“I have to go,” Pete said.
“But wait-”
Jodi shot Gabriel a furious look. “Unbelievable,” she said. “I’m very disappointed with you, Gabriel.” She stomped out of the room after Pete, and left Gabriel sitting there on the couch.
A cold silence descended on the room after they left. Gabriel stared at the storm brewing outside with an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. Pete and Jodi were right. He’d screwed up. He should have called the mission off, or contacted Reeves and asked for help. He should have done something the instant he’d had that vision. Instead, he just tried to soldier on. Now Pete’s parents were gone, maybe for good, and maybe it was Gabriel’s fault.
Gabriel felt a growing sense of unease. He couldn’t understand what was happening to him, and it was frightening. Somehow, he seemed to be slipping in and out of the Shadow world. What if it happened again? This time, it had lasted at least ten minutes. How long might it be next time? And how long could he survive in the Shadow world?
Gabriel knew the answer, and it made him feel worse. Soon Pete and Jodi might not have to worry about being mad at him. They wouldn’t have to worry because if he slipped back into the Shadow world again and couldn’t find his way back, he’d be dead.
Gabriel skipped dinner that night because he couldn’t face Pete and Jodi. It was better to go hungry than to have them leering at him from across the dinner table. Or worse, getting into an argument in front of everyone. He decided it was best to just tough it out alone in his room and give everyone some time to cool off. Maybe in a day or two, they’d forgive him. Maybe by then he’d even figure out what was happening to him, and figure out how to control it.
Later that night, Gabriel heard the sounds of the children going to bed. Mr. Olgesby tucked them in and then shuffled down the hall to one of the guest rooms. The hallway lights went out and the mansion grew still. Gabriel sat at his desk, staring at the storm raging outside. Lightning flashed here and there, and the wind howled through the eaves. The trees shuddered in the distance like silhouettes of strange, horrifying creatures dancing across the land.
Gabriel couldn’t help but worry about Reeves and Julia as he stared out at the darkness. They were out there, somewhere. They were going on a wild scavenger hunt to find a bunch of statues, just to keep the Shadow from getting them. They didn’t even know what the statues were for. The whole thing seemed a little crazy. They were almost certainly headed into trouble, and there was nothing he could do about it.
It was almost midnight when the rumbling in his stomach got the better of him and Gabriel crawled out of bed and turned on the light, thinking he’d sneak down to the kitchen for a late snack. As he turned the light on, Gabriel heard a noise behind him. He swung around just in time to see a note appear under the door. He snatched it up and then pulled the door open. The hallway was empty. Gabriel frowned as he unfolded the note and read it:
D.A.S. headquarters, ten minutes, the note read. Come alone. He flipped it around looking for more, but that was it. The handwriting looked like Jodi’s.
Jodi wanted to meet him in the basement, alone. Gabriel grimaced at the thought. What was she going to do now, tell him that they weren’t friends anymore? Tell him to leave, and never come back? Gabriel’s stomach rumbled, but he was too queasy to eat. Reluctantly, he put on his slippers and made the trek downstairs to the library. The house was dark and eerily silent. The storm raged outside, and the windows turned to mirrors in the gloom. Gabriel couldn’t help but shiver as he thought about the fact that anyone out there in the darkness could see him, but he couldn’t see them. The windows were like one-way glass facing the wrong way.
In the library, he touched the hidden panel inside the fireplace and waited for the elevator to appear. When it arrived, he took a deep breath and stepped in. “Here goes nothing,” he said. He pressed the button and the elevator began its gentle descent. A few seconds later, the doors parted. Jodi and Pete were waiting for him. Pete was sitting at one of the desks working on a computer, and Jodi was standing next to him. Reluctantly, Gabriel approached them.
“Well if it isn’t the invisible man,” Jodi said with a half-grin. Gabriel glanced back and forth between them uncertainly.
“What’s this all about?” he said.
Pete glanced up from the screen, and looked him in the face for the first time since that afternoon. “We need to know everything,” he said.
Gabriel took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about your parents, Pete. I did everything I could-”
“I know,” Pete cut him off. “It was an obvious trap.”
