The Whispering

Prologue

~Prologue~

***Dakota Lee's POV***

I tighten my hold on the leash when I feel my Golden Retriever start to pull away from me. He lets out a soft whine before trying to jolt to the other side of the road.

“Max,” I command him softly to stop, but it just makes him pull on the leash harder. “What's wrong, boy?” I reach down with my free hand and lay it at the base of his neck, sending a burst of my energy into him like Sean taught me. I might not be the empath of the family, but I learned enough to be able to feel what’s wrong with Max.

I feel the answering wave of his energy rushing back, filling me with his fear and anxiety.

Something’s wrong.

I follow his line of sight to the two-story grey house across the road from my own. A family just moved into it last week and I haven’t had the time to go welcome them to the neighborhood. I’ve only ever seen the father leaving the house, but I know there are a mother and two daughters there, too.

Confused, I glance down at Max to see him putting up more of an effort to get away from me so he can run over there. Having faith in my dog, I reach down again to his neck and release him from the leash.

He takes off into the dark shadows with tiny whines as he races to whatever he feels isn’t right. I grab my phone from my pocket, knowing one of my brothers will call me soon, then chase after him. I follow Max's dark shadowed body around the house and into the dark woods running along the backyard.

I push myself into a full sprint to be able to keep up with his long strides and have to use more of my energy in small bursts to feel where the trees are before running into them. Just as I realize Max is heading towards the old church, my phone vibrates inside my hand and I quickly answer it.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I hear the booming voice of one of my brothers asking the moment the phone reaches my ear. I breathe a tiny sigh of relief at hearing North's voice coming through instead of Gabe's.

“Max feels something wrong,” I try to inform him around my short pants of air as I continue to sprint after my dog. “The last time he acted this way was when Nathan's father was home last.”

“Shit,” North growls into the phone before yelling out for Luke. “We’ll be there soon. I’ll contact the others.” He hangs up without a goodbye and I don’t even have time to drop my hand before it’s ringing again.

My stomach drops when I catch sight of Gabe's name before answering the new call.

“Run faster, Kota,” he yells at me frantically. “You need to get to the old church now before it’s too late.” The line clicks off and I force my legs to move faster.

I bust through the edge of the trees, feeling the soft dirt under my feet transform into the hard concrete of the parking lot of the old church, and frantically search for signs of my dog.

Max’s loud growl rips through the quiet night, and I catch sight of him just before he darts through the open doors of the church.

My phone goes off in my hand again, but I ignore it this time as I run across the lot to follow Max into the dark church. I use more bursts of energy to navigate through the darkness until I find myself in the large room where the church service was held. The old dusty pews still line both sides of the room where they were left when the church closed.

The stained glass windows running along the walls allow just enough moonlight to seep inside for me to see a girl standing in front of the old wooden cross. Her long blonde hair flows freely down her back, the soft moonlight making it appear like a halo surrounding her.

Why is she here?

“Hey,” I call out to her, “are you okay?” She doesn’t even flinch at the sound of my voice, just continues to sway side to side. A soft whine brings my attention to her bare feet, to see Max sitting there looking up at her then over to me. I slowly move closer to the girl, who I now notice is only wearing a light pink tank top with tiny black shorts.

We’re reaching the end of September and it might still be pretty warm during the day, but at night it gets cold. Especially tonight with the coming storm.

I quickly undo my jacket and pull it off as I finally reach the girl.

“Hi, my name's Kota,” I tell her as I step up in front of the girl, making Max move from his spot. As I look into her eyes, I flinched back a half step. Her eyes are completely dilated black as she stares at the wooden cross blankly.

It’s like she’s in a trance, I think as I wave my hand in front of her face, but she doesn’t respond.

Suddenly, I get this overwhelming urge to touch her, and my hand moves towards her face without my permission. My fingertips barely caress the silky-smooth skin of her cheek when a wave of electricity crashes into me and my body shutters with the intensity.

Goosebumps dot along her bare arms and neck moments before her whole-body shutters like mine just did. I watch her eyes start to roll back and quickly rush forward just as her legs buckle. I wrap my arms around her tiny body and bring her close to my chest as she passes out.

I found her.

I carefully pick her up in my arms and wrap her in my jacket to keep her warm. Her head rests against my shoulder, bring her face closer to mine which allows me to see the beautiful details of her face.

Her cute button nose and cheeks are slightly red from the cold, but I can still see the light-colored freckles dusting across them. Her lips are pale pink with the lower one sticking out a little more than the top, giving her a natural pout that I can already see working on North and Gabe.

She’s perfect, I think as I bring my hand up again to caresses her cheek, and she all ours.

She’s the final link to my family’s soul.