Chapter 17

Arik chuckled. “I’m aware of that. However, this town had been here for a very long time. Families intermarry and have for generations. Not cousins or what have you, but within the general population. Take you and Noah. Three hundred years ago your ancestors settled here. One of them was a Seeker, just as I am. He married, had children. Those children married sons or daughters of other settlers and…”

“I get the picture. Except for one thing. What exactly is a Seeker?”

“We’re the special few who can see the life-suckers. The gene, I suppose that’s what it is, appears only rarely. In this case, to the best of my knowledge, you and Noah are the first two who have had it since your long ago ancestor. He passed the gene on but it’s…I believe the term is recessive?’

“You got me.” John sank down on his heels on the rock, staring into the swirling water. “So how do you stop them?”

“By burning them. Like the vampires in the stories, they can be destroyed by fire.”