The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  He was still lost in thought twenty minutes later when there was a knock at his door.

  “Come in,” Wisdom smiled and looked at the gilded clock on the wall. At least this was roughly on schedule.

  Josh and David walked in the door and the smile on Wisdom’s face faltered. ‘It was supposed to be Jessica,’ he thought. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe Josh could bring about something Jessica had been unable to do.

  “We know what you’re planning,” Josh said as soon as he sat down. “The reason Jessica and Todd were in my room was because they couldn’t help but read your thoughts. How exactly do you plan on using us as weapons against the Council of Peacocks? David and I haven’t even gone through your bloody training program.”

  “Though, from the sounds of it, I’m not sure I want to anymore.” David squirmed in his seat. “You know, the whole kill-a-person, win-a-prize thing. It’s a bit too Hunger Games for my taste.”

  Wisdom’s smile twisted slightly. “So I left out a few details. You knew what you were getting into. Look, I’m sorry things worked out this way. I would have preferred to spoon-feed you some of the more delicate material. Despite what the Council of Peacocks thinks, it is not healthy for the human mind to take too much in at once. I could have lied to you. Hell, I could jump through your bones and scramble your brains until you don’t know if you’re skinning a man alive or knitting a sweater. But I won’t.”

  “Thanks,” David said. “That makes me feel a whole lot better.”

  “I could take the Council out on my own. Possibly. Of course, with my power I’m not so good with the whole calculated strikes. You don’t know much about me. Barely anything at all, really. Suffice it to say I have more power at my disposal than almost anyone on the planet. I’m not expecting you to be all Navy Seal-like, nor am I expecting any mystical Neo-Matrix ninjas. I have a plan that will utilize the specific strengths each of you have. You are more powerful than you realize. If everything goes well, we’ll be in and out in half an hour with Propates’ head in a bag.”

  “And what if it goes badly?” David kept his eyes on the floor. No matter how he tried, he could not raise the courage to look Wisdom in the eyes.

  Wisdom sighed. “Do you really need me to answer that question? If it does not go well, we all die. Or I may end up blasting Greece into space. Either case would be unfortunate.”

  “And what about your father? What if he shows up again?”

  Wisdom took a deep breath and turned his full attention on Josh. The young man sank deep into the chair, pushed back by the force of his stare. “My father will show up. Count on that. Things will get messy, but I’ll take care of that. Still, it might be best if you don’t mention my father again.”

  “Wisdom?” David cleared his throat. “Who is your father? Is he a demon? Does that make you sort of like us?”

  “You know, I’m fairly certain I just said ‘don’t mention my father again.’ Now, go get something to eat. We’ll be leaving soon.”

  ***

  While the building’s custodians cleaned up the blood and shattered glass in his old room, Josh got settled in a new one. As hard as he liked to think he was, he couldn’t bring himself to stay even one more hour in that room. Every time he looked at the dent in the wall, he thought of Jared. Thought of how he’d thrown him back with the power of his mind.

  Until that moment, a small part of him had held onto the faint hope that he really wasn’t like the rest of the freaks here. He'd forced himself to believe he was fundamentally different from the others. Anomalies. It was just another word for freak. Since the advent of comic books, every kid over the age of six dreamed of being a superhero; but there was no mistaking Josh for a superhero. He was not a savior. He was not the next step in human evolution. He was a half-demon bastard. He was created by evil to do evil things.

  And now he could no longer deny it.

  He looked out the window at the chaotic streets below. The streets were so crowded it looked like beetles swarming through metal canyons. He wondered how long it would take to lose himself in that crowd. How long before Wisdom found him? How long could he run from the Council of Peacocks and the knowledge that his father had lied to him his whole life?

  “Not long at all.” Saying the words aloud was enough to dismiss all notion of running. He had to find out what his father was doing with the Council of Peacocks.

