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WAITING FOR PETE AND FINN to return seeuard

Captain Calloway seeive hiroup One person could turn another, but in a group, so, and therefore all were called toand the dead were all accounted for

Calloway didn&039;t argue the removal of the heads The killed would be decapitated and thrown into the sea

While men were busy at their tasks, they heard the town&039;s church bells begin to peal

The sound made a horrible force in Tara&039;s heart She was afraid when she heard the

Richard stood with her in the parade ground, listening

"Sounds like a death knell"

Captain Tremblay walked up to stand by them "Or a dinner bell" he said quietly

She shook her head "Finn is calling them to the church It&039;s the safest place"

"The fort would be the safest place, wouldn&039;t it?" Tremblay asked

"I don&039;t think so," Tara said She looked at Tre the walls of the fort, but he knew, because he had seen with his own eyes, that evil could slip behind the high walls with little effort "Besides, there h time"

"What&039;s that?" Richard asked and pointed up

Looking up, they could see a forht?" Tremblay asked speculatively

Tara shook her head She looked at Richard "I have to go"

"Are you insane?"

"NoI&039;m the only one who can really help"

"Finn knohat he&039;s doing You said so yourself," he argued

Tara was surprised when she felt Treht"

"She&039;s not," Richard argued "Tara-"

A strange screeching filled the sky

Tara walked a few steps fronawed hard on her lower lip

"He&039;s going to need help," she said

"I can arrange for soether We have to hope that whatever ht is now busy with the hordes beyond the walls I have to go alone"

"And you&039;re going to just walk out, past Captain Calloway?" Tre at Richard

"Don&039;t ask her, and you&039;ll be happier," Richard said He caught her by the shoulders "You&039;re not invulnerable," he reminded her "You arewho you are, but you&039;ve never been in a real battle beforebefore the island"

"I&039;ll be careful, Richard, I swear"

He hugged her to hi "I&039;d stop you if I could," he told her

"I know I&039;lad you can&039;t"

Tre lady See what you can do for the people now" He wrinkled his face in a grimace "I&039;ve been spit at a time or two around here, but that&039;s no reason to ave hiht still be learning about battle, but as a child she had learned to test her abilities Sometimes, of course, this had infuriated her mother, but she still had to knohat her unique talents were

Eyeing the fortress, she decided on the far wall, where the shadoere deepest to escape undetected

Certain that no one had seen her scale the wall, she began to run, and she let the breeze carry her along She could still hear the church bells peeling

And she could still hear the horrible sound of the screeching on the air

And the screams that naturally seemed to follow that sound

A STRANGE HUSH QUELLED the noises of the night as Finn stepped outside the church The creatures, possibly longing to play with their prey, had gone silent A little distance off, they stood together like athe way into the church

Finn stood still, watching

He saw theinto the eyes of the creature before him Hawkins had his arirl not ainst his body His wife clung to his shoulder, her eyes enorotten his breeches on and had thrown on an open shirt; his wife and daughter were still in bleached cotton nightdresses They all seelohite beneath the ht on the people of Key West that night like a pack of wolves The one facing Jasper Hawkins was a young man dressed in a fine waistcoat and jacket One, of which Finn could only think of as a lady of the night, had her skirt hiked up and her bodice stretched low and tight over a her lips The tere surrounded by four others-an old woman, and three who looked like old salts Tere in Union unifornia of a Confederate artillery officer

Where had they coroup, and he was certain that the leader wasn&039;t aroup of people, care had been taken, the leader keeping theht, was part of that control Whatever enda, not just create mayhem and murder in the dark

Finn felt hi hi dandy

He heard Hawkins gasp and his wife choke back a scream Finn so startled the dandy varinning "Ah, the feast grows more delectable!" he murmured "My friends, shall we dine?"

One of the oldest war tactics: take down the head of the beast first Finn swiftly raised his sword and swiped cleanly The dandy&039;s head crashed against the roots of an old sea grape The body stood a round

Hawkins&039;s wife didn&039;t try to choke back her screauttural chattering that could begin a a horde of vampires, the newly created especially, and he knew they&039;d pounce immediately

They tried toa hard backward push to cast the old woman out of his way as he pierced the throat of one of the Union officers He had to wrench at his sword to get it back fro him precious seconds The Confederate reached for Hawkins&039;s young wife, and Finn found himself forced to allow his sword to fall while he used his fists to ward off the Confederate

"Get to the church!" he warned the faave his wife a shove "Run!" He swept up his daughter, prodding his son

Finn wanted to stay with the fas could easily slip away and rip into the fleeing group while he was hard-pressed with the re to divide his attention, he felt a presence at his back

Tara

"Finn, the faood here Go!"

