Moon Shadows

by Neena Jaydon

  Screw fear. I don't care what happens to me, I'm getting Theo out. He marched stiffly toward the trailer. His breath caught in his throat as he drew level with the window and he saw Theo hunched over on the couch. Adrian wasn't in view. Max's heart pounded hard and fast. Yet his hand was steady as he reached for the door knob.

  He opened the door and let it fall against the wall of the trailer. Framed by the doorframe was Adrian's tall figure. He stood stiffly in the kitchen, his hands held out from his sides. His expression was completely blank, his dark eyes like stone walls.

  Max looked past him to see Theo more clearly. Even from this angle he could see the sweat slowly dripping from Theo's chin and the blue tinge to Theo's lips. His jaw tightened, and he stepped inside. It was cold in the trailer already, but the temperature dropped further as the poltergeists followed him in. Apparently they weren't afraid.

  "So." Max hooked his thumbs in his pockets as he glared up at Adrian. "I came. What do you want?"

  Adrian's heavy lips moved awkwardly. "You." His voice was thick and slow, like a bad recording. He gestured vaguely at Max's chest. Unsurprised, Max removed the charm and tossed it over his shoulder.

  "You've got me. Untie him."

  Adrian shook his head. Max broke out in a sweat of fresh rage. He snapped his fingers and pointed to Theo.

  Hey, guys? Bet you can't untie him. The two poltergeists who had been hovering near his head pounced on the new game. Adrian's head jerked around to watch as Theo collapsed onto his side, his arms bouncing off his back as the poltergeists tugged at the chain around his wrists.

  At the same time, Max felt the pressure of the shadow spirits grow in the back of his mind. He stiffened as icy fingers closed around his wrist. He was flung bodily into the cabinet next to the door. Winded, he tried to pull free. The shadow spirit brought him around to hit the wall. A hard knock to the side of the head twisted him around. Dizzy, he fell to his knees. He glanced up blearily to see another shadow peel itself from Adrian's body. It stepped aside as Adrian thudded unconscious to the floor. That impact excited the poltergeists, spurring them on; Max winced as Theo slid off the couch.

  Then he lost track of Theo, because he was flanked by two shadow spirits, with a third one fading into view in front of him. His heart tried to jump through his ribcage. He narrowed his eyes to try to stare the newcomer down. For a breath, there was nothing. Then Theo moaned, and that broke the thread.

  "Jesus!" Max snarled, scrambling back. The shadow spirits closed in, grabbing his arms with crystal-hard hands. He pulled against their grip as they drew him up to his knees. His legs slid out from under him and he fell to his back. As his arms were pinned to the floor, he saw the strange faces of the shadow spirits up close. The vague bumps where features should have been unnerved him.

  "Get off me!" The third one leaned over him, and he saw its pointed fingertips coming toward his face. "You'll have no vessel in me. Let go of me! My mind is my own! Get off!" A poltergeist shot by over him, slicing right through the shadow spirit. It distorted, flickered, and reappeared in the far corner of the room. Apparently other spirits could hurt the shadows. Max thought frantically as the shadow spirit approached again, searching for a solution. Both werewolves were out of action. He needed help, spiritual help, but more powerful than poltergeists...

  The solution came to him. He hated it. He dreaded the thought of it. Yet he knew it was his best chance.

  Max let his head fall back and he gazed at the ceiling, letting himself drift closer to the edge of the spirit world. It was currently a noisy place. That noise guided him in.

  I'm here. Come on, Deep Murky. He didn't know if the spirit had ever been called anything else; it didn't favour words and had never named itself to him. Remember me? You took me for a walk when I was small. I'm here. My mother is not. It's just you and me.

  First his fingers, then his wrists went numb from the shadow spirits holding on too hard. He slid further away from his body, distancing himself from that distraction. Making himself easier to possess. The shadow spirit leaned over him again, but the poltergeist got in the way and it jerked back.

  This is your land, Deep Murky! Are you going to let these bastards take it? Come to me, this vessel can be yours. Don't you want it? Speaking into the spirit world was like casting a fishing line into a dark ocean. Until he heard a response, he had no idea if he was being heard. Deep Murky! Even as he strained to be heard, he felt the familiar creeping dread of being in a hostile place, of sinkholes and isolation and swampy decay. The question that came to him was not quite a word.

