The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series (11 page)

Thad’s hands were now gripping the armrests of the chair tightly as he listened intently to every word that his grandfather spoke.

“I had to help him. Just like you buying that young girl breakfast and then inviting her to sit with you. You didn’t have to do that, but something inside of you told you it was the right thing to do. Is that right?”

Thad nodded his head and stood to stand face to face with his grandfather. “What’s going to happen to her?” he asked.

“She is going to be used as bait,” replied Cliff.

“For what?” asked Thad.

Pointing to Lauren, Cliff asked her to hold out her hands. “Do you see that?” asked Cliff of Thad. “My friend Lauren here and Test are the same. They were both given the same gift.” Thad turned to marvel at the spectacle. “They were given a gift, just like you and I were given the gift of the sight.” Lauren huffed, scoffing at the fact that Cliff perceived her powers as a gift. “
The difference is that their gift is very rare
a
nd very powerful. Now, there are two ways that folks can use a gift…”

Her patience exhausted, Lauren finally erupted. “Oh hell, old man!” She grabbed Thad’s shoulder and turned him towards her. “Look, what you or I am is irrelevant. The point is that there are others like me that want me and Test dead. They’re going to use Nicole as bait. Now, unless you go and get her before
they
do, she will die.”

The fear had returned to Thad’s face as he leaned away from the angered woman that stood before him.

Trying to dial it down, Lauren
lowered her eyes to the floor in an effort to appear less dominant
as she
continued. “Your vision has given us an advantage. The Reapers don’t have any idea that we know their plan, but the longer we stand here talking about it, the better the chance that
they
will sense that I’m here and then we’ll all be dead.”

Trying to swallow the lump in his throat, Thad forced himself to stay calm. “Okay then,” he replied. “What do you need me to do?”

Cliff felt a sudden surge of excitement rush through him. “You and I will go to her apartment and get her.”

Thad nodded his head in agreement. “And what about you,” he asked, motioning towards Lauren.

“You boys will have to take care of this on your own,”
she replied in a blasé tone. “I’m
going to stay here and get some rest
;
try to recharge.”

“But what if these,” Thad paused, trying to recall the name that the woman used. “What if these
Reapers
show up? What do we do then?”

Resting a hand on his grandson’s shoulder, Cliff replied omin
ously. “We pray, son. We pray.”

The room grew eerily silent and the air became still as Cliff rubbed his chin, seemingly avoiding another detail.

Realizing the old man’s dilemma, Lauren spoke up. “You want to tell him or should I?”

Cliff glared at her, his bushy eyebrows forking downward on his brow.

“Tell me what?” asked Thad nervously.

Cliff shoved his hands into his pockets, stretching his back as he replied. “I’ll be with you, but I won’t be able to help.”

Thad winced with confusion. “I don’t understand?” he replied.

“The only reason I can stand here like I am now, is because Lauren is providing the energy that it takes for me to exist on this side. Lauren won’t be coming with us, so I’m going to have to be a silent partner.” Cliff gave Thad a wink though the look on his face held none of the
comfort
that it normally accompanied it.

Visually rattled by his grandfather’s words, Thad wiped the beads of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. “Well,” he replied sarcastically. “Perfect then.”

“Right,” quipped Lauren as she took Thad’s elbow and began to lead him to the door. “You boys had better get going then.”

“Just a
min
…
,
” began Cliff, but suddenly his form began to fade from view.

Lauren stopped releasing pulses, and waved with her fingers as the old man disappeared into the back drop of the room. “Sorry, Cliff, but we’ve talked enough. It’s time for you to go to work.”
Lauren turned and opened the door, all but pushing Thad into the hallway. As she released his elbow, she turned him to her and spoke sincerely. “You have to do this. More than one life is at stake.” Thad nodded his head in
understanding
. As he turned to walk away, Lauren grabbed his arm once more. “One more thing,” she said.

“Yeah, what’s that?” replied Thad.

U
ncharacteristically, Lauren answered. “Be careful.”

Chapter 9

The afternoon had passed and early evening had come to be with little fanfare. Test and Alyssa had spent most of the afternoon lounging in front of the fire, the two of them wrapped up in
snuggly
blankets.

