New Millennium City, MD.
Penny peered into Andrea’s room, looking over the bed, which had not been slept in, and the open drawer in one of the dressers. She walked in and checked: as she had suspected, it was the underwear drawer and it was missing enough items to suggest that Andrea had packed to go somewhere. Further investigation showed her Twilight costume and sword in a cupboard, though the mask was missing. Frowning, Penny made her way back to the lounge.
‘No sign of her?’ June asked.
‘She hasn’t been back here, but she has gone somewhere of her own volition. She packed.’
‘You still look worried.’
‘She didn’t take her sword. Viviane said it was important.’
‘Then maybe you should call the sorceress.’
Penny’s frown deepened. ‘Yeah. It feels like I’m telling tales, but… I’ll call.’
Molveno, Italy.
Andrea was not sure of the time when they arrived in the picturesque little village on the shores of the lake. Sometime in the early afternoon, she thought. There had been traffic on the A22, and some arguments between the driver and the man sitting beside him. Apparently they should have expected traffic there, though that was gathered mainly from context; they were arguing in what sounded like French and her Italian was barely viable for conversation never mind any other languages.
Either way, they pulled to a stop in a car park and one of the men went to the back of the car to get her case while the others opened up a four-wheel drive vehicle which they had parked beside.
‘Now?’ Twilight asked.
‘About now,’ Andrea replied, walking around to the back and popping open the folding cane which they had never bothered to check, or take off her. She put a lot of frustrated annoyance into it as she snapped the weapon across the back of her guard’s skull and he bounced his head off the edge of the trunk as he went down. Pulling her case out, she started toward the nearby buildings with a purposeful stride. Behind her she heard voices, but they were not concerned voices yet. She would have several seconds before they realised she was walking away from them, hidden by the big car.
‘And now we need somewhere to hide for a while,’ Twilight said. ‘They’ll be out looking soon.’
‘I know. You’re sure you can get us to that room in the video?’
‘As long as it’s in shadow. We may have to wait.’
‘Yeah,’ Andrea replied, quickening her pace. There were now shouts coming from behind her. ‘Yeah, we might, but I’m hoping we can move quickly.’
New Millennium City, MD.
Viviane appeared in the lounge in a blaze of light with a look of profound concern on her face. ‘Tell me everything,’ she said while Penny and June blinked at her, trying to clear the flare from their vision.
‘She was acting a bit funny,’ June said. ‘Like she was waiting for something to happen.’
‘And now she’s missing,’ Penny added. ‘She took a few clothes, black stuff, but not her costume. She did take her mask.’
‘But not her sword?’ Viviane asked, though she seemed to know the answer.
‘That’s still here.’
The sorceress nodded, turned on the spot as though unsure of where she needed to be, and then marched over to slump down beside June. ‘It will be the new moon tomorrow night. I suspect the Shadow Court has arranged for her to be somewhere for that event. The issue is… where?’
Penny frowned. ‘She mentioned this old family legend. Something about her family leaving Italy because one of them had been to a castle in the Alps. Uh… Shadow Castle?’
‘Italy?’ Penny nodded and Viviane’s face wrinkled. ‘The European countries get… rather irrational when American Ultras wish to enter their territory.’ She gave a little shrug. ‘In truth, if the US authorities knew I was here, they might be less than pleased; however, I have the Union backing me up.’
‘Then… Well, this could be pretty important, and it’s Andrea…’
‘Indeed. You had best get into something briefer and more clinging. We will go via Antarctica. It will still take an unfortunate amount of time to get the proper authorisations. For once you may regret not taking the offer of membership when it was given.’
Schatten Schloss, Italy.
Twilight stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room, her gaze flicking about quickly. It was mid-afternoon, she was not entirely sure of the time, but there was Lena, lying on the bed and apparently snoozing. Well, perhaps there was not much to do when you’d been kidnapped by shadowy figures.
‘Lena.’ The hiss roused the sleeping girl enough to open her eyes. ‘Lena, get your ass out of bed. I need to get you out of here.’
‘Andrea? You shouldn’t have come.’ Still, the blonde shuffled to the edge of the bed and got to her feet, torn between wanting to close the distance and hug her friend, and the feeling of betrayal which still hung over their relationship.
‘I pretty much had to. It’s because of me that they grabbed you.’
‘And my father? Was he killed because–’
‘No. That was business. Someone wanted to take over his business. I think Durant may have helped. I’m not sure. But I know Diamond would have killed your father anyway.’
Lena bit her lips. ‘Okay. There’s no way you’re getting me out of here. Mia says there are around thirty of them here, all armed, and the further you go down, the closer you get to… whatever’s in the basement.’
‘Mia? There really is a Mia Nerone?’
‘Uh-huh. She’s the housekeeper. Kind of cute. Kind of reminds me of you.’
‘Well, she’s possibly a relative. Distant. My mother’s family name is Neroni, with an “i” instead of an “e.”’ She glanced at the door. ‘They probably know I’m here, or they will soon. The thing in the basement, you said? I can sort of feel something.’
