Chapter 3 Part 3

Chapter 4

 

The candles were flickering downward and Ezra was staring concerned as the wicks died out one by one.

            “These are the last candles,” Ezra said and Soho looked up from the news paper he was reading.

            “That’s a problem, right?” Soho asked and Ezra laughed. It was nice to have Soho back, but it was going to take time for him to remember that they didn’t have electricity in this house. They did, but it was too risky to use the light fixtures that gave off lights like a light house on the bay. Weasel stood up, stretched and said, “Yes, Soho, this is a problem. This is desperate,” and Ezra looked up with a knowing smile.

            “And desperate times call for such measures.”

Weasel looked worried and said, “We still have candles back in Shadow’s room,” and a distant voice from downstairs called, “No!!” and pounding up the stairs cued Spieren’s frantic arrival.

He was pumped; the man’s muscles were enlarged and looked like his flimsy skin was trying to restrain the muscle from busting out of his body.

            “Those are Shadow’s candles! We can’t use those!”

            “How else are we going to get light then, eh? We’re completely broke,” Ezra said and he hoped out of the heavy chair.

Soho said, “Confession time,” and Ezra stopped in his tracks to stare at the man.

            “Confession time?” Weasel echoed and Spieren looked up, looking dangerous.    

Soho looked at the small group, the pitiful ghost of the infamous Group 87, the dangerous Group 87. “Last night, I got a letter from Shadow,” Soho held up a hand as Weasel shouted, “How is that possible? He’s dead!” Soho continued, “He is not dead, he was just put further under the island, he’s been there for forty years. I think Hibernius went down to visit him the day before, and let Shadow mail one person, that person was me. Hibernius said that someone was going to come help Shadow, I think. So that’s why I came back, because Shadow’s coming home.”

Three pairs of eyes stared back at Soho and Spieren said, “That’s a sick joke Soho, why would you say something like that?”

            “I thought it was just a prank too, but look at this,” and Soho reached into a greasy pant pocket and pulled out the neatly folded letter and flourished it open.

Ezra took the letter and squinted at it long and hard, his eyes widening. “This is Shadow’s handwriting,” Ezra said and handed it to Weasel. “He’s the only one I know who writes like that, it’s almost like his signature.”

Weasel scrutinized the letter with the precision of the scientist he once was and said, “This is Shadow’s handwriting, it even looks like it was written on concrete, a cell floor.”

Spieren hadn’t even reached the midway point of the letter when a voice from downstairs called, “Soho! Frescia!” and the four men turned to stare at the door.

            “It must have been a ghost…” Spieren was saying, but Weasel wasn’t convinced.

            “I smell oil and dirt,” Weasel said and charged out of the living room, slamming into the wall as he did. “Shadow?” he called and the voice answered, “Weasel? Is that you?”

            “No way on God’s Earth…” Spieren said slowly and Ezra stood making a sign of the cross as Weasel rushed after Soho shouting, “Shadow! Shadow!”

A shaggy tall figure appeared up the stairs and stood there, staring at the three men who approached, and they all stared at each other. 

            “Shadow?” Ezra croaked and Shadow stared at Ezra’s forehead and gave a crooked smile. “Old man Ezra…” Shadow said and Ezra started to wobble towards the man. Weasel stopped him and said, “Whoa, whoa hold it Ezra. What if this is a Copy Cat, what if it’s a sham?” Weasel turned and stared at Shadow with his beady red eyes. Shadow looked back at Weasel’s light fur, avoiding the creature’s eyes.

            “When was your first car drive?” he asked and Shadow’s face twisted in concentration.

            “Soho had gotten arrested for killing the former Mayor of Maine, he got hurt in the process so they admitted him into the hospital and we had to get him out. Frescia was sitting in the passenger seat, you were in the back seat…”

            “It has to be Shadow if he remembers that much!” Soho said and Weasel walked up to Shadow, stood up on his hind legs and said, “It really is Shadow… how’d you get out? How have you managed to survive?”

Shadow slowly pushed Soho away and said, “I need water, food… something.” And Spieren hurried down the stairs and returned with bottles of wine from the old cellar that was practically forgotten. Shadow slowly opened the first 1952 wine and drank slowly, his eyes stinging as his dried throat moistened with each drop of precious liquid crystal.

            “First I need you to tell me something else. Where is Frescia? What happened to everyone else? I know that it’s been 40 years, but where is everyone?”

Ezra and Spieren swallowed their breath and Weasel said, “After you left, there was a really bad outbreak, 1419 spiraled and lost control of the Society and people started to die, a million members died, Frescia, Dawn, Jade, almost everyone was killed or died while you were gone. We managed to avoid it because no one other than members of Group 87 knew where our base was, and they all died refusing to tell people where it was.” Weasel sat back and waited for Shadow to do something drastic, throw something against a wall. He just found out he lost his best friends, his lover, everyone.

