Chapter 31

When Micheal had returned, the place looked like it did before it all had started; Chief StormWalker was performing a cleansing on the house and the grounds; all remnants and evidence of the Wendigo and what happened was gone.

Micheal waited till the Chief was done with his cleansing.

"Chief StormWalker, is there no way to get Nicholas back from that dark place? Has he no hope? Is there anything that can be done?"

Sitting down next to Micheal, he looked at him and smiled.

"There is hope, yes but not the kind you are wishing for; once he went through the portal, his physical body died, only his soul is left there; I am afraid that I can't bring him back to this world, but I can get him out of that dark one and on to the next life."

Micheals's heart was saddened at that, but there was a chance for Nicholas's soul to be free, then he would do whatever was needed to get it done.

"What is needed to get it done? If it is within my power, I will do it."

The Chief smiled at him again...

"You are a good person; I will tell you what has to be done and where you need to go first. You will need the tears of a willing widow and the blood of the son. Only a little bit is needed of both."

"When you have these items, then bring young Noah and Daisy to my tribe, ask Jack he will guide you to where you need to go, you have to be there by the light of the first full moon of the summer solstice, That is about three weeks away."

Jack had left, so he wondered how the three tribe members were getting home he was about to offer when the Chief walked over to his tribe members, and before he could blink, they were gone.

After everyone was gone, Micheal called for the caretakers to come back as he went to the lake house to get his daughter and son-in-law some clothes and a few personal needed items.

He hoped he picked out the right things. If they are not, he will get them what they wanted; he put them all into a suitcase and transported himself to his beach house.

His last thought before he shimmered was, where the hell am I going to find and collect the tears of a widow?

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Noah was lying on the beach's white sands; the place was spectacular. It was a massive beach house on an island all by itself. Daisy sat beside him as they both stared out at the vibrant blue-green of the ocean.

It was peaceful, the waves gently coming to shore as they held each other, it had been three days since the battle with the Wendigo, and he was feeling better physically, but his heart was still aching.

He would get memories of his father playing with him as tigers running and jumping and his father's face when he was proud of him.

One of the first things he had to do when he was able was to call his remaining family members and their community and tell them about his father's death.

Micheal was able to help with making all the funeral arrangements which weren't easy without a body. He had to explain things more than once to several prominent members and Elders; it helped that his father had brought along an Elder.

He was able to convey what had happened and what he had witnessed, which finally calmed the others down.

Enid was a godsend for those first two days and nights; she cooked for them simple things to help build back up their energy and strength, she did whatever she could to help them.

Micheal stayed there till they were both able to move about and take care of themselves, but then he left to take care of other matters; never saying what those matters were, he would come back for an hour or two every evening, though.

Finally, about two nights later, he came back and kicked the garbage can in frustration. All three of them could hear the ruckus and some very inventive swear words coming from outside.

Noah cautiously came out onto the deck and looked at a very disheveled Micheal. He looked like he had lost a fight with the wind.

"Need to talk about something Micheal?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"I know this is going to sound strange, and I don't know what you are going to think of my part in it, but please keep an open mind, Noah."

"Micheal, after what we all have been through, I doubt there is much you could tell me that would be surprising anymore."

Micheal smiled at him, knowing that this was going to do just that surprise him once again.

"Well, when I went back to the Mansion to help with the cleaning up, The Chief and I discussed how to get your father back from the dark world."

Micheal saw Noah's face gain some hope, and he wanted to kick himself in the ass for being the one to put it there.

"I am sorry, son, but his physical body was killed once he went through the portal. The only way we can help him now is to show him the way out and let him travel on to the next stage."

"That is what I have been doing these last couple of days, and it is frustrating the hell out of me. The Chief said that I had to get two things and then bring you and Daisy to his tribe."

"These two things sound simple, and I think that the latter one is but this first one is turning into a nightmare; I almost got my ass handed to me by two elderly ladies. I am coming up short at every try I make."

"Well, ok Micheal, let's hear what they are, and maybe a fresh mind could help you get what we need."

"Ok, here it is; I need to gather a little bit of each of these items; the first is the tears of a willing widow, the second is the blood of the son."

Noah started to laugh, and then he was rolling around on the deck laughing; Micheal didn't see what was so funny about this situation, but part of him was glad that Noah was having a good laugh.

"Ok, enough already. What the hell is so funny about having to get the tears of a willing widow?"

"It isn't the task that is funny. The picture in my head of you, ancient power and wise Vampire going from funeral to funeral trying to get tears from old ladies. No wonder they wanted to beat you up."

Micheal started to laugh as well.

"Ok, I see your point; believe me when I tell you, the willing part is harder than it sounds. Normally, I would go and put them under a spell and take them, but they have to be willing."

"Trust me; they are not willing. The first one called the police, the second one and her sister beat me and called me a pervert. This last one sicked her dogs on me in front of all kinds of humans, so I had to drag myself behind a tree to escape."

It was at that moment that Daisy came out and sat between them.

"Hey, you two, I heard laughing wanna share I could use a good laugh about now."

After explaining everything to Daisy, they all had another good laugh at Micheals's expense. Daisy went silent and was working out the problem.

"Well, Dad, I think it's pretty simple, really; you need a willing widow. You are a widow Dad; use your tears."

Micheal looked at her for a moment, dumbfounded by the simplicity of it and at his stupidity for not thinking of it himself.

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When Jack got home, Nova came out to him as fast as she could, waddling like a duck all the way. He didn't dare laugh, though. The last time he did that, he got a slap upside the head, and Brutus was told that he had to go on a diet.

So anytime Jack thought that something Nova did was cute and wanted to laugh, Brutus would growl at him so loud that he would jump up in the air.

As soon as she reached him, he scooped her off her feet and carried her back into the house, kissing her all the way—no more darkness for them.

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When Archer returned home, he picked up Rachel and went to their bedroom, laid her down on the bed, and curled himself around her body, just laying there both him and Solis trying to forget the evil they had witnessed.

Rachel calmly just laid there with them, sensing that what they needed right now was comfort and security at the moment.

Later around a bonfire, he told Rachel and the others what had happened as they all said a prayer for Nicholas Lucas that he would stay strong in the dark world and find his way home.

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A mist slinked its way through the forest; it was almost to its destination. It circled Raymond Delsaires mansion; all the safeguards were still in place, which meant he couldn't get inside.

The mist hovered above the backyard as it made its way to another place where he might find his new toy. He wasn't going to give up that easy; after all, anything worth doing was worth doing well.

The factory had the same safeguards as the mansion; the Wraith swore to himself, well, then if I cant go in and get him, I will have to find a way for him to come out to me.

He smiled a sinister smile. I knew just the right bait to use to lure him out. Then he drifted off to one of his old safe houses to plan his next move and find and build his new workshop.