When Mark called it quits, he had worked up a bit of a sweat, too. He wasn’t swimming in it like me, but it was good to see I had pushed him at least a little. He pulled out a couple of towels from a gym bag in his office, tossed one at me. He gave his bald head a vigorous rub with the towel and then asked me if I wanted a beer. This left me somewhat shocked. “I’m not twenty-one yet.”
He opened a small well-stocked beer fridge. He pulled out two bottles, opened them, handed me one, and said, “You’re old enough to die for your country, so that’s old enough for me. Besides, given what you’ve been through these last few weeks, you’ve earned it.” He motioned to a couple of chairs, and we sat down.
“You’re a natural at this, Finn. I would never have guessed you had it in you. When we first started, my goal was to see that when you lost a fight, the other guy would know he had been in one. However, from what I’ve seen, you could be adept at this. Your strength and coordination seem to improve every time we meet.”
His praise added to the warm toasties I was already feeling from getting a beer. To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t expected much from myself, either.
“Uncle Mark, did you have a... talk with Chester and Ricky to convince them to admit what they did to me?”
“Yes, I had a nice little conversation with each of them. We discussed the merits of coming clean.”
I snorted. It was weird to think about my uncle going around muscling a couple of punks to make my life easier. Actually, it was kind of cool.
“Thanks.”
“You betcha, kiddo.”
Sometime, in the last couple of days, I had decided to tell Uncle Mark what was going on. I felt in over my head and needed an adult opinion. This latest just strengthened my decision. We sat in silence while I worked up my nerve to broach the subject.
“Uncle Mark, has my dad talked to you about what happened in our back yard?”
He didn’t answer right away, but instead took a swig of his beer while he watched me intently. He finally shook his head.
“Well, my mom and dad want to keep it private, but I have to talk to someone about it. This last month has been extremely hard on them, and there are things going on that I can’t bring myself to tell them. If I tell you some things, would you promise not to tell my parents?”
He took another swig of beer as he watched me. “I don’t know if I can make a blanket promise like that, Finn.”
Crap.
“But I will tell you this: I would keep anything you tell me in strictest confidence, and I would not lightly share any secrets without good reason.”
What do you think, Spring?
Me? I didn’t think it was a terrific idea to keep this a secret anyway.
Right. I took a deep breath. “Well, this all started when we went down to the burial mound…”
I gave my uncle a highly abbreviated version of what was happening. I showed him the stick, and my healed bullet wound. I left out what had happened to my dad and the x-rated details about Spring. I concentrated on the shadows and the spirit of Wendigota. I ended with my concerns about Erik, his vendetta, and his unfortunate ability to turn into a giant rattlesnake with the snake whistle.
After a few moments of silence, he pointed his empty beer at me. “Finn, have you ever read the book or seen the movie, Men Who Stare at Goats?”
I nodded. It had been a hoot.
“Uncle Sam actually does have programs like that. I know people who participated in some of those experiments.”
That didn’t surprise me— he seemed to know a bit about everything.
“I worked with a man named Matt Smith who ran a PSI lab. It wasn’t exactly a secret program, but it wasn’t advertised either. I’ll tell you, some of their stories are just impossible to explain without resorting to magic or psychic powers. I’ll tell you another thing, those people are amateurs compared to what you have been experiencing.” Mark put down his beer bottle on the desk.
“I also understand what you were saying about your effigy bear whistle being compelling. The snake whistle had the same effect on me, even though I didn’t choose to wear it. That distorted giant’s skull I brought home was even more so. When I looked at it, it just seemed to hold secrets and promises.”
I shuddered. “The only thing that skull ever did for me was freak me out.”
“It looks like your instincts about it were better than mine. That skull is a thousand years old, if it is a day. Imagine that. If what we’re considering is true, somehow someone trapped that spirit underground for all that time, and now it looks like it is driving Erik on a killing spree. It’s not something I would have believed except for some of the things Smith showed me as well as everything you and your family have endured.”
I took a swig of my still nearly full beer and nodded in agreement. “Sometimes even I find it hard to swallow.”
“Finn, this is a lot to chew on. I’ve got no idea what to tell you at this point. What were you hoping I could do for you?”
“Well, I’m not actually sure any more,” I said. “I guess I just wanted to talk to someone. Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
“With these shadow-ridden people?”
I nodded.
“I have no way to tell, Finn. I’m afraid that you will just have to follow your own conscience on this one.”
“Oh… What about my parents? Do you think I should tell them?”
“Finn, I can’t be of much help there either, but there are some secrets that do more harm than good when shared. You are one of the smartest and most moral young men I know. I have faith that if anyone could handle this correctly, it’s you.”
That warmed me to my toes. “Thanks Uncle Mark, that helps.”
“Finn, would you be open to talking to some friends of mine about this? Maybe demonstrate some of it for them? They might have some ideas that could help you. They might even have someone who has had experience with these shadows you see.”
I shrugged. “Sure, I guess so.”
“Excellent! I’m heading out of town for a while, but when I come back, I want to organize something. I’ll give you a heads up when I get it put together. Does that work for you?”
I nodded.
