All Things in the Shadows II

by B. D. Messick

  “And this is Clay,” Father says, perhaps sensing the weird tension in the room.

  She stares at him for a moment, her eyes narrowing before she finally speaks.

  “I don’t know you,” she says.

  I begin to wonder if she’s testing everyone, probing for weaknesses for some reason.

  “I tend to stay under the radar,” he replies.

  “Good for you.”

  “And last, but not least, we have Wren, one of our newest.”

  “We met.”

  “Good,” Father says before turning to me. “So, what did you find out?”

  I fill everyone in on what we discovered in Minneapolis, including the damage, the loss of life, and finally, about the video.

  “It’s definitely a Shayd?” Father asks.

  “I would say yes.”

  “But no face?”

  “Not from what I could tell, but maybe Evan can clean it up with our equipment.”

  “Okay, in the meantime, perhaps you two can get Syrra settled and then show her around,” Father says looking at Reeva and Jax.

  “Yes, Father,” Reeva replies, her expression unreadable.

  The three of them exit the room, and Father turns to Clay and Wren.

  “I believe you two are on duty. So, get back to it.”

  “Yes, sir,” they both reply in unison before heading out.

  Finally, he turns to Kateri and me.

  “As for you two. Well done, with everything, but you need to get some rest. I have a new mission for you tomorrow…so get out,” he says, with a sly grin.

  “Yes Father,” we also reply in unison, before we both give him and my mother a hug.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “So, what do we know?” Kateri asks.

  I yawn quietly as the sun is only just beginning to filter through the windows behind Father’s desk.

  Five of us are gathered in the office; Kateri, Father, Wren, me, and one other Shayd I’ve never met before. He’s a stern looking young man, maybe about twenty-five years old or so with close-cropped dark hair and blue eyes mixed with multiple tones of yellow and brown.

  “There are two, one boy, Andrew, fourteen years old and one girl, Hannah, approximately ten,” he says, reading from a tablet as he scrolls through various screens.

  “Are they brother and sister, Kye?” Father asks.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Family?” Kateri asks.

  “None to speak of. The father just died in prison recently and the mother is a drug-addict in the wind,” Kye replies.

  “How long have they been on the street?” Kateri asks.

  “Close to a year.”

  “Child Services? Police?”

  “No one is currently searching for them. The file at CS is not active at the moment, and we’ve seen at least two police officers walk right past them without asking or stopping to check on them.”

  I look over at Wren, who seems as lost as I do.

  “Can I ask what this is all about?” I ask.

  “We’re going to try to bring them in, or rather you, Wren and Kateri are going to try,” Father says.

  “Bring them in?”

  “Yes, convince them to come back with you.”

  “To turn them into Shayds?” I ask.

  Father nods and looks over at Kye.

  “You should probably try to explain a little of what you and the other Scouts do,” he says.

  “Of course,” Kye replies with a friendly smile. “There are a group of us at each facility who scour the cities and neighborhoods looking for people we can bring into the fold…people we can recruit to join us.”

  “How do you determine if they’re good candidates?”

  “We watch them, to see if they might be…amenable to becoming Shayd. We research their lives, try to figure out how they ended up where they are, and if the window is still open, we make contact.”

  “What window?” Wren asks.

  “When you find someone on the street, abandoned and struggling, like these two, there’s a time when they’re teetering between hope and despair. It’s a very small timeframe when they’re open to seeing us,” Kateri says.

  “They can actually see us?”

  “Sort of…it’s more like accepting the possibility of what we can offer, but it’s when they’re most vulnerable. They could easily slip away from our grasp and just disappear.”

  “When we find someone, we test them,” Kye says, “to see if they’re ready.”

  “And you think they are?” Father asks.

  “I believe so. Yesterday, Lyla and I walked right past them and they looked in our direction, did a double-take.”

  “Okay,” Father says. “I want you three to make contact today and see if you can get them to come back with you.”

  “Why me?” Wren asks. “I’ve only just become Shayd.”

  “That’s exactly why I want you to go. You know what an opportunity this is, how much we can help them.”

  “What happens if they don’t want to come back with us?” I ask.

  Father sighs and shakes his head slowly.

  “Then they’re lost,” he says, sadly.

  “Is this really something we should be doing with everything that’s going on? We need to talk to Kyuki,” I say.

  “Evan is still working on the radios, and I don’t want you going back to the Abyss without them. Besides, I think you need a break,” he says.

  “Okay,” I reply, although I’m nervous as hell about this.

  “Get going and stay safe,” he says.

  “I’ll keep them out of trouble,” Kateri says and Wren chuckles.

  Father looks at me and grins.

  “Keep them both out of trouble,” he says, looking at me.

  “I’ll do my best,” I reply.

  The three of us leave Father and Kye in his office and head down the stairs.

  “Is this going to be fun, like going to the computer warehouse?” I ask, grinning slightly as we’re walking through the mess hall.

  “It’s not always,” she replies. “Sometimes it gets ugly.”

