Shadows of Our Sins: (Shadow Purgers Series, Book 1)

by N. Phillips

  “I can see them just like you can,” she continued as I pushed through the pain and struggled to get back on my feet. “Because I am you, only better. I’m going to be a daughter who Mom and Dad can be proud of, not some talentless dependent who they have to fight over every week.”

  “You have no idea what you’re getting into,” I yelled. “You think it’s easy feeling someone else’s misery and helping them overcome it? I watched people die because I couldn’t save them in time. I feel that guilt every night before bed. It stays in your heart and eats away at your soul.”

  We glared at one another as I finished getting my point across. “You have a future, Mya. You have a plan. You don’t know how hard it is being at the end of senior year and not knowing what to do once it’s all over. To be me is to be someone who’s lost, someone who has to live with the burden of sensing despair wherever she goes. I refuse to stand back and allow my own sister to suffer the same way I do.”

  “And to be me is to be the unhappy and neglected daughter,” she hissed in a deranged tone. The wicked vibe in the house suddenly increased. “But maybe that’s okay as long as my Shadow is with me.”

  As if she had called for its presence, an evil essence began to form behind Mya. My heart pounded in my chest from the shrouded figure that placed its gloomy claw on her shoulder. It then took a fiendish form that made me charge at it in rage, only to have my momentum terminated by a sudden impact to my stomach.

  “You just don’t get it, do you?” Mya laughed out as I choked on air, falling to the floor. “This family is all about me now.”

  I rose from the ground and looked at my father, who hovered over me after delivering the painful blow. My attention then turned back to Mya.

  “I’m sorry for not being a better sister.”

  “No, you’re not. Lying won’t get you out of this situation.”

  “I’m telling the truth. I’m sorry for not supporting you. I should’ve stepped up after Noel died and looked after you more, but I kept putting you last when I shouldn’t have. I went in your room yesterday and saw the picture hanging on the wall. You’re so talented, and I hate myself for not being someone you could share your creativity with.”

  Her eyes dropped to the carpet. I prayed that I was getting through to her.

  “Are you being honest right now?”

  “Yes. All you wanted was for me and everyone else to acknowledge you, right? Well, you got it, sis. Things will change from now on. I love you, and it’s about time I showed how much.”

  Her lip began to quiver. “This is all so wrong. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I—”

  The Shadow released an ear-splitting screech. It needed to be purged before the Shade Crawlers came running.

  “Mya, you’re strong enough to defeat your demon on your own, I know that. But as your big sister, I’m going to help you like I should’ve been doing all this time.”

  The bright, soothing glow in my hand made the purple mist and negative energy inside the house fade away. A burst of light then released from my palm in the direction of the Shadow, causing it to cry out until it dissolved into nothingness.

  With the demon purged, I grabbed on to Mya and held her tight. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I promise I’ll be here for you. Forever. Whenever you need me.”

  “It’s all I ever wanted.” Her voice returned to normal. “I’m sorry for making this big scene.”

  “It’s okay. We’ll get through it together.”

  The hardest part was over. All that was left to do was inform Mya of what happens next.

  “Mya, when a person’s been influenced by a demon the way you have, I use my light and make them forget everything that happened while they were being manipulated. I am not going to use my power on you. I won’t do it because I want you to remember this, alright? You should never want to be me. Never. You should also never tell anyone about any of this, understand?”

  She sucked her teeth. “I’m not the tattle-tale in this family. You don’t have to worry.”

  I gave her a lopsided smile. For the first time in a long time, we were close. Happy. It was a feeling I never wanted to lose again.

  CHAPTER 21

  The next morning, Mom dropped Mya and I off at the front entrance of the school. After entering, we went our separate ways as she headed toward her class and

  I walked straight to my locker. Inside of it was a mess of old textbooks and random notes from different classes.

  When I finally spotted my mathematics book, I grabbed it and closed my locker when a vibration near my hip alerted me of a text. I took my phone out my pants pocket and viewed the message, seeing the words, Turn around.

  My body rotated and my eyes landed on Lucas walking in my direction. “Morning, babe. How’s everything?”

  “How’s everything?” I retorted back in disbelief. How’d he think it was cool to ignore me for days and then casually ask me that was beyond me. “What the hell, Lucas? You haven’t been answering any of my calls. I would’ve texted you to hang out with me and Tyler yesterday, but I just got my phone back this morning. I was going to come by your house if I didn’t see you in school today.”

  “Sorry,” he placed his hands on my waist, “I didn’t mean to worry you like that. I just haven’t been feeling well is all, but I do have some good news, though. I wanted to keep it a secret until everything was finalized, but now that it is, I’m ready to tell you.”

  “What? What is it?”

  He smiled. “I got signed to Skull Knight Records.”

  My eyes expanded before I squealed and wrapped my arms around his neck. He flinched from my embrace. “Wow, congrats. That happened so fast, I can’t believe it. You’re okay though, right? I felt you jump a little.”

  “Yeah, I’m alright. I was contacted by the label yesterday and signed the contract this morning before I drove here. It all feels like a weird dream, though. I’m excited and scared at the same time.”

