by E Kathryn
Uncomfortably, Mark’s hands formed into fists and he closed his eyes, stretching his Shadow and his power in the Realm. Mark wasn’t fully sure what he had done but as he opened his eyes he saw before him ten billion futures and pasts, Shadows from all generations in his grasp. Mark’s crimson eyes flared to bright cherry as they caught fire, he opened his fist, igniting his hand in scarlet flames.
He didn’t know what else to do but rely on his Shadow, the instincts in his heart that told him to raise the fire above him and let it fly. He looked up to the ginger-bronze shield surrounding the courtyard and the alizarin star shooting up to meet with the oppressive power. Mark’s eyes flashed in the second before it happened, but he tensed, jumping several paces back, startled as his fire impacted the shield.
Light burst in a wave horizontally over all the sky and the shield melted around them, stars fell from heaven sparkling with cyan and orange and giving off scents and sounds as they sprinkled on the Shadows. For a second, the sky went dark and the ward around the ASH exploded, sending bursts of flames throughout all the circuits sending the ASI through the walls.
The ground trembled as the explosions came from the ASH, destroying its upper level. Cyan mist burst from the veins in the ground and between the floors which conveyed Shadow Inhibitor, and they flew into the sky in spirals until the cloud of cyan light rushed into the ASH in a fine stream where it vanished. The falling stars touched the ground, and silence was all the Shadows could feel.
Above them, the Shadows could see blue clouds, untainted by the ginger-bronze color of the shield. They felt the sun, they heard the breeze, they breathed of freedom. Mark smiled to the sky at the sound of rejoicing in the Shadows. First, crying out through the Realm in their happiness and then with their voices. They sang about the joy in their hearts. Mark could not even fully comprehend the unity of the Shadows as they walked out of the boundaries freely.
Kimberly appeared from the ASH brandishing a crowbar loosely in her hand and a little smirk on her face as she declared with many other Shadows to Mark, “You did it!”
Mark turned to her and his eyes widened seeing the crowbar. “What did you do?” he puzzled, a little amused by Kimberly’s grin.
Her smile brightened. Just gazing a Mark brought her joy. To her, it was almost like her lost child was alive and triumphant. “I got my powers back!” she said, happily extending an open hand in front of her and displaying the dark mist she had used on Keller.
Mark tensed seeing it. He could feel its power and how it worked by looking at it. “Mind control!”
Seeming embarrassed, Kimberly let out an exaggerated sigh. “I tried using it on Keller to get control of all the doors, but after I knocked him out, he woke up too fast… so I just…” she hesitated tapping the crowbar in her hand. “He won’t remember me for a while,” she snickered.
“You did what!” Ocie wailed, fury stirring in her as she rushed inside to find her father.
“I see now…” he muttered and gently touched his heart, removing a dark orb from it. If Trust had given him the ability to defy the ASH, and Hope had named him Nova Liberanti, then the only one left was Love. “My second Shadow… It’s not mine, it’s yours.”
Mark held out the black orb to her as Sil stepped closer to Mark puzzling, “If that Shadow isn’t yours, how did you get it?” Sil asked.
Kimberly took it with a smile. “You are its vessel,” she revealed calmly. “My powers were dormant, like yours Mark, but Shadow Love can never become dormant, so it came to you until you could activate my powers and return it to me.”
Perplexed, Mark stepped back drawing his brows together. “I don’t understand…” he gulped a little worriedly.
Kimberly gave a little laugh. “You will, eventually. But it’s not just me. Can’t you feel it? You’ve activated powers in many Shadows around you, even in yourself. Can you even begin to understand how powerful you are in the Realm?”
Mark shied away. “I have yet to understand a lot of things apparently…” he whispered, but then his eyes turned to Sil, Kip, and Emilie. “But first things first. You all have families out there. If there’s anything I can do to help you find them, that’s what I’ll do next.” Mark immediately looked to Emilie “You’re my cousin so you can come home with me to meet your mom.” He turned next to Sil. “And your family lives close to mine.”
With this, Emilie smiled warmly. “Then let’s go home,” she suggested.
