The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

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The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels Page 107

by Travis Luedke


  Above him, the clouds swirled purple and black. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

  “I guess running is out of the question. I think I’m too predictable.” His father must have guessed Wisdom would run to the only friends he had. Lightning flashed inches in front of him; the concussive backlash threw him back several feet. By the time he was on his feet, his father was standing before him.

  “Hate me all you want. This is for your own good. Come away now before my limited patience is exhausted.”

  “I would rather die than go back to the Kaz with you.”

  The Djinn hung his head. “As you wish.” He pointed the fiery sword at Wisdom, using the blade as a focal point for his magic. Though the sun was still in the sky, the sword seemed to steal all the light out of the air, turning the jungle into a twilight place. He shot a bolt of white light, brighter than anything a mortal eye could see. Wisdom didn’t run, did not turn aside. Instead, he opened a portal directly in front of him. The fire sped through the portal like a spear and appeared on the other end of the spatial distortion – directly behind the Djinn’s head. The magical attack staggered the Djinn, knocking him to his knees.

  Wisdom saw his opportunity. He ran.

  Bloodied and wounded, he stumbled back to the village, vaguely aware he wasn’t alone. Propates was there.

  “Run,” he advised Propates. Then he was gone.

  ***

  On occasion, Wisdom was very lucky. Africa was one of those times. Echo – or Andromeda, as she called herself then – was not a fighter by nature. She sensed the Djinn’s presence just before he sucked Wisdom away. She hid in a nearby stream, waiting until she felt Wisdom’s return. Then she opened a portal and transported them to the home of a druidess in England. It took nearly two months for Wisdom to recover from the battle, two months of being unable to hide his weakness and need. Echo saw his weakness and she did not laugh. She did not take advantage of him. She helped him heal.

  He had never felt more ashamed in his life.

  ***

  Wisdom recuperated in a shallow cave near a small waterfall. It was summertime in England and the shadows were pleasantly cool. The druidess was off performing a hand-fasting ceremony in a nearby oak grove. Andromeda wiped the perspiration from Wisdom’s fevered brow and lifted the bowl of hot liquid to his mouth. He drank the medicinal broth, unable to tear his eyes away from her.

  “Why do you stay?”

  She smiled and put the bowl down. “Where would I go?”

  “I’m serious.” He reached out and touched her forearm. “The things I’ve done to you…to your family…to everyone. If you left me now I could not stop you. So why do you stay?”

  She turned away and started to rise. Then she stopped and looked at the ground. “Like I said, where would I go? Everyone I loved is dead. All my family, my whole village – dead. Even Propates is gone now. This is the only life I know. You are the only life I know. So I stay.”

  “Do you forgive me?”

  Andromeda turned to face him so quickly that for a moment Wisdom thought she was going to strike him. “Apparently your fever has made you delirious. I don’t forgive you. I do not love you. And I never will. Never.”

  ***

  Wisdom opened his eyes. Instinctively he tried to sit up, but pain paralyzed him. A quick look at his surroundings confirmed he was at Echo’s island home. He felt the fear filter out of him. Once again he had run from a fight with his father and Echo had saved him. No matter what words she used, her actions were transparent. She did love him, nearly as much as he loved her. It made everything else worthwhile.

  A thought solidified in his mind and he caught his breath.

  “Why couldn’t I kill him?” He whispered the words. He needed to say them aloud, to give solidity to the fear and doubt now churning inside him. Experience told him he had the power and wiles to defeat his father. Somehow the old Djinn had defeated him. He needed to understand how that was possible. He replayed the battle in his head, going over every minute detail. Then it hit him.

  His father had help.

  ***

  Several days ago, he confronted his father in a forest clearing. The Djinn took a step forward, the heat of his body pushing Wisdom back.

  “Something is coming, son. Something beyond anything you can handle. I’m here to take you back where you belong before the end-game starts. For once, live up to the name you’ve chosen and come with me.”

  “We’ve had this conversation before. You’re not my father. You stole me. I still remember what you did to my mother. You raped her.”

