“Hey.” I threw her a quick glance but then busied myself with brushing my hair into a ponytail. Her light friend was extra bright and hard to look at. I braced myself for the “talk” that was sure to come.
“Has anything been bothering you lately?” she asked.
“No, not really. I mean, I’ve been tired lately.” That much was true.
“Well, are you okay about the whole knife incident? Everyone’s still talking about it. I know you’ve had a few days to process, but sometimes people deal with traumatic things for a while. And that’s okay.”
It was hard to pretend to be an average teenager when talking with my sister. I’d been dealing with traumatic things practically every day since becoming a light warrior. And if I had been traumatized, it wasn’t because of the knife incident but because of Donovan’s evil presence. I wished I could tell her the truth.
I pivoted to face her, choosing my words carefully so as to not give anything away. “Yeah, I mean it was kind of scary. Not something you see every day. But I really think I’m okay.” I smiled warmly and pushed my blazing aura outward until I was glowing all over.
It must have had some sort of an effect. She widened her eyes, appraising me with a slow nod as though seeing me for the first time. “You’re right. You’re stronger than I gave you credit for.” She got up and patted me on the arm before turning to leave, opening the door and shutting it quietly behind her.
She’d been gone less than a minute when Patrick texted me.
I’M OUTSIDE. ARE YOU READY FOR A FUN NIGHT??
Nervous butterflies flitted around in my stomach. Another “shadow hunt.” I hadn’t been able to help much at the last one, so I was determined to help this time. Hearing what this shadow was planning would be helpful to the crew. Although, if what Gregory had said about this shadow was true, the possibilities of what I might hear freaked me out more than ever before.
After meeting at Kyra’s and piling into Gregory’s car, we trailed our mark from his house to a bar turned club just outside town. We parked and watched him go in, although I couldn’t see much from our distance.
Then we sat and waited for forever until Gregory gave us the okay. “All right, that should be long enough. Let’s go.”
“Thank goodness!” Kyra said. “Iris here was about to drive me crazy with her fidgeting.”
“Hey!” I shoved her playfully as she opened her door. I moved to do the same, but Gregory stopped me.
“Wait, Iris. Let Kyra and me go first. Then you and Patrick follow after a few minutes. Less suspicious that way. We’ll go in while you two wait outside for him to come out.” He climbed out of the car and peered back at us with his hand resting on the open door. “Not that I want to leave you two alone in a car or anything. But in this case, it’s best to have a guy with each group for safety purposes.
I rolled my eyes.
“It’s two minutes, Gregory,” Patrick said dryly.
“Yeah, yeah. Have fun.” Gregory smirked and then shut the door. We watched as the two of them hustled to the club and crept along the side of the wall.
“I swear, he thinks we’re like rabbits,” I complained from the back seat.
Patrick didn’t say anything, and I couldn’t see his face because he was in the front passenger seat. Did he agree with Gregory, or was he simply avoiding talking to me? His silence was a bit disconcerting, but I did my best to shrug it off. Training was what I needed to focus on tonight. Especially since now we knew for sure that Lucas was after me and Donovan was after Patrick.
Patrick kept his eyes on Gregory and Kyra as they peeked inside windows and eventually disappeared when they entered the building. “All right. We’re up.”
We pried open our doors and shut them quietly. He waited for me to get beside him and then grabbed my hand to lead me towards the building. As we walked, he moved his fingers to interlock with mine. The simple gesture made me warm all over.
“Well, you’re taller,” I said once we’d come to a stop. “See if you can see anything. Are they in there?”
Patrick stood on his tiptoes and peered through the tinted square of a window. The thick concrete walls and closed windows muffled the heavy pounding of techno music into a low thumping. “Um...Okay, I see them. They’re headed towards a table.” He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” It wasn’t fair I was too short.
“Oh, just Kyra. She can’t resist slicing every shadow within arm’s length as she walks.”
I grinned to myself. That was Kyra.
