Fading Light

by Nick Cook

  Allan spoke first, breaking through the noise of my internal storm. ‘There has to be something we can do.’

  ‘I’d happily go to London to rescue her, but how can we get off Alderney while this storm is in full force?’ I said.

  Kelly slammed her fists on the windowsill, making Allan and me jump. ‘So let’s just stay here and do nothing, hey, Jake? Is that your plan?’

  I exchanged a silent look with Allan.

  ‘We’ll find a way to help her, Kelly,’ I said.

  She turned her pink tear-filled eyes towards me. ‘But what if we can’t? What then – tell me that?’

  ‘All I know is that I’ll do anything I can to save her.’

  Kelly shot me a hard stare. ‘You didn’t when the crunch came.’

  So there it was. She really did blame me. I fought the tears threatening to push into my own eyes.

  ‘Stop this, Kelly,’ Allan said. ‘You know none of this is Jake’s fault.’

  She didn’t answer but barged past him and headed out of the door.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Allan called after her.

  ‘Out for a walk.’

  ‘Not into that storm, you’re not. It isn’t safe.’

  She slammed a door somewhere in the house by way of an answer.

  I stood and started to follow. ‘I’ll go after her.’

  Allan took my arm and shook his head. ‘Kelly needs some time alone to cool her heels. If anyone will be OK out there, it’s her. But you shouldn’t take anything she’s says personally at the moment.’

  ‘But why is she reacting like this, Allan? I mean, I know it’s awful, but Kelly’s carrying on as if Chloe’s her own daughter.’

  ‘I think there’s a good reason for that…’ Allan put his hands into his pockets. ‘Kelly’s daughter, Juliet, was nineteen when she ended up in a coma after a motorbike crash. Her boyfriend had taken her for a ride and lost control on a bend. Too fast; too inexperienced. Juliet never recovered from the coma and she eventually died. And Kelly has often told me how Chloe reminds her of Juliet. The same sassy attitude and sense of humour, apparently.’

  ‘Oh god, poor Kelly. This must be like reliving it all again…’ I sank into a chair.

  Allan hobbled over to stand before me. ‘But whatever she’s saying at the moment, it’s just her buried grief talking, nothing more.’

  ‘I get that, especially if she thinks that Chloe’s going to…’ I let my words trail away.

  Sentinel’s voice cut into the radio. ‘Chloe’s going to be OK. You’ve got to hang on to that thought, Jake.’

  I rubbed my temples. ‘But what if Kelly’s right?’ I looked across at Chloe’s blank face and everything felt hopeless. ‘The Shade have as good as killed her.’

  ‘No, they haven’t – she’s still breathing, isn’t she?’ Allan said. ‘And besides, that doesn’t sound like the Jake I know. Where’s the person who took the fight to the Shade, despite everything that stood in the way, including our government, a private security company and even our own flipping military, hey?’

  I met his gaze, but before I could say anything else we heard the sound of footsteps approaching along the corridor. Kelly appeared in the doorway with a young boy. He looked about eight years old, and was wearing a red cagoule.

  Kelly coughed, gazing anywhere but at me. ‘I found George wandering around outside, soaked through and looking confused.’

  ‘Hi, George,’ Allan said, then gave Kelly a long stare.

  Kelly held up her hands. ‘OK, OK! Look, I know I lost the plot for a moment, but I was stressed out.’

  Allan crossed to Kelly and hugged her. ‘I think we worked that part out for ourselves, you old fire-breathing dragon.’

  She slowly nodded. ‘I’m so sorry. But it was just me sounding off, nothing else.’ Her eyes sought me out and she added, ‘Especially what I said to you, Jake. Please forgive me.’

  ‘I already have. And if I’d realised…’

  Kelly glanced at Allan. ‘You told him, didn’t you?’

  Allan nodded. ‘I thought he needed to understand the why behind your meltdown.’

  ‘Yes, yes he did. Anyway…’ She gave me a small smile and patted George’s shoulders.

  The boy slipped his hood off and a tumble of dark hair sprang out.

  ‘So what are you doing here, George?’ I asked. ‘You shouldn’t be out in this storm.’

