Cloak and Shield

by Mark Ayre

  Eve was breathing heavily. Since her earliest years, use of her power had felt like physical exertion. The repercussions had never been headaches and blackouts like Adam. First, the air would ripple, then fire and ice would dance along walls, ceilings, or in the sky. If she continued to make use of her abilities, she would see whirlpools in the air and monsters would begin to crawl from cracks in the ground or holes in sinks.

  Having affected all of the guards' guns then used her power to throw her mother into a wall, she should at least have been seeing flames.

  She saw nothing unusual.

  Why not?

  Before she could take too long to consider, the lift rose behind her; no doubt on its way to collect as many guards as it could hold. If that was a hundred, Eve was sure she could handle them, but there were more lifts on this floor, and she feared for her brother.

  Rushing to the end of the corridor, she took the left fork, at which her mother had been pointing before the radios started buzzing. Having taken three steps, she paused, looked to her crumpled, back from the dead mum.

  It had not taken long for the hateful woman to show her true colours. She did not deserve the kindness Eve would need to display to save her. The radios had called for Sandra’s apprehension rather than murder. Still, it had not sounded as though they wanted only to get her out of harm's way so they could later give her a pay rise and a bigger office.

  The lift was on its way down. Eve remembered all the pain her mother had put her through and told herself to go on alone.

  Despite these memories, when Eve rushed along the next corridor, her mother’s unconscious body floated along behind. Eve could not decide if this was a sign of weakness or humanity. Perhaps it was both.

  Her mind turned on what her lack of repercussions when using her power might mean. To the dinner table in hell, she kept returning. This she had shared with the lord of that realm; the man who had promised her the fall of humanity was coming and that to its success, she was vital. Did her grounding on this planet imply the fall was already happening?

  Still lost in memory and confusion, she left the corridor without consideration, moving into a circular space from which sprung four passages at each point of the compass, but no doors or lifts.

  From the corridor mouth to the left of the one from which she had spilt came a group. Too late, Eve reacted.

  Two shots rang through the short space as someone shouted, “No.”

  Eve threw up her shield at the last second. Her mother dropped, and Eve felt the bullets hit home.

  Even in her delayed reaction, the shield stopped the bullets puncturing her skin. Still, they felt like two punches to the gut, and she dropped to her knees. Not willing to lose another second, she rose her head to kill her targets before they could cut her down.

  Two women had fired. Before they could do anything more, a familiar face burst forward, shoving their guns away from Eve.

  Clutching her stomach, rising, Eve said, “Doc?”

  “’ Sup?” he said. “Having fun?”

  From behind the shooters, a tall bald man spoke. “This is Eve. We’re here to help not to kill her. Lower your guns.”

  Neither did. “That’s Sandra,” said the ordinary-looking of the two. Or perhaps the startling beauty of the other simply made the speaker look ordinary. Either way, she was pointing to the woman in a heap at Eve’s heel.

  “That’s my mother,” said Eve. “As you can tell, we don’t get on.”

  “Then stand aside, let us kill her,” said the beauty.

  “I think not.”

  “Ursula, Rachel,” said the bald man. “Come on. You need not do this.”

  A low growl emitted from someone at the back of the party. A hulking shape materialised from the shadows. Eve smiled.

  “Graham?”

  He pushed past Rachel, Ursula and Doc and lumbered towards Eve. When he arrived, he paused as though unsure of himself—a nervous monster. Smiling, Eve raised her arms.

  “Well, you going to give me a hug or what?”

  To this, Graham gave not his usual growl but a squeak. Before Eve knew what was happening, he had thrown his arms around her. He hoisted her into the air, after which he began to shake her back and forth in a manner that was friendly and painful.

  “Good to see you, big guy.”

  “When Graham dropped Eve, the beauty lowered her gun. “Stop, Rachel,” she said to the other.

  Rachel did not seem keen but lowered her weapon.

  “A friend of my son is a friend of mine,” said Ursula

  “That’s your mum?” Eve said, pointing. “Now I see where you get your good looks.”

  Though it was hard to tell with his mouth full of deadly teeth, it appeared Graham smiled. His mother rolled her eyes then gave a startled yell as a child shoved past her, trailing a teenager, and grabbed the bald man’s arm.

  “Omi, they’re coming.”

  No one guessed to whom the girl was referring. If someone had and had called correctly, no prize would have been made available.

  “This way,” said Omi.

  He left the corridor from which the group had appeared and aimed for the one opposite where Eve stood. Before they had entered this passage, it became clear the pounding feet were not coming only from one direction.

  Doc said, “sounds like we’re about to be surrounded.”

  “That’s alright,” said Eve, using her mind to slide her mother into the centre of the room, then joining her. “We deal with their army now; we’ll have the place to ourselves.”

  “You’re confident,” said Ursula. She made it sound like an insult.

  “Form a circle around this unconscious witch,” said Eve, pointing at her mother. “How many of you are armed? Four? Perfect, each pick a corridor and prepare to fire on my command.”

  “Who put you in charge?” asked Rachel.