Nodding, Mark accepted this readily, home. He was going home. Sending a declaration in the Realm just as he had seen Ocie do, Mark called out, and a second later Rita teleported to his side. Mark laughed a little when she appeared. “Would you do me the favor of teleporting us back to New York?”
Rita poised herself with her hands on her hips, blaring in her thick Scottish accent, “I dinnae leave ya in that canyon. I cannae leave ya here!” At this the Shadows around her cackled brightly.
XXI
BRAIDED
Dropping to his knees, Kip collapsed in the grass, rolling onto his back and smiling at the blue sky far above. He wasn’t safe unprotected by the shield, but he didn’t care. The intense blue of the sky, untainted by bronze, overwhelmed all his senses.
A dark figure peered over him, and he beamed to himself like a little fallen star. “I can’t leave…” he gasped up to Mark, barely able to find his breath.
Mark sat with him, throwing himself into the grass beside Kip, sighing peacefully. “Kimberly will be here to take care of you.”
Nodding aimlessly, Kip closed his eyes. The warmth of the sun was almost nonexistent in the October air. “I’m going to find my family. It might take a while. I can’t begin to know who they are, but I’ll find them.”
Sitting up quickly, Mark fretted over his friend even now. “Don’t you know your last name? Wouldn’t that be a good start?”
Chuckling, Kip shook his head without opening his eyes, “Not a clue. But I’m okay. I’ve got the Shadows after all.”
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
Pawing at the needle in his arm, Kip hummed quietly. The IV was like a ball and chain to his prison, but he didn’t mind as long as it helped him recover. He didn’t need to say anything, just having Mark beside him for a moment, too thankful to ruin the feeling. He was far from free, but the Shadows around him were finally released from the oppressive nature of the ASI.
Mark reluctantly rose to his knees when the Shadows gathered around him. Emilie and Sil both procured bags full of their few belongings, and Rita sat on the ground with a smile. “Ready to go?”
Sil had his leather projects fastened to his wrist and shoulder, and his hawk perched on his arm, but he didn’t seem to have many possessions. Whereas, Emilie bundled up what clothes she wanted in a pillowcase. “Two hours ago!” she blared excitedly. “I would’ve left already if I had a single clue how to get there myself.”
Rita chortled. “That’s what ya have me for. I just need a memory or a picture in my head.”
Mark patted Kip’s shoulder. He didn’t want to leave him like this, especially knowing without the ASI he was at a greater risk. He tried to stand and leave, but it was hard.
“Don’t worry, Mark.” Ocie approached, coming from the ASH. “I’ll make sure he gets inside, and my dad can keep an eye on him.”
A bitter taste welled in his mouth when Ocie knelt in the damp grass. No part of him could trust Keller, but Ocie put her faith in her father, and it was uncomfortable letting this go. Kip was in the ASH’s hands, and Mark feared it would be a while before Kip was truly free. He forced himself to comply and trust Ocie, but rising to his feet was still like raising a mountain.
Rita nudged him playfully and offered him her hand. “And you’ll still have me to drag ya around if ya wanna come back here.”
Ocie neared Emilie with a slightly authoritative smile. “Be safe, okay.” She grasped Emilie’s shoulders and gave her a hug, in spite of how Emilie’s gravity protested. With Emilie in her arms, she rea
ched out to Sil, just touching the back of his hand to convey the same advice.
Realizing he was already holding Rita’s hand, Mark tensed a little, the present warmth feeling startlingly natural. She held tightly when she offered her hand out to Emilie, and by extension Sil. Her power moved through them simply, like a low electricity, and with a snarky smile, Rita wrinkled her nose at Ocie. “Bye-bye. I’ll be back later… or not. Who knows!”
A blast of green mist and a glimpse in the Realm flashed before Mark’s eyes, and with the feeling of Rita’s hand still within his own, Ocie vanished, and the front walkway of his home appeared. Everything was the same, and yet home couldn’t feel more different. From the sidewalk, there were muddy scuffs along the ground, the lawn was ripped up, and Mark could still tell where he stood when he fought Ocie.