“Good. In the meantime, just steer clear of Erik. He’s dangerously unstable regardless of whether he can turn into a twenty-five foot snake. Don’t go anywhere alone and don’t give him any opportunities to get at you. When I get back, I’ll make a few calls to some other people who should be able to help with him, too… Oh, and before I forget, my anthropologists sent your bear back. Hang on just a sec.”
He made a quick trip to the storeroom and came back with the bear whistle. He handed it to me. As soon as I had it in my hand, the grating interference in my brain started up again. I quickly dropped it in my backpack.
I searched his face. “Are you sure you want me to have this back after what I’ve told you?”
“Sure, I know where you live.”
I snorted. He snagged my largely unfinished beer and chugged it down.
“Hey!”
“You’ve had enough. You’re driving home, remember?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
He laughed and slapped me on the back as I stood up. “Cheer up, won’t be long till you and I can hit the bars together. Ever since your mother tamed your father, I’ve been short a good drinking buddy.”
That made me smile back. “Okay, you’ve got yourself a deal.”
On my way home, I thought about Erik as a snake and made a vow to keep the bear whistle near me. Surely a giant bear could take a giant snake? Maybe I could wrap it in foil or something to keep its beat out of my head. While I was at it, maybe I should just wrap my head in foil to keep the little green men from reading my mind. Sheesh.
Bear Necessities
The next morning, I stood next to Dr. Anderson inside Daniel’s room. Daniel seemed somehow diminished, lying there in the bed, his head beaded with sweat, and occasionally thrashing or mut
tering. The massive shadow still clung to him. When I walked in, it strained toward me and again reached for me. Malice and hunger radiated off of it. It totally wanted a sweet, juicy Finn steak, maybe followed by a lovely warm glass of Finn juice. I couldn’t believe I was actually here voluntarily.
“What do you see, Finn?”
I swallowed, trying to lubricate my dry throat. “It’s still there. It’s huge.”
“You look pretty shaken. Are you up for this?”
A violent shiver started in my spine and radiated out to my arms and legs. “No, but I’ll manage. If I did this to him, I can’t just let him suffer for it.”
Spring disagreed. Yes, you can. You saved two other people from these things. This blob is almost as scary as the one in the skull.
It certainly looked bigger and meaner than the others I had seen. I sat in a chair as far away from Daniel’s bed as the room allowed and forced myself to study Daniel. I tried to determine if there was more than one shadow on him. If there were any indications of it, I couldn’t see them, even with my second sight.
I brought up my shield. This time though, I brought it up with myself outside of it. I just imagined a golden sphere hanging in space, in front of me, and there it was. Scintillating and dripping the occasional bright golden sparks. The special effects were quite cool. I glanced over at Anderson who was sharing his attention between Daniel and me. It was obvious he couldn’t see it.
That must thoroughly piss him off, commented Spring. He’s such a control freak.
I don’t know, Spring, he doesn’t look angry.
Well, duh. He’s about as expressive as a tree .
My sphere started to fall apart as I tried not to laugh aloud. Spring’s vocabulary and comfort in my world increased every day. I redoubled my concentration and thought, Shhhhh!
I practiced moving the orb around. One thing I hadn’t imagined was the golden cord that stretched from it to me. I guessed it was probably a good thing; I wouldn’t want to lose it—whatever it was. I played with the sphere, creating it, letting it go, moving it around, enlarging it, or contracting it. The concentration taxed me, and the subdued buzzing in my brain coming from the bear whistle’s interactions with the caduceus made it worse. It was even harder than staying awake in English class.
“Doctor? Mrs. Carols is demanding to see you.”
Anderson grimaced, but his voice was pleasant and controlled. “Tell her that I will be with her when I can.”
I turned to see the doc’s receptionist looking in the door, and I lost control of the sphere. It dissolved into a puddle of light and came rocketing back to me. It hit with a zing that felt a bit like an electric shock. I jumped at the unexpected zap, and another cold shiver shook through me. I wondered if that was how it felt with Holly when I’d ripped her aura in two. Then I wondered just what the hell I was playing with. Was this part of my soul? That was a sobering thought. What would contact with one of these shadows do to it? Was this just a lousy idea?
I pushed down the doubts, pulled the well-wrapped bear whistle out of my pocket, dropped it on a handy table, and tried again.
After a half hour, I felt I’d gotten as far as possible. I paused to take a break and scarf down a couple of Snickers bars. I worked on squashing my doubts, and when I was as ready as I could be, I concentrated on Daniel and created a sphere around his bed. There was no reaction that I could see from the deep shadow. It was still straining towards me. I gradually shrank the sphere around the bed. When it was close enough, black pseudopods licked up against it. It felt like somebody was swabbing the inside of my mind with a nasty kitchen sponge. My control faltered as I mentally cringed, and my aura snapped back to me painfully.
I must have visibly cringed because Anderson asked, “Are you okay Finn?” At the same time that Spring said, Okay, that’s totally bogus. Let’s go dancing.
I just nodded to the doctor, frowned mentally at Spring, girded my brain, and tried again.
This time I braced for the feeling I got when it touched my sphere. It was still nasty, and my control wavered for a millisecond before I got it fully back in focus. I concentrated on the ever-present beat of the caduceus through me. This helped me to stop dwelling on the nasty feel of it.
