drifted back to sleep and he went into a deep restful state for the next six hours.
Things were a lot more orderly and calm at the foreclosed and vacant house that was the apes lair. Everything was starting to finally turn their way and and their wasn’t a restless soul in the house when the sun ascended from the horizon and started to reawaken the shattered bodies of the Hartwell clan. In fact, Gabriel Billingsley and his primates slept to almost noon and then grabbed a bite to eat before laying back down for an extended afternoon nap. The same restful atmosphere was not present in the House of Hartwell, where concern and worry for on the faces and minds of 18 of the 20 inhabitants. Hartwell and Daniel were the only ones with a plan and it showed.
Hartwell looked over at Daniel and said, “Don’t you look like the cat that swallowed the canary.”
Daniel smirked, “That depends on your point of view. You took that loss rather easy last night.”
Hartwell didn’t have to look at his son to know that his secret plan was really not to secret.
“We have to neutralize these apes.”
Daniel nodded while looking straight ahead, “Already on it.”
Night five of the battle was the beginning of a string of fights that would be the most hotly contested of the week. The vampires, protectors, hunters and hybrids were not about to walk out on that field again and make the mistake of being ill-prepared and not giving their best effort. Brenda Vinson’s spell against Hartwell’s clan was to reduce their capabilities down to core competencies while making the apes stronger with each subsequent death. So the group was down to just basic changes and this was confusing for Samuel, who had never been without his ability to do just about anything and everything he could think of.
He was outside and saw a seagull fly by but was unable to change into it, which caused him instant pause. He immediately thought of his favorite thing to change into, but when his eyes opened and he was standing in the driveway as an 18 year-old boy instead of a bright red fire truck, alarms went off in his head and he headed inside for an immediate explanation.
“Can anyone tell me why I can’t change into things?” he yelled into the vacant and open room.
Hartwell and Daniel were trying to do their best to keep things quiet, but once Samuel entered the room and broached the sensitive subject it would be impossible to keep a lid on it.
“Yeah, why are those apes getting stronger each night?” Belinda asked.
“I know!” Aaron explained. “They were so forceful last night.”
“I haven’t felt rage like that in years,” Thaddeus stated and then his buddy Garrison chimed in, “How is it that they are getting stronger each day?”
Agent Blake Wallace came into the room and said, “It must be witchcraft. That’s the only explanation for their added strength and the fact that they have all come back after dying.”
Andrew added, “Yeah, I was sort of wondering why all of those people so close to us were back.”
“The emotional toll it has taken on all of us has been great,” Emily Brewster said in a rare sensitive moment.
“They are using the emotional ties we had with them against us,” Maggie explained. “We have to clear all of this loyalty and hesitation out of our heads and transfer all of the love and caring we have for these people and keep it amongst ourselves.”
Hartwell and Daniel were done with their strategy session and glided into the room as the conversation was reaching a comfortable stage.
“Where have you two been?” Cal Brewster asked in a somewhat paranoid tone.
Daniel looked to his father for clarity and direction and, as usual, Hartwell took the lead.
“We have been trying to figure this mess out. You’re right, Blake,” he said turning toward the special agent, “we are dealing with witches and various spells that might alter the outcome of our conflict.”
“In what way?” Cal asked.
“They were getting stronger and it appears that we will only have our basic powers and changes going forward,” Hartwell replied.
“Were?” Nicole asked and then turned to Carla who agreed with her, “Yeah, he did say were.”
Daniel addressed the inquiry from his wife and his cousin’s wife, “They were getting stronger every time we killed them.”
There was an audible buzz throughout the big room and then Maxwell stepped up to ask the next logical question, “Since we didn’t kill them last night, does that mean that they won’t be stronger today?”
Daniel looked at Hartwell for confirmation and Hartwell nodded in agreement.
“Yes, we believe that is correct.”
Samuel then asked the most simple, yet most complicated, of questions, “So if we can’t kill them, because that makes them stronger, then how do we fight them?”
