Axiom Theory: Book Four of the Shadow Series (25 page)

As she closed the door, a bright flash
behind her forced her shadow to appear on the door. She instantly knew that she was no longer alone. “You don’t listen very well,” she said as she turned slowly.

Reaching out and taking her left arm, Prim pulled her into him. Though Lauren gave no resistance, he could still feel the distance in her spirit. He placed his hand on the back of her head and guided her cheek gently into his chest. He could feel the moisture of her
wet hair penetrating his shirt and wished that he could transfer understanding of his feelings to her as easily as the water penetrated the fabric.

With one cheek pressed firmly against his chest and the other draped in wet hair, Lauren spoke in a quiet, subdued voice. “You’re going to leave soon, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” replied Prim.

“You’re going to tell me that I can’t go, aren’t you?” asked Lauren.

With a sigh, Prim replied. “Yes.”

Her mind told her to pull away, but her heart made her stay. “There’s not really much left to say then, is there?”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” replied Prim as he caressed her back. “I have so much that I need to say, but I don’t know how to make you understand or believe why it’s the right thing.” Releasing her, he guided her to take a seat on the toilet while he pushed the curtain farther back and sat on the edge of the tub. “The only thing,” he began, choking on emotion. “The only thing that means anything to me is you and the baby. You understand that, right?” He watched as her bottom lip began to protrude slightly while her chin began to quiver. He could see her eyes already welling with tears and didn’t know how he was going to keep from doing the same. “Lauren, I can’t pretend to understand the tragedy that was part of your youth. I can’t deny that I was lucky in finding Jenz and being guided by a kind soul. In comparison to the way you had to live your life, I might as well have been in heaven while you were living in hell.” He watched through increasingly blurred vision as she struggled to control herself. “Even so, as happy and pleasant as my life with Jenz was, I still always felt empty; like something was missing.” He reached out and wiped an errant tear from her cheek. “Do you remember when we met?” he asked. As another tear streamed down her cheek, Lauren nodded. With a laugh, Prim continued. “God, you hammered me. I got up from the ground, ready to obliterate whomever it was that just blindsided me. And then I saw you.” He felt the corner of his lips turn up as he chuckled once again. “I don’t know if I can accurately describe the sensation that ran through me in that moment. Sure, I was angered and still aware that Jenz and I were in danger, but something about you pushed a button inside; a button that screamed loudly, but in a language I didn’t immediately understand.” He reached out and took her hands into his. “The first time I heard you speak, you were so bitchy and full of yourself that it took me by surprise. It didn’t matter though. The sensation didn’t go away.” He leaned forward. His voice finally breaking, he did his best to mutter the words. “It has
never
gone away.”

Leaning forward, he kissed her softly and then
rested his forehead against hers. In a near whisper, he spoke. “I
will
come back for you. I promise.”

“I know,” replied Lauren, her voice cracking with pain.

With his lips pressed to her forehead, he whispered once more. “I love you.”

The sincerity of the moment was more than Lauren had ever felt before in her life. As she squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling the warmth of his breath as he exhaled, a river of tears fell from them. Through her eyelids, she didn’t even flinch as the flash of white light
shone brightly through them, signaling Prim’s exit.

“I love you, too,” she whispered. “Please come back.”

****

Test and Alyssa walked through the woods with Aiden
between them as he held their hands. Test tried to step outside of himself and picture the moment. It was almost like a dream. The problem was that it was preceding what was sure to be a nightmare.

Everyone had been relatively silent. With the exception of Aiden occasionally pointing something out, neither of
the adults said anything.

With the morning sun beginning to climb higher in the sky, Test knew that time was running short and that they would have to leave for Kansas City soon.
As they approached a small clearing in the trees, he stopped.

“We’d probably better…”

“I’m going,” blurted Alyssa.

Taken aback, Test’s face scrunched up as he replied. “What?”

Looking him dead in the eye, Alyssa spoke with steel in her voice. “I’m going with you.”

Test began to shake his head emphatically. “No. No, you can’t.”

Alyssa turned and began to lead Aiden back the way they came. She looked over her shoulder as she walked. “I’m going, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me,” she said.

“Alyssa, stop it,” replied Test, taking a couple of quick steps to catch up with her. She didn’t acknowledge him and continued to move forward at a faster pace. He reached out and grabbed her arm, but she instantly released her use of his energy
, allowing his fingers to slip through her essence as fluidly as if it were air. He watched as Aiden stopped with a suddenly fearful look on his face. His hand had slipped through Alyssa’s as well and it frightened him. Only when she saw the look on Aiden’s face did she stop.

“I’m sorry, honey,” she said, bring
ing her form back to solid and squatting down in front of him.

Test walked up behind Aiden and placed a hand on the boy’s head. “You okay, buddy?”

Aiden looked up. His big brown eyes were like a window to his innocence. “Yeah, I’m okay. That just scared me for a second,” he replied.

Test looked to Alyssa whose determination seemed to be wavering. “You have to stay here,” he said softly. “You have to look after
him.”

Alyssa stood. “I can help you,” she said with
great desperation. “I can help you just like we did before.”

Test felt for her and wanted to comfort her, but that wouldn’t change her mind. “It’s not the same, Alyssa. This kid is different. I don’t think that trick will work with him.”

“You don’t know that,” she replied.

“No, I don’t,” answered Test. “But I do know that...”

“What? That you want to keep me safe?” barked Alyssa. “I’m already dead, Test. What more could possibly happen?”

Though he knew she didn’t mean it as he’d heard it, her words might as well have been a
hand grenade exploding in his chest. He dropped his head, ready for the cycle of pity and resentment to begin, when he saw Aiden still looking up to him. The heaviness in his chest went away slightly as the boy turned and wrapped his arms around Test’s right leg. A surge of emotion, the likes of which he’d never felt before, raced through him. He reached down and lifted Aiden, melting as the boy threw his arms around his neck for a hug.

