Touched by Darkness (12 page)

with you on shielding your powers. He can help

control them. Will you work with him on that? For

me?"

Damien watched as the boy considered. A gleam

sparked into his eyes, and Damien suspected he

found the idea intriguing. Kara had been stifling

any urges or inclinations he'd displayed toward

using his power all of his life, and he had to be a

little bit curious. "I guess so," he finally said.

"Good." Damien leaned back in his chair. "There

was a game my mother taught me when I was about

your age. I would imagine sucking all my energy

and thoughts deep inside me. Then I would pretend

I was locking them into a box, so they couldn't get

out. Do you think you can do that?"

He waited until Alex gave a slow nod, then

continued, "That's basically shielding your

thoughts. But the first step is to learn how to center

yourself. Let's try something. Sit back and close

your eyes." He waited until the boy complied, then

continued, "Now, take a deep breath, and imagine

all your energy is right in the middle of your body,

and it's forming a straight line going from the top

of your head down through your abdomen."

The boy's brow furrowed. "What?"

Damien tried to think of a comparison he would

understand. "Do you know what a lightsaber is?"

"Like in
Star Wars,
Yeah!"

"Just like in
Star Wars.
Imagine that your energy is

inside a lightsaber, and when you turn it on, the

energy comes out in a perfect, straight line of light.

Now keep that light beam in the exact middle of

your body. Can you imagine that?"

His eyes squeezed tightly shut, Alex nodded. His

excitement caused his energies to fluctuate wildly.

"Keep the light steady and straight, and at the same

time, take deep even breaths," Damien said. "That's

called centering, and you should do it whenever

you want to shield yourself."

Alex would also use the same technique when he

wanted to use his powers to track, but that would

be a later lesson, if Kara ever allowed the boy to be

trained as a Sentinel.

"Do I always have to close my eyes?"

"No. It helps to visualize things at first, but soon

you'll learn center yourself automatically, without

closing your eyes. Right now, imagine you're

turning the lightsaber off, and all your energy is

sucked inside the metal handle. Can you see that?"

"Yeah! Cool, just like Luke turning off his saber."

"Now imagine a box made out of something very

strong, like steel."

Alex's brow furrowed again. "Or the stuff they use

for streets and parking places?"

"Do you mean cement? That's good. Any box that's

very thick and strong will work. Once you see the

box in your mind, put the lightsaber—which

contains your energy, right?—into the box, close it

and lock it. Now your power and energy are inside

that box, and no one can see or feel or know they're

there."

"But... if all my energy is gone, will I still be

alive?"

The boy was very astute. "Of course you will,"

Damien told him. "Your energy will still be there

inside you. It will just be protected."

"Like from Darth Vader?"

"Absolutely, and from anyone else who's evil. Do

you think you can do that?"

"Maybe."

"Let's practice. Visualize the lightsaber projecting

the energy in the center of your body, then turn it

off and lock it in the box. Try it."

They worked at the process several times, and Alex

quickly became very adept at "hiding" his power,

even from Damien.

"That's good," Damien said, after Alex had shielded

himself the fourth time. "You must practice this

every day, especially when you're not at home.

When you're at school, or with your friends, or out

anywhere, you need to center yourself by

visualizing the lightsaber. Then suck your energies

into it and lock everything inside the box.
It's very

important.
It will help keep you safe."

"Keep me safe from what? Strangers?"

Damien guessed that was a valid question, as Kara

had probably been warning Alex about strangers all

his life. "It's to keep you safe from anyone who

doesn't like Sentinels."

"Why don't people like Sentinels?"

Damien knew tonight wasn't the time to bring up

Belians, so he replied, "Because some people don't

like anyone who is different from them."

"That's cause they don't know better," Alex said,

accepting this with the innate wisdom of a child,

along with the intelligent comprehension of his

Sentinel birthright.

Damien felt a pang of regret that this precocious,

serious child would probably never have anything

approaching a normal life. He reminded himself

that Alex's soul had freely chosen this path.

"Yeah, they don't know any better," he answered.

"So for now, I don't want you to mention Sentinels

to
anyone,
not even your best friends. Again, you

need to lock your energies and thoughts in that

imaginary box
every single
day, especially when

you're not at home. All right?"

"Okay," Alex said, but it was apparent he still had a

lot of questions.

"We'll talk about more ways to shield your energy

and powers after you've worked with locking them

in the box. Try it for a few days, then I'll come back

for another visit," Damien said. "Call me if you

have any problems. Your mom has my telephone

number."

"Sure, Mr. Morgan," Alex said, his dark eyes

reflecting a maturity far beyond his six years, and a

knowing that told Damien it was going to be next

to impossible to keep the boy's Sentinel heritage at

bay—no matter how much Kara might fight against

it.

The next day, Kara managed to keep herself

convinced she'd made the right decision in letting

Damien Morgan work with Alex on shielding his

energies—until her cell phone rang while she was

driving home late that afternoon. She reached over

and snagged the phone, saw it was from home.

"Hello!" she said, expecting one of the normal after

school calls she often got from Alex.

"Get home immediately," Luz said, her voice tense.

Alarm roared through Kara. "What's wrong?"

Sudden childish shrieking sounded in the

background, and her alarm coalesced into panic.