Sitting next to Test with her knees pulled to her chest,
Alyssa watched
him
as he slept, her mind racing in fifty different directions. She’d thought about many things, most notably her own funeral. She’d wondered what it had been like, who’d attended,
and
what her shell of a body looked like as it lay in the casket. It was so difficult for her to comprehend and understand. Throughout her life, she had been the one on the side of the living, communicating with those that had lost their lives. Some of them didn’t realize that they were dead and
,
for the life of her, she could not understand how they were unable to see it. Now
that she was one of those
on the other side, everything was confusing, especially since she had chosen to spend so much of her time with those still among the living. The lines
between worlds
were so blurred that
,
at times,
she
had essentially forgotten that she was, in fact, dead.

With her eyes focused on the smoldering embers within the fireplace, she was awakened from her worries by Test suddenly screaming in his sleep. The furniture in the room began to vibrate on the hardwood floors and she quickly jumped to her knees, trying to shake him from his nightmare. As his eyes sprung open, a fierce red light
replaced the black of his
pupils, the sight of which caused Alyssa to gasp.
Within the red, small, bright, hot white flashes of light seemed to erupt from underneath, looking something like bubbles rising from the bottom of a boiling pot of water.

“Test, wake up!” she shouted as she gripped the sides of his head in her hands. “It’s
me! I’m here
!
”

Test’s teeth were clenched and his body was tense as if he were having a seizure.

“Test!” Alyssa shouted once more.

The blankets flew off of him as he e
xplod
ed
from the floor
and up six feet into the air, the pulse so strong that the wooden planks beneath him fractured. H
e landed in a crouched position, appearing to be ready to attack
. H
is bare chest appeared to be burning with red light from the inside out.

Alyssa
released herself from his energy
just in time to avoid be
ing
thrown across the room by his sudden explosion of movement.
Hovering
just between worlds, she made herself visible to him, but just barely. She stood
several
feet away from him with her hands in the air, speaking in the most comforting voice that her frightened
state
would allow.

“It was just a dream, Test
.
Take a breath and calm down.” His devil red eyes failed to fade as he looked around the room, and the furniture continued to dance on the floor. She could now see the waves of energy from his torso radiating through the room, and watched helplessly as pictures fell from the walls. “Look at me!” she shouted, his eyes immediately coming to hers. She took a careful step forward,
and
reach
ed
out to him. “It’s okay. Just breathe
,” she begged.
“
It was just a dream.”

Test began to stand upright, his palms held out to his side like a gun fighter ready to draw.
With h
is chest heaving, the red pulses racing from his
torso
and down his arms began to slow until their rhythm matched that of his breaths.
Gradually, the light in his eyes faded until the black of his pupils returned to normal. He stood in silence, carefully surveying his surroundings; his mouth agape drawing in deep breaths.

Alyssa closed the distance between them, and timidly reached out to touch his cheek. After an initial flinch, Test allowed her to touch him.

“Are you okay?” she asked, but he didn’t respond, a bewildered look frozen on his face. “It’s okay.” She stepped to his side and placed an arm arou
nd him, guiding him to a chair.

Test sat, confused and winded
, glancing fearfully back and forth
to
Alyssa’s horrified eyes
—and then he remembered. He remembered the dream. It had begun as a reenactment of his confrontation with Anil. He had felt every ounce of pain and emotion once again that he had lived
only
days before.
He remembered seeing Alyssa’s lifeless body as it lie on the ground. As he looked at her, his mother’s body appeared to her left, and then Cliff’s to the right. The horror continued to run through his mind as he recalled the scene. And then he remembered the final piece. Nicole stood behind the array of dead bodies, glaring at him, her jet black hair blowing in the breeze. He hadn’t thought of her in so long, and for some reason it scared him to see her. The hollow look in her gaze left him feeling ashamed and helpless.

Leaning forward in the chair, he ran his fingers through his hair and laced them behind his head. “Are you okay?” he asked as he exhaled deeply, h
is
gaze firmly planted to the floor.

Alyssa knelt down in front of him and placed her hands on the sides of his legs. “I’m fine,” she replied. She played with his hair affectionately, spinning it between her fingers, and asked with trepidation. “What happened?”

“It was just a dream
,
”
he replied, trying to make light of the situation.

Test sat up in the chair, and noticed the condition of the room for the first time. A new confusion came over him as he wondered how he’d even gotten into the chair.
He first noticed the fractured wood on the floor where he and Alyssa had been laying. He noticed that the coffee table was spun sideways in the room, sitting at a ninety degree angle to the couch.

