Beyond the Shadows: Second Edition (The Shadow Series Book 1)

by Anna Hub

  “Is that ...” I stared at the black mass now hanging over my fingers. "This is the shape of your body." He nodded. It was too bizarre to be a coincidence. “It’s your shadow.”

  “In real form,” he confirmed.

  I was too shocked to say anything. Suddenly the memory of the grey-eyed hunters sprung to mind. They all had the black strip of clothing around their waist. I’d seen one using it as a whip when he was attacked by the cat.

  I shoved it back into his hands. He didn't speak, and for a long time we stood in silence together. It was like his shadow was closed over, separating him from our own world forever. Since his death, I already knew that, but somehow this sight was too much to bear.

  "Let's talk about something else," I said.

  Brayden lifted his head and I couldn't help gasping. A thin grey streak flew across his eyes, trailing from the iris toward the bridge of his nose. His expression changed again, almost as though all the life had drained from it. The grey in his eyes was the same shade as the hunters we'd talked about so often. What did that mean?

  "Are you okay?" I muttered.

  The grey cloud faded leaving only a faint line like a vapour trail in his eyes. His skin seemed to soften and once again, he looked like himself. “When I walk into the shade it just disappears.”

  I nodded slowly. Did he even know what had just happened?

  With the shadow bundled in his hands like a heavy burden, he walked toward the river. The dark straps stretched and contracted from his feet like puppet strings while I remained frozen in my place. Something was happening to him but I was too afraid to ask for the truth. I didn't know if I could face losing him twice.

  He made his way across the river and walked toward the trees, holding his hands out as the shadow disappeared under the shade. Did this mean he was becoming a hunter?

  I swallowed my anxiety as he stepped back into the sunlight and crossed the river. My own shadow stood beside me on the rock wall, motionless, as though it posed no danger. But I'd never feared something so much in my whole life.

  “Mine was the same a few weeks ago.” Brayden motioned to my shadow, seemingly unaware how much that concept terrified me.

  My tongue was stuck behind my teeth; throat completely seized up.

  A slap on the rock wall made me jump as a strip of black flew between us.

  "What the hell?" I caught sight of a hunter on the other side of the river.

  His shadow sling-shotted toward us and hit the wall as Brayden pushed me out of the way. The hunter fired once more, this time hitting the palm of Brayden's hand before he caught the shadow and used it to pull the hunter into the river.

  Brayden's eyes changed again, this time, the grey taking over completely. "Run, Selena."

  The hunter sprang from the river, instantly shooting his shadow forward. It slapped Brayden's chest and skin buckled beneath the pressure. But no blood oozed. Instead, a bruise splintered out.

  “Selena?”

  The hunter's shadow slapped back and forth, all attention focused on Brayden.

  "What should I do?" I asked.

  "Run!"

  I hesitated until he pushed me and as soon as I took flight, Brayden ran too. We followed the curve of the river until the land became too thin and the water collided with the rock wall. There was nowhere left to go and the hunter was only seconds behind.

  I threw myself into the water, struggling to keep my head afloat as the raging current pushed me between the river’s edge and the rocks. I coughed out water, catching the sound of the hunter landing in the water as Brayden followed me downstream.

  A mix of grunts and fists hitting skin rushed past and I grabbed hold of a tree root and pulled myself to safety. Brayden and the hunter disappeared round a corner and I quickly pulled myself onto the land and ran after them.

  "Brayden?" If I lost them, I might never see him again. Despite the grey in his own eyes, I needed him to live.

  Their heads bobbed in and out of the water, a black shadow wrapped around Brayden's neck.

  “No!” I cried, working hard to avoid foot holes and tree roots sticking from the ground. Their heads disappeared and for a few long seconds, the air was trapped in my lungs. They surfaced and Brayden struggled to free himself from the noose around his neck. They tumbled beneath the shade of a tree and with that short absence of sunlight, the hunter lost his weapon. They were back on even terms, their shadows floating down the river behind them. I wanted to help but my legs wouldn't carry me fast enough. My foot caught on a rock and I plummeted to the ground where my shadow waited. Despite screaming and trying to fight it off, I fell back through to my own world.

  The hospital bed felt too confining. I sat up and swung my legs off the side, struggling to find the air to breathe properly. Brayden was stuck on the other side fighting against a hunter and I was useless to help. I tugged at the hospital gown and tried to loosen it around my neck.

  "He'll be okay," I whispered.

  Against the odds, he’d survived this long. I didn’t know how much the grey had to do with it but maybe that was the best thing for him right now. Maybe that was the only way he could survive against a hunter.

  “Welcome back.” A nurse pulled the curtain aside and fussed over my bedding and pillows. She pulled out my chart and wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm.

  "Your pulse is really racing. Are you feeling okay?"

  The stress of the attack was still too overwhelming.

  “Are you in pain?” She examined my face for clues.

  “No, I’m fine.” I shook my head.

  She was reluctant to accept my answer but in the end, she lifted my sheets and checked the healing of the whip wound. “Your father has gone to the cafeteria for some dinner. It’s the first time he’s left you all day.”