Instead Shadow didn’t do anything like that, he continued to drink the wine and said, “This little girl, she said she was Cicero’s daughter, wandered down when she got separated from her group when she was on a fieldtrip. She let me out,” Shadow said and Soho raised an eyebrow.

            “Cicero had a kid? He never struck me as the family man. Are you sure it wasn’t Mason?”

            “Mason’s been single for a long time, I think he’s dating some Angel named Nicole, but I don’t think he has any kids.” Ezra confirmed and Shadow mused on, “She said that her dad has photo albums, and I’m in it, from different years, but the thing that bothered me most is she said her dad’s name was Norman.”

            Weasel had been sitting on his favorite chair during the conversation, and his ears perked up. “I remember Cicero saying something to me a while about, ‘bout 10 years ago.” And the company turned to the ferret.

            “Do tell wise one,” Soho said and Weasel ignored him. “Cicero said that Hibernius told him that he had to stop Shadow from getting arrested, because he was co-leader of the SS, ya know, 1419’s assistant. But Cicero obviously failed and Shadow got put away, so the blood was on Cicero’s hands, per say. And 1419 needs a co-leader, or else he just starts to lose it, all reason goes,” Weasel made an outward gesture with his paw, “out the window, he goes mad. And Cicero is the strongest of the remaining Parker’s as far as power as concerned, so he probably went to Cicero offering him the position.” Something clicked in Shadow’s mind and he interrupted Weasel.

            “Cicero probably refused because he was already the Lunar Mage, and din’t want the SS apart of h is resume, so he declined the offer. 1419 always said that they have a 100 percent success rate in recruitment because…”

            “He’ll kill you if you refuse!” Ezra finished and Spieren was left to groan.

            “But 1419 doesn’t want to have the Lunar Mage’s blood on his hands, so he kept persisting, and eventually hostile because of all the strain that would be on him, and Cicero just kept running away from him, changing his identities, relocating himself…” Weasel continued on, jumping from his chair and pacing ‘round and ‘round.

            “And that’s why Cicero changed his name!” Shadow shouted, standing up and finishing off the wine.

            “So he could try and shake off the SS!” Ezra added.

            “So he left his family behind so they would be safe!” Spieren concluded and they all sat back down, staring at one another more or less with shock.

            “You’re brother is in trouble,” Spieren said and Shadow replied, “We have to find him before the SS does and tries to kill him.” Shadow began to stand up, but Soho put out a hand.

            “I think there’s something else at stake though, aside from Cicero,” Soho said and Shadow turned to him, “What do you mean?”

            “We all agree that Cicero probably had a child, right?”

            The men nodded their heads in agreement.

            “Well, Cicero is her father right? So who knows what crazy powerful gift Cicero will have passed onto her, right? If 1419 knows this, and he’s going to want to recruit someone powerful, why not Cicero’s daughter? After all for all we know she could be another Hibernius Whelay! She’s more naive, more impressionable.”

            “Wait just a minute, Soho,” Shadow said and the man waited patiently.

            “What if Jessica doesn’t have a power at all?”

            “Good point, remember 1419 has Hibernius on his side though, and Hibernius can see the future, if he can see your niece in the future with a power, it will confirm his suspicions, and he’ll go after her. So all 1419 has to do is play nice guy and make her a promise, and she’ll join the SS not knowing what she’s getting herself into.”

The room was quiet and Spieren piped up, “So you’re saying we have to kill her?”

            “No you ditz!” Soho yelled and threw a pillow at Spieren. “That’s worse! God just go back to your weights, your no good at this thinking. We need to bring her here, or at least somewhere safe, away from 1419. If she does have a Gift, maybe a common one, we can get her to apprentice with someone, so she can stay at least in safe hands while she learns her power. Then afterwards she can choose whatever she wants, but hopefully by then, she’ll know what 1419’s all about.” Soho gave a heavy sigh and poured some wine and drinking it before he could even get a sense of what it was like.

The room was quiet and this time it was Ezra who brought up the next issue, “What if she doesn’t get her power at this age? What if she’s just a human surrounded by Gifted?”

            “Then we’ll just have to keep her here with us and bring her up like a human kid.”

            “You’re missing one of the biggest issues Soho, you both are,” Weasel said.

            “What is that?” Soho asked, and Weasel replied, “1419, if or if not she’s a Gifted, if 1419 finds her as a human, we’re all in the hot seat, we’d be harboring a human. We could get in big trouble for that.”

The room went quiet, even more so quiet than the house had been during it’s 40 years of dormant nature.

            “That…” Shadow said and began to stand up. “That is a problem, but we have to take our chances…” and Shadow motioned to Soho saying, “Come with me, we have to go track her down.”

Soho looked up at Shadow with the readable expression, “are you sure you should be out and about in the state your in?” but followed him anyway.

           

Jessica woke up from her nightmare to find the house quiet. It was already almost ten, and the lights were on still.

