Defenders of Shadow and Light: Ghost Thief

by Jason Levine

  “What if I ghost, though?”

  Ruth opened her purse. Inside, Murray noticed a familiar blue glow. The “general dampener” that they had used last night. Ruth placed the bracelets and collar inside her purse. It was a tight fit, but she managed to close her purse with them inside.

  “This thing has a range of fifteen feet, so don’t get too far away from me.”

  “Will do,” Murray replied and Ruth led him outside. “Isn’t Thomas coming with us?”

  “We’re going to meet a friend who might be able to help. It was decided that having four of us in such close proximity wouldn’t be a great idea.”

  Ruth and Murray walked out of their building and entered the subway. The ride was completely uneventful. Murray had quite a few questions he wanted to ask, but didn’t want to talk about weird powers with the gathering crowd on the subway. So they sat in silence until Ruth stood up.

  “This is our stop.”

  Murray followed Ruth out of the subway and down the street. They were in a more industrial section of the city. Instead of packed together buildings, there were wide open tracts of land with factories of many varieties. Ruth rang the buzzer on the gate to a large lot that had a grayed out “Sam Treis’ Junk Sculptures” sign hanging above twenty foot tall gates. An equally tall wall surrounded the lot. If Ruth hadn’t walked up to that one, Murray would have sworn that it was deserted. Even the intercom seemed rusty and broken at first glance.

  “Sam Treis’ Junk Sculptures,” came a crackly voice from the worn out speaker. “How can I help you?”

  “Sean, it’s Ruth. Will’s daughter. I brought someone who recently was given powers. He needs training.”

  For a few seconds, the only answer was the sound of static on the other end. Then, a buzzing indicated that the gates had unlocked. They swung open and Ruth entered.

  Murray paused for a moment at the entrance. Once the gates closed, they would probably lock again. Murray looked around quickly and noticed that it would be virtually impossible to scale the gates if he needed to escape quickly.

  “Still,” Murray thought, “I’ve come this far. I’ve gotten out of worse places before and maybe I’ll be able to control this ghosting thing by the time I need to leave.”

  Murray walked through the big, rusty gates and they closed shut behind him with a loud clang. He wasn’t sure, but for a moment he thought he saw a random pile of electronics turn to follow him as he ran to catch up with Ruth.

  The lot was more junkyard than sculpture repository. Giant piles of trash loomed high above them. The narrow pathways wound left and right, branched off, and stopped in dead ends. It was a giant trash maze, but Ruth wound her way through it expertly. Obviously, this was not her first time here.

  Murray stayed close to Ruth. If they got separated, not only would he be hopelessly lost, but he could ghost at any moment. Still, he examined the piles of trash they passed. Murray saw old cars, broken toasters, ancient computers, and even a pile consisting of nothing but vacuum cleaners. He sensed that there was a pattern with all of this electronic garbage and added that to the growing list of mysteries he’d like solved.

  Many times, Murray caught movement out of the corner of his eyes. When he turned to look at the source, though, all he saw was normal junk. Still, he felt certain they were being watched.

  After too many minutes walking by trash–and Murray wondering just how big this small looking lot actually was–they reached a large clearing. All around them, piles of junk reached for the sky. At the far edge of the clearing was a small shack. Its wooden walls and rusted metal roof gave the impression that it might fall down at any moment.

  Standing in the clearing was a thin man wearing a gray long sleeved shirt and loose fitting gray sweatpants. He wore black gloves on both of his hands and dark sunglasses hid his eyes from view. An old, worn-out baseball cap sat atop his head.

  “Hi Ruth. It’s nice to see you again,” the man said. Murray wasn’t sure, but he thought the man’s voice sounded oddly metallic.

  “Hi Sean. This is Murray. He just discovered his abilities last night.”

  “Ah, interesting,” Sean said, looking Murray up and down. “And what exactly can he do?”

  “He can pass through walls,” Ruth said, opening her purse. She removed one of the bracelets. “I have data from the dampeners.”

  Sean walked over to them and took the bracelet from Ruth. He held it in his hand and looked it over. Murray got the distinct feeling that more was going on than appeared to be happening.

  One by one, Ruth handed Sean the bracelets. One by one, Sean looked them over carefully before handing them back to Ruth.

  “Interesting,” Sean said as he handed the last dampener back to Ruth. “Give me a second.”

  Sean stood very still. Seconds stretched into minutes. Murray looked from Sean to Ruth.

  “What’s going on here. Why’s he standing like that,” Murray whispered.

  “He’s processing the information,” Ruth said. “He needs to focus to do that.”

  “Well, it’s very unnerving.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  Finally, Sean moved again. He turned to Murray and addressed him.

  “How much do you know about what is happening to you?”

  “Quite frankly, not a lot,” Murray answered. “Thomas said something about a distortion thing. It warps reality and makes me able to pass through objects or something like that.”

  “Close enough. It’s a reality distortion field. All of us who have been affected have it.”

  “So you can all pass through stuff like me?” Murray asked.

  “No,” Sean replied. “The distortion pattern manifests itself differently in different people. Some can fly. Others can move objects with their mind. A close friend of mine found that he was able to shoot massive quantities of plasma about.”

