Shadow Born

by Jamie Sedgwick

  “They are the lowest forms of shadowkind, parasites. In the world of Dark Matter, they are the equivalent of our amoeba. There is a chapter about them in the Book of Shadows. Did you get a copy?” Gabriel nodded dumbly. “Good, read up on it.”

  “Yesterday, Jodi said scientists couldn’t see Dark Matter.”

  “Ah, that’s the crux,” said Mr. Oglesby. “You’re a quick study. You see, we’re not actually seeing the matter, or the creatures. What you are seeing is a computerized extrapolation, based upon extremely complex measurements. Our computer scans the environment taking readings of various kinds. Heat, light, weight, gravitational flux… even electromagnetic energy and photon movement. From this information, the computer is able to approximate the size and shape of objects comprised of Dark Matter and show them on this display.

  “Unfortunately, it’s a very complicated task for even the most powerful computers, so we don’t get to see much. A small window like this is the best that science has to offer. And, strictly speaking, there are only three of these systems in the world, so most scientists have never seen this. Its Top Secret.”

  “But there are buildings,” Gabriel said. “If all that stuff is made of Dark Matter, then who built it?”

  “I think you’ve underestimated him, Jodi,” said Mr. Oglesby. “Gabriel catches on quick. To put it plainly Gabriel, we did. You see, Dark Matter exists simultaneously with regular matter. Most anything we do in this world is echoed to some degree in the Shadow World. Hence, the observable effect that Dark Matter has on our own dimension. If something exists there that doesn’t here, there is still an effect that we can measure, as we do with planetary orbits.”

  Gabriel’s head was spinning. It was too much to absorb. He dropped into a chair.

  “Jodi, would you fetch a water bottle for Gabriel?” Mr. Oglesby turned off the display and then settled into the chair across the table. “I understand this is a lot to absorb,” he said. “And that you probably don’t want to hear any of it. But you must understand, it is important that you know these things. For your own safety.”

  Gabriel glanced up, his eyes full of questions. What did any of this have to do with his safety? Jodi arrived with his water before he could ask the question.

  “All better?” she said. Gabriel drank deeply from the bottle. He glanced at the blank wall that concealed the display screen, and then back at his two companions.

  “These things, the shadowkind, do they know about us? Can they see us?”

  “Generally speaking, no,” said Mr. Oglesby. “As with all life forms, there are varying degrees of intellect and consciousness. The creatures that you just saw have no knowledge whatsoever of anything beyond their own hunger. There are others, however. Unfortunately, we don’t know much about them, but we do know that they are capable of coming into our world and exacting great harm.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Gabriel. “How can they do that? Why would they want to?”

  “Two very different questions,” said Mr. Oglesby. “Unfortunately our class time is about up. Let me give you the simple universal explanation. Yin and Yang, if you will. The universe is filled with opposites. Light and dark, good and evil, life and death. This is how the universe is kept in balance. But sometimes, we don’t want it to be in balance. When a loved one dies, we’d do anything to bring them back, despite the fact that it might upset the balance. In nature, we consume our resources with little thought of the predictable consequences. And if we can be so foolish, why would the shadowkind be any different? They want what most living things want. All they can get. They want power, wealth, resources… or, simply, food.”

  “But how can they come here?” said Gabriel. “Aren’t they in a different universe?”

  “No, no, don’t confuse light matter and Dark Matter with universes. Alternate universes spin out of the act of conscious will focused upon the quantum foam. Some believe the act of observation alone can spawn a multitude of universes.”

  “Huh?” Jodi and Gabriel said together. Gabriel was comforted to see that she didn’t understand it all, either. He didn’t feel so much an idiot.

  “Never mind,” said Oglesby. “Forget the universe thing. If anything, I’d be inclined to say the Shadowkind exist in a different dimension, but totally within our universe. Does that make more sense?”