            “Mom?” Jessica called and got no answer, just low whispers from another room. The child swung her feet out of bed and walked over towards the door. The whispers were coming from three people, not one. Slowly, slowly, Jessica opened the door and heard the whispering, they were three people, one of them was her mother, who sounded concerned, maybe even more than concerned.

            “We think that you and your daughter may be in trouble, because we all know that Cicero was amazingly powerful, and we have reason to believe it may have passed on to your daughter.” A man’s voice said, soothing, but it didn’t help Denise with her growing nerves, because her voice was pitchy and high as she spoke.

            “But how will I explain what happened to Jessica to her doctor and all the other people she sees if she suddenly disappears?” Denise demanded, and a third voice came in, a cracked voice that faded in and out.

            “You can tell them that she’s going to live out of state, something. Your daughter could be a potential target of 1419, and if he comes to get her while we don’t have her in our possession, he could recruit her.” The next voice that spoke was Shadow, and Jessica wanted to scream. He was coming back for her.

Shadow’s words made Jessica lean against the wall, her heart pounding so loud that one of them must have heard it, because a tall man, not as tall as Shadow, but tall none-the-less, appeared in the hall and looked down at Jessica with bright Abyssinian that reflected Jessica’s tired, scared face.

            “Denise, she’s awake,” the man said and Denise appeared in the doorway next, pushing the second man out of the way.

            “Mom, what’s going on?” Jessica asked and Shadow, alive and in the flesh, came to stand by her side, his fingers trembling and a weak smile coming over his papery thin lips as he recognized her.

            “We realized something about your, Jessica, we think you may have a gift, a power, and we need to make sure you stay safe with that power, bad people will want to use it…”

            “Mommy I don’t understand,” Jessica snapped and Denise replied, “I don’t understand either, sweetie, but I trust Soho, he’s one of my best friends.” Denise’s attempt of comfort faltered, and the man �" Soho �" continued, “another thing is about Shadow, he’s believed to be dead, and if someone found out, they could use the Pressure Bane against him. After all it is in bloom this time of year, and we can’t afford to lose Shadow. Does that makes sense? No it doesn’t, Pressure Bane, is a flower that blooms only once every five decades for a few weeks, maybe a month or two. It is the only thing that can kill Shadow. Make sense now?”

Now it made sense.

            “So…”

            “Sssshhh,” Shadow interrupted and the two men looked at the door expectantly. There was nothing, just the sound of oncoming rain, and a zip of lightening followed close by a procession of thunder.

            “What is it, Shadow?” Soho asked and Denise grabbed Jessica saying, “Come with me sweetie…” and they rushed into her mother’s room and grabbed a suitcase.

            “Does this mean I’m going to leave you, Mom?” Jessica asked and Denise bit her lip and said, “Yes, but you have to be brave for me. This is what Daddy was always afraid of, he almost knew that these people would come for you.”

            “Tell me what Daddy knew, Mommy,” Jessica said and Denise paused as she opened up Jessica’s closet. She tossed clothes into the suitcase, picking out socks and underwear, choosing pictures from the nightstand and flat surfaces along the way.

            “Daddy was a very important person, he rules a world of people with superpowers. Some men told Daddy they wanted him to be apart of their group, so they could use his power for bad things. Daddy said no, and he started to run away. When you were born, we think that Daddy passed on his power to you, and we think these bad people who have been chasing Daddy will want to make you join them. So Soho and Shadow are going to take you somewhere safe, and they’ll train you to use your power right. Maybe someday you’ll get to fight the bad people but if that day is really out there, it isn’t here yet. You have to listen to them now, Jessica, Soho and Shadow are your new family… do you understand sweetie?”

Jessica was dumbstruck, and she could only answer with a numb, “Yes Mommy I understand.” Outside there was a knock on the door, and Soho burst through the door saying, “Denise, they’re here.”

            “She’s ready,” Denise said as she latched the suitcase closed and passed it to Soho. Shadow was pacing in the dining room, staring at the door terrified as the person outside knocked yet again.

            “Mommy-“ Jessica was starting to say, but there was another knock on the wood.

            “Listen to them now, Jessica, and be a good girl for me.” Denise Parker knelt down and kissed her daughter’s head and a final knock on the door.

            “Mommy-“ Jessica tried to say again, but before she could finish, she was cut off by this time, an explosion. It was like a starburst, angry red colors blazed from all angles, and the heat made Jessica stagger back into Shadow, and there was darkness. Then she heard the laughter, a laugh that sent chills up her back, cruel, pitched and insane. It made Soho and Shadow shiver on either side of her. Jessica would remember that laugh for the rest of her life, and even now it stirred up the dream she had awoken from minutes before. It was like she had dreamt the future.

            “1419,” Shadow muttered as darkness closed in, blocking out a fiery piece of debris that was whirling toward him.

Author's Note

Stupid computer with it's stupid out of control edge scroll... *grumbles more about technology* Anyway, Chapter 4 on the way, and finally I'll have a chance to work on my other projects.
Liefde