  “Oh…you mean like with you and Lena,” I say.

  “Yeah, sometimes.”

  We head out and into the parking lot, equipped like we’re in for a fight; swords, crossbows and knives, but something tells me that this might be even more dangerous.

  “Where are we headed?” Wren asks as the door closes behind us.

  “Downtown. Wood Street and Third.”

  “Got it,” Wren and I say at the same time.

  “I’ll explain the rest as soon as you both get there,” she says with a chuckle before suddenly streaming away.

  “Seriously?” Wren asks, looking at me. “Is everything a contest with her?”

  “Sort of. You get used to it. I’ll see you there.”

  I’m the last to arrive at the location. Wren and Kateri are standing on the busy sidewalk at the end of an alley between two massive office towers. Dozens of people are passing us by on the crowded sidewalk, completely unaware of our presence. The alley is dark and littered with garbage. From our position, there’s no sign of the two kids. I look over at Kateri.

  “Okay. So how does this work?” I ask.

  “Usually, one or more of us would cautiously try to contact the subjects,” Kateri replies, sounding like someone on a TV crime drama.

  “Usually?”

  “Yeah. I think this time, you should be the one to get us started.”

  “What? Why me?”

  “Because they can already see you…if you’re not faded.”

  “Yeah…but…I’ve never done this before.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” Kateri replies with a shrug.

  Wren looks at me and smiles, reaching out and gently touching my arm.

  “You can do this.”

  I sigh and shake my head, feeling a little awkward that she just offered me encouragement like she’s my teacher or something.
r />   “Fine. Where are you two going to be?”

  “Right behind you, or close by anyway.”

  “Okay,” I reply, frowning slightly. “What were their names again?”

  “Andrew and Hannah.”

  “Got it,” I say, peering down into the darkened alley.

  I start down the narrow space between the two imposing towers, but I stop and turn.

  “What do I do if they run?”

  “There’s not much we can do. We’ll just make sure they don’t get hurt,” Kateri says.

  I nod and take in a deep breath before continuing deeper into the more than a little creepy alleyway. A few rats scurry away as I invade their territory, and bits of refuse and debris crunch quietly under my boots. At first, I don’t see anything but garbage, pools of dirty water, and tiny swarms of gnats that buzz around my face, but then I spot an overturned dumpster with the lid propped open, creating a covered area. I still can’t see the kids, but I’m sure this is where they live, as sad as that sounds.

  I stop beside the dumpster and peer inside, leaning around the corner. It’s dark inside, the only light sneaking in through small cracks and holes in the rusting green metal. I start to turn away, when I spot a tiny shimmer of light off the eyes of someone crouched against the back wall.

  “Hello? Is someone there?” I ask.

  Whoever’s inside, moves away from me, deeper into the dark box.

  “Don’t move,” a voice from behind me commands.

  I raise my hands slowly.

  “I’m not here to hurt you,” I say, wondering where Kateri and Wren are.

  “Yeah, right,” the voice says, scoffing at me.

  Slowly, a young boy who I assume is Andrew, moves around front, putting himself between me and the dumpster. He holds a rusty kitchen knife in his right hand, but he grips it like a fighter; the flat side parallel with his forearm, the cutting edge toward me.

  His expression is stern, his face dirty, but it’s his eyes that draw me in. They’re full of kindness and ferocity at the same time. His dark hair is mussed, but it doesn’t look much different from any other kid his age. His clothes are used, but in relatively good shape, although they could stand to be washed.

  “What do you want?” he asks.

  “I want to help you,” I reply.

  He frowns at me, his head tilting to the side.

  “Uh, huh? No one’s tried to help us for months. Why do you want to help us now?”

  “Because you need it now, before it’s too late,” I say, hoping that the direct approach is the one that will work.

  “What do you mean, before it’s too late?”

  “Haven’t you noticed?”

  “What?”

  “When you were first living on the street, people would look at you, or stop and give you money or ask if needed something…but lately, no one does. Do they?”

  “Some do,” he says, unconvincingly.

  “Not as many as before, right?”

  “No,” he replies reluctantly.

  “That’s because when you’re out here…lost and hopeless…people don’t want to see that, and the more they ignore you, the more they try not to see you, the more you fade away, until you disappear.”

  “That’s crazy,” he says, scoffing at me.

  “Is it? You’ve already seen it. I know you have.”

  “Are you with Child Services or something?”

  I shake my head and smile at him.

  “Do I look like I’m with Child Services?” I ask, and for the first time, I think he notices the crossbow, sword and knife.

  He studies me for a moment, his brow furrowing, but he says nothing.

  “I’m here to help, Andrew.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “I know both your names. Is Hannah in there?” I ask, gesturing toward the dumpster.

  “Maybe,” he replies, moving slightly to further block my access to the dumpster.

  “We’ve been watching you, Andrew. Keeping you safe until it was time to save you.”

  “You’re nuts,” he says, raising the knife again and moving back.

