Bart

  What in the world had my dad just confessed?

  Was he really a murderer? That freak that attacked the boats? The one that tore through our neighbors like they were paper?

  I couldn’t let myself believe it. Not yet. Maybe the magic had changed him. Maybe something darker had taken hold. Was something controlling him by some magical force feeding on his old wounds?

  But if he could turn into that creature, I knew one thing for sure: I couldn’t beat him alone. And if he lost control again, some of us wouldn’t survive. More people were going to die.

  As I looked around, the realization hit me. I was standing on the very bank where the whirlpool he described churned. The small waves reached both banks in a constant steady rhythm. The spin was constant, but from my perspective I couldn’t tell how strong it was… like you could easily escape the gravitational pull if you were a decent swimmer. My instinct told me that was a misleading illusion. Quiet energy pulsed from the center like blood flowing through a circulatory system in a hypnotic rhythm.

  This was the source. The place where everything changed.

  Somehow, this energy converted inanimate and living beings into magical creatures. It had converted me, Steve, Keith, and Pow into beings of supernatural power, but we were still ourselves. Dorien hadn’t been so lucky, morphing into a hideous tree monster. And Dad… Dad had chosen Rougaroux. That choice hadn’t just awakened his power. It also re-opened a violent side he must’ve suppressed for many years.

  I didn’t understand how the whirlpool worked, if there was a way to shut it down, or if this was the only place on the planet something like this was happening. Deep inside, I believed Louisiana couldn’t be the only place. This had to be the beginning of something much bigger than the basin.

  Why did Dad bring me here? He said something about feeling compelled to feed it bodies. That was just weird.

  “Dad, why did you bring me here…to this spot?” I asked.

  “I really don’t know. I was tinkin’ dis where it all started. Dis is da source. I’m havin’ trouble rememberin’ tings, son. Sometimes I just sit, wonderin’ why I can’t go home. Sometimes, I feel so mad, so angry. I look around confused, wonderin’ how I’m back in ‘Nam. I feel like I left so long ago. I left dat whole experience dere, back in dat God-forsaken hellhole of a country.”

  “But you are in Louisiana…You—”

  “Part of me understands dat,” he interrupted. “Everywhere I look though, it’s as if I’m dere again. Back in da jungle. Why did dey shoot at me? Why did dey attack me? None of dis makes any sense. Why did Sharon leave me? God, I need her so bad right now!” Dad put his head in his hands.

  This was my window. Maybe I could reach him. Maybe talking about Mom would pull him back.

  “Mom?” I was going to go with the truth. I hoped this worked. “Mom passed away, Dad. She…she didn’t leave you. God took her home. Don’t you remember?”

  “Of course, I remembah!” Dad’s tone shifted back to sharp, defensive. “I just meant I’m alone out heeuh. I’m fighting dese damn demons by myself.”

  “You don’t have to fight them alone. I’m here. I want to help you. If you go ba—”

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  “Bart…Mr. Cash?” Steve’s voice cut through the moment. He stepped into view, peering around a cypress tree.

  Dad saw him and transformed.

  In less than two seconds, he grew two feet taller, prickly hair sprouting across his entire body. His joints dislocated as his limbs grew exponentially longer. Popping and twisting sounds echoed through the night air. Antlers burst from his skull. His mouth split into a razor-sharp, lipless snarl. The nightmare became reality. A type of werewolf. A rougaroux.

  Dad lunged at Steve before either of us could react, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him four feet off the ground. Steve must’ve weighed at least 200 pounds, but Dad held him there like rag doll.

  “I KNEW YOU WERE A SPY! NOW YOU DIE!” Bits of rotten flesh flung from his raging mouth as he croaked his threat. Voice a deep, guttural rattle. Power and magic vibrated from his vocal cords, generating a paralyzing fear.

  “NOOO!” I shouted, trembling from adrenaline. I pushed through the fear and charged this crazy abomination that was once my father.

  His reaction time was too fast, and he swatted me aside as if I weighed nothing, still holding Steve effortlessly. I slammed into a cypress tree, the breath ripped from my lungs, consciousness slipping like sand through my fingers. My vision blurred. Everything looked red and green as if I was looking through old 3D glasses. I grabbed my head and gasped for air.

  “Dad! Please stop!” I desperately coughed out.

  “You dare side with da enemy? You dare side against me?” He effortlessly threw Steve into the river like a rag doll and started stalking my way. He walked slowly, deliberately as if he owned the woods. The basin was his to command.

  A fireball came from the edge of the trees, striking my father in the back. Keith and Pow found us. Pow followed up Keith’s fireballs with bolts of electricity like Raiden from Mortal Kombat.

  Dad shrugged off the attack. He twisted around, crouched low, arms flung wide like wings, and roared.

  The sound hit me like a shockwave. The effect had to be an ability from his lineage, a fear ability. It ignited a primal fear that surged through me, like ice water dumped over my spine. It wasn’t just terrifying, it was petrifying.

  I shook off as much of the fear effect as I could. “Run! Get out of here!” I yelled at my friends, but they didn’t move. They stood there…paralyzed. “Leave them alone! It’s me you want, Dad! I’m the spy! I’m the leader of the spies! This has all been part of my plan.”

  It was a desperate bluff. I didn’t even know if Dad could hear or understand me in this form.

  He turned towards me and let out a long, low growl that warbled for at least a minute sounding like a Harley Davidson motorcycle at idle. A part of him was still in there. It had to be. I had to hold out hope there was internal conflict, and Dad was trying to get free. This time the part of his brain that powered the monster won the conflict, and with a long blink, he crept back my way.

  I had no way of defeating him. I left the gun back at the camp.

  Stupid!

  I rationalized what I could do. My training kicked in. Weigh my options: try to battle him with my strength alone or cast magic…Whisper! I cast my new spell on him, praying sincerely for it to work. Soft winds spiraled from my hand and encircled my dad, whispering his name.

  “Whhhhiiiillllllliiiiaaaaaaaaaaammmmm…”

  That was really creepy, but effective!

  He stopped and looked around, totally lost. He bolted away, chasing an unseen foe. The spell had granted us a momentary reprieve. We might have enough time to get away.

  “Did you get everyone free?” I asked as I headed over to Keith and Pow.

  Fear still had them locked in place. I was about to slap them when they both shook their heads, clearing the mind fog.

  Steve crawled up the bank sputtering and spewing water. “What the hell, Mr. Cash?!?”

  He would live. I turned back to the other two. “Is everyone free? Can you get them out of here?”

  “Yeah,” Keith said. “Ronnie, Dusty, and Zak need to be helped out, but I think Ronnie and Zak can at least walk. We gonna have ta rig up a gurney for ole Dusty. A medivac would be nice.”

  “Did anyone see Jeremy?” I asked.

  Everyone shook their heads.

  Disappointed, I said, “Y’all get everyone to the boats. Use the radio and call for help. Move fast, but be careful. I’m gonna stay here…find a way to keep my dad busy.”

  “We can’t lea—“ Keith started.

  “Just go!” I ordered. “I’ll do everything I can to stop him. You guys aren’t strong enough to beat him.”

  “You’re not either!” Steve said, wiping his face and wringing the water from his shirt.

  “He’s my responsibility, and everyone over there is yours. Come back for me after they’re safe.”

  They nodded and took off.

  I was alone.

  Alone with the monster my father had become.