“Okay, they’re sitting down now and looking at some...” His voice trailed off as he moved his head to the right, probably following their gaze. “Whoa! That must be him!” His eyes were about to pop out of his head. If he was surprised, I was definitely in trouble.
He turned away from the window and surveyed me like a man who’d just been told he’d have to throw his girlfriend into a pit of snakes. “Iris, I don’t want you to have to listen to this thing.”
He was so sincere, I almost cried. Part of me wanted to give in and be the fragile girl that needed her man to do everything for her. But I had to be strong. I was strong. Deep down, I knew it was true. I could handle this. “It’s okay.” I took his hand again. Feeling his smooth skin between my fingers, I glanced up at him with confidence. “It’ll be fine.”
He stared into my eyes and probably would have kissed me, but we were near the entrance. A couple of guys were heading our way towards the building. One of them had a fairly menacing, violent figure hovering alongside him.
Patrick observed the guys for a few seconds, and his eyes narrowed to slits. I recognized that scrutinizing look. He was scheming. At last, he turned to me with a playful grin. Apparently he’d forgotten what we were up against inside. “What do you say we tag-team this one as he comes by us? We’ll cross to the other side of the entrance right as they walk to the door. You grab the shadow off his back, and I’ll kill it.”
He began to pull out his prism as though the plan were already settled. I hardly had time to get nervous. My feet were already moving. Instead of a gradual accumulation of butterflies, one sharp zing shot up my spine. My fingers tingled.
The two men barely noticed us, we were so smooth and quick. Within five seconds, I ripped the parasite off the guy, Patrick slashed it with one swipe, and the squirming dark figure dissipated. We continued on our merry little way to the other side of the bar’s entrance.
Once the door closed behind the temporarily shadow-free men, we laughed hysterically, adrenaline pumping through our veins at our latest success.
“That was awesome!” Patrick gave me a high-five so hard I winced.
“Ow!” I laughed. “Thanks.”
He took my hand and drew me to him. We were just outside the entrance of the bar, and more people were making their way up from the parking lot. “Come on,” he whispered.
I let him pull me around the corner into the building’s shadow. Patrick’s face was mostly dark, but light from the entrance filtered over to us, enough for me to read his expression. Pure mischief.
He lifted the hand he’d “injured” to his lips and kissed it gently while still gazing into my eyes. “I sincerely apologize.”
“Apology accepted,” I replied. He lowered my hand, but I wanted more. I desperately wanted to be close to him, and the invigorating thrill of the brief fight earlier was fresh on my mind.
His eyes had never left me, but his mischievous look had transformed into something else. Desire? Whatever the feeling was, it was contagious. Our hands were still locked together. I tugged on his arm as I backed toward the wall, dragging him with me until I was pressed up against the cold brick.
I no longer pulled on his arm. But I didn’t need to. He kept pressing forward, and before I knew it his body was on mine, his lips on my neck. An unbearably pleasant sensation rippled underneath my skin, and I could think of nothing else but being with Patrick in that very moment. I slid my fingers through his hair and guided his
face back up to mine so my lips could enjoy the sensation of his smooth kisses.
Less than a minute had passed when a familiar voice cut through the steaminess in my mind. “Ah-hem.”
I immediately dropped my hands and turned to see Kyra standing at the corner of the building where the light intersected the darkness. Her hands were on her hips, and her overall countenance was easily discernible—she was not amused. My prophetic rabbit comment from earlier sprang back up in my mind, hitting me like a lead glove to the face.
Another figure approached from the same way Kyra had come, its shadow growing larger as it neared us. My breath caught in my throat and I pushed Patrick farther away from me as Gregory’s taller silhouette came into view. “Everything all right here?”
“Yep,” Patrick replied abruptly.
“Okay,” Gregory said. If he was surprised or disappointed, he didn’t show it. “Iris, have you had any luck hearing anything from the guy’s shadow yet?”
I blushed. “Um...well, I haven’t really tried yet. I couldn’t see him through the window, so...”