  “Haven’t you been seeing things lately? Things out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn, there’s nothing there.”

  “Maybe.”

  “That’s us.”

  He shakes his head and his expression hardens.

  “How do I know you’re not just some crazy person?”

  “I asked someone that exact thing not that long ago,” I reply. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but you need to trust me.”

  “Why should I?”

  “Because. You need help,” I say, finally lowering my arms.

  “We don’t need your help,” he says. “We don’t need anyone’s help.”

  He looks like he’s on the verge of tears. A small hand slowly wraps itself around his arm and gradually a little girl with long, dark hair tied back in a ponytail reveals herself, standing up next to him. Her eyes are sad, but full of strength.

  “Yes, we do, Andrew,” she says, gazing up at him.

  He looks down at her and swallows hard before turning back at me. I smile at her and she does the same, but there is also a wariness in her expression.

  “Are you Hannah?” I ask.

  She nods as she studies me, her eyes focusing on the weapons.

  “Who are you?”

  “My name’s Eve.”

  “Where are you from?” she asks, taking over the questioning from her brother.

  “It’s a little hard to explain,” I reply.

  “Try.”

  “Okay. I’m from a place where you’ll be safe, where you’ll be warm, where you can get food and medical attention and where eventually, you can help people like you, people who are lost.”

  “You from a church or something?”

  “No. From an ice-cream factory, actually.”

  She frowns at me and then laughs.

  “I’m not kidding,” I say, chuckling.

  “Is it far?” Andrew asks.

  “No. It’s not far.”

  Hannah looks at Andrew, her hand enveloped by his larger one.

  “What do you think?” she asks.

  “What if we say no?” he asks me.

  “Then I leave, but please, don’t say no.”

  The sister and brother stand there for a few moments, their eyes moving between each other and me. I can feel my heart racing as I wait for their decision, my fingers crossed behind my back.

  “How do we get there?” Andrew finally asks.

  I exhale a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding in.

  “That’s going to be the interesting part,” I say with a sly grin. “Get your stuff together and then we’ll take you there.”

  “Who’s we?” Hannah asks, looking around.

  I hold out my hands, not sure if this will work, but I figure if they’re at that place where they’re open to anything, it’s worth a shot.

  E ~ Kateri, come down here.

  K ~ On our way.

  “Take my hand,” I say.

  Reluctantly, they both reach out and the moment their fingers touch mine, they both take in a quick breath.

  “Holy shit!” Andrew exclaims as Kateri and Wren walk up.

  I’m sure they look like they just emerged out of the shadows to him.

  “Andrew. Stop it!” Hannah scolds him for his language.

  “Sorry…but holy shit.”

  Hannah shakes her head and looks at me.

  “Boys.”

  “I know,” I reply with a chuckle. “These are my friends, Kateri and Wren.”

  “Your name is Wren?” Hannah asks, staring at her.

  “Yep.”

  “That is wicked cool,” she says.

  “Are you okay?” I ask them both, but more to Andrew since Hannah is taking this in stride. He is just standing there, staring at Wren.

  “I’m good,” she replies.

  “Andrew,” I say, but he doesn’
t respond, he’s just staring at Wren.

  She looks at me and I shrug.

  “Andrew,” I say a little bit louder.

  “What…um…what?” he mutters, looking at me as the spell is broken.

  Hannah chuckles and looks at me and mouths the words; “boys.” I nod and give her a little wink.

  “So, I think the best thing would be for you two to take Andrew, and I can bring Hannah,” I suggest to the group.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kateri says.

  A few minutes later, our two newest recruits are standing beside one another, looking nervous and excited and curious at the same time. They each have on a dirty backpack, apparently filled with whatever meager belongings they feel like saving.

  “Why are we going different ways? Is your car too small?” Hannah asks.

  “We’re not taking a car.”

  “We’re walking?”

  “No. We’re flying,” I reply with a wicked grin.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “What do you mean, we’re flying?” Hannah asks, her brow furrowing as she stares at me.

  “Well, not exactly flying, but it’s going to feel like it.”

  She looks over at Andrew and he frowns at her, a concerned expression on his face.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll understand,” I say, trying to reassure them.

  “Is it safe?” he asks.

  “It’s safe. Trust me.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “I know,” I say, frowning slightly and sighing before continuing. “I want to prepare you for what’s going to happen, but I can’t. This is all going to blow your mind. It did mine.”

  “Mine too,” Wren says.

  Andrew looks at her and he seems to relax a little, but I can still sense the tension in the air. Hannah, on the other hand, seems more than ready to go.

  “You’re not making me feel much better,” he replies.

  “Yeah…I know that too, but don’t let that stop you.”

  “Everybody ready?” Kateri asks.

  “Wait. Wait,” Andrew says. “Why can’t we all go together?”

  “It’s too difficult,” Kateri replies.

  “Why?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Hannah looks at me and I reach over and take her hand in mine.

  “Don’t let go. Okay?”