  Conditions?

  Hurt no living people. Max felt instant disgust in reply, but this was the first rule of any deal with a spirit, so he held firm. Do you want these interlopers here? I'll lend you this vessel. Use it to destroy them. He waited, then, for an eternity of seconds. The shadow spirit bent down next to him again, reaching out to his chest. Tingles broke out on his skin as those frigid hands touched it through his clothes. He arched his back off the floor, thrashing around desperately as those fingertips sank through his skin.

  "No! Get off!" In the middle of the pain and growing panic came one more almost-word.

  Agreed.

  And then decayed earth and tarry despair poured in, and the shadow spirits scattered like birds.

  *~*~*

  Adrian was stirred from a darkness that hadn't been sleep by the taste of his own blood. Opening his eyes revealed cream-coloured linoleum. His back prickled fiercely, the hairs on his arms and neck were standing up, and the ugly smells filling his nostrils made him retch. He got onto all fours as his stomach emptied itself.

  "Oh, hell," he croaked, crawling back from the mess he'd made. "I think I just threw up shit I ain't even ate yet." Blessedly back in control, he fell back against some cupboards. "Feels like my head's been flushed with antifreeze."

  Looking straight ahead, he saw Max on his back, surrounded by the shadowy monsters that had made him bring Theofanis here. Max was thrashing around. Adrian pushed himself up the cupboards. In the process, he spotted Theofanis lying facedown in the next room, wedged between a couch and a coffee table. Adrian staggered toward him. He could see that Theofanis' wrists were bound with chain. Teeth snapping together, Adrian straddled his cousin's legs and grabbed those chains in both hands.

  His hair whipped around his face as first one, then another isolated blast of wind shot by his head. When he pulled at the chain, something else pulled too. Adrian's eyes widened as he watched a chain link start to open.

  Creepy as hell, but it's helping. Adrian ground his teeth as he bore down on the chain too. The metal bent back, and he pulled harder. The invisible thing with him grabbed the link just above his hand and redoubled its efforts. Then the link gave way abruptly and Adrian fell over into the glass coffee table. His elbow went right through it.

  He didn't have time to feel any pain. Something happened behind him. He felt the atmosphere change, grow heavier. His invisible helper shoved past him, apparently fleeing. Adrian's body stiffened with new dread. He snatched Theofanis off the floor. His cousin was dead weight in his arms as Adrian turned to look in the kitchen.

  The shadows were retreating as Max got to his feet. He unfolded slowly like he was eight feet tall. His hair rippled gently, a wheat field on a breezy day, and his eyes were closed. Goosebumps rose on Adrian's arms. Eyes snapping open, Max looked at the shadows. His lips peeled back from his teeth into a smile that didn't fit his face. Adrian shuddered.

  This guy looks like he should be in those girly movies Kelsie watches. On him that look ain't right.

  "Ade?" Theo's voice was barely there.

  "It's gonna be okay, runt," Adrian said roughly. "I got you."

  He jumped as Max made a slashing gesture with his hand. A matching diagonal split appeared in the shadow thing to his right, and in the fridge behind it.

  What the— Adrian saw a shadow twist to look at him and threw Theo over his shoulder. Both Max and the shadows blocked th
e way to the door. "Aw, shit!" He backpedalled until he was up against the bay window. Cornered, he set Theofanis down on the broad windowsill. The shadow was moving his way, although it was clearly keeping an eye on Max as it did. Adrian watched it in turn. Sweat built up on his forehead. In contrast, his mouth was bone-dry.

  Fear, for Adrian, was something that happened to other people. He'd been larger than most others all his life. He was comfortable intimidating just about anyone. But he had someone to protect, and that made fear meaningless. Adrian set his feet, keeping himself between his cousin and the shadow. Baring his teeth, Adrian tore at his clothes, and changed.

  *~*~*

  Every dog on the place was silent. That was the first thing Anastasia noticed as she drove into the yard. The second was the sight of the horses plunging through the snow in the hayfield; they'd obviously broken out of their paddock. As she came around the corner to see Max's trailer, she understood their fear.

  The trailer roiled with dark energy. It wasn't just the shadow spirits, either. Whatever was in that trailer, it was powerful and malevolent. She looked at Louis and saw that he'd gone very pale.

  "What the hell is going on in there?" he asked, his voice strangled.

