Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles

by Paul A. Cagle

  After a few more minutes, students began wondering in either singly or in pairs and found places to sit. Some sat with their heads together talking quietly and some were too caught up in their music or texts to pay anyone else any attention. The room was starting to fill up quickly and very few seats were left. When he turned to look to his right, he saw a young dark haired man had taken the only empty seat that had been close to his.

  After a few more minutes the professor walked in with his brief case in one hand and a cup of coffee occupying the other. He was probably in his forties and had on baggy trousers held up by suspenders and was wearing a brown and white striped button up. He introduced himself as Professor John H. Laurence and wrote the words HISTORY 101 on the dry erase board and started talking.

  After explaining the basics of the class, how the grading system worked and what he expected, he brought out the class roster and called roll. When he got to Alec's name everyone in the class turned to look at him like he was some sort of exotic zoo animal and started whispering to each other excitedly. The only one not staring openly was the young man to his right. Alec blushed, dropped his head and said 'Here,' but the professor focused on Alec and forgot about the roll call in his hands.

  "Is there a problem I should be aware of Mr. Carson?"

  "No, sir," Alec answered not meeting his eyes.

  "Then why do my students seem to be focused on you instead of me?" He didn't ask it in a mean way but asked it as if Alec could answer in some significant way that would make him go 'Ahhhhh, now I get it'.

  Alec barely shrugged his shoulders, embarrassed by all the attention. This was exactly what Alec had wanted to avoid. The professor stood there a moment longer then addressed the class. "Can anyone tell me why Mr. Carson attracts such attention?"

  A young blonde girl in the back raised her hand immediately and waved it around. The professor rolled his eyes and said "Yes?" very politely.

  The girl giggled and then said, "He's been on television recently. He's the dude that survived the crazy Devil-worshiping lady. He's kinda cute," she said in a loud whisper to her friend. The young man sitting behind her scowled in Alec's direction.

  Alec blushed down to the soles of his feet. He'd never been called cute and certainly not by someone in front of a room full of people. His face was on fire and he felt like he would burst into flames at any second. It was horrible.

  "Ah," the professor said and looked at Alec more closely. "So it is." With the roll still in hand he walked around his desk to stand in front of the class.

  "I believe that Mr. Carson does not enjoy the notoriety in which his present status has placed him and that he is embarrassed by being the focus. So why don't we instead turn our attention to history and allow Mr. Carson some time to just be a normal student like the rest of you. Yes?" And with that the professor went back to calling the roll and class started.

  Midway through the long class, the professor allowed them a break to stand up, stretch or visit the bathroom. Alec stood up and stretched his back muscles out. It had been awhile since he had sat in one place for so long and he wasn't used to it. He looked up once to see the girl that had called him cute was looking at him and smiling. She waved at him causing him to blush all over again. The guy that had was sitting behind her, and had glared at Alec earlier, saw her wave and took her hand in his. Angrily, he turned her to face him and began talking very low but intensely to her. She nodded her head but when she turned back around, she rolled her eyes.

  The guy was probably about 6'3" and weighed around 260 pounds. And he was all muscle. The man barely had a neck. His shoulders went directly to his shaved head with barely an indication of anything in between. That's just what Alec needed, to piss off the football jock the first day of class because his girlfriend, or whatever she was, was flirting with him. That by itself was unheard of. No one had ever flirted with him. He looked up to see No-neck glaring at him menacingly. He quickly dropped his eyes and turned away, and ran directly into the path of the young guy that had been sitting to his right.

  The guy caught Alec's shoulders with his hands before he could barrel into him. Alec looked shocked and then quickly said, "Sorry I didn't see you there," Alec stumbled over the words.

  The young man just smiled at him. "It's okay. I saw the football jock over there glaring at you. Figured you were a bit distracted."

  Alec laughed nervously. "Yeah, a little."

  The man smiled knowingly and held out his hand. "I'm Marc, with a 'C'."

  Alec reached out and shook his hand and without thinking about it said "I'm Alec, also with a 'C'.” This set the man to laughing. Alec blushed and dropped his head but after a moment, Alec realized the man wasn't laughing at him, but with him and relaxed just a small amount and laughed as well. He normally didn't joke with strangers.

  Marc crossed his arms over his chest and looked around Alec to the football jock and their laughing group of friends. "There's one of his kind in every crowd."

  Alec didn't know if he was even conscious he was doing it, but Marc had tensed the muscles in his arms and his well-defined biceps were stretching the fabric of his sleeves. Alec was convinced if he flexed any more, the sleeves of Marc's shirt would lose the battle and would rip. He had this image of Marc's shirt ripping like something off the Incredible Hulk, and had to suppress the laughter that almost burst out. Now that he was looking at Marc, he noticed that the man was very handsome. Not in a male-model skinny kind of way, but in a masculine kind of way.

  Marc had jet-black hair and an almost bronze complexion. He was handsome in that rugged, manly kind of way that Alec wished he had. He also had stubble on his face like he hadn't shaved today. Marc's eyes were a dark, cinnamon brown color with flecks of something almost golden in them, and that's when he became aware that Marc had noticed him staring.

