Shadows of New York

by Heather Fraser Brainerd

“It’s not a game, Josh.” Aiden’s voice was getting frantic.

  Josh stopped walking and turned to face Aiden. “I know that. And it’s my sister out there. I know where they are. I’m going, Aiden, no matter what. You can take me along or let me go on my own. Either way, I’m going.”

  Aiden’s mouth opened, but he had no counterargument.

  “Are you two going or what?” Josh and Aiden both looked to the door, where Mrs. F-G stood holding Jackson. “I know that look on his face, Aiden. There’s nothing you or I can do to stop him. Nor his parents, if they were home. Just keep an eye on him.”

  “I might have to fight a wraith and a vampire for crying out loud,” shouted Aiden. “I can’t play babysitter.”

  “You won’t have to,” said Josh. “If things go like that, I’ll find someplace safe and out of the way.” A new thought struck him. “You and Steve can deal with Larry and Mr. Midnight, and I’ll get Rosemary away.”

  Words failed Aiden again. He looked from Josh to Mrs. F-G, his eyes imploring her to back him up. When she said nothing, Aiden sighed and said, “Fine. Let’s go. Ann, did you get through to Parker?”

  “No, I left a message.”

  “Call again. Tell someone, anyone, where we’re going.”

  Josh ran to the door.

  * * * *

  The fence was tall—too tall to jump over—with barbed wire running along its top, making it impossible to climb. Behind the fence was the massive concrete block that anchored the George Washington Bridge’s equally massive suspension cables. Josh looked from the concrete block to the bridge. “Why are we stopping here? I thought we’d walk out and just take an elevator up or something.”

  Aiden shook his head. “No. There’s too much security around the elevators and we don’t have time to wait for someone to make arrangements to get us through.”

  “So…” began Josh, not quite sure what the plan was.

  Aiden stepped in front of Josh and turned around, presenting his back. “So hang on as hard as you can. Don’t worry about hurting me. If you feel your grip slipping, let me know.” Not liking the sound of this, Josh didn’t move. Looking back over his shoulder, Aiden said, “Hey, you wanted to come. Either do what I say when I say it, or go back home.”

  “Okay.” Josh nodded and started to reach up.

  “Oh, hey, wait just a second,” Aiden said, turning back to face him. He dug the Sunguard gauntlets from the brown canvas bag slung over his shoulder and handed them to Josh.

  “But…won’t you need these?”

  “Maybe. But if you’re going up there with me, you might need them more.” Though he felt weird about taking them, Josh stowed the gauntlets in his own pocket while Aiden turned back around and said, “Okay, climb on.”

  Josh’s arms felt like they were moving in slow motion as they reached up and wrapped themselves around Aiden’s neck. He hoisted himself up and secured his legs around Aiden’s waist. Aiden staggered for a second, steadying himself.

  Then it began. It started, Josh thought, with a distinct wet dog smell. He had never been this close to Aiden, pressed right up against him, when Aiden transformed. He felt Aiden’s back hunch and his arms flex. Through his arms and legs, Josh could feel the muscles enlarging and tightening. The hair on the back of Aiden’s neck began tickling the tip of his nose.

  With a mighty grunt, Aiden bent low. He reached his arms back to secure Josh and leapt high into the air. Josh closed his eyes and fought the sickening feeling in his stomach. Only when the sudden jostling told him that they had landed again did he open his eyes. They were on the other side of the fence.

  The feeling of triumph lasted only for a moment. Aiden set off at a dead run, sprinting on all fours straight for the anchorage block. Josh closed his eyes again when Aiden kicked off his shoes and began scaling the block’s side. A forward lurch told him they had reached the top, but he didn’t open his eyes to verify. Seconds later, they were moving once again at full speed, this time up the suspension cable. It started out nearly horizontal, but as they moved along, Josh felt it angle upward. With each stride, Aiden’s bag would knock into him.

  In his mind, Josh was on a pony gone wild, like the time his parents took them on a “cool” (so they claimed) vacation to a ranch out in Arizona. He was a few feet off the ground. Soft, grassy ground. A fall meant maybe a bruise, nothing more. It wouldn’t be a fall of hundreds of feet onto pavement, or maybe down into the Hudson River.

