Page 7

FIVE

GRIFF

F our days flashed by in a blur, and the town had been deceptively calm. But in the Cooper house, a family slowly formed. Mara and Griff had been pushing and pull between their connection, and arrived at some unsaid agreement. But the peace didn’t last long.

The first sign that the peace was over was the shadow beings arriving with the dawn, pouring through Tilly's bedroom window like smoke given malevolent purpose.

Griff had been making coffee in the kitchen when his daughter's scream shattered the morning quiet, sending him racing upstairs with his bear clawing at his consciousness and every protective instinct he possessed blazing to life.

He found Mara already there, standing between Tilly's bed and the writhing mass of darkness that filled half the room.

Her hands were raised, green light crackling between her fingers as she wove some kind of barrier that kept the entities at bay, but Griff could see the strain in her posture and the way her magical shield flickered with exhaustion.

"They're not trying to hurt her," Mara said without taking her eyes off the shadow beings. "They're trying to communicate, but their desperation is making them too aggressive. Tilly's power is calling to them, and they can't control their response."

Tilly sat in the middle of her bed, clutching Mr. Gruff and glowing with power that made the surroundings shimmer like heat waves.

Her amber eyes were wide with fear, but she wasn't screaming anymore.

Instead, she was humming, a low, wordless melody that seemed to be keeping her magic stable despite the chaos surrounding her.

"What do they want?" Griff asked, moving carefully into the room. His bear was demanding he shift, demanding he tear apart anything that threatened his cub, but the rational part of his mind recognized that brute force wasn't going to solve this particular problem.

"To show us something," Tilly said, her sweet, small voice steady despite the circumstances. "They want to show us what happened to them, what's going to happen to us if we don't listen."

The shadow beings seemed to respond to her words, their forms shifting and coalescing into more recognizable shapes. Griff could make out what looked like human figures, men and women of various ages, all with expressions of desperate urgency etched into their ghostly features.

"Can you understand what they're trying to say?" Mara asked Tilly, her barrier magic still holding but visibly weakening.

"They're showing me pictures," Tilly said, her eyes distant with the look she got when her magic was processing information beyond normal comprehension.

"A pretty lady with dark hair who smiled a lot, but her smile was wrong.

And people who trusted her, people with magic like ours.

She made them feel safe, made them think she was their friend. "

The shadow beings' forms became more agitated, their movements sharp with what looked like regret and warning.

"Then what happened?" Griff asked, though he suspected he didn't want to hear the answer.

"She ate them," Tilly whispered, her grip on Mr. Gruff tightening. "Not their bodies, but their magic, their souls. She turned them into pieces of themselves and kept them trapped so she could use their power. And now she wants to do the same thing to us."

The shadow beings suddenly pressed against Mara's barrier with renewed urgency, their forms flickering between visibility and nothingness. One of them managed to break through, reaching toward Tilly with what looked like a protective gesture.

The moment the entity made contact with his daughter, Griff's control snapped.

His bear erupted to the surface with a roar that shook the windows, his human form expanding and shifting as supernatural instincts overrode rational thought. He was across the room in two strides, positioning himself between the shadow being and Tilly with claws extended and teeth bared.

But instead of attacking, something unexpected happened. The shadow being looked up at him with what could only be described as relief, its form solidifying into the recognizable shape of a middle-aged man with kind eyes and a face marked by years of laughter.

"Thank you," the figure said, its voice like wind through dry leaves. "Finally, someone who can protect them properly."

The words hit Griff like a physical blow, cutting through his rage and leaving him staring at the entity with dawning understanding. This wasn't a threat to his family. This was someone who had once been like him, someone who had tried to protect people he loved and failed.

"You're a parent," he said, his tone rough with the aftermath of his partial shift.

"Was," the shadow being corrected sadly. "I had a daughter, once. About her age." It gestured toward Tilly, who was watching the exchange with fascination rather than fear. "The lady in the shadows took her first, used her innocence and power to lure me close enough to trap me too."

Mara's barrier finally collapsed, leaving her swaying on her feet from magical exhaustion. But instead of attacking, the shadow beings simply arranged themselves around the room like grieving relatives at a wake, having an even defined form.

"How many of you are there?" Mara asked, her voice gentle with sympathy.

"Dozens," another shadow being replied, this one taking the shape of a young woman with elaborate braids and eyes that held ancient wisdom.

"From every supernatural community she's infiltrated over the past century.

She collects us, adds our power to her own, and uses our knowledge to hunt the next group of victims."

"But you're fighting back," Griff realized. "That's why you keep trying to warn people."

"What little we can," the first shadow being said. "She keeps us fragmented, weakened, but sometimes we can break free long enough to try to save others from our fate. We've been trying to reach this town for months, ever since she began focusing on the founder bloodlines."

Tilly suddenly stood up on her bed, her body radiating power making the room hum with energy. "You don't have to be pieces anymore," she announced with the confident certainty of childhood. "We can help you be whole again."

"Tilly, no," Griff said, his protective instincts flaring. "We don't know what that kind of magic might do to you."

"It's okay, Daddy," Tilly said, reaching for both him and Mara. "I can feel how it's supposed to work. Miss Mara's magic can heal the broken parts, your magic can make them strong enough to stay together, and my magic can give them enough power to be real again."