In truth, it was Andrea who was ‘feeling something’ and that was more to do with the wall of black cloud at the back of their shared mental space. ‘She’s looking… agitated,’ Andrea said silently. ‘Really agitated.’
‘So what do we do? If we can’t get Lena out without a fight–’
The door opened and Twilight tensed, but the woman who walked through it, quickly and with a worried expression on her face, was dressed in a maid’s uniform, of sorts, and did not look that threatening.
‘Mia!’ Lena squeaked.
Mia pushed the door closed behind her, eyes on Twilight. ‘They know you are here. Not where, but it sensed you and alerted them. They will look here soon.’
Andrea looked out at the Italian girl through Twilight’s eyes and saw the resemblance. There was something about the face, especially the nose, which definitely suggested the same family. Mia was a little more like Audrey Morgan than her daughter, but there was definitely family history. ‘Let’s hope there’s enough family history,’ she said to Twilight.
‘Can you lock that door?’ Twilight asked.
‘I… Yes.’ Mia gave a firm nod.
‘Then lock it behind me and don’t unlock it. Not even for me.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Lena asked, her voice hushed.
‘Take a sword off someone and then go see Mister Durant.’
Unity Base, Antarctica.
Alice watched Cygnus pacing across the waiting room floor with patience born of dealing with her husband. ‘It always takes time,’ she said, ‘but this seems to be something of a special case.’
Cygnus glanced at her. ‘It is?’
‘For two reasons. On our end, Brightstar is being a bitch, but that we could get around easily enough. She won’t stand in the way if Hugh puts his foot down, and Hugh is stamping pretty hard.’
‘I should thank him.’
‘You should thank Viviane. She’s the one who has him thinking this could be bad.’
‘Oh… right.’
‘The main problem seems to be that the Italian authorities are being more than usually obstructive. They got that way when
this Schatten Schloss was mentioned.’
Cygnus frowned. ‘So the Shadow Court has people keeping an eye on the place.’
‘It’s looking that way.’ The door slid open and Viviane walked in, followed soon after by Doctor Ultimate. Neither looked pleased. ‘Hugh,’ Alice asked, ‘how’s it going?’
‘The same,’ Hugh replied, frowning. ‘This Shadow Court has some hooks into people in some very high places. I came down to ask you, Cygnus, whether you’d be willing to go in covertly if required.’
‘Of course,’ Cygnus replied.
‘Don’t answer so quickly. Viviane would go with you, but you would be inserting illegally and there would be little we could do if–’
‘She’s my friend, Doctor. If she’s in trouble–’
‘I am quite sure she is,’ Viviane interjected. ‘Or at least that there is trouble brewing. There are several mystics I know across Europe who are all reporting the same thing. A feeling of tension. A feeling that something is about to happen. We need to get there. Soon.’
Schatten Schloss, Italy.
The sword had been easy. There had been a ninja-like figure running her way as she exited the room. She waited for the sound of the lock turning and then launched a trio of shadow knives at the oncoming man, and he had gone down, shivering and barely conscious.
She could not wrap this sword in shadow as she could with her own blade, but she wanted it mainly for parrying and quick stabs. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she wanted to go down, because Durant would be down.
‘In the cellar,’ Andrea said as they darted along corridors looking for the stairs. ‘He’s going to be in the basement with the whatever the Hell is down there.’
‘Okay,’ Twilight replied. She found a flight of stairs, curling down within one of the corner towers. ‘What do you think will happen when we get there?’ She sounded kind of plaintive, worried. For the first time Andrea could remember, Twilight sounded unsure.
‘We fight it. Whatever it is, we fight it, and we beat it. And then we go home and drink Champagne, and maybe bang Jacob senseless.’
‘While drinking Champagne?’ Forced humour.
‘Sounds messy.’
‘The best sex is.’ She started down the steps, seeing something move as she did so. ‘They’re not engaging, are they?’
‘No. They’re leading us down. They wanted us here, and we’re here.’
‘Yeah.’
There was no sign of anyone now until they had gone down two levels and the stairs ended, and they had to move out onto another corridor. Twilight spotted another shadow move in a doorway and that was where she headed.
‘You feel it?’ Andrea asked as they approached the door.
‘That feeling like the walls are watching us?’
‘Yeah, that. The shadows are stronger here.’
Twilight ran through the door and slowed. Six men barred her way across the hall the door led onto. Behind her, two more moved in to close the door behind her. At the far end, behind his six guards, was the man from the video, Durant.
‘You are a little early, Miss Morgan,’ he said, smiling. ‘You were to wait above until tomorrow night. The new moon is rather symbolic.’
‘It’s Twilight,’ Twilight replied. ‘When I’m in a mask, I prefer Twilight. It’s… symbolic.’
‘Touché. If you would please turn around. We can have wine and food brought to you. You can meet your master tomorrow.’
‘Don’t think so. I think I’ll kill you, and your master can go to Hell.’
He laughed. ‘Do not harm her excessively.’
The room was lit by two large lamps mounted on what had to be very old beams. As the men before her advanced, she turned, flicking her hand out and tossing a handful of ball bearings. They knew what she was doing, of course, and there were cries to stop her even as she launched the second handful, but they were too late. The room plunged into blackness.
