Dancing With Monsters Read Free

the
table. “I knew she wouldn’t, and I wouldn’t be calling you here if
it wasn’t important.” He extended his gaze to Nessa and Malachi.
“These two squabblers are your capable help?” He then looked at me
with questioning eyes.
    I smiled at him as from the corner of
my eye I could see Nessa trying to contain a comment to my uncle’s
blunt question.
    “ Only the best,” I replied
with confidence.
    “ Very well, time’s
ticking. Let’s get started.”
    Uncle Hes unrolled a map with ink that
had been smeared from rolling it up before it completely dried.
Unusual for my uncle to treat a map he was working on like
that.
    “ There are only two known
portals in Iethia.” My uncle looked up from his map and at us. “But
there is a third—forgotten in the Angel-Demon Wars. It was used by
angels as their escape route when things started to turn on them.
It was supposed to have been sealed, and right before I…retired,”
he said with a regretful glint in his eye. “I found out it had been
used, not only once, but several times. I think that’s where they
are taking it.” He tapped his finger on a small drawing of a
circular door part way open and light coming out.
    “ Is that what it really
looks like—the door that the angels used?” Nessa asked as my
uncle’s face reddened.
    “ I said bring with
you capable monsters, not incompetent ones!” His dark eyes shot to me.
“This isn’t a school field trip.” He hissed.
    “ They are loyal and smart.
I’ve known them a long time and have complete trust in them.” I
gazed steadily at my uncle, almost challenging him.
    He rolled up the map and squared his
shoulders. “You have a lot of my blood in you, and that’s why I
trust you to find out who is transporting, who the distributor is,
and what their plans are when they turn millions of humans into
monsters.”
    “ Being a monster isn’t all
that bad,” Malachi said as he leaned back and grinned at my uncle.
“It might be kind of nice that the humans would cross over and
experience a little monsterism.” He meant to be funny, but by Uncle
Hes’s expression, he didn’t find humor with Malachi.
    I snickered, which only angered my
already angered uncle.
    “ You’ve never seen humans
transformed into monsters. They won’t be like us. It’s unnatural
for anything to change into something it was never intended to be.”
Suddenly, his words softened, and he looked at the floor. It was
almost like he was a volcano ready to explode, then, suddenly
stopped as if something had entered his thoughts.
    “ Uncle,” I said softly as
his eyes darted to me.
    “ You can’t stay here
long,” he said. “I’ve already inflicted suspicion on whoever comes
into my home. You will leave before the sun comes up.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    2
     
    April
     
    “ Please!” I managed to
yell out. “Don’t hurt me!” The man gazed at me with his glowing
eyes.
    He stared as if he was studying me,
summing me up, or just waiting to digest his last meal before he
had dessert. He didn’t blink his illuminated eyes as they seemed to
penetrate through me. I stared back and waited for the life to be
sucked out of me.
    “ I’m not going to hurt
you.” His voice was soft and eloquent, the opposite of his
appearance.
    He grabbed my wrists and pulled me to
my feet. I stood shivering from cold and fear. The sound of trucks
rumbled in the distance, and beams from car headlights cut through
the trees in waves of light. I could scream, but the chances of
someone hearing me were slim. We faced one another as the wind
carried the smell of gasoline into the barren forest.
    “ Please let me go.” My
lips trembled.
    He snickered. Suddenly, bright lights
flashed from the highway behind us. His attention turned to it as I
caught a glimpse of his face. His wavy hair nearly reached his eyes
that still slightly glowed. His face had a roundness to it that
made him look harmless. Even his grip had softened. In the matter
on seconds,