The spinning rock appeared in his gut again, and he couldn’t compel his legs to move forward. Rita seemed to see it and squeezed his hand. “What’s wrong?”
He gulped down his nerves. “She let them in yesterday. She got rid of me the moment she figured out I was a Shadow.” He clenched Rita’s hand tightly, reluctant to push himself onward. “I just… don’t know how she’ll feel about this.”
Rita gave him a firm nudge with her fist in the shoulder. “If it makes ya feel any better, I’m still procrastinating about going back home. I ran away. I’m nae sure they even think I’m alive.”
“I’ll go with you, if you want,” Mark offered, attempting to get out of facing his own family.
Snickering, Rita pushed him from behind. “Only if you do this, right now! And you cannae forget, I’m here for you!”
Able to smile weakly as his feet gave way for about three steps, Mark nudged her back playfully. “Fine, fine.” There was something admittedly nice about having a friend who could flee at any moment and take him with her. In the uncertainty, he liked how sure Rita was in her Shadow.
Getting close enough to the door to grasp the doorknob was incredibly difficult, but without knocking he turned it and prayed. The house was clean in spite of all that had happened, diffused light streamed in through the curtains, and all was quiet. It wasn’t particularly early in the morning, and yesterday, his mother had been out and about, so Mark found it peculiar that she didn’t rush out at the sound.
Sil sent Winter to fly off into the sky, not daring to take her indoors as he and Emilie stepped in behind him. They glanced about awkwardly, and Mark felt every one of his footsteps resonating through the carpet despite how light-footed he was.
It was odd since the door was unlocked, but no one was moving in the house. A little deeper in the hall, Mark heard the TV on in June’s room, and he figured his little sister was already up playing video games and had been since the unholy hours.
“Stay here…” he murmured to the Shadows.
With an unruly step, Mark brushed his bangs out of his face, the horrid red strand blocking his view in the dark hall. He slipped back to his parents’ bedroom, listening through the sound of roaring engines in June’s racing game for any sign of his mother. The door was opened a crack, darkness between the hall and the master bedroom intermingling and making it very hard for Mark to see.
He pushed the door gently, and it didn’t make a single sound. Gulping hard, Mark parted his lips, “M-mom?”
A shuddering sob resounded from the bed sheets, and Mark’s face drained of color. Marissa laid tangled up in the sheets with a snowstorm of tissues. Crying through the night, she had closed herself off, and hearing his voice was unreal. She bolted up, not sure what to believe until she looked on his face and saw those crimson glowing eyes.
“Mark?” she addressed him, her voice crackly and heartbroken. There was an emptiness in her arms, she cradled her own blankets as if it were a child she was grieving. Ever so slightly, she raised her arms, beckoning him closer without words. Mark knew in the tiniest movements, she was desperate to hold her baby again.
Running, Mark hurled himself at the bed, throwing his arms around his mother and tightening to let her cry. She whimpered at his strength, but even when he tried to talk, to figure out how she had possibly chosen to let him go in the first place, she shushed him.
“Not yet!” she stopped him from pulling away. “I just want to hold you a little longer.”
The silence grated on Mark’s psyche like sandpaper, self-conscious of the Shadows alone in the living room or likely eavesdropping. He wanted to say something, but every time words came to his lips, they vanished. Something in his mother’s shaking hands, and her shuddering breath was undeniable. Mark wasn’t just her child returned to her, he was something more. Just being there for her wasn’t enough.
Gradually, she let herself be happy. She fought to dry her tears, but she wouldn’t let go of him. “I’m sorry,” she got out among the blubbering, “I’m sorry for protecting you.”
“What?” Mark gasped in the darkness. He fought to pull away to look into his mother’s eyes when she spoke.
“I should have never hidden the truth from you,” she breathed. “I always suspected you were a Shadow. I kept you from your own kind, from… learning about who you were. And I want you to know, I never let you go to get rid of you. I was afraid, and I didn’t want you to hurt someone on accident.”