  “I’m not in charge,” said Eve. “Anyone who wants to live should listen to my instructions.”

  “If you’d seen what she could do, you wouldn’t be questioning,” said Doc. Rachel looked ready to argue. Omi grabbed and twisted the barrel of her gun.

  “He’s right. If you want to save your daughter, do as Eve says. In thirty seconds they’ll have us heavily outnumbered. Only Eve can keep us alive.”

  The arrival of the guards ceased the discussion. Though Rachel seemed displeased with the situation, she aimed her gun at the free corridor, through which appeared a swarm of guards. Soon, they were spilling from the mouths of all four passages.

  Quickly, the army had the group surrounded. Before they could open fire, Eve bellowed, trying to make her voice stretch down each corridor, even to those still flooding from the lifts and preparing to embark after their colleagues.

  “I am Eve,” she said. “I imagine you all know the broad strokes of my power but let me tell you how I’m using it now. Around this little band of brothers and sisters, I’ve erected an invisible shield. If you fire, your bullets will ricochet off the surface and, most likely, put out the eye and probably the life of one of your colleagues. That’s pretty impressive, I know, but it gets better. The shield is also one way. Any of our bullets will pass through, killing our intended targets. Who wants to test the veracity of my claims?”

  A tense silence overcame the crowd. No one spoke nor fired.

  “Fine,” said Ursula with a sigh. “I’ll do it.”

  She pulled the trigger. The spray killed one guard and maimed two more.

  In a roar of outrage, panic and shock, from the other side of the shield, their adversaries open fired.

  With an even louder roar, Graham stepped forward. Before he could go too far, Eve’s placed a hand on his arm, stilling his march.

  As promised, the bullets bounced off the shield and reentered the soldiers. With screams and cries, they fell as colleague killed colleague, friend slaughtered friend.

  “Wow,” said Ursula. “They are dumb, aren’t they?”

  By the time they got ahold of thems
elves; by the time the last agent had ceased to fire, twenty men and women lay dead and as many again lay injured. Most who remained stared in dazed confusion at the carnage they had caused. Some were already retreating, having seen this could only end one way.

  Eve held the shield. Though it tired her to do so, there were no other effects. No signs of hell.

  “I take it I’ve proved my point,” she said. “To continue to fire would be to commit mass suicide. If you stand around waiting for inspiration to strike, we will pick you off one by one. Your only move is to flee; abandon this facility and the organisation for whom you made the mistake of working. Find gainful employment in a supermarket or waiting tables. I don’t care what you do; just do it elsewhere. Your choices are simple: leave, or die.”

  She rotated, meeting the gaze of every enemy.

  “So,” she said. “What’s it to be?”

  She knew they had decided before she finished her speech. Some might have been stupid. None were so dumb they could not see this was a pointless battle.

  They began to fade into the darkness of the corridors. Eve turned to those around her.

  “There, wasn’t that easy?”

  A roar rang through the halls. An animalistic cry far louder than anything Graham could manage. A crashing came from the end of the corridor down which Eve had walked.

  “Look what you did,” said Doc. “That’s a proper jinx.”

  Another roar.

  Then the screaming began.

  Seconds later, those who had been retreating returned, spilling around the shield and aiming for the opposite corridor.

  “What’s going on?” asked Ursula.

  She did not have to wait long to find out.

  Another roar, another bout of screaming. Then came the monster.

  Gigantic, pulsing, oozing. Hundreds of legs, tentacles and pincers seemed to sprout from all parts of a circular, spider-like torso. Though they were different shapes and sizes, the limbs worked in perfect harmony. The monster seemed to roll as the limbs turned it over and over. The speed at which it crossed the floor was incredible. The fleeing agents didn’t stand a chance.

  Like a rocket-powered steam-roller, it went right over those it wished to destroy. A second later, when it had moved on, the poor soul it had flattened was nothing more than a mess of spewing blood, broken bones, and torn flesh.

  It circled the shield, seeming to know where the boundaries were. Like a water feature, blood cascaded into the air and splashed the sides.

  Before long, the screaming had stopped. Some of the agents had escaped. Most were dead.

  Triumphant, the monster reared before the shield. For the first time, Eve noticed it was not only limbs. Somehow, pushing through the mass of tentacles and legs were two heads. One which featured hundreds of eyes and a mouth containing almost as many teeth. The other with one eye, and one sword-sharp horn instead of a mouth.

  It gave a roar which seemed to shake the very foundation of the building in which they stood.

  “See,” said Doc. “Proper jinx.”

  “Can your shield hold it?” asked Omi.

  “Only one way to find out,” said Eve.

  The roar stopped. Hundreds of eyes seemed to meet Eve’s two. She put everything she had into her invisible defence.

  As though excited to test her strength, the monster released a high pitched screech.

  And attacked.

  “Enter.”

  Terrified though they were, there was no chance they were going to disobey Pandora. Not with her monstrous daughter a few paces away.

  For the second time in a day, Isla entered the red room. For the first time since his conception, Joel did the same.

