Alexandra Holzer dove for cover as the ghost flew toward her.
Less than a second later the door exploded into tiny pieces of shrapnel that pelted her. In the hallway, she heard her family shout. She wasn’t sure what was happening, but she hoped they were okay.
The Slaugh’s spirit was angry. As hard as it had been to stop before, now that it was not bound to a host, it was even stronger, as evidenced by the splintered door. Obviously, this ghost still held onto part of its corporeal form. It had substance. She hoped that could somehow give them an advantage.
The containment vessel lay next to her. It had been all but useless against the Slaugh while it possessed the human host, but now that it was freed from its fleshy shell, she wondered if it would work.
She picked up the jar and ran after her family.
The moment she stepped out into the hallway, she knew they were in trouble.
The five intruders had all shed their fleshy hosts and were now zooming about the house like a pack of wild animals, a literal wild hunt. Gone were any vestiges of humanity. These were the Slaugh’s true forms. They were wild, resembling a wild dog with long unkempt hair, large snouts and sharp teeth. Ghostly spittle dripped from their wagging tongues.
“You think this will work now?” Alexandra yelled over the loud screeching wail of the ghosts and the wind.
“I don’t know!” Hans Holzer shouted back at her.
The Slaugh leader turned at the sound of her voice and zeroed in on Alexandra. With an angry snarl, he launched himself at her.
Once again, she tried to sidestep the attack, but the Slaugh was quicker this time. A swipe of his clawed hand caught the containment vessel, knocking it free from her grip and over the edge of the railing where it fell.
––Straight into the waiting arms of Jacob Black below.
The Slaugh lashed out again and the blow knocked her into the wall, rattling her teeth. Instead of finishing her off, the ghost dove over the railing in pursuit of the jar. That told Alexandra that it was indeed something that could trap the spirits of the Slaugh. The only other thing that she knew could work was a spell cast by a coven of witches.
Never a good coven around when you need one, she mused as she made her way to the railing and looked over just in time to see the Slaugh attack Jacob.
Jacob Black barely had time to react.
One minute he and Samuel Esau were surrounded by the flying spirits of The Wild Hunt and the next there was a loud crash from above. He looked up in time to see something fall toward him. Reacting on instinct, he caught it.
He recognized it immediately.
“Where the hell did this…?” he started, but then he heard Alexandra scream his name from above.
He looked up just in time to see another of the Slaugh, this one the leader of the pack, he assumed, heading straight toward him.
“Samuel!” he shouted and tossed the jar to him just before the Slaugh hit him.
The angel caught it easily. He too recognized it as the vessel he had given Alexandra days before. “This could work,” he muttered then set about to work.
Jacob and the ghost struggled as they slid across the floor, coming to a stop near the fireplace. The Slaugh had speed, size, and strength on its side. Jacob needed leverage. He grabbed a piece of burning wood from the fire and hit his attacker in the head with it.
The Slaugh wasn’t hurt, but he was distracted enough that Jacob was able to push himself out of the creature’s reach.
Once he was on the move he hurled the log at the beast like a fiery missile.
The Slaugh swatted it away easily. “I’m going to enjoy ripping you apart,” he growled.
“Bigger than you have tried,” Jacob said. He took a fighter’s stance and prepared for the inevitable attack. Beyond the Slaugh, he could see Samuel priming the containment vessel. All he had to do was keep the leader of The Wild Hunt busy long enough to buy him time.
“You want some of this, little doggie?” Jacob taunted the Slaugh.
“Come and get it, Fido.”
The Slaugh charged.
Alexandra caught up with her family at the top of the stairs.
“Are you all right?” she asked as she knelt next to her mother.
“We’re fine, sweetheart,” Catherine said, trying to hide her fear.
“Joshua, I need you to get them out of here,” Alexandra said. “Can you do that?”
“I’m not leaving you,” her fiancé said.
“Neither am I,” Hans added.
She blew out a breath. “Look, I think I know how to get rid of these guys, but I can’t do that and worry about the three of you at the same time.” She pointed back toward the study. “There’s a rope ladder under the shelf on the far left. You can use it to get out from the balcony.”
“But…” Joshua started.
“Just go.”
“You be careful,” Joshua said and kissed her.
“I will. Now go.”
She didn’t wait for them to get through the door before she ran down the stairs, ignoring the whipping wind and screech of angry ghosts flying about. She had noticed something strange and was surprised the others hadn’t seen it. Samuel was near the stairs, preparing the containment vessel. Of course, he’ll know how to make it work, she realized.
She had to stop him.
“Don’t!” she shouted as she ran toward him.
“What? Why not?”
“I have a plan,” she shouted over the noise. “Can you get their attention?” She pointed to the four spirits flying around wild above their heads.
“Probably,” Samuel said. “Why?”
“Haven’t you wondered why they aren’t attacking us?”
The realization now dawned on the angel. “Too busy…I didn’t notice. Why aren’t they attacking?”
“Only the alpha dog over there has attacked us since they lost their hosts. I assume it was much the same down here too.” She pointed to Jacob and the Slaugh across the room.
“It has.”
She tapped a fingernail against the glass jar. “Get this thing ready, but wait for my signal.”
“You got it,” he said. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“No,” she said with a chuckle. “Why start now?”
“Ready?”
“Do it.”