  He was about to turn away from the window when something caught his eye. A single Caucasian face in the throbbing mess of people. It seemed to look directly at Josh. A feeling trembled in his gut, the building of fear. Then he saw the gold ring on the man’s left hand. There was a flash of light and Josh dropped to his knees.

  Memory washed over him, more forceful than ever before.

  ***

  “I can’t control him anymore.”

  Josh was sixteen years old, standing at the top of the stairs eavesdropping on his father.

  “The subject is not open for debate, Lucius.” His dad spoke in a hushed voice, but the anger behind the words came across clearly. “He got into a fight at school today. Nearly tore the arm of a kid right out of the socket. By the time I got there, Josh was…I know I should have expected some differences. … Yes, I know that, Lucius. I’m not an idiot. But I’m telling you, he’s different. He’s not like the other ones….Whatever. Stop being a prick. I’m bringing him to Propates tomorrow. There has to be something….Look, I don’t care how it’s done. I need to have control of this boy until the army’s ready. Even with the technological help of our friend from away, without the muscle to…I am not ranting. And I’m telling you because you’re putting too much importance on the half-breeds. There’s only a hundred or so we know about. Even if we take half of them, Wisdom will…Humph. There’s really that many? Doesn’t matter. It’s still not enough to…I don’t care how much demon is in him. There’s no way Josh could win that type of war.”

  For several minutes his father was silent. Josh didn’t understand half of what his father was talking about. By demon, did his father mean Wisdom? Or was he talking about the Edimmu? Josh had seen the scaly reptoids only a few times in his life. Most of those times were not pleasant. They’d tortured and eventually killed one of his best friends. As a child, Josh vaguely remembered several trips with his father to a meeting place somewhere underground, a place filled with hundreds of Edimmu, some with wings, others in almost human form. He remembered a lot of grownup talk but he hadn’t paid any attention to what they were actually saying at the time. Now he wished he had.

  “Fine,” his father continued. “I’ll send him and his mother to Windsor. But this had better work, Lucius. There’s too much at stake. With what’s coming, we can’t afford to have the half-breeds fall into Wisdom’s hands….No, I don’t care about that. We’re going to remake the world, turn it back to what it should have been all along. I can’t let my personal feelings get in the way. If Josh has to die, so be it.”

  ***

  Josh felt nauseous and his head was swimming and he felt nauseous. How could his father do that? For the last several days he’d assumed the stranger with the gold ring worked for his demon father. Now that he had all his memories back – and this did, somehow, feel like the last of them – he saw his father for what he really was: a single-minded man on a mission with no concern for anyone hurt in the process. His father was a monster.

  Getting back to his feet, Josh looked back out the window and searched for the man with the gold ring. He was nowhere to be found.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Wisdom watched Echo pour a drink, studying the moment. A picture in a scrapbook. He placed it beside the image of the first time he saw her: a young woman carrying water back from a stone well in a wood bucket. Back then, she wore the same drab clothes as the other village women but there was something about her that cried out to him. In the distance, snow-capped mountains rose to pale blue sky. In that moment, Echo appeared as distant and untouchable as those mountains. That’s
why he took her. Forcefully.

  Centuries passed but he still saw her that way. Untouchable. No matter what he did, she was beyond his control. In those first years, he tried to force his way in. He used power to prevent her from leaving, controlling her mind and body. But she never submitted.

  Years passed, centuries passed and old pains dimmed. Their relationship changed. While she never forgave him, he knew she had feelings for him. It wasn’t until he’d lost her that he realized how much he loved her.

  ‘And I’m going to lose you again,’ he thought. ‘No, not this time. This time it will be different. It has to be different.’

  “Echo, please don’t go.”

  She shook her head and downed her drink. “We’ve been over this. I’m going with you. Period. I want this to be over. I need it to be over so I can get back to my life. That won’t happen until Propates and his puppet army are taken out of the picture. After that, I intend on spending a century developing a truly excellent wine collection and enjoying my accumulated wealth.”

