Where Shadows Fall

Chapter Two

Chapter TwoZero woke from a light doze, startled by something she couldn't see or hear. Beside her, Maddie was at high alert, staring out into the setting sun. “You sense that too?” Zero asked, climbing to her feet.

The little bit of sleep she'd gotten had helped, but she was still on edge. Zero cast her senses out around her, trying to find whatever had awakened her. No one was nearby though. The nearest person she could sense was at least a mile away.

She stretched, moving slowly to warm up her body. She focused her attention back the way they came. There was no sign of the 8th Battalion. Reaching a little further, she found Alaric, but she recoiled quickly as pain lashed through the connection, seeming to hit her square at the base of her neck.

Zero grabbed her neck, half expecting to find blood. Her knees folded, and she grabbed the side of the shed as she went down. With the distance, she couldn't tell if it was Alaric himself who had been shot or someone close to him. She panted through the pain and pushed herself back up to her feet, struggling to close up her shields to block him out.

Maddie stood a few steps away, lifting her muzzle to sniff the air. A low growl escaped her, and she moved back toward the door of the shed. Inside, Raven was awake, Zero could hear her shifting around. That wasn't what had Maddie growling though.

Zero turned toward the feeling of someone approaching. Maddie's hackles were raised, and she was poised to jump at anyone who might attack them. Zero could sense no malice however, and her hand descended onto Maddie's head to calm her. In the distance, a dust cloud lifted, and a small, black dot was moving in their direction.

Raven joined them as that small dot became a truck coming toward them. There was only one person in the vehicle, a man. Zero couldn't tell much else about him without trying, and she was too tired to try too hard. The truck rumbled to a stop and the man emerged from the cab, taking a few steps before stopping, his eyes on Raven.

He was middle age, gray starting to stripe his long black hair. His skin was deeply tan, dry, like he'd spent most of his life in the desert sun. His eyes skipped to Maddie before returning to Raven.

“I heard there was a panther out here. I thought to myself that it was an odd place for a panther. Didn't expect to find a Raven too.”

“Hello, Lonan.” Raven said with a smile. “I find myself once more needing your help.”

“The winds say Shady Lake has been burned to the ground. I wondered if I would see you.”

“The winds say that?” Zero asked, her eyebrow lifting in disbelief.

“Sure they do. Smoke rides the wind, and the radio news tells of 8th Battalion raids.” He responded with a chuckle. “You must be dry. Climb in, I'll get you to some water.”

“I'm not alone.” Raven said, glancing over her shoulder.

“So I see. I don't have much room, but my wife is cooking dinner.”

“I appreciate it Lonan.” She turned to Maddie. “Why don't you go get dressed.”

Maddie looked Lonan over, like she didn't trust him, but went back into the shed as Connor and the boys emerged.

“Lonan, this is Connor, and his son Liam. I don't know if you remember Aliyah, but this is her son Parker. This is Zero, and the Shifter is Maddie.”

Lonan nodded his greetings and opened the passenger side door. “You boys hop on in here. I reckon the grownups can handle more sun than you.”

Maddie emerged as Raven and Connor climbed into the bed of the truck, her eyes skipping to Zero's. Together they climbed up to sit beside the two Shades, just as Lonan shook out a blanket for them to hide under. “I imagine this won't be the most pleasant ride for you, but this should help.”

Zero and Maddie helped them get the blanket tucked behind them and draped over their heads. The truck lurched as Lonan got behind the wheel and set them off back along the dusty trail.

Everyone was quiet, but she could feel the exhaustion pulling on Maddie. The Shifter hadn't slept in well over twenty-four hours. She was going to crash soon, now that the adrenaline that had fueled their escape was wearing off. Zero looked to Raven, who was as pulled into herself as Zero had ever seen. She too was exhausted, the few hours of sleep not enough to erase the sun exposure and apprehension caused by their current situation. Connor seemed better rested, or at least better adjusted, but he too was weary and feeling the effects of the sun setting somewhere ahead of them.

Only the boys seemed to be largely okay. The shock of their escaping the village had mostly worn off, and there was a sense of adventure coming from them. She sensed that Lonan was telling them some story.

Zero turned herself to the work that still needed to be done in her head. She had worked to shore up her defenses around the last of the damaged places and used the tricks Alaric had taught her to set up a sort of alarm system, so that she would know if someone else came snooping through some hidden back door they hadn't found. She was cautiously optimistic that she wasn't going to suddenly snap and become a puppet for her father's plans.

What was left behind was a terrifying mess of memory. She hadn't expected the memories to be so intense, but then, she hadn't remembered even half of what had been done to her in the time since her mother's death. She would be furious at how much of her life he took, once she got past the terror at what he had done to her.

She was pulled from her inner thoughts as the truck rolled to a stop outside a small clapboard house. The sun was brilliant on the horizon, and a woman emerged from the house, wiping her hands on a towel. She raised an eyebrow as Lonan helped the boys out of the cab but held the door open as he hurried them inside.

Raven and Connor kept the blanket over them as they climbed out of the bed and followed, with Maddie and Zero bringing up the rear.

