Free Awaken by Rachel D'Aigle

cannot be where they were coming from.” muttered Meghan, noticing fresh footsteps circling the tree.
    “Inside voices, please,” shot Colin to her silently.
    She scowled her reply.
    “The path ends here, as well as the footprints,” sent Colin.
    The fallen tree had nine hidden spaces; each created by the way the pine branches had fallen. A few people could easily fit into each space at the same time.
    “This would make an awesome fort,” mused Colin, accidentally out loud. He corrected the mistake before Meghan could remind him about inside voice. “You could throw a lot of snowballs from this hideout,” he added in his silent voice, while daydreaming of getting back at the camp bullies. Meghan did not let him linger in the daydream long.
    “We better get back, Uncle Arnon’s gonna worry if we don’t get home soon.”
    Colin frowned. He had just started to climb through the tree. Meghan reached to seize his leg and pull him down, when overhead, they heard the distinct sound of heavy wings snapping against the air.
    A tremendous shadow cloaked what small streams of sun were trickling through the clearing.
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    The twins froze in position. Colin, clinging to a branch with one hand while sitting on one below, and Meghan, with her hand seizing his leg. Without moving, they tried to see what had landed.
    “I’ve never heard wings that large before,” sent Colin nervously. Something hovered over the tree. Something with red eyes that blazed brightly in the darkness.
    Outside of their hidden tree room, a skidding thud brought them out of their frozen stupor. Whatever it was, it had landed!
    “I knew this was a bad idea,” Colin sent, with an, I told you so tone. Another pair of wings swooshed above, landing just a few feet away.
    Colin squeaked slightly. Meghan yanked on his pant leg motioning for him to shut up!
    Whatever was outside the tree was walking the perimeter, repeating the twins’ movements from a few minutes before; which meant before long it would find their secret room!
    The shadow then stopped and sniffed the air, like a dog.
    It was close enough now that the twins could see directly into the piercing red and black eyes of the creature. Colin held his breath, afraid he would give away their hiding spot if he opened his mouth.
    “Okay, I will never, not listen to you again,” sent Meghan to her brother. Normally, Colin would have relished such a moment. Fear, however, gripped the occasion, as one of the creatures lunged to the top of a granite rock on the opposite side of the clearing.
    “Where is the other one?” sent Colin. They searched frantically, without moving their bodies, but could not see it.
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    Finally, it joined the other, standing on the ground below the rock. From what the twins could see, the towering creature was hairless, and gray skinned.
    The wind picked up and the sky drew the two creatures’
    attention. The one on the ground lifted off, hovering just a few feet in the air. This gave Meghan and Colin a much better view of the body.
    “What are they, Colin?” asked Meghan, stunned by what she was seeing.
    “If I had to guess, I would say they are oversized… bats,” he stammered silently, into his sister’s mind.
    “There are no bats that large!” she argued. “How is this possible? It’s not!” she answered herself.
    Colin gulped, not replying. The wind picked up even more, blowing leaves and branches off the ground, and violently shaking the fallen tree. Luckily, the needles held fast and did not fall off, keeping the twins’ location to the intruders outside a secret.
    The wind died quite suddenly, and with its end, someone else arrived; someone appearing to be human, but disguised in a dark cloak. The cloaked figure spoke, but the voice was deep and distorted, making it impossible to tell if it was a man or woman.
    “Tonight, you will do what must be done,” the figure spoke. “At midnight they will come. You will wait until the time is right, and then you