Shadows of New York

by Heather Fraser Brainerd

  Siegfried once again yelled, “Begin!”

  It was a replay of the first time. Aiden launched himself forward, and the shadow shrunk. But Aiden didn’t pass through the wraith, instead coming to a sudden stop just in front of him. His right arm swung upward, the golden gauntlet catching his opponent just under what Josh would call his head, sending the shadow flying backward, flattening against the wall and disappearing.

  “Slightly less pathetic!” bellowed Siegfried. “Good contact, but he would have gotten away. You okay, Frank?” he added when the shadow once more stepped from the wall.

  A quiet murmur came from down below. Josh couldn’t make out the exact words, only that it sounded like a whisper carried on the wind, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

  “Begin!”

  For the third time, Aiden dashed toward the wraith. It didn’t shrink this time. Instead, it shot toward Aiden. When they came together, the shadow-blade-hands were a frenzied whirlwind, slashing up and down, left and right, back and forth. Aiden’s gloves moved just as fast, dodging or parrying each strike. The gauntlets and shadow blades met with hollow thuds. Aiden reached and somehow managed to grab the wraith by what Josh would call his wrists. The two opponents stood struggling, one trying to escape, and the other trying to maintain his grip.

  Over Aiden’s fierce growls, Josh heard Siegfried say, “Almost good, but what are you going to do now? Let go with either hand—excuse me, paw—and he runs you through.”

  The struggle came to an end, Aiden and the shadow standing side by side, listening to Siegfried.

  “You need to—”

  Josh didn’t catch what Aiden needed to do. A hand on his shoulder made him jump. Turning around, he saw Cleo motioning for him to come back up front.

  He followed, finding Britney in her cubicle and a vanilla milkshake waiting for him on Cleo’s desk. He sat down across from her, his eyes on his cup to avoid the disapproving look she was sending his way.

  “That was fast,” he mumbled. “I thought it would take a lot longer.”

  “I had a milkshake finder app on my phone,” came Britney’s voice.

  “She heard werewolves like milkshakes,” Lindsay scoffed.

  * * * *

  The walk home was quiet. Two blocks away from the apartment, Aiden said, “That wasn’t cool, Josh. I thought we had a deal. You were supposed to stay up front.”

  It wasn’t getting caught that upset Josh the most. It was the hurt tone in Aiden’s voice. “I’m sorry, okay? I just needed to know what’s going on. I know this Mr. Midnight guy is real.”

  Aiden stopped walking and looked at Josh. “You don’t need to worry about him.”

  “But you and Mrs. F-G worry about him, so I worry about you guys.”

  The disappointment seemed to drain away from Aiden in an instant. He walked to a nearby bench and patted it for Josh to sit down next to him.

  “I can’t be too mad at you. I did a lot worse when I was your age. It’d be that pot calling the kettle black thing,” said Aiden with a small smile.

  Josh sat and stared straight ahead at the passing cars.

  “Okay, you’re right,” Aiden continued. “He’s real. And he’s got the whole Imaginary World worried. And he’s right here in New York. So maybe you deserve to know. Ask me anything. I’ll try to answer what I can. Just, you know, don’t tell Mrs. F-G we talked about him.”

  “So, um, he might try to steal your soul?” asked Josh in a quivering voice, getting right to what he wanted to know the most.

  “No. Larry was joking. Mr. Midnight doesn’t work like that. He takes away what you might call our powers. He makes us human.”

  “You wouldn’t want to be human again?”

  “Maybe sometimes,” said Aiden with a wistful look. “There’s a lot of both good and bad that comes with being what I am. I’ve only been like this for a few years, but, for good or bad, this is me now.”

  The two were quiet for a few minutes, each lost in thought.

  “So, any more questions?” Aiden finally asked.

  “I guess not,” Josh answered, his mind whirling with all that he’d seen and learned. “At least, not right now.”

  Aiden shook his head. “Josh, man, I have to admit that I’m a little surprised. You haven’t thought to ask me why I’m being trained for this in the first place.”

  “You mean there’s more to it than just learning to protect yourself?” Josh had assumed that wraith training was being offered to any Imaginary creature who wanted to learn it.

  “Oh, yeah.” Aiden’s voice carried a note of determination. “There’s more to it than that.”

