A Shadow's Light BK 2 (12 page)

“What’s going on?” he asked forcefully.

As he waited for her answer, Alyssa cocked her head to the side. As if speaking to herself, she whispered the question “What are they doing here?” She nodded her head slowly, angling it slightly to the side.

“Why?” she asked blankly.

“Are you talking to me?” asked Test.

She turned to him sharply as if she’d forgotten he was there. “No,” she replied abruptly. “We have to leave.” Her words came with an urgency and passion that escaped Test’s ears.

“Are you going to answer me?” he asked.

“We can talk later. Right now we need to disappear.”

Test surveyed the area. They were surrounded on two sides by privacy fence. Behind the fence to their side was another building, behind them the lot overgrown with trees. He took her hand commandingly and began toward the empty lot. With only a few steps to go, he became aware of voices yelling from the front of the motel. A wave of panic struck him and the power from within erupted. The intensity of the energy surging through him shattered the darkness of the night.

Alyssa pulled away in fear, the display beautiful yet tragically hideous at the same time. As she rocked back on her heels, Test quickly grabbed her and wrapped one arm around her tightly. Before she could react, they were thrust into the air with great force. Within a blinks worth of time they had landed on rock laden earth. She clung to him tightly, the warmth of his body almost more than she could stand.

“Are you okay?”

She felt the vibration of the words ripple through his chest before they reached her ears. Reluctantly, she released her grip and separated herself from him. As she backed away, she realized that the fear was gone. She eyed every inch of him, as if he were a work of art. The pulsing colors began to slow in frequency and intensity; each exhale produced a cloud of breath that seemed to release the energy within. What had been a fine mist falling to the earth had now become a steady rain, causing steam to lift wistfully from his skin.

Test walked to her, and gently pinched her hair between his thumb and index finger. “Are you okay?” he asked again, this time much more softly.

“Yes.” There was a long pause as she didn’t want to do anything but look at him. “Are you?”

The look on his face was tragic and her heart ached for him. “Every thing will be okay, Cha…” She looked to the ground shamefully.

He could see her shame, but now overwhelmed with the destruction of his world, he didn’t possess the strength or energy to comfort her. “What do I do now?” he asked.

She glared up sharply. “You mean what do
we
do?”

“This is no game, Alyssa. I have been down this road. Hell is coming.”

His eyes blazed with a fiery intensity that drew her in like a moth to a light in the darkness. She stepped to him, her breath now visible in the cool night air as well. Before she could speak, the sound of dogs barking nearby caught her attention.

Test turned quickly and watched the back of the motel. In the faint and hazy distance, he could see lights and movement. Suddenly, he heard Alyssa’s voice speak another’s words.

“
Come on, son. Settle down and use your head
.” With eyes closed, her lips curled into a sweet smile. “
You know where you can go. Ain’t no sense in goin’ there alone neither
.” She opened her eyes and looked at him proudly. With a wink she held out her hand.

Test reached out to her dumbfounded. He knew exactly what to do and exactly where to go. A sudden sense of peace overtook him as Alyssa’s hand formed into his.

With the sound of dogs coming ever closer, he pulled her into him, grasping her firmly around the waist with one arm. As droplet of rain began to roll down his chin, he looked down upon her and smiled cautiously. “Hold on tight. It’s been a while since I’ve given anyone a ride.”

Instantly she wrapped both arms around him and squeezed tightly, her nails digging into his flesh. With a last look towards the motel, he put his free palm to the ground and pulsed into the sky.

Chapter 14

The sun came through the skylight and the shadows of the leaves freckled the hardwood floor. Test hadn’t slept all night. He had chosen one of the cabins that his crew had finished just a couple of weeks prior as his hideout. His only clothing a pair of sweat pants, he stared shivering out the kitchen window into the forest. While he realized that this spot was better than his hideout in Lincoln, this fact brought him little, if any, comfort.

Alyssa slept peacefully on the floor, her head resting only on her arms. Her wet clothing clung tightly to her feminine form, while her hair was draped loosely over her face.

Judging by the amount of light in the forest, Test guessed at the time to be somewhere around nine o’clock. He craved a cup of hot coffee. How he wished that he could just go home. He missed the simple pleasures that he once enjoyed. Smiling to himself, he reminisced of goofing off with Mark. He wondered thoughtfully what had become of him. Had he returned to being the happy go lucky guy that he was before?

He thought about his mother. He was no closer to being able to help her now than he was a year ago.

And what of Nicole? He so hoped that she was happy. He was surprised that the thought of her didn’t bring him pain like it normally did.

He turned to Alyssa and admired her as she slept peacefully on the floor. He felt a covey of emotion rush through him, his core warmed by her presence. What an amazing gift she had been given. He recalled a phrase that his mother would always repeat to him…before she had changed paths.

“
God works in mysterious ways.”

It was something that he hadn’t thought of in years. He found it strange that in the present state of affairs this phrase would return to him. He and his mother used to attend church when he was younger, but when she began to slide into self destruction, he abandoned religion. He felt as though he was being punished unjustly and was confused as to how God could let these things happen to him. Suddenly he was overwhelmed with the urge to say a prayer. He turned back to the window and folded his hands.

“God…,” he began. “I don’t know what to do.” He suddenly struggled to swallow the lump that had settled in his throat. “Why is this happening? What did I do to deserve this?” His eyes began to well with emotion. “I guess it doesn’t matter,” he said in a self defeating tone. “Please don’t let anything happen to Alyssa? Punish me if you have to, but please, keep her safe.”

Startled, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Alyssa standing behind him. “Why do you think you are being punished?” she asked purposefully.

