The Mysterious World of Eddy Shade

Chapter 7: Testing the Elements

     Eddy pulled up in front of the yellow ranch style house that was Edith's home. As he got out of the car and walked up the little stone path beside the drive he could not help the feeling that he may have gotten in over his head. Before he even got up the steps to the door Xander had opened the screen and was motioning for him to hurry inside. 

     Eddy stepped through the door into a short tiled hall that lead into a spacious living room lit by the large windows running along the back of the house. The tile quickly gave way to carpet as it entered the room only to reappear as a small square splotch right before the large sliding glass door that opened to the back yard. Eddy followed Xander across the living room, pass the dinning room and into the kitchen. Edith was sitting at a low table in the corner with various bowls and other objects placed in front of her. Xander went over and sat next to her, leaving Eddy to stand alone with both of them now facing him, staring. 

     He felt like a kid being called into the principles office or someone about to be given bad news by his parents. Edith held her hand out to the chair in front of her "Have a seat Eddy. We need to talk." 

     "Don't tell me you two are getting a divorce" Eddy joked in an attempt to lighten the serious mood that seemed to be setting over the kitchen. Neither of them so much as smiled as he slid into the chair across from them. "So . . . what's going on guys?" 

     Xander looked at him "Eddy did Cindy tell you what the man was?" 

     "No just told me what he looked like." 

     "I take it you don't know what it is she described, do you?" Xander asked. Eddy shook his head so Xander went on "have you ever heard of a wight?" 

     "Like something clever" he asked. 

     "No Eddy, not wit, a wight. Like the creature" answered Edith.

     Eddy thought for a moment then his eyes went up "Yes! Like in Lord of the Rings! That skeleton thing that attacked them in the burrows right?" he said as he enthusiastically pointing a finger at them. 

     "Yes, that's right" Xander said smiling "Except real wights are not skeletons, their just extremely skinny, almost skeleton like in fact. What was described to you can't be anything other then one." 

     "Which means you are in serous trouble" Edith added. 

     "Their nasty Eddy" Xander chimed in. "They take joy in other peoples pain. Their one of the most vicious and predatory species there is. Ever heard of Jack the Ripper Eddy?" Eddy nodded "He was a wight. Give you an idea of what we are talking about here?" 

     Eddy nodded slowly "yeah, getting the idea." 

     Edith leaned towards him slightly "Do you still want to pursue this then?" Eddy nodded "we kind of thought so. Thing is that if your going to stand a chance you need to learn a few new tricks. They have extremely fast metabolisms, which means they heal at an alarming rate. In short unless you have a machine gun shooting it is only going to tick it off." 

     "Whoa, hold on" Eddy interrupted. "Shooting someone is a last resort. We try and bring people in alive." 

     Edith reached across the table and grabbed his hand "Eddy, you don't seem to understand! This is a monster. Your only chance of surviving this thing, is to kill it. You can't talk them down, you can't reason with it, and despite their frail look, you can't overpower it. Your only chance is to inflict as much damage to it in as short of period of time as possible." 

     "And how do I do that?" Eddy asked looking down at her hand on his. 

     She quickly pulled back her hand, flushing a little "well, remember how I said all living things can use elemental energy?"