With Aiden firmly attached, Test looked to Alyssa who had tears welling in her eyes. “We have other responsibilities now,” he said, reaching out a hand to her. As she took it, he continued. “No matter what happens, we have Aiden to look after now.”

Taking a step forward, Alyssa replied as a single tear rolled down her cheek. “But what if…”

“I’ll come home,” replied Test, cutting her off. “There is no what if. I promise.”

She took one more small step forward and wrapped her arms around both Aiden and Test. “I don’t know if I can stay here by myself knowing that you are…”

Cutting her off once again, Test replied. “You won’t be alone. Lauren is going to be here too.”

Alyssa quickly recoiled. “What?”

“Prim’s not going to let her go with us
, and I can’t say that I blame him,” he replied as he patted Aiden’s back. The boy had rested his chin on Test’s shoulder.

“But…that...” Alyssa stammered.
Her mind was racing. “That means that it’s three on three, and from what I’ve heard of that boy, you can’t win.”

Test watched as the fear overtook her. Though he was frightened himself and had doubts of his own, he couldn’t let himself be as resolved to his own demise as she was. “I don’t know about that,” he said with a manufactured grin. “Nobody thought I’d beat Isaac either and look…”

“Don’t make fun of me,” interrupted Alyssa.

Dropping his shoulders, he shifted Aiden to the other shoulder as he replied. “I’m not, Alyssa, but it’s the truth. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re fighting yourself!” she shouted, all of the anger and fear raging from her lips. “You’re fighting yourself only more! If all this kid has to do is steal your power, then the twins will destroy you!”

Aiden lifted his head
, stared at Alyssa, and then quickly buried his face in Test’s shoulder while squeezing tightly.

“
Stop yelling,” said Test, motioning to Aiden. “You’re making him upset. Besides, we’ll think of something.”

“You’ll think of something?
You’ll think of something?”
she screamed.

Suddenly, Aiden disappeared from Test’s grasp. Spinning in a circle, Test called out his name. “Aiden!” But he was gone. He turned back to Alyssa, but before he could say anything, she disappeared as well.

Standing in the small clearing, the mid-day sun beat down on the back of his neck. The weight of the world was once again on his shoulders, and he found himself wishing that he could forget his worries as easily as Alyssa and Aiden had just disappeared. He rolled his head back and closed his eyes, allowing the sunlight to pass through his eyelids. This had become one of his favorite methods for calming himself. Ever since sitting in the big tree in Nebraska, the one by the grain elevator, he imagined it as if the light was burning the worries of the moment.

“Everythin’ alright?”

Test’s head snapped forward and he saw Cliff literally walking through a tree. Hanging his thumbs on his pockets, he looked to the ground and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Did you tell Alyssa she can’t go?” asked Cliff as he stopped several feet away.

“I tried to,” replied Test. “She got upset, and then Aiden got upset. They both ran off that way somewhere.” Test pointed off into the trees.

“So what are your plans with that boy?”

Test looked to Cliff with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”

Cliff scratched his chin as he began to walk around Test. “Seems to me you mean to start a family; take him in as your own.”

Test turned and followed Cliff as he paced. “Not necessarily,” answered Test reluctantly. “We’re just going to watch over him.”

“Is that how you think Alyssa sees it?”

Test stopped in his tracks as Cliff continued to stroll in a circle. His brain did a quick spin as he suddenly found himself looking at the situation from Alyssa’s point of view. The revelation that Cliff’s question brought to the forefront made him dizzy. Though he knew he wanted to be with Alyssa, he’d never given children a thought. He’d certainly never considered having an
ethereal
child. It then dawned on him that Aiden would be a child forever, and he wondered if she had considered that at all. He didn’t know if he was ready to accept the level of responsibility that Cliff was proposing. “I hadn’t thought about it like that,” he mumbled to himself.

“Obviously,” chided Cliff as he stopped in front of Test.

Test glared up to the sky and then lowered his gaze upon Cliff. “I guess I could see how she would think that.”

“
Is there something wrong with starting a family?” asked Cliff.

Test huffed. “Well, yeah—with my track record it seems like an asinine thing to do.”

Cliff shook his head and turned his back to Test. “Test, one of these days you’re going to wise up, but I guess it’s not gonna be today.”

Test stared at him. It wasn’t like Cliff to come straight at him like he was
and, though the voice was his, the words suddenly didn’t sound like how the old man typically spoke. Shaking his head, he called out to Cliff as he was walking away. “What?” asked Test. “Why is me wanting to protect those that mean something to me crazy?”

Cliff turned with lightning speed, causing Test to take a step backward. “They’re already dead,
Test! What can possibly happen to us now that’s worse than what’s already happened?”

Test’s fury within began to burn as he clenched his fists at his side
s. “What in the hell is your problem? You think I don’t think about that!” he shouted as two birds rushed from a nearby tree. “You think I don’t live with the fact that Alyssa is dead because of me?”

“Oh, stop feelin
g sorry for yourself,” barked Cliff as he stepped into Test’s space. “I’m not talking about that and you know it. The fact is that there are two people—whether they’re dead or alive doesn’t matter—that need you in their lives. If you can’t commit to that, then don’t string them along for the ride.”

Test’s voice roared through the forest. “I’m not stringing anyone along for anything! I love Alyssa and I’d do anything for her! ANYTHING!” Test watched as a grin appeared on Cliff’s lips and then noticed his eyes beginning to well with tears. The sight of it was staggering; he’d never seen the old man show
so much emotion or pain.