  The boy’s eyes flitted from face to face. ‘I don’t know…’

  ‘George is the son of John, the doctor that you met. The boy who’s been recovering from the Zoom virus; thankfully he’s all better now,’ Kelly said. ‘I’ve known him since he was a baby.’ She gestured towards him. ‘You’d better tell them what you told me, George.’

  The boy fidgeted with the cuffs of his cagoule. ‘I don’t know why I came outside—’ He broke off, his eyes widening. ‘It’s her!’ he said, pointing at Chloe.

  ‘What do you mean?’ I asked.

  ‘I was daydreaming and I saw her in my imagination. That woman spoke to me in my head!’

  The air rushed out of me in a gasp. ‘Of course! You’re the boy who Chloe contacted during our remote-viewing session.’

  ‘What?’ he asked.

  But even Kelly had a hint of a smile on her face now.

  The classical music on the radio stopped as Sentinel’s voice cut in again. ‘So our first Awoken recruit has turned up. He’s younger than I would have liked.’

  ‘Me too,’ I replied.

  George frowned. ‘What’s an Awoken and why is the radio man talking to you?’

  I managed a smile for him. ‘We have so much to tell you, George.’

  I should have been jumping at this news. It was a real breakthrough – even if he was too young, it at least proved the Summoning worked even with the incredible coincidence of someone so close by having it. But with Chloe like this, how could I ever be happy again?

  George stared at Chloe’s motionless body. His mouth curled down. ‘Is she OK?’

  For a moment no one said anything. It was Allan who finally broke the silence. ‘We hope she will be soon, lad.’

  Kelly’s eyes grew and she grabbed my arm. ‘We may have the answer to that right here in George.’

  ‘How do you mean?’ I asked.

  ‘Think about it, Jake. Even if we can’t get off this island because of the storm, you could still reach out to find another Awoken in London. You could get them to help Chloe instead!’

  I saw the hope burning in her eyes, and it could certainly be worth a go, but this was the Shade we were talking about. Hadn’t they just taken Chloe out – and nearly captured me too? We were meant to be two experienced, trained Awoken. What chance would a newbie have?

  ‘It may not be that straightforward, Kelly,’ Sentinel said, voicing the thought for me, ‘now we know that Gemma is working for them. That complicates everything, especially sending someone less trained to tackle them.’

  ‘But it’s a chance,’ she replied. ‘We have to take those where we can!’

  I could see by Allan’s expression that, like me, he wasn’t buying into her enthusiasm, but now wasn’t the time to shoot her down in flames.

  I turned to George. Helping him was one thing I could do. ‘I bet you’re feeling really confused at the moment?’

  He gave a slow chin-to-chest nod.

  ‘We need to tell you about what’s going on here and what we’re trying to do about it. But most of all we need to tell you about the powers you’re about to develop.’

  His eyes widened. ‘Like Spider-Man?’

  ‘Something like that,’ I replied with a smile. ‘But I think we need to contact your dad first. He’s going to be worried sick when he finds that you’re out in this storm. I remember Chloe telling you that you should wait until after the storm before looking for us.’

  ‘But I couldn’t wait! Anyway, the lane between here and my house isn’t that windy.’

  ‘Well, I guess you’re here now, but we still ne
ed to let your dad know what’s happened.’

  Kelly nodded. ‘As the phones are down, I’ll head over there now. It’s best we tell John everything. I’m sure he’ll have his suspicions that something odd is going on here after seeing Clarke. But I’d appreciate one of you coming with me to explain it to him. I don’t want our local doctor to think I’ve totally lost it and have me carted off.’

  ‘I’ll go with you,’ Allan said. ‘We can show John the video of the DEC experiment that started it all. That should help to convince him.’

  I gazed at George. ‘So it looks as if Sentinel has another Awoken to begin training.’

  ‘Who’s Sentinel?’

  ‘That would be me,’ Sentinel said from the radio.

  ‘And I promise you he’s like no one you’ve ever met in your life,’ Allan said.

  George gave him a confused stare.

  My eyes returned to Chloe. She should be awake to share this moment – to see her first Awoken recruit turn up here at Eaglehurst.

  ‘First things first,’ Kelly said. ‘We need to get your dad to agree. Anyway, thank you, George.’

  ‘But I haven’t done anything.’