  “Sounds like he’d be great at a BBQ,” Murray commented.

  Ruth looked down at the ground. Murray wondered if he had said something wrong.

  “Perhaps,” Sean continued. “Except, sometimes these gifts come with downsides. My friend, for example, could not control his plasma. As time went on, he became a danger to his friends and family. I built him a containment suit, but it only slowed down his condition. Eventually, I was able to design the dampeners that you witnessed in action.”

  “So he’s okay now?” Murray asked, looking at Ruth. He remembered the photo she had in her room of a glowing man in some sort of armor. Was he related to Ruth in some way?

  “He is not cured, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sean answered. “However, his abilities are suppressed for the time being.”

  Murray paced around thinking.

  “So what you’re saying is that my abilities–this ghosting thing. It’s going to go out of control one day. Like, I might not be able to become solid again?”

  “It is a possibility. It doesn’t happen with everyone, but it is a fear that we live with all the time.”

  “Way to sell the whole ‘super-powered lifestyle,’” Murray snorted.

  Ruth stepped forward. “Murray, we just need you to know what all the possibilities are–good and bad. Your abilities are like muscles. If you train them, they get stronger. This might mean that they get too strong and take over, though.”

  “And if I don’t train them. They weaken and go away?”

  “Not completely,” Sean said. “Even if you were to dampen your powers and refrain from ‘ghosting’–as you put it–for years, you would still always live with the risk that your powers could flare up at any time.”

  “I don’t think I like the bracelet option,” Murray said. “It might raise some problems when I… um, go to work. I noticed that Ruth has earrings like these bracelets. Could you do something like that for me. Not earrings, of course. Not my style. Maybe a ring or a necklace?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Ruth’s earrings are very low level dampeners,” Sean answered. “She has trained her ab
ilities for quite some time and only needs protection against accidental power use. I might have something else for you, though.”

  Sean took a small watch out of one pocket and a small screwdriver from another one. He removed a cover from the underside of the watch and quickly fiddled with some controls inside. After a minute or two, Sean closed the watch up and handed it to Murray.

  “This should be keyed to your reality distortion pattern now. It will only work for you.”

  Murray put the watch on his wrist. It began glowing blue as soon as the strap was connected. After a few seconds, the blue light faded and the time appeared as if it were a normal watch.

  “So this will keep me from ghosting?”

  “Yes,” Sean replied. “It will keep your powers dampened unless you specifically activate them. In time, if you work hard, you won’t need the watch. You’ll be able to activate your powers whenever you want. For now, though, the watch will take care of this for you.”

  “Thanks. That should help keep me from floating into anyone’s bedroom at night.”

  Murray glanced over at Ruth and winked at her. For a brief second, Ruth smiled, but she quickly regained her composure.

  “So now you have a decision to make,” Sean said. “You can keep the watch on and keep from using your powers. Or you can train with me and learn how to use your abilities. Don’t decide right now. I’ll have Ruth take you home and you can take the rest of the day to think about it.”

  “One last question,” Murray said. “Thomas mentioned folks who didn’t like people with powers. Something about big gatherings being a no-no.”

  “He would have mentioned them.” Sean looked at Ruth before turning back to Murray. “Yes, there are those who would like nothing more than for all of us to be no more. If you train with me, I can teach you how to hide yourself from them and fight them if need be. For now, though, you should be safe. Go home and make your decision. If you decide to train with me, call me at this number and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Sean handed Murray a business card. It read:

  Sam Treis’ Junk Sculptures

  “You’ll be amazed with what we can do with garbage.”

  555-1234

  “Isn’t this one of those phony numbers they give in movies and television shows?” Murray asked, but Sean didn’t respond. He was already walking back to the small shack. Murray put the business card in his pocket and followed Ruth out of the clearing. Ruth led Murray through the junk maze and out of the junk yard. All of the way to the subway station, Murray didn’t say a word. He felt as though his brain was going to explode trying to come to grips with everything that had happened to him. Obviously, he had a lot to think about.

  They boarded a subway car and sat down. Murray looked at his new watch and ran his fingers over it. This was the only thing keeping him solid enough to remain in his seat–much less within the subway car. One day ago, he was an ordinary thief. Well, a very good one, but one without any special abilities. Now, he was cursed with abilities that could consume him if he used them.

  “Is this a curse?” Murray asked out of the blue.

  Ruth looked at Murray and then looked around the car. Thankfully, there were mercifully few people in the train car with them. Murray could tell that Ruth didn’t want to attract too much attention talking about powers.

  “They don’t need to be,” Ruth answered when she was sure nobody could overhear them. “There are dangers in our abilities, but they can also be handy at times.”

  “You and Thomas have abilities. I’m guessing that, at some point, you had to make this decision, right?”

  “My situation was a little more… complicated. But, yes, I was given this decision.”

  “And obviously, you decided to train.”

  “Yes.”

  “What would you recommend that I do?”

  “I can’t make that decision for you, Murray. All I can tell you is that I’ve found my powers useful in many situations. I might not be alive today if I didn’t have them. I know that one day my powers might consume me, but I still don’t think of them as a curse. I see them as a blessing.”

