Those That Walk Among Us

 

 

Chapter 1

 

Franklin Wyatt walked with his dog and a large pack on his back in the early dusk in the Daniel Boone National Forest. He enjoyed hiking and camping during his time off in the summer. The rest of the year, he was a schoolteacher and surrounded by children, teachers, and parents. When school was out, he took the opportunity to get away from everyone and head to remote places in the wilderness.

His 2-year-old black Labrador Retriever bounded ahead of him, chasing animals into their burrows, or making them take to the sky.

“Hey, Jonsie,” Franklin called out, “Don’t go too far, we have to find a campsite soon.” The dog ran back to his owner, wagging his tail proudly. Franklin tossed him a treat and continued to search.

A short time later, Franklin found a suitable place for the night. He unloaded his pack with sigh, relieved to be rid of its weight. It was the last week of July and the heat and humidity were bearable, but not by much. Despite the heat, Franklin reveled at how much he hiked that day. He was returning from a five-day trip and expected to get back to his car by early afternoon the next day, which was actually a half day ahead of schedule. He wished he could keep hiking for another week, but he had pressing matters at home that needed his attention.

As he set up his campsite, the dusk was quickly turning to evening. He brought out his food supplies and fed Jonsie before he fed himself. While they were both sitting there eating, Jonsie started to growl. Franklin looked curiously at his companion, and then looked in the direction the dog appeared to be looking in. As far as Franklin could see, there was nothing out there, but he trusted his dog’s senses more than he trusted his own. He reached for his hunting knife that was lying next to him and stood up.

“Is someone there?” Franklin said loudly. He paused for a moment and listened to his voice echo in the forest, “You’re making my dog nervous and I don’t want him to hurt anyone so come on out and show yourself.”

There was no reply. The forest seemed to become very still suddenly. Franklin was not sure what to do; he had run across other hikers in the past and he never felt worried or afraid. Now he felt very nervous and skittish, as if something was toying with him. Jonsie also did not relax back into eating; he just stared off into the forest. Franklin shook his head, sat back down and starting eating again all the while staring in the same direction of Jonsie.  

***

A short distance away from the campsite there was a small gathering of rocks on the side of a hill. Had Franklin explored the area, he would have found what looked like a teenage boy in dirty clothes and skin that had a bluish tint.

Walter watched the man standing with the knife in his hand and the dog by his side. It was not the knife that worried Walter, but the dog. He could not tell if the dog was a regular dog or if it was something more. Suddenly he realized that he was using his actual eyes, which were part of his former life…when he was human. Now that he was an Alp, an ancient race of mythical beings, he started to use his hands the way he was taught by Moesh, Honored Sentinel of the Lord of the Alps. The thought of Moesh made Walter touch the gash on the side of his face. The old Alp had left it as a reminder of Walter’s insolence against the Sentinel. He found it hard to believe that it had been almost a month ago since their last encounter, the same day he had been separated from the world he was newly born into.

Walter stood in silence until the man sat back down, but the dog never stopped looking in Walter’s direction. Once the man sat down, Walter began to feel the air around the man and then the dog. It was something all Alps could do as they did not see the world as people did; they felt the world’s energies around them through their skin.

Severina, his now dead mentor, taught him many things about being an Alp. She taught him that he was part of an ancient clan of creatures that lived beneath the earth’s surface in the caverns and tunnels because light drained them and would kill them if they stayed out in it too long. The Ancients of their kind never went to the earth’s surface because even the starlight drained them of energy. The younger ones like Walter were able to surface during twilight hours and avoid being too drained, but they lacked the physical strength the Ancients had as well as the abilities to see the world’s energies as clearly.

 Had Walter been a more experienced Alp, he would have recognized Jonsie was just a normal dog. However, because he such a young Alp, it took him a longer time to use his newly acquired skills. Walter knew firsthand there were creatures that that hunted his kind called the Guardians, the eternal enemies of the Alps. Guardians were shape-shifting beings that were the only things on the earth’s surface that were able to kill an Alp.

