Under Attack
Chapter 26: Under Attack
The party was in full swing and the night was a beautiful and calm one, right up to the moment where it became a tight little ball of terror.
It started with a shriek. A shrill girlish shriek delivered by seven year old Jessica Ackles as she pointed at the thing lumbering towards her. The girl’s mother spun around quickest and her scream died in her throat as she lunged forward to gather her daughter into her arms, away from the horror her daughter had seen first. She carried her daughter towards her husband and son as fast as her scared legs would propel her.
By that point, many others were also running and those in the house were racing to windows to see why everyone was suddenly converging.
Ben met his children’s eyes and nodded.
Sally whirled to Taylor, “Get everyone together and keep them in the house. No one leaves until we come back, okay?”
Realising that this was probably the training her father had bestowed on the teenager talking, Taylor nodded briskly. She took a deep breath and projected her voice over the din. “Everyone, get inside and stay inside! If you can’t find room on the first floor, head to the second! I need everyone to get together quickly and safely!” As her eyes darted over the crowd, she saw Ryan and John herding the terrified people. Taylor actually gasped in relief when she saw that Autumn was cradled in Ryan’s arms, his body shielding the three year old in a way that made Taylor recall how he’d protected her during an earthquake back in California.
Cody and Dean were already loading guns that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Both sawed-offs and Cody was helping Dean switch out her salt rounds for real ones. Sally was handing an extra cartridge to Karl, who was murmuring something about the state of his life: that he’d not only brought a semi-automatic to a birthday party, but that he was going to have to use it.
Ben wasn’t in sight because he’d already fought his way outside. Lifting a pistol from the back of his pants, he turned to Eliot, who was the only other person not in the house.
“Know what it is?” Eliot asked, calm but concerned as he cast a glance back at the house.
Ben nodded, intent on holding his ground until he heard his kids’ footfalls heading towards him.
“That’s not a good thing is it?” Eliot also asked.
“No it is not,” Ben replied, as the others reached them. “What business brings you here?” he shouted at the creature.
It smiled, if you could call something that evil and hideous and menacing a smile. “We want a chosen one,” it hissed.
Eliot raked the landscape with his eyes, trying to find the others that would make this a ‘we’ situation.
“It speaks for all of them,” Cody whispered, “but it’s the only one here. For now.”
“We had a bargain,” Ben answered the creature. “My people and yours. You were given a child last year in our timeline from Cardiff. You promised no more chosen ones for the rest of this millennium. You have all of eternality to chose from, but you were forbidden this time. Now go away.”
Eliot leaned in to Cody. “Exactly how useful are your weapons and my fists going to be here?”
The other man answered with a rue smile at his shotgun.
“That helpful, huh?” Eliot took a deep breath and tensed. He’d fight if it came to it, even knowing he’d lose. He’d done it before and for worse reasons before.
This time Karl spoke up. “I use my given powers and forbid you to come back to this millennium ever again.”
The creature turned, seeming to notice the Welshman for the first time. It tilted it’s bald green-brown head, then hissed, “Lord.”
Everyone on the front lawn ignored the creature for a moment to lay their startled eyes on Karl.
The man stepped forward, dropping his gun to the ground as he approached the creature.
Everyone tensed, but Ben cocked his gun and aimed it. If that bastard being hurt Karl, he was going to blow its fucking head clean off its bony shoulders.
Karl straightened his back and addressed the creature once again. “You heard me. You swore to obey me for the duration of my life and I command you to abandon this area, these people, and this millennium and to never, ever return.”
The creature shuffled forward on its feet. Glancing at the house full of frightened, watching people, it returned its gaze to Karl. Bowing low, the creature hissed, “Your wish, Lord. We obey our chosen ones and none other.” It flew off into the tall elm tree, then seemed to fly through a window in the sky as it vanished.
Silence reigned for a long moment before Dean decided to break it. “What the fucking fuck just happened here?”
Ben’s eyes were glued to Karl, who met them almost shyly. “You… you were a chosen one?”
“Still am,” Karl admitted. “I saw the same Torchwood Three report you did, Ben. I know that the girl chose to go. If Harkness hadn’t let her, they would have ravaged the world.”