  "I don't know." She swallowed hard. Her hands had begun to tremble. "I've never seen anything like it. Louis, don't go in there."

  "No chance. What are you going to do?" he asked as she left the car.

  "I think my brother's in there. I have to go see." She hurried away before she could lose her nerve. She ran a hand along the side of Adrian's pickup truck as she drew close to the trailer. That was when she started to feel the pressure in her skull; the shadow spirits were definitely there. It was the larger spirit broadcasting its presence that she didn't recognize. Her instincts told her it was more frightening than the shadow spirits. It got very hard to keep walking. Finally, she stopped, leaning on a tree trunk.

  It was then that she spotted the pale golden wolf. Kelsie was crouched behind a nearby tree, her ears flattened against her skull and her fangs showing.

  "I know. I'm scared too." Anastasia felt a little better with an ally. "Is Max in there?"

  Kelsie nodded her head exaggeratedly.

  "Theo and your fiancé too?"

  Another nod.

  "God. What are we going to do?" Anastasia clenched the protective charm and stared at the trailer. She could see a person-shaped silhouette in the bay window, but it was very still. She startled at a strange zark sound. It was followed by a dry, explosive noise, and then a chunk of trailer wall went spinning into the trees. Another long, thin slice of Max's trailer burst from over the bay window and tangled in the branches over her head. "Oh, god! In the house!" Hunching over as branches cracked alarmingly, Anastasia fled. "Kelsie, come on!" When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Kelsie hesitate, then lope after her. She waved frantically at Louis on her way by her car too, and they all charged into the house together.

  *~*~*

  Max remembered the feeling of being thrown into the back of his own mind—Deep Murky was not gentle. Yet he felt his limbs thrumming in a new way, loaded with power, and he watched in awe as Deep Murky made air into blades. Another attack split a shadow spirit in two. It flickered over to another part of the room, but Deep Murky simply hit it again. This attack went through the shadow spirit, exploded the cans of club soda on top of the fridge, and created a plate-sized hole in the wall. The shadow spirit re-formed, but it was now jittering. As Max had guessed, Deep Murky could really hurt them.

  The shadow spirits fled into the living room, but Adrian held them off. Beyond him, Theo was lying up against the windowsill. Max wished he had control of his own eyes, so he could see Theo better. Seeing him crumpled up like that hurt. However, a new sense of alarm distracted him as he felt his hand rising again. Deep Murky sent another attack through the living room, gruesomely decapitating one of the shadow spirits. A slice appeared in the wall just above the window; a rectangle of wood paneling dropped next to Theo's foot. Pink insulation dangled from the hole.

  Too close! He had no concern to spare for his trailer with Theo in such danger.

  Deep Murky ignored him. Adrian had crouched during the attack, but his bass growling didn't cease. Strings of saliva dangled nearly to his knees, and his ears were flattened against his skull. When the reeling, headless shadow spirit got within range, he lunged. He caught it by the leg. It writhed and tugged but couldn't free itself. Max's elation was echoed by a toxic kind of delight from Deep Murky.

  He can hold them! No wonder they're scared of werewolves!

  Deep Murky let loose with a new kind of attack. Spheres of dull white light zapped toward the shadow spirit. It danced and jerked with every impact, then spiralled up into itself. Adrian staggered, then spat out a black curl. That curl zipped to the twisted up shadow spirit, which then imploded with a nasty bang.

  Holy shit!

  Feeling his own vocal cords vibrate with laughter, Max watched Deep Murky let loose a barrage of attacks. The trailer shuddered as the side wall and kitchen window were Swiss-cheesed. The two remaining shadow spirits dodged and skittered. Max watched Adrian's big paws tap dance on the carpet as he apparently tried to dodge without leaving Theo open. Hey! Deep Murky laughed harder as a shot caught Adrian right in the ribcage. With a startled yip, Adrian was sent tumbling off his feet.

  No! He's a person, a living person! Not him!

  Person? Bah. As if to prove his point, Deep Murky swooped an arm up. Adrian was flung into the air. His massive frame smashed right through the window and disappeared from sight. Glass rained down on Theo.

  No! Horrified, Max slammed his will against Deep Murky. This isn't the deal! Get the shadows, you asshole!

