Part 5

I apologize for the wait. Finals. *sigh*

But I made it extra long to make up for it.

Enjoy!

"What is it?" Kelsie asked.

"There's some weird stuff goin' on in Ronan, Nebraska. People lookin' like they been killed by a bear or something, but I know there ain't any bears in Nebraska,"

"We'll check it out. Thanks, Uncle Joe," He smiled, and motioned to the kitchen.

"Finally," Kelsie muttered as she sat down to a plate full of warm pancakes.

"Gee, Kels, you weren't hungry or anything, were you?" David asked.

"No. I just had a strange desire for pancakes for no apparent reason," she ignored him for the rest of the meal.

"Do you have a computer I could use?" Nicole asked when she finished her pancakes.

"Sure honey," Aunt May replied, "Just in the other room."

"Why d'you need a computer?" Jacob asked.

"Because I had a physics test a couple of days ago, and I want to know how I did on it,"

"Why? It's not like it matters anymore,"

"Yes, it matters! Not that you'd understand or anything, but I just need to know whether or not I got a good grade! I know it has no practical bearing on anything anymore, but I still need to know!"

"What?" she asked in response to Kelsie's raised eyebrow. Kelsie shook her head and said nothing.

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David's thoughts danced in time to the pounding of his hammer on the shed roof. Kelsie was somewhere; looking for more shingles, he thought.

We might need to see the bodies.

Bang.

We aren't old enough to pretend to be anybody legit. 

Bang.

We have to find it. 

Bang.

And then kill it.

Bang.

Venom. Bang. Claws. Bang. Teeth. Bang.

This is bad.

Bang. David swung too hard and bent the nail. With a grunt of frustration, he pulled it out, and threw it, forcing those thoughts out of his head as he did. Tomorrow, they would get in the car and drive away. They would go looking for and hiding from trouble at the same time. But tonight, they would laugh and watch a movie and throw popcorn. Tonight, he would pretend like everything was okay, and he would say a prayer, because tomorrow could be the last.

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The nine hour car ride was like a crash course in magical creatures for Nicole and Jacob.

"I don't know about the past, but now magical beasts like griffins only come into being if someone summons it," David said.

"Most magic is purely mental; you don't need a physical object to make the spell work. But summoning a creature is different. You have to have something of each element related to that creature in order to make it work," Kelsie continued, "So if you wanted to summon a griffin, you would have to have something of Air, and something of earth."

"Is summoning it the same as like, binding it to you?" Nicole asked.

"No. If you want to bind something to you, you have to have something that represents that. Like a lock or something,"

"But only an idiot tries to bind a griffin," David said, "They're ridiculously smart, and independent. Like dragons, only less cruel. If they find a way around your binding, you're dead."

"How do we kill it?" Jacob asked.

"We have to either physically kill it, like any other animal, or we have to destroy the summoning ring, which would be better, because there's no body to dispose of."

"Also, just so you know, Griffins have a deadly venom in their claws. So try not to get scratched," Kelsie added.

"Great," Nicole muttered, "So you rescue us, only to take us to the lair of a dangerous beast with venomous claws,"

Nobody answered.

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Ronan Nebraska wasn't a large town. There was a diner, a motel, a bar, and a convenience store/gas station combo. Beyond that, there wasn't much but prairie, and a few farm houses. Most people lived right in town.

"Where the heck do you hide a griffin here?" David grumbled as they pulled up to the motel.

The next morning, they went to the town's diner to eat and plan.

"We're just going to have to ask around," David said at last.

"Oh yes, cause that won't make us look weird at all," Kelsie retorted.

"I could do it," Nicole said after a moment. Three incredulous faces turned to her.

"What? I'll just pretend I'm doing a project for school. It's not that hard," David and Kelsie looked at each other.

"Not a bad plan," Kelsie said.

"You sure?" David looked at Nicole, not bothering to hide his surprise. She took a deep breath before answering.

"Yes,"

"I'm going with her," Jacob spoke up quickly.

"Alright, good," David said. His day, he thought, was starting to look up. Just then the waitress, a redheaded beauty, came by with the coffee pot, and refilled his mug.

"Thanks, beautiful," he said with a wink. She blushed, and said, "My pleasure," before hurrying away. Kelsie rolled her eyes.

"What??" he exclaimed, "Bet you five bucks she brings me her phone number with the check,"

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"So there's definitely something here," Nicole said when they met up again that afternoon at the motel. David barely glanced up from his sandwich. Aunt May had apparently filled the cooler in their trunk with sandwich meat, and cheese, and bread, and everything else, and David was in heaven. Kelsie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah?" Kelsie nodded for her to continue.

"Yeah. The guy I talked to said all the attacks have been happening just beyond the town, like out past the farmhouses."

"Supposedly there's a recluse living out there in a really beat up farm house. I bet that's it. What do you think, David?" Kelsie asked.

"Hmm? What?" Kelsie scowled.

"Yes I think that if the killings happened way out there, and some weird hermit lives way out there, that's probably our guy. Can I eat my sandwich now?"

"That's what you've been doing!"

"Yeah, well I want to finish this beauty. Let's head out tonight when the sun starts to go down."

"Okay, sounds good. I'll make sure everything's ready."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"I want you two to stay back as much as possible. Keep a look out for the magician," instructed David.

"Explain it to me again, I don't think I got it the first one hundred times," Jacob answered.

"You know Jacob, I can still knock you out and leave you here," David said.

"That wouldn't be very nice of you,"

"I think keeping you alive is pretty nice of me," By this time, the road had begun to fade to dirt, and they'd left most of the town behind. The farm house in front of them looked like it was about to crumble.

"Spell," Kelsie muttered, "Apparently doesn't want any visitors." They crept behind the house, and looked around. There wasn't much to see; just an old willow tree. But underneath, the ground was burnt in a circle. David and Kelsie nodded. They crept closer, guns out, leaving the other two to keep watch at the edge of the house.

In the dirt on the burned patch someone had drawn a circle with three smaller circles on the edge; one left, one right, and one top. A feather, a clump of dirt, and a chain. They straightened up, but there was a flap of wings as the griffin screeched and flew at them. David barely had time to throw himself to the ground as the animal swooped low. Kelsie managed to get off a shot, but it went wide, and only grazed the wing.

"Someone's coming!" Jacob shouted, and then he and Nicole ran to the tree. Kelsie grimaced. The element of surprise would have been nice she thought, as she tried to figure out where the griffin had gone. David stood and turned to face the new threat from the direction of the house.

"Trying to kill my pet, are you?" The man asked. He looked old, and unkempt; definitely a recluse.

"You're an idiot," David replied.

"Am I?" The man gave an eery smile.The swoosh of wings came again and David and Kelsie looked around frantically. This time, it came at them from behind the house, but instead of going after the one who'd shot it, it knocked into Nicole, dragging it's talons across her back, and she fell.

"NICOLE!" Jacob screamed; at the same time two gun shots rang out. Kelsie shot the chains lying on the ground, breaking the bond, and David shot the griffin in the chest. The animal plowed into its former master as it died, talons leading. David din't spare them a second glance.

"Car!" Kelsie said, as David shoved Jacob to the side, scooping up Nicole in his arms. They made it back to the car in record time, and Jacob slid into the backseat, Nicole stretched out beside him, head in his lap. Blood dripped everywhere.

David glanced back once as he peeled out onto the road. Jacob's face was nearly as pale as Nicole's.

Every night I say a prayer

In the hope that there's a heaven

~Styx, Show Me the Way