Janney discovered she was the last to wake up the next morning. She always did like to sleep in. She felt like she could sleep for a week after the events of the previous day. By the time she got dressed and came out into the main room of the cabin, she could see that she had missed breakfast. Her Mom had saved her a plate, but she would need to heat it up again unless she wanted to eat cold sausages and eggs. She could hear the voices of her uncle Charlie and her cousin Jon talking out on the porch, but she didn’t see any sign of anyone else. She decided that since her breakfast was already cold, it could wait a bit more. Wishing to try and forget about yesterday, if that was at all possible, which she doubted, she headed out to the porch towards the voices to see what the plan was for the day and found Uncle Charlie and Jonathan rigging up the fishing poles.

“Ah, she rises up from the ashes!” Uncle Charlie laughed.

Janney suppressed a slight smile at his joke and wondered just how late she had slept. “Good morning Uncle Charlie. Where is everyone?’ Janney asked.

“Your Mom and Aunt Emma went on a nature walk.” Uncle Charlie told her. “Your brother is around here somewhere. He was bringing the tackle down to the docks.”

“Oh, so we are fishing today?” she asked.

“You know it!” his uncle said excitedly.

“Dad rented a boat for the day.” Jonathan said as he looked up from the pole he was examining.

“That’s right. We are going to go out into the lake. I want to take us to the southern end of the lake. Not too many go that far out. That is where we will catch the big ones.” Uncle Charlie said with a silly grin on his face and holding his hands widely apart. One of the things Janney loved about her uncle was that he was always so excited to explore and do things together. He made camping more fun just by being there.

“Okay, Uncle Charlie. I am going to hold you to that.  I need to eat something first.” Janney said shaking her head as she went back inside.

She heated her breakfast and hardly noticed the taste as she ate. She could not stop thinking about that creature back in the cave. It knew their names. It knew who and what they were, and Janney knew it was only a matter of time until the other creatures that were a part of the Darkness would come looking for her and her brother. She felt so alone once Pix left. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she thought of the man from the aquarium. What were they to do if he found them before Pix returned?  To make it worse, Jonathan was now involved. As much as she found comfort in being able to share this part of her life with someone besides George, Jonathan was also in danger.

She finished breakfast and realized that it was pointless to sit in her own self-pity and insecurities all morning, so she finished getting ready and went down to the docks. The boat that Uncle Charlie had rented was a large fishing boat that could easily hold the entire family and a few more. George was already on the boat along with Jonathan. She could not see her uncle, but she could hear him singing one of his strange songs he loved so much from when he was young. His voice was coming from the other side of the captain’s chair as he was bent down digging around in one of the large coolers that were built into the boat.

“Ahoy!” Janney called out in jest. She remembered hearing that said in an old movie when someone approached a ship.

“Aye, hold it right there.” said Uncle Charlie in a bad pirate impression as he stood up. “Who goes there?”

“Ah, it is I.” Janney said, trying to sound important while playing along with her uncle.

“And who might you be?” Uncle Charlie said as he scrunched up his face and closed one eye in an attempt to look like a dirty old sailor with an eye patch. “Are you the one we have been waiting for, lass?  The one they call Janney, the great pirate from the mountains?  I hear she is a fearsome sailor who makes all that cross her walk the plank and be seen no more.”

“Yes, ah. Aye, that is so. I am Janney from the mountains.” she replied in her best pirate voice.

“Ah, well what kept ye?” her uncle responded. “Come on board. But be warned. You should know, there are a few rules first. Starting with, you are to have fun at all times. Second, be ye warned that we are after the great elusive big fish from the deep waters. You must help in that quest. And third, the most important rule of all is we cannot return home until we have satisfied the first rule.”

“Understood.” Janney said as she climbed on the boat with a smile.

“First Mate!” roared Uncle Charlie.

“Yes, sir” Jonathan responded as he rolled his eyes as he looked at Janney which made him start to giggle.

“Cast off! Be ready for adventure!” Uncle Charlie cried out.