With a tear rolling down his face, he looked at her with a furrowed brow. “You can’t be serious?”

“No,
you
can’t be serious.” As she spoke she turned him towards her. “You have been given one of the greatest gifts imaginable.”

“How can you say that? I have been taken away from my mother, my home, my friends…,” his volume increased with each word. “Everything that I had, which wasn’t much to begin with, has been stolen from me! I am only eighteen years old and I feel like my life is destined to be traumatic and short!
What a great fucking gift!
” He walked away from her, fiercely pacing the length of the room.

She watched helplessly as the anger built within him. “None of this is your fault…none of it.”

He stopped and stared at her silently.

“You have been given a gift, just like I have.” Her voice began to quiver. “Do you think that I haven’t had to ‘hide’ every day of my life? Do you think I walk up to everyone that I know and tell them that I have a ‘gift’?” She took two heavy steps towards him. “You are amazingly beautiful, and if you can’t accept that maybe you were put here for a reason, and given your gifts for a purpose, then yes, maybe your life
is
destined to be traumatic and short!” Her words came out with such force that her breath had been exhausted. With a final glare, she turned and walked out the front door.

Test felt his blood flowing fiercely through his veins. The light switch had been flipped, and as usual, he was unable to let go of his anger.

“
Boy, you are a fool!”

Cliff’s voice echoed through his head. Startled, he spun in circles, looking around the room, expecting his friend to be standing beside him. He saw nothing. He waited a couple of moments for the voice to return.

“Cliff?” he asked. “Are you here?” Once again he heard nothing, and dropped his head in disappointment.

With a deep sigh he looked to the partially opened front door. He could see Alyssa’s shadow falling into the doorway and stepped quietly towards her. She sat on the porch with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were locked in a scowl as she stared blankly into the stand of trees beyond the cabin. As he attempted to open the door unnoticed, the hinges creaked ever so slightly causing her to spin ninety degrees.

Alyssa crossed her legs, stood up directly from the position, and walked to the porch railing. With her hands resting on the still green wood, she replied. “You know Test; you are the first person that I’ve ever told.”

With her back to him, Test couldn’t see the emotion on her face, but he could sense it in her voice.

“There was a time when
I
was angry. I couldn’t imagine living my life while dealing with things that no child should ever have to experience.” She turned towards him and leaned back on the railing. “Then one day something happened that changed the way I thought of my gift.”

Test walked towards her, the tears streaming down her face stabbing at his heart. He reached out for her.

“Stop,” she spoke sharply as she lifted her palm to him. “Let me finish.” Taking a deep breath, she continued. “It was my freshman year of high school, and I was sitting in last period taking notes. It was just like any other day.” She began to sob, her speaking had become labored. “It was just like any other day. I’d spent the entire day worrying about being asked to a dance; worried one minute that someone would ask me and then the very next, worried about what I’d do if someone did.” She paused as she wiped the tears from under her eyes. “And then my parents walked into the room.” She hid her face in her hands for a moment, and then quickly pulled her hair behind her ears. She continued to wipe the tears from under her eyes as she faced him, but let her eyes focus to the opened door behind him.

He was unsure of what she was saying, but was fearful of asking a question. He reached out to her and caressed her cheek softly. “Why did your parents come to your class?” he asked timidly.

Alyssa smiled at his innocence. “They came to tell me they were sorry.” A silence overtook the forest. There were no birds chirping or leaves rustling. “My parents came to tell me that they were sorry…sorry for leaving me.” She forced herself to look him in the eye. “My parents were killed on their way to pick me up from school.”

Test was paralyzed as her forehead dropped to his chest. He reached his arms around her and held her mercifully. “I am so sorry, Alyssa. You didn’t deserve that.”

She quickly pulled her head away from his chest. “You don’t understand. That was when I became grateful for my gift.” A smile appeared through the tears. “I got to say goodbye.”

The ignorance that he’d displayed became glaringly apparent. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back. He could feel her palms on his chest, her touch a comfort in and of itself.

“Now do you understand?” she asked. “You have a wonderful gift. One day you will realize why you are the way you are. Until then…embrace it.”

He suddenly felt powerful. He opened his eyes and looked at the leaves as they sparkled in the rays of sunlight. “Thank you,” he whispered. He dropped his head, bringing his lips within an inch of hers. “Thank you,” he whispered once more.

Unconsciously he leaned into her and kissed her passionately, running his hand through her hair and holding the back of her head firmly. With a soft finale, their lips parted and he rested his forehead on hers.

“Now
you
don’t understand,” he replied as he brushed a stray hair from her face. “
You
are my gift.”

She reached for his lips once more, but was alerted by the sound of an engine in the distance. She turned to the road, but could see nothing. Only a quarter of a mile stretch was visible before the bend in the road disappeared behind a wall of trees.

With his gaze still locked on Alyssa, Test launched into the air, splintering the deck beneath him. He stopped a couple of hundred feet in the air and could see the dust trails of a vehicle floating in the winding void that was the road. He looked back to the earth to see Alyssa still standing in the doorway, her neck arched unnaturally as she watched him. As suddenly as he had departed, he let himself drop back to the ground, landing in the new dirt with a thud just in front of the deck.

Alyssa had watched the event as if it were in slow motion. The force of his take off had absolutely no effect on the expression of his face, and neither did the landing. She watched as he lifted his hand, the brilliant red glow nearly blinding, and she suddenly felt a pressure around her waist. Her feet left the ground by several inches and she found herself being carried backwards. As she cleared the doorway, the door was slammed shut.