  Josh sat in quiet thought for a minute. “Oh, I know!” he said. “It’s what you said before, about how sometimes you have to stand up for the people you care about, no matter what.”

  “Well, that’s a big part of it, I’ll admit. And I’m darn proud of you for remembering what I told you. It’s very, very important.” Josh felt proud of the praise. “But there’s one more thing.”

  “Okay, I give up. Why are you wraith training?”

  “Because I’m gonna catch him.”

  This wasn’t an answer Josh was expecting. Everything about Aiden so far had been about defense, about protecting him and his family.

  Aiden waited a few seconds before continuing, looking at Josh’s mouth open and close as he searched for something to say. “At least, I’m gonna try. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a wraith in action,” he said with a hint of sarcasm, “but they’re wicked fast. Just about the only thing faster would be a werewolf. So when the Imagine Nation put out a call for volunteers, I thought I’d—”

  “What’s the Imagine Nation?”

  “Huh? Oh, that’s not important right now.”

  “But what is it?”

  Aiden let out a sigh. He stared up at the sky and said, “Here I am telling the good stuff and he wants to know about the boring stuff.” Aiden’s gaze returned to Josh. “Okay, so we don’t have our own entire government or anything. I vote on the same folks as your parents; I pay taxes to the same IRS. But we do have a group in charge of coordinating the Imaginary World, the Imagine Nation. Get the little word play there?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Okay. So it meets right here in New York in some catacombs somewhere. But the representatives aren’t by country, they’re by type. So there’s a werewolf representative, a vampire representative, and so on.”

  “And they’re the ones that asked for volunteers.”

  “Right,” said Aiden. “They needed volunteers since we don’t really have our own police, just our own little precinct that sort of operates within the NYPD. So I’ll be going out at night sometimes and patrolling.”

  Josh opened his mouth to speak, but Aiden answered before he could even ask his question. “No, you can’t come with me.”

  “That’s not what I was going to say.”

  “Okay,” said Aiden, a note of skepticism clear in his voice.

  “I was just going to ask if we could get some ice cream while we’re out.”

  “Oh, sure.”

  Together, they stood and walked for home, stopping for their treat along the way.

  Chapter Six

  Fascinatoring

  “Oh, goody!” Rosemary exclaimed as Aiden and Josh walked through the door. “You’re just in time!”

  “Just in time for what?” Aiden asked, wondering why she was wearing a pint-sized prom dress. The purple gown had a sequined bodice, poufy sleeves, and a very full skirt. To top it off, Rosemary wore some kind of feathery, flowery thing in her hair.

  “The tea party, duh!”

  “Rosemary, that’s not polite,” her mother said as she breezed into the foyer and handed Jackson off to Aiden.

  “Sor-ry,” Rosemary said in a singsong voice.

  “Time for smoochies,” Jennifer prompted the kids. Once the goodbye routine was complete, Jennifer grabbed her purse and flew out the door.

&n
bsp; “Wow, she was in a hurry today,” Josh said.

  “Seedy called,” Rosemary explained. “She was having some kind of ‘wardrobe crisis.’ I can totally relate.”

  “Huh,” Aiden said as he mulled over what a wardrobe crisis was.

  “Everything is all set up on the terrace,” Rosemary informed them. “Mrs. Effigy said we can have a tea party out there instead of regular lunch inside. Isn’t that great?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Aiden said. “Awesome.”

  “Let’s go!” Rosemary grabbed Aiden’s hand, pulling him toward the great room.

  “Well, I have to get Jack here his lunch,” Aiden reminded her.

  “He’s invited to the tea party too! And Josh.”

  “Uh, no thanks,” Josh said. “I’ll just eat in the kitchen.”

  “Josh, you have to come!” Rosemary pouted. “It’s all set up for the four of us. Jackson’s high chair is out there and everything!”

  “Yeah, Josh,” Aiden spoke up. The event would be more bearable with another guy there, even a junior one. “You should definitely join us.”

  “Uh, I don’t think so,” Josh said. “A tea party? If any of my friends found out…” He trailed off, looking a little freaked out.

  Aiden leaned down to whisper in Josh’s ear. “After what you pulled back at the agency, I think you owe me.”

