned back inside. She paused in the doorway and wiped the tears from her sullen face.
"I'll kill them all," she said. "Someday. I'll send every werewolf and mystic back to Hell where they belong."
She stepped into the kitchen and took a kitchen towel from the drawer. As she wrapped the towel around her arm, she lifted the corded phone receiver from its cradle on the wall and dialed a number from memory. It rang twice.
"Hello?" said a pleasant female voice on the other end.
"Miss Anne Marie LaVeaux?" Ellory squeaked.
"Yes?"
"It's Ellory. Ellory Matthews."
"Well, hi there. What is it, dear, is everything alright?"
"No." Ellory sniffed. "They're all dead. My dad said if anything were to ever happen to them, I should call you. And they're dead."
"Oh, no." Miss Anne sighed. "Are you okay? Is your brother there?"
"Lex is dead, too. It's just me. I got bit."
"Alright, stay there. I'm coming to get you."
Ellory kept her eyes on the floor so she wouldn't see the carnage all around her. She had grown up in this house, and now she had to leave without getting one last good look at the place.
"I'll be waiting outside," she said.
"You'll stay with me. Pack your things."
"No, Miss Anne." Ellory's small voice was stern, then. "I want to go directly to the Academy. I want to start my training early."