Defenders of Shadow and Light: Ghost Thief

by Jason Levine

  “I’ve got to try. Who knows what they’re going do to Thomas.”

  Every instinct in Murray’s body said to run, but he found that he couldn’t leave Ruth and Thomas like this. They helped him when he got his powers and he was the one who gave away Sean’s location. He at least owed them enough to help rescue Thomas.

  “Okay,” Murray said extending his mask and filling his tank. “Get behind me. If something goes wrong, I can ghost and you can blast him.”

  Ruth nodded and backed up a few steps. Murray approached carefully, ready to ghost at any moment. Edge was lying face down on the pavement. Murray rolled him over. Edge’s suit jacket was torn and was covered in dust. Other than that and a few scratches, Edge didn’t seem seriously injured by the concrete that slammed into him.

  Murray searched through his pockets, looking for a business card, slip of paper, mobile phone, or anything else that could tell them where Thomas had been taken to. All he found was a pack of gum, a comb, and a watch.

  “There doesn’t seem to be anything here that could help us,” Murray said holding out his meager finds.

  Ruth was staring at Murray’s hands. She looked at him straight in the eyes.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  Murray looked down. The comb and gum looked completely ordinary. The watch, though, was very familiar. In fact, there was one very much like it on Murray’s wrist.

  “I wonder,” Murray said. He knelt down beside Edge, strapped the watch to Edge’s wrist, and pushed a button on the side.

  Edge’s eyes shot open and he roared. Murray jumped back. At first, he thought Edge was going to stab him. He almost ghosted until he realized that this wasn’t a roar of anger, but one of pain. The remainder of Edge’s metal skin faded back to human. As his screams of pain died down, Edge’s silver hair faded to black as the jagged black streaks turned to a familiar looking red.

  “Eddie?” Murray asked aloud.

  “Don’t call me that” Edge said as he shakily sat upright. “The name is Edge…”

  Edge looked at his arms and fingers. He noticed the watch on his wrist and quickly reached for it. Murray grabbed hold of him from behind, struggling to keep him from pressing the button.

  “Blast him, Ruth,” Murray yelled. “I can’t hold him much longer.”

  “I might hit you,” she argued.

  “Doesn’t matter. Just do it!”

  Ruth’s fists glowed and she shakily aimed them at Edge. Then, she lowered them.

  “Looks like your girlfriend cares about you too much. I’m guessing she’s a real softhearted type. Tell you what, when I get my blades back, I’ll gut her first and we can see how soft her heart really is.”

  Edge’s finger inched closer and closer to the button. Ruth charged at him, her fists glowing bright white.

  “I may have a soft heart, but my fists are solid enough.”

  She slammed her fists against Edge’s face until he slumped back against Murray, remaining completely still.

  “No metal skin to protect you now, is there?” Ruth sneered at the unconscious Edge.

  “That could have gone better,” Murray said.

  “Actually, I think it went pretty well. We just need to keep him from turning his watch off.”

  Murray felt the ground rumble. They both spun around quickly. Murray worried that Brawn was back. Instead of the big man, though, a train came roaring out of the tunnel. It passed right by the station without stopping. The rumbling faded as it got further and further away.

  “Someone on that train is bound to have spotted the destruction. They’ll call the authorities. We’d better take him away from here. Besides, there’s nothing to tie him up with in this station.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait for the police? Maybe they could help?” Murray couldn’t believe he said that the minute the words left his mouth.

  “Trust me. There’s nothing I’d love better than to see this guy locked up for life, but do you want to explain all this to the police? I’d love to see how they react to your superpowers story.”

  “Good point,” Murray conceded.

  The two hefted Edge to his feet. They positioned themselves under Edge’s arms and dragged him towards the exit.

  “So where to now?” Murray asked.

  “We need to get him somewhere secure,” Ruth said. “Somewhere where we can keep him tied up so he can’t get his powers back. Then, we need to figure out a way to get him to tell us everything he knows.”