“Hmm.” Gregory spotted a window nearby and then eyed me thoughtfully. “I wonder if we could prop you up to this window on that gas meter underneath. Then you could get a peek at the guy and his shadow. Would that help you make a connection and listen to it?”
I considered the idea. “That should work. I usually shut my eyes anyway, so I don’t have to look long. But honestly, it’s going to be hard having empathy for a strange man that for all I know has done worse crimes than I’ve seen on TV.”
Patrick grimaced. “I still don’t want you to have to do this.”
“I’m fine. Honestly.” I stopped myself and closed my eyes. That was a lie. I didn’t feel fine. Not yet. I sighed and dug deep to pull from the well of light within me. It illuminated my body and mind and reminded me who I was. I was capable enough to handle this. I opened my eyes and faced Patrick once more. “Okay, now I really am.”
Gregory led me to the window. “If at any point you need to stop, don’t feel bad. Just stop listening. We all have our limits.”
“Okay. Let’s get this over with.” I climbed onto the meter, holding tight to Gregory’s hand for support and balance. My eyes barely cleared the bottom of the window.
“He should be pretty close to this spot,” Kyra said.
The glass was dirty. The lighting inside was almost non-existent, too, but the roaming spotlights and pulsing strobe light helped me see a few figures. It didn’t take long to spot what had to be our guy since the largest shadow in the room clung to him. Kyra was right. He was sitting alone at a table near my window. I could only see the side of his face, but from what I could tell, he was in his late thirties. He was big and muscular, and his blonde hair was slicked back with way too much hair gel. His hard features and expression alone aroused suspicion. Luckily—or unluckily, a light right above his table illumined the hazy mass beside him well enough for me to get a good look.
I had never seen a shadow appear so hostile and repulsive. The sexually-related, swirling funnel cloud within was constant and uniform instead of erratic like I was used to. But there were also violent, turbulent fragments that jerked around within the dark silhouette as if fighting to escape. The synchronized chaos sucked me in. The shadow was dangerous and intimidating, but the size and motion were hypnotizing.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been gaping unproductively. I hadn’t even noticed Patrick and Gregory approach on either side of me. “Are you okay?” Patrick asked.
I blinked and shook my head to fling off of the disturbing image. “Yeah. Yeah.”
“Can you tell what type of shadow it is, Iris? I think this may be the first one you’ve seen.” Gregory’s tone was composed and careful.
If he was trying to calm me down by making me focus on facts, it worked. As I recalled my training, my fear and anxiety mostly subsided. For a shadow to be that well-organized and in sync, it would have to have been there for a very long time. “It’s a Stage Four: Permanent and Unyielding Shadow. So, that means...”
“That means none of us will be handling this one tonight. His shadow won’t be budging anytime soon. The victim is the one we need to focus on.” Gregory looked at me hopefully. “That’s why we need you, Iris. Maybe you can hear who he’s after. Give us a heads up.”
I tightened my lips and nodded once. Turning back to the window, I caught one more glimpse and then closed my eyes. At first, nothing. Just pulsing music and muffled sounds of people. How could I have empathy for this guy? I couldn’t even fathom what type of person would have an oppressive warden that horrific glued to him 24/7.
Well, one thing I could imagine was having that thing attached to me. The thought shook me and my legs grew weak. I gripped the windowsill for support. Somehow, by putting myself in his oppressed position, I managed a connection.
The voice that swam to my ears was heavy and gradually made me feel loaded down and ponderous. Each word was like a brick piling up inside me while water simultaneously poured into the remaining spaces. Sometimes their edges scraped and hurt. Others danced and sloshed around in the water, making me nauseous.
“Power. Pleasure,” the voice hissed. “Take it. Indulge yourself. You are king here. Prey on the weak. Take control. The vulnerable ones need to be controlled. They need you to control them. There’s one by the bar. See her?”
I opened my eyes to see where the man’s gaze was fixed. An attractive young girl in a short dress laughed with some friends at the large U-shaped bar. The blue, cylinder-shaped lights hanging overhead seemed to make her long blonde hair glow. Her cocktail glass was empty and she was fishing in her purse as she talked to her friends.