  “And that’s normal, trust me. But speaking of weird, do you remember anything that happened two days ago?”

  His lips pressed together and his eyes wandered. When he finally opened his mouth to answer, the echo of the loudspeaker diverted his attention.

  “Aliyah Dawn, please report to the principal’s office. I repeat, Aliyah Dawn, please report to the principal’s office. Immediately.”

  He shrugged. “Looks like you’ve got somewhere to be.”

  “I guess. You’re going to answer my calls and texts now, right?”

  “Yeah, of course. I’ll see you later, babe.”

  I watched him scurry down the hall, my concerns for his well-being overshadowing the nervous feeling of being called to the principal’s office.

  He was hiding something; but what?

  Sitting in the chair across from the principal, I examined the blue room and peered at the different items on the shelves behind him. They ranged from sports bobble heads and certificates, to a golden plate that read “Principal Duncan”.

  “Do you know why I called you in?” he asked, taking out a beige folder from inside his desk.

  “I don’t know, to talk to me about what happened last week?”

  “No. That unfortunate event is what parents and counselors are for. I’m here to talk to you about your education.”

  “I’m not graduating, am I?” I swallowed hard and stared at him. “Just tell me. I’m failing, aren’t I?”

  “Whether you graduate or not is up to you, Miss Dawn. My job is to inform you of what needs to be done so that you can graduate if you so choose to.” He cleared his throat and scanned through the papers on the desk before resuming. “Because you missed almost a month and a half of this semester due to the incident that took place, it looks like you’re going to have to attend a Saturday morning class that’s design to complete older assignments if you want to graduate.”

  Saturday morning school… You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me.

  “Principal Duncan, I’m already having e
nough trouble with the classes I’m taking now. More work is just ridiculous. How am I supposed to do all this?”

  His face contorted as if I had asked a stupid question. “You find time. There’s also the matter of your SAT scores as oppose to your GPA. You did exceptionally well on the test, but your grades throughout senior year have not reflected the high score you received. I also found out from your guidance counselor that you have not chosen any colleges to attend after the summer. Care to explain why you haven’t?”

  I hated talking about the future, maybe because I wasn’t sure what mine would be like, nor did I have any direction to reach a credible one. Even before the demons arrived and preoccupied my time, I could never think of what I wanted to do with my life, not matter how hard I sat and thought about it.

  “I don’t know. I just don’t have any plans at the moment. Sorry if that’s disappointing.”

  He folded his hands on the desk and smiled. “Aliyah, I’ve seen you participate in multiple fundraisers and community service activities in the past. You were such an enthusiastic student and always happy to make a difference. Despite average grades and frequent absences, you were one of the brightest students in Ravenvale High. That’s the Aliyah Dawn I needed this year, but your recent altercation with Candice Santos and your decreasing grades are telling me that she’s not present. Tell me what happened to her.”

  “Life happened.” My answer removed the happy expression off his face. “My brother and my best friend died. Not to mention that making the world a better place has gotten a lot more complicated. I’m still the same girl, just going through new problems.”

  Sighing, I slouched back in the chair before continuing. “But yes, Principal Duncan, I will graduate and further my education. Why? Because I want to be in a higher position to help people. I want them to come to me with their problems and know I actually care about them, especially those who are around my age. Most of us never realize how blessed we are because the media puts so much spotlight on the ones who get lucky. We can’t relate to those privileged teens on TV and social media who supposedly have these unrealistic fortunes, so we get depressed. Angry. And think we’ll never amount to shit.

  That’s not how I want my generation to be, or the next one. So you know what? I’m gonna go to college, hell, maybe some fancy university, and I’m gonna learn all that I can to become someone society can depend on. So there you have it. That’s my end goal.”

  It was almost as if time had stopped when I finished speaking. There was complete silence from both of us until I took a deep breath and exhaled the words, “Oh my God,” in shock.

  He clapped with a wide grin forming on his face. “Well, that wasn’t hard, was it?”

  He was right; it wasn’t. Holy shit. I had spouted out the words of guidance I wanted to find for so long: an actual path in life that didn’t involve demon slaying.

  “There’s the Aliyah I wanted,” he said with a quick fist pump. Maybe he was celebrating a bit too much? “That’s your voice. Use that strong drive to push forward and complete the rest of your senior year. Your parents will be notified in a few days regarding your placement in the Saturday morning courses next week, and I’ll also be setting up a meeting between you and your counsellor to discuss college applications. Sound good to you?”

  “Yeah. Sounds good.”

  I made it my mission to stay focused for the remainder of the school day, swapping any thoughts of demons and Alvin with what was on the board in front of me. How long would my concentration last? I had no idea. All that mattered was improving my grades enough to graduate.

  Halfway into history class, though, a vibration against my thigh brought me out of my studies. I peeked up at the front of the room and made sure the teacher’s attention was elsewhere before taking out my cell. It was a bit disappointing to see a text from Tyler instead of Lucas, but his message left me convulsing with dread.

  She’s here.

  I texted back with haste. Oh no.

  Who?

  An instant reply from Tyler came with one word that made my heart thump in my chest.

  Valeria.