  The Djinn sighed. “I apologized for that. What more can I say?”

  “What more can you…? It’s not something you can apologize for! It pretty much puts you in the bad guy column for all time.”

  The Djinn shook his head and sighed again. “Fine. Have it your way. I’ve tried, but you’re still a disappointment. Weak and short-sighted. A complete waste of life. If you won’t come home willingly, I will beat you into submission.”

  Wisdom called forth the fire inside. “Old man, that’s not going to work anymore.”

  And the battle began.

  This time, Wisdom struck first. Over the centuries he’d refined his control over the five elements. This time, when he reached out for elemental earth, it was not with clumsy hands – it was with the refined touch of an artist. Instead of stone spikes, he bent the forces of magnetism and gravity to his will. Lightning sparked through the air around his hands as he negated all inertia around his father. Humans seldom think about how quickly the Earth moves through space as it circles the sun. A native of the Kaz, a dimension without stars, the Djinn knew little about the higher astrophysics. The move caught his father unprepared. Freed from the protection of the planet, he stayed in place as the planet sped by him at over 67,000 mph. Within a heartbeat, he was thousands of miles away from the planet in the vacuum of space. An instant later, Wisdom was there.

  The sudden change in location disoriented the Djinn. Wisdom took the opportunity to alter the inertia field once again, reversing the velocity so that the Djinn slammed into the nearest planet. His father smashed into the molten surface of Venus. The impact threw up lava and stone, polluting the atmosphere in a mushroom cloud. Wisdom waited and smiled.

  His father flew up from Venus, quickly recovering from the initial shock. He had a sword in his hands now, the same sword he had once used to impale Wisdom. This time there was a difference. This time there was fear in the old Djinn’s eyes.

  “Didn’t see that coming, did you?” Wisdom opened a portal behind him and stepped out of space. His father, caught in his rage, rushed through the portal after him and found himself on an elemental plane of water. Cool liquid crushed down on the Djinn, cooling the superheated gaseous form until it appeared nearly human. Born on Earth, Wisdom was not affected the same way. Humans, after all, are nearly 83% water. As his father struggled to rebuild his power, Wisdom opened another portal – this one directly behind the Djinn. Using elemental spirit, Akasha, Wisdom pushed his father out of the elemental plane high above the Gobi desert back on Earth. The Djinn fell quickly, his wet body pounding into the cold sand of the Chinese desert. Wisdom flew through the portal. Hovering in the air, he brought down bolt after bolt of lightning upon the Djinn.

  In the distance, a portion of sand gleamed gold under the light of the lightning.

  “I am not the weakling you believe me to be, Father.” Wisdom touched down on the sand, reached down into the pits of the planet and called forth a pillar of crystal. Clear quartz shot up through the sand and impaled the Djinn. “Unlike you, I’ve grown over the years. I’ve learned. This is what you can accomplish by doing instead of just thinking.”

  The Djinn’s body flickered, disappeared and reconstituted several feet away from the spear of quartz. “Tricks. You offer me tricks. You cannot possibly hope…”

  “You’re right. I don’t hope. I know. I’ve already done this, remember? I’m going to kill
you, kill you with my little ‘tricks’.” He reopened the portal to the plane of water, a rush of cool liquid spilling out over the desert. The carefully-constructed tsunami slammed against his father with a roar of sound. Pain contorting his face, the Djinn struggled to stay upright. Inch by inch, his body of solidified fire gave way to the deluge, steaming under the flow of water. Wisdom knew he had won.

  Then something changed.

  Pain evaporated, leaving an expression of rage and concentration. The Djinn pushed back against the tide, and the elemental water stuttered like the image from a faulty projector. The water’s momentum slowed and then reversed. Wisdom’s eyes went wide as his weapon was snatched from his grasp and tossed aside. In an instant, the surge of water bled back into the portal and returned to the elemental plane.