  ‘Oh, but you have. A moment ago we didn’t quite know what to do, but you’ve given us fresh hope.’ She reached over and tussled his hair, but George ducked away.

  We heard fresh footsteps running along the corridor. The door burst open and Dad came crashing in.

  ‘What’s wrong, Dad?’ I asked.

  ‘Wrong? Nothing’s wrong,’ he replied. ‘Quite the opposite. I’ve finally worked out how to stabilise Waverider’s field…’ His gaze snagged on Chloe and his smile fell away. ‘How’s she doing?’

  ‘No change,’ I said, grim-faced. ‘But what were you saying about Waverider?’

  ‘I need to show all of you, but I’ll also need your help, Jake, for the demonstration.’

  ‘Why me?’ I asked.

  ‘You’ll understand when we run Waverider again. Just get everybody together in my lab in five minutes.’ Dad rushed back out.

  ‘You mean my studio,’ Kelly called after him, shaking her head.

  ‘He seems excited about something!’ Allan said.

  ‘Knowing Martin, it has to be something big to get him this worked up,’ Kelly replied.

  ‘I hope so,’ I said. ‘Even with the appearance of George, good news has been in short supply around here.’

  As the others filed out of the room, I leant over Chloe and kissed her on the forehead. ‘Hang in there, you.’ I quietly closed the door behind me and followed the others along the corridor.

  Chapter Ten

  Dad fussed over Waverider as the storm threw marble-sized raindrops down on to the skylights. With a whine of wind, the door opened and Kelly, along with John, who it turned out was a single parent, led George into the makeshift lab. Allan had to lean back against the door to close it against the snarling squall.

  Everyone, apart from our two casualties, Inspector Clarke and Chloe, had crowded into the studio room to see the big reveal of the secret experiment that Dad had been working on.

  John’s confused gaze swept over the equipment in the lab. ‘What’s happened to your studio, Kelly?’

  She tutted. ‘Martin and his physics experiment, that’s bloody what.’

  Dad looked up from a bunch of wires he was plugging into a panel and grinned at her. He looked the happiest I’d seen him in weeks.

  ‘So you’re the famous professor everyone on the island is talking about.’ John reached out his hand.

  ‘I suppose that must be me.’ Dad shook the offered hand.

  ‘So much for keeping a low profile,’ Sentinel said from the boom box.

  ‘And you are?’ John asked.

  ‘Let’s just leave that introduction for another time,’ I replied. ‘You have more than enough to get your head around already.’

  He scratched the back of his neck. ‘Right…’

  Allan peered at him. ‘So how did people find out about us anyway, John?’

  ‘It’s hard to keep secrets in a community this small, especially when you get so many large deliveries shipped in on the ferries. But if you’re worried about people off-island finding out, don’t. That sort of gossip stays here. We know how to keep ourselves to ourselves, probably thanks to our smuggling heritage. And if what Kelly told me on the way over here is even half true, then that’s probably just as well.’

  ‘Half true?’ Kelly said. ‘In all the years you’ve known me have you ever known me to exaggerate anything?’

  ‘No, I haven’t actually,’ John replied.

  ‘There you go then. I’m not about to start now. Everything I told you is the absolute, unembellished truth.’

  ‘Does that include this crazy idea that you’ve managed to plant in my son’s head – that he’s some sort of superhero?’

  George grinned across at me.

  ‘He is in a sense, but maybe not quite in the way that he is thinking,’ I replied.

  ‘Yes, there is a distinct lack of Lycra to start with, which is a relief for all of us,’ Kelly said.

  That almost raised a smile from me. I knew it would have made Chloe snort. If only she were here to do that.

  John pointed towards Waverider’s metal sphere. ‘And this is the famous experiment you’ve been working on, Martin?’

  ‘Yes, and if you’re not convinced about what you’ve heard so far, then this should more than settle it for you,’ Dad said. ‘Allan, can you close the blinds so we can see what’s going on?’

  ‘On it.’ Allan pulled the cord and the slats rotated across the skylights, blocking out the view of the rolling overhead storm clouds.

  Martin glanced at a graph on his laptop screen. ‘OK, everyone, please keep clear of the sphere. There is going to be a lot of static energy building up and I don’t want anyone to get a shock.’ He arched an eyebrow at me.