“So…” Sally was struggling with the information she was hearing. She started again. “So, you’re a chosen one…”
“Who didn’t chose to go,” Karl finished for her, “yes.” He pointed. “They are lethal to anyone who harms a chosen one, but with us, they are bound to obey. They came to me when I was young and upset with my family. I was tempted,” Karl huffed, “I was very tempted. But I couldn’t go. I was too tethered to Earth.” He laughed. “And then I went off to work for Torchwood; bloody brilliant way to stay tied to this planet.”
Ben turned towards the house. He gave Taylor a thumbs-up and a smile, if a forced one.
Sally and Dean strode towards the Madison home to help calm everyone down and reassure them it was over, without having to reveal more details than strictly necessary.
Eliot turned to Cody. “Drama just fucking trails you, don’t it son?”
Cody huffed a laugh. “Well, couldn’t enter a new decade without getting back into my training. Least it was Torchwood training, could have been a pack of demons.”
Knowing all about his best friend’s ability to deal with whatever the universe or the cosmos belched out at him, Eliot marvelled again that a heartbreak had been the thing to break Cody’s spirit. “Nice to see you’re back in fighting form,” he said, meaning more than what had happened that night.
Cody nodded because he understood the subtext.
As the weary fighters wandered back into the house amid the people heading outside again, to cautiously go on to their own homes where they intended to have lots of hugs and call their parents just to say hello, Taylor appeared.
“I don't know whether to bleach my eyeballs or applaud the performance,” the woman said, trying to force a smile on her lips. “The party’s breaking up, obviously, but I’m sending everyone home with some leftovers.”
“I think we’ll head out once we’ve helped clean up,” Ryan added, stroking Autumn head where it rested against his chest. “Seemed to have been too much excitement for her,” he left a weight to that sentence.
Sally squared her shoulders. “You know this sort of thing happens, even if you personally haven’t witnessed it before,” she said, “but know this too: you have very smart, very well-trained people to deal with it. Your family is safe, Ryan, I promise.”
The older man nodded. “Thank you.”
“Kind of like the Men in Black,” Taylor added.
Sally looked down at herself, then over to Dean. “And the Ladies in Red,” she added, gesturing to her crimson dress and Dean’s red tank top.
The party was in full swing and the night was a beautiful and calm one, right up to the moment where it became a tight little ball of terror.
It started with a shriek. A shrill girlish shriek delivered by seven year old Jessica Ackles as she pointed at the thing lumbering towards her. The girl’s mother spun around quickest and her scream died in her throat as she lunged forward to gather her daughter into her arms, away from the horror her daughter had seen first. She carried her daughter towards her husband and son as fast as her scared legs would propel her.
By that point, many others were also running and those in the house were racing to windows to see why everyone was suddenly converging.
Ben met his children’s eyes and nodded.
Sally whirled to Taylor, “Get everyone together and keep them in the house. No one leaves until we come back, okay?”
Realising that this was probably the training her father had bestowed on the teenager talking, Taylor nodded briskly. She took a deep breath and projected her voice over the din. “Everyone, get inside and stay inside! If you can’t find room on the first floor, head to the second! I need everyone to get together quickly and safely!” As her eyes darted over the crowd, she saw Ryan and John herding the terrified people. Taylor actually gasped in relief when she saw that Autumn was cradled in Ryan’s arms, his body shielding the three year old in a way that made Taylor recall how he’d protected her during an earthquake back in California.
Cody and Dean were already loading guns that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Both sawed-offs and Cody was helping Dean switch out her salt rounds for real ones. Sally was handing an extra cartridge to Karl, who was murmuring something about the state of his life: that he’d not only brought a semi-automatic to a birthday party, but that he was going to have to use it.
Ben wasn’t in sight because he’d already fought his way outside. Lifting a pistol from the back of his pants, he turned to Eliot, who was the only other person not in the house.
“Know what it is?” Eliot asked, calm but concerned as he cast a glance back at the house.
Ben nodded, intent on holding his ground until he heard his kids’ footfalls heading towards him.
“That’s not a good thing is it?” Eliot also asked.
“No it is not,” Ben replied, as the others reached them. “What business brings you here?” he shouted at the creature.
It smiled, if you could call something that evil and hideous and menacing a smile. “We want a chosen one,” it hissed.