  “Sure.” Not at all, was what Gabriel was thinking, but he didn’t want any more explanations. His head was already dizzy with them. However, he did still have a couple more questions. They seemed to be important. “How do they come here, and how do you stop them?”

  Oglesby smiled broadly. “Ah, now you’re thinking like the warrior you are. The barrier between light and Dark Matter is much like the barrier between polar opposites. Take an electromagnet and switch the direction of the flow of electrons… suddenly positive is negative. It’s a bit of a simplification but that gets the point across. Think of a machine that can do that. You enter one side as a negatively charged creature, you come out as a positively charged creature. There are places on earth -anomalies if you will-where this occurs naturally.

  “This phenomenon can also be induced by creating what we call a ‘septic tear,’ which is a terribly difficult process. It takes an enormous amount of energy to create even a small tear, and they are notoriously dangerous and unstable. And of course, though the creatures are changed in the process, they are technically still made of Dark Matter, and therefore rather unstable.”

  “You can do that?” said Gabriel. “You can make a machine to do that?”

  “I wouldn’t want to. It’s my business to find them and close them.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, as I said before, these creatures are dangerous. Shadowkind have demonstrated to us, through numerous instances, that they are evil. They would devour our resources and enslave humanity if they could.”

  “So you close these septic tears, and stop them?”

  “When we can find them,” said Mr. Oglesby. “But they are clever, and they’re becoming more sophisticated all the time. It isn’t just the shadowkind that we have to worry about, either. They have agents and allies in this world. They have infiltrated numerous governments and espionage agencies, occasionally even D.A.S. itself. We call these people shadowfriends.”

  As Gabriel listened, his mind flashed back to the night of his arrival. Everything about that night was so hazy, like it was a dream, but now one thing suddenly became clear. He remembered the creature, the thing that had been sitting under the edge of the staircase. “You said they’re invisible right? Because I think I might have seen one.”

  Mr. Oglesby frowned. “You’ve seen something like this before?”

  Gabriel told them about the creature, and tried to describe it. Jodi and Mr. Oglesby pried for more information, but he simply didn’t have any. “I guess I fell asleep,” he said. “I’m sorry.” That bothered him. Why would he have fallen asleep? Had the creature done something to him?

  “It’s alright,” said Mr. Oglesby. “You did good.” He whipped out his cell phone and pressed speed dial. “Hello, Reeves? Yes, I think we might have an emergency. Is Julia in the basement? Good, keep her there. I’ll be there in five minutes.” He snapped the phone shut. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 13

  Moments later, they were flying down the highway in Mr. Oglesby’s old yellow Volkswagen bus. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything sooner,” Jodi said.

  “I didn’t know,” Gabriel said defensively. “I thought it was a dream!”

  “It’s okay,” said Mr. Oglesby. “You couldn’t have known better. Let’s just hope we catch the thing before it does any serious harm.” They fell silent for a few minutes, until another question popped into Gabriel’s head.

  “What is D.A.S. anyway? You mentioned it just before we left. Is that like the C.I.A. or something?”

  “Something like that,” said Oglesby with a chuckle. “It’s the International Alliance for Defense Against the Shadow. Sh
ortened to D.A.S. It’s the organization that seeks out, monitors, and destroys Shadow operations, and shadowkind.”

  “It’s an organization?” said Gabriel. Suddenly he wondered just how many people knew about the shadow world. And how did they manage to keep it secret?

  “Yes,” said Oglesby, “It’s a privately-held corporation with branches in a dozen countries. Most of the branches are very small and only employ a few people. Due to the sensitive nature of our work, the locations of the branches are kept secret. In case of emergency, we are allowed to know about the existence of only two other branches. In our case, we know there is a branch in London, which was recently attacked, and another in Canada.”

  “Who attacked London?” said Gabriel.

  Jodi snorted. “Who do you think?”

  Gabriel glanced back and forth between them. “The shadowfriends?”

  “Duh.”