  They slowed. Aiden’s breathing quieted, as if trying to sneak up on whoever or whatever awaited them at the top. For a brief second, Josh braved a peek. He made sure to look straight ahead, not down at the bridge and river far below. They had reached the top of the cable where it ran through the tower.

  There was no opening where they could enter the tower itself. That left only one option. Aiden’s paws gripped the tower’s exposed girders and began climbing. A few seconds later, Josh felt an unsettling out-of-control sensation. He opened his eyes to find Aiden pulling them up and over the railing that ran around the top of the tower.

  They landed on a catwalk, which led back to a wider standing surface. Once he felt safe, Josh let go and felt relief flooding through his arms and legs. He hoped he wouldn’t have to do anything strenuous too soon. His muscles ached from holding onto Aiden so tight.

  “Josh! What are you doing here? Who’s that with you?”

  Josh heard Rosemary’s voice, but with all the wind whistling by, couldn’t tell where it came from. There weren’t that many possibilities, and he looked in the most likely direction, toward the wide deck in the middle. There she was, sitting beside Larry as he lay on his side, his back turned toward Josh and Aiden. Her hand rubbed his head as if he were some sort of pet.

  Aiden, back in human form and breathing hard, said, “Rosemary, get away from him.”

  “Aiden!” she squealed. “Why? Is something wrong?”

  “Do what he says!” yelled Josh.

  Their words were clear, but Rosemary looked like they confused the heck out of her. She remained sitting right where she was.

  “Aiden? Is that you?” Larry’s voice sounded weak. He rolled over to face them, looking pale, almost sick. Josh didn’t think vampires could get sick.

  Josh saw Aiden’s hand slip inside his bag as he moved to the inner surface of the deck. With a sigh of dread, Josh followed.

  “Larry, get away from her,” said Aiden as he pulled the stake from his bag. “I’m not sure what you’re up to, but it has to stop before…” His voice became slower and quieter as he spoke, trailing off into silence.

  “Aiden, help me,” pleaded Larry with tears trailing down his face. “I’m so cold. And so very hungry.”

  The stake fell from Aiden’s hand, bouncing off the metal decking with a noise swallowed up by the wind and rolling away into the shadows.

  Aiden dropped to his knees next to Larry. “Larry, man, this is what happens when you play with fire. It’ll turn on you first chance it gets.”

  Larry’s eyes struggled to focus on Aiden. When they did, he said, “What? What fire?”

  “Mr. Midnight. Why did you think you could control him?”

  “I…I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Larry,” Aiden’s voice rose in anger. “We know you’ve been working with him. I’ve seen that Monster Mashers game.”

  Confusion and fear mingled on Larry’s face. “That’s just a game, Aiden. It’s supposed to be a joke.”

  “You’re joking about Mr. Midnight running around attacking people?” Now Aiden was shouting, his face turning red.

  “No. I mean, it has nothing to do with Mr. Midnight. Do you know how long it takes to make a video game? With all the writing and programming, all the testing and fixing? We started all that years ago. We’ve only known about Mr. Midnight for, what, a few months?”

  Aiden turned to Josh, his eyes questioning Larry’s timeline. A lump formed in Josh’s throat as he realized that the timing of the game versus Mr. Midnight’
s activities didn’t match up. Did he force the facts to support his suspicions just because he didn’t like Larry? Looking down at the quivering mass of vampire lying at his feet, Josh wasn’t so sure all of a sudden. And then it hit him. Larry was cold and hungry. He wasn’t Mr. Midnight’s vampire overlord, he was Mr. Midnight’s victim. “He didn’t do it,” Josh muttered.

  “Of course he didn’t do it, silly,” scolded Rosemary. “I told you Larry Fancypants is a good guy. What didn’t he do?”

  “He didn’t…” Aiden, trailed off as if trying to find just the right way to explain to Rosemary what was going on.

  “I did it.” A new voice came from the shadows. As all heads turned in that direction, Steve stepped into the light, looking haggard and still wearing the same clothes as the day he disappeared. Behind him, flat on the wall, was the wraith.

  “You really need to shave, Steve,” said Larry, voice weak. “You look terrible.”

  Aiden glared at Steve. “Why?” He stood, hands clenched in tight fists.

  Steve didn’t answer. He just looked down at the metal ground.

