Whispers in the Dark

The Eleventh Hour

Luke, Eve, Martin and Natasha were still telling stories when someone knocked on the door. Immediately, all of them went on guard. The talismans Eve had planted all around the property should be keeping the witch Olivia out, so the one knocking was someone else.

Luke was the one to go investigate. As he slowly approached the door, Martin armed himself with a kitchen knife. Eve had a hand on a protection talisman, while Natasha just sat there calmly.

Peeking through the peephole, Luke was surprised to see Kol on the other side. "It's Kol."

"He found his way back?" asked Eve.

"Is that you?" Luke called through the door, but his boss didn't answer. "Say something!"

Kol didn't. He just stood on the other side, silent and unmoving.

"He's not alone," Martin then said, looking out through a window. "There's people all over the lawn."

Eve went to join him, and realized he was right. The other people stood still, too, and seemed to be trying to cover their faces.

Then they all heard singing. It was a woman's voice, and it echoed all around them. The song was slow and sweet, lulling them to sleep. Natasha was the first to feel its effect, and started getting woozy.

"Close your eyes;

Feel no hate.

Time to dream.

Do not wait."

The song was followed by multiple people singing la la la - most of them sounding like children. Martin was the next to be hit, as he fell to one knee.

"What's happening?" Luke asked, and Eve pointed toward the sky, still looking through the window.

"She's up there. I think she's putting the town to sleep."

Luke cursed, and his glow surrounded him. Immediately, the song became pointless. Olivia repeated her words slowly and gently, but they had no effect on the big guy. Eve was unaffected, too, as she was holding a protective talisman.

"It's wide-ranging, but not powerful," the girl concluded. "But why aren't the guys outside being affected?"

The music stopped then, and both Martin and Natasha recovered.

"If it did that in this house, it must've put everyone else out already," Luke reasoned. "We can't expect help from any of them." Then he looked through the peephole again.

Kol swung his fist, and slammed it straight through the door. Luke jumped back just in time to avoid being killed. "It's not him!" The real Kol didn't have enough strength to lift a big chair, let alone knock down a door.

The Kol standing before them stepped inside as the door crashed, still expressionless.

"Possessed?" Eve guessed, but Luke shook his head.

"I can't feel anything inside."

"What does that mean!?"

"It's almost - almost like he's -" Just as Luke realized what was happening, Kol ran into him and sent him flying backwards. The big guy landed on his back, hurt but not down.

Eve hissed, "Fucking zombies."

Martin readied his knife, staring Kol's body down.

"You're not using that on him!" Eve screamed. "If the body dies, Kol won't be able to get back!"

"He's gonna kill us otherwise!" Martin yelled back.

Natasha spoke up, "There is something else we can try." She took one of the talismans Eve had left on the table, turned it over, then started drawing, surprising the group. When she was done, she held the symbol up. "This is the symbol of an old god from around here. Won't find much about it these days. It'll hold anything dead firmly in place; There's no getting out once this gets ya."