"What." I told him, returning his look through the now open window.

      "I have a messsage for you," he said, his voice calm and slightly slurred due to his protruding fangs. "The messsage is this: You have until two weeks from tonight to hand over the fairy to us before we start on your family."

     With the message delivered, he spat on my doorstep before storming off to rejoin the group, not caring if I understood it or not. I watched him leave with the monsters as they disappeared into the night before slowly closing the window and shutting the inside door. I gave one last look outside, to make sure they were gone before turning around to lean on the door and slide down it to the floor. I sat there with my arms around my legs and my forehead resting on my knees, waiting for the tears to come but they never came. Unbeknownst to me, the tears for my dog had already come and gone leaving a hard burning knot in the middle of my chest. Indy hovered over me, worried, but I paid little attention to her until she spoke.

     Anger.

     So that was what the knot is.

     I let the knot expand, filling me with its burning fury before letting it pour away harmlessly; leaving me feeling cold, hard, and empty inside.

     Without looking up, I said to Indy in a frighteningly calm voice. "I may have made a mistake in saving you but, if given a chance to do things differently, I would still choose to save you. It was the right thing to at the time and still is. You are the possibly the best thing to have ever happen to me and I have no regrets. I meant what I said back then about them having to kill me before they could ever get to you. However, I am not about to let them kill my family. Not. Without. A Fight!"

     At this, I paused to stare into Indy's dark blue eyes. "And if I have made a mistake, then those monsters have made an even bigger one. They have underestimated me. By giving me two weeks, they have given me more than enough time to come up with a plan when all I needed was a day. By telling us a week before the summer solstice, they have given me both time and opportunity. And, finally, by hiding the black beast's heart here, they have given me the perfect weapon to fight them with!"

     I paused again to give Indy a wide, feral grin before saying, "It seems to me both fate and their own reckless arrogance has given me a 'full nine yards' to hang them with!"