Creatures of Snow (15 page)

The dark outline of his
attacker loomed over him; it swayed back and forth in time to an
unheard rhythm. Black robes that blended seamlessly into the
shadows covered the intruder and flowed in a soft ripple, as if
being blown by an invisible wind.

“Creepy.” He muttered and
forced himself to focus. Gritting his teeth, he leapt to
his fe
et, catching his
attacker by surprise.

He took a sloppy swing
that was easily dodged, but that was only meant to distract the
intruder from the real punch that whipped up from the opposite arm.
He felt his fist connect, but there was no give in the flesh he
hit.

He let out a brief cry of
surprise and pain, then grabbed his throbbing hand. “Who are you?”
He growled, trying to straighten up and be intimidating.

They faced each other in
the small room. He calmed his ragged breath and hoped the sweat
that was building up below his hairline wouldn’t give away his
fear. He couldn’t read his opponent - try as he might; he couldn’t
see the intruders face under the oversized hood and swirl of
shadows. If he had to guess at who he was fighting, his best guess
would be the boogieman. There was no way this guy could be
real.

Is this a test?
He wondered desperately. He wouldn’t put it past
Con to pull something like this.

The figure lunged towards
him without a sound. Sky instinctively protected his aching hand by
thrusting a kick into the chest of his attacker that resounded in a
hollow thud. To his own surprise, the kick sent the figure back
into the opposite wall where Sky’s collection of souvenir bottles
crashed down upon the intruder in a kaleidoscope of colors,
textures and scents.

In the brief disturbance
Sky found his legs and ran. His wav-com was down by the front door,
if he could get to it and make it outside he would be fine. The
woods around their home were a dense mass of foliage covering a
treacherous terrain and no one knew them better than
him.

His foot landed awkwardly
just before he reached the door, sending a shrill of pain up his
leg and into the pit of his stomach. It was only a moment of
hesitation before he regained his stride, but in that moment, long,
slender fingers had found their way around his shoulder. His back
hit the ground before he realized he’d been thrown down and a
weight pressed down on his chest with enough force to squeeze out
whatever air was left in him.

“You.” The figure hissed,
holding him firmly down with a shiny black boot. “You’re no hero.”
The voice was distorted and rough, nearly unintelligible. “There
are no heroes here.” The voice was louder this time, but no less
distinguishable.

He realized the voice was in his head.

The weight upon his chest
was relieved and the dark figure slowly backed away. “There are no
heroes.” It hissed.

On shaking legs, Sky
forced himself upright. He tried to judge the distance to the door,
it was still his best option. “I’m not trying to be a
hero.”

From the figure came a
deep, guttural growl. “No heroes.”

A glint of metal caught Sky’s eye as the
figure withdrew an old bullet-load gun from inside the folds of the
flowing robes.

Sky’s hands shot out in a
defensive manner, “Stop!” Desperation had found its way into his
voice. “I don’t know what you want.”

A heavy laugh escaped from
the shadowy depth of the hood and the figure lowered the gun
slightly and straightened. “You will.”

Every cell in his body
screamed in that instant to just run, but he found himself frozen
to the ground.

If there was an
opportunity, it was missed. The figure leveled the gun at him once
again and let out a guttural, primal scream that was soon
overpowered by the sound of the muzzle blast.

Chapter
Twelve

There was a familiar sound
in his head, steadily getting louder through the haze of
unconsciousness. A bird maybe, an insect, or perhaps it was just a
ringing in his ears. Sky opened his eyes slowly, the room was a
blur, but it was definitely the fuzzy outline of his room. The old
crack in the ceiling above his bed led his eyes into focus just as
a loud knock sounded on his bedroom door.

The quick stutter of knocks gave Al away
even before his voice made it through the thick wooden door. “Are
you in there, Sky?”

He held a hand to his
temple, the dull ache behind his eyes made him cringe at the sound
of his friend’s cheerful call. No voice could be found through the
rough, dry desert that was his mouth when he lifted his head to
respond.

Soon, there was a mess of
golden curls poking through his doorway. “So, you are alive.” Al
laughed too loudly as he sprang into the room. “Come on man, get
up.” He slapped the nightstand firmly.

Sky felt a twist in his gut, but he didn’t
know why. He wanted to think, but his brain felt muddy. He looked
around the room, moving his head slowly with the fear that if he
moved too fast, he might miss something important.

From the stack of
magazines on the nightstand, to the Academy uniform hanging on the
door, everything looked to be in order.

“
Man, are you going to
barf?” Al put on a disgusted face and took a step back. “You look
like you were out all night. What, did you stop at a tank on the
way back?”

“No.” Sky shook his head,
squelching up his face and covering his eyes, as Al threw open the
blinds.

“You weren’t at the stop
so I figured you accidently slept in, and after yesterday, I guess
I was a little worried too. What are you wearing?” Al looked over
his shoulder at him as he undid the latch to the window.

Sky blinked heavily and looked down, “I
think they’re pajamas.”

Al gave half a smile and
heaved the window open. “He’s alive. But we’re going to be a few
minutes late. You can go on ahead if you want.” He leaned out the
window and yelled out into the open air.

Al’s voice was like thunder inside his
skull. Sky winced and couldn’t help his hands from covering his
ears, “Who are you shouting at?”

“Lee came with me, he was
worried too.” Al looked quizzically at him, “You sure you’re all
right?”

“
Lee?” The name was
familiar, like a name he should really know.

“Yeah, Lee. Big guy, red
hair. Lives in that creepy old stone house a few miles down. Rides
the transport with us every day.”

Sky nodded since it seemed the right thing
to do.

“Are you
sure
you’re all right?”
Al’s small face twisted up in concern.

