Shadow Play 5

by Vega Lizzie

  Robin raised an eyebrow, then pulled a small glass vial off the supply cart. In seconds, she had taken two blood samples and then gently swabbed the three wounds, stuffing the pieces of gauze into new vials. As Terra brought Olivia back into the room, she quickly slipped them into her lab coat pocket. Both women looked up with smiles, but Angela deferred to Robin.

  “Honey, can you please go down to the cafeteria and find about twenty tea bags? As big of ones as you can find. You’re gonna help me get your mom all fixed up.”

  “Tea?” the young girl said in an unusually trembling voice, “Sure. Cafeteria. Fine.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Robbie added, unable to take his eyes from the bloody prep table, “No shenanigans while we’re gone, Okay?”

  Shannon suddenly turned her head and grimaced and the room went still. Robin only smiled, “We’ll all be right here,” she smirked at Angela, “we promise.”

  As they left the room, Robin gestured to Angela, “This is incredibly old school, like spooky middle ages stuff. I’m gonna run some tests back at the mortuary.” Robin nodded to Shannon, lowering her voice to a whisper, “We’re gonna have to have a serious talk with a few people, starting with her.”

  “Okay,” Angela agreed, “I have no idea what you’re thinking, but fine. What’s with the tea?”

  “It’s a clotting agent. That scent tells me to go old school, like swing a dead cat over my head old school.”

  A few quiet minutes later, Olivia appeared at the door with a box of tea bags. Robin tasked her with cutting them open and pouring the tea into a pile on the suture table. She also gave a calm step by step instructional as she worked on Shannon.

  “I’ve put a pressure dressing on the worst of the three cuts. We’ll add a line of tea next to the cuts and if there’s no negative reaction, I’ll push it over each cut. If I’m right, it should work faster than an injection.” With that comment, she saw Angela glare. There had already been four injections. For a moment, Angela thought Robin was winging it.

  After a moment and a slight adjustment on the trauma gauze, the bleeding stopped. “There,” Robin grinned, “that’s the worst of it. Her hands and wrists are bruised like she’s been in a street fight.” Olivia sat on the opposite side of the gurney and watched as Robin carefully swabbed and splinted three of her mother’s fingers. As she finished, she looked at Olivia and smiled, “Your mother is a rare one, honey. You sit here with her. She’s going to be fine.” Olivia nodded, “Thank you, Robin. You’re the best.”

  “Mom…please wake up.” Olivia whispered and put her head down on her mother’s bed. A moment later, Shannon put her splinted hand on her daughter’s head, “I’m gonna be fine, Love.”

  Sitting up with a start, Olivia gasped, then grinned, “So much has happened. I’ll get Terra.”

  Shannon tried to grab onto Olivia’s hand, “Ugh,” she gasped, “in a minute, okay?” she took a deep breath, “A lot has happened. Can it just be the two of us for a minute or two? Can we talk about something?”

  A few minutes later, Olivia walked into the waiting room to see the entire family crowding the small lounge. Wiping tears from her eyes, she pointed to Terra, “She’s awake. She wants to see you.” As Terra rushed by her, Olivia took her arm and they stepped into the hallway. “She’s…in a weird place,” Olivia said quietly, “I can’t tell if she’s happy or if she’s really…different. Something’s happened. She wants to get out of here and talk to both of us.”

  Chapter 31

  When Terra stepped into the room, Shannon choked on her first whispered words, “I’m so…so sorry.”

  Terra only shook her head as she moved to the edge of Shannon’s bed. She reached out to intertwine their fingers but drew back from the multiple splints. “We need to talk about a few things. You’re not the only one who did something…” Terra’s eyes narrowed, “really fucking stupid.” She sobbed once, “Me too. I got my ass kicked because I didn’t listen.” Her voice waivered, “We’re in over our heads, Shan. We gotta do something. We have to maybe…stop.”

  Shannon’s pained look caused Terra to repeat the words in her head. “Not us, never us.” She’d held back her tears until that moment as she laid her head on Shannon’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she repeated between sobs, “never us.”

