"Oh." He knew. The second I waved at the little girl in the yellow dress, he'd realized I could see her, he'd known. He didn't know what I was probably at first, but as we continued training, as I built an army, came over every day and discussed strategy at the house...he'd figured it out.

"To learn of your existence was a huge gift. There is nothing more rare than to learn of a new Naphil. And now that we are here we also see what is happening. We did not know an army of our own slaves was gathering to fight us. We remember now that we lost some once upon a time, but they were easily replaced and so not thought on again. But we see what is happening here clearly, and now we must prevent it. It is not the way of things."

"Maybe the way of things shouldn't be the way of things," I said instantly, and I saw Gabe look over at me. But I didn't care. I wasn't about to start censoring myself now.

There was a brief pause, and I think I'd surprised the Circle. Then it responded: "It is how it has always been. We have come for their leader, Gabe McClure, who must be dis the Nephilimodkpensed with but first punished. He must be made an example of."

There was no way I was letting that happen, thank you very much. "No."

"He does not belong to you, Riley Carver. He belongs to us."

Belong to me. They weren't the first to tell me that. But then I realized...all that talk about Nephilim and my power of choice...

"No. You're wrong. He does belong to me. I choose him. I choose him for me. And I choose to help him."

"Riley Carver, you know not what you do."

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"There will be chaos. This is not the way of things. Chaos in our world brings great pain to yours."

I shook my head: don't you dare threaten me. "You call it chaos, I call it change. And great change is worth the pain. You just can't use humans as your playthings. You can't just own us and use us. You just can't."

"We see the greater story."

"Bulls.h.i.+t. If you saw the greater story, you'd have seen this coming. But you didn't know of any of it until this little girl, guardian, came and told you."

"Give us Gabe McClure."

"No."

There was another silence. A longer one now.

"Riley, you don't have to do this," Gabe whispered, but I didn't pay attention. Of course, I had to do this. Of all the things I had to do, this was the most important.

The Circle spoke again. "If you give us Gabe McClure, we shall remedy the wrongs he has done to your town." They said it like a great decision had been made.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"For seven years he has led the Taking. For six years you have lost the people of your town. We shall return them all. And those that lie lifeless by your side shall live once more."

My heart sank. Of all the things the Circle could have offered..."I..."

"One life for dozens."

"I...can't..." I turned for the first time to look at the folks from the town who were all, understandably, staring at me now. I knew what their decision would be. Who was Gabe to them but some stranger?

"You must," declared the Circle.

"I won't!"

"You will." But it wasn't the Circle who said it. It was Gabe.

I turned to him. "No, you can numb,'t give in to them. Y "these

Many things happened in the moment that followed. The Circle vanished in that same brightness that evidently only I could see. Then the fallen creature in front of me became human, just like that. Became Georgia Banks, as a matter of fact. She moaned slightly, opened her eyes and stared up at me in utter confusion. She looked in great pain, and Lacy was instantly down at her side to take care of her.

There were flashes then, several dozen, and where there had once been only a few fallen creatures lying dead on the ground, there were now around forty people, all returning to consciousness, all in pain and confused. The crowd went into rescue mode, and soon folks were running about trying to take care of them all. Family members were trying to find their lost loved ones.

I was still in a haze, so it took me a moment to realize that one of those people somewhere on the ground was Chris. His family was at home, of course, like last year. I knew they hadn't come to the Taking, no matter what kind of fear they'd had of Pastor Warren. Poor Pastor Warren, I realized suddenly, but I didn't feel very bad for him. Just some small pity at how pathetic he seemed now. To the entire town, I had no doubt.

I had to find Chris. He would be so scared, so alone. Besides, looking for him was a bit of distraction from what had just happened. A very, very small distraction. It was hard to get around with so many people moving about in the dark. Then I heard someone call, "Riley!" and I followed the voice until I saw Father Peter standing over an unconscious Chris.

We looked at each other.

"I'll get a doctor," he said.

I nodded. There was nothing to say, not at least in this moment. Instead, I bent down beside Chris and carefully cradled his head in my lap. To touch him again, to run my fingers through his hair, it was an overwhelming feeling. Coupled with the feeling of just having lost Gabe, it was almost too much to handle.

You can give me your emotions if you wish.

"No, thank you," I replied as my guardian materialized at my side once more.

But you are in so much pain.

"I need to feel this. I want to feel this."

Why?

"If I don't feel this, it's like it didn't matter, like he didn't matter."

I do not understand.

"That's okay. You don't have to."

Is there anything I should do?

"No."

I shall watch, then.

"If you'd like to." affected by our power just o everything that I shall watch.

There was some very small comfort having my guardian's glowing presence at my side, and I appreciated the company. I liked that it was learning, making offers nt waiting for me to ask the ow and not jus

he Author.

Adrienne Kress is a Toronto-born actor and author, and is a theatre graduate of the University of Toronto and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in the UK.

end.