Diary

I don't know what to do. I'm not even sure what happened, or why. I need to find some answers. I need to think and to collect my thoughts and to come up with a plan. I'm just going to write everything down so that I get my thoughts on paper. Then I can look back through it all and try to make some sense of this.

It all started normally enough. Paul was off for the weekend and I wasn't going to work until 8:00 p.m. Around 2:00 p.m. I went over to see Ginny. We had a nice chat and then I headed to the store to pick up some groceries. I'm on my way home when some idiot cop pulls me over. Of course I was all polite and showed a bit of cleavage when I asked what was wrong. He gave me some bull about how I had been weaving and doing 50 in a 35. So I played dumb and got all weepy, saying how my parents would kill me if I got a ticket and that I was such a good driver normally. A little more cleavage and I was on my way without ever mentioning that my last seven Nevada drivers licenses were revoked.

When I got home I was a bit surprised to see that the front door was ajar. My surprise turned to alarm when I saw the claw marks around the frame and the obvious signs of forced entry. I dropped the groceries and ran inside. I saw Paul lying face-down in a growing pool of blood in the study. I was about to go to him when I heard a scream from upstairs. My blood went cold and I took the stairs three at a time. I think I was in Primal Form before I even I got to the upstairs hall.

I thank the Unicorn for the Ebon strength that flows through Sandy's veins. She managed to get her door closed and keep it that way long enough for me to arrive, or she'd be dead too. There were five hell hounds packed into the narrow hallway and two were already leaping toward me when I reached the top of the stairs. What happened next is a blur. I have not been in a battle in over half a millenium, but I guess you never forget some things. Everything moved so quickly and before I knew it they were all dead.

I grabbed Sandy and checked on Paul but he was dead. I knew I had to get myself and Sandy out of there, but I also needed to cover my tracks a bit. Whoever sent those hell hounds would figure out they failed when they didn't return. However, I could at least provide a bit of protection to Sandy if I made it look like they had finished her off. So I drove over to Henderson and grabbed a young girl who looked close enough to Sandy in height and weight. I snapped her neck and brought the body back to the house. While Sandy hid in the car, I brought the kid's body up to Sandy's room. I transformed into a leopard and mauled her beyond recognition. I left the gas on and a candle upstairs and we just fled. I should probably feel guilty about killing some innocent kid but I don't. I didn't have a lot of time to plan things and if I had to do it again, I would.

I took the Explorer and drove West toward Barstow. As soon as I was out into the desert I started to hellride. It was several hours before I really started to think about where I was going. I hadn't traveled in Shadow since just after the War and that was a long, long, time ago. Other than y'Nobe and a couple of shadows Dad took me to, I had never really been anywhere. That was probably good if anyone was trying to track me, because now I was heading out pretty much at random.

We stopped in a low-tech shadow and got some food and some sleep. I waited around for a while to see if anyone was following, but there was no sign of anyone. We took a pair of horses and rode off, shadow-shifting more slowly and definitely now. After a few days we found our way to Tokuwa.




© 2006 John Eisinger. All rights reserved.