“So, is momma coming home today?”
“Tomorrow.”
She nods. “Good, today is gonna be a long one. You up for it?” she asks as she stands and picks her sword and knife off the floor and buckles her belt scabbard around her waist.
“Yeah, I'm up for it,” I reply firmly.
“All right, let's get—”
My phone starts ringing, interrupting her. I glance at the screen.
“It's my mom. Hold on. Hey, Mom,” I say after swiping the screen.
“Hey, sweetie. How are you?”
“I'm good. How's New York?”
“Busy, and crowded,” she says, laughing. “You been eating?”
“Yes, Mom. I've been eating,” I look over at Kateri. She shakes her head and walks over to the stairway and sits down.
I want to ask her about my dad, about the Shayds, about everything that's been happening to me, but I know it's not the time, or place to discuss it.
“Good. How's Amanda?”
“She's good. She's busy with family stuff,” I say so she won't ask me any questions about what we did last night, and I won't have to lie ... any more than I already have.
“That's too bad. So, what are you gonna do today?”
I look over at Kateri.
“Maybe hang out at Indian Lake, or something.”
“Okay. Be careful and don't be out too late. You gotta be up early for school tomorrow.”
“I know, I won't.”
“Listen, I'll be home tomorrow afternoon, okay?”
“Okay. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, sweetie. I'll call you later.”
When I hang up, I fully expect Kateri to make fun of me, but instead, she looks at me with those beautiful eyes and smiles warmly.
“You're lucky.”
“Why?”
“You got family who loves you.”
I nod and then sigh.
“Yeah, but she lied to me.”
Kateri stands suddenly, and steps up close to me.
“Yeah, but she did it to protect you. Don't forget that.”
I can see she's deadly serious, and any attempt I might make to argue with her, would be futile, and then I realize, she's right.
“Yeah, she did.”
She steps back, and I feel the tension in the room drop ten notches.
“You ready to go?”
“Yeah, one second,” I say as I dart into the kitchen and snatch two foil wrapped packs of strawberry frosted Pop-Tarts out of the cabinet next to the sink.
I spin around and toss one to Kateri.
“Think fast.”
She snatches it out of the air, giving me a sly smile.
“Sugar rush,” she says, laughing. “Good idea, you're gonna need it.”
“Why do you keep saying that?”
“You'll find out,” she says with a wicked little grin.
We walk outside onto the stoop and immediately, I have to shield my eyes from the bright sunshine. As we're descending the steps to the shadow cast by the building, I reach out and touch her arm.
“Can we walk? It's a little too early for me to be flying.”
“Sure.”
We start down the street toward the Factory, walking side by side. I have to keep reminding myself that if I talk to her, I might look crazy to anyone passing by, and then a thought strikes me. Pulling out my phone, I hold it to my ear as we walk.
“I had fun last night,” I say into my phone.
“Me too,” she says. “Although I figured you'd be better at Forza.”
“Yeah, yeah. We can try it again anytime you want. I think I was being too easy on you anyway.”
“Uh huh, whatever you say.”
We both laugh, and she looks at my phone. “That's clever. Makes you look less crazy.”
I'm about to respond when an overwhelming feeling of dread washes over me, like a dark cloud on the horizon. I look over at Kateri and she's tense and alert, her eyes darting back and forth.
“You feel it?” she asks.
“Yeah, I feel it. What is it?” I take a small step closer to her.
“A demon.”
“What? Here? Now?”
She nods and takes my arm, pulling me into a darkened alley between two small shops. She starts to fade into the shadow cast by the building, but this time I can still see her, and when I look down at my hands, I'm dissolving into the shadows along with her. Everything around me looks a little ‘fuzzy’, not as crisp or sharp as it normally is. I guess the best way to describe it is how it looks when you wear sunglasses inside and all the colors and details are slightly muted. She pulls her sword, holding the hilt with both hands.
“Take my knife,” she says.
“I don't know how to use a knife.”
“You know how to stab something, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you know how to use a knife,” she says, her eyes still flicking here and there as she searches for the demon.
“Why don't we just stream out of here?” I ask as I pull the dagger from her belt.
The blade is about seven inches long, with an edge on both sides. The handle looks like it's made from wood, wrapped with leather and some braided gold wire. It feels remarkably light in my hands.
“It's dangerous to stream when demons are around. The last thing we need is to collide with one.”
“They can stream too?”
“Yeah, but in the darkness as opposed to the shadows. There's a lot of crossover though.”
She starts backing further into the alley, pushing me behind her.
“If something happens, stay hidden and—”
Suddenly, something rushes at us out of the darkness and slams into her, pushing her into the wall on the far side of the alley.
I watch as she hits the bricks, the air forced out of her lungs.
Our attacker is not like any demon I ever saw in the movies; no claws, no teeth dripping with menace, no spikes running up it's back. Instead, it looks human, except for the red skin and yellow eyes. He's about six feet tall, with thick, muscular arms, and black hair down to his shoulders. His clothes are much like ours; jeans, t-shirt, and dark leather boots. He holds a thin black blade in his right hand, and what looks like a pair of vicious brass knuckles adorn his other. If he wasn't trying to kill us, he'd be a handsome kid.