“You might want to cover your ears,” he warned.
Samuel whistled. It was the most shrill sound Alexandra had ever heard, but it did the trick. Above them, the wayward ghosts slowed, their attention fixed on Samuel. Even Jacob and his opponent turned toward the sound.
“All yours,” he told her.
“Lucky me,” she muttered. Then, she raised her voice for all to hear. “Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s chat! As I understand it, you’re sin eaters!”
Above, the ghosts of the Slaugh slowed until they hovered in mid air. The wind stopped as did their screams.
“I also know you’re a little bit out of practice, what with having spent God only knows how long trapped in limbo! That’s why I am willing to forgive you for overlooking the most obvious sinner in this room!”
“What are you doing?” Samuel asked.
She waved him off. “Trust me,” she said.
“Alexandra…” Jacob warned, but his opponent caught him unaware and slammed him into the wall, face first. With a pained moan, Jacob slumped to the floor.
Ignoring the leader, Alexandra resumed her dialogue with the remainder of The Wild Hunt. She pointed toward their leader. “Have you wondered why that one is so much more powerful than the rest of you? His sin is great!”
“What are you playing at, girl?” the Slaugh leader demanded. “My brothers are loyal to me! Your lies will not deter them from their course! Kill her, my hunters!”
“You see? He calls you my hunters, my brothers,” Alexandra said, laying it on thick. “Why is he solid while you are not?”
The floating apparitions didn’t move.
“I said kill her!”
“And I’m asking you not to,” she said softly. “You ready?” she asked Samuel.
“Yes,” he said.
She pointed toward Samuel and the containment vessel he carried. “We can end this now. My friend can help you leave this plane and cross over. Your war is over. You can have eternal rest. All you have to do is end this.”
“You stupid witch!” the lead Slaugh said as he advanced on Alexandra. She flinched, but stood her ground, ready to fight him if she had to, even though the odds were not in her favor. If Jacob couldn’t stand up to him, what chance did she have?
That’s when a miracle happened.
The floating Slaugh ghosts dove down in attack formation, passed Alexandra, and straight for the creature that had led them for hundreds of years.
The four ghosts attacked their fifth member with swift and violent efficiency. The Slaugh who had once fought her father, who had killed Max Bartlett, who pulled his brothers from their place in limbo, their leader, howled in pain as they tore into him. They stripped away any last vestiges he had to the mortal plane until he was fully a spirit like they were.
No longer did the leader of The Wild Hunt have a foot in two worlds.
Now, he belonged to only the spirit world.
“Do it,” Alexandra said.
“On it,” Samuel said. He stepped forward, mumbled a few words that she couldn’t make out, then pulled free the cork stopper from the containment vessel.
The roaring wind returned, but this time it flowed from the room toward the bottle like a vacuum. The ghosts of the Slaugh did not fight against it. Instead they welcomed the release. For all but one of them, they had lost the desire to hunt, to fight, a long time ago.
Now, they simply wanted to rest.
Only the one who had been their leader fought against the inevitable. It reached out with its claws, trying to grasp hold of anything it could to defy the pull of the vessel.
It failed.
The moment the last of The Wild Hunt entered the jar, Samuel slammed the cork into place. The wind stopped and the room fell silent.
Samuel blew out a breath.
“Yes!” Alexandra shouted. “We’ve done it, Samuel!”
Samuel set the jar down carefully. “I’m glad that worked,” he said.
“You mean you weren’t sure?” she asked.
“I’ve only taken them out of the bottle,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve tried to put one, much less five, in one.”
“And they’re all in there?”
“Yes.”
“Will this one jar hold them?” Alexandra asked.
“For a short time,” Jacob said as he hobbled over to them. His face was bloody from having his nose slammed into the wall and he walked with a slight limp, but they were injuries that would heal in time.
“He’s right,” Samuel said. “We’ll need to dispose of them fairly quickly.”
“I’ll deal with them, if you don’t mind,” Jacob said.
Samuel gave him a concerned look.
“Don’t start,” Jacob said. “These guys are dark and you know it. You would have sent them to us to deal with regardless.”
“I don’t want to hear of you looking for payback,” Samuel warned.
“I promise,” Jacob said. “I’ve had about enough trouble with the Slaugh to last a lifetime.”
Samuel handed over the jar to his counterpart from the dark.
“I’m going to want that vessel back when you’re done with it,” Alexandra told him.
“We’ll see,” Jacob said.
Before she could respond, someone shouted her name. They all turned to see Joshua standing at the remains of the front door.
He ran forward and embraced her in a big hug. “You’re okay?”
“Fine and dandy,” she said. “Looks like the worst is behind us.”
“Good to know.”
“My parents?”
“They’re fine,” Joshua said. “They’re outside with the fire department. It seems one of your neighbors called them to report a fire.”
“Speaking of which,” Samuel said, looking at Alexandra. “How did you know that would work?”
She beamed proudly. “It’s like I’m always telling Joshua and my father, spirits are just like us to a point. Sometimes all you have to do is just talk to them, find out what they want, and help them get it.”
“But how did you know they would turn on each other like that?”
“Oh, come on boys, haven’t you heard?” She smiled. “It’s a dog eat dog world.”
Her companions groaned and walked away from her.
“What?” she asked before running to catch up with them.