  I had been so worried about myself and Brayden that I'd forgotten about my own family.

  “He said he would be back straight after. Visiting hours are finished but I told him he could stay.”

  I waited for my father, now hoping the shadows gave me enough time in this world to see him.

  “Selena.” His voice came in an exhale.

  I smiled and held my arms out for an embrace. It was a hug neither of us wanted to end. His face looked old and stressed and I found myself whispering an apology in his ear.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  It was true but I still felt like it was. “I just wish you didn’t have to go through this again.”

  His body turned rigid. “This is nothing like that, Selena. You’re going to be okay.”

  Ever since Brayden died, I knew that was my fate too, but at least now I knew I would still be alive in the shadow world. Although for my family, that wouldn’t make any difference.

  “They don’t know what's wrong with you yet, but once they do more tests, they’ll be able to treat you.” He pulled away from the hug and dragged a chair closer to the bed, all the while refusing to let go of my hand.

  He didn’t look into my eyes and I was glad because I couldn’t hide my sadness. When I died, he would fall apart. He was barely keeping himself together now. “When I’m unconscious, I’m in another place,” I whispered. My father rubbed his eyes and rested his arms on my bed. “It's like a dream. It’s a beautiful forest. Very green.” I smiled. "There are other people there too: friends.”

  Tears glazed the corners of his eyes but he cleared his throat and blinked them away.

  “I know I spend longer and longer unconscious but I just wanted to tell you, I’m not trapped in this body in this bed. I’m in a beautiful place and I like it there.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Selena. Just concentrate on fighting it.”

  He didn’t know it was too late to fight but I would hold onto this body until he was ready to let me go. “I will.”

  I had only a few hours with him before I returned to the shadow world but I was grateful for that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Brayden waited for me at t
he top of the waterfall, eyes brown once more. He was alive and right now, that was all I cared about. A dark line shadowed his throat where the hunter had tried to choke him but he still greeted me with a smile.

  I opened my mouth to ask him how he'd escaped but something stopped me. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to know how it ended. After seeing the strength of grey in his eyes, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he'd killed the hunter but I couldn’t bear to know for sure. At least this way I could pretend he was the person I needed him to be.

  "Back so soon?" he asked.

  I nodded and sat beside him on the rocks as he played with his shadow.

  “What are they?”

  “The hunters?”

  "It's like they're not really human."

  “There seems to be something in them, like a drive to kill, I’m not sure why. But you can see it in their face.”

  His response confirmed that he had no idea the same thing happened to him.

  “Did you see the way he used his shadow?” He jumped up and untied a shadow arm from his waist. “I’ve been practising.”

  I jumped as the shadow slapped the rocks. It must have hurt but despite flinching he continued stretching the shadow and firing. Unease stirred in my stomach. Shouldn't he be stricken with grief? Instead, this was the happiest I'd seen him. And rather than allowing him to experience that without interruption, I needed to know he hadn't forgotten his old life entirely. Even if it was only to prove to myself that he hadn't changed into a hunter.

  “What does it feel like? Knowing you’re dead in that world.”

  Brayden shrugged. “I didn’t know I was dead until you told me,” he paused. “It feels the same, I guess.”

  There was no way to know for sure, but my time had to be running out. And however long I had left, it would never be enough for my family. "Aren't you upset?"

  He bundled the shadow in his hands and turned to face me. “If I could have my life as it was six months ago then I’d take it. But I’m glad the passing is finished. If the only way I could go back was to timeshare my life, then I wouldn’t do it.”

  Maybe his thoughts were valid. Maybe when I was finished in the other world, I wouldn’t feel so torn. “I’m afraid for the people I’m leaving behind.” I would be willing to timeshare my life if it could help my father cope.

  “Sometimes it's harder for them while you’re there. When you’re gone, there's no uncertainty anymore. It's final. That can be easier in its own way."

  It was such a human thing for him to say and while the reality brought tears to my eyes, I was so relieved to hear him considering how death affected our families.

  “My mother died of cancer a year ago. My father doesn’t have much and I can’t bear the thought of leaving him alone.”

  Brayden wrapped his arm around my shoulder, the wing of his shadow warming me.

  “Your father will live without you. No doubt it will be hard but it's human nature to keep fighting."

  I nodded, wiping a stray tear away. Hopefully, he was right.

  Eventually, Brayden pulled his arm back. "We should probably get moving.”

  I straightened. “What? Moving where?”

  “I need to eat."

  "Oh." Right now, there was no sign of grey in his eyes, a slight smile pulling at his lips. I followed him to the side of the waterfall where we began our descent.

  “Here, you go first. You can hang onto this for support.” He handed me his shadow.

  I'd made it down on my own before but the rocks were slippery. The arm of his shadow felt warm in my hand.

  “Won’t it hurt you?” I asked.

  “It’s fine.”

  “What if I pull you over?”

  His eyes lightened in amusement. “I think you overestimate your size a little.”

  I used the shadow to help myself drop down to the ground then let it snap back.

  Brayden lowered himself beside me and motioned toward the river. "We're going to have to swim across."

