by G W Mullins
“Do not be scared, I will try to make sense of this.” She tried to console Daniel. “Give me your hand and I will read your palm.” She stared down at his hand as she took hold, the visions started again.
“You were in the land of the dead. You stayed there too long, and refused the light. No one can refuse the light. In the end it always gets what it came for. You were dead for a long time, but not too long ago you were reborn. The creatures from the light have tried to reclaim you. They won’t stop. They will come six more times taking on the forms of the recently dead. You are strong, stronger than you have ever been, but you do not yet know it. You must fight if you are to survive. There will be death though. Your lifeline is very strong...I hope it will be strong enough. You have changed recently, but the process is not complete. You will change again in a short time. I cannot see the outcome as good or bad.”
The woman stared at Daniel. She had never seen anything like him before. She was not as scared of him, as what she saw in his readings. Just as Daniel pulled back his hand, he felt the familiar pain setting in again. This time it was on his upper arm. The second Shadow to touch him held his arm to stop him leaving the light. Daniel grabbed at his arm, the pain was intense.
“They are coming for you.” The old woman drew back in fear. Daniel shook his head yes. He rolled up his sleeve and revealed the glowing red burn on his arm. The pain throbbed as he tried to show them. The old woman walked over and put her hand on the imprinted mark. As her hand filled the space of the glowing hand print, she changed. Her voice became a disembodies demonic sounding echo, and her facial expression turned drawn almost misshapen. “You survived once. You will not be so lucky the next time. We are coming. We are coming.”
The old woman fell to the floor, dazed and confused. She looked up at Daniel. “Do not fear my boy. Morgana is not an amateur. I was able to read into them as they used me. Take advantage of an old lady my ass. They can be killed. Once a person is dying the host body is possessed and becomes the creature. The original person will never come back; it is their time to die. That is how the shadows take over. In order to kill them the second time, the death has to be a violent one. They will not just die on their own, it had to be aggressive. The violent death is permanent. Six more will come for you. One is ready now. You have to run children. Go someplace safe and away from this crowd.”
Daniel helped the old woman to her chair and thanked her for the warning. He then grabbed Jen and headed out the door as fast as he could. He was more confused than ever. He didn’t understand how he could fight something which he couldn’t tell where it was coming form or who was the Shadow. Anyone could be possessed.
7 A Stab in the Dark
As Daniel and Jen ran out of the carnival, they did not look back. Their focus was anything that was empty and protected. As they ran across the field, the local sheriff sat in his car watching them intently. A sinister smile ran across his face. His time had come; he was ready for pursuit.
Sheriff Johnson had been a local all his life. He was all about his community, and had been star of the local high school’s football team decades earlier. His father was the first Sheriff in the family, and early on he swore one day he would follow in his father’s footsteps. He went on to be a community leader. Later in his years, he became a local sheriff. He was respected and admired by his peers.
Earlier that evening he received a call that the local bank had been robbed. It pained him to learn a local boy had done it. He took it upon himself to bring the boy in. He wanted to keep it all contained so the community would not have to endure much embarrassment.
The Sheriff tracked the boy to the place he was hiding, in a camper in the woods. Sheriff Johnson never thought of putting on his bullet proof vest, before driving up the dirt road that led to the camper. He approached slowly and as he stood up behind the open door, pulled out his bull horn, and asked the young thief to come out. As the boy opened the camper door and moved outside, the Sheriff mistakenly let down his guard. He knew the boy well. He thought he had no reason to fear. He was wrong.
As the Sheriff stepped from behind the door, the thief pulled a gun from under the back of his shirt and with two shots it was over. Time crawled to a standstill, as the sheriff lay there dying on the ground. The thief walked closer to admire his accomplishment, as the shadow came from the dark wooded tree line. It inhabited quickly, so quickly that the sheriff used the creature’s energy to stand up and pull out his gun. Shots rang out and before the thief knew it, he was the one dead on the ground.
The shadow took full control and was there as Daniel and Jen ran past. They ran hard, unsure what to do. They had no idea if they could make it back to the motel in time. As they ran, the Sheriff lit his lights and the siren began to blare. He peeled out of the parking area across the field throwing grass and dirt into the air as he went.
The vehicle skidded across the road and nearly hit a car that was turning in. Daniel heard the siren as the car sped towards them. He grabbed hard to Jen’s hand throwing her off the road and dragging her through the field. They ran through tall stalks of corn which flew back and forth hitting them as they moved. The sheriff’s car barreled to the field and then launched off the road landing into the rows of corn.
The car kept flying towards then even as corn became embedded the radiator. Jen ran as fast as she could, but Daniel was so much faster than she was. As he dragged her, she fell to the ground and as hard as she tried, she could not get up.
“Jen you have to get up and run. He will be on us in a couple of seconds.”
“Where are we going? There is nothing to protect us.” Jen screamed.
Daniel stood up and looked around. In the distance he saw the barn. “We head for the barn. It is our only hope.”
