Shadow Heights

by E. N. Goeking

  “How is that?” I asked with hesitation. Maybe I didn’t want to know.

  “You are the only human I have met who was so eager to join our rankings but in fairness, you were ignorant of the inner ramifications throughout initiation. I must tell you, I was rather impressed with your composure during my testing, much stronger than Jaden here.” I could hear a low huff inside of Jaden as he stared on.

  “Initiation? What initiation?” Jaden ignored my plea. “What do you want from me?”

  “He wants nothing from you,” Jaden assured me, taking a step toward the fire. Andrelius exhaled a loud sigh and I picked up on a metallic smell, like burning rubber. It seemed to be wafting from his skin. “You should go home, Mina.”

  “I hope you won’t be leaving us so soon. There are many things in which I would like to speak with you about.”

  “You’re done here, Andrelius.” His words came out through a strangled throat while Andrelius controlled him.

  “You dare to question my authority like your father?” He released Jaden and came back at me but somehow my fear of him was lessening. “She is no freer than you are, my son. You were never going to stop me from getting her. I have seen her future and the wonderful prospects she holds for me and our world.”

  “No!” he shouted and was soon thrown to the ground by an invisible blast of energy.

  “Imbecile,” he snuffed. “She knows too much already and you saw to it that she was involved.” Jaden stood up and looked over at me with anguished eyes.

  “Don’t believe him, Mina. He lies.”

  “What do you mean?” I intruded, ignoring Jaden’s plea.

  “Jaden has the uncanny ability to feed you thoughts, thoughts which then become your reality. You see, every time he let you in on another secret, it brought you further into our world.” The wrinkles in my forehead began to deepen and I could feel the throb of their tension. “I know it’s hard for the novice to understand but it is very much true and quite possible, despite the scientific assessments of your time.”

  “But Jaden wouldn’t do that to me.”

  “Are you sure?” He walked closer, encircling me with his presence. “There isn’t a doubt in you somewhere that Jaden set you up to fall into this beautifully orchestrated trap all to save his precious human life. I could not have performed it better myself.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Mina. You know what’s in my heart!” Jaden quickly defended but kept low to the ground. “He’s confusing you. I’m not the one who can do that, he is. If you believe his lies—”

  “Sh, sh, sh, sh.” Andrelius held his finger to his mouth. “It is up to Wilhelmina to judge. You no longer have any influence here.”

  “I still don’t understand what’s happening and what I have to do with this,” I admitted. Andrelius roamed to my side, slowly placing his arm on my shoulder. The overpowering smell of him streamed into my nose and I tried not to gag. It was almost a natural anesthesia, the stinging effects like formaldehyde or alcohol.

  “You have been involved in this story since before you were born of your parents but at present you fail to remember. You were always a major player in my production and you were chosen for this role, Wilhelmina, and there are many from this universe who are watching you—hoping you will join us. It is, like Jaden has told you, impossible to fight.” I swallowed hard and staved off a chill coasting up my spine. “I have seen your future in my eyes and I already know your decision, you see, but I so love a humorous anecdote to tell my friends. I enjoy giving others the illusion of free will, of choice, but alas, it has already been written.” I feared to look over; I was frightened enough just to have him touching me, a coolness on my shoulder that was beginning to stiffen me like ice.

  He could read everything about me, like a scanner. If I began to sweat, he sensed it; if my heartbeat began to pick up pace, he acknowledged that he knew. He quickly began to laugh as my mind processed all of these accounts. “How I miss the human form? It’s so easy to play around with, so easy to access, to manipulate.” I could feel his cool breath giving me chills on the neck as its pungent air blew into my ear.

  “What are you?” He took a step away and rested both of his hands upon his cane.

  “I suppose I do owe you a proper explanation. I am what people of your era would call one of the fallen angels. Others have called us aliens but how I despise that label, it has grown very assuming. Histories in your world grow so distorted over the centuries. We on the other side prefer to be known as the Bashua, the Dark Guardians of Salvati—it is a name feared by all races outside of your realm. You’d be wise to never cross us with deceit but I can already see your mind beginning to work.” He chuckled and clasped his hands together on his cane.

  “You are quite brave for someone of your sex but maybe you are choosing bravery as a method of protection from your ignorance. As I’m sure you have guessed, I am not from this world Wilhelmina. I come from a place that you can see within your dreams, places of great wonder where creativity and life are born but a place most are forbidden to enter until death. You see, I am quite old by your terms of age but I am as youthful as you are, my child, if not more.” His mind seemed to drift away for some time but his eyes never blinked, giving me no indication of life. I peeked over at Jaden who seemed to be frozen in form while he stood like a watchdog to his master.

  “By now,” he continued and I inhaled quickly with surprise, “you have seen how different Jaden is from a normal male of your species, I am sure, and you must understand that the very same blood that courses through my celestial veins runs through his.”

  “I thought his Grandfather Julien gave him his power.” He cackled, showing full teeth.

