Axiom Theory: Book Four of the Shadow Series (15 page)

BIODEFENSE LAB MANHATTAN KANSAS

****

Standing over Dawson’s shoulder, grateful that she couldn’t smell his morning stench, Ashley stood in the spirit world and watch with anticipation as Dawson typed. He searched the internet with his fingers deliberately hammering the keyboard, and she grinned as she read the words and location.

Though she had never been to Kansas, she immediately thought of how clever a location it would be. For one, Kansas
(to her anyway) seemed to be an unassuming location that seemed to fly under the rest of the country’s radar. She likened moving the project there to building nuclear warheads in a chocolate factory. Who would ever consider it a possibility?

Thoughts began to flood her head.
When could they go? What would they find? Would there be one child? Ten? What if there were none?

The last thought made her shutter. She wouldn’t even allow it to be a possibility. Though they had Destin, his powers weren’t yet far enough along to even consider him to be a threat to Test. Knowing that
Test likely wouldn’t be alone when the time arrived made her even more concerned. And then another thought hit her that had not been considered—there’d not yet been a reason to consider it until they’d located Project Ghost’s location.

How would they find Test?

She stood tall and backed away from Dawson who was now reading with a fresh smoke smoldering between his fingers. She thought for a moment with her index finger placed on her chin. Realizing the answer, she whispered aloud.
“We wouldn’t have to find him. We’ll make him come to us.”

Filled with a renewed vigor at the fact that their plan was coming together, Ashley stepped forward and stood beside Dawson. He brought his cigarette to his lips and began to inhale. Ashley reached out and, allowing herself to bleed through to the other side just enough to manipulate objects in the living world without being seen, snuffed out Dawson’s cigarette with her fingertips. She giggled with pleasure as he watched the end of his cancer stick flatten out, choking on the smoke that had already entered his lungs.

She felt his knees pass through her as he spun in his chair, looking frantically in every direction.

“Get the fuck away from me!” he shouted. “I’m not giving you a damned thing!”

Her adrenaline surging, Ashley phased to the living world and reveled in the shocked expression on Dawson’s face as he realized she was less than a foot away from him.

“But Agent Dawson, you’ve already given me everything,” she replied with a sickeningly sweet smirk.

Gripping the arms of his desk chair, his knuckles white and trembling, his glasses sliding precariously down his nose from the river of sweat pouring off of his forehead, Dawson replied. “Just do it.”

She reached out and pushed his glasses back up on his face. “What’s that?” she asked with a smile as she ran the back of her hand down his
filthy cheek.

“Just kill me and get it over with.”

With flashes of light beginning to trickle down her arms, she placed a hand on each side of Dawson’s head. As if responding to a request for a favor, she replied in an airy tone. “Why, Agent Dawson—I’d love to.”

She locked onto his eyes as she fueled the power from her core to her hands. She watched with fervor as they began to roll back into their sockets while his flesh began to dance like vibrating sand. Readying the final burst, she whispered to him sweetly once more. “Good bye, Agent Dawson. Thank you for everything.”

The energy surged down her arms and an eruption of red and blue light engulfed the room. It only took seconds for the deed to be complete. She looked down to the now empty chair in front of her, the dust of what once was Dawson filtering down to the floor. She inhaled deeply.

“I so love the smell of freshly
obliterated human in the morning.”

Test sat in the woods, separated from anyone and anything except for his thoughts. He let go of everything; doing everything he could think of to relax and let his body melt into the earth.
Lying on his back, he looked up through the thin canopy overhead, into the sky and watched as the occasional cloud passed through his view.

He knew that helping the little boy was the right thing to do, but the risk of exposing himself was great. By day, he ran the risk of being recognized. Sure his hair was a little longer than when he’d last been on the main news channels, but the unfortunate consequence of being a Shadow meant that his face never changed. He essentially looked no different today than he did the day he discovered his gifts.

“You doin’ alright?”

Without even so much as flinching, Test responded to the old man with a genuine smile. “I’m doing good, my friend. How about you?”

Cliff came into view around Test’s feet. “I’m worried,” he replied. “Worried about you.”

Again Test smiled and squinted while lifting his head to better look at Cliff. “I’m fine, really.”

With a scratch of his chin, the old man turned and took a couple of steps away from Test, taking a low hanging branch into his hand. “What are you goin’ to do about the boy?” he asked bluntly.

Test sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees. “Well,” he replied. “The right thing to do is to help him.”

“But?” replied Cliff as he pretended to examine the branch.

“It’s dangerous,” said Test. “I have to think about how my getting recognized would affect the others.”

The old man’s head turned sharply. Test was confused by the subtle look of astonishment on Cliff’s face. “What?” he asked.

With a huff, Cliff released the limb and turned back to Test. “Nothin’,” he replied. “It’s just that I’m not used to you thinkin’ things out. Kind of a change, don’t you think?”

Not sure whether to be proud or insulted by Cliff’s comment, Test rubbed his biceps while looking straight ahead. “I suppose,” he said, being cautious of his tone.

Cliff knelt down in a manner that, to Test, looked unnatural for a man that looked as old as he did. Knowing that the old man was a spirit didn’t always register
in his mind.

“What brought that about?” asked Cliff. “I heard you had a talk with Iku.”

“I did,” replied Test. “Though I don’t know if I’d call it a conversation so much as it was a lesson. He opened my eyes to some things.” A bird fluttered just overhead and then flew away. Test watched it as it disappeared into the trees. Meeting eyes with Cliff, he could see that it seemed as though the old man was waiting for more. Test made him wait.

“That’s it?” asked Cliff.

