Axiom Theory: Book Four of the Shadow Series (14 page)

Sitting up, Cliff watched as Alyssa grinned. “Well,” he said. “That can be a good thing or a bad thing; dependin’ on what you was thinkin’ about.” He raised an eyebrow and winked at her.

She could never resist the old man’s charm and felt compelled to share her thoughts with him. “It’s kind of…everything.”

“That’s kinda vague, ain’t it,”
replied Cliff. He looked to Aiden. “Is it somethin’ we can talk about in front of the boy?”

Alyssa turned to Aiden
whose big brown eyes watched her eagerly. “Well, some of it is about him, so I suppose he can hear it.”

With an ‘uh-huh’ kind of grunt, Cliff replied. “I was wonderin’ when
you were goin’ to fill me in on your plans.”

Trying to exude happiness for Aiden’s sake, she smiled widely and brushed his cheek with her fingers. “He never got to say goodbye to his parents,” she said, turning back to Cliff who was already grinning as if he knew what she was going to say next. “I thought that maybe…”

“You thought maybe Test could help him do that?” interrupted Cliff.

The smile on her face disappeared as she stared at the old man, frightened of what she should say (or what he would say) next.

After a moment of silence, Cliff asked, “Well?”

Almost unconsciously, Alyssa nodded her head.

“And how do you think he’s goin’ to take that request?” replied Cliff.

Alyssa couldn’t find the strength to speak. She watched Aiden, knowing what the right thing to do was, but knowing that she didn’t have the ability to do it without help.

Getting to his feet, Cliff took a step towards Alyssa and looked up.

“What are you guys doing out here?” asked Test as he walked up behind Alyssa and Aiden.
Though he couldn’t see them as he stood in the world of the living, he could feel their presence. He allowed his energy pulse to grow, offering enough so that each of the spirits could cross over should they wish to.

Alyssa spun, nearly kicking Aiden as she jumped to her feet.
Taking Test’s energy, she quickly crossed over and couldn’t control the flinch that came when she realized how close the two of them were standing. Terrified of the moment, her eyes were wide with surprise as she stumbled over her words.

“Hey you…Test…what are you…,” she glanced down to Aiden
who had yet to cross over. “We were, um, just playing.”

Test recoiled at Alyssa’s reaction to his presence. “You okay?” he asked.

Nearly breathless, she replied as she bounced on her toes nervously. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“Why don’t you ask him?”
said Cliff, materializing as he stepped behind Aiden. “The boy can’t wait forever.”

Test looked to the old man who was smiling ear to ear. His demeanor alongside of Alyssa’s caused
him even more confusion. “Ask me what?” Trying not to get worked up for no good reason, he looked down to where he could feel the boy sitting. “Why doesn’t he come over?”

Glad that Test asked another question before she had to answer the
first; Alyssa looked down and coached Aiden. “Do you remember what I told you? Test can help you.” The boy sat silently as he stared at her. “Can you feel him? Can you feel the wind coming off of him?” she asked, not sure if he’d understand what she meant if she’d called the ‘wind’ what it truly was. Aiden nodded as she continued. “Good. Now, reach out and imagine yourself drinking it like a
big
milkshake, only pretend that you could drink with your whole body.” She watched as Aiden closed his eyes, squeezing them tight as he seemed to imagine with every ounce of his being.

Finally, after several moments, the young spirit crossed over with his eyes still closed.

“Good job!” praised Alyssa. “You did it!”

“Did what?” answered Aiden as he rubbed his right eye with a fist.
Before anyone could answer, he looked around him and realized that everything was clearer, more in focus, than it was a moment ago.

“Welcome back to the world of the living, son,” said Cliff as he ruffled Aiden’s hair.

The boy looked up and leaned back to see Cliff. “Am I alive again?” he asked.

With a heartfelt chuckle, Cliff replied. “No, son.”

Alyssa knelt down and spoke in a tender voice. “You know that milkshake you just drank?” she asked. “That was energy that Test gave you. It lets you come back to this world whenever you want to.”

“Wait a minute,” said Test. “Just a bit ago, back at the house, he was solid. Why are you having to teach him now?”

“I think he probably crosses over sometimes without even realizing it,” replied Alyssa as she looked up to Test. “Besides, with having four Shadows in the house, there’s enough energy in there that sometimes even I don’t have to try.” Turning back to Aiden, she parted his hair with her fingers. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like for him.”

“He’s not been gone very long, has he?” asked Test, his heart feeling more tender than the seconds before.

Shaking her head as she reached out her hand for Aiden to take, she replied as the boy took it. “No, he hasn’t.” Pulling the boy into her side, she looked back to Test. “That’s kind of what I need to talk to you about.”

As he clutched
Alyssa’s leg, Aiden spoke. “Is that how he’s going to help us?”

Test eyed the boy curiously. “What are you talking about, buddy?” He watched as Aiden looked up to Alyssa. Test could see that her cheeks were flushed. “What’s going on?” he asked Alyssa.

Alyssa looked to him nervously and replied. “Well,” she began with a quivering voice. “This is kind of big, but I need to ask you a favor.”

More curious than anything else, Test replied as he brushed at a stray hair that had fallen in her face. “What is it? Just tell me.”

“Aiden never got to say goodbye to his parents.” The words blurted out of her mouth in a rush of nerves. “I told him that maybe you could help him do that.”

A sudden anxiety filled Test, even though he wasn’t complete
ly sure what she meant. Folding his arms across his chest, Test glanced to Cliff who stood silent with a giant grin. He looked back to Alyssa.

“How can I help him?” he asked.

