by E Kathryn
Mark awed at the daunting subjects Kip was eager to learn, but it seemed quite normal for Shadows to pick up subjects with interest like Kip. Something that annoyed Mark was that Kip claimed he was any smarter than a normal human; he was just more eager. And he only read and studied what caught his eyes or pertained to his Shadow.
Mark glanced at the clock above the elevator and noted they had been talking long into the morning, and it was now almost midday. A few minutes later, the elevator opened, and Kimberly exited. “Sil, will you come with me? I’d like to change your bandages,” she stated in a way that didn’t seem like it was directed at Sil.
Begrudgingly, Sil put down his hand project, protecting the needle and the stitches from slipping and he left, shooting a hateful glance at Mark for staring at him. It was only a few short steps, but Sil intentionally prolonged them, so when he and Kimberly were gone, Mark exhaled a sigh of relief.
Sil clenched his fist tightly with ice forming over it as he followed Kimberly downstairs to the infirmary. They took the walk leisurely and Sil’s thoughts wandered to Emilie. He honestly didn’t know why those thoughts were present. She intrigued him, he guessed. She was powerful and interesting to him. She wasn’t deterred by his act, and she seemed to genuinely be interested in him as well. He figured he was probably worried because she was much more volatile alone than when they were together.
They entered the infirmary silently and Sil scanned the room warily. The large, low bed against the wall was comfortable and still unmade, and the table-like bed, which he himself had spent time on stood in the center of the room crisp and neat. The room was divided by a half-wall separating the front of the room from the living area with a bookcase, box television, coffee table, and a couch he couldn’t see from where he was. On the other side of the room, there was a kitchenette area and cabinets containing medicines, serums, and supplies.
Sil sat on the table-like bed and watched as Kimberly opened a cabinet to take out light gauze for his burns. “I keep expecting him to be here, excited to see me,” he sighed, staring at the wrinkled sheets Kimberly often slept in, even still.
Kimberly paused in her motion. “Yeah… you’re not the only one. Cesc is in denial that he’s actually gone and keeps coming here to see him.”
Sil looked at the floor and grimaced. “I remember when I first met him…” He cursed mildly. “He annoyed me, but he was kind and kept my mind off the pain.”
Kimberly smiled, coming to him. “Now stop thinking about that. You’re all healed up, and this is nothing compared to last time,” she encouraged as she began unraveling the gauze.
Shaking his head, Sil batted her hand away at first and flared his eyes at her. “Don’t talk to me like I’m a patient,” he threatened. Kimberly reeled away holding her wrist and seeing how the ice was forming on it when Sil touched her. Sil closed his eyes to fight the grief. “He was my friend,” Sil stated firmly. “I don’t want to think of him as dead. I don’t want to think of that time either. It’s passed, it’s over.”
The ice relinquished from Kimberly and she lowered her hands to Sil cautiously. “Sil…” she said, “among the few people you would admit to being friends with, it makes me so happy you’ve chosen him.”
Sil’s eyes became cold and his skin appeared slightly blue. “Stop it! It’s over!” he demanded. He lowered his hands only to let Kimberly clean his burns and re-bandage them. “I was trying to be pleasant, not nostalgic,” he finished.
Kimberly fell silent before him. Conversation would do nothing to improve Sil’s attitude. She did as he wanted and cleaned his burns without a word. She removed the gauze on the worst of the damage; however, Sil brushed away her hand, proceeding to lay a light layer of frost over the burns, cooling them and soothing them deeply.
When the layer of frost melted, Kimberly set a layer of medicine coated netting over the burns to help them heal, then set the new gauze and realized something she didn’t point out.
The burns were warm. Kimberly hid a faint smile, underneath that cold exterior, somehow, Sil had a warm heart. He might have lacked the kindness, but Sil was still amazing to her.
“Would you like me to take a look at your other scars?” She offered gently, knowing Sil probably wouldn’t and as she suspected he scowled. Sil’s torso was sliced with old raised scars he’d been given when he was very young. She knew they still bothered him, but he’d never admit that.
As Kimberly finished, Sil got up of his own accord and headed back to the room, leaving her in the infirmary alone. Kimberly looked around the room as always and strode about in the living area.