  Mr. Oglesby looked very serious. “The Shadow is becoming very sophisticated, and their numbers are exploding. They have spies everywhere now. Somehow, they managed to capture one of London’s field agents and interrogate him. Unfortunately, he gave up the address.”

  Gabriel felt a chill down his spine. “They interrogated him? You mean they tortured him?”

  “I’m afraid so,” said Oglesby. “They do that sort of thing.”

  A silence descended over the group that lasted all the way to the mansion. It sounded to Gabriel like being involved with D.A.S. was about like having a bull’s-eye painted on your back. He couldn’t help but wonder what they had done to the poor D.A.S. agent to make him talk. The thought triggered a memory…

  Gabriel’s hands were cuffed, the chain between his wrists looped over a hot water pipe in the ceiling. His face was pressed up close against the cold stone wall so that it was nearly impossible to move. He heard the sound of lowered voices behind him. Someone spoke:

  “Why do you make me do this, Gabriel? It doesn’t have to be like this. Just tell the others to do what we say, that’s all you have to do.”

  “Bite me,” Gabriel said.

  He groaned as the whip cracked sharply against his back, tearing the skin and bruising the flesh. Incredibly, it still hurt. They’d been at this for an hour, and somehow it still hurt.

  He felt the heat of the pipe creeping down the cuffs, burning his wrists. Cold sweat ran down his forehead, stinging his eyes. The whip cracked again and he cried out. Gabriel fought tears as the men behind him laughed.

  “You’ll do it,” the voice said. “Sooner or later, you’ll do exactly what we tell you.”

  The vision ended and Gabriel found himself back in the van, staring blindly through the window. His heart was pounding wildly and he was hyperventilating. He glanced around and saw that Jodi and Mr. Oglesby were intently watching the road ahead. They hadn’t noticed anything. He forced himself to take a slow, deep breath. It wasn’t a memory, he thought. It was just a dream. Just a hallucination brought on by stress…

  Reeves was waiting in the main hall when they arrived. “What’s going on?” he said.

  Mr. Oglesby explained everything. A grave look came over Reeves’ face as he listened. When Oglesby finished, Reeves led the way to the library. He stepped up to the large stone fireplace and pressed a hidden button on the side of the mantel. The entire fireplace slid back into the wall, and an elevator appeared in the opening. Gabriel’s jaw dropped.

  “We’ll explain later,” Oglesby said. “Come children, everyone inside.”

  Gabriel followed Jodi into the elevator, and the two older men joined them. Reeves hit a button on the control panel (there were only two, one for ground level and one for the basement), and the elevator began its descent. It moved rather quickly, and dropped for several seconds. By the time they stopped, Gabriel guessed that they were at least a hundred feet underground. Deep enough that no satellite could locate them, and no heat or electromagnetic waves could escape. The D.A.S. headquarters was about as well protected as it could get. The doors parted, and Gabriel got his first glimpse at the inside of D.A.S.

  A long, lobby-like room stretched out before them. On the left, several doorways sprouted out into adjoining rooms. To Gabriel’s right, a short staircase led into a large circular room filled with desks and computers. The far wall curved around in a semi-circle covered by three huge flat-screen displays. The one on the left was a split screen, offering displays of live news coverage from around the world. The one on the right showed a parceled out atlas of the entire earth, with red and green lights marking several areas of importance. It was overlaid with the glowing trails of satellite paths and airplane flights. The center display showed a live satellite image of the earth, half of it bathed in radiant sunlight, the other half dark and dotted with billions of tiny lights.

  As they exited the elevator, Julia appeared in one of the doorways. She looked the group over and did a double take when she saw Gabriel. “What’s going on Reeves?” she said. “I thought we had agreed not to show him yet.”

  Suddenly Gabriel felt about an inch tall. They’re keeping secrets from me, he realized. “You said no more secrets, Reeves.”

  It probably shouldn’t have surprised him, considering all that they had told him so far. Perhaps they just wanted to give him information slowly so he could absorb it all. After all, he had been skeptical from the very beginning. But still, it felt like a lie.