Jonathan helped Janney onto the boat and undid the mooring rope that tied the boat to the dock. Uncle Charlie started the motor Once the ropes were on the boat and everyone was seated. Her uncle slowly maneuvered the boat away from the docks and once they made it past the entrance buoy he kicked the engine in gear and they came alive with a roar as they started heading out to the lake.

True to his word, Uncle Charlie took them way farther out into the lake than they had ever been before. Janney knew they had to still be in the State Park, but she did not recognize any part of where they were. While her uncle said it was a fishing expedition, the emphasis was definitely on the expedition part. To be fair, they did spend time fishing, and what they did catch were too small and had to be thrown back. Most of the time was spent exploring the lake while her uncle played as if he were a pirate on the high seas.

Even though they were having fun on the lake, none of them could stop thinking about the day before. Janney was watching for Pix, thinking that both he and her grandfather must have rushed to the park today. She could tell that George and Jonathan couldn’t help looking, but they didn’t see any sign of either. Of course, it was silly to think that they would be able to see a small pixy from the middle of the lake. Pix was much too small to be seen from there, even if he was standing in the open on the shore.

They made the slow wandering path to the southwest side of the lake and discovered the crew that was preparing for tomorrow night’s fireworks. They had their small barges tied up along the shore of a small island, so they were well away from anyone in the park. They pretended they were spying on another pirate crew that was burying their treasure as they circled the island. The late afternoon sky started to turn dark with larger storm clouds, and they decided it was best to head back towards the dock.

The smell of Aunt Emma’s cooking was evidence that both Mom and Aunt Emma had returned from their hike by the time the lake pirates came back to the cabin. George and Jonathon hurried to put the fishing gear away before the dark clouds gave way to their promise of more than just the current drizzle they were giving off. Even though it was still midafternoon, the sky began turning darker and darker, and soon it looked more like late evening than daytime.

“Go and get cleaned up.” Mom called out to no one in particular.

“Charlie, that includes you too.”  Aunt Emma added. “I don’t want this place smelling of fish.” 

Uncle Charlie gave his wife a feigned look of hurt before flashing his contagious smile. “Of course, my lady.” he replied before making his way to their room to wash up and change.

The rain began pouring down as they all sat down to eat. As if on cue from a movie, there was a deafening boom of thunder that rolled out through the mountains and across the lake right as a curtain of rain began to fall. Everyone gave a jump with the first clap of thunder.

“Wow, I thought we had some storms in Florida since it is the lightning capital of the country, but that was just crazy.” a startled Jonathan said.

“The thunderstorms in the mountains sound ten times louder than anywhere else. The mountain valleys and passes act like an amplifier as the thunder echoes off the cliffs and is magnified.”  Janney told Jonathan.

Uncle Charlie started a fire in the large stone fireplace in the main living room after the lights began to flicker a bit as the storm continued to grow stronger. “There was nothing about rain in the weather forecast today. Where on earth did this storm come from?” 

“You know weather forecasts are always wrong most of the time, Charlie.” Mom said.

“I wish I could be wrong so much and still have a job.” Uncle Charlie joked.

As another roar of thunder boomed across the lake, George couldn’t help but think that maybe this was more than just a storm. The way the sky turned so dark, maybe this was related to the creature they disturbed in the cave. Maybe the Darkness was not just growing stronger, maybe it was breaking free. The thought terrified him, and he tried to push it back down. He had no reason to believe it was true. But he could not shake that feeling that this was no ordinary storm. George closed his eyes and tried to find the calm. He needed to reassure himself that this was a normal thunderstorm. Just a regular storm that made its way across the plateau and is slamming into the mountain range, giving the sound effect that it is worse off than it really is.

Janney saw George with his eyes closed and knew instantly what he was doing because she was about to do the same thing. She could feel a wrongness in the air outside the cabin. Not the kind from a storm, the same kind from the aquarium. She waited and tried to watch George without letting anyone realize that she was there. She did not want to bring any unwanted attention to either of them. Janney knew it was only a matter of seconds that she watched George, but it seemed more like hours. When he finally opened his eyes, Janney could see in his face what she feared.

