A Shadow's Light BK 2 (16 page)

Enrique watched as the soldier turned to them.

“Is there something wrong?” the soldier asked.

Enrique looked to Julie with a scowl. “Actually sir, we think we may have just figured something out that your superiors don’t know.”

Julie yanked her hand away from Enrique’s arm and plopped into a chair as the soldier walked towards them.

“What is it? I need to notify Agent Dawson,” replied the soldier.

“No, we don’t have time,” replied James. “They may move again.”

The soldier stared at James. “What do you mean, again?” he asked.

“That’s just it. That’s the part that I forgot about. Before I left the boy and Alyssa at site number two, she slipped up and made a comment about number three. I think they’ve moved there. Your guys will hit number two and inadvertently signal them that you’re onto their location. You’ll scare them out of the mountains for good.”

“I’ve got to let Dawson know,” replied the soldier as he picked up his two-way.

Enrique quickly gripped the soldiers arm. “No! There is no time.”

The soldier looked down to Enrique’s hand as it held his forearm. “I suggest you remove your hand or I’ll remove it for you.”

Enrique was quick to release. “I’m sorry. It’s just that…”

“What in the hell are you suggesting sir?” interjected the soldier. “That I just stroll in there myself?”

“No, of course not,” replied Enrique as he glanced to James. “The three of us will go.”

The soldier began to laugh. “How in the hell do you expect the three of us to stop something that an entire army has been incapable of denting?”

“I know the kid. He trusts me,” answered Enrique.

Julie watched her husband nervously. “What are you thinking?”

“I think that James and I can just walk up to the site, and they wouldn’t run.”

The soldier smirked. “What, you’re going to get Davis to just turn himself in?”

“No. I’m going to give him some food that is laced with my back pain medication,” answered Enrique, matter-of-factly. “There isn’t anything for them to eat up there, and they’ve surely got to be hungry.”

The soldier began to show interest. “Where do I come in?” he asked.

“We’ll drive up and park a ways away so that they won’t know we’re coming. We’ll head into the site on foot. You wait at the truck, and when he’s out, I’ll carry him to you. It’ll be easy,” answered Enrique with his hands gesturing wildly. “You’ll be a hero.”

*****

Alyssa watched helplessly as Rob’s hazy form stood over Test’s unconscious body. Without Test’s energy, Rob could no longer hold his solid form and began to fade into the backdrop of the cabin.

He turned away from Test and floated to Alyssa. “Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it Alyssa?”

With tears streaming down her face, she looked coldly into his transparent face. “I don’t know what happened, Rob, but I’m sure that you deserved it.” Her voice was timid and wavering, yet stern and damning at the same time.

Rob began to laugh. “You know, this is kind of all your fault.”

Alyssa squinted and leaned away from him as he continued.

“If you would have just been nice to me and Eric, none of this,” he paused for thought. “Well, most of this would have never happened.”

“What, you mean if I would have slept with you?” Her anger was beginning to grow from within her. “Let me tell you something, you son of a….”

She began to choke. The pressure on her throat was immense and suffocating. She reached her arms out to grab her assailant, but touched nothing but air. Rob was no longer visible, but she could still see him in her mind; smiling devilishly while gritting his teeth in a perverse sense of pleasure. She placed her hands on her own neck, frantically trying to free herself. She closed her eyes, unwilling to commit to death, but facing it none the less.

Suddenly, she felt herself released and fell limply to the ground. She devoured the air around her, gasping and coughing with each attempt at a breath. She opened her eyes and focused on a shadow standing before her.

“
You all right, miss?”

“Cliff?” she asked.

Though his voice was inaudible, Alyssa could hear him all the same.

“
That’s a fact. It’s me. You okay?”
he asked.

“What happened?”

“
I’m not an old man anymore,”
he replied with a youthful chuckle.
“He ain’t learned the rules yet. He ain’t been on this side long enough.”

The shadowy outline of Cliff began to change and morph into a figure. Alyssa could now see that Cliff had returned to the image of a younger self. He was still a small man, but his physique was a far cry from the spindly old man that Test knew.

