The Silent Soldiers Page 2

few miles outside of Little Rock, the state capitol. His Uncle told him Eerie was a very small town, but that Little Rock was much bigger. Charles also said there were lots of things to keep him and Matt entertained while they were there. They had no idea just how entertained and busy their life would become once they arrived at their grandfather’s house.

  Luke, Charles, and Matt lived in Dallas, Texas. There were always things to do there. His uncle said Little Rock was not nearly as big as Dallas, so he hoped they had a good time and were not completely bored for the next few weeks.

  “The bus will be here in five minutes,” said Matt as he knocked on Luke’s bedroom door and pushed his way in.

  “I’m ready Matt, let’s get going.”

  Luke and his cousin were in the seventh grade. Matt was about a foot shorter and weighed several pounds less than Luke, but so did everyone else in his grade. Matt had dark skin, short brown hair and brown eyes. All of the girls were crazy about him, and he knew it. Luke, on the other hand, had very pale skin. No matter how much time he tried to spend in the sun he couldn’t seem to get any darker. It definitely was not fun growing up as the pale giant of your class. Luke was big, pale, had shoulder length blonde hair, and blue eyes. His uncle told him he had his father’s complexion and his mother’s hair and eyes. Luke didn’t know exactly where his size came from though.

  So, here they were on their last day of the seventh grade. It seemed like any other day, but Matt was super stoked about it for some reason. Luke was trying his best to be in high spirits for Matt’s sake. He couldn’t help but feel as though something weird was about to happen. The memories of his dreams continued to haunt his subconscious mind. Every time Luke let his mind wander, the thought of the dreams would surface again.

  The first half of the day went by really fast for him. He made it through English, Math, Biology, and Spanish class with flying colors. Next came lunch. He and Matt didn’t have any classes together, unfortunately, but they had always sat together at lunch. Luke had never been a real people person like Matt, so he never made many friends in school. Matt was always surrounded by lots of friends. His friends pretty much accepted Luke because he was part of Matt’s family.

  Luke had spent most all of his free time learning and perfecting his interest in martial arts. He had been in Karate and Tae Kwon Do classes for as long as he could remember. He currently held a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Everyone was excited about the things they were planning to do on vacation. Luke pretty much stayed to himself, as usual, thinking.

  The time he spent now, thinking, led his thoughts back to the recurring dream about the glowing yellow eyes and the howling wolf. He continued to wonder what the meaning behind the animals in his dream was. He had never in his life even seen a real wolf. Luke couldn’t help but think that the wolves felt almost as though they were familiar to him for some reason. He grew more puzzled the more he thought about them.

  The end of the day finally rolled around, and Mat met him at his locker. He grabbed the rest of his stuff and left it empty for whoever was to have it the next year. He slammed the locker shut before they headed for the bus to take them home. When they got home his Uncle’s truck was already in the driveway. Luke realized instantly that something was going on. It was very unusual for Charles to be home so early. He normally worked until five or later every evening.

  “I wonder why dad is home so early,” Matt said.

  “I don’t know. Lets find out.” They walked in the front door and found that their luggage had already been packed and now waited for them in the living room. Luke thought this was kind of odd since his uncle told them they needed to pack as soon as they got home from school. He told them they were leaving first thing the following morning for Grandpa’s.

  “Dad?” yelled Matt as they walked through the living room to look for Charles. They found him on the phone in the kitchen.

  “That’s right. I need two flights to Little Rock as soon as possible,” said Charles into the phone.

  “What’s going on, Matt?” Luke asked curiously.

  “I don’t know man. I thought we were driving up to Grandpa’s in the morning.” About that time Charles hung up the phone.

  “Get everything loaded in the truck,” said Charles.

  “What’s going on, Dad?” asked Matt.

  “We have to go to Grandpa’s tonight. We can’t wait until morning to leave.”

  “What’s going on?” Luke asked curiously. “Why only two flights?”