  Reeves glanced at Gabriel and then turned his attention back to Julia, dismissing the comment. “There’s been a change of plans,” he said. His hand went into his coat and reappeared holding his semi-automatic 1911.

  “What’s going on?” Julia said.

  Reeves nodded to Mr. Oglesby, who quickly stepped over to the near wall and pressed a big red button. Suddenly the lights dimmed and a siren began wailing. Invisible panels in the walls and ceiling opened, and mechanized lights popped out everywhere. They cast a strange, purplish glow about the room. “We’ve been infiltrated,” Reeves said. He raised his weapon and pointed it at Julia.

  Chapter 14

  “Reeves, are you crazy? What are you doing?”

  The siren went silent, and suddenly the room was dead quiet. There was an uncomfortable moment as Julia and Reeves stared one another down under the eerie ultraviolet light. Reeves’ face was stone, his eyes black as obsidian. The look gave Gabriel a chill down his spine.

  “Do you see it?” Reeves said softly. Jodi and Mr. Oglesby both nodded. Gabriel squinted. As his eyes began to adjust, he saw the strange black-skinned creature straddling Julia’s shoulders.

  “That’s it!” he said. “That’s the thing I saw the other night. What is it?”

  “That is a hobgoblin,” said Mr. Oglesby. “They’re clever little things. How long has it been there, Julia?”

  Julia waved her arms around over her head, but they passed right through the creature. “I don’t know!” she said.

  The creature realized it had been discovered. It leapt from Julia’s shoulders and scurried across the floor towards the elevator. Reeves followed it with his pistol. He squeezed off a shot, and a puff of mist went up around the hobgoblin. Its legs gave out beneath it, and it rolled to a stop just inside the elevator doors.

  The hobgoblin’s body melted like warm paraffin wax, forming a strange, black pool on the floor. The substance fanned out across the elevator, stretching out until it was paper thin, and then dissipated into the surrounding shadows. After it was gone, Gabriel noticed that it had left something behind. It appeared to be some sort of electronic device, like a small wristwatch with a blinking red light. Reeves scooped it up, and then tossed it to Julia.

  “That’s how it got past our sensors,” he said. “And probably why you couldn’t touch it. I’ll bet my last bullet that that thing somehow keeps shadowkind out of phase.”

  Julia examined the device and then passed it on to Mr. Oglesby. “It’s some sort of bracelet. Get that to Pete, would you? We need to find out what we’re dealing with, ASAP.”

  Mr. Oglesby nod
ded and left, leaning on his cane as the elevator doors closed behind him. Gabriel had the strange thought that Mr. Oglesby had left his cane in the van. He was almost positive that the old man hadn’t been carrying it when they entered the mansion. Gabriel shook his head and put the thought aside. That was ridiculous. He felt like his brain was turning to gelatin.

  “Well, now you’ve seen everything, Gabriel,” Julia said. “There’s no denying what your own eyes have shown you. D.A.S. is for real, so is the Shadow. What do you think?”

  Gabriel glanced around the room, and up at the giant monitors on the wall. “I can hardly believe it.”

  “That’s understandable,” said Julia. “I need you to promise me that you’ll keep this a secret. It’s very important that no one outside of our circle knows about this. Our lives depend on it. shadowfriends are everywhere, and if they knew…”

  “I understand,” Gabriel said. “Mr. Oglesby told me a little bit about them. I still don’t get it, though. How do people become shadowfriends? Why would they want to?”

  “Well, there are some people in this world who think only of themselves. They will do just about anything to get what they want. Usually that’s power or money, or both. Occasionally a person like this discovers –or is discovered by-the Shadow. The opportunity for unlimited power is hard to pass up, especially for a person like that. So they make a deal with the devil, so to speak. They become servants of the Shadow. In exchange, they are promised positions of power and wealth.”