“Where did Rob go?” she asked as she slowly picked herself up from the ground.

“
Don’t worry ‘bout him,”
Cliff replied as he motioned to Test.

“Oh my God!”

Alyssa sprinted to Test’s side. He was unconscious and had a small trickle of blood oozing from a cut on his forehead. She ran her fingers through his hair. “Test?” As her hand reached the top of his head, she felt the moist warmth of blood. “Oh God, Test. Wake up,” she said, gently cupping his face in her hands. Without a reply, she looked over her shoulder to Cliff. “What do I do?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she saw movement on the road. Two figures were approaching slowly.

“Alyssa!” yelled Enrique.

In a burst of tears, Alyssa jumped to her feet. “Help us! He’s hurt! He’s hurt!” she screamed.

Enrique and James began to run towards her. The sight of James came as somewhat of a shock. The hours that passed since she’d last seen him hadn’t made his appearance any different. In fact, he looked worse.

“What happened?” asked Enrique.

Alyssa glanced to James; her tongue tied in knots.

“Alyssa, what happened?” asked Enrique once more.

“Rob was here.” As soon as she’d said the words, she held her breath, instantly realizing what she’d done.

James stared at her, perplexed by her expression. “Alyssa…Rob is dead.”

She stared back at him blankly. A fear that she’d known since childhood suddenly paralyzed her. With great pain, she forced the words to from her lips. “I know,” she replied.

Enrique put his hand on her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get him to the truck.” As he spoke, he looked to James. He knew that he was going to fracture his relationship with his niece, but it was for her own good.

With a gentle nudge, Enrique moved Alyssa from Test’s side. He looked down at the young man with regret, but the regret quickly turned to anger at the thought of such betrayal of trust. Enrique rolled Test’s body, placing his left hand under his shoulders and his right arm in the crook of Test’s knees. With a grunt, he stood up.

The air was silent. No one spoke as they walked down the road. Alyssa walked beside her uncle, rhythmically running her fingers through Test’s blood soaked hair. After a hundred yards, Enrique began to fatigue.

“Call him in,” said Enrique. “I can’t carry him any farther.”

Alyssa looked at Enrique curiously. “Call who in?”

Before she could get an answer, James was on the phone and speaking to someone.

Alyssa stepped in front of James. “Who were you talking to?” she asked.

James looked to Enrique, hoping for guidance to keep from answering the question. He looked back to Alyssa and opened his mouth, but before he was able to speak, the sound of tires sliding on a dirt road grew in intensity.

Alyssa looked to her right to see one of Enrique’s trucks speeding up the road. “Who’s in there?” she asked nervously.

Neither Enrique nor James provided an answer. The both of them stared down the road with a grim expression.

“Who’s in that truck?” yelled Alyssa as she pushed James.

“It’s for your own good!” shouted Enrique. “He’s a damned freak; a murderer! I won’t let you ruin your life!”

She turned to her uncle with tears in her eyes and ferocity in her voice. “What have you done?” she asked. “What have you done?”

The truck came to a sliding stop ten feet from where they were standing. Before the dust had a chance to settle, the soldier jumped from the vehicle and ran to them.

“That was fast,” he said. He then noticed the blood. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” replied Enrique as he handed Test’s limp body to the soldier. “Here’s your fugitive. Go be the damn hero.”

As Enrique stepped away from the soldier, Alyssa jumped in front of him. “You asshole!” she exclaimed as she slapped his face.

Enrique grabbed her wrists and held her firmly. “I know you’re upset, and I don’t blame you. But I’m not going to let you hit me again, is that understood, young lady?”

Without so much as a thought, Alyssa spat in his face.

At the limit of his patience, Enrique grabbed her arm and led her to the truck. “That’ll be enough of that! I’m taking you home.”

Alyssa dragged the tip of her toes with each step, making her uncle work as hard as possible. He was much stronger than she was, and she knew better than to fight too much, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t make it difficult. She watched as James let down the tailgate, and then the soldier gently rested Test’s body on it. James jumped up into the bed, and lifting under Test’s arms, dragged him into the bed of the truck.