  “What’s going on here, Steve?” said an angry Aiden, taking slow steps toward the leprechaun.

  Larry somehow pulled himself up into a sitting position. “He was hiding out at my place. I found him there when I got back from Bermuda, and he asked me to bring you to him. When I got close to your place, my sensitive vampire heart detected a damsel in distress, so I—”

  “Your sensitive vampire heart?” Josh asked in disbelief.

  “Yeah, it’s what makes us the heroes of so many romance novels,” Larry explained. “I couldn’t ignore such a strong pull, so I went straight to Rosemary’s balcony. I thought some rainbow riding would do her good. I called Steve and asked him to meet us here.”

  “Yeah, but why would—” Aiden started. "Hang on a second. You were in Bermuda?”

  Larry shrugged. “Yeah. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment vacation involving supermodels. I’ll tell you all about it later.”

  Aiden stared down at Larry for a moment, total disbelief on his face. “There was a full scale manhunt on for you, and you were just hanging out on a beach somewhere?”

  “With supermodels,” said Larry.

  Aiden’s eyes went skyward in an expression that echoed the one Josh’s mother gave him whenever he did something frustrating. “Larry, you just took Rosemary out of the house without asking anyone first?”

  Larry shrugged again. “Didn’t occur to me. I thought she needed some fun, pronto. I didn’t know he’d use the rainbows to lure you over here.”

  Here they were, standing six hundred feet above the Hudson River, a crazed lunatic creature in their presence, preparing to do who knew what, and these two were bickering about Larry’s bad decision-making skills. Josh cleared his throat and said, “Um, Aiden, is it time for me and Rosemary to leave?” The only problem was that the elevator door was blocked by Mr. Midnight.

  Aiden shook his head as if clearing it. “Right. Back to the matter at hand.” He began walking to his left, possibly to draw Steve and Mr. Midnight away from the elevator. “I’ve been to North Brother Island. I’ve met your queen.”

  The shadow’s hand reached out, moved in front of Steve, and pushed him to the side. Steve collapsed in a heap. Mr. Midnight began walking toward Aiden, his right hand elongating and sharpening. “That changes nothing.” His wraith’s voice, difficult to hear in the best of conditions, was almost impossible to make out through the wind.

  “Yes, it does, Markus.” The use of this name caused Mr. Midnight to stop. “I know why you’re doing this.” Aiden’s hand moved into his bag. “Your people have been through a lot. I understand why you have all this rage. You want to take it out on someone, but the creatures whose powers you stole have all been good, innocent people.”

  There was a hissing noise, like air escaping from a balloon. It took Josh a second to notice Mr. Midnight’s subtle shaking. He was laughing. “Revenge? You think this is some pathetic payback? My people are tormented for centuries, and the best I can come up with is to steal a few random powers? If it were as simple as revenge, I would have left piles of dead bodies waist deep in my wake.”

  A shiver ran down Josh’s spine. He didn’t doubt that Mr. Midnight could do that.

  A similar thought seemed to be running through Aiden’s mind. His hand, halfway into the bag, came to a stop. With a puzzled expression, he asked, “Then, what are you doing?”

  “Forced evolution,” said Mr. Midnight. “Water will not hold us captive any longer.”

  Josh looked at Aiden, who looked at Larry, who looked at Steve, who still looked at the ground. Steve sighed and said, “He's trying to find the right combination of spirits to make himself solid.” His voice came out in a choke. “When one doesn't work, he tells me what he wants to try next. And...And I go out and find his next victim.”

  Moving next to Steve, Mr. Midnight reached out and ruffled his red hair. “And such a good, faithful friend you have been.”

  Steve crawled away from Mr. Midnight, shouting, “You’re not my friend.” With a nod toward Aiden and Larry, he said, “They’re my friends.”

  “Not so sure about that right now, buddy,” said Larry. “In fact, I’m rather tempted to slither over there and punch you in the grandma.”

  Aiden nodded. “Tell us what you were up to, Steve. Let’s start with the tunnel.” Other than the wind, there was silence. “Alright, I guess that we can—”

  “I knew that was his lair,” interrupted Steve. “I’d met him there a few times. When you started suspecting Larry, I thought that if maybe you went there and saw Mr. Midnight, that would look bad for Larry and you’d never suspect me. I didn’t know those snake things were there.”

