The Man at the Door

The teens all looked around the now silent room. Leo walked out to the room to see Weather standing at the door talking with a middle-aged man.

"Who's at the door Leo?" Jake asked.

"I don't know..." Leo said.

Leo stood in the doorway as he watched Weather let the man inside. Weather smiles at the teen and sat at the table with the man. Leo walked back into the bedroom as they talked. A few moments later Oswin walked in and asked for them to join him at the table.

"Weather wants to talk to you in the kitchen." He said bluntly.

As the teens all sat down at the table the middle-aged man smiled at them.

"Hello, my name is Roger." The middle-aged man introduced himself to the group.

The teens all looked at him wearily, did Weather and Oswin know him? Was he there to kill them? Or was he going to save them?

"I know how to kill the lost souls lurking around outside." Roger said.

Leo gazed upward at him while he was speaking.

"Yea so do we! You just gotta shoot them." Jake said as he rolled his eyes.

"Actually..." Leo started.

Jake looked at Leo confused, "What?"

"When I got attacked by them, I was able to kill Chris. But when I shot at the wolf like creatures. They seemed unfazed…" Leo explained.

Roger looked at Leo, "So then you know as well as I do that they can only be killed when they take the form of others."

Chase looked at the man, "They only seemed to die when they looked human." He stated.

Roger nodded, "They are weaker in that state."

"So, they can shapeshift?" Leo asked.

"Not quite." Roger replied.

"Could you please explain sir?" Megan asked.

"They hunt and search for a target, when they find one that suits there needs they trap them and steal their souls." Roger explained.

"Can we even trust him? He sounds crazy Leo!" Jake whispered yelled as he looked at Leo.

"I'm not sure…" Leo whispered back. 

Weather looked at Roger as he spoke again, "Do you want to go home or not?" His words carried a chill, spoken with an icy tone.

Marissa nodded and offered an apology for her friends' behavior. "I apologize on their behalf, sir," she said.

"If you kids want this all to end you simply have to make a sacrifice. A soul for a soul if you will." Roger said.

"But there's so many of them?" Leo said.

Roger sighed, turning to Weather and Oswin. "Have you truly told them nothing?" he asked.

Oswin scoffed and looked at Roger, "We told them all we know. It's their fault if they didn't listen."

"The souls hunt in a group, or a pack. Whatever you want to call it. The group latches onto the strongest soul and feeds off of that." Roger said.

"Isn't the human looking ones the strongest? They seemed to be in charge." Jake asked.

"Sadly no. They might seem to be in charge. But they are only protected by the group of souls." Roger said.

"Oh." Jake said softly.

"Why? Did you kill them?" Roger inquired, his voice tinged with a note of panic and concern.

"Yea we killed two of them." Chase said.

"They bled a blackish color." Andrea added.

Roger let out a sigh and rested his hand on his forehead.

"Killing then will only make them stronger." Roger said.

"Wait but if killing them makes them stronger, and they feed off of the strongest soul. Does that mean we only made things worse?" Jake asked.

"Yes, you dumbass. All we did was make it worse by killing them!" Chase yelled.

"Ok don't yell at me. But what else were we supposed to do. We didn't know anything about them when we killed them!" Jake yelled.

"Guys stop fighting!" Megan yelled.

The boys both glared at her as they ignored her words and kept fighting.

"Get this dumbass to shut his mouth and listen to what others have to say for once!" Chase yelled.

"I am listening!" Jake yelled.

"No, you're not! If you were listening, then you would have understood that killing them made them stronger!" Chase yelled.

"ENOUGH! Both of you!" Leo yelled at his friends.

The boys stared at Leo in shock; annoyance was etched on his face. He had never shown irritation with them before, not even during their arguments in school. Could he truly be that stressed?

"If killing then makes them stronger then how do we stop them?" Leo inquired, gazing at Roger.

"If the alpha or leaders' soul is freed then the others will have nothing to feed off of and will disappear." Roger explained.

"Disappear? What do you mean?" Marrissa asked?

"Like smoke to the wind." Weather explained. 

Leo looked at him and nodded, "How do we know which one is the alpha?" He asked.

"You don't." Roger bluntly.

"How do we free it then?" Megan asked confused.

"A simple sacrifice will suffice." Roger said softly.

The group looked at him wearily not sure how to feel. No one wanted to die, they had all made it so far.

"Adaline already died-" June started before Roger cut her off.

"What did you do with the body?" Roger asked.

"She was buried outside in the graveyard." Weather replied.

Roger sighed and shook his head, "You need to sacrifice the body to the witches controlling them by burning it. And then burn the beasts." Roger said.

"Like burning on a stake? Like how people burned witches before?" Chase asked.

Roger nodded and looked at the confused group.

"You have to burn the body? What the hell are you on about old man?!" Jake yelled.

Leo kicked Jake again, silencing his friend.

"Sorry for him sir. But how do we burn them if we can't get close to them, without being killed?" Leo asked.

"With an Auseklis cross." Roger said as he showed them a tattoo on his arm.

It was an odd, star-like plus shape; the group gazed at him in confusion.

"If you draw it in your arm or wrist you should be fine." Roger explained.

Weather rose to her feet, seizing an object. She passed a permanent marker to the group before sitting back down. Roger accepted the marker and surveyed the group.

"Can I draw this on you all?" He asked.

The group nodded as Roger took their wrists one by one drawing the shape. After he finished, he handed the marker back to Weather looking at the group again. Suddenly, a loud scream echoed from the back bedroom. Leo sprang up and dashed to the room, finding his sister cowering in the corner.

"Stacey?" Concern and worry tinged his voice as he looked at his younger sister.

"Leo!" She yelled as he walked over.

She hugged him and began to cry, "It's ok. Your safe those things can't hurt you..." Leo said comforting her.

She shakily nodded as Leo helped her to the table to join the rest of the group. As they sat down Marrissa's soft voice broke the silence.

"How do we sacrifice someone if none of us want to die?" Marrissa asked.