Shadow Bound

Dealing

"I'm sorry," Dalton apologized, closing their eyes.
"We should bring them back to the house. It's not far from here. It won't take too much effort. You take one, I'll take one," I suggested, turning back around once I knew they weren't looking at me anymore, resenting me for my decision.
"Are you sure you can do that? You aren't walking too well. That gash still hasn't stopped bleeding quite yet. We should get back as soon as we can," he countered.
"I'm fine, wait. Beckett was the first aid guy. He probably has stuff in his pack that can help." I reached into his backpack, pulling out a first aid kit. "Bingo," I chimed, taking out a bandage and an antibacterial wipe. I wiped the gash, clearing the blood . The cut was deeper than I thought, and the chemicals made it sting. I grimaced, but kept going. I stuck the bandage to it, and smiled back at Dalton. "See? Fine. You grab Beckett, I'll grab Alice. It won't take long to get back. I hope everyone's okay up there." I grabbed Alice delicately, tossing her over my shoulder. Dalton did the same, and we started our trek back to the house.
Alice's limp body dangled off of my shoulder, killing my left side as we walked. We moved slower than we probably should've, and I wanted to get to the house as much as possible, but it was a nice trip. You know, besides the body of the people I unknowingly killed dangling off of mine and Dalton's shoulder. Feeling her body made me realize that it was real, that I was a coward, that I was weak. I shouldn't have used those hints. I should've been more clever. I should've found my own way. Now they were gone, and the group lost two incredibly talented people. We'll bury them properly, give them their own little funeral.
The forest felt different. Too still. Dangerously quiet. We approached the house, and I raced in.
"Matt? Guys, where's Matt?" I asked the people around me. They saw the bodies, widened their eyes, and scurried off to find the person I was asking for. A few seconds later, Matt rushes in. His skin went pale.
"What, What happened? They're not... they're not dead are they?" He asked as I set Alice down, and Dalton set Beckett down.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know it happened when it did. I wasn't there. I'm so sorry. I know you were close-" He cut me off.
"It's fine. They're in a better place now. They aren't running anymore. They're safe, wherever they are. We need to talk though. Badly. It's important. We'll give them a proper burial later. We need to discuss something," He motioned us towards his little hole in the wall office. We followed close behind him, nearly yipping at his heels. He unlocked the door in a hurry, nearly missing one lock, slamming his head in the door. "Get in here,"
"What's going on? What is going on here?" I asked, confused by all of the commotion.
"We have a huge problem. The Troubled, they're coming. Did you notice how all of the animals stopped in the forest? The trees are dying closer to the house. The birds stopped chirping. I've seen three fall dead from the sky so far. Prime signs of The Troubled. We need to figure out what to do. We have plenty of copper sulfate, but some are stronger than the stuff we have. They might need a little more than just the chemical and flame. I just don't know what though. But we're in some serious trouble. Especially without Beckett and Alice. They were some of our best people, and best friends. Any ideas on how we should approach this? I can show you the weapons that we have now, but it won't do damage to everyone. Especially the Alpha. The Alpha's what we have to worry about. Any ideas?" He panicked, straining his voice as he flew around the tiny room, gathering every paper, searching for a potential answer hidden between the words.
"Show us the weapons, once we see what we have there, we can decide from there," I replied. Matt looked run down, tired. There were rings under his eyes, bags reaching as far as halfway down his cheeks. His skin was paler than usual, with a greenish tint. "First, are you okay? You aren't looking so well. You need to relax," I suggested. He shook his head furiously.
"We don't have time, we need to prepare. Come with me, I'll show you the weapons that are being held right now. Some are already set up. You can thank Paul for those. I'll introduce you to him when we get to some of the weapons. I don't have time to relax, though. That'll risk all of us getting killed." He raced out the door. Dalton and I struggled to catch up, and when we got to him, he was already talking.
"Spouts flame out into the house, and we sprayed some stuff that makes the house fireproof, so we don't have to worry too much about that. That'll eliminate a lot of Shadows at once, but the ones that will most likely be left will have no effect against the chemical and flame. We'll have to find another way to kill them. I just don't know what to do. Follow me, I'll show you the flamethrowers we have. They're all generic, I don't know the brands. I've tested them out though, and they work great. We have 23 currently, I believe. None of which are known for malfunctioning. I can have Paul teach you how to use them."
"I kind of doubt we have time for that, Matt. Calm down, we got this. It seems like we can handle the normal ones pretty well, with that sweet set up on the balcony. Do you think a different chemical could affect the larger ones? A more dangerous chemical, maybe?" Dalton suggested, searching his brain for any possible ideas.
"Pennies. I dropped a penny when one attacked, and it burned a hole in the creature. Maybe they can't handle Zinc? I know that's what pennies that were made before 1982 were composed almost entirely of zinc. I have a ton of change that I was saving to make renovations on this place if I needed to. We can melt down the pennies that I have, and place is along the doors so that when they step in it, they'll die? Maybe?" Matt planned out, driving himself nuts.
"It's worth a shot, let's test it. Go get the pennies. I can probably break a gas stove and just use the flame at maximum heat." Dalton guessed, shrugging his shoulders.
"We have all day anyways. At most, they can only attack tomorrow. They have to spend time taking apart the copper sulfate barrier," Matt reassured, although it didn't help.
"What about the bigger guys? Nothing's stopping them from just charging in," I brought to attention. Matt hit his head angrily. Then stopped when he seemed to realize something.
"Their tactics, they won't allow that. They're planning on sending in the little guys first, and only the stronger guys if they need it. What we really need is the Alpha though. I highly doubt both Zinc and copper sulfate will do any sort of damage to that thing. That's the only issue. I have no way to kill the Alpha. He's powerful. Anyways, you guys need some rest. Erin, you need some attention to those wounds. I don't want those getting infected," He pointed to the bandage poorly wrapped around my leg and the cut leading from the tip of my shoulder to the middle of my neck.
"Yeah... Spot got a little too friendly," I remarked. Matt and Dalton both gave me questioning looks, but I shooed it away, and went back up to my room. I flopped onto my bed, almost debating to go back and play the piano for a little bit, let it calm my mind. I had so much to think about. The strategy of how we were going to fight of this group, keep our family alive, and get rid of the Troubled for good. Before I knew it, my body was melting into the soft mattress, and my consciousness faded as I entered my own mind.

