1. Chapter One

Chapter One

“I don’t understand. I have never understood. Why don’t you break it down for me again? No wait, here’s the better question: why am I just hearing about this?” Tia paced back and forth in front of the couch.

“Stop cursing, baby, and sit down. I can’t tell you anything if you’re pacing and fidgeting. Then you’re not listening.”

Tia plopped on one end of the couch and turned to face her mom, who was sitting on the other end. She had just bought this house. It needed a little maintenance. All right, it needed a lot, but the minute she saw it, she knew. It felt like destiny reaching out for her. So, she poured her hard-won money into it, and now it was hers.

Tia watched as her mother wrung her hands. “Mom?”

“I was hoping to never have to tell you. You were born not too long after the last time it happened. All I want is for you to be safe.”

“After what happened? I feel like I’m part of the stupid generation for not tying you down and making you confess years ago.”

“It happens every thirty years on Halloween.”

“Is that why you hate Halloween?” She still didn’t know what was happening, but her mother’s hatred of Halloween had made that holiday persona non grata in their household.

“Every year they taunt the monsters, those slavering beasts, knowing that they will eventually break out and come for them.”

“Are you feeling okay?” Tia put her hand on her mother’s forehead, feeling for warmth. “Can I get you a glass of water?”

“You can listen and do what I say.”

“Okay, okay, I’m listening.” There would be no doing what her mother said, but she could at least listen.

“A long time ago, before you were born, or me, or even your grandmother was born, something happened. They don’t talk about it or teach about it in school. They treat it like a shameful secret, like we, the innocent, did something wrong.” Her mother sat there shaking her head and muttering to herself.

“Mom, this isn’t helping.”

“Do you remember what I tell you every year about Halloween?”

“To be careful because the veil thins.”

“Every thirty years, the veil becomes passable. The monsters that live on the other side come to our world to terrorize and kill us.”

Tia tried, honestly, she did. That look on her mother’s face made her laugh until she cried.

“What is wrong with the children of today? Please stay in the house this Halloween. If they see you, they will kill you or drag you back with them. There will be everlasting torment in your life if you go back with them. I love you! Are you listening to me? I can’t lose you, Tia. You’re all I have left.” Her mother started crying.

Tia might laugh at what she said, but there was no way she’d laugh at her mother’s tears. She was across the couch with her mom wrapped in her arms as she swayed back and forth.

Really, what was one night in the house with the doors and the windows shut? It was getting chilly anyway, and she didn’t have any Halloween plans. If it would make her mother feel better, then she’d do it.

“Hmm, if this happens every thirty years, why wait till the day before Halloween to tell me?”

“The witches said they had it this time. The spell was supposed to be foolproof. No more suffering from those monsters. It didn’t work. There was no choice but to tell the truth to all of you who didn’t experience this thirty years ago.”

“If there really is a veil, why is it thinning?”

“Those monsters worked on it for centuries until one day they got what they wanted. A chance to come to our world and wreak havoc.”

Tia knew her mother wasn’t lying, but something here didn’t make sense. Why come to their world when they had a world of their own? And witches. Who was a witch and where did they hide out?

“Mom, tell me more about these witches.”

“Mind your business, baby girl. If they wanted you to know about them, they would have introduced themselves.”

Well, she couldn’t argue with that.

“Mom, I’ll be here tomorrow night. Do you want to stay? We could have a sleepover.”

“Not this time, dear. I just need to know you’ll stay inside where you’re safe.”

“I swear.”

“Thank you. I brought your favorite meal for tomorrow night.”

“Thanks, Mom, you take care of me.” She reached out and kissed her.

***

“Hey!” Tia grabbed her phone. She was in the kitchen eating some of what her mom brought over.

“Girl, my mom just left. Have you heard the B.S. that’s being spouted around?” Brenna said.

Tia laughed; she couldn’t help it. Leave it to her best friend to say it like that.

“If your mom was like mine, it sounded convincing.”

She was. “Somehow, she made me pledge to stay home tomorrow night. You know I love Halloween. I was planning on hitting a couple of parties tomorrow.”

“You staying in?” Tia asked.

“I mean, I said I would. Shouldn’t these monsters be gone by midnight? Doesn’t the witching hour end by then?”

“How the heck am I supposed to know?” Tia kicked off one of her slippers. She was frustrated, and her mom added to it. “You ever have this feeling that something is about to happen?”

“You mean like this Halloween thing?”

