by T R Tells
“What the hell is that!” Alessander yelled from behind me. I turned around to see Alessander standing at the doorway with his jaw slack, and I moved toward him, away from Veronica.
I’d forgotten he was able to see his own version of it.
“Where’s the baby? I thought something was coming out.”
“That’s not all. I think an Umbra Shade, with all of Veronica’s pent-up negativity, is coming out of her as well.”
Veronica screamed at the top of her lungs and grabbed the base of her stomach.
The elongated tendrils of the Umbra Shade gripped onto the ground as it slowly slithered its black, oozing body from out of her. This Umbra Shade was different, it looked like it was wearing a white mask with hollowed-out eyes and a gaping mouth.
“Alessander, I’m going to need you to grab Veronica and call 911 and help her with the rest of the pregnancy. I’m going to have to fight this Umbra Shade,” I said, my attention focused on the creature. Its elongated neck was already reaching out from inside of Veronica, and it stretched its hollowed-out mouth for me to see razor-sharp fangs.
I manifested my chain whip to appear, and gripped onto the handle.
“What? I’m not leaving you here alone to fight that thing!”
I turned to him with what I hope was a stern look on my face. “I’m sorry, Alessander, but I’m not asking. I’ll be fine, but I need to know that both of you will be safe.”
Alessander gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists.
“Please, Alessander.”
“Okay, I will.”
I nodded, thankful we didn’t have to go back and forth because the Umbra Shade had come entirely out of her body on four legs like a lizard. It wasn’t big, around five feet, but when it stretched its neck to the roof of the ceiling, the creature could have been as tall as six feet.
“Now!”
Alessander dove for Veronica with lightning speed. The Umbra Shade turned to look at Alessander and lifted its talons to swipe at him.
“Not today, you aren’t!” I brought my arm back, and the whip struck the beast, wrapping around the length of its tentacle. I pulled it as it shrieked in pain and watched Alessander scoop Veronica in his arms and rush back inside the house.
While I was distracted, I hadn’t expected the monster to surprise me, and I caught a black blur from the corner of my eye.
The creature had grown a thick rooted tail, and it collided with my body, throwing me into the screen door where I crashed outside. A sharp pain erupted up my backside. I gasped from the blow.
Oh, shit.
It was like being hit head-on by a truck. I wasn’t sure how long my healing factor could play a role in keeping me alive.
The four-legged Umbra Shade slithered through the doorway by slimming its exterior down so it wouldn’t bust through the door. I slowly got to my feet, holding my side, with my whip in my other hand. I could see the steam from my breath as I raggedly exhaled to regain my strength.
How much longer would I be able to make it?
Keep calm and think, Hira! You fought things worse than this, it doesn’t even have—
Before I could finish my train of thought, I saw the smoky red aura swarming around its legs.
Shit.
I didn’t know all of what Veronica had endured, but she had this negativity for most of her life. This is what it’s like for someone who can’t find their way through the dark. They were let down by society without anyone to guide them. I didn’t know anything about the cult or ‘Father’ as a whole, but they accepted outcasts—and all their flaws—when society deemed them nothing more than trash. What else were they supposed to do but to follow into the darkness when that was the only thing there for them?
“...Somehow I had to reach their heart and ease a path for them to climb out of the hole, if they chose to do it.”
From the corner of my eye, there wasn’t anyone nearby, so it wasn’t likely anyone would get in harm’s way.
Their tendril arm shot out at me, and I narrowly managed to dodge it, tucking and rolling off to the side. The Umbra Shade was on the lawn, screeching at me through its large exposed razor-sharp teeth.
“Come and get me, Ugly!”
It shrieked at me, and again, shot out a tendril arm. I rolled out of the way and started to go around in circles, running and dodging.
I gasped and wheezed, the sharp twinge in my side made my movements sluggish, and my feet were getting heavier, like I was being dragged through quicksand. I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to dodge or summon weapons in my current state.
A tentacle arm came out from my line of vision. I tried to tuck and roll, but I hadn’t anticipated that it would grab me by the ankle. I was far too weak to evade its movements, andI fell to the ground with a thud, biting my tongue, tasting the bitter copper of my blood.
I laid face-first in the cold snow, but my movements were stiff and unresponsive.
“Hira!”
I thought I heard Alessander, and I tried hard to get up, but my arms were like lead.
Get up, get up, damn it!
My eyes burned, but it was the only thing I could do. I had given my all and came so far, only to die in the cold.
“Then maybe it’s for the best…” a voice called into my thoughts.
Elsaf?
I didn’t appear in the blue and checkered room like before. I was still in the real world, able to hear the distant sound of dogs barking and cars driving in the distance. I was in my own state of mind now.
“You’ve been going back and forth, debating ‘what you should do,’ ‘if you are worthy,’ or ‘if what you are doing is enough’.”
I wish I could have the strength to grunt, but my ribcage hurt too much.