“But… wait, I thought you were mad at me?”
Pete and Jodi exchanged a sly smile. “Maybe a little,” said Pete, “but only because you didn’t tell us about this sooner. Look, I know you couldn’t have done anything else about my parents. I knew that as soon as I heard what had happened. You and Reeves were lucky to get out of there alive.”
“But this afternoon,” Gabriel said. “I thought you hated me.”
“That whole thing was my idea,” Jodi said. “Reeves and Julia told Oglesby to keep an eye on us. They knew we’d be scheming to go after them, or trying to help in some way. As soon as I realized that, I knew we had to throw him off the scent.”
Gabriel looked back and forth between the two of them. “You mean all that stuff in the library was just an act?”
“I improvised,” Jodi said with a smirk. “I saw a chance and I took it. Pete caught on, and he played right along. We thought you were playing along, too.” Gabriel realized his jaw was hanging open and he clamped it shut.
“Pretty good acting, eh?” said Pete.
Gabriel nodded weakly. He suddenly felt very foolish. A thought occurred to him: “So you cooked up this whole thing to throw Oglesby off?” he said.
“Yup,” Jodi said proudly.
“To throw him off of what? What are you guys planning?”
“We don’t know yet,” said Pete. “That’s what this meeting is supposed to be about. I’ve been tracking the signal from Julia’s implant and it looks like they’re headed to the Mideast. Obviously we could follow them, but-”
“-but they don’t even know where they’re going yet,” Jodi interrupted. “At least, that’s what they said.”
“And they might be gone already by the time we get there,” Gabriel said.
“Exactly,” said Jodi. “On the other hand, there is the matter of the letter from Alfred.”
Gabriel nodded, realizing what they had been thinking. “You think we should go after Alfred? Even though Julia said not to?”
“Well, she didn’t exactly say not to,” Jodi said. “She said the artifacts were the priority. And then she left us in charge here.”
“She left Oglesby in charge,” Gabriel corrected her.
“Whatever. The point is this: what if Alfred Winschfield really is alive? What if we could save Julia’s husband, and have him back home by the time she got back?”
Gabriel stared at them, uncertain of what to say. It was an extremely risky plan. There were so many things that could go wrong. “What about transportation?” he said. “Reeves and Julia have the Albatross. How could we possibly get to Africa?”
“We’ll figure something out.”
Jodi saw his gears working and she smiled. “Told ya it was a good idea,” she said. Pete leaned back in his chair with his fingers locked behind his head, waiting for Gabriel’s response.
“Well, what do we do?” he said after a moment.
Jodi let out a small cheer. “First, we’ve got to pack some stuff,” she said. “And then…”
“Hold on,” Pete interrupted. “First things first. Gabriel, we need to discuss this thing that’s been happening to you.”
Gabriel didn’t have a chance to respond because at that moment, a siren went off and a red light began flashing on the front wall. Pete jumped up and tapped the buttons on the control panel. The three giant screens on the far wall came t
o life, displaying video streams from across the estate. It was dark and stormy, and Gabriel couldn’t make out much of anything. He thought he saw a blur of motion in the center screen, and he walked closer for a better look. Just then, lightning arced across the sky and the estate grounds lit up. A humanoid creature with long, hairy limbs appeared. The creature had pale green washed-out skin and bright red eyes. It snarled, baring long yellow fangs. The image was so terrifying that Gabriel stumbled back a step.
“What the-?”
“Grimlocks,” Pete said. He glanced at the computer screen on the desktop. “We have at least two dozen shadowkind incoming… we’re under attack.”
Gabriel’s first instinct was to reach for his sword, which he usually kept secured by a strap to his forearm. It wasn’t there because he’d left it in the top drawer of his dresser. He glanced at his companions and realized quite suddenly that all three of them were wearing their pajamas.
“The kids,” said Jodi. “We’ve got to get upstairs. Pete, you stay here and monitor the situation. Go to Code Red and activate all defenses.”
Pete nodded. “I’m already on it.”
Gabriel and Jodi rushed for the elevator.