George was normally able to find the stillness of the hunter within him almost instantly, now compared to when he first learned how. It took longer this time to reach that stillness as he had to choose not to listen to the fears in his mind. When he reached deep within himself and found that stillness, he was rocked to his core. Alarm bells began ringing in his head. Danger! Danger! The alarm was telling him. He opened his eyes and could see the world through his hunter’s gaze. Everything inside the cabin looked warm and had a soft glow to it. He saw his sister looking at him knowingly, and he wanted to give her some sign to beware, but he could not do so. The magic had taken its hold on him now.  He was as much controlled by it as he controlled it. He was not sure what he was looking for. The other times he touched this place, he was tracking something specific. This time, he told himself to just look for the danger, for the Darkness. George thought that if it were not around them, then he would not be able to find it.

Their parents were sitting in front of the fire, talking. They didn’t appear to notice that anything was going on with the children. George got up and went over to the window to look out into the storm. Both Janney and Jonathan made their way near him, trying not to draw any attention to themselves. George stared out the window with his eyes wide, he could see shapes moving in the night out in the rain. He could not make out what the shapes were, but he could see their forms floating back and forth, wiggling around. He could feel the wrongness. He knew something or someone was outside the cabin.

“Don’t stand so close to the window, dear.” This storm is really bad.” Mom said when she noticed George standing in front of the window.

He was about to turn around and answer his mother when suddenly there was an enormous lightning flash that lit up the sky with such an intensity that it looked like the middle of the day for a few seconds. Suddenly figure appeared in front of the cabin looking back at George. Standing in the storm, exposed and seemingly not bothered at all by the rain stood the man from the aquarium.

Janney was able to see the man from where she was standing and let out a slight gasp, which caused George to turn and look at her as he let go of his hold on the magic. Even Jonathan was able to see the man, the agent of the Darkness. Jonathan was able to feel that the man was not right. That he should do whatever it took to avoid him.

The man cocked his head to one side slightly and smiled which caused a chill run through all three of them. He was mocking them. His look was daring them to challenge him. George did not feel the rage that he had previously felt when he saw the man. He didn’t feel anything other than that he needed to stay away from who or what was outside. The Darkness did not care if his Mom knew their secret. If it felt it had the advantage, and would not hesitate to attack them. Somehow, George knew that they were safe inside the cabin. He assumed Pix had placed protection wards on the place just like he did with their home. Those wards were what was keeping the man so far away.

There was another flash of lightning, and the man was gone. None of them were foolish enough to believe he was truly gone. They knew he was out there waiting for them. “Was that him?” Jonathan asked softly.

George nodded his head yes in response to his cousin before motioning them to follow him. “Come on, let’s go back to the fire where it is safe.” he said.

“Is it?” Jonathan whispered.

“For now it is.” George answered reassuring Janney as much as Jonathan. They went back near the fireplace and saw that on the hearth were all the ingredients to make s’mores. The storms continued to rage, as the thunder crashing outside. The lights flickered yet again, but this time they stayed off.

“No need to worry anyone.” Uncle Charlie announced. “People have been around longer than electricity. Besides, I won’t let this fire go out tonight. It is plenty large enough to light up the room.  And it is definitely enough for us to still have some fun tonight.”  He said as he held up a long metal skewer that had a marshmallow on the end of it.

Janney gave a faint laugh and smiled as she felt the warmth of the fire. She always liked sitting around a fire, something about it made her feel safe.

“Now, who is going to join me?” her uncle asked as he placed the marshmallow into the fireplace.

Soon the entire family was laughing, and eating s’mores. Aunt Emma preferred to just toast marshmallows. She said she never liked the mess that was associated with making the graham cracker sandwich with chocolate and melted marshmallow. It wasn’t long before the traditional card started up again. Sitting together in the light and warmth of the fire they all soon forgot all about the storm going on outside of the safety of the cabin.