I spot Kateri out of the corner of my eye battling with a massive red and black demon, complete with spiked tail and forehead horns, but I have my own problems at the moment.
Blood is pumping out of the wound in rhythm with my racing heart. Raising my sword, I feign to the left and just as I had hoped, he shifts his weight to avoid my coming swing, but I bring my sword down from the right instead and bury the edge deep into his neck. He stares at me with those hateful golden eyes for a moment before collapsing.
After pulling the blade from his neck, I turn and start sprinting toward Kateri, fumbling with my hand crossbow, but just before I reach her, she strikes down her opponent with a quick thrust to the chest.
She turns and smiles at me, but her expression quickly fades, and her eyes widen. I turn, and my mouth drops open as hundreds of demons rush out of the darkness at us.
I wake with a start, my heart racing and my throat dry. Kateri is lying next to me, slumbering peacefully. I look down at my arm where the dream demon cut me, there's nothing there, but I swear I can feel it. The sun, or whatever the hell it is that illuminates this twisted world, is just starting to peek through the grimy windows of our temporary headquarters. It's really nothing more than an empty storefront not far from the Point. Kateri and I retreated here just after arriving, and it's been a day and we haven't seen Reeva.
I crawl over to the window and peer outside. The streets are filled with people going about their business while cars and trucks rumble past the store. We have to find Reeva and even if we don't, we have to get on with our mission.
“Hey,” Kateri says behind me.
“Hey,” I reply, turning and looking at her.
“Any sign of her?” she asks as she sits up, running her hands through her hair.
I shake my head and frown.
“Damn. Where the hell is she?”
“I don't know, but we've got to make a decision,” I say, sighing quietly.
“I know. We can't stay here. We have to start doing what we came here for.”
I nod. It would be better if we were clear about what we're here for in the first place.
“So, what's the plan?” Kateri asks.
I shake my head. “I wish I had one.”
“Well, I guess we should head out and see what we can discover.” I watch Kateri tie her hair into a loose ponytail.
I grab my pack and retrieve two bottles of water and two protein bars. I toss one of each to Kateri and we down them in a few minutes while sitting in silence. After stowing the garbage, Kateri stands and looks at me.
“How about we go out the back?”
“Good idea,” I answer as I pick up my pack.
She moves past me toward the swinging doors that lead to the store room. I catch up with her just as she pushes the stock room door open and peers outside.
“The coast is clear, come on.”
Following her, we step into an alley between this building and the next. We can see traffic and pedestrians passing by the on the streets both to the right and left.
“Which way?” she asks.
“Don't think it really matters that much. Let's go this way.” I take her hand, turn right and head down the alley.
The narrow backstreet is crowded with those short, green dumpsters, while trash is scattered on the ground.
“It sure smells like our world,” Kateri says.
As we creep closer to the teeming sidewalk, a door to our left opens suddenly and a young man, dressed in a dirty white t-shirt and black pants steps out and throws a bag of garbage into one of the dumpsters. We freeze in place, but he doesn't even give us a second glance, let alone a first before disappearing back inside.
“Come on,” I say, heading toward the sidewalk and the steady flow of pedestrians.
We reach the corner of the building and stand there for a few moments.
“At least if they can't see us, it makes this a little easier,” Kateri says, before stepping out onto the sidewalk, but her foot catches on an uneven patch of concrete and she stumbles forward into the street.
“Nice one,” I say, shaking my head.
“Like you ne—” she starts to respond, before the sound of an approaching bus fills the air.
“Kateri!” I scream, but she has no time to react before the bus is on her.
My heart leaps into my throat, but my horror turns to relief as she seems to pass through the bus, as if it's made of smoke. I reach out and grab her hand, half expecting nothing to be there, but she's as solid as ever. She throws her arms around my neck and we hug fiercely. A few moments later, she steps back just as a large man in a suit walks right through me, just like the bus.
“Shit. What the hell is this?” I ask as more people walk right through us.
“Fucked up is what this is,” Kateri replies.
We retreat into the alley, although there's really no reason for it, since no one can see, hear, or even feel us.
“Why is the building solid, and the ground?” Kateri asks as she paces back and forth in front of me, stomping in a dirty puddle. “And why is the water wet, but the bus just drove through me like I'm not here?”
“I don't know. It's almost like this is …” I start to say before something clicks in my head.
“This is what?”
“This is some sort of middle ground between the Umbra, the Abyss, and the human world.”
“Like a fourth layer to the puzzle.”
“Exactly, and I think it's because of me.”
“Because you're so weird you mean.”
“I was going to say unique.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” she replies, bumping her hip into mine.
“Father said that no one knew how things would react to my presence. I exist in two places at once; the real world and the Umbra at the same time.”
“Yeah, it's like when I first showed you streaming.”
I nod and smile, but Kateri doesn't smile back. She’s looking around at this strange world.
“God, I hope Reeva's got this all figured out.”
“We need to find her as soon as possible. She might not be in the same situation.”
