An icy fog announces the Abomination. The mist swirls about the trunk of the tree, and then a pair of bright azure-blue eyes twinkle back at him through the haze.

‘Come closer, Cousin. Let me lick your wounds.’

With a bloodcurdling scream, Jacob Gabriel launches from his bed and darts into the hallway.

Dominique yanks open her bedroom door. ‘Oh, Jesus, another night terror?’

The door across from Jacob’s bedroom opens. Immanuel stares at his brother. Shakes his head. ‘Again?’

Jacob pants, trying to find his voice. ‘Just wait … you’ll go through the same thing someday.’

‘I doubt it. But until then, why don’t you move your bed into the training center.’

Dominique turns to the dark-haired twin. ‘Manny, go back to sleep.’

Immanuel slams the door, bolting it from the inside.

Dominique moves to comfort Jacob, but he pushes her away.

‘Jake—’

‘No. I need to stay strong … for all of us.’

‘Who told you that?’

‘It doesn’t matter. I’m going for a walk to clear my head.’

‘It’s three in the morning. Jacob Gabriel, don’t you ignore me.’

The back door opens and slams shut.

Dominique’s eyes tear up, her heart aching for the son who has refused to hug her since he was seven years old.

A tropical gust greets Jacob as he races down to the beach. Lunar light from the three-quarter moon dances across the Gulf, illuminating the breaking crests.

Jacob kneels in the cool sand. Closes his eyes. Tries to meditate, desperate to communicate again with his father.

For a brief moment he breathes quietly, then his chest constricts and his body is overtaken by sobs, the tears pouring from his eyes as he collapses facefirst against the wet sand.

Stop it! You need to stay strong!

The wind dies down, yielding to a haunting echo.

Jacob wipes his face, then looks around, searching for the source of the sound.

The high-pitched moan leads him north. He follows the shoreline another quarter mile, and then he sees them.

The animals are everywhere, lined up along the beach like giant logs. Grays and humpbacks, right whales and blues, adults and calves … the dead and the dying.

Jacob approaches the largest of the beached mammals. The blue whale’s head, as big as a tractor trailer, is half-covered in sand, the remains of its 105-ton girth disappearing behind it into the Gulf.

The teenager reaches up and brushes sand from the female’s eye, then jumps back when it opens.

A thunderous snort as the dying whale gasps a breath through its blowhole.

A moment passes between them as beast and boy contemplate one another. It’s like it wants to communicate. Maybe it can? Jacob Gabriel closes his eyes, entering the nexus.