Page 52 of Sinistram
More importantly, stop their plans,Brother Benjamin interposed.They want the monsters to be dominant. That will leave humans without magic or supernatural abilities to be…food. They are waking the old ones. If they succeed, stopping them may no longer be possible.
“Old ones?” Travis asked. “Who are the old ones?”
Creatures who have slumbered for centuries, or remained hidden in the depths of the forest, the ground, and the water,Brother Andrew replied.They were content to stay in the shadows, but they will not turn down the chance to become ascendant once more, as they were before humans came to the fore.
Travis was tiring, and he could feel that the ghosts were slipping from his grasp. “Thank you. We will do everything we can to stop the monsters and keep people from dying.”
We wish you luck, although we cannot see the outcome,Brother Benjamin replied.
With that, Travis let go of his connection to the ghosts and slumped forward onto his elbows.
Brent pressed a bottle of orange juice into his hand. “Drink. I’ve got something for you to eat after that. When you’re ready, I’ll help you to the couch.”
Travis accepted the juice gratefully and downed it, then tried to eat the muffin slowly so it didn’t come back up. “Did you hear all that?”
“Not everything, but enough,” Brent said in a grim tone. “Sometimes it sucks to be right.”
Travis managed to make it to the couch without having to lean too hard on Brent. “Well, that explains why the whole section on vampires and necromancers was missing from the Sinistram library the last time I visited.” Travis felt the grueling aftereffects of the ghostly conversation. “They might have been afraid someone would find something in the books that could work against them.”
“I’m going to make another pot of coffee and settle in to do some research while you sleep that off,” Brent told him. “Give me your phone. I’ll wake you if Cassidy returns your call, but everyone else can wait. Rest, and then we can debrief.”
Travis wanted to argue, but he ended up mumbling something incoherent as he sat on the couch and fell to one side.
“Rest.” Brent pulled Travis’s legs up on the cushion and spread a throw over him. “I’m not going anywhere, and I won’t let anything get to you.”
Travis wanted to point out that Brent couldn’t protect him from ghosts or visions, but he fell asleep before he could.
“What time is it?”Travis came around slowly, unsure whether he was actually waking or in a very realistic vision.
“A better question is, what day?” Brent handed him a hot cup of coffee. “You slept all night and half of the next morning. From what you were muttering, I gather it wasn’t all peaceful. Did you have visions? Share with the class when you wake up. I found some interesting stuff, too. And before you ask, Cassidy said Sorren should return tonight, and he had information for us.”
“That…can’t be good.” Travis sipped his coffee and tried to reorient himself.
“Maybe we already know the worst about Sinistram,” Brent said. “I’m hoping Cassidy and Sorren can clue us in to how the vampire faction managed that. It’s rather discouraging to know that politics doesn’t end even after you’re dead.”
“True.” Travis willed the hot liquid to send his blood rushing and clear the fuzz from his mind. “I’ll tell you about the visions I had while I was sleeping, but I need to make sense of them myself first. How about you catch me up on what you’ve been doing while I’ve been out.”
“I need more coffee for that.” Brent got up and refilled their cups, then returned to his seat.
“The early warning system is going absolutely bonkers with stories,” Brent said, meaning the tabloids, podcasts, and social media sites dedicated to supernatural conspiracies. “Plenty of sightings of Ol’ Red Eyes. Either there are dozens of him, or he can teleport, because they’re claiming he’s popping up all over.”
“More omens,” Travis said.
“No kidding. Everyone and their brother is seeing signs in frogs, owls, spiders, pretty much everything. Then there’s the big story about a sea monster in the Monongahela River.”
“Seriously?” Travis lifted his head and looked at Brent to make sure he wasn’t joking.
“I couldn’t dream this stuff up if I tried.” Brent crossed his heart. “People say they have seen a huge serpent in the river and that it’s damaged boats and caused problems for river traffic. Of course, that immediately spawned websites selling amulets and preachers rushing to the waterfront to pray it away.”
“Some things never change,” Travis agreed.
“Not sure yet whether or not there’s any truth, but even the regular media is running segments on it. If Loch Ness has Nessie, would this be ‘Messie’ in the Mon?” Brent asked with a grin.
“Ugh. There’s got to be a better name.”
“You’d think so,” Brent agreed. “Photos are showing up online that claim to be of the river creature. That stuff is easy to fake—especially with AI—but I’m hearing back-channel chatter from hunters that makes me think there’s some truth to the rumor.”
Travis stood behind Brent as he called up news sites reporting on the sea serpent. A couple of vendors wandered along the riverbank selling charms to the crowd that gathered along the riverside while a minister led a prayer group nearby.