It felt thicker than usual, even to Twilight who could still see quite well enough. It was almost as if the light had kept the air more fluid and now, in darkness, it was thickening, becoming denser. Still, her sword arced through the air, unseen by the men who stood in her way. They stood no chance and, knowing that, she let them live. It was Durant she wanted.
He was gone, of course, and she ran after him, following the only corridor he could have taken, a single passage which ran back from the hall and then down. The light returned as she turned a corner and she was in what looked like a kitchen. It seemed to have been modernised at some point, with a large range put in and a modern, almost industrial, refrigerator, but there were still some indications that this had once been a medieval kitchen. The castle was old, that was for sure. Probably far older than Frederico Neroni’s story.
There was an open door off to one side, and there were stairs there leading down into the deeper cellars. The kitchen seemed to be underground, but this was going deeper into the rock of the mountains. The stone block walls gave way to carved rock, but the rooms she met with first were storerooms. There were crates and wine racks. This was where they kept the provisions for the Court members who lived, or at least were staying, above.
But at the end of the room, Durant stood before another door. This was a heavier door, solid oak. Was it designed to keep people out, or keep something in? The man was not moving from it, but his sword remained sheathed on his hip as she slowly moved closer.
‘It is said,’ Durant said as she moved warily toward him, ‘that the Darkness was there, on the edge of the light, around the campfires our ancestors made on the plains of Africa. When they feared what foul beast might be waiting out there in the night, that was when it became real. It must renew itself at times, however. It needs… new blood. Your family line, and a few others, was born to give it that blood. Every once in a while, one of you would be born with the shadow in their heart, and it would be consumed when the time was right.’
‘I think that time passed a few months ago,’ Twilight replied.
Durant stepped back, pushing the door behind him. ‘It did, but it can be remedied. You are already too deep…’
Twilight risked a glance back. Behind them the shadows were thickening. ‘Shit,’ she said into her mind.
‘We go on,’ Andrea told her. ‘He’s counting on it overwhelming us and… I don’t think it’s as strong as he thinks.’
‘Go back, girl,’ Durant went on. ‘Give yourself another day before the Darkness tears your soul out.’
‘I think I’ll settle for tearing your heart out,’ Twilight replied, and she darted forward.
Durant moved back, hurrying. There was an urgency about his steps which suggested that he really thought she was going to kill him if she caught him. He was right, but the further she went after him, down steps cut into the rock and into an antechamber of some sort with another door at the back, the more she thought that killing him might be the wrong thing to do. Here, in this black place, death was something you avoided if you could. She would stop him. She would knock him out if she could. If she could… He was pulling open the second door now, and somehow she knew she was going to get there too late.
Here even her vision was failing her as the darkness closed around him. She could still see him, but it was as though she was looking through fog. She saw him stop, falling to his knees and clutching at his chest, and that was when she felt the cold closing in around her. It was icy, black, the cold of deep, deep space, but to her it was little more than a cool touch on her skin.
‘Is that all you’ve got?’ she said into the blackness which was still thickening around her. And that was when the terror clamped in around her mind like a vice.
~~~
‘It’s started,’ Mia whispered.
By now she was sitting on the bed with Lena, their bodies curled together as they waited for whatever might happen. At first there had been a couple of attempts to open the door, but now there was nothing. Just silence.
‘What?’ Lena w
hispered back. ‘What’s started?’
‘Your friend, my relative, has met it. Can you not feel the darkness rising around us?’
Lena looked up at the light coming in through the barred window. It was a bright, quite warm day and… Somehow the light seemed cooler now, thinner. Even the stones of the castle seemed a darker grey. Lena huddled closer to Mia and began to pray.
~~~
They stood there in the darkness, Twilight curled on the obsidian ground while Andrea stood over her, forcing the blackness back from them by sheer force of will.
‘You have to get up,’ Andrea whispered, almost pleading. ‘I can’t do this alone.’
‘Can’t,’ Twilight responded, her voice slow. ‘I… it’s too much… I…’
‘This is what happened with the demon. We were overwhelmed and then… Something happened then. Why isn’t it happening now?’
‘It is.’ The voice came from all around them. It hissed, barely a whisper, but loud in their ears, and the darkness around them seemed to boil. ‘It’s my turn, and this time there will be no going back.’ Beneath them the ground cracked. A spider’s web of faults formed in the black crystal, deepened, and then shattered, and they were falling.
‘Twilight!’ Andrea shrieked. Somehow she knew that, no matter what, they had to stay together. Out there they were losing control to their third personality, but in here they had to stay together. ‘Reach for me!’ She reached out, grabbing for Twilight’s arm. She missed and the masked girl turned slowly in the air as they fell further. Her arm extended out and this time Andrea caught her hand and pulled her in. The oh-so-self-reliant Twilight felt limp in Andrea’s grip as she was pulled in and hugged tight. She had taken the brunt of the Shadow’s assault; perhaps that was it.
‘Don’t let go,’ Twilight whispered.
‘I won’t,’ Andrea replied, holding on tighter.
And together they continued to fall.
Shadows (Ultrahumans Book 2) Page 26