“Because we're not with her,” Kateri says, frowning.
“Exactly.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Great, so where do we start looking?”
“I don't know,” I say, shaking my head and looking down the street.
A few seconds later, Kateri touches my arm and I turn.
“What about the Factory? If I was the lost one, that's where I'd head.”
“That's my girl,” I say, smiling and taking her hand. “Come on.”
“You do know that it's like ten miles from here, right?”
“Then we'll have to stream there,” I reply.
“You want to stream in the Abyss? It's not going to be easy to find shadows in whatever this red light is.”
“Well, we'll just have to be careful,” I say, grinning.
Kateri shakes her head and we start jogging down the street toward one of the big towers. We need a high ‘jumping off’ point if we're going to stream all the way to the Factory, especially in unstable conditions. I've learned that it's so much easier to stream while descending. Besides, if we’re up high we can work out a path to the old creamery. We keep a wary eye out for wandering demons as we approach the front entrance. I look up at the building as it towers fifty stories above us.
“We can climb the stairs,” I say, weary just thinking about the effort.
“Or we can stream to the top,” Kateri says, as she suddenly vanishes.
I sigh, look up toward the top of the skyscraper and step into the massive shadow cast by the building. Streaming up the side of this office tower feels like riding a rocket powered sled down a hill, except in reverse. It only takes a split second to reach the top. Kateri is leaning against the railing, her arms folded across her chest.
“That took long enough,” she says.
�
�Can you take something seriously for a change?”
“What's the fun in that?” she asks, before leaning back and flipping off the side, her laughter drifting up as she vanishes.
I pick a target in the distance and leap into the nothingness. For a few seconds, I just fall, but I feel no fear, and then I enter the shadow of the building again and I start moving forward. I link three times, dropping lower each time; from the top of a ten-story office tower, to the fire escape on the side of an old bakery, and then down onto the street, effectively covering more than four miles in the matter of a few seconds. I have no idea where Kateri is, but I know she's making her way toward the Factory.
E ~ Where are you?
“Right behind you,” she says, touching my shoulder.
“Oh jeez!” I yelp as my heart nearly jumps out of my chest.
Spinning around, I want to be mad, but her smile immediately disarms me and all I can do is laugh.
“Every time, right?”
“Every time,” she replies, grinning at me.
“That way, right?” I ask, pointing up to the roof of a two-story apartment building.
“Yep,” she answers before running across the street and leaping into a shadow thrown by a billboard on the roof.
E ~ Not everything's a race.
K ~ Why not?
I shake my head and start across the street when I spot movement out of the corner of my eye. A demon, one of the ‘model’ kind is creeping up on a young girl standing at the bus stop. As I'm watching, a breach, like the one that brought the three of us here, forms in the air just behind the woman.
E ~ Shit!
K ~ What?
E ~ A demon is about to attack a woman. I'm gonna help her.
K ~ Where the hell are you?
E ~ Back where you just were.
I dart across the street, pulling my crossbow and aiming as I run. I might not be able to kill him with a single shot, but at the very least, I can distract him.
K ~ Don't do anything till I get there!
E ~ Too late.
K ~ Damnit Eve!
I pull the trigger and the bolt flies across the street and strikes the monster in the upper shoulder. He roars in anger, and for a second, I don't think he can see me, but my elation is short-lived as we lock eyes.
Crap!
I thought I'd have the advantage, but now I'm not so sure, and the closer I get to him, the bigger he seems. Dropping the crossbow, I pull my sword while still rushing at him. He snarls, revealing a nasty set of pointed teeth before charging toward me. The edge of my blade glimmers in the weird 'sunlight' as I charge him. I swing, and he dodges right. I try to adjust, but I hit nothing but air. As I'm recovering, he slams his shoulder into me, pushing me back a few feet. I bring my sword up again, but he's ready this time, and grabs the blade between his hands. With a quick twist, he wrenches the sword from my hands. It clatters to the ground, far out of reach.
I take a small step back and he stares at me, his head tilting to the right.
“What? What are you looking at you freak?” I yell. “Come on!”
Putting my fists up, I plant my feet and prepare for his assault. He roars at me, little bits of foul smelling spittle hitting my face. He lunges, and I slip to the side, striking him in the side with a closed fist. Turning, he kicks out with his left leg, but I deflect the poorly aimed attack before answering with my own. I feel his ribs break as my foot hits him hard in the side again. He stumbles backwards, crying out in a combination of pain and anger.
When he looks up at me again, he snarls, the corners of his mouth curling up, revealing even more of his needle like teeth. As he slowly advances on me, the claws on his left hand click against each other as he flexes his long, red fingers. He swings. I duck. He swings again, and I sidestep to the left, but this time he's ready and he hits me hard in the side with a fist that feels like a block of concrete. Now it's my turn to back off. I hold my side, slightly bent at the waist as I struggle to come up with an attack plan that doesn't end with his claws ripping out my throat.