  Alec dropped his eyes quickly and blushed. He stammered an apology and felt stupid for staring.

  Marc just laughed and said, "I get stared at a lot. People always think I look like someone they know or someone on television. You had the same look like you were trying to place where you'd seen me." He chuckled.

  "Yeah…sorry about that. I was trying to figure that out," he lied, thankful for a way out of the awkward situation.

  "Don't sweat it. It's all good." He laughed again, like he had just made a private joke. He shook his head and looked back at Alec.

  Alec and Marc chitchatted back and forth a little more, with Marc doing most of the talking and Alec mumbling niceties here and there. Finally the professor came back in, smelling like smoke, and asked everyone to please be seated. The rest of the class, Alec focused on all the reading material he would need, and took as many detailed notes as he could. Most of the students in the class were using laptops to take notes. Alec was poor and using the manual style pen and paper. He looked over at Marc and saw that he wasn't taking notes at all. He was just sitting there with his arms crossed over his chest, staring intently at the professor as if he were absorbing every word that came out of his mouth. Every now and then the professor would say something that would either make Marc shake his head slightly or frown just the smallest amount and Alec couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking.

  Class was over and dismissed and Alec gathered up his things and shoved them in his backpack. Marc leaned over to him, "You want to go get a beer or something?"

  Alec was taken aback by the question. He was never invited to go out with anyone. To do anything. Ever. Even the people at work never invited him anywhere. He was silent a little too long.

  "Hey it's cool if you don't want to, just thought I'd ask."

  Alec shook his head. "No, it's not that. I have to work tomorrow. I kind of need to get home and get in bed."

  "That's cool, Alec. Maybe another time?"

  "Yeah, that would be great," Alec said, feeling completely out of his element. Someone wanted to hang out with him. It was just…unheard of.

  “We can tra
de numbers and you can text me some evening when you're free."

  Alec looked embarrassed. "I don't have a cell phone. I can't afford one." In the 21st century, in the age of electronics and gadgets, he--Alec Carson--had to be the only college student alive who didn't have a cell phone. Money was just too tight right now. Moving to Jordan, renting an apartment and starting college had wiped out his savings. He had had to pay for his classes on a deferment plan just to be able to afford them. He was going to have to save every penny he earned just to be able to scrape by.

  "No problem, man. I honestly wish I didn't have one. They are a pain sometimes. My boss wants to be able to get a hold of me anytime, anywhere. Consider yourself lucky. I want to ask the professor something. See you Wednesday in class?"

  Alec said yes and they said their goodbyes. Marc headed up to the front of the classroom to talk to the professor and Alec headed toward his lonely trek for the bus stop.

  Once Alec got outside, the humidity hit him hard and he started sweating. Well, not all of the sweating was from the humidity. He also admitted to himself that he didn't like walking through the campus alone, and in the dark. It made him nervous.

  Just as he admitted this to himself, a large heavy hand landed on his back causing him to yelp and spin in fright. His eyes were large like an animal caught in headlights and his breathing was ragged. His heart was pounding in his chest. He heard laughter and then realized that it was No-neck that had grabbed him.

  "Oh I'm sorry, did I scare you?" No-neck said in a mocking way. Alec noticed that he wasn't alone and could make out the shapes of two other guys standing behind the huge man.

  "What do you want?" Alec finally forced out.

  "What I want is for you to stop flirting with my girlfriend, freak," he said poking Alec in the chest with his finger.

  "I wasn't flirting with her. I was just surprised she knew who I was."

  "Yeah well, I saw it differently. And if I see it differently again, me and my boys are going to make sure it never happens again. Got me?" he asked shoving Alec hard.

  Alec nodded mutely, the terror he had felt when No-neck had surprised him had eased off some but his heart was still pounding in his chest like something trying to escape. Obviously his nod wasn't enough for the large man because he stepped forward and grabbed Alec's shoulder and started squeezing it with his meaty hands. "I said do you understand, freak? Speak up." Alec couldn't talk. He was so scared he could barely nod. This seemed to piss the man off even more and he squeezed harder causing Alec's shoulder to protest in pain.

  He opened his mouth to say something more when suddenly Marc was standing beside Alec. His arm was a blur in the dark as he reached over, broke No-neck’s grip on Alec's shoulder, and twisted his arm forcing him to his knees.

  "What seems to be the problem here gentlemen?" Marc asked politely.

  "This is none of your business, asshole," No-neck grunted from between clenched teeth.

  "Really? None of my business, when I see three rather large and rather stupid looking men, ganging up on a friend of mine?" When No-neck didn't answer he said "Speak up," and twisted his arm painfully.

  Without warning, and before Alec could even say anything, one of the other large guys rushed at Marc trying to tackle him to the ground. Marc effortlessly stepped out of the man's way and put out his foot, tripping him. The third man, seeing Marc preoccupied with his buddy took the opportunity to rush him from behind. Without even looking, Marc ducked the swing that the man had aimed at his head and then quickly stood up and punched the guy square in the face. Alec swore he saw the man's eyes cross before he grabbed his nose and slumped slowly to the ground.