“Kateri!” I scream.
His head whips around and he makes eye contact with me, and I stumble backwards. The momentary distraction is enough to give Kateri time to attack. She kicks him hard in the leg and brings her sword up, but her swing is too slow, and he easily dodges out of the way.
He looks back at me again and charges, and now I can see he does in fact, have a mouth full of needle like teeth. Kateri jumps on him from behind, wrapping her arm around his neck. He reaches up and grabs her, tossing her to the side like a stuffed animal. She slams into the wall and slumps to the ground, her sword clattering on the dirty, garbage strewn concrete.
Something in me flares to life as I look at her lying motionless on the ground. I know I should run. I know I have no chance to defeat this creature, but right now, all I want to do is kill him for hurting her. I charge him, the knife raised in my clenched fist. Momentarily, a thought flits through my head that this is a really, really bad idea. I watch as he raises his blade, a wicked smile on his face as we close on each other.
Suddenly, I feel the panic rising in my chest and I struggle to keep it at bay, but it starts to overwhelm me.
“No ... not now,” I mutter, trying to regain some semblance of control.
I need to help her. I need to do something.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, there's a flash of steel, and the next thing I know, his arm is lying on the ground, still holding the knife. A split second later, Kateri's sword slices clean through his neck, severing his head. He collapses in a heap and a moment later he fades back into the darkness.
I'm still standing there, holding her knife, my hands shaking as she mov
es in front of me.
“Eve,” she whispers before touching my face gently. “Are you okay?”
I let out a breath and look into her eyes, and then after a long pause, I finally return to the here and now.
“I'm okay,” I say, nodding slowly. “Are you all right?”
I run my hands up and down her arms and then along her side before I know what I'm doing, but she doesn't seem to mind.
“I'm fine. My head hurts, but I'm okay.”
She has a nasty bruise growing on her forehead, and a small scratch, but no other visible injuries.
“Thank God. I thought he killed you,” I say, my voice shaky.
“I'm a lot tougher than that.”
“I'm sorry.” I try mightily to hold back the tears that are threatening to burst forth.
“For what?”
“I started to panic. I couldn't do—”
She looks at me and smiles as she shakes her head.
“Don't be like that. We're both fine and most people run away when they see their first demon. You charged him. You did good. By the way, I thought I told you to stay hidden.”
“Uh yeah, I think you did. Sorry about that.”
“It's fine,” she says, smiling at me before taking my hand and squeezing it gently.
“Is that the way they all are?” I ask, my throat feeling dry and coarse.
“They come in all shapes and sizes. That one was a small one.”
“A small one? Jesus.”
“Yeah. I've seen a lot worse,” she says grimly.
“I don't know if I can do this, Kateri.” I suddenly feel overwhelmed, as tears begin streaming down my face.
She looks me straight in the eyes and shakes her head. “Don't worry, Eve. I'll be by your side. Besides, you're a lot stronger than you think.”
“I don't know,” I say.
“Come on, you were going to attack a demon.”
“No. I was going to get myself killed, if you hadn't saved me, and now I'm crying like a baby.”
“Listen to me. Don't you think I cried after the first time?”
“You did?” I feel a little better knowing I'm not alone.
“Of course not, but I'm a badass,” she says, grinning at me.
“That's nice. I thought you were trying to make me feel better.” I shake my head as I wipe away the tears with the back of my hand. “At least it wasn't a spider.”
She tilts her head to the side. “That's funny.”
“Sorry.”
“I'll let you deal with the spider demons. Listen, all this takes time, Eve. I know you have it in you.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, feeling less sure of myself than ever.
“Because, I'm an excellent judge of character. All we have to do is bring out your bad-ass self.”
“I hope you're right.”
“Trust me,” she says, winking.
Trust me. It's funny, I just met this strange, bewitching, and bewildering girl and I know deep down, I do trust her.
“How 'bout we stream the rest of the way?”
“Sounds like a plan,” I reply with a weak smile.
After another exhilarating and terrifying shadow streaming trip, we're at the gates to the Factory. A few cars pass by on the road, and if they see me, they don't pay attention. I already know, they can't see Kateri. We walk up to the spot where the Shayd-door is and Kateri looks at me.
“Don't tell Father about the demon.”
“Why?”
“He worries.”
“Okay, but if he asks, I'm not going to lie to him.”
“Fair enough.” She looks at the wall where the door was last night. “You can open it.”
I study the cracked and pitted brick wall for a few seconds before turning to her.
“How?”
“Give it a try. Something tells me you'll be able to do it.”
The stack of pallets to my right are casting a shadow across the wall, just as they did last night with the help of the light bulb above the ‘normal’ entrance.
“Come on,” she says, taking my arm gently and moving my hand toward the wall.