“Holy shit,” he spoke with a new fear. “Lauren’s gonna be pissed.”

Alyssa giggled in response.

“I’m serious,” he replied as he twisted away from her in the chair, slapping his thigh forcefully. “What the hell did I do?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…
.
”
S
he paused, trying to find the words that might help him. “It’ll be okay, Test, she’ll understand.”

Suddenly realizing the power that he must have generated, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the floor. “Oh, God,” he said in a breathy voice.

“Stop it,” replied Alyssa. “Stop beating yourself up.”

“No, you don’t understand,” answered Test as he stood from the chair. “I could have just told Isaac where we are.”

Alyssa
’s
mind processed his words quickly, and a sudden panic came over her. “We have to leave, right now.” She got to her feet and walked maniacally across the room.

“No,” replied Test with a steady tone. “When Lauren gets back.” He turned to Alyssa. “She’s risked her life for mine. If we leave now, without her knowing, she could come back to find Isaac in her back yard. I won’t let her fall into that trap.”

“But…
,
” began Alyssa.

“No!” barked Test harshly. “I said
no
. We wait.”

****

Thad drove towards Nicole’s apartment, knowing that his grandfather’s spirit was in the car with him. It was a moment of surreal reality that summoned emotions he hadn’t felt before.

“Grandpa,” he said lovingly, “I know you’re here. I’ve talked to you before, but I don’t know if you’ve ever heard me or not. I’m guessing not.” He cleared his throat, choking back the emotion that struggled to escape. “My entire life has been lived feeling as though I was a freak—an outcast. Mom and Dad never wanted to hear about my visions, and that hurt. It felt like they were ashamed of me. Sometimes I’ve wondered
if it was because it
caused Dad to think of you. He never really spoke of you much, I never really knew what you looked like, though now that I’ve met you, you’re exactly as I had pictured in my head. I don’t know how many times I’ve told myself that I wished I could’ve met you. You see, I’ve never had anyone that I could talk to about it—this
gift
.” The sarcasm was thick as he spoke the word. “There was a time when I was younger, that I had changed my mind about it. I actually began to think it was cool, especially during college, but the older I got I realized that it was holding me back. I had never been on a date, didn’t really have any friends—I basically sat by myself night after night. I was always afraid to get close to anyone for fear they would find out my secret. It’s been hard.”

Suddenly, from beside him, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned briefly, trying his best to keep his eyes on the road, and could see Cliff partially visible in the seat next to him. He could see him clear enough to see the tears in the old man’s eyes.
And then, in a whispery distant voice, he could hear him speak.

“I’m so sorry, son,” began Cliff
, using the energy of the running car to come through
. “I regret a lot of things, but none so much as not being there for your father. If I’d have been there…
.
”

“No,” Thad interrupted as he shook his head. “You don’t know what would’ve happened. No
one
can know for sure.”

Cliff smiled as a tear trickled down his stubbled cheek. With one quick nod of his head, he replied. “You may be right, but that still don’t change the fact that I should’ve been there for him—and you.”
Pointing to the street coming up on his left, Cliff’s words came with a deep sadness. “Turn there,” the old man instructed.

“You’re here for me now, right?” asked Thad with a grin as he raised an eyebrow. He turned the corner leading to Nicole’s apartment building and continued. “You couldn’t have come at a better time, Grandpa.”

As if looking into a reflection of his younger self, Cliff watched as Thad winked to him. “I love ya, boy. Know that.”

Thad pulled into a parking place parallel to the street and put the car into park. With his eyes swelling with tears, he turned to Cliff and replied. “I love you, too, Grandpa.”

As Thad reached to turn off the ignition, Cliff stopped him. “Hold on, boy. Once you turn the car off, I won’t be able to hold this form. Do you know what you’re goin’ to do?” he asked.

Thad turned forward in his seat and gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I guess I’m just going to go
up there and talk to her. I just have to be blunt and tell her that she’s in danger.”

“I reckon you’re right, though I’m not sure how she’s gonna react. She’s in a fragile state, that girl. Just be careful, ya hear?”

Thad swallowed
forcefully
as he nodded.

Knowing that there was a chance that he could at least make his presence known when in the apartment, Cliff was hesitant to tell Thad
of the possibility.
H
e didn’t want him counting on it. “All right then, let’s go,” said the old man with a firm resolve.
“She’s on the third floor and in apartment number thirty-two.”