  “Didn’t see that coming, did you?” His father smiled now, an expression of intense violence. “Where is your confidence now, boy?” The Djinn swung his fist, hurling a stream of superheated gases like plasma from the surface of the sun. Wisdom stumbled away from the attack. The move threw him off balance and he fell on his back. “Where is your bravado now? Maybe you thought this was going to be a fair fight. Well, you’re right. It’s not fair. I outclass you. Did you really expect to dispatch me like this? By the Heavens, I’m a Djinn. I’m older than this planet. And you? You are nothing but an aberration, a diversion, a toy of mine that has forgotten his place. Give up now. This is not a fight you can win.”

  At the taunting, Wisdom recovered. “Hello? Have you been watching this fight? That was you getting your ass kicked a moment ago. You know, the psychologists of this planet would have a lot to say about the way you carry on.” Wisdom pushed himself to his feet and brushed sand off his shoulders. “I mean, the sword speaks volumes. Over-compensating much? And I have to wonder, are you like this with everyone, or is it just me? Do all the Djinn get together over coffee and talk about who’s the biggest baddie of them all? Or maybe, and I’m just putting it out there, maybe the reason you kidnapped me all those years ago was because you realized how much of a disappointment you are. I’m guessing part of the reason you didn’t let me associate with the other Djinn is because they all knew what I’m just starting to realize now. You’re a loser. Just a big fat joke amongst the Djinn. Maybe you just wanted me around so you can point out my weaknesses as a diversion from your own inadequacies. It’s kind of like picking up a dog from the pound just so you can kick it when you have a bad day. When you think about it that way, it actually makes you kind of pathetic.”

  The glare of hatred in the Djinn’s eyes was answer enough. Distracted by the small victory, Wisdom did not see the slab of molten lava until it was inches away from his face. The impact hammered him into the ground, even as his body instinctively absorbed the heat and flames. Before he could recover, the Djinn grabbed him by the right arm, just above the elbow. He lifted Wisdom high over his head and slammed him against the ground.

  “When we get back to the Kaz, Akushula, be prepared to eat those words. I’m trying to save your life. Whether you want it saved or not. I will not leave you here on this planet to face what’s coming.”

  Over and over the Djinn slammed him against the ground. It was far from subtle, but it was effective. All Wisdom could do was wait for an opening. Finally, his father threw him high in the air. The Djinn’s hands began to glow with subtle fire, but Wisdom took his moment. He called upon the power of Air, increasing the quantity of oxygen in the area around the Djinn. The gases responded to the flame and, for all intents and purposes, his father exploded. Pieces of the Djinn’s body showered the desert.

  Wisdom took the opportunity to run. Something very wrong had happened. The Djinn was an elemental. Under the treaties of authority, as a creature of fire, his father should not have been able to manipulate elemental water as he did with the tsunami. It was physically impossible. And yet the old bastard had done it. Bloodied and confused, Wisdom’s consciousness leaked away like blood. His body flew on instinct to the one place, the one person he knew would make him safe. Then he collapsed.

  ***

  “You almost had me there, old man,” Wisdom whispered. Thinking back on the fight was all that it took to convince Wisdom his instincts were correct. Someone was helping the Djinn. And the only hint of it was a distant gleam of something under the lightning. “I’m not usually a betting man, but I’d put money on that ‘thing’ being a gold ring. Looks like the alien is no longer just a problem for Josh. He and I are about to have words, as soon as I am whole again.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  David stared out at the ocean without really seeing it. His ears were ringing, a sound that seemed to bypass his eardrums altogether to buzz inside his head. His short time with the Anomalies told him what that meant: power.

  “That’s the best I can do,” Todd said from the couch. He let his bloodied hands drop away from Josh’s head and slumped forward, his elbows resting against his knees.

  “His skull wasn’t cracked, really, but it was pretty close,” Jessica said. She wiped sweat from her forehead. The two of them had once again combined their healing powers. Under normal circumstances, Jessica would barely feel the exertion; but these were hardly normal conditions. Despite her protests to the contrary, she was just a child and her little body could only deal with so much. “We stopped the bleeding and fused the bone.”

