Seamus was, to say the least, a little confused. He had woken up that morning, decidedly pushed all of the bullshit of the night before to the back of his mind, and went about his business. He knew that Ashling was still mad at him, that much was obvious just by the way she very pointedly ignored him when he tried to hand her one of the hundreds of brownies Cian had baked. He did feel a little awful about what he had said, not only regarding her but also what he had said about Cian. But he spoke the truth. All of that magic nonsense was just that: nonsense.
But, now here he was, gathered with his other brothers as per Ash's request in their living room, waiting for her to get home. She had called Cian about an hour ago, apparently sounding nervous, which was not like her at all. Declan's leg was bouncing with impatient energy on the sofa while Cian sat slumped, unconcerned in a large recliner in the corner. Seamus himself sat on the other side of the sofa from Declan. He had spotted a strange car pull up in front of their home through the front window a few moments ago, but nobody had gotten out.
Seamus was about to call his sister and demand to know the reason for her calling a family meeting when he finally saw her car pull into the driveway. His relief was short-lived, however, when he saw one of the two assholes from the night before getting out of her car and the other get out from the other vehicle that had pulled in front of the house. Oh boy, was Dec going to blow a gasket!
The front door opened. As soon as Declan saw the two men with Ashling, he leaped to his feet.
"What the hell are they doing here?" he demanded, fists clenched at his side. Seamus got to his feet as well, standing behind his eldest brother in silent support. Cian didn't move, choosing instead to remain slumped where he was, face impassive.
"Dec, before you freak out, please listen to what I have to say." It was clear by her resigned tone that Ashling had expected this very reaction.
"You have two minutes," Dec gritted out between clenched teeth, tension radiating from his stiff figure. Ash took a deep breath in, almost bracing herself for impact. Seamus didn't have to be able to read minds to know that he was not going to like what she was going to say.
"I believe them." That was it. Short and to the point, like ripping off a bandage. Silence prevailed for a few moments. The two men behind her tense, Eoin's hand resting on Ashling's shoulder. Seamus did not like that.
"Excuse me?" Declan asked. His face spoke of the storm of fury building. The eldest McCoubrie was known for his quick temper, especially when it came to his younger sister. "You believe what? That you're magic?" He didn't give Ash the chance to respond, choosing instead to go to the root of the problem: the two strange men in their house. "Haven't you two done enough damage? Congratulations, you got a grieving family's hopes up and then pulled the rug out from under us. Well done or whatever. You can drop the act now."
Ash took a step towards her brother, hands up in a placating gesture. "Dec, please. They can prove what they are saying is true."
"Oh really? How?" Eoin made a move as if he was going to step forward, but Eamon beat him to it. The blonde strode towards the dark fireplace in the corner of the room, crossing between Ashling and her siblings. Seamus, his ire building the longer the situation went on, had to work hard to resist reaching out and tossing the man back out of their front door.
They watched Eamon kneel in front of the fireplace, keeping his body turned towards the other occupants of the room, his hands visible. He raised one palm to the hearth, his eyes flashed with a strange light, and fire sprouted from his hand and danced to settle amongst the coals.
Seamus stood stock still. Surprise and disbelief battled for chief emotion in his mind. What the hell did he just see? His first reaction was to think that Eamon had a lighter hidden somewhere. But there wouldn't have been a physically possible way he could have hidden it facing them the way he had. That would mean that they had been telling the truth. That they were druids with magic and that his parents, and potentially his sister, were as well.
He turned to face his brothers. Cian had finally shown some sign of life, sitting forward in his chair, wide eyes following Eamon's movements. Declan, on the other hand, seemed frozen in place, face blank, staring directly into the fireplaces. What the actual hell was going on?
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It had been a very long conversation with lots of pauses for questions and a few more demonstrations from both Eamon and Eoin before the three McCoubrie men seemed to finally accept the truth of the situation: Magic was real. Their parents were druids from a large community of them. There was a prophecy involving their little sister saving the magical world from a seeming plague of dark magic. Well, shit.
Declan had his head in his hands, processing. "This dark magic, or whatever it is: is it dangerous?"
Eoin had taken point in the explanations with Eamon jumping in from time to time to add something he thought important. "Yes. It will slowly spread across Ireland and then spread beyond, consuming the natural magic found in the wilds and nature of the Earth. Essentially, the world will slowly die."
Declan raised his head, green eyes tired, staring directly at Eoin. "And you expect us to just gladly go with you to Ireland so our sister can face danger?"