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All holding hands. All cheering at the glorious fireworks up ahead. All together. I looked to my right. My right hand grasped my dad's. He gazed up at the lights, mouthing "wow," as a new one exploded. I could see the glint of the fireworks in his eyes. He had lost the bags under his eyes, his skin had found a new glow. He didn't look tired anymore. I looked to my left, which was clasped to my mother. Her hair was done up in a messy bun, and she didn't wear any makeup. That was unusual because of her job. She was forced to dress super nice everyday, and seeing her dressed up in a sweatshirt and pants was a rarity in my house. She actually liked her work clothes. My brother was attached to my dad, jumping up and down in excitement. He wasn't 10 years old though. He looked like he did now, and when he looked at me, he winked. I looked down at my hands, which were eight year old sized. I was still eight, like I usually was in all of my dreams. Why was everyone else different?
The intercom went off, probably announcing that it was the end of the Fourth of July show, and time for us all to go home. But instead, it hissed, shrieked, bubbled.
"Erin Meyers, we aren't done with you. Not just yet. You'll find out tomorrow. You and your friends are in a lot more danger than you think you are. We have a plan. We know you will not survive this attack. None of you will," It taunted, laughing. My parents didn't seem to take any notice. They chatted, laughed, and paid no attention whatsoever to the threat.
"You said you'd leave me alone!" I screamed back, hoping that it would reply. It came back on the intercom.
"Yes, but it's not you we're attacking for. It's Matt. So technically, we're leaving you alone. If we were to, I don't know, "accidently" attack you, that's not our faults. But we aren't there for you. It's your friend we want. We've always wanted him," It hissed back. I looked to the others to see if they could hear them this time. They weren't normal. Their skin was burning, singing to ash. Their eyes were glowing a furious orange, flames erupting from the inside. They disintegrated onto the lawn, then rose back up as Shadows. They stared, grinning.
"Come with us," They chimed. "Come with us."
"I told you before, we aren't the bad guys. We're just trying to thrive. Join us. You can lead us into battle, lead us to victory." The thing came on the intercom again, then echoed along with their voices.
"Come with us, Come with us,"
"No!" I screamed, running in a random direction. It didn't matter where I turned, where I looked, I was surrounded by Shadows, all echoing the same three words.
"Come with us,"

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"Leave me alone!" I screamed, sitting up in my bed.
"Hey," Dalton greeted, placing his hand on my shoulder. He sat on the edge of my bed.
"What happened? Everything's fine? Everyone's fine? Where's Matt? Is he okay?" I was in panic, knowing that everything was just a dream, but not quite realizing it yet.
"Matt's fine, everything's fine, everyone's fine. Don't worry about it. Come here," He wrapped me in an awkward hug, but I appreciated the gesture.
"I'm okay, I'll be fine. I just need a moment to breathe. I hate those stupid Shadows. They really take over your life, don't they? Don't have much room to relax," I stated.
"We found our ways during our adventures, didn't we? That road was fun, sitting and talking about everything. That was our little relaxation. I enjoyed that," He remembered. He was right, that was a form of relaxing. Gotta take it where you can find it, I guess.
"I'm really glad I know you're alive. You know that, right? You were my best friend when we were younger. You still are. I don't know what happened to Matt, but he's scaring me more than anything. I don't see much of what he used to be. I guess I can't blame him. We were eight. But he's off his rocker, going insane. Again, I don't blame him at all, with the pending doom looming over his head and all. I just wish he could find those ways to relax, I guess," I rambled.
Then, in one instant, everything changed. A deafening crash came from the other side of the house, followed by terrifying screams.
"They're here."