He leaps at me, mouth agape. I raise my arm in a feeble attempt to fend off his attack when Kateri suddenly appears, materializing out of the shadows just above and behind him. She plunges her sword into his neck, the tip emerging just below his chin. He drops to the ground in a heap.
Kateri rushes to me, pulling me into a fierce embrace. “You okay?”
“I'm okay,” I reply. “A little bruised, that's all.”
She frowns at me and shakes her head. “Don't do that shit,” she says, clearly angry with me.
“Sorry, but he was going to attack the girl.” I walk over and pick up my sword, wiping the blade on my pants before slipping it back in its scabbard. “Come on, I gotta get my crossbow.”
As we're walking across the street, Kateri touches my arm.
“I get that she was in danger, but we're here for a reason that's bigger than one girl.”
“Maybe,” I say as I bend down and pick up the weapon, “but the minute we let someone die because we have to be somewhere, then this whole thing isn’t worth fighting.”
Kateri nods and sighs. “Fair enough, just don't do it on your own. We're a team, remember?”
“I’ll remember.”
“Good. Now let's get to the Factory,” she says, taking my hand. “This time we go together.”
She pulls me into a shadow, and we're off.
We stop on the gravelly roof of a small apartment building two blocks from the Factory. I can see the faded red roof in the distance. Kateri looks over at me before drawing her sword. I do the same and then give her a small nod.
“Okay. Here we go,” I say and a moment later, we're standing just outside the gates.
I pull Kateri behind a rusting dumpster so we're hidden from any prying eyes.
“It looks clear,” she says after studying the front of the old building for a few moments.
“It's not what we can see that I'm worried about,” I reply.
“No sign of Reeva.”
“Maybe she's inside,” I suggest.
“If we can get inside.”
“Good point.”
We slip through a hole in the fence and dart across the open space between us and the familiar stack of wooden barrels by the hidden door. The old hanging light is swinging slowly above our heads, and then for the first time, I notice the stillness all around us. There's not the tiniest bit of a breeze, not even a hint of movement in the dead air.
“That's f-d up,” I say, gesturing with my head toward the old light.
“Add another thing to the list,” she says, grinning at me. “Well, let's see if this works.”
She touches the wall where the door should be, but nothing happens.
“Shit.”
“Let me try it,” I say.
She steps aside, and I lay my hand on the wall. Again, nothing happens, and I look over at Kateri, a frown on my face, but she's smiling and looking at the wall. I turn and watch as the brick slowly fades away, revealing the door beneath.
“Yeah, I know. This place is f-d up,” I say.
She just gives me a little wink. I push the door open and we walk inside. I nearly collide with a young man with short, dark hair as he rushes down the hall toward the elevators. I'm not sure if we would have touched in this messed up place, but Kateri and I make every attempt not to make contact with any of the Shayds we encounter. It's obvious that no one can see us as they go about their daily routines.
“Let's find Father,” I suggest.
We head through the cafeteria and into the Operations center. The nerve center of the Factory is as busy as usual. Father is in his office talking with one of the technicians.
“—so there was nothing there?” Father asks as we walk into the office.
“Yes sir.”
“Are we sure there was an incursion?”
“Yes sir,” the tech replies, tapping and swiping at the tablet in his hands. “It was only a few dozen blocks
from here. Taylor and Merle were close, so they were dispatched. When they arrived, the rift was closing, but there was no sign of the demon.”
I look over at Kateri.
“The bus stop.”
She nods at me and then looks at Father.
“He looks tired, or worried.”
“Or both.”
“Thank you, Carl. Let me know if you find out anything else.”
“Yes Father,” he replies before stepping out of the room.
Father walks over and sits down at his desk; a long sigh follows. He turns in his chair and gazes out the windows that look out onto the city.
“Did you make it?” he says to no one.
Kateri looks over at me and I can see the concern in her eyes. I put my hand on the desk, and it feels solid beneath my fingers, and then an idea pops into my head. I reach over and pluck a pen from the cup on Father's desk. He's still looking out the window when I start writing on one of the papers on his desk.
We made it.
I tap the pen on the desk and Father turns, probably expecting to see someone at his door, but instead one of his ballpoints is floating in midair just above his desk.
“Eve? Kateri?”
I tap the paper and he looks down, reading my little note.
“You made it. All of you?”
Not sure about Reeva.
“You're separated?”
Yes. We're looking for her.
“Are you both okay?” he asks quietly.
Yes. You haven't seen her?
“No. She must be there somewhere.”
We'll find her.
Father nods and offers us a weak smile.
“Remember your promise. Come back safe,” he says after a short pause.
We remember, and we will. All of us.
Kateri walks over and places her hand on his shoulder, just like I did with Amanda on that terrible day. I think she's as surprised as I am that her hand didn't pass right through him. Father leans his head to the side and closes his eyes, a soft sigh escaping his lips. I can see tears forming in Kateri's eyes.
All Things in the Shadows Page 23