The Torn Soul (The Sheynan Trilogy Book 3)

by Dylan Birtolo

  “A cure?” Susan took a step forward and held out both hands in front of her. “If they have connections in both the Arm and the Shadows and know as much as they do, then maybe they know how to save you.”

  Darien’s shoulders dropped as he stood up from his chair and walked over to Susan. They held each other for a moment in the center of the kitchen, Darien reaching up to rest his hand on the back of her head.

  “It’s also possible that they will ask me to do a lot of shifting which could shorten the time I have left.”

  “Just because they ask you to handle missions or work in the lab doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily going to ask or expect you to shift. They probably just need to draw blood samples, or have you try to dream up certain things.”

  “Don’t you think if they had a cure, they’d have let me know about it to try and convince me to work for them?”

  The two stood in silence, holding onto each other. After several breaths, Darien pulled back so that he could learn forward and kiss Susan.

  “Come on, let’s head down to the gym and get in a tennis match. We can get the rest of the dishes when we come back. Neither one of us does well being cooped up in the house.”

  Susan nodded in agreement, so Darien walked off to the bedroom to get the passes they would need. The worst part about the argument was that he wanted to believe Susan was right. He desperately wanted to spend the next few years of his life, or however long he had left, being as normal as possible and living with Susan throughout it. There was just something about the entire thing that made the skin at the base of his neck crawl.

  Later that night, when they were both lying in bed, Darien was drifting in and out of a restless sleep when he heard a frantic pounding at the back door of their house. Whoever it was knocked quickly, tried the handle, and then knocked again. Darien shook Susan to wake her and held a finger to his lips to keep her from turning on a light or making too much noise. She nodded, going from half-closed eyes to wide awake in a matter of seconds. As Darien walked to the back door, he saw her reach under the mattress and pull out her handgun.

  When he got to the backdoor, Darien walked up next to it, making sure not to cast a silhouette that the person outside could use to see his approach. He inched forward, walking on the balls of his feet across the tile floor. The back door had a window with a curtain drawn over it, and Darien saw a figure looking around and shifting his weight from foot to foot just on the other side. Peeking through the edge of the curtain, Darien saw Charles standing in the dim light.

  Reaching back with one hand, Darien waved Susan down as he grabbed the door handle with his other. She lowered her gun and held it down at her side, but kept it ready. When the door opened and she saw who it was, she put it down on the closest table.

  Charles stumbled into the house looking back over his shoulder more than at either of the two of them. He pushed through Darien and slammed the door shut behind him before walking to the center of the house. He was short of breath and his hands shook as he walked. When he got to the living room, he paced back and forth looking at the floor for a few seconds before he lifted his gaze up to Darien and Susan. They stared at him, not sure what to say and waiting to hear what was the cause for his behavior.

  “You’re both in serious danger.”

  He paused and took a deep breath, collapsing into a nearby chair. Darien ran to the kitchen to get him a glass of water while Susan sat down on the couch without saying anything. When Darien returned, Charles took the water and took a couple of long gulps before putting the glass on the coffee table in front of him. Darien moved to sit next to Susan, reaching over with his hand and clasping hers so that their fingers interlaced. She squeezed, but kept her attention focused on Charles.

  “I know you said I should just let it go, but I couldn’t. It was my boy that we were talking about. So I kept digging. If anything, seeing you and seeing that you were alive made me want to dig more. So I called in some favors and tried to get access to more details. Lieutenant Olson was a dead end, but since you’re here on base, you officially have a record now. So I looked into it and tried to find anything traced back to you. What I found was…”

  He paused to take another drink of water, the liquid splashing over the edge because of how much his hand was shaking as he raised it to his lips. He put it down and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, taking a deep breath before continuing.

  “The soldiers have orders to shoot you if you try to leave without an escort.”

  Darien and Susan both shot up from the couch.

  “What?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I saw the order myself. It was issued yesterday, by someone higher up in Washington. If you leave the premises, or attempt to leave, without a proper escort, you’re to be shot. Not detained, but shot. The orders were very clear.”

  “But we were told we’d be free to leave if we wanted. What happened? What changed?”

  Susan sat down on the couch and tugged on Darien’s hand to encourage him to take a seat as well. He complied, but both of them leaned forward, resting their weight on their knees as they listened to Charles.

  “I don’t know why it changed. All I know is that some colonel in D.C. issued an order to the major in charge of operations here at Fort Lewis. It was very clear that any attempt on your behalf to leave the premises alone would be viewed as an act ‘threatening the safety and welfare of the United States’ and that they should respond with lethal force. It also strongly suggested that you be watched and monitored at all times while on the base. That’s why my little visit here is unofficial.”

  “You mean you snuck in?”

  “Yes. Last time I came to you, it was very public. With this change in status, I had to wait for things to quiet down to come see you and let you know that your lives are in danger. What I said goes for both of you, not just Darien. I don’t know what you’ve gotten into, but I know it isn’t your fault that Erik is dead. I also know that he’d want me to do everything that I can to help you. It’s the least that I can do to honor his memory.”