Eliot raked the landscape with his eyes, trying to find the others that would make this a ‘we’ situation.
“It speaks for all of them,” Cody whispered, “but it’s the only one here. For now.”
“We had a bargain,” Ben answered the creature. “My people and yours. You were given a child last year in our timeline from Cardiff. You promised no more chosen ones for the rest of this millennium. You have all of eternality to chose from, but you were forbidden this time. Now go away.”
Eliot leaned in to Cody. “Exactly how useful are your weapons and my fists going to be here?”
The other man answered with a rue smile at his shotgun.
“That helpful, huh?” Eliot took a deep breath and tensed. He’d fight if it came to it, even knowing he’d lose. He’d done it before and for worse reasons before.
This time Karl spoke up. “I use my given powers and forbid you to come back to this millennium ever again.”
The creature turned, seeming to notice the Welshman for the first time. It tilted it’s bald green-brown head, then hissed, “Lord.”
Everyone on the front lawn ignored the creature for a moment to lay their startled eyes on Karl.
The man stepped forward, dropping his gun to the ground as he approached the creature.
Everyone tensed, but Ben cocked his gun and aimed it. If that bastard being hurt Karl, he was going to blow its fucking head clean off its bony shoulders.
Karl straightened his back and addressed the creature once again. “You heard me. You swore to obey me for the duration of my life and I command you to abandon this area, these people, and this millennium and to never, ever return.”
The creature shuffled forward on its feet. Glancing at the house full of frightened, watching people, it returned its gaze to Karl. Bowing low, the creature hissed, “Your wish, Lord. We obey our chosen ones and none other.” It flew off into the tall elm tree, then seemed to fly through a window in the sky as it vanished.
Silence reigned for a long moment before Dean decided to break it. “What the fucking fuck just happened here?”
Ben’s eyes were glued to Karl, who met them almost shyly. “You… you were a chosen one?”
“Still am,” Karl admitted. “I saw the same Torchwood Three report you did, Ben. I know that the girl chose to go. If Harkness hadn’t let her, they would have ravaged the world.”
“So…” Sally was struggling with the information she was hearing. She started again. “So, you’re a chosen one…”
“Who didn’t chose to go,” Karl finished for her, “yes.” He pointed. “They are lethal to anyone who harms a chosen one, but with us, they are bound to obey. They came to me when I was young and upset with my family. I was tempted,” Karl huffed, “I was very tempted. But I couldn’t go. I was too tethered to Earth.” He laughed. “And then I went off to work for Torchwood; bloody brilliant way to stay tied to this planet.”
Ben turned towards the house. He gave Taylor a thumbs-up and a smile, if a forced one.
Sally and Dean strode towards the Madison home to help calm everyone down and reassure them it was over, without having to reveal more details than strictly necessary.
Eliot turned to Cody. “Drama just fucking trails you, don’t it son?”
Cody huffed a laugh. “Well, couldn’t enter a new decade without getting back into my training. Least it was Torchwood training, could have been a pack of demons.”
Knowing all about his best friend’s ability to deal with whatever the universe or the cosmos belched out at him, Eliot marvelled again that a heartbreak had been the thing to break Cody’s spirit. “Nice to see you’re back in fighting form,” he said, meaning more than what had happened that night.
Cody nodded because he understood the subtext.
As the weary fighters wandered back into the house amid the people heading outside again, to cautiously go on to their own homes where they intended to have lots of hugs and call their parents just to say hello, Taylor appeared.
“I don't know whether to bleach my eyeballs or applaud the performance,” the woman said, trying to force a smile on her lips. “The party’s breaking up, obviously, but I’m sending everyone home with some leftovers.”
“I think we’ll head out once we’ve helped clean up,” Ryan added, stroking Autumn head where it rested against his chest. “Seemed to have been too much excitement for her,” he left a weight to that sentence.
Sally squared her shoulders. “You know this sort of thing happens, even if you personally haven’t witnessed it before,” she said, “but know this too: you have very smart, very well-trained people to deal with it. Your family is safe, Ryan, I promise.”
The older man nodded. “Thank you.”
“Kind of like the Men in Black,” Taylor added.
Sally looked down at herself, then over to Dean. “And the Ladies in Red,” she added, gesturing to her crimson dress and Dean’s red tank top.