  “I allowed Julien to believe this for it was the only way my plans could succeed. Nothing passes by me, Wilhelmina, and I knew all along what he was up to but I allowed his belief to continue because I could see the prospects it would have for me in the future. You see, my survival depends upon the energy given to me from this plane. God’s form of punishment,” he joked. “I use this term loosely because God is something quite different than your race presently imagines or understands and far from where your mind sits upon this issue. It is indeed laughable as punishment for I have grown fond of my freedom to roam through worlds that you can only dream about.”

  “What do you want from us?” I asked.

  “I want what I am owed,” he snarled, gliding toward me without taking a step, annoyed that I interrupted his elegant flow of words. “I have lost much of my power because of this child’s thoughtlessness.” He flipped his head back and emitted something from his hands that extended into Jaden’s body like a stream of light. This seemed to be torturing him and as I tried to stop Andrelius, my hand passed right through his body as if he was not even there. I gasped and took a step backward.

  “Another gift of mine,” he smiled while looking back over. “I have been living off of Joseph’s lifeless form for far too many years and yet I’m beginning to feel youthful already by Jaden’s spirited vitality.”

  “What did you do to him?” I demanded, my eyes tearing up.

  “Nothing for you to be concerned with. He has only just begun the process of turning into his true form. The next time you see him, he shall be quite transformed. He is to be the purest blood of his lineage and my strongest warrior yet.” I saw Jaden quivering on the ground, the dried blood on his skin turning to a darker purple.

  “He said that you promised him something.”

  “Ah, yes. Promises, how easy they are to break. Jaden was willing to risk everything to keep you in his life, all that he had worked for, which I fail to understand but how can I argue with someone who is willing to sell himself over to me. He would much rather have love than power but alas, he shall have both.” He strengthened his hold and Jaden breathed heavily with each gasp.

  “Joseph said that Jaden was going to save those of his family with the cost of his soul.”

  “In a way, that is quite accur
ate but the proper terms are out of your perception. You see, Jaden’s soul has allowed me entryway into his body so that I may operate through him, see through his eyes when I need to but rest assured, he will not part ways with his body until death. All of his experiences will become mine and he will feed me the energy I need to live upon this plane.” Jaden was starting to stand up, looking up at me with remorse in his eyes. He looked like a frightened child who had stolen the grocery money. “He will be my newest protégé and quite the gifted soldier.”

  “How is this even possible? You can’t control people like that.”

  “I thought you had explained this to her,” Andrelius questioned Jaden who proceeded to shrug without uttering a word. “I apologize, Mina dear, for I thought you were better prepared but no matter, I shall explain it to you in a simpler way. Reality as you know it is a game that we have all agreed to play but you have been allowed to enter a private match of my own creation. You will be my first female player. It is rather exciting.”

  “How can you have the gall to assume that I would agree to be one of your puppets?”

  “Are you not a puppet for your precious American government, slaves to a system that you can never escape? Surely you can see that. In some ways, what I am offering you is a way out of that system which is something that you have long desired.”

  “I suppose but...” I couldn’t even find the words. I felt myself beginning to slip away.

  “Please, let her go.” Jaden was begging for my release.

  “No,” he replied sternly, his long nails lightly dragging down his neck. “In fact, I have decided that she shall make the decision for you.”

  “You cannot allow this.”

  “Mina, my child, intrigue me for a moment.” I raised an eyebrow but agreed. “How deep does your love for Jaden go? Are you willing to do almost anything for him as well or was he unwise to believe you would have him forever?” My eyes danced to Jaden and back to Andrelius.

  “Forever?” Was that even possible? I wasn’t even looking forward to living past sixty.

  “I know it seems like a long time but believe me, time goes by much quicker in other worlds than on the material plane because we do not experience time as you do.”

  “I suppose, I would do almost anything.” He chortled with delight.

  “Then it is settled.” Jaden stepped forward and tried to shout but no voice ever came.

  “Jaden would never have made such a decision but you made this all the more easier for him. In order for me to fully enter into his body and release myself from Joseph’s lifeless form, a sacrifice must be made.”

  I looked down at Jaden’s weakened figure but he seemed to be frozen in motion. “I must be freed from Joseph’s decrepit body and sadly, you must make the ultimate sacrifice.” He took a step away and chuckled into his hand, overjoyed with amusement at my plight. “Now you can either sacrifice yourself to me, for your undying love which would grant me great power, or you can sacrifice the love you have cherished for eighteen years from your parents. Both will prove quite satisfactory.” My eyes darted between them.

  “What? When did my parents get involved in this?”

  “Once you've begun to enter into this world which you have done for several weeks now, a sacrifice must be made. There can be no way without it. It is a fair exchange for the knowledge that you've acquired. Well, two lives are always better than one in restoring my energy and it helps when the emotional attachments are as strong as yours are. When Julien is finally released, something will occur that will take the lives of both of your parents or yourself if you so choose.”

  “Wait, hold on a minute. You can’t ask me to do this when I don’t even know what I’m agreeing to. I won’t let you kill anyone.”

  “Rest assured that if they are chosen, they will be quite sound based upon their beliefs of an afterlife but if you choose to sacrifice yourself, well—let me just say—your beliefs will torment you enough in the underworld to humor me for millennia.”

  I quivered my lip and felt like running away. “I won’t let you take my parents but...I’m not ready to die.”