  Murray sighed. “I’ve got an idea, but you’re not going to like it. Heck, I don’t like it. But it’ll get him to talk.”

  Chapter Twelve: Questioning Edge

  Murray and Ruth helped the still unconscious Edge out of the cab. They had dragged him out of the station and explained to the cab driver that their friend had a little too much to drink. During the trip, they sat on either side of Edge, each holding one of his arms in case he awoke. When they got to their destination, Murray paid–with a credit card since he didn’t have any cash left on him. After a quick stop at Ruth’s apartment, they brought Edge into Murray’s apartment.

  “This was a very bad idea,” Ruth said, holding Edge’s watch hand as Murray locked the door.

  “Yeah, but it was the best one we had. We need to get him to talk, I have just the thing here. Let’s sit him down by that table and turn on the general dampener.”

  Ruth fingered the Frisbee shaped device.

  “I really don’t like this. We’re taking away our powers.”

  “And his as well. This way, even if he does get to his watch, he won’t be able to go all Edward Scissorhands on us… or Swordhands as the case may be.”

  Murray helped Ruth sit the unconscious Edge on a chair. As she turned on the dampener, Murray grabbed his step stool and opened the hidden vent cover. He reached in and took out his duffel bag. Not bothering to close the vent, Murray placed the bag on his kitchen counter and began removing gear from it. He tossed Ruth a rope.

  “Interesting hiding spot you have there,” Ruth said to Murray, her lips in a smirk as she used the rope to tie Edge to the chair. “When you first floated into my apartment, you said our dampeners weren’t–and I quote–‘the sort of thing a normal person just happens to have lying around.’ Well, that stuff doesn’t look like your normal, everyday household pantry items.”

  Murray grinned. “I’m anything but normal.”

  Edge began moaning and shifting.

  “We can discuss that later,” Murray said. “Right now, it looks like sleeping beauty is waking up.”

  Murray took a vial of clear liquid out of the duffel bag.

  “We need him to drink this.”

  “Not… Drinking… Anything…” Edge moaned.

  He kicked Ruth as she tried to tie his feet, quickly stood up, and then slammed his body down. The chair shattered, freeing him. As Ruth got back up, Edge reached for his watch and pushed the button on it. Nothing happened. He pushed the button again and again, looking at his hands as they stubbornly remained human instead of turning into metal blades. Ruth took advantage of his moment of confusion to tackle him.

  “Hold him down,” Murray shouted as Ruth pinned him.

  Murray pried Edge’s mouth open, popped the vial’s stopper open with his thumb, and poured the contents into Edge’s mouth. Edge sputtered and spit the contents out.

  “You’re not going to get me to drink that stuff,” Edge sneered.

  “That was the easy way,” Murray said standing up and walking to the counter. “This other way, is going to hurt.”

  Murray rummaged through the duffel bag. Edge twisted, trying to break free of Ruth’s hold. Ruth struggled to hold on, but Edge pushed Ruth off of him and kicked her aside. Edge scrambled to his feet and charged at Murray. Murray dodged Edge as he drew a cartridge out of his bag. Edge slammed into the counter-top, but before he could turn to attack Murray again, Murray jammed the cartridge into Edge’s neck. The liquid in the cartridge drained into Edge and he slumped to t
he ground.

  “You knocked him out again,” Ruth said standing up. “So all this was for nothing?”

  “He’s not knocked out,” Murray replied. “Watch. Edge, can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” Edge said while sitting on the ground, staring into space. His voice was low but clear as if he were talking in his sleep.

  “What’s your full name?” Murray asked.

  “Edge.”

  “Don’t you have another name?”

  “Yes, but I haven’t gone by it since I was reborn. I only use it when I need to pass for a normal.”

  “What’s that name?”

  “Edward Shendt.”

  “Good work.” Ruth interjected, “But we need to know something other than what to call him.”

  She turned to Edge.

  “What did you do with Thomas?”

  “Who’s Thomas?” asked Edge.

  “The man that you had Brawn take away,” Ruth replied.