“Get in, Alyssa.”

She turned to see Enrique holding open the passenger door. Without a word she climbed into the truck, stuck between her uncle and the soldier. As the truck began to move, Alyssa heard a voice.

“Don’t worry, miss. I’ll stay with him.”

Chapter 19

He awoke to a darkness and pain like he had never felt before. He became aware of the cold, hard surface on his bare back, and the aching in his head was overshadowed only by the fog of semi-consciousness. His body felt like it weighed the equivalent of a tank, and as he tried to lift his arms, he felt the straps that held them down.

Mentally searching his body, he realized that his arms were not the only thing restrained. Both of his legs, as well as his forehead and torso, were immobile. He strained to open his eyes, and after several moments he was able to peer through a blurry slit. His only view was that of a bank of spotlights that shown down brightly upon him. His eyes felt pressurized, and he struggled to remember his last moments of consciousness. The recollection of the beating he took came back to him with a rush of fear. He hadn’t ever felt as helpless as he had then—until now.

The room was alive with the buzz of electricity, and the white noise blared like a siren in his ears. He began to struggle, but the constriction upon him was tight. The frustration within him grew, and he focused to light the energy within. Nothing happened. His mind drifted wildly, unable to focus on the task at hand.

“Focus,” he said to himself.

His voice echoed around the room. Once more, he strained to ignite his powers, but as before, the fire was gone.

Suddenly, he was overcome with a wave of dizziness as the room seemed to rock back and forth. The nausea it caused forced him to take deep breaths to avoid vomiting.

“Hello?” he asked desperately. “Cliff? Are you there?” He was taken aback by the slurring of his words. “Is there anyone there? Where am I?”

Breaking the steady electric hum was the sound of a door opening, and then closing.

“Hello, Mr. Davis.”

“Who’s there?” he asked, attempting to turn his head in the direction of the voice.

A second voice whispered inaudibly to the first.

“Where am I?” asked Test once again.

“My name is Agent Dawson,” replied the first voice.

“What do you want with me?”

Dawson replied with a sinister laugh. “The question isn’t what do I want with you, it’s more what you can do for me.” Agent Dawson’s voice moved around him as he spoke. “How are you feeling?”

Fighting off the continual urge to vomit, Test replied. “I’m dizzy.”

Dawson chuckled. “That would be the fresh dose of sedative kicking in. You need your rest, Mr. Davis. You’ve been through quite a lot.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m the one you’ve been hiding from for the last year.”

Test’s heart stopped.

“You are, how should I say this…unique, Mr. Davis. Your powers pose a severe threat to the general public; to the world, really.”

“I wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Test replied.

Test could here Dawson take a deep breath.

“Wouldn’t you? Mr. Davis, do you forget the armory in Lincoln; the soldiers that you killed there?”

“They were…”

“And what about Robert Mills? Surely you remember killing him? That was just a short time ago.”

Test struggled beneath the straps. “It was self defense! If everyone would just leave me alone, none of this would have ever happened!”

“I don’t believe you,” replied Dawson as he slammed his fist on the table where Test lay. “Professor,” his voice faded away from Test. “I think you’d better increase the sedative a touch. We can’t have Mr. Davis getting
too
worked up; now can we, Mr. Davis?”

Test heard a couple of clicking sounds, and then yet another wave of dizziness hit him. His body felt so heavy now that breathing was difficult. Test felt Dawson’s touch on his fists.

“Speaking of getting worked up, how are your powers working for you?” asked the second voice in a thick Russian accent.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Professor Gusyeva. Please answer my question, young man. How are your powers working for you?”

“If you’re able to ask, then you know the answer,” replied Test.

Test couldn’t be sure if he had actually said the words aloud. He held his eyes closed tightly. The room was spinning so violently that all he could do was hope to pass out.

“So, is it true?” asked the Professor.

“Is what true?”

“You don’t know how your powers work; their origins?”

Test couldn’t answer. The word origins echoed through his mind as his last bit of focus faded.

Dawson quickly turned to the Professor. “You gave him too much. Juice him back up a little.”