Chapter 9
They found Mr. Oglesby in the hallway, herding the orphans toward the library. “Everyone to the basement!” he shouted. “We’ll be safe in the basement.”
The kids were terrified. Some of them were crying, others were screaming. They had all been asleep when the alarm sounded. Most of them were too young to understand what was going on, and they were all very afraid. When Gabriel saw this, he abandoned his thoughts of racing upstairs to get his sword. The children were like his little brothers and sisters, and he couldn’t run off and leave them frightened like that. He fell in with the group and began trying to calm them down.
“It’ll be okay,” he said encouragingly. “It’s just a fire drill… kind of. Come on everyone, last one to the elevator is a rotten egg!” Jodi caught on to what he was doing, and she helped. She promised a special treat later for everyone who behaved.
In the library, they grouped the children up in front of the fireplace and Mr. Oglesby summoned the elevator. Just as the doors were sliding open, the windows behind them exploded into the room. A shower of broken glass rained down around them, and an eight-foot tall grimlock thudded to the floor. The creature was dressed in a fur loincloth and had long, dark green hair. It snarled and barked like a dog, bearing hideous yellow fangs.
Gabriel immediately realized that there wasn’t enough time to get everyone into the elevator. He needed to distract the creature for a few seconds. He rushed to stand between the menacing creature and the children. It didn’t even occur to him that he might be risking his life to save theirs. Even if it had, it wouldn’t have stopped him.
The grimlock snarled like a wild animal and took a swing at him with long, clawed fingers. The creature was large and powerful, but its movements were crude. Gabriel easily danced away from the blow. He laughed mockingly as he moved back towards the center of the library, trying to taunt the beast away from the other children. The shadowcreature roared, its face a mask of pure venomous rage.
Gabriel placed himself strategically in front of a tall wooden bookshelf as the grimlock came rushing towards him. He waited until the last second to move. Just before the creature hit him, Gabriel launched himself into the air and somersaulted forward. The grimlock passed beneath him, slamming its full weight into the bookshelf. Wood splintered everywhere, books flew through the air, and the shelf toppled sideways slamming into the adjacent shelf. This caused a domino effect, and half the shelves in the room toppled, spilling books from one end of the library to the other.
Gabriel watched expectantly as the first two shelves crashed down on top of the grimlock. Gabriel half-expected the monster to toss them aside but apparently, the creature had been knocked unconscious. A third bookshelf wobbled uneasily for a moment and then came crashing down on top of the first two. Beneath the crushing mess, the grimlock remained motionless, either dead or unconscious.
“Hurry!” Jodi screamed. Gabriel spun around to see her backing towards the elevator, trying to fend off a second grimlock with a fire poker. Oglesby was ushering the last of the children into the elevator.
“Go!” Gabriel shouted at Mr. Oglesby. “We’ll be down in a minute!”
The monster swung at Jodi with a long club and she parried the blow, stumbling back under the weight of the attack. She quickly regained her balance and lunged forward, countering with a thrust that swept across his thigh and drew blood. The grimlock roared angrily. It swung again and she danced out of the way.
Two large wolf-like creatures leapt through the broken windows, sliding as they landed. “Wargs!” Gabriel shouted, trying to warn Jodi. It was already too late. One of the wolves lunged forward and caught Jodi’s leg in its gaping jaws. She lost her balance and twisted sideways, dropping the poker as she tried to catch herself.
The grimlock took advantage of the situation. It swung its massive club and struck Jodi solidly in the chest. Gabriel heard the sickening sound of her ribs breaking from halfway across the room. Jodi screamed once as she hit the floor, and then fell silent. She wasn’t moving.
Gabriel ran forward, an animalistic roar erupting from his lips. The first warg leapt at him, its slavering jaws open wide. Gabriel dropped, sliding beneath the creature as it leapt through the air. He reached up and drove his fist into the wolf’s ribcage with all his might. The creature landed roughly. It whimpered as it scurried out of reach.
