Shadow managed to push Lincoln off of him and like two raging bulls, the two charged at each other once again.
Every single blow landed felt like stones, smashing against my heart. I didn’t know how much more of this I could stand.
“Stop,” I whimpered. “Please stop.”
I watched as blood sprayed from Shadow’s mouth as Lincoln caught him with a sharp elbow. He shrugged it off and drilled his knee deep into his friend’s sternum, causing Lincoln to collapse to his knees. Shadow followed up with a heavy boot to his face that brought Lincoln down to the ground.
“Stop it!” I cried, a little louder this time.
They were both too far gone to hear the sounds of my voice. All that existed in that world of theirs now was violence.
Both men continued fighting, landing blow after painful blow. They looked like mangled boxers who had just entered into the thirteenth round of their match, both standing on shaky ground, yet neither willing to give in.
“You let me down,” Shadow uttered. “God damn it, Lincoln, how could you let me down so badly?” He threw a tired right hook that fell short.
That was when Lincoln took the opportunity to strike. He caught Shadow in the back of the leg with a sweeping kick that knocked Shadow to the ground. It was like watching a large oak tree topple over, the ground beneath our feet reverberating from the impact of his fall.
Lincoln stood over him and shook his head.
“The only person that ever let you down was you, Shadow. You and your fucking idiotic obsession. I followed you up until now and tell me, what do I have to show for it? Nothing, you dumb fuck. I have nothing.”
Shadow grabbed Lincoln by his ankle and then yanked him down as well. He was quick to pounce atop Lincoln, wrapping his hands around his throat.
“Come on Shadow, do it,” Lincoln gasped as the weight of Shadow’s fingers dug deeper into his throat. “I have nothing left.”
“Let him go,” I shouted.
My words where like the whispers of ghosts. No one could hear me.
The look in Shadow’s eyes frightened me as well. Gone were the soft, thoughtful eyes of the man whom I loved. They were replaced by dark, hard opals of a killer.
Beau turned to his brother and frowned. “Perhaps now’s a good time to step in?”
Braydon nodded. “I agree. This fight has gone over the edge,” he said as he walked over to Shadow.
Seeing Shadow like this was terrifying. Was he so vexed to point of murdering his best friend in cold blood?
“Enough big guy, you’ve pushed this to the limit already,” Braydon said “I thought having a little pow wow was enough to get it all out of your system. I was wrong.”
Shadow released his grip on Lincoln and rose to confront Braydon.
“Don’t put your hands on me,” he seethed.
The look on his face wasn’t from the Shadow I knew. It was as if he had suddenly become someone else—no longer the man that I loved but a wolf clothed in human skin.
He terrified me.
“Look, I’ve got no business with you. All I’m saying is the last thing you want to be doing is murdering your friend,” Braydon said. “You’ve let loose some steam. Let’s not take it one step further.”
Shadow smiled, just before throwing a punch in Braydon’s direction. The velocity of Shadow’s attack caught Braydon off guard and the mammoth biker staggered a few steps back.
Meanwhile Beau, Isadora and I rushed by Lincoln’s side.
“You alright there, chief?” Beau asked as he helped Lincoln off the ground.
“Fucking peachy,” he replied as he spat blood down onto the cracked dirt. He looked at Shadow and frowned. “Something’s happened to him.”
The video of Shadow killing Lucian in cold blood raced through my mind. It has finally happened. Shadow had lost control.
I watched as Braydon and Shadow fought like two monolithic giants, their blows connecting onto each other with the force of sledgehammers.
“Lincoln, I think this is all part of Shadow’s brainwashing,” I said. “It’s like something inside of him has suddenly become dislodged. I don’t think he can listen to reason anymore.”
Lincoln shook his head. “He’ll damn well have to.”
I watched as he limped his way back into the fray.
“There’s no way any of you can best him,” Isadora said. “That man’s spirit is no longer there. He is nothing more than an empty vessel with the sole purpose of causing us all pain and punishment.”