"Was that Alex?
What's wrong?"
She was

practically screaming herself.

"Espíritu malo. ¡Hay un espíritu malo en la casa!"

Luz lapsed into rapid Spanish, something she did

only if she was truly rattled.

"What? For God's sake, speak English!" Realizing

she had edged into the other lane and into the path

of an oncoming car, Kara swerved back, barely

missing the vehicle. "Is Alex all right?" Her heart

was pounding so hard, she had to strain to hear

Luz.

"Evil spirit," Luz gasped. Another shriek came

through the phone. "There's a...
a fantasma
—a

ghost, in the house."

"What do you mean, a ghost?"

"Something not human is in this house," Luz

shrilled, "We cannot see it, but it is throwing things

around, and Alex says it is 'talking' to him. The boy

is terrified, and I don't know what to do. You must

come.
¡Pronto!
"

"I'm on my way." Kara's mind was reeling, her

body shaking from adrenaline overload.
A ghost?
A

cold vise gripped her heart. Her experiences with

Richard had taught her that discarnate entities—

what some considered 'ghosts'—did indeed exist,

and they were often very evil and dangerous.

Sometimes they were even displaced Belians.

All-out terror ripped through her at hurricane force,

impeding cohesive thoughts. She had to stay calm.

Her son was in danger.
Think, Kara!
Damien—they

needed to get Damien over there.

"Luz, get Alex out of the house now!" she ordered,

"Go to Doris. If that—that
thing
follows you, call

the police. I'm going to find Damien Morgan."

"Him? He is probably the cause of this.
El trajo el

fantasma a esta casa.
" Luz went into another spate

of rapid Spanish.

"Luz!" Kara shouted, wrenching the truck over to

the side of the road. "Just get Alex over to Doris's

house. I'll be there as soon as I can."

She shoved the gear stick into park, dumped her

purse's contents on the passenger seat, her hands

shaking. "It's got to be here. I know it's here," she

muttered, shoveling through the items, looking for

Damien's card.

There! She snatched it up, trying to slow her

pounding heart as she punched in the numbers.

Then she put the truck in gear and roared it back

onto the road, pressing the phone to her left ear as

she floored the accelerator.

It seemed like an eternity before the line rang,

once, twice. "Pick up!" Kara tried to keep her

attention on the road, but all she could think of was

Alex. Three rings, four... "Answer, damn it!"

The connection clicked. "Morgan."

"I need your help. Luz says there's a discarnate

entity at my house. It's after Alex."

There was a pause. "Kara?"

"Yes! I need you at my house. You're the only one

who can help."

"A discarnate entity?" he asked, sounding

incredulous. "What happened to draw one?"

"I don't know! Please come! I can't handle this."

She was starting to feel as hysterical as she

sounded.

"All right. Calm down. I'll be there as soon I can.

Where are you?"

"I'm—God, I can't think. I'm about a mile from

home. I told Luz to take Alex to the neighbor on the

north side."

"Good," he said. "Go straight to your neighbor's,

and I'll meet you there. Do not go into your house,

or let anyone else go in. Understand?"

"Yes."

He disconnected without another word. Kara drew

a deep breath, felt a little more in control. She

might not like having to call on a Sentinel, but if a

Belian was involved, she needed Damien's help. He

was far more powerful than a human male, and

more capable of handling anything supernatural.

She made that last mile in record time, heaving a

sigh of sheer relief when she saw Luz and Alex in

the doorway of Doris's house, standing behind her

glass storm door. The fist around her heart finally

loosened, and she slammed the truck door and ran

up the driveway and the steps. "Alex!"

"Mom!" He flew out the door and into her arms.

She held him tightly, thankful he was all right.

Trembling, he clung to her. "Mom, it was freaky."

"It's okay. You're safe now." She looked over his

shoulder at Luz's pale face. She'd never seen Luz

look so shaken.

"Here now," Doris said briskly, coming from

behind Luz and holding the storm door open. "You

come on inside and get out of that cold air." She

hustled them into her immaculate living room with

its contemporary, simple furniture in soothing

neutrals, and burgundy Oriental rug over a

gleaming hardwood floor. Lush green plants

thrived in the large bay window, and the scent of

baking cookies wafted through the house. "Have a

seat, and I'll make some hot chocolate."

She paused, looked from Luz to Kara. "You sure I

don't need to call anyone?"

Kara didn't know what Luz had told Doris, but was

grateful the older woman wasn't asking a lot of

questions. She shook her head. "I already did. He's

going to check the house."

Doris nodded and went to the kitchen. Kara sank

onto the couch with Alex, who still clung tightly to

her. "What happened, sweetie?"

"1 was in my room, just—" he paused, looked at

Luz, and a strange expression crossed his face.

"Doin' stuff."

Kara was instantly suspicious, but simply said,

"Then what?"

"Then it felt..." He glanced at Luz again. "It felt

weird. Then one of my books fell off the shelf.

Then a poster fell down." He looked up at Kara, his

eyes troubled. "It was my Captain Picard poster."

The priorities of a little boy. She hugged him again.

"Oh sweetie, that's okay. We'll put it back up or get

another one. What happened then?"

"I started calling for Luz and she came. She saw