The Chosen Ones Book 4: A New Enemy

Chapter 25

Matt could hear a voice but couldn't tell if he was dreaming. He opened his eyes and saw two blurry faces staring down at him. He blinked a few times until they came into focus and saw Tyler and Sierra.
"Casey." Matt groaned.
"She's okay, dad." Tyler said.

Tyler looked like nothing at all had happened to him at all. Sierra on the other hand had dirt and scratches all over her face. Shannon and Phil were tending to Casey and Sam, and Gavin was slumped up against an old rusted Ford pick up that was missing all four tires.

Matt hugged Casey. "You okay?" He asked her.
She nodded. "You?"
He smiled back at her, getting her to smile as well. They were all safe. Sam and Sierra were okay. It could have been a little worse.
"What the fuck was that?" Phil asked Tyler.
"I felt it last time I fought him." Tyler explained. "I knew something like that would happen. I just didn't know it would be that big of an explosion."

"Where's Gabriel?" Shannon asked.
"If I'm okay he's okay." Tyler said.
"His men? The shifters?" Matt asked.
"They got away, just like us. Most of them anyway." Tyler answered.
"Speaking of, where the hell did he get shifters?" Sam asked.

None of them had an answer. Facing Gabriel and his men was a tall task in itself, mix in two dozen or so shifters it almost became impossible.
"This changes nothing." Matt told them. "Except maybe the day. I think we need to rethink our strategy. Maybe tomorrow night is better."

They were relieved. After what happened here, none of them felt like fighting tonight. Matt looked at Tyler. He knew his son had power, but had never seen anything like what had just happened.

"At least we cut into his numbers again." Gavin said. "We had to have killed three dozen men in there."
"Yeah, now it's eight versus a little over a hundred and fifty, oh wait and about thirty shifters." Phil said, sarcastically.
"I'm just saying..." Gavin replied, quietly.
"Gavin's right." Casey agreed. "Every time we kill more, Gabriel is more vulnerable."

Matt looked at the obliterated warehouse and the debris all around them.
"Let's get out of here, police will be here any minute."
They drove back to a waiting Ben and Mary, who immediately embraced Sierra.
"I'm fine too, guys." Shannon mumbled, only half joking. Her younger sister always got the most attention.

Ben told them how they not only heard the explosion, but felt it too, like an earthquake. Preliminarily reports on the news were calling it a gas explosion. Matt looked down at his phone and read the text from detective Milligan: WAS THAT YOU? He ignored it for now.

Tyler healed everyone once they were all settled. As night fell they all sat around on the back deck. It was different than the one at Matt's old house, but for some reason outdoor talks with this group just felt different. Perhaps it reminded them all of simpler times.

"I'd ask what the plan is, Matt, but I don't think there is a plan out there that can prepare us for what we're gonna walk into." Phil said. He was seated on the deck's railing.
Casey was sitting on Matt's lap. She looked up at him, knowing he was feeling defeated. "This isn't on any one of us." She said. "We face it together."

"It's what we do best." Shannon said.
"We've been outnumbered before." Sam added.
"And we won." Gavin chimed in.
"But we lost too." Matt reminded them. "Shaun, Gab, Bill.... I mean.... Are we supposed to be grateful for having survived? Cause I'm not."
"We all know the risks." Shannon said. "We chose this. From the beginning you told ALL of us we didn't have to."

"We have the dagger." Gavin reminded them. "We have an advantage Gabriel doesn't even know about. If we kill him who knows if his men will even fight anymore."
"We can't let him win." Tyler said. "No matter what, no matter how many of us have to sacrifice. We all know what he would do once I'm gone." His voice trailed off. "Maybe that's why I'm here. To stop him."

All this time he had been racking his brain and searching for answers as to why he was given these powers, it was right in front of him this whole week. It was him versus Gabriel. Good versus evil.
Sierra rubbed his back. He hugged her and gave her a faint smile. In the middle of all this mayhem he had figured out his purpose. Sierra knew more than anyone how the not knowing had been eating away at him.

"Then stop him." Phil said. "And we'll take care of his army of jerkoffs."
"What about the shifters?" Sam asked.
"I remember a long time ago." Matt said. "That scientist from the Nest. She said the shifters didn't want to work for Walker, that's why they ran."
"You think they came from the Nest?" Casey asked.
"Walker created them, remember? In his dungeon." Matt said. "You saw them in the warehouse. Their age is consistent with the timeline."

"Maybe Gabriel tracked them down, threatened them." Gavin suggested. "Maybe he's making them fight for him."
"Either way, if they come for us we have to kill them. They chose their side." Shannon said. She got up. "I'm going to bed. You coming?" She asked Phil.
He shot up. "Hell yeah." He took Shannon's waiting hand.

"I'm still not used to that yet." Matt admitted as they disappeared inside.
The others went up minutes later, leaving Matt and Casey alone. He gave her a long sweet kiss. No matter how down he was feeling all it took was her touch to calm him down and make him forget, even if it was only for a few minutes.
"I still don't think I deserve you." He said.
She smiled. "That's funny. I think the same thing about you all the time."

"You think we'll ever have a happy ending?" He asked her.
She thought for a moment. "Maybe it's not about the happy ending. Maybe it's about the story."

He thought on it and couldn't help but smile. "What a story it is."