I love the feeling of her touch, and I don't want it to end, but I'm also incredibly excited to see if I can open this ... invisible door. It'll be the first indication that I am what she and Father say I am.
“You can do it,” she says. “Spread your fingers, like I did last night and touch the wall.”
She releases my arm and I open my hand and slowly press my palm against the cold brick. For a second, nothing happens, and I look over at her.
“See? I—”
And then something amazing happens. The brick, which had felt cold, hard, and rough under my hand, now feels warm and smooth as I watch the red stone slowly transform to polished wood. After a few seconds, the door is completely visible, and I pull back my hand.
“Told ya.” Kateri smiles at me.
I can't help but smile back, and there's no use denying the fact that I feel incredible.
“I can't believe this,” I say, unable to stop smiling.
Kateri takes my hand and squeezes it gently. “If you can't believe that, you better hold on tight.”
Chapter Nine
“Go ahead, open it,” Kateri says.
I look back at the door and push on the iron-strapped wooden barrier. It swings inward, without a sound and with hardly any effort.
“Come on. We've got a lot to do.”
As soon as we walk through the door, things are pretty much the same as they were the first time I was here. There are people everywhere, some sitting at tables reading through dusty looking books, working on one of the computer stations, or moving past us on their way to who knows where, but I notice immediately that a lot of them are looking at me.
“They know, don't they?” I ask Kateri.
“Yeah, news travels fast.”
Without warning, the voices start in my head. It's so intense and there are so many bombarding me, I stumble. When I reach out to grab the wall, I feel Kateri's arm around my waist.
“You okay?”
It feels like a migraine on top of a brain-freeze, and for a few seconds I can't speak as I lean into her. I can feel another panic attack coming on, as my heart begins racing and I break out in a cold sweat.
“Eve.”
I can hear her saying my name, but there are so many other voices in my head that I can barely hear hers. Slowly, she lowers me to the ground, until we're both sitting on the floor. I’m leaning against the wall and I can feel her hands on my face, one on each side, gently cupping my cheeks.
“Eve, look at me, just look at me,” I hear her say.
I open my eyes and gaze into her multi-colored eyes, trying to break through the spider-web of voices in my head.
“Focus on my voice. Focus on me.”
Gradually, the feeling of panic fades away.
“You okay?” she asks, as she releases my face and slides her hands down my arms until her fingers touch mine.
“I'm okay,” I reply, letting out a deep sigh. “Thanks.”
I squeeze her fingers softly and smile.
“Jesus, that's kinda freaky you know,” she says, grinning at me.
“Thanks for that. How did you know how to calm me down?”
For a few moments, she doesn't answer. “I saw your mom do it once,” she says, sounding a little embarrassed.
Of course she did.
“You know, sometimes knowing that you've been spying on me for three years is a little creepy.”
“Guarding, not spying,” she says.
“Uh huh. Either way, thank you.”
“Anytime,” she says, standing and offering her hand to me.
I take her fingers in mine and pull myself up, with a little help from her.
“We're going to have to help you get control of that as soon as we can,” she says.
“That would be good.”
We walk through the crowded dining area, which is
full of people lining the long wooden tables, and wonderful smells drifting out of the kitchen. A few of the diners look up when we walk through, but most pay more attention to their meals than to us.
“You said before that there are millions of you,” I say as we walk past the rows of tables.
“Yeah.”
“So, you have to be in other places other than here, right?”
“Oh yeah. We have a presence in every major city across the globe.”
“But this is your headquarters, in Collinsburg?” I ask.
“Yeah, it's safer this way. Who would think that the world is kept safe from a place like this?” she asks as we walk into the map room.
Once again, the massive model of the transparent globe rotating slowly in the center of the space draws my attention. Technicians speak to unknown contacts through their headsets, paying little or no attention to us. I look up toward Father's office. I can see him standing at the bank of windows that look out across the city.
“Come on, he's waiting for us,” she says.
I take a deep breath, feeling even more nervous than the first time I was here. The more I learn about this hidden world, the more I realize how intertwined I am within it, and the less I can deny my place in it. As we climb the steps to Father's office, I can feel my heart speeding up. When we step through the door, Kateri lowers her head before she speaks.
“We're here, Father.”
He turns from the windows and smiles warmly at both of us. “Kateri, I've told you that you don't need to do that.”
She nods before taking a small step back. “I know, force of habit I guess.”
He looks at her for a second, and I watch as she tries to hide the scratch on her forehead.
“What happened?” he asks.
For a moment, I don't think she's going to answer.
“We had a run in.”
“Where?” he asks.
“A few blocks from her house.”
He looks at me and then back at Kateri.
“Are you both okay?”
“Yes, Father. We're fine.”
“Give me a minute,” he says, before he steps over to his desk and hits a button on a keyboard inlaid into the surface.
“Evan. Did we have a foray near Eve's house?”
“Hold for a moment, sir.”
He looks up at us again, a frown on his face.
“Sir. No indications.”
All Things in the Shadows Page 8