  His body turned before he could get a good look at Theo. Deep Murky marched him down the narrow hallway. One of the shadow spirits lurked in his bathroom. It was flickering, obviously wounded. Its silhouette took on jagged edges as it puffed itself up. When it charged, Deep Murky blasted at it like a machine gun, making it dance wildly. Finally, it had enough and curled up into nothingness as its fellow had done. Max felt Deep Murky's deep satisfaction and found no room left for his own. The angriest he'd ever felt was nothing compared to the peripheral hints he was getting of Deep Murky's rich, endless hunger. Why Deep Murky hated so deeply, Max didn't know, but it shook him badly.

  The last shadow spirit was in the bedroom. It had taken the fewest hits but didn't seem to be able to hide from Deep Murky. It looked pale grey yet was still visible. Deep Murky started throwing that lethal energy around again, and hole after hole appeared in the back wall of the bedroom. The window cracked and splintered, and the outside grew increasingly visible. Somehow, the last shadow spirit managed to dodge every shot. Then it made a break for it, leaping through one of the holes in the wall.

  Oh, no, you don't! Deep Murky snarled.

  *~*~*

  Theo had been aware of noises, incomprehensible noises, for some time. The darkness wouldn't let go of him. His body was just in range of his awareness, limp and useless. Yet now something tapped at his cheek, giving him a point of focus. He very slowly came to. His eyelashes reluctantly parted, and he found himself looking at Anastasia. Her cheeks were flushed, she was breathing quickly, and her eyes were very wide as she peered into his face.

  " Theo. Oh, thank god. Come on, we have to get you out of here."

  "Out of where?" He reluctantly responded to her urgent tugging. He was almost surprised that his legs took his weight. "Wolfsbane must be...wearing off."

  "What? No time to talk. I'm not sure this roof will stay up much longer." Anastasia looked up apprehensively as she put his arm around her shoulder. She was too short to support him, but he was able to use her as a guide. While he could see, nothing he saw made sense to him. The only light appeared to be coming through holes in the walls. Dust roiled through the air and insulation ballooned out of broken wood paneling.

  "Max's." He remembered the familiar scents sneaking throug
h the wolfsbane stench earlier. "I'm at Max's."

  "That's right. Hurry, now." Anastasia's words remained breathless. His senses were clearing, and he could now detect her sweat.

  "Don't worry," he said automatically. She gave a strangled laugh.

  "Same old Theo. Here we go, through the door. Easy on the stairs."

  Fresh cold air hit him in the face and neck. The frigid wood of the stairs against his bare soles shocked some of the fog from his head. He couldn't make sense of the light—it was dim, but he couldn't tell if that meant morning or evening. The clusters of scent that teased his nostrils didn't make much sense, either. He swore he detected Adrian and Kelsie in that tangle of information. And the shadow spirits. And some things he didn't recognize at all.

  "What's going on?" He forced himself to focus on Anastasia. Every step in the fresh air seemed to awaken his sluggish brain a little more. His next question was so important, brought so much fresh fear, that asking it was like a bracing slap to the face. "Where's Max?" He paused at the end of the trailer, frowning at her obvious reluctance to answer. Then a tree trunk snapped, sending sharp echoes across the fields. He turned in that direction, hearing strange whooshing and cracking noises.

  "Theo, come on. You'll be safe in the house."

  Theo shook his head, yanking off his T-shirt.

  "What are you doing?" She grabbed at his arm as if trying to restrain him.

  "Four-legged I'm tougher. It won't affect me as bad," he said. "Don't worry."

  "Theo, you're in no shape to do anything."

  "Max is out there, isn't he?" He looked her in the eye.

  Her expression crumpled, and she nodded, fingers slipping off of his arm. "Then I have to go." Shoving down his pants, he turned away from her.

  "Theo, be careful. Please."

  Theo nodded, and shifted.

  *~*~*

  He'd gone through a hole in the wall and somersaulted smoothly to his feet outside, a maneuver he couldn't have managed on his own. The awkward attempts of the shadow spirits to move human bodies seemed pitiful now that he'd felt what Deep Murky could do. Tramping down untouched snow, he followed the shadow spirit. At a wave of his hand, white spirals blasted through the trees, severing the trunk of one. The shadow spirit leapt into the air and whirled around into a knot. Leaves, snow, and twigs battered tree trunks as that dark knot spun faster and faster, then imploded. The release of energy made Max's body stagger back.