Nostalgic, she sat on the floor in front of a CD player and pressed play on the disk. Soft classical music resonated from the old device. A tempest of hurt welled up inside her. She really couldn’t let go.
In the bookshelf beside her, she gazed at all the books that he used to read to learn and entertain himself. Trembling, she reached out and took a book, opening it briefly, tears flowing over her eyes and she couldn’t see to read. She gripped the book, crying, mourning, and missing the lost child of hers. “He loved reading!” she sobbed on the floor. “Why couldn’t I save him?” she cried out on the floor hugging the book.
She felt a hand placed on her shoulder and she jumped, looking up, expecting it to be him or his ghost to comfort her, but it was Keller. Gently, he knelt with her on the floor and wrapped his arms around her as if she were a child. “Kimberly…” he whispered, “I told you, you have to let go.”
Kimberly laid her head on his arm with tears in her eyes. “How can I?” she wheezed in a jumpy, uneven voice. “I promised him I wouldn’t let him die!”
Keller grabbed her shoulders and turned her face to his. “Kimberly…” She tensed when she saw his face, he was already broken, and certainly not as impervious to the pain as she thought he was. “It’s been almost ten months. You need to let go. He’s gone.” Keller’s eyes were full of tears, but his voice remained strong as he embraced Kimberly in grief, which she would not forget.
IX
COMPETITION AND CLUES
Sil exited the elevator with fluid movements, not rigid like one would think ice to be. And upon his return he shoved a snowball into the face of a Shadow who zipped around the room using a power of some kind that allowed him to run fast. Sil timed it out, and the poor guy ran face first into a handful of snow.
“What a moron…” Sil sighed and continued walking across the room to his bed.
Mark felt a stir of panic in his heart when the boy hit the floor and Sil tread past him without a kindness in his being. Sil took up his hand project, minding the loose threads hanging from the material as he continued. He looked like he was in a good mood, as long as he was left alone.
For Sil to be pleasant meant everyone had to stay away from his bed and not make eye contact with him. Unfortunately, Mark didn’t learn very fast, and he gazed at Sil from across the room like an idiot.
Mark didn’t turn his gaze away when Sil found his gaze across the room. It took a ridiculously long second for him to jump and pretend to ignore Sil. Sil smirked at his cowardice, silently mocking him from across the room. From the way Sil abused everyone around him, Mark was pretty sure he enjoyed tormenting the Shadows.
Sil’s eyes were burnt golden, and sometimes they flared into light blue, which sent a cold shiver up Mark’s spine. Those were the two traits immediately evident to Mark. He was about as tall as Mark, but he was very thin which made him look taller. It only intimidated him more that Sil had dark eyes, deep like their color, and empty cheekbones.
Kip came up to Mark abruptly urging him to come. When Mark asked why, Kip only smiled wider. “They’re unlocking doors. I’m ready for some fresh air. How about you?” He slapped his skates over his shoulder by the laces and took Mark by the arm to drag him along as Ocie had yesterday.
Everyone was scurrying out of the room, and somehow, they managed to squeeze all sixteen of them into the elevator. The tight space made him a li
ttle more comfortable in the elevator, but once it started moving the unease swirled in his gut. “I hate elevators,” he murmured.
Kip eyed Mark oddly. “What?
Mark clenched the railing so hard, his knuckles turned white. “Nothing,” he stared at the steel railing along the walls, not meeting eyes with Kip, and not focusing on the shuddering lift. If he had to keep using that elevator to leave and enter the room, he swore he was going to have a heart attack. Hurrying, they joined others in the hall.
Shadows ran down the stairwell and threw open the doors to the courtyard. There was another short flight up, about seven steps total. The top three stairs were scuffed and blackened and the very top one was cracked and weeds were peeking out through the fissures. It couldn’t have just been wear from Shadows regularly using powers on this spot. And wasn’t the ASH shielded from any damaging powers? What could have done this?
There was one thing clear, the blackness was from fire, and probably extremely hot coals that had been dropped there. Grabbing Kip’s shirt gently, Mark pointed them out. “Who made these burns?” He was certain about the fire, and thought himself a bit of an expert on the hot coals, if not, he was getting a little too confident.