  “But….”

  “I’m serious. I don’t feel safe anymore. Not when I’m away from you.”

  Wisdom fought the tears in his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he had heard this speech. The last time he'd heard it, Echo ended up dead.

  “Look,” Echo said. “About last night….”

  “Please. Don’t.” Wisdom went over to her. He used his eyes to caress her. “Just let it be what it was. There are so many things I could apologize for, things I probably should apologize for. But I believe I’m well past seeking redemption from anyone. I love you, Andromeda. You know that. And I can sense how complicated your emotions are toward me. Just… be careful today. I don’t think I can handle losing you again.”

  Echo took a step back. “What do you mean ‘again.’?”

  Wisdom shook his head. “Slip of the tongue.”

  “Wisdom, you don’t have slips of the tongue. What aren’t you telling me?”

  He reached out now and placed tender fingers on her left cheek. “In many ways I’ve lost you many times. In other ways I’ve never really had you. Maybe, if we get through this – once we get through this – maybe we can start over. I’m not asking you to forget the things I’ve done, but…”

  Echo brushed his hand away. “No, you’re right. I can’t forget. Maybe we should just get this over with.”

  Nodding to himself, Wisdom sighed. Last time he had said different words but the result was the same: Echo rejected him and he could not blame her.

  ***

  Propates hated darkness, which, considering what he could do, was extremely ironic. With the abilities at his disposal he could travel around the world by jumping into shadows. He could slip into people’s minds and bring their nightmares to life. Still, Propates had spent far too many years huddled and frightened in underground places escaping one enemy or another. Wisdom, the Djinn, pagans, Christians, Jews, rival secret societies: all had tried to eradicate Propates and his followers at one point. During the decades of the Inquisition, membership in the Council of Peacocks dwindled and those that remained cut themselves off from the World Above. Then, around 1850, things had changed. Aristocrats and debutants fell in love with the occult and magic was reborn. The Council of Peacocks rose steadily out of the dark places. Now he was finally ready to leave the shadows forever.

  He wandered around the ceremonial room, casually examining the equipment to making sure everything was in place. Six stone tables engraved with gold runes encircled a central dais. Beside each table lay a silver tray with several gleaming, metallic surgical instruments and six vials of specially prepared ink. Soon, the last of Wisdom’s precious Anomalies would be strapped down and unconscious before him The process of Eyeness would begin. He would make the demons divine.

  The air above the central dais shimmered. Suddenly the air rippled and tore open. A puddle of darkness spilled out like Indian ink in oil. Splashes of purple and mauve shot through the shifting black.

  Propates went pale.

  “I thought our negotiations had ended.”

  A voice came out of the darkness. “Balance has shifted again. The Judas was caught.”

  “What about Josh?”

  Propates looked over his shoulder. Richard Wilkinson approached, wearing his ceremonial robes of turquoise peacock feathers. Every inch of his clothes bore an artificial eye looking out at the world.

  “He’s alive,” the darkness said. “My son, the idiot, is bringing him to you. Soon.”

  Propates inhaled sharply. “But you said….”

  “I promised you he won’t interfere. I hold my bargains. I will see to him. See to the children. Carla and Sanchez are away on a mission for Asmodeus but the Orpheans have eyes everywhere. Remember your deal with them.”

  Inky blackness poured in reverse back through the tear in space. The air shimmered again and was still.

  “Should I try to contact our friend from away?”

  “No,” Propates hung his head. He put both hands on the table beside him, leaning against it for support. “Even if he would help us, which is doubtful, we want to avoid bloodshed. We need them for our plan to work. Half the Anomalies we took from Echo’s compound died in the process of Eyeness. Let’s not waste the remaining ones.”

  Richard hesitated for only a moment. “I’ll double the guards.” He exited the room, leaving Propates alone.

  “So close,” Propates said. “For the sake of our world, please let this work.”

