The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series (5 page)

“Close your eyes,” she shouted.

His eyelids instantly snapped shut. He firmed up his stance, attempting to be ready for anything that might come his way. After a short moment of silence, he found himself breathing deeper and felt his muscles soften as his body relaxed. He rolled his head back and took in the scent of the
woods;
the fresh clean smell was intoxicating.

Suddenly, from his right, he felt something. He couldn’t understand it. It was as if a gentle breeze was pushing the fabric of his hoodie into his flesh. With eyes still closed, he turned into it and, as he did, felt the ‘breeze’ move from his arm to his chest and stomach.

As suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared. He turned in a slow circle, trying to find the sensation once more. It wasn’t until a minute or so later that he realized he felt
a gentle push at his scalp
. He looked up, again with eyes still closed, a
nd
marveled at how the
push felt on his
face. In his mind’s eye, he almost envisioned it as a laser sight from a gun that someone was holding on him, ready to fire at any moment.

Again the sensation disappeared. He stood for what felt like five minutes or so, his hypersensitive state of mind scanning his body for anything that was remotely different. “Lauren?” he
called
plainly, thinking to himself that it would be just like her to leave him out in the woods while she went in for a cup of coffee. Without an answer, he finally opened his eyes
and
peered around cautiously, anxious
and nervous. As he began to climb over the first fallen spruce, he felt something on his back. It was a sensation he’d felt many times before, as if someone was touching him. He’d always written it off as nothing, but now he stopped and paid attention. With one foot on the tree, he froze and continued to feel the touch. He let his torso twist slightly, just to see if the feeling moved; and it did. He knew then that this was the energy that Lauren was talking about. He could feel her.

He glanced over his shoulder and peered through the trees, but could see nothing. He abandoned the fallen tree and began to walk in the direction of the energy, using it almost as he would a compass. As he walked a straight line, the energy would move to one side or the other, and he would walk in the direction that kept the
pressure
on his chest.

Before long he realized that he had been led in a circle and that he was approaching the edge of the tree line. He could just make out pieces of Lauren’s house just on the other side
of the trees
.
A
s he reached the opening, he jumped at the sound of Lauren’s voice.

“Very good,” she said
calmly
.

Test turned to see that she was sitting on the ground with her back resting against a tree. Not knowing what to say, he stood there for a moment, feeling good about himself and what he’d just learned.
She stood and walked towards the house and he followed quietly until he noticed something different. He could now feel a tingle on his chest, but instead of the sensation of a breeze blowing towards him, it felt like it was pulling at him.

He called out to her. “Lauren.”

She stopped without turning.

“I feel something—something different than before.”

She looked over her shoulder and replied. “Girlfriend
’
s home.”

Test’s hear
t
skipped a
s
he
hurried past
Lauren and stepped
up
to the porch. He could feel the tugging sensation at his chest grow stronger. For a moment, he wondered why he’d never noticed it before, but that moment quickly passed as he began to let out we
a
k pulses
. He
watched as Alyssa
and his mother’s form
came into view.

“Hey there, handsome,” said Alyssa with a wide smile as she wrapped her arms around him.

Test gave her a firm squeeze and then reached his hand out to his mother who stood behind Alyssa. The two of them smiled at each other as Test and Alyssa parted.

Suddenly remembering where she’d been, the smile on his face faded, being replaced by a look of concern. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

Alyssa glanced back to Maggie. “Yeah,” she replied timidly
.
“
E
verything is fine.”

Sensing that everything wasn’t ‘fine’, Test answered. “Are you sure? You don’t seem…”

“She said everything’s fine, honey,” Maggie interrupted. She glanced to Lauren who stood at the foot of the stairs leading up to the porch. “What have you two been up to? Go for a morning walk in the woods?”

Test quickly glanced to Lauren and then back to his mother. “Yeah, something like that,” he replied with a chuckle.

Fro
m behind, Lauren bumped into him
as she passed. “You might as well tell them,” she said in her now familiar bitchy tone. “If they’re going to hang around and suck the life out of you, they should know what it could mean.”

Chapter 5

All of them entered the house and found a seat in the living room. Lauren started a fire and then plopped down on the couch, resting her head
against the
back. The room, as homey and quaint as it was, now
became
a breeding ground for anxi
ety
and tension.

“
So,” asked Maggie of Lauren. “
What do you mean
we ‘re sucking the life out of him’?”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “You guys are like freaking vampires. You’re constantly draining his energy just so you can stay on this side.”

Knowing that they were just outside of Forks, Test found her comment somewhat ironic and wondered if she’d been waiting to use that for a while now. “Oh come on
!
T
urn down the drama, will ya?”
said Test.

Lauren leaned forward in her seat and ran her fingers through her hair
, pulling a stray leaf from between several strands
. “Look,” she said as she stared at the floor. She raised her gaze and
glared
intently at Alyssa. “This thing is far from over.”
She watched with a twisted pleasure as
Alyssa fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair. “That thing at the hotel, with Anil, that was a walk in the park compared to what is going to happen.”