They entered a small kitchen that smelled of spices and cooking meat. “I wasn't expecting so many.” The woman touched Lonan's arm. “But you are welcome.”

“Raven, and everyone, this is my wife, Tusa. Tusa, my childhood friend, Raven and those who escaped the burning of Shady Lake. They have need of shelter, and water.”

“And food no doubt.” Tusa replied, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Come, sit. Lonan will pour you water.”

Zero followed Raven as they were led into a slightly more spacious living room, dropping to sit on the floor near the chair Raven chose. Maddie circled the room, her eyes scanning the pictures on the walls before she came to sit beside Zero.

Tired pulled at her, but Zero pushed it away. They weren't safe yet. She didn't dare sleep until she'd managed to get some distance from the suddenly fresh and horrifying memories that filled her head.

“Do you have any news?” Raven asked as Lonan handed out glasses of water from a wooden tray.

“Not much. Many escaped on foot. The town is now ash.”

“What about the 8th Battalion?” Connor asked.

Lonan shrugged. “It is said they only pursued one group who escaped in vehicles.”

“Jerah.” Zero murmured softly. She felt eyes on her and looked up. “They were looking for him specifically. Someone…” She dug for the thought, something she heard or read from Alaric. “The 8th Battalion was looking for him. The raid was…not specifically for him, but once he was spotted it was like the thought swept through the strike team.” She reached for Alaric again, and recoiled as she encountered a wash of pain, fear, then came the sound of gunfire and a sharp c***k of pain, like before, a replay of something he'd experienced. She grabbed at the back of her neck, fighting to disengage from him.

She was panting as she broke free. It took her a second to open her eyes, surprised to find everyone staring at her. She licked her lips and blinked, parsing through the input. “I think Riley is dead.”

Zero had never really interacted with him much, but she'd liked him well enough. Alaric, on the other hand, had loved him like a brother. The pain of the impact had reverberated through him as though it was Alaric himself who had been shot.

She could still feel an echo of the pain in her neck. “He's with Jerah. They were attacked.” Most of what she'd gotten was disjointed images and a whole lot of fear and pain. “I think…” She shook her head, trying to understand the images. “I think they got away, but Riley was shot in the back of the head.”

Zero could feel Connor watching her, his suspicion bleeding out around him. She blinked and looked up at him. To his credit, he didn't say anything, only looked away. “We should try to round up the other survivors.” Connor said. “Figure out what to do next.”

“First, we get some rest, and make sure there aren't any watchers lingering. We don't need to present them with another target.” Raven said.

“And before that, you eat and hydrate yourselves.” Tusa said as she came into the room with two plates. “Let Lonan and his friends seek out the others for you.”

Zero took her plate and disconnected from the room. She needed time to sort through the input of the last forty-eight hours and figure out how to function with all of the new memories and the sudden influx of power.

* * *

Ice raced through her veins from the place where the needle entered her arm, forcing the serum into her, disconnecting her from her own abilities and preparing her for another assault. She tried to summon fire to thaw the chill, but nothing would come. Fingers held her eyelids open and a light shined into them. “I think we're ready.”

Screams echoed around her, screams that sounded strange and familiar at the same time. Disjointed thoughts darted through her as she was cut open and sewn together, as He forced his way into her brain and broke down the door to her inner self.

She couldn't stop him, but she felt every touch of his blade on her skin, every stab of the needle, everything he did in her head, until her body began to shake from the cacophony of it all. “Control her.”

“It's too much, you need to let me give her something for the pain.”

“No. Pain is part of the process. I'm nearly done. Hold her down.”

Some part of her recognized the screams now as her own. They filled the space and bled out until the darkness came. Even then there was no escape from the agony in her body. It pulled her through the dark and wound around her tight, dragging her from the dark danger of her memory into an even darker room.

Color began to swirl around her, loosening the grip of fear as the room solidified and she knew she had left her own mind and was now in someone else's, dropping from her nightmare into his, into the boiling cauldron of his grief.

Mason Jerah was dead.

Mason Jerah was dead. The thought echoed through her as she woke, her clothes soaked through with sweat and her head pounding. Zero sat up, looking around the small loft she had been sharing with Maddie. The cat was gone, and she was alone.

Her throat was dry and sore, making her think the screams hadn't been kept to her dreams. She pushed the blanket off and put her feet on the floor. Zero pulled a hand over her bald head and took a deep breath.

The “treatment” in her dream had only been one in a long line of agonizing experiments. One of the earliest. It was meant to provide her with more Shadow abilities than she'd already had as her birthright.

She pulled on her jeans and her shoes. It had been nearly a week of waiting. The Shades gathered, they talked, they looked at her like she was an alien. She couldn't blame them. It wasn't their fault she was a freak.

Alaric's grief was still spilling through her, making it harder for her to sort out her own emotions. Taking a deep breath, she pushed everything down and back behind a wall. She couldn't function with it all sloshing around inside her.

Zero stood, crossing to the ladder down into the barn. It was nearly morning. Somewhere to the east of them, Alaric was wallowing in his grief. Somewhere to the west, the 8th Battalion was planning its next move.

It felt an awful lot like she was stuck there in the middle, with no way out. She didn't like the feeling.