  ***

  When she finished arranging for the removal of Jared’s body, Garnet came back to her room and stared at the wall for fifteen minutes. The stink of death was still on her. Her mind ricocheted: an image of Jared laughing during Mortal Kombat. An image of his body, broken and bent – wide dead eyes and blood. She let down her hair and was brushing it when Jessica entered.

  “What’s up, Jess?”

  “Ugh. You know I hate that name. It’s not like I call you Gar. Please don’t call me that. It sounds so … I don’t know what it sounds like, but please don’t call me that.”

  “Okay. What’s up, Jessica?”

  Jessica did not bother to speak. She stood in the doorway, hands held behind her back, staring straight forward. One of the reasons Wisdom employed Garnet as his secretary was the high level of proficiency she possessed over her empathic powers: it helped during business negotiations and weeding out disloyal employees. Images and sensations clicked on in her like a daydream. In the space of time it would have taken to speak the words ‘I have a problem,’ she knew all of Jessica’s fear.

  “Oh. It’s time.” She put down her hairbrush. Her stomach was in knots as she studied her face in the mirror. Suddenly she felt very old. “Don’t worry. I’m serious. Don’t worry about it. Wisdom is many things – ruthless, emotionally stunted and extremely impatient – but he’s not stupid. He’s invested a lot in you, in all of us. He’s not going to throw that all away for nothing. He wouldn’t take us into something he didn’t think we could walk out of.”

  Jessica narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.” Garnet straightened a few wrinkles in her dark grey pantsuit with strong, crisp movements. “Go on ahead. I’ll meet you in Wisdom’s office in a few minutes.”

  Garnet kept her composure until Jessica left the room. Then it slid off her like melting ice. No matter what she said, she couldn’t honestly say Wisdom had their safety in mind. It was completely conceivable that he planned to use the Anomalies as fodder for the Council. Maybe he saw her and the others as a disposable distraction while he snuck in and did the real damage. That could have been his plan all along. Only time would tell.

  She walked out of her room and headed toward the elevator, barely looking at the people she passed. All their petty thoughts irritated her.

  ***

  Garnet was seventeen when she first met Wisdom. Just a skinny girl in frumpy clothes who was a little too tall. At fifteen, her telepathy erupted. She heard h
ow others saw her. They felt sorry for her and called her a loser behind her back. At first she was angry. Then she decided to do something about it.

  She shed her frumpy clothes for more flattering ones and took up Aikido to firm up her body. Boys looked at her differently. She knew when they were thinking about her, what they were thinking about her. She also learned just the right way to wink at them. Within a few months she went from frail to feral. Teenage boys, drunk with their hormones, became her playthings. At least until Jason Kupnicke.

  Jason was a football player, a cliché from a wealthy family, with a girlfriend named Allison on the cheerleading squad. Garnet thought he’d be a challenge. In the end, he was all too easy. She whispered things to him in the library, things he wanted but could never bring himself to ask Allison to do. Garnet promised him all that and more.

  After one kiss under the bleachers, he trembled at her touch. Conquest over, she moved on to other things. Jason did not.

  One night Garnet woke up from a dream and knew that someone was watching her. Jason. She slid out of bed and went to the bedroom window. There he was, in the shadows by the backyard shed staring up at her bedroom window. He was imagining her body naked under his hands. He would do anything to be with her, whether she wanted it or not.

  She backed away from the window, not sure what to do. She looked at her bookshelf, her eyes landing on Stephen King’s Firestarter. She thought of the father, the one who could control people’s minds. She wondered if she could do the same thing. She focused on Jason’s shadow and pushed with her mind.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then she saw the flames engulf his hair and clothes. Jason threw himself down and rolled in the dry grass, trying to smother the fire out. Her father entered the room to see why she was screaming. Outside, the fire grew larger and larger, the dry grass devoured by flame until the whole backyard was a sea of flames. She heard Jason’s last thought as he died. It was of her.