“Lauren
!
”
exclaimed
Test.

With a hand raised in his direction to shut him up, she continued. “Anil was my mentor, and I knew him well. As powerful as he was, he was just a soldier. Killing him did nothing but delay the coming of Isaac.”

Trembling, Maggie asked. “Lord, that sounds so biblical. Who is this Isaac?”

Lauren laughed at Maggie’s ignorance. “It may as well be
biblical
as far as Test and I are concerned. Isaac is the oldest and most powerful Reaper that has ever been. It was important to him to either convert Test, or destroy him. His right hand man failed to do either. He will come for us; it’s just a matter of time.”

“Why do they want him so badly?” asked Alyssa.

“I don’t know for sure, but I have a theory. It has something to do with him showing his powers when he was so young. Most Shadows don’t show their abilities until they are older, in their early to mid-teens.” There was a brief pause. “I think Isaac is afraid of him.”

Test’s heart skipped a beat. His mind w
ent
blank, speech was impossible.

As Lauren’s eyes focused on Test, Alyssa asked a question. “If Anil was your mentor, wouldn’t they know where you live? Why haven’t they found us yet?”

Lauren stood and walked to the fire place, poking and prodding at the logs to intensify the flame. “I was assigned to hunt Test years ago, when he was a small child. My mission was to find
and convert
him
or to kill him
. I found him quickly.”

Maggie let out a gasp. “How did you know where—how did Isaac know?”

Lauren returned to her seat and responded. “Whenever a new Shadow comes into their power, Isaac can sense it.” She turned to Test. “Just as you were learning to feel my presence this morning, Isaac has that capacity times infinity. That’s why it is so important for you to not lose control.
Typically, when a new Shadow matures, they don’t know how to control their powers and they have a tendency to use it. Isaac can sense these outbursts.”

“But you said you f
oun
d me when I was young, why wasn’t I killed then?” asked Test.

Lauren placed her face in her hands and let out a deep sigh. “We didn’t know that you were a child. When I arrived and discovered that you
could barely walk
, I couldn’t bring myself to harm you. It was one thing to dispose of someone who could defend themselves
, but to harm a child…
.
”
A
sudden softness had come over her
.
“
I always turned
killing someone
into a sort of twisted game. When I realized it was you that I’d been sent after, for the first time since I was—human—I had a conscience. I couldn’t go through with it.”

A heavy silence had taken over the room. Test watched painfully as his mother, her form not completely solid, cried in her seat as she
watched the flames in the fire
place lap into the air.

Lauren stood and walked to her and held out her hand, the faint pulses of red light flickering down her arm. Maggie reached out and, with the energy Lauren offered, became solid once again.

“I watched the two of you for a while,” said Lauren, fighting back tears of her own. “I know how hard it was for you, how crazy it made you to know that something was different about your son and not being able to tell anyone. I know this because I lived it myself. No human can understand what we are.” She glanced to Alyssa. “Well, almost no one,” she said with a smile. She turned back to Maggie and continued. “I know it was a hard choice, putting Test on medication at such a young age, but it saved his life.”

With Lauren’s last words Maggie broke down completely. With her elbows perched on her knees, she sobbed heavily into her hands. Lauren caressed
the back of her head gently.

“I left
Nebraska
after Test’s powers faded, and told Anil that I had disposed of you. I knew what this could mean if your powers ever reemerged, but I had no other choice. I lived a life
filled with internal
conflict for many years
.
T
he conscience that had returned upon the sight of you seemed to hang around long after I’d left
Lincoln
.
Anil
noticed this,
began to question my dedication
,
and forced
me
to take
even
more lives
—which I did—just
to save my own.” As she spoke, the pain was apparent in her words. “
More so than ever before, my life had become a
tortured
existence
.
”
She paused and looked to Test with a painful expression.
“
And then the day came that
your
powers resurfaced
.” She watched as Test hung his head in shame. “Never before had I been as scared as I
was
that day. I was summoned by Anil to the home of Isaac. It was a rare occasion to be invited to his home, and something
in me knew that I shouldn’t go—so
I didn’t. Instead, I phased to the other side and disappeared to where we now sit. I’ve lived a quiet existence
looking over my shoulder
for the last year, waiting for them to come for me
,
and not caring about what would happen to
you
.
”

Test stood and walked to the window that looked over the back of the property. “So what made you change your mind?” he asked somberly.

“You showed up again,” replied Lauren. “The fact that you were so close to me,
just
a state away, only served to intensify my fear. Fact is
,
I had grown to resent you.” She paused as he turned and looked at her. “When I saw the news about the possibility of a meteor crash just outside of
Saratoga
, something in me knew it was you. It only took a day for me to decide that I was going to finish what Anil and Isaac had intended for me to do so many years ago.” Maggie gasped while Alyssa sat stoically in her seat, in awe of all that she was hearing. “I went to
Saratoga
that night. When I arrived, I saw all of the military vehicles and knew that I was right—it was you. I phased to the other side and listened in on what their
plans were. I learned where you lived by eavesdropping on the man named
Dawson
.