  Silence returned between Murray and Ruth. Except for a few quick goodbyes at their respective apartment doors, they didn’t speak anymore. Murray found that the silence remained even within his apartment. He went through the motions of his day–eating, working out, even showering. Murray realized that he hadn’t asked about the waterproof qualities of the watch, but he figured that anything meant to be worn all the time had to be somewhat waterproof. Still, he tried to keep it as dry as possible.

  A thought that had been lingering in the back of Murray’s head ever since these abilities first showed up finally came to the forefront. What did this mean for his thieving career? Murray had tried to “go straight” in the past–most recently when he worked for Albert. He always wound up going back to thieving, though. The challenge and excitement irresistibly drew him back in.

  Now, though, Murray wondered what sort of challenges awaited him. If he trained and was able to use his powers at will, would he wind up able to steal anything from anyone at any time? Would this ruin his favorite part of his favorite occupation? Would out-thinking his opponents–being able to learn all about the security employed, find a weak spot, and exploit it to get in and out–be replaced with a “ghost until you’re by the target, go solid, grab the target, ghost again, and get out” approach? If he didn’t train, would he be able to operate with the watch on? Would something go wrong and leave him ghosted in the middle of a heist?

  Murray remembered one word that Ruth had used to describe her powers: Useful. He had made a career out of finding useful technology and using it to help him. Maybe this was no different. He just needed to learn how to control this so he could apply it to his chosen occupation of “reallocating ownership rights.”

  Murray picked up the phone and dialed the number. He was surprised when it didn’t ring but just picked up. Sean’s voice on the other end said “Hi, Murray. Did you come to your decision already?”

  “Yes. I think I want to train with you.”

  “Very well. I’ll have Ruth bring you here tomorrow.”

  Chapter Seven: Equipment And Training

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully, as did that night. At noon the next day, Ruth knocked on Murray’s door.

  “Come in,” Murray said as he let Ruth in. He motioned to the small kitchen table. “Have a seat. I’m almost ready. Do you want something to drink?”

  “No thanks.” Ruth replied. “This is a very nice setup you have here.”

  “Thanks,” said Murray as he put his shoes on and tied them. He grabbed his jacket and keys. “All right. I’m ready.”

  Murray locked his door, stuck the keys in his pocket, and then ran to catch up with Ruth as he put on his jacket. They took the same subway as the previous day to Sean’s junkyard.

  “So, what did you mean when you said your choice was ‘complicated’?” Murray asked during the trip.

  “I’m one of a few whose parents had abilities. For a while, it wasn’t known if children would inherit abilities from their parents or if they would need to get them the same way others got them. It turned out that children of people with abilities have a fifty-fifty chance of getting powers around their twentieth birthday.”

  “So do your parents have the same abilities you have?” Murray asked. As he asked it, he realized that he didn’t know what Ruth could do. He also wasn’t sure if powered-person etiquette frowned on talking about a person’s abilities. For all he knew, he might as well have been asking what sort of underwear her parents wore.

  Ruth looked down. “My father was one of The Originals. They were the first known individuals to get special abilities. My father was also extremely powerful. My mother wasn’t powered. They had been married since before… before my father got his abilities. My mother hoped that I would have powers.”

  “And your father?”

  Ruth looked at her fe
et. “He wasn’t around much. As his powers developed… He and Sean became occupied with other pursuits.”

  “I can sympathize,” Murray said. “My mother raised me on her own. She would always refuse to talk about my dad. I’m not sure if he abandoned her while I was too young to remember him or if he didn’t even know she was pregnant. Either way, it was my mother and me growing up”

  There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds.

  “How did your father react when you first got your abilities?” Murray asked.

  “I really don’t know. I think it worried him, but I saw so little of him that I really couldn’t say. What about you? You seem to be taking this whole powers thing well.”

  “I was pretty freaked out at first, but in my line of work you need to roll with the punches quickly.”

  “And what line of work is that?”

  Murray could have slapped himself. He had set himself up for that. He didn’t want to lie to Ruth, but also couldn’t tell her the complete truth.

  “People hire me to find and acquire rare items for them. Sometimes getting these things means getting into–and out of–some unusual situations.”

  “Well, you’ve certainly managed to get into an unusual situation here. And I say that as someone who grew up with the existence of powers as being ‘normal.’”

  “And how does Thomas factor into all of this?” Murray asked, trying to further deflect the conversation away from his occupation. “Is your uncle an Original also?”

  “An Original? No. Thomas has actually only had his powers a few years longer than me. He got them later in life. To be perfectly honest, he’s not actually my uncle either. Though he’s been a family friend for so long that he might as well be family.”

  The train reached their stop and the pair disembarked. They walked towards the junkyard and Ruth buzzed the intercom. Soon, they were back in the clearing. The shack was still there as were the random assortment of junk piles. A new addition was a large plate of polished metal. Murray looked into it and saw a near-perfect reflection of himself staring back.

  “Are you ready to train?” Sean asked, walking up to them. He wore pretty much the same outfit as the previous day. Murray wondered why he needed the sunglasses since it was overcast out.