  Shannon leaned her head on Terra’s and tried to reach her arm over to comfort her, but Robin’s intricate pressure bandaging held her fast. “I know,” she whispered, “You…and Ollie are the people in my life I would never doubt.”

  Terra sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes, then did the same for Shannon. She sniffled then winked, “that goes the same for me.”

  They were both quiet for a moment until Terra began to look uncomfortable. She looked up to speak, then reconsidered. While still heavily sedated, Shannon easily caught her hesitation.

  “What’s happened,” she asked, trying to lean forward, “is everyone okay?”

  Terra nodded, “Everyone’s good. Marcus might be a little shell-shocked, I put him in an awkward situation but...”

  “I did too,” Shannon interrupted, “I owe him an apology for keeping a secret for me.”

  Terra raised her fingers, “Make that two. I sorta wrangled some information out of him, then things got, uh interesting. It’s kind of a list but Eliza is going…”

  “To go crazy,” Shannon finished. “I had a…a run in with something I can’t explain. I just want to go home.”

  Terra shook her head, “Not tonight. You’ll probably get another pint or two of blood soon and Robin didn’t do a subtle job of hiding her curiosity about your condition. Your clothes looked like you’d been dragged through a slaughterhouse. There was so much…blood.”

  She wiped her eyes again, “Your phone went off on Marcus’s screen and I just went. If I hadn’t gotten there.” She bit her lip to keep from crying, “Things just got really serious, didn’t they?”

  Shannon looked at her and nodded without a word.

  Terra nodded back and sat back in silence.

  “We have to start getting used to a new concept, okay?” Shannon said then watched as Terra’s brow narrowed, “I was just going to say the same thing. You’re a mind reader now? Oh God, do you remember talking to Ollie or Robbie while you were…away?”

  “Talking to them, no. Things got a little dark after I confronted Darien. I was alone and I thought I was never going to see you again. I did a lot of talking to myself.” Shannon looked away then reached her hand up, splints and all, “I just want to touch you. I don’t think I’m right in the head. I saw something, I don’t quite believe.”

  Terra cleared her throat, “A furry animal with Fabio hair? Course that’s when he doesn’t look like the Roto Rooter guy and he’s beating me to a pulp.” She looked at Shannon with a half-grin, but poked her cheek and nose gently, “Something like that?”

  “Ah, no?”

  “Ever heard of something called bridging?”

  Again, Shannon shook her head.

  “You did it to Olivia. And Alicia needed three shots of tequila after you did it to Robbie. It was…oh yeah and Karly? Nerves of steel. It’s been an interesting couple of days.”

  “You look beautiful,” Shannon gasped, “I don’t understand. Get me out of here.”

  “Nope, you’re staying. I will too, both Ollie and me. I’ll send everybody else home. Eliza is on to something but she’s still studying. Maybe that helps.”

  “What? Sorry, I’m not following you.”

  “My introduction to Tess and Liam’s mysterious teacher. He had some words of advice for me and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Terra sighed deeply, “We may not be the good guys in the story. There’s a fight coming.”

  “Fuck yeah,” Shannon said loudly, “oh God, the room is spinning.”

  “Whoa, yeah and, we’re not prepared at all. Imagine if Mr. Miyagi had pulled Daniel-sans’ arm out of its socket while teaching him to paint the fence. I sooo would have preferred wax on, wa
x off.”

  “Can he be avoided from now on? Your furry man?”

  “God, I hope so,” Terra chuckled, “Liam and Tess won’t even say his name out loud anymore. I’m totally on board with that. All his no quarter, no retreat bullshit.”

  “What?” Shannon’s eyes went wide, “She said the same words to me.”

  “She?” Terra wondered, “I thought you got on the wrong end of Darien. Who’s the she?”

  “I…don’t know,” Shannon shook her head, “I think I was delirious. I wanna sleep on it and we can start putting together a plan tomorrow.”

  “Probably best,” Terra said, reaching up to gently poke the IV bags, “Lots of serious stuff went in these. The original ER doc was concerned for a while, then Robin put the run on him. That might be a story for later too.”

  Shannon only sighed, “Can you see if there’s a double gurney around her somewhere, I’d love to curl up with you tonight. ‘Cept I need a shower something fierce.” She yawned broadly then managed a smile.