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“I have no answer, Aria. If he was brainwashed, that goes far beyond my capabilities to reach him. I can only speak to one’s true spirit, not a manufactured one.”
I watched as Shadow made quick work of Braydon, sending the biker crashing to the ground with one brutal fist into his jaw. Beau leapt at him from behind but the effect had the equivalence of a child, clinging onto the back of a grown man.
Shadow tossed Beau over his shoulder and whipped him onto the earth, hard. A heavy boot followed, smashing Beau in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of him.
Once again it was back to Lincoln and Shadow.
“Come on Shadow, you’re not a lost cause yet,” Lincoln said. “Come back to us man.”
“Don’t talk to me like you care about me,” Shadow said as he made his way slowly towards Lincoln. “Whatever there was between us is gone. You mean nothing to me.”
Lincoln shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong Shadow. We’ll never be closer, than we are now. Calisto has made sure of that.”
“Here we go,” Isadora muttered under her breath.
“Here what goes?” I asked. “What the hell is Lincoln talking about?”
Lincoln steadied himself. “Calisto’s pregnant, Shadow. And I’m the father,” he revealed.
What the hell did he just say?
Shadow must have been as stunned as I was as he stopped dead in his tracks.
“My sister’s…pregnant?”
“Yeah,” Lincoln said. “Oops.”
Shadow shook his head. “No,” he muttered. “No, you’re lying.”
“I’m not. I saw her belly. It’s the size of a ham. She’s pregnant and apparently the baby’s mine. Looks like we’re going to be family—a fucked up one, but family nonetheless.”
However, before Shadow could say another word a dart suddenly appeared out of the side of his neck.
Shadow pulled it out and looked at it with confused eyes before falling to his knees.
“What the hell?” Lincoln asked as he spun around to see where the dart came from.
And that was when she appeared, the gorgeous blonde woman in the dark grey business suit. She walked with an air of authority about her which made me dislike her immediately.
Standing next to her was a short, balding fat man holding the gun from which the dart was shot from.
“Leah?” Lincoln asked.
“Hello,” she said. “It looks like I’ve come just in time.”
“Came just in time to shoot him with a dart?” I snapped.
Leah looked at me and pursed her lips. “And this must be Aria. I’m charmed already. I’m Leah.”
“And why should I care?” I was still upset that Shadow was shot for the second time today. Why couldn’t people just leave us alone?
The woman sighed, and folded her arms across her chest. She didn’t seem impressed by me. “Shadow and I once loved each other. I’m here to save him from himself.”
Yeah, I definitely hated this bitch.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Aria
Shadow looked like the worst kind of criminal, sentenced to die via electric chair. His wrists were bound to the arms of a heavy wooden chair in his study, while probes were secured around the temples of his head.
He was unconscious as his breaths were heavy and shallow. He was lost in a dream.
“We’re ready,” The bald man said.
“We’re ready
for what?” I asked. I didn’t like being kept in the dark.
Leah sighed. “Shadow killed my brother, Lucien,” she stated.
“I saw the video. He was brainwashed,” I said.
Lincoln was stunned by the news. “Shadow killed Lucien?”
It seemed that every other sentence out of our mouths was filled with some new bombshell that altered the landscape of our lives. We were all trapped in some deranged soap opera—the Young and the Reckless.
“There’s a monster living inside Shadow,” Leah said. “We’re going to have to find out what releases the beast from its cage and then exorcise it completely out of his head.”
“That’s fair,” Lincoln said turning to the bald man. “And you’re the head doctor I suppose?”
“Something of the sorts,” he said as he extended his hand. “Abel Gunn. I work with the CIA in the arts of mind manipulation and memory extraction. A glorified hypnotist, if you will.”
“He’s also my mentor and direct superior,” Leah said. “If anyone knows how to help Shadow, it’ll be Abel.”
I leaned towards Lincoln. “Do you trust this woman, Leah?”