Kip looked down at them briefly, shrugging. “I’m not sure. They just appeared there a few months ago, and I wasn’t around to see it happen.”
Continuing, he took the steps, dismissing any ideas on why. There was a stone wall which blocked off Mark’s immediate vision of the courtyard. Around the corner he was towered by the three-story building coated entirely by smooth white marble. A row of taller stairs led up a balcony overlooking the courtyard and the whole hill the ASH was set on.
Mark turned the corner of the wall which had blocked off his view and looked out at the courtyard, dumbstruck. Aside from the number of Shadows around him, Mark was overcome with the amazing sight before his eyes.
His eyes lifted, taking in the enormous coverage of the ASI. Above them, surrounding the entire courtyard was a ginger-bronze shield keeping the Shadows in what seemed to be a habitat where they could do what they wanted with their powers. The courtyard was huge, probably a quarter mile across, and the shield towered over it all.
Mark stopped walking to stare up at it, and Kip laughed at him. “The shield is invisible from the outside. The old Shadows worked together to make it that way,” he explained, and Mark struggled to take it all in. “We can do what we like with our powers inside, and no one outside will see. It’s part of Keller’s plans to refine our Shadows.”
Mark looked out at the rest of the courtyard. The circumference of the shield was a wide concrete sidewalk all around, and there were paths all through it. Gardens were patches all over from the edge of the patio and balcony. “Do the Shadows plant all these gardens?” he asked, in awe of the flowers and various other plants, things which would be out of season now.
Kip affirmed, nodding as he and Mark stepped to the sidewalk path. “Mostly Shadows with powers corresponding to growing and the plants.” Kip thrust a hand out at one, stopping Mark from stepping on it. “But that one’s a Shadow!”
Mark scurried away, now watching his every step and panicking. “Really?”
Laughing hysterically, Kip held his ribs. “No, I’m just messing with you.” He pointed to a giant tree growing approximately in the center of the courtyard, but Mark could tell by looking it was off center. “But every tree other than that one, is a Shadow.”
Mark gawked at the size of the tree and he knew instantly that the Shadows had grown it there to be tall and a symbol of their power as they grew stronger. “What kind of tree is that?” he wondered.
Shrugging, Kip smiled amused. “Who knows? Probably inspired by any tree the Shadows wanted it to be. If you find any Shadows talking to plants or tending the gardens, don’t be shy to ask them,” he suggested. On the path, a few Shadows skated by them at incredible speeds and Kip tore Mark out of the way before he was completely run over.
They continued walking into the center as Mark identified other things. There was a playground for the younger Shadows, a good deal of odd equipment for Shadows to improve physical strength and playing fields for general ballgames.
A shadow passed over him in the sky but right as he looked up a huge hawk swooped down. He dropped to the grass, its talons missing him by inches and he only perked up when he saw it land on the gloved arm of a white-haired Shadow. Sil smirked at him a little, but Mark averted his eyes, remembering Kimberly’s advice to not interact with Sil today.
Kip took Mark’s attention. “Let’s make a clear place for you to practice.”
Breaking into a light jog, Kip ran out into the open courtyard, leading Mark behind him, who followed. He chose a clear spot, and with a twinkle in his eyes, Kip turned about to Mark, mischievous and lighthearted as he raised a hand to the sky.
Within his arm, veins of energy lit up under his skin, rushing to his fingers and bursting like a small star within his hand. The bright light in his palm grew more intense, giving off heat that Mark could feel on his face until, suddenly, it burst from Kip’s fingertips, traveling skyward toward the shield.
The shot was like a firework, discharging sparks on its way up until it dissipated into smoke and debris. Kip shrieked in pure excitement and his joy, loving every chance he got to do that was so pure to Mark. All he succeeded in doing was drawing three Shadows closer, who he ignored at first as he held the light in his hand closer to Mark. “Watch this!” he urged, raising his hand and firing another shot.