“Do you hear that?” the voice whispered. “She lives right across the street. She’s walking home. Perfect. Remember, she wants to be overpowered. She’ll love it. Just imagine once you get your hands on her...”
That was enough. I couldn’t possibly handle anymore. I stumbled on the gas meter and fell, feeling like I weighed three hundred pounds. Patrick and Gregory caught my arms and helped steady my feet underneath me.
The second I regained my footing, though, I wrenched myself free from their hands and rushed to Kyra instead. I wrapped my arms around her neck and sobbed into her shoulder. She held me as I shook and supported me with more strength than I would’ve assumed her small frame possessed. I wanted Patrick to comfort me, but I couldn’t bring myself to be touched by a guy just yet. Not after what I’d heard. Not after what I knew was about to—
My head shot up. “We have to do something. That girl. She’ll be leaving any time now. He’s going to try to rape her.” I lifted my hands to cover my mouth. Saying the word made the fact that much more real.
“I was afraid of that,” Gregory said. “Patrick, why don’t you and Iris go wait in the car. Lock the doors and wait for us. Kyra and I will intercept the girl before he can get to her. Call the cops from the car. Tell him you have a tip that a rapist is about to leave this bar.”
Gregory didn’t miss my panicked look at Kyra. “She’ll be fine, Iris. I’ll be with her the whole time. And we’ll be long gone before he gets to us. I need a girl with me. Otherwise, the victim might think I’m the rapist.”
“Oh,” was all I could say. His explanation made sense, but there was no way I would’ve wanted to be in Kyra’s position. Gregory nodded once to both of us and then hustled toward the door with Kyra. It opened and the pretty girl in the short dress exited, alone. Gregory and Kyra walked casually behind her through the parking lot.
The rapist would most likely follow several feet behind at first. That only left Patrick and me a short window to race to the car. We’d barely hopped in the back seat and clicked the power lock when the club door opened again. The foreboding wall cloud accompanying the man gave him away instantly.
Patrick slid his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911. As he explained a filtered version of the situation to the operator, I peered out the rear window. G
regory and Kyra disappeared into a darkened street after the girl. I shivered, suddenly cold at the thought of how cold the world actually was. Rapists lurked around my own city. Kids brought weapons to school. Fathers abused their families. So much darkness. So much closer than I’d ever realized.
The thought made me remember the rapist approaching. Would Gregory and Kyra have enough time to talk to the girl before the perpetrator caught up to them? I whirled back around to check and immediately slapped my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. The man and his haunting shadow were five feet from our car. He was walking straight past us.
I caught a glimpse of his face as he passed. It was hardened, determined, sinister, with a cocky grin so evil I wanted to puke. The moment he came into view, the shadow’s voice returned to my head unexpectedly. I hadn’t tried to get the connection back, but the horrendous thoughts the shadow was feeding this man slithered on through anyway.
“Are you okay?” Until Patrick spoke, I hadn’t noticed I was covering my ears with my hands and rocking back and forth.
I squeezed my eyes shut and winced as though in actual pain. “I can hear it again. I didn’t even try to.” I continued rocking with my hands still covering my ears, though it wasn’t helping in the slightest.
“Well, that’s interesting. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing,” Patrick pondered. “Maybe you could use that to hear certain shadows again without trying as hard.”
“Well, right now it’s a bad thing,” I insisted as I tried some deep breathing—my poor attempt to maintain control over my sanity as the thoughts swarmed my mind. Horrible, disgusting thoughts that didn’t belong in anyone’s mind, let alone that of a seventeen-year-old girl.
“You’re right. Sorry.” He glanced behind us. “Okay, he’s gone now. I guess...just...imagine the connection broken.”
I did what he said and the voice ceased. I gradually began to breathe normally and slowed my rocking to a stop.
“I know you can control this, Iris. It’ll probably just take practice like everything else.”
Luminous Spirits (Shadow Eyes Series Book 2) Page 10