Lincoln nodded. “Known her since I first stepped foot in the Midnight Society. She’s alright. A much better human being than her brother was.”
I watched as she brushed the hair back from Shadow’s forehead affectionately. I wanted to choke the bitch. “Are you sure about that?”
“Don’t worry, whatever was between them is history,” Lincoln said. “Look, they’re about to begin.”
“We’re going to dive into Shadow’s sub consciousness,” Leah explained. “Currently he’s in a deep state of sleep, giving us perfect access into his psyche.”
“Shadow can you tell me where you are right now?” Abel whispered. His voice was deep and soothing, hypnotic almost.
Shadow remained silent.
“Shadow, listen to the sound of my voice. Can you tell me where you are right now?”
This time he responded. “In a house.”
“That’s good Shadow,” Abel said. “That’s good. Tell me about this house.”
“It’s the one I grew up in; the one where my parents were murdered—the mansion.”
“Are you alone in the mansion?”
Shadow shook his head.
“Who’s there with you?” Abel continued.
“The dead are all here with me.”
I felt icicles run up the length of my spine.
“Who are they?” Abel asked.
Shadow licked his lips. His breaths were getting heavier.
“My father and mother, Abraham, James, Donald, Brevin, Lucian, and Elena. They’re all here. The dead are all here.”
Abel wiped a bead of sweat off his brow. “And what are they doing right now?”
“They’re sitting at the dining room table, staring at me. Their eyes are completely black, like pools of oil.”
“This is some seriously spooky shit,” Lincoln muttered.
“Isadora did something similar to me, back in New Orleans,” I said. “She got into my head and tore out the demons that were weighing me down. She could have done this for Shadow as well.”
Lincoln shook his head. “Isadora mentioned multiple personalities were beyond her capabilities. Shadow also has big issues with trust. If his head’s broken, he’d want someone he could trust poking around in there. He still loves Leah…”
I scowled.
“…Not in that sense though,” Lincoln said, quickly trying to recover from his statement. “It’s the same type of love you and your friend Justin had.”
My heart choked a little at the mention of Justin’s name. I missed him so much. What I wouldn’t give to hear his laughter again or talk to him about silly things of inconsequential matters. Life was so simple back then.
“Shadow, there’s a monster hiding in this house. I need you to find that monster. I think the dead might know where he is. Can you ask them?” Abel said firmly.
Shadow nodded. “Mom, dad? Do you know where the monster is?”
There was a moment of long pause.
“What did they say?” Abel asked.
“They said that the monster is standing right before them.”
That drew an immediate frown from Abel. He turned to Leah and whispered something into her ear, which caused her to grimace as well.
“What’s going on here? What’s with all the whispers?” I asked aloud.
Leah turned to me and placed one finger against her lips. “Quiet,” she silently mouthed.
Ugh, of all the nerve.
Lincoln knew I was pissed. “Easy does it,” he whispered to me. “Just let them do their thing. Afterword I give you full permission to run Leah through a foul-mouthed verbal gauntlet.”
I was surprised. “I thought you and Leah were friends.”
Lincoln shrugged. “We were, yes. But I like you better.”
I smiled. ‘Thanks.”
“Shadow,” Abel continued. “I want you to walk away from the dead people at the table. They won’t help you.”
“They’re all smiling at me,” Shadow said. Despite the terrifying imagery in my head, Shadow seemed unfazed by the ghosts he was facing deep within himself.
“They’re not there to help you,” Abel said. “They were placed there by the monster inside of you. You need to walk away from them.”
Shadow shook his head. “They’re surrounding me. I can’t get away.”
Abel‘s voice suddenly took on a more urgent tone. “You must, Shadow. Push past them.”
Shadow grunted. “They’re so strong. Mom, dad, it’s me. Let me pass.”
“He needs an anchor,” Abel announced aloud. “The brainwashing is worse than I expected. This second personality is going to completely consume him. I need someone he cares about…an anchoring voice to guide him. My voice alone won’t do it.”