Trying to accept this, Mark faked a smile. “Too late for that,” he chuckled. “It took an hour for me to hurt Sil.” He was lucky he hadn’t done worse to Sil, and that the ice Shadow was now his friend.
“How did you get back?” Marissa asked, the words between them seeming to be enough for her, but Mark knew it wasn’t.
Relaxed about it, Mark drifted away, seated on the side of her bed to avoid the awkwardness, “Rita, she teleported me, Sil, and Emilie here. They’re waiting in the living room.”
Her eyes growing worried, Marissa rose a little, gathering some of the spent tissues to throw them away. “Just three of them? What happened to the others, and the one who was sick. Are they okay?”
Mark helped her, switching on the bedside lamp and pulling her wastebasket closer. “They’re fine. Most of them are still at the ASH and they’re going to start looking for their families, but Sil and Emilie both have families up here.” He gathered up a few of the white tissues as he spoke and tossed them away.
They heard an elated scream coming from the living room and both Mark and his mother’s shoulders arched, assessing for a moment that it was June. Chuckling, Mark drew away. “Well, June-bug found them. Can I get some breakfast going for everyone?”
Marissa nodded, brief and emotionless, masking all else. Mark took the prompt, hurrying out to the hall, but turning on the light in his mom’s room before he left. June caught his eye almost immediately. She raced around the three Shadows and her brown eyes twinkled when she spied her brother coming from the dark hallway.
She lunged at him, jumping into the air and nearly strangling him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Mark let out a shriek as she slid off, but he made an effort to kneel to give her a proper hug. Acutely reminded of how much his back was aching, he tried to smile despite the pain. “It’s good to see you too, June-bug!”
“Why do you keep leaving?” she pleaded, whining innocently.
Ruffling her messy brown hair, Mark stood slowly. “I’m not going anywhere now. You’re stuck with me.”
Not in the least disappointed, she scurried over to the Shadows and latched on to Sil. Mark stifled a cackling laugh at the look on Sil’s face when June threw her arms around him. He was completely unsure what to do with himself, his arms hovering above the six-year-old confused and unwilling to touch her.
“You guys hungry?” Mark asked the girls.
Emilie dropped her pillowcase on the floor and imposed herself on the sofa, floating over to it. “Of course. I haven’t eaten a full meal in three days other than some bread rolls,” she complained as she tucked her skinny legs up to her chest.
Rita moved to join her, but Sil stood awkwardly in the middle of the room with
a six-year-old attached to his waist. Mark left them, scouring the kitchen for breakfast until he acknowledged this was the first time he’d been alone in days. In the fridge, he discovered a roll of sausage and a half-depleted selection of brown eggs. He wasn’t a great cook, but breakfast was his forte.
He couldn’t be alone anymore with the Shadows near and the Realm so loud in his ears. It wasn’t just a quiet place he’d seep into in his sleep anymore. It was a communication device that the Shadows abused. Sil had been right too, he was so much stronger outside of the ASH, his presence constantly in the back of Mark’s mind.
Rattling the pans in the bottom cupboard to get two big ones, Mark set them upon the stove, fretting. As he emptied the roll of sausage into the smaller pan and began to beat up the rest of the eggs, he felt his heart flip-flopping and all his fear spinning around in his head. He didn’t want to be alone but listening to the Realm didn’t help.
“How’d it go?” Rita appeared abruptly in the corner of his eye.
Scrambling back into the corner of the kitchen, Mark slammed himself into the counter. “W-why do you gotta sneak up on me?”
“Sorry, Sil just said he can sense how freaked out you are.”
Sighing, Mark rubbed his face and returned to the stove. “I’m fine. I just psyched myself out. I was expecting the worst and it…” he hesitated, losing himself in the browning breakfast sausage.
“That’s good, I suppose,” Rita hummed and stepped back, finding herself leaning against the kitchen table. Silence enveloped the room as her eyes wandered, watching Mark cook, picking out the various dusty decorations on the walls, and the tins of tea on the kitchen table.
Mark glanced back at her as she picked up one of the tea tins and shook it gently. She laughed. “Darjeeling, this stuff used to be my favorite.”