On the one hand, he&039;d told her to rerateful as all hell that she had come

Finn reached down for his sword and tore after the turned soldiers, now nearly upon the fa hiht the Confederate soldier just as the thing&039;s fingers grasped into the little girl&039;s dress He ripped through the ain

Then he dared to turn

Tara was holding her own just fine The old woman had risen; her jaas so wide open it appeared dislocated as sheadvances in Tara&039;s direction But Tara stood tough, and as the old wo, and the wouillotine

Finn rushed back to Tara&039;s side as the Hawkins fa the last twoaround and headed for the church the-another sweep of shadows, blocking them just when they would have reached the doorway to the church The one was an enorro man, and the other, aof the Viking days

Finn nodded to Tara, and they split apart

This new round of the ene caiant blackmuscles took a step toward Tara His weapon was a massive machete

For a moment, Finn&039;s heart sank The weapon was heavy, and she was so s, Finn lifted his sword to parry the blow, and for soround Finn willed his strength to the fore and shoved hard against the bigger ain, Finn leaped to the side, the bloent through the air, further sending him off balance Finn responded with a sharp blow to the jaw His head was not dislodged, but he did stagger, trying to right himself Finn jumped onto the porch and fro his knife and killing hiround with the body but rolled clear quickly and rose

Tara was being forced back against a banyan Using the tree to her benefit, she slid to the right when the monster&039;s massive weapon caiant tried to wedge it free, Tara sith both hands, slicing through half his neck Finn rushed forward, finished the job, grabbed her by the ar into the church

Father Tied the, Finn looked at Tara "I told you to stay at the fort!"

"You&039;re lucky I did not!"

"You could have been killed!"

"And you could have been killed!" she countered "Excuse me, we may well have been killed if she didn&039;t co fronized Tara and spoke to her "Tara? Tara Fox?"

"Yes, Jasper," she said quietly

He stared at her speculatively, but his wife rushed forward, hugging her "Tara, oh, dear girl, I don&039;t knohere you got the strength, but thank you!" She turned to Finn "I don&039;t know you, sir, but I thank you, as well!"

"Are they co at Finn "How do you know so much about them?" Mrs Hawkins asked

"I&039;ve seen them in other war zones," Finn said "Most recently we encountered them up northeastward on another island"

"But we are on islands-we should be safe here," a woman said softly

Father Timothy cleared his throat "Hoe combat them-if there are more?"

Finn took a deep breath and looked around Tara was staring at hilad he was the one getting the questions

He cleared his throat "It&039;s like a disease"

"Oh, my God!" the mayor&039;s wife cried softly "Do you meanif they touch us, we turn into that and thendie, or have to have our heads chopped off, or-"

Her voice was starting to rise hysterically, so Finn cut her off quickly "No, no, you can survive a scratch or abite But you have to watch for the infection Our captain and another of our men ounded, but survived Above all, you have to do everything possible to keep the wounded alive If there&039;s a fever, cool it down If there&039;s an open wound, keep it clean Use ru that you have The disease takes hold when the person appears to have died"

There was a clamor of fear in the church Finn raised a hand "You can learn to defend and protect yourselves Ladies, too" He looked at Father Timothy "Sir, we need holy water Lots of it And we need whatever vials you can find, any vessels will do This will slow them doords remove the head, but you can also kill the creatures with stakes We can start to make stakes out of the pews Re the heartthe creature"

"Stakes," so va at Finn with disbelief

Finn answered carefully "All legend has a core of truth to it The legends surely came from this horrible disease, and yes, once the creatures come back, they thrive on blood"

"Demons! Demons from hell!" Mrs Hawkins shouted

Finn looked at her, still cautious in his speech "Evil things do co that holy water can kill them," Father Tiet them in the face, you can blind them They know this and will fear it, if they are true evil ones However, there have been cases where those who coer for death and blood, and then the church and the holy water do no ill"

He didn&039;t knohat effect he was having on the people He wanted to scare them, but not to immediately attack Tara should they find out about her, or him "But, sadly, most often, when created by an evil puppetat Seminole Pete, "they will never have had the opportunity to learn goodness You can&039;t risk le- to see your loved ones corave care Watch for a tinge of red in or around the eyes, and don&039;t be taken in by the longing we all have to see our dead loved ones alive and in our arain"

There was silence for awhat he&039;d said, and listening for the sound of wings

"Will they come by day?" Father Timothy asked

"By day, those who are new to coht hurts theht," Finn said

Father Timothy said, "Men! Fashion stakes of the pews I will bless ht Whether we syht that we are all God&039;s creatures in this church, and ork together!"

Father Ti, but he seeuide his flock That ht

Finn gave the man a nod, and Father Timothy stepped over the befuddled mayor and all authority to assert his own

Finn walked over to Tara, as standing with Pete