  My body shivered and my hand shook without control, causing my phone to fall on the floor.

  “Are you alright, Aliyah?” the teacher asked in concern. He stood up from his desk and approached me.

  “I-I need to go,” I stuttered, picking up my phone and grabbing my textbook off my desk. The students began to gossip as I stormed out the classroom and headed down the hallway to my locker. After throwing my book inside, I strolled down the contacts in my phone with my shaky finger until I hit Lucas’s number.

  “Please pick up, please pick up,” I kept repeating while walking to the entrance of the school. My body would not stop shaking.

  After countless failed calls and unanswered messages, I decided to text Maylene, who replied after a minute.

  I’ll meet you in front of the school.

  Maylene parked her car outside of Tyler’s house before we both rushed out the vehicle. After walking up the stone porch, we noticed the front door was cracked open.

  “Because this isn’t creepy at all,” she whispered, following me inside. “Clearly you’re not a fan of horror movies, because if you were, you’d know we’re walking into a death trap.”

  “Actually, it’s my favorite genre,” I told her while looking around the dim and quiet living room. The sound of muffled voices swayed my attention upstairs. With every step I took up to Tyler’s room, the nervousness causing my body to shudder increased.

  Standing outside his room door, I could hear the familiarity of a feminine voice inside. Full of apprehension, I turned the knob and opened it to see two individuals sitting on a bed, one of whom sat up and gazed into my eyes.

  Now was not the time to be frozen in disbelief, but I couldn’t help but stand as still as a statue as my breathing increased from the sight of her. Valeria was here. Alive and well.

  Teardrops escaped the corner of my eyes when she embraced me with a hug. “Y-you’re alive,” I managed to say with my breath caught in my throat. My eyes glanced at Tyler sitting at the edge of the bed, who smiled at our joyous reunion.

  “I don’t know what’s going on or what happened to me,” Val cried out. “But I’m so happy to see you.”

  She tightened her arms around me, and I could feel a river of bliss leak onto my shoulder. We continued to rejoice until Maylene’s question brought everyone out of their euphoria.

  “How the hell are you standing here?”

  Everyone snapped their heads at her as she continued. “Your clothes are ripped, and there’s cuts all over your body, but there’s not a speck of dirt on you. We’re supposed to believe you just crawled out of a four-foot grave without getting messy?”

  Her observation was spot on. There was a gash on Valeria’s forehead with similar slits on her arms and torso that were revealed due to the tearing of her shirt. It made me think back to the incident at the hospital, and how Alvin put himself in charge of cleaning up the mess.

  “You’re perfectly normal,” Maylene avowed, gesturing her hand up and down in Valeria’s direction. “Are you sure you even died?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. Did I? All I remember is waking up in a laboratory.”

  Maylene and I turned to each other in shock before looking back at Val. “Did you see where it was located?” Maylene asked.

  “No. I was chased by a bunch of men wearing black lab coats. I found my way out the building and kept running until I reached the city. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t check my surroundings. All I cared about was getting back home to Tyler.”

  I gaped at their romantic gaze while trying to rationalize her rebirth. Not only did it confirm that the virus, or curse, was now strong enough to resurrect the dead, but revealed that Alvin took Val’s body to experiment on her.

  “She can’t stay here.” Maylene shook her head. “She’s putting us all in danger. What do you think’s gonna happen when Alvin an
d his men come looking for their runaway pet project? We’re all getting shot because we’re witnesses of a government experiment gone wrong.”

  Tyler stood up and glowered at her. “Don’t call her that. Who’re you? She’s my girlfriend. I’ll protect her from whatever, and if you got a problem with that, you can get the hell out.”

  Sighing, Maylene tapped my hand and asked, “Can I talk to you alone for a minute?”

  We turned to walk downstairs when someone stepped into the room.

  “V-Valeria?”

  I couldn’t believe he was here. “Lucas?”

  Despite my calling, his attention remained on Valeria. His jaw hung low as he trembled from her presence.

  “This can’t be real. No, get away from her. She’s a demon.”

  Tyler confronted him. “Dude, no she isn’t. This isn’t like what Aliyah told me, alright? She’s normal. She’s actually back this time, man.”

  Lucas’s shaking motion only increased as Val walked closer to him.

  “Lucas, it’s me. I don’t know what happened, but I’m okay.”

  She opened her arms to embrace him, but he declined her invitation and backed against the wall.

  “I-I need to go. I-I can’t do this,” he sputtered before rushing downstairs and out the house. I followed him outside, grabbed his arm, and stepped in front of him.

  “I know none of this makes any sense, but something’s going on with you. I want the truth.”

  He paced back and forth, pushing his fingers through his hair. “I feel like I’m losing my mind.” He flopped down on the bench near Tyler’s porch with his head to the ground. “I don’t know what’s going on anymore. Nothing’s normal, and I don’t know what to do.”

  I sat next to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Talk to me. What is it, Lucas?”

  He looked up at me with a puzzled expression on his face before taking a deep breath. “I’m so overwhelmed. There’s the whole thing with Robyn, the label wants a hit single already, and now this.” He pointed to the front of the house. “And those don’t even compare to my biggest problem.”