"Declan..." Ashling sighed, her brother's stubborn anger exhausting her.
"Don't sigh at me like that, Ash. They are asking you to walk into danger. I feel like I have a right to be concerned." Declan had perfected the "dad" voice after having to step in to help Ashling through the back end of her teenage years after their parents passed. He was good at it and was not afraid to pull it out when needed.
Cian moved suddenly, breaking the tension in the room by standing abruptly. "Let's take a break. Dinner is probably ready, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving." He began moving towards the kitchen but was stopped in his tracks when the lights of the home flickered before going completely black.
Eoin and Eamon stood quickly, bodies tense as they seemed to wait for something to happen. Declan would like to consider himself a brave man, but he felt the cold grip of unease and fear take hold of his stomach.
"Did-did the power go out?" Cian asked, voice thick with anxiety. Ashling turned from where she had been seated on the couch next to the two Irishmen and pushed a curtain aside.
"No. The houses across the street still have lights on," she answered, goosebumps raising across her skin. The tension of the two men next to her was enough to set her on edge, but she could feel something else: something foreboding in the back of her mind telling her something was seriously wrong.
"Maybe a breaker blew?" Seamus muttered, but even he didn't sound convinced.
Eoin reached back and gently pulled Ashling by her elbow to stand next to him. "We need to leave," he said quietly as he began to herd her in the direction of the door, "now." Before he could move any farther an ear-splitting screech ricocheted through the house. The sound hit such a high octave that the occupants of the room quickly covered their ears to try and dampen the head-splitting sound.
Suddenly, the shadows around the room seemed to move on their own, rising from the floor to reveal misshapen outlines of what Ashling could only describe as monsters. Curled and gnarled bodies, black as night, with long claws and glowering red eyes, glared in the direction of the human occupants of the room. Everything was still for a heartbeat and then chaos broke out.
The shadows moved faster than anyone's eyes could follow, splitting into different directions. Declan, standing in the entrance to the front hallway where he had moved to lean against the doorway during their long conversation, was hit first and was tossed through the open doorway into the dining room. Ashling couldn't see that far, but the crash that followed probably meant the dining table was in pieces under him.
She felt Eoin's grip on her elbow tighten and he continued to try and push her to the front door. But then, his hands were gone from her, and he was tossed through the front window, glass raining down everywhere.
"Ghrian!" A bright flash of light came from towards the couch, and she saw Eamon standing with his arm raised, hand faced towards the monstrous black form by the fireplace, a bright light emanating from his palm. The creature shrieked again, wilting under the light before dissipating into wisps of smoke.
Ashling moved towards the window to see if Eoin was alright, but she was caught by Cian before she got too far. "We need to get out of here!" he screamed, fear showing in his eyes, and he pushed her down the hallway, past the dining room, and into the kitchen. More beasts formed around them as they moved past. She saw one reach towards them as they ran. She tried to pull Cian out of the way, but the monster was faster, catching him in the chest. Cian flew easily through the air and slammed into a wall, head cracking back into it, before falling crumpling to the floor.
"Cian!" she screamed, moving to her brother's form, wincing as she saw blood begin to seep through his shirt from four long claw marks that stretched across his chest. He was unconscious and she could barely make out the small rise and fall of his chest to let her know he was still alive. She turned to look behind her. Shadowed forms moved in closer to her. There were so many of them. Even if Eoin was in any sort of shape to fight after being tossed through that window, how could Eamon and he destroy all of these things?
Panic began to swirl in her mind. All she could see was her brothers, hurt and bleeding. She couldn't lose them. They were the only family she had left; she COULDN'T lose them.
She couldn't focus. Her vision swam, and her breathing was coming out in short, unhelpful puffs of air. Her brothers were going to die, and it was her fault. But what could she do? She couldn't do anything. These things would kill all of them and she would have no way to try to protect her family. What could she do?
A bright light suddenly bathed the walls around her. It seemed to fill the room before spilling out to the rest of the house and the yard surrounding. The creatures caught in it froze before they began to seize and convulse. Haunting screeches rang in her ears before one by one, they dissolved into wisps of smoke.
The light faded then, darkness consuming the home once more before the lights flicked back on. She felt light-headed, her ears ringing as blackness invaded her eyesight. A figure moved to stand in front of her before kneeling down and then Eoin's worried face entered her sight. He had a cut on his forehead and the tell-tale signs of a bruise forming on his chin. She had the fleeting thought to worry about him being hurt. But then the blackness won and the thought went with it.