As Jen stood up Daniel held tight to her and they ran. The sheriff’s car came up on them fast. Jen mustered all the energy she had left to sprint to the open front doors of the barn. As they made it inside, they grabbed the doors throwing them shut and locking the sliding latches behind them. The car raced toward them losing control at the last minute. As it came to the barn, the car flew into the side of the building ripping away several pieces of the aged wood.
The Sheriff opened his door as before, standing behind it as he pulled out his bull horn. “I know you are in there. Come with your hands up and the girl might live through this.” He said in a cocky tone. He wanted what he came after. Daniel was his prize, he didn’t care what happened to Jen.
Daniel and Jen hid behind a wall of stacked hay. Jen sat down on the dirt floor and crossed her arms and legs. She was more scared than she had ever been, and she had been through so much already.
“Daniel, what do we do now? You can’t go out there. He’ll kill you.” Jen pleaded with him.
“I have no intention of giving in. He doesn’t want you though. You could get away.”
“And leave you here to die alone. I don’t think so. We need to defend ourselves.”
“Jen, it is a barn, not an armory.” Daniel said sarcastically.
“On the wall over there, there is a sickle.” Jen pointed at the long-handled blade.
“I guess that would qualify as a violent death. But, how do I get close enough to use it? He probably has a gun.”
Jen thought about it. There was only one solution in her mind. She stood up to face Daniel. Jen knew if they were to survive this, there was only one thing that she could do. “I will get his attention while you do what you have to. It’s the only way Daniel.” He looked at her but no words came. He knew she was right, but it did not make him feel any more confident in his ability to kill someone.
“You go over and open the door. When you lure him in, I will come for him. Just be careful.” Daniel was shaking, he was scared to let her get that close to the Shadow, but he really had no choice.
As Jen approached the door, the Sheriff grabbed it from the other side and began shaking it. She stepped back and took a deep breath. “Ok, we will open the door,
if you back off a few steps.” Jen reached for the sliding pieces of wood, and as she released them immediately jumped back quite a distance inside the barn. She was not going to put herself in any more danger than was necessary.
As the Sheriff walked in through the door, he threw his neck to one side and all the bones inside cracked. The sound and the look on his face were deathlike. His eyes had blackened in color and his skin was a pale shade, almost white now. He moved in closer to Jen.
“You can come out now boy. You know this has to happen. Besides, you want to save your little girlfriend here don’t you? Be a shame if anything happened to her.” The Sheriff kept inching his way towards Jen, but she was well aware of what he was doing. She made sure to walk a couple of steps back towards the wall of hay every time he moved closer.
Just as the Sheriff reached out to grab her, Jen jumped backwards into the pile of hay. Out of his reach, she clawed her way to her feet and safety. The Sheriff spun and looked around the barn. He didn’t see Daniel anywhere. “Come on out boy, this isn’t over with yet.” The Sheriff laughed.
“I think it is about to be over for you.” Daniel yelled as he ran from out of the bales of hay. Before the sheriff knew what was going on Daniel was right in front of him swinging the sickle. The Sheriff turned to him and saw the fatal blow Daniel had inflicted. He spun to the ground as his death was complete. A fountain of red flowed from where his head had been. Daniel pulled back from the dead man after he hit the floor. He didn’t like death and even though he knew this man had been dead long before they even met, it did not make it feel any better.
8 Good vs. Evil
The light outside the barn faded into darkness as Daniel and Jen prepared to leave. There was nothing more for them to do there. If they stayed too long someone might see them and believe they had killed the Sheriff and not a Shadow. They left by the back door of the barn and stayed in the tree line as the made their way back towards the road to the motel.
“Do you think it is just going to get worse when they come? The Sheriff was way worse than the truck driver.” Jen seemed scared to ask.
“I don’t know. They are capable of inhabiting anyone’s body that is dying. That alone scares me. I’m just tired and hungry and want to get inside somewhere.” Daniel answered her.
“Did you hear what you just said?”
“What?”
“You’re hungry. Sounds like a human trait to me.” Jen laughed at him.
“Yeah I guess so. Funny, being dead I forgot what it was like to eat and get tired.”
“I’m pretty tired myself; you couldn’t just orb us back to the hotel, could you?”
“I’m not sure if I can or cannot. This is all new to me. And I am not even sure how far I can do that anyway. I think we are stuck with walking for now.”
The two continued down beside the road. Both of them hoped the attacks were done for the night. Neither was sure if they could survive another round.
~~~~~
Back at the barn the darkness made the place almost invisible from the road except for the headlights of the sheriff’s car still shining in through the broken door. Just outside a raven landed on the hood of the car and then another. Soon from a black sky, there were black birds landing all around the building. When the last one arrived, they all moved in the same direction, grouping and taking form. The dark mass grew and took the form of a woman ... Raven.
She walked in and looked around the barn. Bending over, she looked at the sheriff. “Oh sweetie you do look a mess.” She said as she ran her finger through the pool of blood that dripped on the ground below him. “Guess I missed all the fun.”
As she stood up a bright light filled the inside of the barn. It was much brighter than the car lights. This light was bright and pure and almost angelic. It filled the whole space immediately. Raven turned quickly and stepped back as if she was startled. As the orb paused in place it took form.