  “It is decided then.” I took a step forward.

  “Wait, I didn’t agree to anything. You can’t take advantage of me like that.” He chuckled heavily and lit a thin black cigar, a cloud of smoke forming hooks above his head. I didn’t have to think as I took off, doing the only thing that felt right, and hurried home.

  I skipped over a few logs to save time and I could hear the pounding footsteps of Jaden behind me while he tried to keep up.

  “It’s useless Mina. You cannot run from him!” I didn’t care. I fought through my breathing and hustled into the open field. “It’s too late!”

  “It can’t be.” A loud explosion erupted nearby and we both turned to see a stream of violet lights spewing out of the top of my house. What the hell? I pushed Jaden away and kept running but he pulled me to the ground, tackling me on the dirt.

  “There is nothing you can do. It is already done.” His biceps held me down firmly and I could barely struggle to break free. “I hate that you’re making me do this to you.”

  “I hate that you made me agree to this.”

  “I warned you.” His blue eyes were twitching hysterically.

  “This can’t be real, Jaden. I know my parents are okay. They have to be.”

  “Stop it!” I fought tooth and nail to release myself from his grip, almost resorting to violence to gain my freedom. “You must listen to me. Once he gets inside of your mind, it is too late. He is the one who framed me for Tonya’s death, forcing me to a breaking point. It was the only way he could ruse me into his plan. It’s better that you forget everything he said. Nothing is real until you believe it is.”

  “I can’t let anything happen to them,” I whimpered and Jaden jumped to his feet.

  He released his hold and scooted off my body, sprinting back into the woods, and leaving me to fight off my inner demons alone. I flew as fast as possible to my house. My adrenaline was fueling me and my legs weren’t even tired from the pounding in the mud and field. I walked into the house and the echo of silence haunted me as the door slammed behind me.

  “Mom! Dad!” I shouted for them, immediately going up the stairs considering the late hour. When I reached the top stair, a chilling laugh vacated from the end of the hall. Andrelius appeared in a flash and was gone again but I caught his smile and noticed the inexplicit joy he was receiving from my misery.

  When I walked into their room and saw their bodies lying under the covers, relief washed over me. I stepped over and shook my mother on the shoulder to wake her but as the blanket uncovered her face, her lifeless eyes stared back at me without any sign of response. My heart thumped twice and stopped for a chilling moment that felt like a lifetime. I decomposed myself, recoiling to the floor and fighting back the emotion of panic. I bit my hand as I held in my screams. Her lifeless arm hung off the side of the bed, her skin a pale blue.

  The door burst open and I yelped in fright. Jaden stepped into the room in a pair of shorts with blood still all over his body. He immediately hurried to my side in an effort to console me because he already knew what had happened. I felt sickened by him and didn’t even want him near me.

  I was angry that he caused this, that I let it happen. I shoved him back and covered my eyes, regretting everything I had done in a flash by the death of my parents, even though I couldn’t do anything to save them. I should’ve sacrificed my own life, not theirs.

  “Come on,” he whispered into my ear that did nothing to calm me. “We need to get out of here before it’s too late.”

  “Get out? We can’t leave them. We need to call the police, Jaden.”

  “The police?” His voice squeaked in agitation. “The police aren’t going to do anything Mina. We have to take care of this ourselves.”

  “What are you planning?”

  “The only logical thing. We have to set a fire.” My eyes were fierce.

/>   “No fucking way!”

  “You don’t have to do a thing. You just have to go along with the story.”

  “I can’t do that Jaden. They’re my parents.” I stumbled across the floor, avoiding their empty vessels.

  “We have no other choice!” He grabbed my shoulders. “We’re in this together now. We both decided that weeks ago.” I grabbed onto my stomach as I fought the nausea.

  “I won’t agree to it.” He growled in frustration and shoved me into the hallway, shutting the door behind me.

  “This is the only way we can save ourselves. We make a pact, right here, right now.” I wiped away the tears. “Once we do this, you can never speak of this again...to anyone or you will be killed.”

  “Oh, God Jaden. I can’t believe we’re going to do this.”

  “Is there anything in the house that you want to save before it’s gone?”

  “Save? I can’t think about stupid things like that when my parents are rotting in the next room.”

  “Fine, let’s go.” He pulled at my arm but I pushed back.

  “Can I at least say goodbye to them?”

  “We haven’t got time.” I began to weep and he slipped me over his shoulder, demonstrating more strength than I’d ever seen before. I stood on the front porch while he hurried into the garage to find the proper fire-setting materials. He returned with a can of gasoline and some fuel starter, expanding my disapproval of the very act.

  “Are you actually doing this? You’re going to set a fire?”

  “I have to!” he shouted and charged into the house.

  “Jaden,” I shouted after him and he slammed the door in my face, locking it so I couldn’t stop him. I jogged down the front steps, nearly tripping down them I was in such a hurry.

  He plowed through the front door a few minutes later and I could see the lingering flames in the windows rising up the stairs. I sobbed uncontrollably as his strong arms consoled me. “Now I have to get out of here. I can’t let this get back to me, do you understand?”