“Well,” Alyssa began with great hesitation. “I thought you could go with us to where his parents’ camp is and…,” she paused, glancing back and forth between Test’s eyes and then to the trees behind him. “I thought maybe…”

“You want me to show myself to his parents so that he can come through?” asked Test in disbelief.

Nearly to tears, Alyssa nodded her head while cowering as she clutched Aiden tightly. “Yes.”

Taking a deep breath, Test tried to exercise some restraint. “Alyssa—you know that I can’t do that. It’s too dangerous.”

“You wouldn’t have to show yourself!” she exclaimed, gripping his arm. “You could hide behind a tree somewhere or something.”

Test
looked down into Aiden’s big brown eyes and was suddenly at a loss as to how to say no. He looked to Cliff who was still grinning ear to ear. “What are you grinning about?” he quipped.

Rubbing his stubbly chin, Cliff replied in a mock defensiveness. “Oh, nothing.” He held up a hand. “It’s your call to make, Test. It’s all yours.”

Test grimaced as he shot his old friend a dirty look and then turned back to Alyssa. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he raised his shoulders and took a deep breath. “I’m not saying no,” he began. Alyssa’s eyes lit up, but before she could speak, he cut her off. “And I’m not saying yes either.” He watched her body deflate. Reaching out and taking her into his arms, he pulled her into him, with Aiden still clutching her legs, and hugged her tightly. “Let me think about how this would work, okay?” Burying his face in her hair, he kissed the side of her head and continued. “Give me a little bit.”

Pulling back slightly, her eyes wet with tears, she nodded with a hint of a smile. “Okay,” she replied. “But I don’t know how long his parents are going to be there. So don’t wait too long, okay?”

Never one for deadlines, Test pursed his lips and raised his brow. “How about by the end of the day I’ll have an answer for you?
If
,” he began, stressing the word. “
If
I say yes, it’d probably be better to do it at night anyway. I can wear like four layers of clothes or something to hide the light.” He looked down at Aiden and began to force a series of more powerful pulses through his body, igniting his arms with streaks of red light.

With Test’s arm nearly in front of his face, Aiden’s eyes grew wide with amazement.  As the flashes of red reflect
ed within them, Test’s resolve was finally broken as Aiden replied with a hushed “Wow.”

Letting
the pulses fade, Test turned and kissed Alyssa’s forehead. Seeing the wash of happiness overtook her, it seemed to flow through her and into him. “I’ll think of something,” he replied.

Waking up with a tongue so dry it was as if the Sahara desert had parked in his mouth, Dawson struggled to separate dream from reality. He sat up in bed and let the initial wave of nausea pass before swinging his legs to the side. As he reached for his glasses on the nightstand, the urge for a cigarette
overtook the pounding in his skull. Wearing nothing but a pair of old gym shorts, he stood from the bed and quickly retrieved the pack of smokes and the lighter that were perched on top of his dresser.

With the flick of the lighter, the yellow light
from the flame danced off of the yellowing walls as he inhaled sharply. He took in the poison and allowed the plume in his lungs to take priority over the severe turn his life had taken just hours before.

He
eased back down on the edge of the bed and exhaled; tendrils of smoke swirling slowly in the stagnant air. Though the clock told him that it was ten o’clock in the morning, the darkness of the room contradicted the hour. A low and rolling thunder shook the house and explained it away. Scratching his crotch, the cigarette dangled from his lips as his mind finally began to process the reality of what had happened the night before.

The appearance of the Ghosts had
shaken him to the core and, though he knew that their appearance could make his desire for retribution a reality, he wasn’t convinced that he could trust them. He rubbed his face and tried to recall the exact conversation, cursing himself briefly for becoming so intoxicated. Just the act of thinking hurt.

He had been told that they knew the project had been moved to a different location after they had abducted PG15.
“What did they call him?”
he thought to himself.
“Devin—Dustin?”
He couldn’t remember; it didn’t matter.

They told him that they needed more like PG15 in order to defeat Test. Dawson remembered that they’d told him that Davis was different than others of their kind, but he couldn’t remember how. He remembered
confirming that the project had moved, but stopped short of telling them where. The truth was that he didn’t exactly know. He had his suspicions, but had no way of confirming. Though he shared with them that he no longer had any involvement with the military other than collecting benefits, they were still interested in what he knew. When it came down to them answering every question he asked, they were relatively vague in their response. Even when he asked how they found him, their response was “it wasn’t hard”.

The thought of them watching him
in the shadows sent shivers down his once wrought iron spine. He glanced over his shoulder and wondered if they were there right now, watching to see what he would do next. He knew that he would be if he was them. “
This is what I’ve become
,” he thought to himself. “
A spineless drunk shivering on the edge of a broken down mattress with an off-brand smoke in one hand while the other scratches his balls.”

Another round of clapping thunder woke him from his pity party and his thoughts returned once more to his visitors. He’d told them to come back the next day, of that he was somewhat sure, but he still didn’t know what he was going to tell them. He suspected that the project had been moved to a facility in Manhattan, Kansas. The building had been built under the guise that it was a Bio
-defense Lab. He had no proof that this was inaccurate, but the timing seemed convenient to him. What better way to hide something of which secrecy was the utmost importance? Who would want to invade a Biodefense lab that supposedly housed the most dangerous bacterium and viruses known to the world?

Suddenly overcome with a chill, a terrifying thought entered his mind. “
What if these two went to this place just because I said so, blew down some walls or whatever, only to find out it really was a biodefense lab. The entire population of that little town would be devastated should those viruses be released. Hell, the entire state or country would be at risk.”

With his cigarette burn
ed to the filter, he pinched it between his fingers and pressed it firmly to his lips. The heat from it burned, but he didn’t pay any attention to the pain. Instead, he stood from the bed and walked into the living room, sat at his computer, and did an internet search. The first words he typed were: