Ethan and Gale sat shoulder to shoulder on the floor of the cabin, their hands zip-tied behind their backs and their ankles zip-tied tightly also. Gale was still with a calm gaze into her thoughts while Ethan eyed the two masked men holding them captive with searing indignation as they stood away from them, near the door as one of them tried over and over to make a call on his cell phone that was hopelessly searching for a signal. The man cursed the mountains surrounding them for his phone's failure, then he mumbled something to his partner about not waiting any longer, it was time to go.

    As his partner objected, citing that their orders were to wait until the appointed time, Gale summoned Ethan's attention with a whisper.

    "Ethan."

    "Yeah," he whispered back, turning his head toward Gale but keeping his eyes cautiously on their masked captors.

    "The rest of my family has met with similar masked assailants too, but they're okay now. Don't worry, Gideon is on his way here."

    A somewhat perplexed look overcame Ethan. "How...how do you know that? And does Gideon even know where this cabin is?"

    "Yes, he's always known, but only because he's so protective of my family."

    Still wondering, Ethan asked,"But how do you know he's coming, that the others have been attacked too?"

    Gale whispered a sigh that was heavy with hesitation. "Like I mentioned before, there are things I must tell you, about my family, about me."

    "What kind of..."

    "Silence you two!" One of the masked men demanded gruffly, glaring at his captives.

    The sudden blast of the man's voice startled both Ethan and Gale who shuddered, but then offered the man defiant glares of their own in silent protest. The man began an angry march toward them but it was interrupted by the sound of something heavy landing on the roof. Everyone's paused attention went to the ceiling where the sound originated, no one noticed Gale's knowing smile that she only allowed to slightly turn up the corners of her mouth.

    A series of steady, scratchy thuds made their way across the roof and stopped over the door to the cabin, being tracked by the eyes of everyone inside. The masked man who was caught in the middle of an approach to Ethan and Gale turned to his partner.

    "Go out there and check it out," he ordered.

    "Why me?" the other masked man questioned nervously.

    "Because you're closest to the door," his partner answered impatiently.

    Ethan's intrigued curiosity was plainly evident on his face, he even shared his captors' apparent dread concerning what might be waiting on the roof outside. He turned to Gale, whose gaze was fixed calmly on the door with no hint of fear or trepidation whatsoever, then he turned back to watch the nervous masked man open the door.

    Slowly and cautiously the man opened the door while looking upward to hopefully catch a glimpse of what had made the unsettling sounds across the roof, sounds that had imitated scratchy footsteps. He drew a pistol from his side without breaking his upward stare as he stepped just outside the doorway and turned to get a better view of the roof. Everyone's eyes were glued to him with drawn breaths.

    In an instant a pair of clawed feet landed on the man's shoulders and he was snatched up out of sight with a terrified yell that was whisked away quickly, fading out over a seemingly great distance. Ethan and the lone captor inside shuddered at the suddenness of the event while Gale remained as cool as ever. Ethan swung his head around to Gale with his jaw dropped in speechless astoundment only to find her answering his expression with a small, secretive smile that bewildered him even more. 

    "Try not to worry, we'll be okay," she assured in a whisper.

    Their remaining captor quickly drew his pistol as he rushed to the door and slammed it closed, twisting its dead bolt to make sure it stayed that way.  "What the...what was that...what...," he rambled with frightened, panting breaths as he backed away from the door.

    Seconds later the landing thud came to the roof again, startling the unnerved captor who reflexively fired a few deafening rounds up through the ceiling, causing Ethan and Gale to grimace as the shots rang out in their ears. The scratchy steps scurried across the roof, making the captor franticly unload his pistols clip into the ceiling above. Ethan and Gale winced with each fired round until the gun only clicked from having no more bullets.

    The cabin became eerily quiet for a few seconds after the guns thunder ceased and everyone inside waited for another sound from the roof. The masked captor was breathing heavily, the pistol wavered in his trembling hand.

    The cabin door suddenly burst into fragments and splinters that flew harmlessly into the cabin, but caused the captor to instinctively throw his arms up to shield himself. Ethan looked in horrified astonishment at a tall winged creature resembling a gargoyle standing at the threshold, glaring angrily at the masked captor. It was very pale and bare-chested, but wore pants.

    "Ethan!" Gale called out anxiously, but he was lost in a stare of the thing standing at the door.

    "Ethan!" she said again, more forcefully, tossing a quick glance at their captor, who was beginning to recover from the stun of the shattered door.

    Ethan looked at her, careful to keep an eye on the creature too.

    "Ethan, it's Gideon. You're going to have to invite him in," she urgently instructed.

    "Wh...what...Gideon?" he mumbled, frightened.

    "There's no time to explain," she said, looking again at their captor who was gawking in disbelief at the winged creature eyeing him dangerously. "You have to invite him in so he can help us."

    Ethan tried to comprehend what Gale was telling him, that the thing at the door was Gideon, but his wits were momentarily scattered. He studied the creature for a moment longer then heard Gale's urgent plea again. Trusting entirely in her he shouted at the creature,"You can come in! You can come in!"

    Gideon zipped from the doorway to the masked man in a blurred straight line, sinking his fangs into his throat upon impact and binding his arms with his own crushing grip. With helpless gurgles the man sank under Gideon as he was drained by the powerful vampire, then when Gideon had his fill and the man's limp body was void of life he tossed the body to the side with no regard for it whatsoever.

    Ethan's appalled eyes watched as Gideon's winged, monstrous form with a trickle of blood running from his chin down his throat onto his bare chest receded and changed into the familiar appearance of the blond-haired man he thought he knew. Gideon wiped at the blood on his chin as he went and knelt down beside Ethan and Gale, causing Ethan to flinch when he reached around behind him with a single clawed finger and cut the zip-tie around his wrists. Then he did the same to the one around his ankles before he moved over to Gale and likewise removed her restraints. Ethan scooted a short distance away and simply stared hard at  Gideon, silently trying to understand what he'd just witnessed.

    "Are you alright my dear? I came as quickly as I could," he asked.

    Rubbing her wrists where the zip-tie had been pulled tight Gale answered,"Yes, we're fine now, thanks to you. But how are the others? Lydia told me through her gift that there have been other such attacks."

    "I am not sure. We need to get you two back to the manor where we can sort this night out and stand guard against any further threats," he advised with a protective tone that was in no mood for debate.

    Gale agreed with a nod then they both looked over at Ethan, whose stare fluttered between them as if he were deciding if he should be afraid of them or not.

    "I apologize for the mess here Ethan, but when the dust from all this settles I assure you I will see to it that your cabin is promptly restored," Gideon pledged.

    Ethan nodded slowly, absentmindedly accepting Gideon's words as his attention was distracted by the trickle of blood that still marked Gideon's throat and chest. He quickly looked over to Gale, hoping Gideon hadn't noticed him staring at the blood, and found her empathizing with him through a soft frown. Gideon rose to leave the cabin, walking slowly toward the doorless entrance. Gale slid over beside Ethan.

    "Ethan, I'm so sorry. This isn't how I wanted you to learn about my family," she said regretfully.

    Ethan's stare cut away to Gideon, who was walking away, then back to Gale. "He...he's...he's a..."

    "A vampire," Gale finished with a fragile smile that hoped for understanding.

    "And...the rest of your family?" he wondered with crazy thoughts running through his mind.

    Gale smiled warmly at Ethan as she stood up over him. Extending her hand to help him up she offered,"Come with me, and on the way to the manor I'll tell you everything."

    Ethan floated one more glance at Gideon's leaving figure, swallowed hard, turned his head back upward to Gale's warm smile that still waited for him, then he reached for her hand.