As night enveloped the forest, Walter watched the man and his dog intently. The man cleaned up his area and then both dog and man retreated into the tent. He saw a light shine in the tent and then it went dark. Walter wanted to use his powers to entice the man to come out of the tent so he could feed on the human’s energy.

The last time he fed was on his human parents. Severina told him that feeding could last Walter for months before he needed another one. Yet Walter still wanted to gorge himself on another human. As he sat there planning how to attack the man, two robed creatures approached him.

“You fool of a boy, you endanger Marius and me by your recklessness,” the harsh whisper came from the ancient creature standing by Walter.

“Valeria, I did not do it to endanger us, I did it because he is so full of life. His energy called to me.” Walter hung his head down as he explained.

“It is strong, but we cannot call attention to ourselves,” the other robed creature hissed. “Valeria and I heavily fed before we came up here; we have months before we need to feed again, unless we are damaged.”

“I am damaged,” Walter tried to rationalize with the Alp, his dry tongue licked at his blue-tinged lips and skin. His pale face seemed to glow in the darkness and his white and yellow eyes looked up at the older Alps.

“You should remain so to remember your place. When you feed again, the wound will disappear, but you will have more damage if you do not listen to us. We have already lost one more of our own to the Guardian scum.”

Walter flinched at the memory as he recalled why they had to flee from Jackson Kentucky. Thankfully, he was not to blame for the other Warrior Alp’s death or he was sure they would have destroyed him.

“What are we going to do,” Walter asked, “And why are we in this forest?”

“We must find some of our own who have not retreated to our world below. We must gather more to fulfill our mission of destroying the Guardians back in Jackson so Moesh will let us reenter our world.”

This made Walter smile. He was desperate to see the underground world of the Alps. Immediately after he killed his girlfriend (the final act which birthed him into becoming an Alp), Walter found himself in the middle of a war. The Guardians now sought his death and he knew he had to kill them all if he and his kind were going to survive. He was hoping to slaughter enough Guardians and cut off bits of them so he could start a necklace of his own, just like the Alps in front of him.

“We leave the man then?” Walter sounded as if he was pouting.

“No, we keep him here, we might need an offering to obtain the help of other Alps.” Valeria said.

Marius suddenly strummed the air and Walter felt the energies around him change. It was as if there was a vacuum around Marius and everything was being drawn into that area. It was like watching a master sculptor make a masterpiece.

There was movement from within the tent. They could hear the dog whine and bark as the man exited the tent, walking in the forest in only his boxer shorts and his bare feet. The forest was completely black but his pace was steady and sure. As Marius walked toward the man, suddenly Jonsie snarled and lunged at Marius. Marius took a swipe at the animal as it went to bite him and sent the animal reeling. The man didn’t even flinch at the noise of his best friend being struck or as it lay whimpering on the ground where it fell.

Marius stroked the air again, the man went to his knees, and Marius knelt beside him. The man then made an exhaling noise as Marius inhaled. This lasted a couple of minutes, then Marius left the area and the man went back to his tent. By the time Marius rejoined the others, the dog had limped back into the tent and joined his owner.

“We have at least a day before that man is able to travel. Let us find our own in these woods,” Marius commanded and Valeria followed quick behind. Walter followed both of the Ancient Alps, giving a longing look back at the tent.

***

Franklin woke up to Jonsie licking his face. He pushed the dog away and grabbed his watch and looked at the time and saw it was already 9am. This should have alarmed Franklin because usually he was up before the first light penetrated through the forest. Today, however, he felt as if his body was made of lead.

“I must have caught something, boy,” Franklin said absently. “I feel like shit.”

The dog whined and nudged his owner, encouraging him to get up. Franklin got up and walked to his pack to get ready for the day. Out of instinct, he fed Jonsie first and then thought about what he wanted to eat. The idea of food, however, made his stomach turn.

“I know I am not feeling well if I’m not hungry,” Franklin said aloud. Jonsie barked and walked the edge of his camp.

“I think I need to lie down again, Jonsie. Don’t worry, I’ll be up in an hour,” Franklin said, crawling back in his tent. However, Franklin would never wake up again.