Hartwell smiled, “Very carefully, Samuel. Very carefully.”
TWENTY-ONE
The job on night five of the battle was to prolong the fight as long as inhumanly possible. This way, the energy of the apes could be drained without fully recharging their batteries through death. Maxwell and Kayla would be called upon to concoct their most intricate strategy that was designed to keep the battle going, but never come close to winning the fight.
The members of the Hartwell group ventured out to Beach Haven Park just as the clock struck midnight, walking quickly and then transitioning from a light jog to a full sprint just on the outskirts of the park. The apes were in motion even before their opponents hit the field, as they were in the prime condition and looking to make quick work of the enemy. This would be the apex of their abilities being that they had not died the previous night. Of course, the only being that knew about the added strength through only death was Gabriel Billingsley, because he had come up with the plan with Brenda Vinson in the first place. But he was not about to tell his charges about the potential for diminished power because he was so drunk on power that the details of his plan were now escaping his focused mind.
“Let’s get this done” he grunted as he transitioned from ground to air through the trees, as the other seven members of his family followed closely behind. They were a determined group yet they would still be outnumbers by a more than 2:1 ratio in a full fight. The gravity of the limited personnel issue was probably the farthest thing from these apes mind at this point.
With the apes now in sight, Maxwell and Kayla were about to give their instruction for the initial stages of the fight. Kayla understood that the only way she could extend the tussle would be to protect Hartwell until three people died and she could no longer shield him. All fights started and ended with Hartwell and it was sort of ironic that he was the one to be protected, being that he was the most capable and experienced warrior in the group... although Cal Brewster would certainly have vehemently refuted that claim.
Kayla internally yelled out, “Hartwell, me and Maxwell!” as her orders of initial protection as Max absorbed the information and then barked out his own plan to the family.
“Rolling Thunder!” he imparted and the strategy behind the order became crystal clear as each person could see the transitional facades they would have to cycle through in order to confuse their opponents and continually keep them off balance.
Billingsley swung off another massive tree limb and was the first to hit the ground. The action slowed as he split off to the left side and was confronted by Thaddeus and Garrison, a hunter and a protector fully capable of keeping the apes best fighter occupied for a little while. Thad changed into a giant grizzly bear before Gabriel even approached him in order to distract his vision. The ploy worked as Billingsley turned toward Garrison who offered even less comfort in the form of Bottlenose dolphin that swatted the ape half-way across the field, prompting a fin to paw slap of sorts between the two teammates.
The once-confident apes were being confused and disoriented all across the field as they initial changes of the Hartwell gang were definitely causing their desired imbalance effect. Couples were working togeth
er exclusively for the first time. Maxwell thought it was time for the passion that existed between two to be leveraged in the arena of battle for the first time.
The power couple of Daniel and Nicole faced off against Mary Brewster, who was definitely surprised to see her nephew with long, swordlike fingernails standing next to - of all things - an Orca killer whale. Nicole opened her expansive Orca mouth and Daniel used the distraction to swat Mary about 200 yards into a bank of trees. Nicole morphed into her human form again and she and Daniel pursued their opponent.
Battle rookies Samuel and Ariel were face to face with Drew’s dad and Emily’s ex-husband Randy Prince, who was one angry primate. Smoke was literally pouring from Prince’s flared nostrils as he rolled toward the couple like a runaway freight train! Samuel did the first thing that came to mind as he clenched his right fist and then swung it straight toward the face of the charging ape, connecting squarely on his jaw and sending him falling semi-conscious toward the grass on his back. Samuel looked over at an impressed Ariel and they banged fists in perhaps one of the most premature of celebrations.
The always-connected coupling of Andrew and Carla was guaranteed to be aggressive even if certain defeat was in the cards. These two rarely backed up, which made for some colorful verbal sparring between the two when they disagreed on subjects. But they did agree