  “The older man,” Edge responded. “Our boss wants him. Needs him.”

  “What for?” Murray asked.

  “Boss needs him to live. Three days and the boss dies. Three days and your friend is gone. Three days and my boss is reborn.”

  “That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Murray groaned.

  “Where is Thomas now?” Ruth yelled grabbing Edge’s jacket.

  “Abandoned military base. Ten miles outside of the city limits,” Edge said in a monotone voice.

  “We need to go there now,” Ruth said.

  “Wait a second,” Murray cautioned. “Edge, how many powered people are guarding the base?”

  “Only the boss and Brawn.”

  Murray thought for a second.

  “Are there non-powered people on the base?”

  “Yes,” answered Edge. “The boss has many people working for him. Lots of normies.”

  “I’m guessing they’re well armed,” Murray added.

  “Yes. Lots of guns… lots of weaponzzzzz….” Edge trailed off until he was snoring loudly.

  “Is it normal for him to fall asleep?” asked Ruth.

  “Unfortunately, yes. If I was able to get him to drink it, we would have had longer and could probably have gotten more details. Frankly, I’m surprised we were able to get as much as we did.”

  “And he’ll be out for how long now?”

  “With the dose I gave him. Probably about ten to fifteen hours. He’ll wake up with no memory of what he told us or much of what happened before.”

  “Good. One more question.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You have this secret vent compartment with weird things like some sort of truth telling drug. I can actually accept that. It’s not like I don’t have more than my share of unusual things in my apartment. But, you knew his real name. In the train station, you called him Eddie. How do you know him?”

  Murray sighed and walked around his room, “I worked for him, sort of.”

  “You what?”

  “Well, him in his human form. Not with big knife-hands. I was hired to retrieve this stuff. Some chemical or something. He and a partner of his paid me and picked it up. This was before I had powers. Before I knew anything about powers. I certainly didn’t know he was some kind of superpowered stab-o-matic.”

  Murray sat down on his couch and put his head in his hands. He was starting to feel overwhelmed by how weird his life had become. He prided himself on being resilient–on being able to roll with the punches, but even he had limits and he could feel himself approaching them now. Murray suddenly realized just how exhausted he felt.

  “Hey,” Ruth said, sitting down next to Murray, “The important thing is that we know where Thomas is. We need to go there right now. We can take out the guards, save Thomas, and get out before this boss does–well, whatever it is he’s planning on doing.”

  “No, we can’t. We can’t go in guns blazing… or energy bursts as the case may be.”

  “I’m not afraid of them.”

  “It’s not a matter of fear. First of all, we’re both exhausted. You’re injured. We won’t be at our peak. We’ll make stupid mistakes which will get us captured or worse. Secondly, we can’t just attack an army base head on. From the sounds of it, this boss of his has got too many men working for him. Superpowers or not, they’ll overpower you.”

  “You heard him. They’re going to kill Thomas.”

  “Yes, in three days. So we need to plan this out quickly but carefully. Our first priority has to be what we do with Edge. We can’t just leave him here.”

  Ruth’s fists glowed. “I have an idea of what to do with him.”

  She began walking towards the sleeping figure.

  Murray shot up off the couch and darted in front of Ruth. “We’re not killing him.”

  “Why not? I’m more than fifteen feet from the dampener. I can hit him from here. He’d kill us if given the chance. In fact, the minute he wakes up, he’ll probably do just that.”

  “It’s not right. I’ve been in many situations where I could have killed people, but I always found another way.”

  “What kind of situations were you in,” Ruth asked, backing away. “I thought you were some sort of personal shopper.”

  Murray could have slapped himself. Sloppy phrasing. He was definitely feeling the effects of exhaustion. He just proved himself right about making mistakes when you try to operate without sleep.

  “It doesn’t matter. Just no killing.”

  Ruth let her fists stop glowing. “Fine. What’s your alternative?”

  “Well, we could tie him up and take him to an alleyway. Or…”

  Murray was interrupted by the sound of Edge thrashing on the floor. His eyes were wide open but staring into space. His entire body was convulsing on the floor.