The grimlock took a swing at him, but Gabriel jumped forward, inside the blow. As the club came down, Gabriel grabbed the grimlock’s arm and pulled it down over his shoulder. The creature lost its balanced and toppled forward. Gabriel twisted, flipping the monster overhead. The grimlock vaulted through the air and landed solidly on its back on the hardwood floor.
Gabriel turned and shouted, “WHO’S NEXT?
As this happened, somewhere in the back of his mind Gabriel knew that he was moving too fast. He was doing things he shouldn’t have been capable of. Not even his assassin training could have made him move that fast, or given him the strength to throw that grimlock halfway across the room. There was something else going on here, something that came from his anger and the darkness he felt rising inside of him.
The second wolf lunged forward but Gabriel was ready. He reached out with his right hand and caught the creature by the throat. The warg was big enough that it could have ripped his head off in one bite, but somehow Gabriel had the strength to catch it and hold it there like a pup. Then he did something that even surprised himself.
Gabriel looked into the wolf’s eyes and felt the Shadow within it. He felt the beast’s true nature, the part of it that was from another world. Gabriel reached out to that part with his mind and willed it back to where it belonged.
“Back to the Shadow!” he whispered. The wolf’s body disintegrated into a fine mist-like powder that dissipated in the air around him. Gabriel blinked, hardly believing what he’d just done.
Behind him, Gabriel heard Jodi sputtering for breath. He turned to see Oglesby bent over her. The older man looked up at him, his face etched with horror. “She’s dying,” he said breathlessly. “Jodi’s dying!”
The moaning of the wind filled Gabriel’s ears as he looked down at Jodi’s limp form. Oglesby had her head propped up on his lap and he was cradling her in his arms, trying to comfort her. He had managed to get all of the orphans into the basement, and then he’d come back to help. Unfortunately, he was just a moment too late.
Jodi’s breath rattled in her lungs, and her fingers clawed at the floor as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes were rolling back in her head. Blood trickled from her lips. Her face was deathly pale.
Gabriel knelt down and touched her arm. Her skin was cold and clammy. “You’re gonna be okay,” he said reassuringly. “Just hang on, we’re gonna get you to a hospital…” Tears welled up in his eyes as h
e spoke. He was trying to comfort her, to ease the fear she must have been feeling, but he wasn’t as confident as he sounded. Jodi looked bad. Real bad.
Gabriel heard a grunt and looked up in time to see another grimlock leaping in through the broken windows. The creature landed solidly on both feet, and the floor shook under his weight. This one was close to ten feet tall. His head was almost touching the ceiling. Gabriel snatched up the poker that Jodi had been using and jumped fearlessly into the creature’s path. The grimlock threw its head back and bellowed deep mocking laughter.
Gabriel glanced at his pathetic looking poker. It was clear that he wasn’t going to win this battle. Not with that poker, anyway. He tossed it aside. Gabriel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He turned his thoughts inward, reaching for the feeling he’d had when he killed the wolves. He knew the energy was there, that there was some kind of power he could use, he just had to figure out how he’d done it.
In his mind’s eye, Gabriel could see the library and the desks and shelves all around him but not the way they were in reality. He was seeing it all in the Shadow world. The desks were oddly-shaped stones with smooth flat tops and the shelves were tall, misshapen trees with interweaving branches that formed the shelves.
Gabriel could see the outline of the building, though it looked more like a crumbling ruin, and he could see the dim shapes of Jodi and Mr. Oglesby next to the inside wall. It was almost as if he was in both worlds at once. And there was the grimlock, a huge lumbering shadow that lurched toward him with slow, purposeful steps.
“I see you,” Gabriel said. He ran forward and slammed into the creature with his full weight. As he did this, he focused all of his energy into the point of contact, where his shoulder met the creature’s torso.
A frightened shout escaped the grimlocks’s lips. From the monster’s perspective, Gabriel had just turned invisible and then somehow attacked him. The grimlock let out a fearful, bellowing cry and turned to run. Gabriel saw this in the Shadow world and the mundane world at once, and he grew angry as he saw the monster trying to escape.
Shadow Rising (Shadow Born Trilogy Book 2) Page 3