We were all gathered in the Henry family room, staring out of the large picture window. Everything felt too still. As dusk settled over Shadow, we all felt the change.

The clouds, the air, all literally stopped.

And then they were all just there. In the middle of the family room like some weird convergence of reality and a dreamworld.

Four tall, thin, brown men wearing elaborate robes. Alice started at one of them.

"Father?"

He made no reply.

*****

1 mile outside of North Base Camp El Gorah, Egypt - Gulf War, November 12, 1990

"Ahlise, hurry child!! I can only cloak for so long...You must get to American soil. They would not risk exposing themselves to those foreign humans."

The tall, bearded, brown man, dragged the young woman along.

"You said, it would not matter! -That I am too human for them to concern themselves with."

He chuffed. "I was wrong. They want to imprint you."

"What!-How?"

"...I have no choice." He said, his voice cracking. He sounded like he was on the verge of madness. "I had to choose...It had to be you."

Hunimehl thought back to when he met the very small, very blond, Swedish anthropologist.

Unlike the other humans, who tended to look past the natives they were supposed to be studying, she saw immediately, that were not like any other humans she had encountered. She tried to tell her superiors, but they did not believe her.

And when he fell for her, imprinted her, married her, and bore Ahlise, it was tense within his clan, but his maleness counted for a lot.

Though, he had hoped, he knew his female offspring would not have the same protection.

His daughter had her eyes and hair color...But her skin had the permanent bronze of the desert’s kiss.

"STOP! RIGHT THERE!! THIS IS AN AMERICAN BASE, YOU MUST TURN AROUND AND RETURN TO YOUR HOME!!" the American voice, shouted in Arabic.

Hunimehl said nothing. "IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND, I WILL ASSUME YOU HAVE A WEAPON!!"

The rifle click was audible.

"NO! I am unarmed!!" he said, flailing his arms.

"My daughter!! Her sister was attacked and killed, I do not wish the same for her. Please, take her!!"

"Sir! The base is not equipped to take on any more refugees!!

He thought up the lie quickly...

"But her mother was American, see?" He removed her hijab...And her blond hair was very clear in the high desert sun.

He could hear the soldiers talking...

"BRING HER IN, SLOWLY!!"

"Take her back to America!!" he yelled.

"SHUT UP!"

Ahlise had never been there, but her English was good enough, that they would definitely think it.

As they got close, the soldiers forced them both to the ground. They were quickly and thoroughly searched.

"My God, look at her." One of them said.

"What do we do?...There’s no more room, in the inn, sir."

"We’ll make room."

A tall blond man came forward and helped her to her feet.

"STOP!" Hunimehl said in Arabic only to the blond man, the only one who had shown genuine kindness.

"Keep her safe."

The other men were leering at the girl and giving Hunimehl dirty looks...

"We will take her into custody sir." He said, calmly

"...And don’t worry, I will make sure no harm comes to her." He said, giving each of the men warning looks.

"Maybe we should take him into custody, too. How do we know he’s not keeping an American woman hostage somewhere?"

"My mother is no hostage." Ahlise said, in her best English.

Again, Hunimehl said only to the blond man...waving his hand over his face. "Keep her safe."

The spell was a powerful one...Every last bit of cloaking he had, went into it. He only hoped what little magick his daughter possessed would grow enough for her to take over.

*****

No one said anything more. Not even Alice’s father. He looked broken and weary.

"We are here for the half-caste and her children...Abominations, they are."

"No!" Alice said, "They have been turned, they are immortals."

Orders were given in a strange language...

A tall man stepped forward and held up his hand, palm forward.

A light emanated from it, aimed directly at Clara. Before any of the others could react, Clara’s whole chest lit up. The man closed his fist and Clara dropped down to the floor, stone dead. It happened so fast...I couldn’t believe it.

Alice let out a wail of pain and ran to her daughter, mumbling spells over her...trying her best to reverse what had been done.

"Come on, come on little-bear, wake-up. WAKE UP!!" Doug said, stroking his daughter's still face.

Will blinked in shock. "I didn’t see it...I didn’t see."

"Bear?" Clara’s eyes stared unseeingly up at the ceiling...And Clara’s grandfather had stood by and watched the whole thing.

"She was a willful female...Trying to sway our emotions."

Alice ignored the leader and lept at her father.

"You are not my father! I curse you!" She spit at his feet. Silent tears full of fury streamed down her face.

The others tried to attack in the chaos. Holt and Sylvia were quickly put down. Tess was knocked out cold.

"Do you wish us to judge the other one, now?"

The one in the front, clearly the leader, held up a lighted-fist. Everyone left standing, froze.

"Where is the young immortal female you tried to use to protect your kin?"

Alice wavered on unsteady feet, but said nothing.

I stepped forward, my eyes bright with unshed tears for Clara...My first friend now gone.

"Ahh. This one...Forcing them together like livestock?"

"And you judge us?! Ahlise?"

"You would have been with me, a great honor for you. But you chose this, this human...And his weak offspring."

He began to laugh. "How dare you think a human’s imprint has any legitimacy in our eyes??"

"How dare you think that you’re better than him." She said, her face hard with anger and grief.

" And your human..." he said, referring to Douglas.

"-You touch him, and I die taking you with me." She said, calmly.

And he could see that she meant it. He had the closest approximation his twisted mind could muster to love for her, but he was still too selfish, too cowardly, to die along with her.

Stephen stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"If I may...Will’s was not the first imprint on this female. Mine was."

*****

I looked at Stephen with the gravest contempt.

He continued. "The girl is rightfully mine."

"...how dare you..."

"Before I even came to Shadow, I imprinted her."

"My God..." I said, remembering that first waking dream, when I met Stephen. And then I knew.

"You unimaginable bastard...And to think, I was beginning to sympathize with you."

"More than that, I’d wager." He said, smugly.

I walked over and punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the floor.

His imprint. It was the reason the other females had been so willing to be with him, and worse still, they would all still long for him, when he was done and gone.

But not me. I hadn’t been so easy because Will, was already unknowingly, imprinting me, himself.

"-If you give her to me, Will here, will be a solitary immortal, with no claim. He would not be your concern. Am I right?" He said, getting back to his feet.

"You see, I’m trying to help you." He said to my mind. I ignored it. I felt dirty just having him communicate that way to me.

He knew it would come down to this.

The Hetu clan-leaders communicated telepathically among themselves.

"...His human claim on her would be forfeit. No laws broken." Stephen continued.

Alice interjected. "He was never completely human and you KNOW THAT! Humans do not imprint."

"I have thoughts, feelings." I said stepping forward.

"I am not some thing you can just pass along. I won’t go." I said, growing more and more furious.

They ignored us.

"If you take this female...We would be settled in your debts." The clan-leader said. They made a move towards me.

"No!"

"WILL!"

I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him, desperately...

"-Ibis."

"I have to." I said.

He gently peeled my arms from his neck.

I knew, I was making this more difficult for him. Losing both his sister and his love in a matter of minutes. I couldn’t help it. He was resolved to let me go. Even this morning, maybe even back at the dance.

He knew.

He leaned in to kiss me, one last time.

"I love you Ibis." he said, his eyes full of regret. "...That’s why I’m not giving you up."

Quick as a blink, before anyone could react, he stepped in front of me.

*****

The leader stepped forward, his fist held up.

"Revak! Stop."

It was Alice’s father...Will's grandfather.

"You have already killed one of my grandchildren without impunity. I will not watch you kill the other, when YOU KNOW the law, in this matter."

He looked from Will to Alice.

"Fine." Revak said.

"Then we will settle this our way..."