Lincoln was quick to speak. “Hey Shadow, get out of there man.”
“Lincoln, you’re a cocksucker,” Shadow replied, subconsciously.
“Perhaps someone else wants to try?” Abel suggested.
I was about to say something, but Leah beat me to the punch.
She spoke to him sweetly. “Shadow, it’s me, Leah. Listen to my voice. Let me guide you. I’m right there with you in that house. Find me.”
Oh, there was absolutely no way that was happening under my watch.
“Shadow, don’t listen to that hussy. It’s me, Aria, the one you love. Come find me instead.”
The heated death-gaze Leah directed at me could have melted the polar ice caps.
Abel readjusted his glasses. “Ladies, this is far from counterproductive. I need his mind to be on stable ground.”
“I agree,” Leah said, “Which is why Aria needs to leave this to the professionals.”
“Professional what? Reject specialist? Stop pervading my man’s head with your mind-fuckery and leave this task to the person he cares about most: me.”
Shadow’s faced turned into a grimace. “They’re all over me. Their hands…they’re like blocks of ice. I have to get out of here.”
“Shadow, find my voice,” I cried as I ran by his side and took his left hand in mine. “I’m there with you.”
“Aria?” Shadow asked, his voice suddenly filled with hope. His eyelids fluttered. “Where are you?”
“Pick a place in the mansion where he can find you,” Abel whispered into my ear.
I nodded.
“I’m sitting at the Heintzman grand piano, in the middle of the foyer,” I said.
“Are you playing?” Shadow asked.
“Yes.”
“I can’t hear any music.”
I turned to Abel and furrowed my brow.
“He just needs to think he’s hearing the music. Very much like how songs get stuck in our heads. Describe the music to him and naturally his mind should cling onto a melody and draw him out of the situation he’s currently in.”
“Shadow, you remember
that song I wrote for you?”
He nodded. “You named it, ‘Shadow’s out of his fucking mind.’”
I did, didn’t I? That was after I just found out that Shadow had shoved me into one of the council seats of the Midnight Society—Abraham’s seat shortly after he died.
“I’m playing that song right now,” I said. “Follow the sounds of the music. Remember the melody, Shadow. It’s a dark song, with flavors of lightness and brevity mixed in. Can you hear it?”
“I can,” Shadow said. “The song was meant for me. I’ll always remember it.”
“Find me.”
Abel, who had been monitoring Shadow’s heart rate the entire time nodded. “He’s slowly stabilizing again. Good work.”
I couldn’t resist shooting Leah an ‘up yours bitch’ look. “Thanks Abel. I guess we didn’t need a professional after all, just someone who Shadow loved.”
Leah rolled her eyes and walked over to a lounge chair and took a seat. “So what’s next, Abel?” she asked.
“The first step was to stabilize his mind from whatever failsafe his original brainwashing had in place. It looks like Aria has succeeded in drawing him away from that restricted access area. Once we have him on neutral ground again, we dig deeper into his mind. We need to find out what the trigger is that transforms him from good Shadow to bad Shadow.”
I suddenly felt the muscles in Shadow’s hand tense up. “Aria, I’m at the Heintzman piano. I don’t see you though. The music is gone.”
“I’m right there Shadow,” I said. “I’m wearing that black outfit of mine that you love so much.”
“You shouldn’t be a physical manifestation for him to see if you’re his spiritual guide,” Abel said to me.
“Never mind, I’m not there, Shadow. I am, but you can’t see me. I have some cloaking force field on.”
Shadow frowned. “Cloaking force field?”
Leah smirked. “Nice one. That’s why we use professionals.”
“I’d like a cloaking force field,” I heard Lincoln whisper from behind me.
“Enough with the force fields,” Abel muttered under his breath. “Tell Shadow to go somewhere in the house where he feels at most peace with himself.”
I nodded. “Shadow, find that special place of yours in the mansion. Go to the place where you feel the most calm.”
Revenant: The Midnight Society Book Three Page 16