  Marc still had his grip on No-neck and used it to pull him to his feet and closer to him. "If I see you so much as look at Alec or me the wrong way, ever again, I will make you wish you had never met either of us. You understand?" The voice that Marc used sent shivers down Alec's spine. If it had been directed at him, he was convinced he would have voided his bladder on the spot.

  No-neck looked like he might do the same thing. Wordlessly he nodded that he understood and Marc shoved him backwards onto the ground. "That goes for your friends too." With that, all three of the huge men jumped up and ran off into the night.

  Marc brushed his hands on his pants like they might be dirty and then turned to Alec.

  "You okay?"

  Alec just nodded. "Yeah," he finally said.

  "Good. You need a ride home? I think the final bus has already ran."

  Alec looked at his watch and realized he had just missed the last one. "I don't want to be any trouble. I'll walk. It's not far." This day had not turned out the way he’d always dreamed it would.

  Marc just smiled a cocky half smile and said, "No problem at all. If you don't live too far away, then it won't take long." Without waiting for an answer he started off into the dark, forcing Alec to run to catch up with him.

  "Thanks for saving my ass back there. I…” He didn't know what to say. How could he tell this guy who had faced down three men in the dark for a stranger he didn't even know that he was afraid that Clarissa Wight had somehow found a way to come back from the dead and finish what she had started? For a moment there, he had been terrified in a way that he had only felt while he’d been tortured. He had been paralyzed by fear.

  "It's okay. After what you went through, anyone would have been freaked out. That dumb ass is just lucky you didn't accidentally snap his neck or hurt him really bad, although he would have deserved it."

  Alec didn't think he could snap someone's neck accidentally or otherwise but didn't say so.

  "Probably a good thing you didn't snap his neck though. Getting rid of a body can be difficult. But, I know a guy," he said in his best Italian gangster accent. For some reason, that caused Alec to burst into laughter. After all the stress and terror he had just been through, it felt good to laugh. Marc just smiled at him and said, "Come on, I'll take you home, Alec, also with a 'C'."

  CHAPTER THREE

  Returning to Normal...

  With school and work, the weeks flew by for Alec. He sometimes worked five or six days a week and now he was going to night classes Monday through Thursday. It was finally Friday and Alec didn't have a class. More importantly, he didn't have to work the next day so he could sleep in. He'd also made plans to hang out with Marc after work. He wasn't sure what buddies did when they just hung out, but he was excited, and nervous. This was a whole new experience for him and he felt completely stupid. With Jake, they’d always done school stuff together or just sat around talking about what all they wanted to do when they grew up.

  Alec's workday started the same as usual. Clock in, review the shipping manifests. Talk to the supervisors to see who's pulling, who's packing and who's running forgotten items. Today, Alec got the job of runner. He would go for anything anyone needed. For instance, if someone forgot one of the new gadget e-readers, he would take off, grab one and complete the order. He was doing just that at the moment. A rush order had come in over the printer. Somehow this order had gotten stuck in queue and hadn't shipped in time and the customer was upset. So here they were, he and two of his coworkers, pulling products, wrapping them and boxing them, when they realized the e-reader was missing.

  Alec pulled up the aisle and stock number in the computer and rushed off to grab the final piece of the order. Thankfully, the computer said they had one more in stock. He quickly made his way to the correct section, slid the ladder over to the compartment where the e-reader was held and climbed up. Once he got there he saw…nothing. It looked empty. That shouldn't be right. The computer had said one more. He took his flashlight out of his pocket and flipped it on. He carefully stepped off the ladder and into the compartment. Slowly, he ducked down and made his way to the back. It wasn't that far, but due to lack of lighting it was dark. And there in the back corner was his prize. Victory! He thought and grabbed the small box up.

  From the other side of the comp
artment wall Alec could hear men talking and laughing as they unloaded goods to be taken to their proper compartments. He walked to the edge of the compartment where the ladder was and looked at the small box in his hand to make sure there was no damage to it. Without warning, something hit the bottom compartment on the other side. Before Alec realized what was happening, the edge where he was standing bent and collapsed and there was the sound of something big smashing through a wall.

  And then everything slowed down. He suddenly realized that he was falling, his body hurtling towards the ground forty feet below. Without thinking, he flipped in mid-air and when he came down… he landed in a crouch, knees bent to absorb the impact, and he was still holding the e-reader, undamaged in his hand.

  "What the hell?” he said looking back at the now ruined compartment. How in the hell had he fallen, flipped in the air and landed on his feet without any injury? It was like something out of an action movie.

  Suddenly from around the corner a man in a hard hat appeared and rushed Alec asking if he was okay, had he been hit? Where had he been when the compartment came down? Alec said he was fine and then he lied and said he'd just gotten off the ladder and was at the bottom when the compartment collapsed. According to the man, the parking deck was on the other side of where they were standing and one of the drivers put his truck in reverse instead of drive and backed up into the compartments on the other side, smashing through one of the support beams and causing the whole thing to collapse. He clapped Alec on the shoulder and told him how lucky he'd been not to be on the ladder or in the compartment when it had gone down.