  Josh sighed. “Fine.” He trailed after Aiden, who carried Jackson in one arm. Rosemary still held his other hand, leading Aiden toward the terrace.

  When they got out there, Aiden was impressed at the sight. A pink tablecloth covered one round patio table. A small arrangement of tiny pink and white roses served as a centerpiece. Each place had been set with china plates and teacups patterned with pink flowers, as well as linen napkins and real silver silverware (with the exception of Jackson’s high chair tray, which was set with a melamine Cars plate and sippy cup).

  Aiden settled Jackson in his high chair and took his place at the table. Josh and Rosemary were already in their chairs, bickering about the amount of pink on the table.

  “Well, Joshua my dear, you weren’t here to help us with the color scheme,” Mrs. F-G said as she came through the door carrying a silver tray. She set the tray down on the table, announcing, “First course, savory finger sandwiches.” Aiden saw that the big pile of tiny sandwiches consisted of everything from cucumber-and-watercress to peanut butter and jelly. He gave Jackson a pb-and-j and took a fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil one for himself. It was pure deliciousness.

  “Aiden,” Rosemary said in her fake British accent, “would you be a dear and pour the tea?”

  “Sure,” Aiden agreed, wondering what type of tea Mrs. F-G had brewed up for this occasion. It turned out to be bright red fruit punch. He filled each of their teacups.

  “Don’t forget to put your pinkies up!” Rosemary reminded them, demonstrating the proper way to hold a teacup.

  “Oh God,” Josh moaned. “I am so not doing that.”

  “Brbrbrbrbr!” Jackson agreed, spraying pb-and-j everywhere.

  “Gross!” Rosemary squealed, to which Jackson responded with a giggle.

  Several minutes later, Mrs. F-G reappeared, another tray in hand. “Second course, mini scones and clotted cream.”

  “That sounds disgusting! I'm not eating anything that clots,” Josh objected.

  “You may just want to try this,” Mrs. F-G urged him.

  Josh relented, smearing a dab of cream on a chocolate chip mini scone before taking a hesitant bite. As he chewed, a smile spread across his face. “This is awesome!”

  “Indeed,” Mrs. F-G said as she cleared the sandwich tray and headed back inside.

  “So,” Rosemary said to Aiden, “what was your meeting about?”

  “Wraith training,” Josh said before Aiden could answer.

  “Uh—” Aiden started, trying to think of a way to cover for the slip-up while shooting Josh a warning glance.

  “Weight training?” Rosemary asked. “That’s cool. Do you meet with, like, a personal trainer?”

  “Something like that,” Aiden answered.

  “Hey, Aiden,” Josh said. “Didn’t you say you were gonna invite Larry over for dinner?”

  “Larry Fancypants?” Rosemary asked. “I love Larry Fancypants!”

  “Yeah, we’ll ask him over sometime soon,” Aiden said.

  “How about tonight?” Josh asked.

  “Yay, tonight!” Rosemary cheered.

  “I’ll call him later,” Aiden promised, though he knew the chances were slim that Larry would be available last minute.

  Before long, Mrs. F-G was back. “Third course, dessert!” She placed a tray of fancy miniature cupcakes in front of them, complete with pink sugar flowers and something sparkly.

  “Oo, edible glitter!” Rosemary exclaimed. “My favorite!”

  * * * *

  As it turned out, Larry wasn’t available for dinner that night. He was available the next night, which was how Josh found himself sitting around the dining room table with his siblings, a werewolf, and a vampire. It was quite a way to spend a Friday evening.

  Larry was at one end of the table, enjoying his extremely rare filet mignon, and Aiden sat at the other end. Josh guessed this was so he could get as far away from the bloody steak as possible. Between them were Josh and Jackson on one side, and Rosemary and an empty chair on the other. A moment later, Mrs. F-G sat down in the empty chair.

  “I’m so glad you agreed to dine with us, Ann,” Larry said. “Everything is simply divine!”

  “Thank you, Larry,” Mrs. F-G answered, smiling, as she cut a piece of her own filet.

  “And Rosemary,”—Larry shifted his attention down a chair—“you are looking absolutely stunning tonight. Love the fascinator!”