  “I’m sending you and Matt on tonight. I have some important business to take care of in the morning and I’ll drive up tomorrow evening.” Luke found it kind of peculiar that his uncle would fly them to Little Rock tonight instead of waiting for all of them to leave tomorrow. Luke decided to keep this thought to himself. Charles seemed to do things lately that made Luke wonder if he was hiding something, but he never asked questions. He knew it was not polite to question grown-ups about their business.

  Matt didn’t seem to think anything was out of the ordinary. At least he didn’t let on that he did. Matt was just excited about the thought of getting to fly. Neither of the two boys had ever been on a plane. Luke finally admitted to himself he was a little bit excited too.

  Charles failed to tell his son and nephew the true reason he was sending them early. He didn’t have time to explain all of the things they would soon find out. He needed to get them out of the state. When Luke was born he was placed in the care of his uncle. Charles, after the recent death of his wife, had to move from his home in Eerie. He moved to Dallas to hide his newborn nephew from the dark and evil forces that were hunting him. Charles feared that after all these years their location had been compromised. That was the real reason he was sending them to their grandfather immediately.

  They quickly loaded their things into the back of Charles’ truck. It definitely seemed like a lot of bags for a couple weeks, but Luke again decided not to ask any questions. Luke ran up to check his room one last time to make sure everything he wanted to take had been packed. They were out the door in quite a hurry.

  “How are we getting to Grandpa’s once we get to Little Rock?” Matt asked his dad.

  “Grandpa is going to send a car. It will be waiting on you as soon as you land.” Charles explained.

  “And you are coming tomorrow, right?” I asked.

  “That is the plan. As soon as I finish what I have to do, I will head that way.” Charles looked funny to Luke. He almost looked as though he was terrified of something. Luke couldn’t imagine what had his uncle so scared. He hoped everything worked out the way Charles wanted.

  “The shifter has been spotted leaving the house,” said one of the two men standing in the dark cave. The men knelt before the cloaked woman as if she was their queen. They dared not look the woman in the eyes. It was apparent the men feared this woman.

  “Then what are you waiting for?” screamed the woman, “Why are you here with me when this could be the perfect opportunity to capture the boy?” she added hissing the words at the men. The two men began to slowly creep backwards away from the woman. It was impossible for a human to move their body parts the way these men did.

  “Yes, Madame,” said one of the creeping men.

  “They are being trailed as we speak. We will go to them immediately,” said the second man.

  “If you value the air you breathe, you will not let the boy get away. The master is due to arrive at any time. He will not be pleased if the boy is allowed to escape,” spat the woman. The two men bowed their heads to the woman and instantly burst into flames. When the flames went out the two men no longer knelt before her. They had magically teleported back to wherever they came from.

  Luke, Matt, and Charles arrived at the airport in Dallas. Uncle Charles said his good-byes before unloading their luggage onto a rolling cart. The airport was huge. Luke couldn’t imagine how they would ever find where they were going on their own.

  “I have to go, but Mr. Coleman here is a
friend of your Grandpa’s. He will help you check in and get to your assigned terminal.” Charles told them. Mr. Coleman, to their surprise, was a giant man with dark tanned skin and a buzzed haircut. He wore a black suit with dark sunglasses. Charles took the man aside and spoke to him for a second. Luke watched as the giant man nodded his head in agreement.

  Luke had been watching his uncle closely since they left the house. He watched as Charles drove unusually fast as he weaved through the heavy afternoon traffic. Luke knew they were in a hurry to get to the airport. He couldn’t understand why his uncle had watched his rearview mirror so closely. Luke had started to get nervous as he watched his uncle drive. As Charles talked to Mr. Coleman he scanned the cars that were coming and going at the front entrance of the airport. The nervousness Luke felt on the drive suddenly turned to fear as his uncle, and then Mr. Coleman began to look frantically around at the other people walking in and out of the airport.

  “He’s kind of scary looking, huh?” Matt asked.

  “Yeah man he is freaking me out a little bit,” Luke agreed. Luke wondered if Matt had even noticed the strange way his father had been acting since they got home from school.

  “You are in good hands with Mr. Coleman. He will make sure you guys get on your plane safely.” Charles explained. “I love you boys. I