Sky was pretty certain he didn’t answer him
the first time. “Yeah. Just a little tired. I don’t think I slept
very well.”

“
I can’t tell, you look
amazing. Now, get dressed, we’ll meet you downstairs.” Al was at
the door before Sky realized he had crossed the room. “I was
kidding, by the way - you look awful.”

The sound of the door
closing brought him temporary relief. A deep intake of air helped
to clear his head. He swung his legs over the side of the bed until
they were greeted by the warm wood of the floor. Sky tried to
stand, but a stab of pain in his chest brought him back down to the
bed. With a grit of his teeth he was able to stand and begin the
long journey across the worn out planks. He shuffled towards the
door he wondered if he really was getting sick. The dull ache of
his body, the burn in his chest, the haze in his brain – he had
never felt so…off.

He tried to piece together
the remnants of his dream into something coherent. It had been so
vivid and real at the time, but as his mind slowly began to shake
the fog of unconsciousness, it fell into scattered bits of
haphazard imagery. Sky pulled off his shirt, a shirt two sizes too
small, and rubbed at his chest, knowing the lingering ache was
simply his overactive imagination.

“There are no heroes.” He
said aloud in the empty room. There was no context to put the
phrase in, but the words still rang clear in his mind.

Al called out to him
again, urging him to hurry up. Throwing on his uniform and
gathering what he hoped was the right assortment of books from the
heap on his desk he rushed out of his room. Once in the hallway, he
was stopped by the ornate mirror that hung on too thin a wire. It
wasn’t his face that caught his attention, but a memory. Setting
down the books onto the table below the mirror; he found himself
mesmerized by his own reflection. It was the strangest feeling that
crept its way out from the pit of his stomach. His head snapped
right and he stared through the doorway into his room. The feeling
of unease began to overtake his senses – pulling at him like unseen
arms, urging him to retreat downstairs. But, no, there was
something he was missing. Something he needed to go back
for.

Al bellowed again at him,
but his voice was just a noise with no meaning. Sky’s body began to
tense as he crossed the threshold into his room as if preparing for
an attack. A burning sensation in his chest radiated outward into
every inch of his body. What was it? What was making him so
uneasy?

A hand clamped down onto
his shoulder. He let out a cry of surprise and spun around,
thrusting his arms out.

“Seriously?” Al jumped
back, his hands raised in alarm.

“
Is everything all right?
We were concerned.” Lee towered just behind Al.

Raising a hand to his head he let out a long
exhale, trying to calm his racing heart. “I’m sorry guys. I just…”
He looked around his room. What was wrong with him?

“
You are distressed.” Lee
uncrossed his arms and took a long stride forward, “I do not mean
to pry, but I can not help but hear the turmoil that is surrounding
you.”

“
No, I know. I think
really loud. I’ve been told that a few times.” He hadn’t met many
telepaths in his life, but every one that he did cross paths with
told him the same thing.

“What’s wrong? Did
something happen?” Al’s chin rose – he was putting on his serious
face.

Seeing Al in such a state made it even
harder to say, “I had a bad dream.”

Al stared at him for a
beat. He just looked at him with a stone cold expression of concern
before raising his left eyebrow ever so slightly. “Lee, this is
more serious than we thought. We’re going to need some nightlights
and a whole lot of teddy bears. I’ll check to make sure he didn’t
wet the bed.”

“What is a teddy bear?”
Lee mumbled as Al walked past Sky into the center of the
room.

“
Al, I know it sounds
stupid,” to say the least, “but it’s really got me freaked out.” He
pleaded. “You know I’m not one to make a big deal out of
things.”

“
On Agon we take our
dreams very seriously.” Lee nodded, once again crossing his arms
over his broad chest.

“
I’m pretty sure you guys
take everything very seriously.” Al plopped himself down onto the
bed, back to his normal lighthearted self.

“You think it was more
than a dream though, am I correct?” Lee turned his full attention
over to Sky.

He didn’t know how to
respond. Lee had read deeper into his thoughts than he did. Sky
rubbed at the back of his stiff neck, unsure of what to
say.

“
You do not have to say
it, but if you did choose to, I would agree with you.”

Sky’s ears perked up and
he finally met Lee’s unfaltering gaze.

“There is an energy in
here.” Lee went on. “It is unfamiliar and I would have to
say…unpleasant.”

Al’s interest was caught;
he bounced up from the bed and looked around the room.

“
I don’t understand.” Sky
shook his head.

“Yeah, I feel it too.” Al
had his eyes closed in concentration. “It’s really faint, but there
is, like this, real heavy energy hanging around.”

“
What was the dream
about?” Lee asked.

He found it harder to
remember, now that he had to. “I don’t really remember much, but
basically I think there was somebody here. All I really remember is
shadows…and pain.” He shook his head trying to shake loose any last
bits of information that might be lodged deeper in his brain, but
nothing came of it.

Al’s face twisted up,
trying to hide a smile “That’s not really descriptive, at
all.”

Lee’s face had gone slack.
“Shadows, you say.” He whispered and backed up a step. “What do you
remember about the shadows?”

Sky wasn’t sure what to
make of his reaction. “I dunno. Like, this guy, he was made of
shadows.” He could almost see the swirls and billows of the
blackness that surrounded him.

Lee regained most of his
composure and straightened his already straight back, “I see.” He
said simply.

“Shadows, eh?” Al had
wandered over to the far wall, “Hey, didn’t you used to have a
bunch of bottles and crap here?” He pointed up to the empty shelf
that hung above his head.

“
I don’t think so.” Sky
turned his mouth down. He didn’t even realize he had a shelf in his
room. “Maybe.” He shrugged.

Al gave him a quizzical look, “Do you think
someone was actually here?”