  ‘Yeah, yeah,’ I replied.

  One of Sentinel’s webcams swivelled towards Dad. A green LED lit up on it.

  ‘I’m recording everything now, Martin,’ Sentinel said.

  ‘Good…’ Dad cleared his throat and looked directly into the lens. ‘In a moment, I’ll be activating my Waverider experiment in an attempt to dissipate any condensed dark energy in the immediate vicinity.’

  ‘And that means?’ John asked.

  Kelly shrugged. ‘He talks like this all the time. You get used to it eventually, but for now I’d just let it wash over you so you don’t get a headache.’

  Dad hit the return key on a second laptop. Waverider hummed into life and orange sparks flickered over the sphere.

  ‘Charge at ninety per cent…’ Sentinel said.

  Dad gestured to me. ‘OK, Jake, I need you to touch the sphere when I give you the signal.’

  My eyes locked on to him. ‘You’re joking, aren’t you? My hair still hasn’t forgotten my last encounter.’

  ‘Just trust me on this.’

  I looked at the sphere humming away on its stand in the middle of the room. I felt everyone’s gaze on me. ‘If you’re sure?’

  He smiled. ‘It will be OK, Jake, I promise.’

  ‘Charge at one hundred per cent,’ Sentinel called out.

  I tentatively reached out my hand and closed my eyes ready for the shock as my fingertips brushed the sphere. Nothing. At least nothing apart from a cool tickling sensation as the surface vibrated under my hand. The feeling surged through my whole body and I heard a gasp from everyone around me. I cracked open an eye.

  Gentle pulses of amber energy shot outwards from the sphere as a gentle warm wind ruffled everyone’s hair. George held up his fingers – streams of glowing particles were flowing over his hand.

  ‘That is truly spectacular,’ John whispered.

  Kelly and Allan managed vague sort of nods as they took in the energy patterns weaving around the room. George stared open-mouthed at the indoor firework display.

  The field started to fade. I tried gripping the spher
e tighter, but it didn’t make a difference. ‘I’m so sorry, Dad. I really thought that was going to work this time.’

  But Dad pointed at some bars shooting upwards on his laptop screen. ‘You don’t understand, Jake. The field is stable. It’s still there.’

  ‘It is?’ I asked, looking around him at the empty air.

  ‘Hasn’t anyone noticed anything different?’ Dad asked with a smile.

  I looked around me. There was something different about the room, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly.

  Kelly tapped her fingers on her shoulder. ‘Everything looks the same to me.’

  But George’s eyes had widened even further. ‘It tickles.’

  ‘What tickles?’ John asked.

  ‘The floor. It’s buzzing through my shoes.’

  Everyone else shook their heads, but now he mentioned it, I could feel it too. It was the tingling sensation I’d felt on the sphere and that had passed through me. Somehow it had moved into the ground. And if it was there…

  I reached out and touched a nearby desk. Sure enough, there it was too, the same faint vibration running through the table – an echo of what I’d felt from Waverider. There was something else going on as well. It was hard to explain, but the wooden desk felt as solid as a rock under my hand.

  I looked across at Dad. His face had become one massive smile.

  On a hunch, I shifted into Light Web. The usual moving forms weren’t there – every object was firm and steady.

  ‘It’s almost as if you’ve made things more real, Dad,’ I said.

  He clasped his hands together and grinned. ‘Exactly, and it’s all because of you.’

  ‘What do you mean, because of me?’

  ‘Waverider is simply amplifying your Awoken gift and rebalancing the effect of any condensed dark energy around us.’

  ‘You mean this thing really works?’ I asked.

  ‘It most certainly does.’

  ‘But I still don’t understand – how did you know that Jake touching it would make Waverider do this?’ Allan asked.

  Dad grabbed a stack of paper with columns of numbers printed on each sheet. ‘It was all down to Jake getting a static shock when he accidentally placed his hand on the sphere last time he was in here. It was only today when I got round to analysing the data that I saw the readings had gone through the roof when he’d touched it. You see, it turns out that when an Awoken makes contact with a charged sphere, they stabilise the field that Waverider generates, thanks to their ability. That’s been the missing bit of the puzzle and I had the answer right under my nose all this time.’