  “So why doesn’t he wake up?” David moved away from the window and joined the others. His face was still pale and somber under his shock of red hair, his eyes moving too quickly.

  Jessica looked up at David and narrowed her eyes. “Do I look like a doctor? I know nothing about head trauma. Maybe it’s all been too much for him. All this stuff about his connection to the Edimmu and now it turns out Elaine shot his mother. Maybe his mind just shut down. Maybe it won’t let him wake up until he’s processed it all.”

  Sitting at the dining table, Garnet poured a glass of red wine – her third so far. “Well, I can’t speak for Josh, but I can say this is all too much for me. I can’t believe how ‘full circle’ this whole thing is. It’s like we stepped into the third act of a trilogy without all the Jedi and hobbits.”

  Todd nodded. “Actually, you could kind of say we’re like the Jedi. And, you know, Jessica is basically a hobbit.”

  Jessica kicked him in the shin and walked toward the bathroom.

  Todd winced at the pain but kept smiling. He sat down at the table next to Garnet and leaned back in his chair. He folded his arms across his chest, the smile fading. “What can you tell us? Why did Wisdom want Josh’s father killed?”

  For a moment Garnet said nothing. Then, after a large swig of her wine, she spoke. “Elaine was right about one thing. It really should come from Wisdom. But seeing as how he’s all coma-like and we’re being chased by reptoids from the center of the earth, what the heck. Josh’s father, well, he’s not exactly what you would call an innocent bystander. If he’s the one Elaine was told to kill in Lebanon, he works for the Canadian branch of an organization called Candleworks. They’re a quasi-military group whose sole purpose is to catalogue and eliminate non-humans on Earth. You already know about the Edimmu. There are a surprising number of other species on the planet. This group, Candleworks, was investigating Wisdom. They caused him some inconveniences. He wanted to send a message.”

  “So,” Todd said, slowly nodding. “Wisdom really isn’t human, is he?”

  Garnet looked at him over the rim of her wine glass. “Did you hit your head? Of course he isn’t human. Hell, technically we’re not even human. You know that. I don’t know all the details. I was new at the time and Wisdom only gave me limited information. From what I gather, this group Candleworks was investigating the same kind of events Wisdom was. Meaning us. I think there was some sort of recruiting competition, like Candleworks wanted the Anomalies to work for them. Obviously, Wisdom wanted them for himself. I’m not sure exactly. That we’ll have to ask the big guy.”

  “So if he’s no
t human, what is he?” David bit his nails, his eyes darting quickly between Garnet and Todd.

  Garnet took a sip of wine and held it in her mouth for a long time. She chewed the wine, a physical manifestation of the thoughts running through her mind.

  “I don’t know if there’s a name for what he is. I know he’s very old. From what I’ve learned, he’s from…somewhere else. Some people, mostly his enemies, have called him a demon, but I don’t think he is. He’s not inherently evil and he’s not out to steal souls. But he’s definitely not some sort of angelic presence here to save us from ourselves, either. I do know that there is no one else like him on this planet. That’s part of the reason he has so many enemies. Most people that know about him want him to go away. A few others seem to think they can use him for their own purposes.”

  “Excellent,” David said sarcastically. “Clear as mud. You should go into politics. What does all this have to do with me? With us?”

  “Long story.” Garnet took another drink of wine. “Wisdom’s fed us a few different stories, about who we are and why we are. About a year after they’re recruited, Newbies are told a story about evolution and how the human genome is affected by background radiation, forcing it to adapt. Stuff like that. It’s all complete crap. Well, maybe not complete crap from a scientific standpoint, but it has nothing to do with us. About year three you hear a slightly different story. That’s the one everyone here has heard.”

  “You mean that wasn’t true, either?” Jessica came back into the room and stood in front of Garnet with her hands in her pockets. “That stuff about our parents?”

  “What about our parents?” David had a flashback to something Elaine had said earlier. “Elaine said something about how I didn’t know as much about my parents as I thought. Are you saying my parents did something to me?”

 

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