  The current had been strong the day before but I was determined to make it. "That's fine."

  "Do you want to hold the shadow, just in case?"

  "No. I'm not completely incompetent." I jumped in before allowing a second guess. White wash sprayed up and blurred my vision but I urged forward, doing my best to swim wide strokes. The current swirled and thrust me into a rock that knocked the wind from me. I grabbed for the bank and managed to claw my way out. Brayden was somehow already ahead even though I'd jumped first.

  "Are you okay?"

  "Fine." I straightened and swallowed the water in my mouth rather than cough it out in front of him.

  He grinned. "Good. Let's keep moving."

  The temperature dropped as we entered the forest; the earthy aroma of moss was enriching each breath. Brayden grabbed at a plant with wide, flimsy leaves as we passed. "We could probably use this as something to wear."

  I snapped the leaf at the stem. "Thank God!"

  He laughed and pulled a couple free for himself, twisting them together at the sides to keep them in place.

  I twisted one around my chest and the other in place of underwear, then wiped milky sap from my fingers. “Usually, the plants with this residue are poisonous. Don't eat anything with this stuff inside."

  "Good tip."

  We walked deeper into the valley, close to where my apartment would have been while we searched for food. Sunlight streamed through the trees while the wind blew the canopy above us. Brayden tripped as his shadow appeared at his feet, dropping to his knees before he could catch himself.

  A snort had escaped me before I managed to stifle the laughter. "Are you okay?"

  He swore under his breath, brushing the dirt away. “That’s going to be pretty dangerous.”

  I covered my mouth, afraid to laugh noisily in the forest.

  “I’m glad you’re having a good time.” He stepped into the shade.

  I swallowed the amusement. “You have no other shadow when you are in the sun.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When you crossed into the sun, you didn’t have a normal shadow on the ground, only the black one.”

  He stepped into the light again and watched as the shadow appeared in a puddle at his feet. “This thing is hard to get used to, but I'll be careful where I step from now on.”

  I nodded, wiping my smile away one final time.

  We had walked for a couple of hundred metres before I noticed berries on a tree.

  "Look." I hurried to the tree and examined the dull blue fruit. I picked a couple and sniffed at them.

  "What do you think?" he asked.

  I snapped a branch to check for milky sap. “We should rub a bit on our skin first and see if anything happens, then try it on our lips and tongue. If that doesn’t cause any reaction, we can eat a small amount.”

  Brayden peeled back the skin and rubbed the berry on the back of his hand. “Smells okay.”

  “You should put it on sensitive skin.” I rubbed the juice of a berry on the inside of my arm.

  “How long do we wait?”

  “It’s meant to be about five hours but I guess if it’s poison it should cause some kind of reaction before that.”

  He sighed. “We shouldn’t go too far in case we lose the plant but the stream I’ve been drinking from isn't far away.”

  Brayden led me deeper into the valley, and when we reached the stream, I recognised it. If we’d been in the other world, we would have been standing in my office.

  Brayden cupped water to his mouth while I used a little to rinse my hands and face. We sat down, examining the marks from the berries for any sign of reaction.

  “Do you think our world was once like this? Before technology and machines?" I asked.

  "The creatures here aren't from our world, that's for sure." He scratched at his cheek. The facial hair made him look older.

  “What you wouldn’t do for a razor, huh?”

  “It’s itchy but I'll get us
ed to it.”

  I sighed. “What do you miss most?”

  “About home?” he whistled. “Food. Without a doubt.”

  Brayden would never be able to eat real food again and soon neither would I.

  “Well, bugs really are a good source of protein in the wild.” I pushed a log aside, cringing as insects crawl free.

  “I’d rather a worm than something with a shell.”

  "Gross." Would I really eat one for my own survival?

  "What do you think?"

  "About eating one?" I tried to conceal my disgust.

  “I’ll do it if you do.”

  I wanted to say no. At this stage, I didn't even need to eat in the shadow world, but his expression was already smug. He seemed to have pigeonholed me and it only made me more determined to break that mould.

  I picked up a worm and brushed away the dirt, swallowing excess saliva as it squirmed. Its skin contracted and stretched as it tried to work its way from my hand. Surely it would shift like that in my mouth too.

  Brayden sat back with a grin on his face. "Can you do it?"

  "You're doing it too!"

  "Of course." He picked one up, mirroring me as I lifted mine to my mouth. "On three?"

  I counted up, then dropped the worm on my tongue, shivering as it wriggled.

  Brayden closed his mouth and pulled his hand free. His face scrunched up as he chewed slowly then gulped. I shook my hands and crunched down, puncturing the worm. Gooey insides oozed out and I quickly swallowed before it overwhelmed me.

  "Oh, that was so disgusting." I squeezed my fists together.

  "You're actually a badass." He raised his eyebrows. "I'm impressed."

  The memory of the worm on my tongue suddenly played back and I could almost feel it there again. Saliva pooled in my mouth and I knew I was in trouble. I leaned to the side, gagging as I struggled to keep the vomit from rising.

  Brayden hooted with laughter, his eyes watering as he watched me struggle to compose myself.