  “I can get some towels and sponge you off. Your hair is…er, let’s not talk about your hair. You’re a bloody mess.”

  “I would like that.” Shannon looked down at the crust that covered her lacerated arm, then down to the blood streaked floor. “Yuk. So, did we have a Texas massacre tea party?”

  “Robin had Ollie do that. I didn’t see them working on you, but she was quite calm when she came out to get me. Robin went old school again. You smell kinda sweet and minty.” She reached to the prep table and picked up an empty tea package, “Yep, here’s a peppermint one.”

  Shannon smiled and let her head fall back on the elevated platform. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “I was so scared.”

  Terra stood and leaned toward her, “I’ll go get Ollie to stay with you while I find something to get you cleaned up a little, okay?”

  “Okay,” Shannon smiled, her eyes blinking and not quite focusing for a moment, “That sounds lovely.”

  “Might not wanna mention that you, um that we, coerced Marcus and then did dumb stuff. Just a thought.”

  Shannon yawned again, “Yeah, cool,” she said softly, her eyelids fluttering, “and let’s not talk about monsters that smell like cookies.”

  Terra just shook her head, grateful that she was able to participate in Shannon’s ramblings. With a smile she waved to Olivia from the doorway and explained the plan.

  “If she says anything weird, just ignore her. The sedatives are pretty powerful. I’m gonna go find a nurse that can hook us up with some sponges and warm water.”

  Olivia looked at her mother from the doorway, “Yeah she’s out of it. Is the meeting set for tomorrow or the next day?”

  “Huh?” Terra shook her head, “She didn’t say a word about a meeting.”

  “Mmm, right,” Olivia grinned, “You know when Mom gets mad and sorta grits her teeth, all bad-ass like she’s really pissed?”

  “Oh dear,” Terra whispered, “that’s not a good thing. I told her we’ll get her cleaned up and hang out in her room tonight. She didn’t seem angry at all.”

  “Oh, um, well that’s good. She’s really loopy too. I’m a little embarrassed cuz I laughed at her once. She wants payback big time.”

  “We need way more information, Ollie. There’s way too much happening right now. Let’s get her healed up and home.”

  “Then we gear up and train. There’s gonna be a fight, Terra. I’m gonna start training tomorrow.”

  Terra wasn’t in the mood to argue and deep down, shared Olivia’s assessment. “I’m okay with that. I’ll talk with Liam and Issac on sparring with you. Maybe wait til after school okay.”

  Chapter 32

  Late that night, Eliza sat quietly at her desk. She stared down at the two books in front of her. One thick and old, she felt safe knowing every word and spell origination behind it’s ancient cover. The second book was thin, more a collection of theories and guess work. The fact that it was in her possession only underscored the risk if she dared bring her suspicions to light.

  Jotting down notes from the thin tome, an act of heresy in and of itself, her phone began to chime. Mildly annoyed the call from an unknown number had interrupted her thoughts, she let it ring. Maybe she’d check voicemail, maybe she wouldn’t. Her thoughts were elsewhere and everywhere. As the ringing stopped, Eliza was only halfway through a relieved sigh when it began to ring again.

  “Hello?”

  “Sorry to ruin your evening, it’s Robin.”

  “Uh, hello,” Eliza stammered suddenly, “I was away from my phone. Did you just call a second ago?”

  “Not an issue,” Robin replied, “If you’re like me, you filter everything through voicemail, but something’s come up. I’d like to meet with you, tonight if possible. There’s an issue with Shannon.”

  “What? Is she alright?”

  Robin was quick to diffuse the emergency, “Oh yes, of course. I’m sure she’s going to be just fine. I have something I want to discuss with you.”

  Fully aware of Robin’s precarious standing within the Third Council, Eliza was immediately skeptical. “Just me? Couldn’t this wait until we all get together?”

  “I understand your hesitation but, no. If Shannon is planning to react to her recent events, you should hear what she has to say. However, if my information proves correct, it will be up to you to stop her.”

  “Stop her…from what?” Eliza questioned, “Why me? Um, is this an order, an official requisition?”