“I was wondering when I would bump into you.” Elizabeth’s voice echoed through the barn as she took full form.
“I was just admiring Daniel’s handy work. There might be hope for him yet.”
“Hope? And what hope would you be thinking of?”
Raven laughed out loud wickedly, “Hope that he will turn to the side of evil. You know he does have the right to choose. That is if he survives those pesky Shadow People. They can be such a pain in the ass, but I don’t have to tell you that, do I?”
“And what makes you even imagine you could make this boy evil?”
“He has already killed. The first Shadow died by means of the truck and we’ll call that one a pass for Daniel. But this one died by his hands.”
“The boy is pure and his light is brighter than most I have seen. He won’t turn. And as for this mess, he defended his life. He has not learned the intricacies of fighting with his new powers...but he will.” Elizabeth mocked her.
“And of course, mommy Elizabeth will be there to claim him for the side of good.”
“Oh, poor Raven, you still hate me, after all this time, don’t you?” Elizabeth teased her.
“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about you. My, are we feeling self-important?”
“No, I just know you have turned this into some kind of competition. Since the day I cast you out, you have gone out of your way to convert my charges.”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying, can you? I’m not really so bad you know, just a perfectionist.”
“You know there has to be a balance between good and evil. Neither can exist without the other.” Elizabeth stared her in the eyes.
“I beg to differ with you. I think evil might just do a good job, if we were in charge for a while.” Raven insisted.
“The Elders will never let that happen. They will destroy you before they let the likes of a low-level demon be in charge of anything.”
“All this, because I want your newest charge, that is so funny. What are you scared of Elizabeth? Things not going as well as the forces of good want?”
“I won’t even go there with you. The world is in balance and you know it.”
“For the moment, you are right but things do change. Just like Daniel may change. We know how powerful he is. We have been watching. He is a chosen one. You people hide in your white light and think you can keep secrets like this. He has the ability to be a god and you know it.” Raven screamed in hatred.
“Daniel is special; no one said he was not. And because of that, I am watching over him. He has the right to choose his path. For now, he has to face his trials by the Shadows. And when he survives, he can choose where his life will take him.”
“You Bitch, you are grooming him for ascension, aren’t you?” Raven spit as the words flew from her mouth.
“Daniel is capable of anything, but you will not be making any decisions for him. The Elders are watching every move that is made.” Elizabeth was finished and she turned to walk away.
Raven stood tall and opened her arms spreading the black shrouded cape she wore. As she opened it fully, the material began to separate and the forms of ravens flew from within the darkness. The swarm flew in two opposite directions and met in the center flying circles around Elizabeth. As the ravens got closer and closer, they extended their claws and scratched at Elizabeth’s exposed skin. She had been taken by surprise, but as she grew tired of the little game, she threw her hands out and an intense ethereal light engulfed the room.
As the light grew brighter, the ravens started to fall one by one. They were not dead, but unconscious and powerless. Elizabeth laughed as the opposing force became totally incapacitated. When the last bird was on the ground Elizabeth turned and looked at them all scattered around in a circle. She knelt down and picked up one of the birds. “You stupid bottom feeder, did you think you could hurt me. If you can hear me, be warned. Daniel is and always will be property of the light.”
Elizabeth walked out the door of the barn as she heard police sirens coming from down the road. She walked to an open
place of the field and looked up. Satisfied with the end to the situation she closed her eyes and a shaft of light formed around her. As the light moved from the ground up, her body dematerialized. In seconds, she was gone completely. The police cars plowed into the field only to see the last flicker of a fading light and a large amount of birds taking flight.
~~~~~
Daniel and Jen arrived back at their motel a short time later. They quickly bolted the door and barricaded it with furniture. They had not had any more warning of another Shadow attack, but they were not taking any chances. As Daniel laid out food he had bought at the restaurant down the road, Jen just sat down and looked at the food. Daniel joined her and threw his head down on the table.
“Danny, I don’t want to be mean, but you need to wash up before you eat, you just killed a demon with those hands.”
Daniel looked down at his hands and took a deep breath. “Don’t call me Danny, I hate that.”
Daniel stood up to go to the bathroom and wash up. As he left the room am orb entered and bounced around. It stopped just before it came to the table where Jen sat. She looked up and tried to figure out if a light had been turned on. There was no light, just the form of a woman emerging from the orb. Jen looked at her in fear not knowing what to do. She was too scared to scream.
“Don’t be frightened Jen. I am not here to hurt anyone. I just need to check on Daniel.”
Daniel came into the room quickly after hearing the voice. “Elizabeth you’re here.”
“Yes, I wanted to make sure you are alright. I saw a bit of your handy work in the barn. That was a bit brutal, but necessary I am sure.” Elizabeth put her hand on his shoulder.
“Two down, five to go.” Jen blurted out.
“I wish I could stop this, but I can’t control any of it. They are Shadow enforcers; I am an upper level angel. It’s like two different areas of government. We are departmentalized and cannot affect each other.”