“Here’s a welcome tip for you, Hira. Fear and doubt make you a stronger person. Stop your questioning about the right thing, good or evil. See the bigger picture, haven’t you figured it out already? There’s always good and evil in every person, but it’s how you utilize and balance it that matters. It’s how you can reach to the heart of the person... Remember why you are doing this and what you are fighting for. So, what are you going to do?”
The strength in my arms had somehow returned, and I pushed myself from the ground without struggling. The pain that I had received before was no longer present, and whether it was the adrenaline high or my healing factor, I wasn’t sure.
I could feel the burning heat coursing through my body, and when I looked down at my hands, I noticed a bright blue and white aura surrounding them.
The balance of the heart… good or evil… we all had it. We were all flawed in some way, but it was how we went through our day to day life, how we expressed it.
I could see the Umbra Shade was heading back toward the house where Veronica was, where Alessander was.
My family, my friends, and those who were wrongly slapped around with no one to defend them or stand beside them. People who had already chosen darkness because no one was there for them and were forced to take that path.
My palms tingled, and a hard, firm surfaced materialized in my hands. In my hand was a staff with a bladed scythe glimmering blue light at the end.
I charged headfirst toward the Umbra Shade, and as if sensed me, it turned around, but not before I slashed the scythe through the air, and a gold-illuminated light hit directly into the chest of the Umbra Shade’s heart.
It screeched and thrashed for a moment before exploding into a thick black mass.
I released the scythe and dropped to my knees, exhausted, but not before I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window before it returned to normal.
My hair and eyes had turned into a fiery shade of blue.
I had picked my feet off the ground and trudged back inside of the house, walking past the broken screen door. I wasn’t sure how we would explain to Alessander’s parents what had happened. Ambulance sirens could be heard in the distance. I had hoped that things were okay with Veron
ica and wondered if the pregnancy had gone well.
I trudged back into the living room when the back of my neck tingled, and afterward, I saw Alessander rushing down the steps with something in his arms.
“Hira, you’re alright!” Alessander exclaimed, and he wrapped one arm around my neck and pulled me closer.
I flinched and gritted my teeth; apparently, not all of me was healed.
“Ouch, sorry. I’m still a bit sore.”
Alessander apologized, concern on his face.
“I don’t even know where to begin, but your hair looked like it was on fire.”
I nodded, still not believing it myself. “I know, I don’t know what it is, an extension of my power, maybe… Where’s Veronica? And… the baby?”
Alessander’s eyes widened. He looked down at the bundle of towels that were soaked with blood.
Looking down at the towels, I knew for a fact that this baby was the result. I removed the towel to reveal a baby with pale brownish complexion. Their hair was a bronze color to match Veronica’s, but it was their eyes that made my breath catch in my throat.
The ambulance sirens were louder, directly outside. Alessander had said something inaudible I didn’t catch and handed the bundled baby in my arms. It didn’t holler, and it didn’t scream, but it squirmed in my arms as if it could sense Alessander’s presence was gone. It stared at me with a dark look in its crimson and black eyes that no mere child—or human—could hold, like an Umbra Shade.
A chill traveled down the length of my spine. The force in my stomach didn’t just flip, it was like a heavyweight had dropped and crashed in my gut.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Are you sure about this, Hira?” Helene asked me over the phone. It was Thursday night, a few days after the fight with Veronica’s Shade. “You were just in a fight. You shouldn’t push yourself.”
I gripped my phone in my hand and shook my head. I couldn’t let this keep going, nor could I be afraid of what might come next.
“I’ll be fine, Helene. This is important, and it’s something we need to do to make sure Alina is out of the picture. She can’t be free to roam and terrorize other Awakeners, I won’t let her.”
There was silence for a moment until she hummed.
“Alright, if you say so… When do you want to end this?”
“Early Saturday, as soon as possible. I’ll be sure to send a message to Agent Newman; can you do the same with Wally?”
“Of course... and Hira?”
“Yeah?”
“We will end this.”
I nodded, sensing the strength and determination from my friend even through the phone.
… Once and for all.
***
“...Okay, Wally said he’ll be here soon,” Helene confirmed and put her phone back in her pocket. She turned to look at me. “Are you ready?”
It was still dark, despite it being a quarter to six. Helene picked me up after I snuck out of the house, and we drove to the Omega’s Institute lab. Following Wally’s directions, we found the lab an hour from the city; where we parked by the piers.
I turned to her. “And what about you?”
She raised her brow. “What do you mean? I’ve been with you thus far, why would I leave you now? We have to stop this lunatic scientist from experimenting on other potential Awakeners. Plus, I don’t plan on dying tonight. You?”
I grinned. Oh, she knew me so well.
We bumped our fists together. I opened my palms in an exploding manner and Helene snorted.
“What the hell was that?”
“What? I thought we could have some kind of secret handshake, like you see in the movies.”
She gritted her teeth together, cringing.
“Yikes. Don’t ever do that again.”
The sound of squeaking and tiny feet made me turn to the window, where I noticed a rat climbing up the side of the car. I tapped Helene’s shoulder and pointed to the rodent.
