Strange Beginnings// j.p.

Chapter 10- Truth Revealed

    I saw the look in Jake's eyes as he processed my words, reeling with the shock of the sudden understanding that the monster he'd seen that night, the one that had taken Abe from us, was real. It was real, and it wasn't the only one of its kind.

"Wait, what?" Emma asked in disbelief, and Jake's voice was quiet as he whispered, "I can see them, too... Just like Grandpa could, just like Lessie..."

Her eyes welled with tears and she pulled us both into a hug. "I knew there was something peculiar about you, Jake, and you too Lessie. And I mean that as a compliment."

"And you can't see them at all?" Jake asked her, and she just shook her head.

"Only their shadows, which is why they mainly hunt at night."

"What's stopping them from coming after you right now?" he asked, then quickly corrected himself, gesturing to both of us as well. "All of us, I mean."

Her face got serious. "They don't know where to find us. That, and they can't enter loops. So, we're safe on the island- but we can't ever leave."

"But Victor did."

Emma nodded sadly, and I could see the pain on her face. "He said he was going mad here, that he couldn't stand the island anymore. Poor Bronwyn. My Abe left, too, but at least he wasn't savagely murdered by hollows."

I shivered slightly, both from the slight chill in the air, and the image of Abe's mangled body that suddenly flashed through my mind. "I'm so sorry, Emma, but..." My voice was soft in the quiet stillness, and I didn't have to finish my dreaded sentence before she understood.

"Oh, no..."

I wrapped an arm around her to comfort her, as Jake continued with the story. "They convinced me it was wild animals. But if what you're saying is true, and I know it has to be because Lessie has been trying to convince me of the same thing for months, then my grandfather was murdered by them, too. The first and only time I saw one was the night he died."

She closed her eyes tightly and leaned her head against mine, her knees to her chest like a small child. "I wounded it," I whispered comfortingly to her, "I may have even killed it. Abe taught me how to, just like he learned. I got revenge for him."

"I knew they'd get him eventually," she whispered back, "He promised me he'd be safe in America. That he could protect himself. But we're never safe- none of us. Not really."

"He protected himself for a long time, Em, I promise. He lived to old age, and he trained me to protect myself and Jake when he wasn't able to anymore." I squeezed her gently. "He still lived a good life in the time between."

We sat quietly for a moment, almost in mourning, until Jake spoke up in the silence. "I never knew you were peculiar, Lessie. What's your...? What can you do?" I sat up straighter, sighing softly.

"I suppose it's time I told you. Abe taught me how to fight the hollows, with weapons like he did. But my ability, aside from being able to see the hollows too, is elemental manipulation and atmokinesis. That means I can control the four natural elements, and I can manipulate the weather around me. Summon storms, small tornadoes, things like that. I was able to separate the oxygen from the water so we could breathe. Abe found someone to teach me how to control my abilities, how to hone them as a weapon to protect myself. And you."

We talked for a while longer, until the moon sunk low and the water began to lap at our throats. We wadded our way across the large hull to the canoe, rowing back to shore. As we neared the sand, we heard voices calling our names, and found Hugh and Fiona waving at us. It was obvious something was wrong, and when we tied the canoe up, we ran to meet them.