Mara looked at Griff with a blend of hope and uncertainty. "She might be right," she said quietly. "The combination of our magical signatures, if we work together... it could be enough to give them what they need to break free from her control permanently."

"And if it doesn't work?" Griff asked. "If whatever's controlling them uses our attempt to heal them as a way to attack us?"

"Then we'll face that together," Mara said firmly. "But Griff, these people have been suffering for decades. If there's a chance we can help them, don't we have to try?"

The shadow beings watched the exchange with expressions of desperate hope, their forms flickering between solid and ethereal as they waited for a decision that could mean the difference between continued torment and final peace.

Griff looked at his daughter, so small and brave and wise beyond her years, then at Mara, whose compassion and strength had already become essential to his family's wellbeing.

The rational part of his mind screamed warnings about the dangers of attempting unknown magic with untested combinations of power.

But the deeper part of him, the part that had learned to trust his instincts through years of single parenthood and supernatural crisis management, recognized the rightness of what Tilly was proposing.

"All right," he said, reaching for both of their hands. "But we do this together, and if anything starts to go wrong, we stop immediately."

The moment their hands connected, power flooded through the link they'd created.

Griff's bear magic, solid and protective, formed the foundation.

Mara's herbal healing energy, flexible and nurturing, wrapped around his power like vines around a strong tree.

And Tilly's founder magic, wild and impossibly complex, wove through both of their energies like golden thread creating a tapestry.

The effect on the shadow beings was immediate and dramatic. Their forms solidified, becoming more human and less ethereal with each passing second. Color returned to their faces, substance to their bodies, and most importantly, hope to their expressions.

"It's working," Mara breathed, her voice filled with wonder. "I can feel their souls knitting back together, all the pieces that were scattered and broken becoming whole again."

But as the healing continued, Griff became aware of something else.

The magical connection between him, Mara, and Tilly wasn't just healing the shadow beings.

It was creating something new, something that felt like family bonds made manifest in magical energy.

He could feel Mara's thoughts, her fierce protectiveness toward Tilly and her growing affection for him.

He could sense Tilly's joy at having two adults who understood her magic and made her feel safe.

And underneath it all, he could feel his own walls crumbling, the careful emotional barriers he'd constructed to protect himself from the possibility of loss dissolving under the weight of connection and trust.

"I'm scared," he admitted, the words emerging before he could stop them. "I'm terrified of caring about you both this much, of letting you become so important that losing you would destroy me."

"Fear is natural," Mara said softly, her voice carrying through their magical connection as well as the air between them. "But Griff, isolation isn't protection. It's just another kind of prison."

"She's right, Daddy," Tilly added, her child's wisdom cutting straight to the heart of the matter. "Being alone doesn't keep you safe. It just makes you lonely. And lonely people can't protect anybody properly."

The shadow beings, now fully restored to their human forms, began to fade in a different way. Not dissolving back into fragments, but simply becoming translucent as their connection to the physical world weakened.

"Thank you," the man who had been a father said, his voice strong and clear. "You've given us what we needed to break free from her control. We can move on now, find peace, and she can never use us against others again."

"Wait," Griff said, reluctant to let them go when they might have crucial information. "Can you tell us how to protect ourselves from her? How to fight something that powerful?"

"You're already doing it," the young woman with braids replied, her form beginning to shimmer with golden light.

"Love, trust, connection. She feeds on isolation and despair, but she can't touch bonds that are freely chosen and fiercely defended.

Your family, all three of you, you're stronger together than she could ever be alone. "

As the shadow beings faded into peaceful light, leaving behind only the faint scent of summer rain and the echo of grateful laughter, Griff found himself still connected to Mara and Tilly through the magical bond they'd created.

The link felt permanent, unbreakable, like something that had always been meant to exist.

"We're a family now," Tilly announced with satisfaction, settling back down on her bed with Mr. Gruff. "I can feel it. The magic knows."

Mara's eyes were bright with unshed tears as she looked at Griff.

"Is that what you want?" she asked quietly.

"Because I need you to know that I'm not going anywhere, regardless.

Whether you're ready for this or not, whether you can accept what's happening between us or not, I'm staying.

You and Tilly are my family now, and I protect what's mine. "

The fierce determination in her eyes and how she claimed them both without apology or hesitation, broke the last of Griff's resistance.

For five years, he'd been carrying the weight of single parenthood alone, convinced that protecting his daughter meant keeping everyone else at arm's length.

But watching Mara heal the shadow beings with compassion and courage, seeing the way she'd stepped into their lives and made everything brighter and stronger, he finally understood what the restored spirits was trying to tell him.

"Yes," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "That's what I want. You're right, both of you. We're stronger together."

Tilly cheered, her magic sparkling around her like fairy dust, while Mara's smile transformed her entire face. The magical bond between them pulsed with contentment and promise, and ever since Sarah's death, Griff felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Outside, the sun was rising over Mistwhisper Falls, painting the sky in shades of hope and new beginnings.

But even as they celebrated their breakthrough, none of them noticed the way the shadows in the corners of the room seemed to deepen, or the faint sound of laughter that carried on the morning breeze.

The entity that had controlled the shadow beings for so long had felt their liberation, and she was not pleased. The game was changing, the players were choosing their sides, and it was time for her to make a more direct approach.

The pretty lady with dark hair and star-filled eyes was coming to Mistwhisper Falls, and she was bringing all of her remaining power with her.