  Pandora was third. Behind her, the colossal steel door slammed closed. Isla’s daughter was naked and carried no possessions bar the knife which glinted in her right hand.

  Between the two she had sent in here, she stepped, and though a mountain of steel now separated them from Echidna, neither attempted to attack. They watched as she approached the far wall of the small room and stared at the crack which, for her, was almost at eye level.

  “At last,” she whispered. “You two probably expect a ritual or ceremony, but it is nothing so complex. Each must raise a palm to me. I don’t mind which you choose.”

  Isla didn’t look at Joel and sensed he was not looking at her. Without hesitation, they did as Pandora had commanded.

  “Thank you, mother. Thank you, brother.”

  Pandora paused as though she might be expecting a response. Before Isla could work up the courage to say anything, the blade flashed twice. Isla winced as it sliced her palm, taking an involuntary backwards step.

  “There you are,” said Pandora. “That was not so difficult, was it? You may lower your arms if you so choose.”

  Isla did. Immediately, a strange sensation rushed from her shoulder to her fingers. Then, before her eyes, her arm began to rise. It was as though this single part of her anatomy was not subject to gravity. She found she could force the arm back down, but when she did, it would rise again, until it was pointing towards Pandora.

  Except it was not Pandora at which it pointed. When Isla’s daughter moved aside, Isla’s arm did not follow. It was pointing at the crack in the wall.

  Soon, Isla found she could no longer lower her arm at all. The force had grown too strong. Now, it felt as though it was tugging the limb a little.

  Beside her, Joel released a whimper.

  “There is no need to be afraid,” said Pandora. “This is supposed to happen.”

  Isla saw what had made Joel squeak. From their cut palms, the invisible tug drew a line of blood. Like a line of silk shot by a spider, it snaked through the air from palm to crack.

  And before long, the crack began to grow.

  Behind Isla and Joel, Pandora released a purr.

  “And so it begins,” she said. “The door will open, and humanity will fall.”

  She placed a hand on Isla’s shoulder.

  “Oh, mother, I’m so happy.

  “Nothing will stop us now.”

  Want more?

  The twins return in HOPE IN HELL, the finale of the Adam and Eve thriller series. Available now on Amazon.

  Click the link to buy now: http://mybook.to/hopehelladameve

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  To sign up for the Mark Ayre Reader’s Group and get your free copy of Hide and Seek, book one in a trilogy of gripping supernatural suspense novels, visit: markay.re/freehideandseek

  Author’s Note

  Back in the early months of 2020, I wrote Hide and Seek and Count to Ten, the first two novels in my Hide and Seek trilogy.

  I released both within a couple of weeks of each other in May. They were well received, and I was excited to write the final novel.

  But not right away. I love writing, but it’s always hard work. Even more so when writing several volumes of the same series in a row. I knew if the third volume was to hit the standards I wanted it to, I needed to take a break before I began.

  For me, a break means not lying on a beach, but starting something new. For some time, I’d had an idea for a story two siblings bearing great power, the use of which would cause them to suffer great consequence, on the run. Thus, in the aftermath of publishing Count to Ten, Adam and Eve were born.

  These would be shorter works, novellas rather than novels. Therefore, I decided I would write not one but three before embarking upon the third Hide and Seek novel.

  Then I got started. In a flash I had written the first two, and was captivated by the trials and tribulations Adam and Eve were facing. Rather than three, I decided I would write four, then get on to the final Hide and Seek novel.

  Now, here we are. As I sit at my desk, writing this introduction, I am part way through the sixth Adam and Eve thriller.

  This introduction will appear in all six books, as well as in the boxset.

  I don’t know at what point you may have decided to read this authors
note but, whenever it is, I can only say thank you for being here, and I hope you have enjoyed reading about Adam and Eve’s troubles as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

  For now, I’m off to finish writing the sixth thriller, which you may have just finished reading. Then it’s on to completing the Hide and Seek trilogy.

  I hope you enjoy that one too.

  Mark Ayre

  24/07/2020

  Have You Read?

  The Adam and Eve Thrillers

  Cursed from birth with supernatural abilities, Adam and Eve have spent their lives on the run, using the tips their mother taught them to keep one step ahead of the ruthless organisation that pursues them.

  But when their enemy develops a new device that can locate the twins, any time, anywhere, running is no longer an option. To secure their freedom, they must turn and fight.

  Do Adam and Eve, even with their extraordinary abilities, stand any chance of destroying an organisation with infinite resources and no compunction about killing countless innocents to achieve their goals, or are they merely hand-delivering themselves to the tortuous life of experimentation from which their mother tried to save them?

  Follow the twins as they fight to overcome insurmountable odds in pursuit of the one thing they have never been allowed: a normal life; with all six thrillers available separately or in a single digital collection..

  Book One: Fire and Smoke

  Book Two: Lost and Found

  Book Three: Cat and Mouse

  Book Four: Lock and Key

  Book Five: Cloak and Shield

  Book Six: Hope in Hell

  The Complete Boxset: Adam and Eve Books 1-6

  The Hide and Seek Trilogy

  A Trilogy of Supernatural Thrillers