This one he aimed at the shield with the momentum and trajectory to impact it. The shot flew like a laser and struck the shield as a ball of fire. Sparks spiraled out upon the inside of the shield before the energy force suddenly changed to a golden color. With the contact of the foreign Shadow, the shield caused the shot to ricochet out across the courtyard and back to them at the same speed.
Beginning to panic, Mark frantically took a step back, hurrying to get out of the line of fire, which Kip stood in fearlessly. “Wait!” Kip reached out in front of him with both his hands. The veins in Kip’s arms grew brighter as he mustered any extra energy he could. The extreme amount of heat welling within his arms caused new orbs of light to form in his palm, and the light in his hands flickered as he prepared to receive the shot.
To Mark’s surprise, the beam of light which spiraled like a misfired firework directly at Kip, dissipated and burned off, leaving Kip panting as the light in his hands faded. “I’m not very good at that…” he admitted and found himself coughing once or twice.
Mark’s eyes flared crimson as a spark of worry appeared in his demeanor. “You can’t control it once it has left you?” he wondered, more to confirm.
Kip nodded, still panting. “If I could, I could erase a lot of mistakes I’ve made.”
The three Shadows drew nearer cautiously, and Mark could identify two of them as Elise and Rita, but the other one he hadn’t met before. Elise applauded Kip in his efforts and joined them.
Mark eyed the Shadow who had come with Elise and Rita. The Shadow was male, but Mark’s eyes drifted first to the Shadow’s mauve colored skin. The color was first noticeable on his bare arms, but Mark realized the mauve was also all up his neck and jaw. Only his face and the palms of his hands were a pale tan.
Elise snickered, seeing Mark’s expression, staring blankly, of course, neither Elise, nor the Shadow Mark was staring at, found it odd. “Mark this is Cesckim,” she declared as she drew the two of them together. “He’s two years older than you,” she added calmly.
Cesckim thrust Mark a hand to shake and Mark could see that the palms of his hands were not mauve like the rest of him. “Shadow Mail, as in chain mail. Not snail mail,” he introduced himself. “You can call me Cesc,” he finished.
Mark hesitantly took his hand to shake and opened his mouth to introduce himself when he suddenly felt the uncomfortable, startling sensation of something other than Cesc’s mauve skin touching his hand. Abruptly, he let go
and abruptly a small green snake morphed, curling itself around his fingers. Mark shrieked, not because he was afraid, but because he never saw it coming, and the tiny creature was trying to attach itself to his arm as it seemed to grow bigger.
Cesc guffawed loudly as Mark flung it off him to the ground. The snake was the size of a boa constrictor now and it sat up, raising its head like a cobra as it turned brown and flattened its head into a hood like one.
That was when Mark figured it was a Shadow, but still, surely whatever ability that was, the Shadow could also produce the venom and the strength to go with it. Cesc’s laugh became obnoxious as he watched the snake turn into a person.
“Mickey!” Elise scolded deafeningly. She stood over the young boy as he held his sides cackling. “Really! A prank?”
Cesc nodded playfully. “Hey, come on, what’s a little fun?”
Elise shook her head. “But you always do this,” she complained.
Cesc shrugged as he looked down at the child, Mickey, who turned himself into a dog and ran off. He shook his head, amused. “I hate shape-shifters. They drive me crazy. I never can tell if they’re what they’re portraying or not. That’s Mickey, or Shadow Mix, he can literally turn into anything he wants, so you could say he’s my prank buddy.”
Mark held his own hand as the sensations of the scales was still present in his mind. “What’s your Shadow then,” he asked uneasily.
Cesc’s smile broadened. “Invulnerability,” he stated the long word effortlessly. “The mauve protects everything inside me from any form of injury. It dulls my sense of pain, but I don’t mind,” he explained.
Half-heartedly, Mark nodded. It was interesting, and he had honestly never imagined such a power could exist. “Can you make it disappear?” he asked curiously.
Cesc shook his head but smiled smugly. “I don’t know of any Physical Shadow that can make their power disappear.”
Mark shot a glance to Kip. “So, your Shadow is a Physical Shadow too?” he wondered aloud to Cesc. Nodding as if it wasn’t significant, Cesc crossed his arms. Mark drew his eyebrows together. “If you and Sage are physical Shadows, Kip, what am I?”