  Darien sank back in the couch, collapsing in it and staring at nothing as his eyes unfocused. What the hell did this mean? Why would a colonel in the capital be suddenly interested in his existence? It didn’t make sense. This came out of nowhere and he didn’t know what it meant. What he did know was that the need for an escape plan suddenly became of paramount importance.

  Susan turned to look at him, the lines in her brow deeply furrowed.

  “Do you think Karl knows about this?”

  “Who’s Karl?”

  “Karl Astor is the man that brought us here. Well, technically it was two agents working for him who brought us here, but they were working for Karl. He’s been trying to convince Darien and I to sign up with him and join their organization. They don’t exactly get along with the army or share many details.”

  Darien leaned forward so he could hiss in Susan’s ear.

  “Do you really think we should be telling him all of this? I don’t want him in danger.”

  “He’s one of the only people I’m sure we can trust. Do you have a better idea?”

  When Darien didn’t offer up a response, Susan turned away from him to continue speaking to Charles. For his part, he deliberately looked away when they tried to whisper to each other. He only looked back when Susan spoke again in a normal volume.

  “Do you think that whoever’s in charge here asked how to handle the situation and this is the response?”

  Charles shook his head. “No. I checked for communication about you two, or even about strangers in general, coming from Fort Lewis. From what I’ve been able to figure out, there hasn’t been anything more than the standard reports of your admission, comings, and goings. Nothing that was a request for orders. My best guess is that this came down from on high and was not a response to a question.”

  “How would they even know we were here?”

  “I don’t know that
. I just know that it was very specific. It described you as the two civilians at Fort Lewis recently released from Madigan Army Medical Center. It even used your identification numbers. Yes, of course you have identification numbers. Everything is tied back to that. You’ve been here for how long, while staying in a military housing unit? All of those expenses need to be tied to a requisition number which needs to be tied to an id. That’s not important right now. My point is, you’re in danger.”

  “Well, we should be okay as long as we don’t try to leave, right? Or if we only leave with an escort.”

  “I don’t think you’re understanding the gravity of the situation. The type of order that I saw is reserved for people who are considered to be terrorists. You were labeled as a potential threat to the nation. Whatever you’ve gotten yourself into, there’s no easy way to get out of it.”

  The room was silent as all three of the people thought about those words. Darien felt his breath catch and he had trouble forcing air through his lips. It felt like the walls were tightening around them and he needed to find an escape. At the moment, there was only one way out, and that was to accept Karl’s offer and use that to escape to freedom. Sure, he could just shift and fly away on his own, but that would leave Susan behind. It wasn’t even worth considering.

  Maybe that was the point of all of this. What if Karl wanted him to feel like this was his only choice and he was pushing him towards accepting the deal out of desperation? It had been a few days and Darien was anything but enthusiastic about the offer. This could be the other man’s way of trying to hedge his bets and guarantee a certain outcome. Darien’s stomach rolled and he winced from the sensation.

  Taking a glance at Susan’s face, it didn’t look like she was handling the situation much better. Even in the dim light provided from the electronic clocks in the room, her face looked pale and drawn. She kept reaching up to brush some imaginary strands back over her ear, a nervous habit she fell back on when she had nothing else to do with her hands.

  “I need to go. I need to get back before anyone notices that I’m missing. I can say I wandered off on some inspection, but that excuse will only get me so far. I can’t risk being seen here. I’m concerned that if they know that you’re aware of the new orders, you’ll be arrested. I just had to share this with you.”

  Charles stood up and brushed his hands down the front of his coat. They still shook a bit when he tried to stand still, but not nearly as bad as when he first walked in. Darien and Susan both got up to escort him to the back door.

  “Thanks for letting us know. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we’ll figure it out.”

  With a brief nod, Charles snuck out the back door, walking along the backside of several houses before turning and heading towards the main road. Darien didn’t watch him go, closing the door behind him and turning to face Susan.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know yet, but we need to find out soon. At least now we know why we suddenly have escorts for our morning runs. Probably keeping an eye on us to make sure we can’t make a run for it. Did you see if your shadow was armed?”

  Darien shook his head. “No, but I’d assume he was. If we can’t leave, we might have to take Karl’s offer. It might be the only way we can get out of this alive. I don’t think we’re going to be allowed to leave like he said if we turn him down. Hell, he could just let us walk out without an escort and let the army take care of us for him. His hands would be totally clean. He can even say he didn’t know about it.”

  Darien sighed and knocked the back of his head against the wall next to the door. So much for the idea of being free and safe from people who wanted to mess with his life. At this point he would much rather have to deal with the Shadows, the Arm, or even both. At least they didn’t have an entire army base full of people with assault weapons ready to gun him down if he tried to get away. And it was all his fault that Susan was here with him. There had to be another option. He just needed some time to find it. Unfortunately, time was something that he was running out of.