  With a shake of his head, Aiden said, “I never would have suspected you, Steve. You’re too…”

  “Duplicitous? Perfidious? Um…cantankerous?” suggested Larry.

  “I was thinking more of something like ‘honest,’” said Aiden. “Think of all the times you—”

  “I just wanted to be more like you guys,” Steve’s voice was pained. “He’s going to give me the powers that he doesn’t need. I mean, you two are so cool with all the stuff you can do. It’s like, where are all the leprechaun groupies, you know?”

  Rosemary raised her hand. “I like leprechauns. They’re cute, and they make things pretty. Not everything cool is big and scary, you know.”

  Steve’s lower lip trembled.

  “What do you think, Larry? We still cool with Steve?” asked Aiden.

  “Always, bro. I wouldn’t really punch him in the grandma.”

  “All right, then,” said Aiden, his hand abandoning all attempts at subterfuge and plunging right into his bag. When it came back out, it held a small knife, glowing yellow and lengthening until it was more like a sword. “This is it, Markus. Come quietly. Please.”

  Mr. Midnight’s blade hand spun in an elaborate circle, like an expert swordsman preparing for battle. Josh’s hand closed around Rosemary’s wrist. As soon as there was a clear shot to the door, he’d pull her along with him whether she liked it or not.

  Aiden shook his head and said, “Fine.” His back started its familiar hunching motion. It was becoming routine for Josh to witness Aiden’s transformation. Next to him, Rosemary gasped.

  “He’s our nanny and our doggie? Awesome,” she gushed.

  With a mighty roar, Aiden dashed forward, Sunblade raised high over his head. He moved almost too fast to see. And then he fell backward even faster.

  Waves, invisible except for the faint distortion they caused in the air, emanated from Mr. Midnight, pinning Aiden to the metal deck. He struggled to raise himself, but failed.

  The wind became worse, swirling around like a hurricane. Josh felt himself pushed by it, inching him closer to the edge. Next to him, the same thing was happening to Rosemary. He threw one arm around her waist and held her even tighter than he had clung to Aiden. His other arm wrapped
around the nearest chunk of solid, bolted-down metal he could find. He closed his eyes and concentrated on holding on, hearing nothing but the roar of the tempest around him and Rosemary yelling, “Wheeeeeeeee!”

  The impromptu storm receded, leaving only the milder wind of before. Josh let go of Rosemary and looked around. Everyone had done as he had, grabbing hold of anything they could to keep themselves from being blown off the tower. Everyone, that is, except Mr. Midnight, who not only remained upright, but stood over a human-form Aiden.

  Mr. Midnight lowered himself, reaching out to the golden sword lying abandoned on the decking until it was a mere inch away. His shadow hand shook as if unwilling or unable to move that last bit to touch the sword.

  The wraith stood again with a violent hiss. His foot lashed out. Either it connected with the Sunblade or some weird law of magical physics caused the sword to fly away despite the fact that no direct contact had been made. It sailed close to the edge, so close that a good portion of its blade hung over the side, inches from plummeting into the Hudson below. As far as it was from Aiden, though, it might as well have been on Mars. “So it has come to this, has it? They wish to kill me? Well, if those are the rules now, let’s play.” Mr. Midnight’s hand became a sword again. It pointed at Aiden.

  “Yeah, let’s,” said Aiden as he got unsteadily to his feet. He hunched his back and flexed his arms, the signs of his werewolf transformation starting. But nothing happened. Aiden remained regular old human Aiden. With a confused and panicked look on his face, he repeated this motion a few times before giving up. He took a few steps to put himself between Mr. Midnight and the kids.

  The sinister hiss/laugh came again. “Oh, sorry, did you lose something?” said Mr. Midnight. He reached a hand out, placing it on the railing next to him. The hand slid though the metal.

  “So wolf’s not what you need to solidify,” said Aiden. “Why not give it back?”

  “I couldn’t if I wanted to. And,” Mr. Midnight said as he walked toward Aiden, waving his sword hand back and forth, “I definitely don’t want to right now.”

  The shadow sword shot forward, skimming across Aiden’s left arm. Aiden let out a grunt of pain and clapped his right hand over the wound. Blood trickled out from between his fingers.