  She heard Robin chuckle and it made her shiver. She’d heard the stories all the way out in Portland. The Mortician, they called her. The closest thing to a Dark Priestess the Third Council had ever had. If the reason for the late-night call was official, at least there’d be a protocol.

  “Not an official request, Eliza. This is something I feel is…necessary for Shannon and the family.” The tone wasn’t classic caustic Robin. Something in her voice was radically different.

  Eliza was already shaking her head as if to help the words to refuse her come out of her mouth and Robin continued, “She trusts you. The bond she has with you is obvious. Filter her words through what I’m going to tell you so that you won’t freak out. I fear that your reaction will be a little too genuine. They don’t need that right now.”

  The words got under Eliza’s thin skin, “Huh? That wasn’t very kind of you, Robin. And why are you doing me such a favor?

  “You’re an ambitious young woman with a valuable career. You have the historical background to help…guide them on this new path. I just need to have you do some research. It’s got to be seamlessly presented to her.”

  “This sounds like a sales pitch if you don’t mind me saying so. With all due respect, what’s in it for you?”

  “I’d rather not…” There was a pause from Robin, “I know what they call me and I know I don’t do much to dispel those stories, maybe the opposite. Shannon and Terra, they sorta grow on you, don’t they? I’d like to be part of something rather than be on…the sidelines.” It was Eliza’s turn to chuckle. “They do, Olivia in particular.”

  “Her in particular, but tonight at the hospital, she was different, she was colder, almost detached from the emergency of the event. That’s not a good thing for a young girl.”

  “This is nuts but okay, where do we meet? New path…this sounds serious. Can you give me a hint?” Before Robin could respond, Eliza added a comment, “It’s Egyptian isn’t it? I knew it.” Her enthusiasm had bubbled right to the top.

  “I appreciate your eagerness completely underscoring my point. Tell no one. Come to the mortuary, now. Bring an open mind.”

  Eliza threw on a jacket and walked out the door to her apartment. A moment later she came back in and grabbed the smaller of the two books from her desk.

  An hour later, she was in tears.

  “This can’t be right; your theories are wrong…somehow.” In her heart she knew Robin was correct. She also knew the disclosure would strike at the very
core of both Shannon and Terra.

  Robin just shook her head, “I understand, Eliza. I also want them to be happy and to have the best lives possible…but Shannon was delirious as I worked on her. There was chanting, some of the words she used, there’s only one way that she knows them. Bottom line, something deep and very old has been provoked.”

  “I hate this,” Eliza hissed, “This strikes directly at Terra’s core beliefs.”

  Robin nodded, “And then?”

  “An incredible power struggle.”

  Robin shook her head, “Yes, but not between them. Think it through, that’s why I want you to know the concept before you tell Shannon.”

  “God, they’ll have to work this through together.” Eliza sat there quietly as Robin let her process her thoughts. Eliza suddenly looked up, “Oh…Oh my God. I’m gonna tell Shannon? Do you have any idea how far back this could go?”

  “That’s the reason that Angela brought you here in the first place. If you’ve been looking for purpose in your life, this is likely it.”

  “So, I just sit there and listen to them talk, then I lie to them.”

  “Absolutely not.” Robin shot back, “Yes, listen and empathize with what they will be going through. You take the lead on this. Help them Eliza, do what you do.”

  A moment later, Eliza’s phone chimed with a text from Terra. “Shannon will be released at noon. We need to meet at the loft at 2. Ping me back.”

  Eliza sighed, “She’s not wasting any time, is she?” Suddenly Robin’s phone sounded an alert as well. She read the same text from Terra and looked at Eliza, “2 o’clock, same as yours.” She quickly sent a response.

  Eliza found a smile, “How’s that make you feel?”

  It took a moment for Robin to answer. “Sad,” she began, “angry that they’ll have to go through this. It’s not really fair. Had I known from the beginning…I’m quite afraid for them.” Robin looked Eliza, “But it was Terra that reached out to me. Maybe I’m worthy after all.”

  “Exactly,” Eliza nodded, then winked, “Welcome to the family.”