“Darned if I know. I’ve been jittery for about a month now. I was going to ask my mom about it. You know she gets weird premonitions, but if you could have seen her. She was trying to act cool. Then she broke down, and then she was Mrs. Cool again. There was no way I was going to add to her burden. I guess I can ask the day after tomorrow.”

“This means we have to be home around four and spend the day in our places. Why don’t we go out tonight and celebrate Halloween a day early?”

“Perfect, I’ll meet you at our spot. I could use a drink.” Tia hung up, looking forward to spending some time with Brenna while they rated the men walking past.

***

Savage growls filled the air as the monsters around him got angrier. Tieran didn’t know why he kept his head every All Hallows'. He couldn’t imagine going berserk the way his people did.

“Hey, why are you hanging out up here?” Rylin asked.

Up here was the rooftop of the tallest building in the city of Montrea. No one knew what this city was originally called.

“Tomorrow is going to be ugly.” Tieran looked over at his people. The longer they stayed in this land that didn’t belong to them, the more they became lost, slavering beasts who forgot what it was like to have family and friends.

“These are your people,” Rylin said. “Hell, they are our people. How long do we have to wait, Tieran? I know you’re working to get our home back from the humans. The witches are working just as hard to keep it for themselves and to destroy us. Every year, they get closer to that one final coup de grace. This is all we have left. Every thirty years, we can cross this malicious divide. They have set us up and kill as many as possible before we are pulled back to this hellhole at the witching hour.”

Tieran grunted; his friend and his second was right. They used that as proof that they were nothing but monsters. Soon, it wouldn’t matter because the way this world was imploding on itself, they would be dead. There were maybe three All Hallows' left after this one. Then they would fade away like a terrible memory.

It was times like these when he thought about his father sitting on the throne when an unknown human crossed the great divide. They had seemed so peaceful and wanted to negotiate with their people to get to know them. The humans and the monsters. That should have been his father’s first clue that humans weren’t altruistic or well-meaning.

There was no way he could have known that the humans had destroyed their world and were looking to take over his. The witches at one time may have been called scientists, but in their terror and greed, they started relying on black magic aligned with some scientific know-how.

Necrotechs was what the human witches called themselves. They leveled up because the witches of his people had never played with splitting the atom or discovering DNA or any of the other scientific mumbo jumbo that was prevalent in this world before they destroyed it. He looked out to see rotting buildings and small homes where he was sure things like stores used to be. They had done a lot to clean up this mess, but there were buildings that were toxic, and all they could do was place a bubble around them so what was in them couldn’t hurt the monsters that now lived there.

Now he was doing it — calling his people monsters. Today that noun was descriptive. Every thirty years on All Hallows' they became their base self. When it first happened, he’d been a little boy, too young to succumb to the dark magic the Necrotechs had used to curse his people. Maybe it was because he was so young that he was never affected, even as he grew.

He had no answers to those questions.

“Let’s go.” Tieran stood and jumped from the building. He didn’t know if this was something he would have been able to do in his world or if he had been changed on some level that he would never know of.

“Are we going to see him?” Rylin asked as they moved through their people as a blur that no one could see.

Him, Tieran’s father. The official king. He kept hoping that one day his father would become the male he used to be. With each passing All Hallows', that one desire grew more distant.

They stood in front of the simple house that held captive the high king and examined the wards. Finding them intact, Tieran activated a small ward that would allow him and Rylin in but wouldn’t allow his father out.

“High king, your son has come to visit.” Tieran expected to see his father on the floor slobbering away over several blood packs that were delivered daily. That was how he always was when he came to visit.

This time, the house was clean. Since he kept his father in total isolation, (for his sake and the safety of their people), the only one who could have cleaned his house was himself.

Tieran looked at Rylin, who shook his head. They continued to move cautiously until they found his father in what the humans called a living room. He was watching the telly that had things that ran on it consistently. They had found the place it was coming from but left it alone. What did it matter what they broadcast? It wasn’t what was hurting his people.

“They are amazing people. Evil but amazing. I’ve been entertaining myself with their antics.” He turned around, and Tieran cried out, going to one knee.

This was the male he remembered growing up, the one he relied upon, whose words were wisdom and always helped him along the way.

“Father.”

“My son, high king of our people.”

“No, you’re alive, well. I can never…” His father pulled Tieran to his feet and wrapped him in a massive hug.

“Listen to me, boy, and listen well.” Tieran looked into his father’s eyes. They were clear, as was his voice. This was the high king he remembered.

“I will never leave this world. You are now the high king. Our people are your people. I love you; I’ve always loved you and believed in you. The next step belongs to you. Go prepare for All Hallows'.”