When I was ready, I started moving the sphere down the bed. When one side of it touched Daniel’s head, he groaned, and the shadow shot to the point of contact and spread out around it. I continued moving it down over Daniel’s head. The black shadow began to boil in agitation.
I started feeling resistance. It became difficult to move the sphere. I could feel the shadow, cold and malevolent, pushing against it. I kept moving the sphere down Daniel’s body. Once I had gotten it past his shoulders, I could see the weak aura left behind. Instead of vibrant red, it was now dull orange and had the streaks and sparks chasing through it that made me think it was under stress. The shadow was clinging to Daniel’s aura as it had before. I wondered if I could sever that link, and maybe create another shield that would hold his aura back. That thought was enough of a distraction that I lost control of the sphere. Faster than a speeding bullet, its energy snapped back into me. My body jerked in reaction to the jolt it brought. Daniel’s did the same, only amplified.
Anderson was immediately asking what had happened. He checked Daniel for a pulse. I could have told him Daniel was okay.
“It was working. I was scraping the shadow off Daniel, but my attention wavered for a second and I lost it.”
“Well, now we know you can do that much. Are you up to trying to pull it all the way off?”
I could feel Spring’s endorsement of the idea of stopping, but if I stopped now, I probably would never try it again. I nodded and soon was back scraping the invisible black goo off a man using my imaginary golden sphere. The strangeness of it hit me yet again, and I wondered, how did I lose my life so quickly? The sphere again disintegrated and snapped back into me again. After metaphorically straightening myself out and shaking off the buzzing tingle in my brain, I tried one more time.
As they say, third time’s the charm. I was able to pull the shadow completely off the unconscious Daniel, but, as expected, it clung stubbornly to Daniel’s dull orange aura. Slowly and carefully, I moved the sphere against the resistance that had grown as I collected more of the shadow. I was starting to feel the strain now. I broke out in a sweat and started breathing more heavily. I continued to pull it away from Daniel. His aura stretched more and more. I started cringing in anticipation of the tear. I moved slowly and carefully. When it happened, it was small, and the majority of his aura leapt back onto Daniel, who again flinched on his bed.
Now that I had the shadow off Daniel, the plan was to try and kill it. We had planned to try water, sunlight, and anything else we could think of, but I was starting to sweat with the effort to hold it. The caduceus started heating up on my chest while the chill and psychic strain of the shadow continued to grow.
There was no way I would be able to hold my concentration long enough to go through with our plan. It was time to admit defeat and let the shadow go. The original worst-case plan was to put it back on Daniel, but when I brought it back close to Daniel in its golden cage, what I saw stopped me cold.
Daniel’s aura was weaker than any I had seen. It was just barely visible. His appearance chilled me. If I let the shadow reinfect him, it could very well kill him. Now, I was sweating in earnest and breathing hard. Anderson was hovering over me anxiously.
I struggled to maintain my concentration as I said, “Can’t do it! It will kill him.”
Anderson didn’t even blink. “Then, bring it to me.”
I almost lost control right there. I gasped, and I caught it before my cage unraveled.
“Finn, do it. I have years of training. I’ve got a better chance of dealing with it than anyone here, and I cannot ask someone else to take the risk.”
I couldn’t imagine anyone voluntarily letting one of these things near him or her, but I didn’t have any options. Anderson
was next to me, so I carefully brought the sphere closer. I found that as I did so, it became significantly easier to maneuver. I guess the shadow could sense him and was now happy with the direction I was pushing it. I was grateful for the reprieve, but it was still disturbing.
“Are you sure, doc? Remember what you said to me about consequences?”
He nodded grimly, which was good, because my concentration failed me as I asked the question. The shadow snapped to Dr. Anderson and flowed to cover his body and white aura. He stiffened and let out an involuntary exclamation. Then, he fell to the floor unconscious. I let go of the cage and called frantically for the orderly.
Tom arrived quickly. I told him that the doctor had just collapsed, so Tom picked him up easily and carried the doctor back to his office. I grabbed my well-wrapped bear whistle and followed, feeling sick about what I had done.
I stood and watched the blackness swirling around Anderson until I had to leave or throw up. Shaken and stirred, I left and went to find Gregg and Jen. Gregg had told me that he would be here working with her, and Tom was busy with the doctor, so he couldn’t stop me.
I found them in Jen’s room. She and Gregg were talking. Before either noticed me, I had a chance to observe for a moment. Jen still looked different. I couldn’t say exactly what, but she stood straighter, and her mannerisms were more regal, more formal, with remarkably little extraneous movement. She seemed calm and sure of herself—like a warrior priestess. Go figure.
“Hi guys,” I said. I must have sounded more haggard than I thought because Gregg’s face opened in shock. For her part, I seemed to have gained Jen’s full attention.
“What’s wrong, Finn? You look terrible.”
“Hard morning… didn’t get my coffee. How’s it going?”
Gregg’s face lit with excitement. He said, “We’re still not communicating well, but Jen is starting to remember things. She’s beginning to understand English again!”
The Shadow's Touch Page 18