  Chapter 16

  The next day, as they went for their morning run, Darien made sure to take extra note of the security around the fence that surrounded the base. While he had been doing this on every run, now he had a newfound sense of urgency that he hoped would let him remember some of the details. They needed to find a place promising for a potential escape. This was compounded by their shadow who faithfully took to the trail after them and maintained a steady distance.

  There was one spot in the trail where it bent around one of the large garages and temporarily hid them from their pursuit. Darien stopped and leaned down to tie his shoe. When their escort came around the edge of the building, he immediately slowed to a walk and then stood still with his hands on his hips. Darien looked around from his position on one knee, trying not to be obvious as he took his time tying the laces and seeing if the spot would work. There were no cameras that he could see and the garage had no windows on this side, so the only obstacle would be the pursuer. After that, it was just a matter of breaking through the fence and then a run through the woods.

  Of course, a mad dash through the woods without having a place to go was far from a solid plan, especially on foot when the people who would chase you would have access to all sorts of vehicles and maybe aircraft. Just getting off the base grounds alive might be possible, but they needed to have a better plan about what to do once they were free. If they got to that point, he had no doubts that the military personnel would be more than willing to shoot on sight.

  Once they got back to the house, the first thing that Darien wanted to do was to pull up maps of the surrounding area. But he was sure that the military network would be monitored and they could see any website that he pulled up, especially if he used the provided computer. Instead, he used his phone, using his wireless carrier to look up topographic maps of their location. If he was questioned about it somehow, he could always claim that he was looking for good hikes in the area. To add to that cover story, he deliberately did a couple of searches for hiking trails.

  The key problem was how to get a car. There was no way they were going to be able to get far enough away to make a difference without one. They’d need to get it quickly to put as much distance as possible between them and the base before anyone knew anything was up. Since he didn’t know how to hotwire cars, and Susan didn’t either, that severely limited their options. What was he going to do? Carjack someone on the highway? In all honesty, that was the best idea he was able to come up with at the moment.

  “Do you remember where I stopped to tie my shoe? I really think that may be our best chance of getting out of here without anyone knowing. But the first problem is getting there alone and the second problem will be what we do once we get out. I can’t figure out how we’re going to get far enough away on foot.”

  “You sure you don’t want to take Karl up on his offer? That really might be the best way out of this entire thing.”

  “I can’t do that. The more that I think about it, the more I think that he’s behind it all, or at least his organization is. We know they have crazy amounts of authority and we don’t know how far up the chain it goes. It’s the only thing that makes sense in my mind for some colonel who’s never even been here to suddenly take an interest in my welfare. I think it’s his way of pressuring me, just like the Shadows would. They know I’ll never leave you. You saw the profile they had on Cole. Can you imagine how big the one on me must be? I’m pretty sure that one of the top lines is going to talk about how we’re inseparable.”

  Despite the gravity of the situation, Susan’s face lit up in a smile that reached her eyes and made them shine. She reached out wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tightly. He laughed for a moment, and it felt good to relieve a bit of the tension. It quickly returned when she separated and looked at him from an arm’s length away.

  “You know that I’m with you, no matter what you decide. I just don’t
see a better option. Unless, maybe, Charles can get us a car or something and stash it somewhere for us. Otherwise, I don’t see how we’re going to be able to get away. But, I don’t know how we can contact Charles without everyone knowing about it. You know how paranoid he was when he came to visit us last time. I’d bet he’s not going to come see us anytime soon. If we reach out to him, it will look extra suspicious.”

  Darien mulled over this problem throughout the entire day. No matter how many times he thought it over, he couldn’t come up with a solution. He felt like they were backed into a corner and the only way out of the pit that they had been trapped in was with someone’s helping hand. At the moment, the only hand available to them was Karl’s. As they drifted off to sleep that night, Darien sought the shelter of his dream world.

  The clearing always brought with it a sense of serenity that oozed into his entire physical system. If this was what meditation was like, Darien was disappointed that he had not tried it sooner. Visiting this realm allowed him a sense of clarity that let him approach problems in a completely different way, and that was something he desperately needed at the moment.

  Rising up from the grass, Darien willed himself into the air so that he was floating above the entire forest and the clearing. With a wave of his hand, he flattened the landscape until it was a large plain with short cropped grass. His lips curled up in a smile as he played with the landscape for a moment, willing himself to fly to one side, lift his hand, and watch a column of earth rise into the sky to meet him. Only to flatten his hand and push down hard, causing the column to drop down so far it became a small lake.

  Chuckling to himself, he waved his hands and cleared the landscape once again. There was a problem that he needed to solve, and somehow this felt clearer than trying to piece things together in the real world. Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine every detail of the army base, waving his hand underneath him as he pictured different pieces coming into shape. When he opened his eyes, he saw a replica of the base on the ground far below. Some details, especially from the center of the base in areas he never went, were fuzzy and just generic brick buildings. However, on the edges of the fence line, the housing units, places that he went regularly, everything was in vivid detail.