She looked out the rearview mirror and aligned it so we could see a gray van wasn’t there previously.
“Let’s get this show on the road.”
We got out of the car and headed for the van where Wally was waiting for us. Helene got in the front seat, since they knew what I looked like, and I slid open the side door to saddle in the backseat. I couldn’t see Wally’s face from the backseat, but his shoulders were hunched over.
“Wally?” I asked, leaning forward so I could get a good look at him. “Are you alright with this?”
Wally turned to me and moved his hair away from his eyes. He looked unsure of himself. The last thing I wanted to do was make someone do something they weren’t comfortable doing.
“I’m quite alright, thank you. I guess it’s just nerves, that’s all. I’m not as astute as you two are.”
“And you know we aren’t making you do this, Wally,” Helene said, reaching out to take his arm.
Wally pushed his glasses on his nose and smiled, nodding.
“I know. I want to help in some kind of way. So whenever you guys are ready, my friends and I are, too.”
Helene and I gave one another a side-eyed glance, nodding in silent code.
“Okay, time for Phase 1,” I said and the three of us hunched close together.
The plan would be simple. Wally was able to get inside of the building because his father, Wilfred Wolfram, worked for Omega—it didn’t even matter whose side he was on because Alina was so hungry for people with abilities that she would believe anything.
“What are you doing here, son?” a security guard said when Wally drove up to the front gates. I was behind the driver’s chair listening to the conversation. I could see the reinforced steel compound of Omega’s lab.
“My name is Wallace Wolfram, my father is—”
“Yeah, I know who you are. You’re going to need to turn back around or else you won’t like what happens next, kid.”
I could feel the driver’s seat shift as Wally moved around.
“And you won’t like what happens when Alina Mulgrave finds out you turned away someone who has found a Deviant.”
Just as we practiced, Wally lifted up Helene’s hands that were loosely bound by a rope. She made a great show to jerk her arms and furrow her brows in anger. I would have to tell her that she should go into acting when this was all over.
“He’s walking,” Helene whispered so I could hear. “Now he’s unlocking the gates.”
Like she said, the gates made a rickety nose as they opened and Wally drove forward.
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh my gosh, that was a close one. You two are pretty good.”
Helene grinned and removed the bindings from her wrists. “You said we could find the main lab where she’s holding the prisoners if we go to the back?”
I leaned forward so I could take in the large compound lab that had Omega Institute in bold red letters on the side. The facility covered most of the pier, and if we didn’t have Wally with us as a guide we probably wouldn’t know where to go.
“The blueprints are in the glove compartment,” Wally said. Helene pulled out a large paper and unfolded it, handing it to me. “I’ll drop you off in the back while we head to the front, since they’ll be waiting for us.”
“Are you sure you got this?” Helene asked, turning around in her seat.
I handed the paper back after getting a good layout of the place.
“Alina and I have a score to settle. You just get to me when you finish what you’re doing.”
Helene grinned from ear to ear. “If she doesn’t have her cronies buffed up on some Awakener juice, this will only take five minutes.”
We drove behind the back of the lab where there were several silver Omega vans to the side next to two dumpsters. I started to open the door but Wally stopped me. He gestured to the side of the metal wall.
I looked out the window and saw a camera swiveling from side to side.
Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.
“Let me do the rest,” Wally said.
Helene and I waited until we saw a mischief of rats, with their long tails trailing after, headed for the metal grate of the door. I could see that Wally was heavily concentrated on them as they started to collectively climb on one another like a ladder toward the camera.
I stared in awe as the rats worked together and started to chew into the wires until the camera stopped swiveling.
“That was amazing,” I exclaimed.
Wally nodded and removed his glasses, wiping them on his shirt. “I can send them through the air vents and they’ll be able to take out the central computers and alarms so you won’t be detected.”
“Are you going to be okay, Wally?” Helene asked, taking his shoulder in her hand.
I frowned and peered at how sweaty and pale Wally had gotten.
“I’m quite fine. I haven’t done too much of this so it’ll exert me some. I should be okay to control them through the grates, though. No need to worry about me.”
I pursed my lips together and gave Wally a one armed. His body stiffened in my hold, but relaxed after a moment.
“Here, you’ll need this,” he said and reached for the glove compartment to take an ID card out. He handed it to me.
“Thanks Wally. And good luck, you two.”
I let Wally go so I could exit the van. I headed for the steel door as Wally and Helene drove off to head to the front of the lab.
I swiped the ID card on the metal scanner and the door beeped, turning green. I pulled the handle and stepped into the long white hallway. From the corner of my eye, I saw a few rats run up beside me and climb the side of the walls. I assumed Wally must have left a few rats behind, just in case.
I’m coming for you, Alina.
I ran down the long hallways, the sound of my feet clopping echoed behind me. There were several doors without any windows for me to see inside, but if I remembered correctly, the lab where Alina was located and holding people hostage was close by. Above me I could hear the scampering of feet from inside of the grates and knew I wouldn’t have to worry about the cameras or alarm catching me.