  Ruth folded her arms, “Maybe we won’t need to kill him.”

  “We need to help him,” Murray shouted as he ran to Edge’s side.

  “Help him? He tried to kill us many times over. I’m willing to accept that we can’t kill him outright, but why expend the effort to save him? He’s just a worthless assassin and probably a follower of the Dark One to book.”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do,” Murray replied.

  “Fine,” Ruth grumbled as she walked over to Murray and Edge.

  Together they moved Edge away from the kitchen counter to keep him from hitting his head.

  “Help me move him to his side,” Ruth said. “This way he won’t choke on his own saliva or vomit. What was in that stuff you gave him?”

  Murray pushed on Edge with Ruth so that he was lying on his side. His face was towards Ruth and his back towards Murray.

  “Nothing that should do this. Trust me, I wouldn’t have given it to him if I thought it’d do…” Murray’s voice trailed off. He had noticed something on Edge’s back. A small bulge. He might not have even noticed it, but whatever it was was wiggling under Edge’s jacket.

  “What?” Ruth asked, trying to follow what Murray was looking at.

  “There’s something under his shirt. Quick. Go in my duffel bag. Look for a short, black device about nine inches long.”

  Ruth got up and ran to the duffel bag. She rooted through it, found what Murray was asking for, and raced it back to him. Murray pressed a button and a blade shot out of the end. A few nights ago, he had used one of these tools to rappel down a tree. Now, he used the blade to slice Edge’s jacket and shirt.

  After tearing the clothing away, Murray and Ruth were able to see Edge’s back. Murray fought hard to suppress the urge to gag as he dropped his tool. Ruth stifled a shriek. On Edge’s upper back, between his shoulder blades, was a small, black, slimy creature about a foot long and three inches wide. It was wider at top and tapered off into a long tail. It had no arms or legs, but two lidless, black eyes stared straight ahead.

  “Is that some kind of leech?” asked Ruth.

  “I was hoping you’d know what it was,” Murray responded. He tore more of Edge’s
jacket off and used it to grip the creature. It was coated in a sticky slime that clung to its host and made it hard to remove. Like a leech, this creature was affixed by the mouth–or at least Murray thought it was a mouth–to Edge’s back. Murray pulled on it.

  “It’s really hooked tight on him.”

  As Murray pulled, Edge’s seizures slowed but Murray’s grip slipped and the creature affixed itself back onto Edge’s back. His seizures picked up in intensity.

  “What if you inject it directly with your stuff?” Ruth asked. “Maybe that would kill it?”

  “It could also kill him.”

  “Look. we don’t have many options. If we do nothing, he’ll die. Much as I’d like to see that, you were right. We need to save him. At the very least, we might need more information from him, I’d blast the creature off of him, but we’re too close to the dampener.”

  “The dampener,” Murray shouted, standing up. “What if this thing’s not a creature but some powers-thing. The dampener would weaken it.”

  “Then why didn’t it do this when we turned his watch on?” asked Ruth.

  “Sean had to configure the watch for me, right? What would happen if you wore my watch?”

  “It might weaken me a bit but I’d still have my powers.”

  “Maybe this is the same thing. The watch was set for Edge but this thing is some other creature so it’s not affected. When we turned on the general dampener, it hurt it.”

  “That still doesn’t help us get it off of him.”

  “Let’s try your idea.”

  Murray raced to his duffel bag and took out a cartridge filled with his solution. He grabbed the general dampener with his other hand and brought all of it back to Edge.

  “Hold this,” Murray said handing Ruth the dampener. He carefully aimed the cartridge at the creature on Edge’s back. This was not helped by Edge thrashing on the floor or Murray’s own hands shaking with nervousness. Ruth helped steady Edge and Murray jabbed the creature with his cartridge. Black goo came out of it as Murray injected more of his solution in. The creature shook as the needle was removed.

  “It’s not enough,” Ruth said. “The dampener and solution are weakening it, but it’s still on him.”