  Rosemary beamed, touching the fluffy, flowery, feathery thing in her hair that she’d worn to the tea party. When she heard Larry was coming to dinner, she’d added this last touch to her outfit. “Thank you, Mr. Fancypants.”

  “Call me Larry.”

  “Okay, Larry!” Rosemary beamed even brighter.

  “So, Josh,” Larry drawled after savoring another bite of steak, “how goes it with the ladies?”

  “Uh, I don’t know,” Josh muttered, embarrassed by the question.

  “Larry, he’s a little young for that,” Aiden reproached his friend.

  “What? Oh, yeah, I guess you’re right. So, what are you into, Josh? Sports? Music?”

  “Mostly video games.”

  Larry finished chewing and swallowed with a look of pure ecstasy before saying, “Really? I find video games quite fascinating. What kind do you like?”

  “Mostly fighting off zombie hordes.”

  “Oh, that reminds me!” Larry smacked his forehead. “Aiden, I’ve been trying to call Cleo all day, but she hasn’t been answering. Any idea why? Is she out of town or something?”

  “I just saw her yesterday. She didn’t mention anything about going away.”

  “She seemed like she wanted you to call,” Josh spoke up.

  “You saw Cleo too?” Larry asked, looking surprised.

  “Yeah, I sorta…tagged along to that staffing place.”

  The dinner conversation paused as Mrs. F-G let out something that was a cross between a sigh and a cough, giving Aiden a disapproving look. He stared down at his broccoli.

  “Who’s Cleo?” Rosemary asked.

  “She’s—” Aiden began, but his ringing cell phone interrupted him. Glancing down at it, he muttered something about Siegfried and hurried into the great room.

  “So who’s Cleo?” Rosemary asked again.

  “She’s a lady who works at Staffing Solutions, the place that sent Aiden to us,” said Josh.

  “I have a friend named Cleo,” said Rosemary. “She likes horses. Her real name is Cleona, but we all call her Cleo.”

  Aiden came back into the dining room, but only long enough to say, “Sorry, but I have to go out. It’s an emergency. Could you cover me for a li
ttle while, Ann?”

  “Of course, dear,” Mrs. F-G answered, concern written all over her face.

  “Thanks,” Aiden said. “Larry, come on. Josh, you stay.”

  Larry looked down at his half-finished steak. “Can I finish this first?”

  “No. We have to go. Now.”

  “Oh, come on, surely we can—”

  “Ms. Chickaboom just had a visit from…” he trailed off and looked at everyone in the room, ending with Josh. “She met up with our shadowy friend. It doesn’t sound good.”

  Mrs. F-G sprang into action first, taking Larry’s plate and saying, “I’ll wrap it to go,” as she disappeared into the kitchen.

  Larry stood and walked to Rosemary. He shook her hand and said, “I’m sorry we have to cut our dinner short. Maybe we can do it again soon. This weekend, perhaps.”

  “That would be smashing.”

  He gave a little bow to the room and followed Aiden out. From the hallway, Josh heard Larry say, “Hey, any chance Carlie Diane will be around this weekend?”

  * * * *

  Larry’s limousine pulled up in front of Staffing Solutions. Aiden jumped out before the wheels came to a complete stop. Larry had used the trip to finish his dinner, the odor of meat causing Aiden to ride the entire way with his head next to an open window.

  Before he could reach the front entrance, two black-cloaked men appeared from out of nowhere, blocking the shattered glass door. They each held up a hand, their palms glowing red and pointing at Aiden.

  “Aiden Lynch,” he introduced himself. “Siegfried called me. No need for fireballs, guys.”

  Larry sauntered up beside Aiden, still licking his fingers. “Wow. Wizard security. And jumpy ones at that. Do we really look like wraiths?”

  Siegfried’s voice came bellowing from inside. “Lynch, get in here.”

  The two wizards stepped aside and vanished again. “Man,” said Larry in an envious tone, “I gotta learn to do that someday.”

  Inside was chaos. Tables were upside down, chairs on their sides, and the walls (where there had been framed prints) were now bare, the floor in front of them covered with shattered glass. Only one of the overhead lights was working. It flickered off and on, giving Aiden the fleeting thought that this would make a good post-apocalyptic-themed dance club.