“No,” answered Test. He thought mindfully for a moment before posing a question. “Do you remember when we were told that when someone dies like Nicole did, that they have no spirit?”

Cliff’s brow furrowed as he nodded.

“After Prim and Iku cornered me, I fell asleep at the kitchen table.” Test reached down and picked up a pine needle and began to break it into smaller pieces. “I had a dream,” he said.

“Oh?” said Cliff. “What kind of dream?”

Tossing the handful of broken needles aside, he grabbed another as he replied. “Well, they kind of remind me of the dreams I used to have about you.” He looked up to Cliff whose features had softened. “You know what I mean? The ones where you used to visit me and it was like you were there, but you really weren’t?”

A crooked grin appeared on Cliff’s lips. “Wasn’t I?” he asked cryptically.

Test couldn’t help but chuckle at the old man’s response. “Man, I don’t know how that all works,” he said chucking another hand full of broken needles, “but that’s honestly what’s confusing me right now.”

Taking a needle of his own, Cliff began to peel back the outer layer as he spoke. “You’re confused about how if Nicole was supposedly completely destroyed, how could she come to you in a dream?”

Suddenly feeling emotional, Test’s chest became tight. “Yeah,” he replied. “I guess so.”

Taking a deep breath and arching his back, Cliff exhaled with a dramatic slumping of his shoulders. “Son—you wanna know what I think?” He watched Test nod with glistening eyes and then continued. “I don’t think that
any of us knows everything. I think that maybe a person’s soul stays alive, no matter what, within each of us. You remembering Nicole—that’s what makes it possible for her to be something. Now, I’m not gonna pretend to know what that is or how it is, but I’m telling you that I believe it’s possible that she did visit you today.”

Test wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his forehead
on top of them. “I wish I could…”

“See her again?” asked Cliff. “You will,” he replied before allowing Test to answer. “I honestly think you will.”

Test lifted his head, his heart aching so badly that he thought it would stop right then and there. “She told me that she didn’t blame me,” he said, trying his best to hold back the tears. “She told me that I needed to let her go and move on. She told me that I need to stop hoarding the pain inside and to collect the good things instead of the bad.”

“Sounds like good advice,” replied Cliff softly. Getting to his feet, he walked to Test’s side, knelt down once again, and rested a hand on his shoulder. “All except one part.”

“What’s that?” answered Test wiping his nose with the back side of his hand.

“I don’t think you need to let her go,” said Cliff while gently shaking Test. “It’s true that you need to forget about the bad things, but there were some good times in her short life
too, right?” Test’s head dropped a little lower as he nodded. “Sure there was,” continued Cliff. “You need to hold onto those thoughts. Keep her smiling in your mind.
That’s
how you keep her alive.”

Turning to his father figure, his mentor, his best friend, Test looked into the eyes of the wisest man he’d ever known. “I get it,” he replied with a smile. Resting his hand on top of Cliff’s as it sat on his shoulder, he patted it. “You’re the best, my friend. Thank you.”

With a wink, Cliff replied. “I’ll always be here for you, son. I’m proud of the man you’re trying to become, and I know that you’ll find peace soon.”

A
s an errant tear streamed down his cheek, Test planted his palms on the ground and rolled away. Climbing to his feet, he brushed off his jeans and wiped his eyes once more.

“So what’re you gonna do?” asked Cliff,
who’d stood with Test.

With a bright and honest smile, Test replied. “I’m going to go and help a little boy say goodbye to his parents.”

With nothing more than a wink and a nod from the old man, Test could feel his approval and love from a mile away. Just before he turned and walked towards the house, he stopped and looked at Cliff one more time.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Cliff,” said Test.

Stepping to the young Shadow’s side as they both began to walk through the trees, Cliff replied. “You’ll never have to know.”

****

Cliff and Test entered the house amidst a bustle of activity. Prim, Iku, and Lauren were in the living room, finalizing the plan for locating the twins. Not seeing Alyssa or Aiden, Test could hear the phone ringing as he began to walk towards the kitchen while Cliff stayed behind to join the Shadows in the living room.

No sooner had he stepped into the kitchen, Alyssa kissed him on the cheek and handed him the phone. Glancing to Aiden as he drew pictures on napkins at the kitchen table, Test answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Test?” said a man’s voice.

“This is Test. Who is this?”

“It’s
Thad.”

The name shocked Test slightly. Though he’d received care packages from
Thad a couple of times, they’d always considered direct contact dangerous and had only spoken once since the incident in Kansas City.

“What’s going on,
Thad?” asked Test. “Is everything okay?”

There was a brief silence.

“I don’t know,” he replied mysteriously. “I’ve been having some strange dreams, the same one over and over again.”

Placing his hand over the receiver, Test spoke softly to Alyssa. “Go get Cliff.”

Test could nearly feel Thad’s concern coming through the phone. “What is it?” he asked.

Just as
Thad began to answer, Cliff and Alyssa entered the room.

“Hold on one sec,
Thad,” interrupted Test. “You’re dad’s here. I’m gonna put you on speaker.”

Taking the phone away from his ear, Test pushed the speaker button and walked to the counter by the sink, away from Aiden. With Cliff and Alyssa huddled around him, the three of them listened intently.

“Go ahead,” said Test. “We’re listening.”

“Hello, boy,” said Cliff. “Everythin’ alright?”

“Hey Dad,” replied Thad. “I don’t know. I was just telling Test that I’ve been having some strange dreams.”

Cliff glanced to Test with an obvious look of concern. “Go ahead,” he said.

“I keep seeing a room with babies in it, but it’s not like a delivery room,” Thad began. “It’s weird. There’s like three or four of them—maybe a couple more—and they’re all in this liquid stuff, you know, like you see in the movies.”