Axiom Theory: Book Four of the Shadow Series (31 page)

“We can manage her,” he said forcefully. “You should go down and help.”

Though she’d promised Alyssa she’d stay, Iku’s words sent a charge through her that she couldn’t ignore. It was what she wanted to hear. Seeing Prim and making sure he was okay was paramount. She backed away and, releasing her hold on Ashley, motioned for Richardson to take his place.  “There you go, soldier boy,” replied Lauren. “What do you plan on doing with girlfriend here anyway? You got any ideas?”

“No,” he replied. “I thought you guys had that all figured out.”

Lauren raised her eyebrows. “To be honest, I’d hoped they’d be dead by the time I got here. I wasn’t planning on taking prisoners.”

“Cliff, the Lieutenant, and I can hold her,” said Iku.

“I can help!” shouted Aiden.

Iku looked down and
, with a genuine smile, replied. “You sure can, little one. You sure can.”

Aiden stepped forward and rested a hand
on Ashley’s leg. Though Lauren was right next to him, supplying him with all of the strength and energy he’d ever need, he tried to concentrate on taking it from the stranger.

Just as Aiden’s tiny hands touched her, Ashley kicked her leg sideways
, but Aiden held on determinedly.

Lauren
ignited and regained her grip, seething through clenched teeth as the wind rush from Ashley’s lungs. “Do that again, and I’ll turn you into a pile of dust,” she growled. “To be honest, I’d prefer it that way, so if you want to do me a favor?” Her grip was so tight that she knew Ashley couldn’t reply. She relaxed it a touch to see what the Reaper had to say. With no response other than a fearful glance, Lauren turned to Iku. “She’s all yours,” she said. “Scared to death and weak as a new born chick.” She waited for him to ignite and to take over her grip on Ashley, but he only stared at her with a blank expression.

“Well?” asked Lauren impatiently.

“I’ve got her,” replied Iku humbly. “You go on ahead. Prim needs you.”

Without averting her stare, she stepped down one step and released her hold on the Reaper.

“Go!” commanded Iku.

Lauren looked to Aiden. “I’m supposed to keep an eye on him.”

“He’ll be alright with us,” replied Cliff. “We’ll watch over him.”

“I’ll be fine, Auntie, really,” said Aiden as he gripped Ashley’s leg.
“Grandpa Cliff will keep me safe.”

She couldn’t help the upturning of her lips.
“Damn, he’s cute,”
she thought to herself. With one last rub of his head, Lauren turned, phased to the Shadow realm, and raced towards the world below.

“You sure about this?” asked Cliff of Iku.

“About what?” replied Iku.

“The three of us keeping her under control?”

“Four!” shouted Aiden as Lieutenant Richardson stepped around him.

As he placed a hand on Ashley’s back,
the Lieutenant looked down to Aiden and then lifted him into his arms. “That’s right, kid. Four,” he said with a wink.

“Hey, you wink like Grandpa Cliff,” exclaimed Aiden.

The adult spirits all glanced to one another and, with an affirming nod, took their final positions and began their ascent. With Iku on the left, Richardson and Aiden behind, and Cliff on the right, Ashley put up little if any resistance.

Step by step, the climbed higher until they could see the
light filtering in through the opening just above. Wisps of dust were swirled around it, propelled by what appeared to be a strong breeze.

“Leave the talking to me,” said Richardson as the light of the surface touched their faces. “My commander will hopefully have a plan on what to do with her.”

Their heads breaking into the daylight simultaneously, Iku, Ashley, and Cliff squinted as their eyes adjusted to the light. The crack of a single gunshot echoed in their ears and, before anyone of the spirits had time to react, Ashley’s energy disappeared as the back of her head exploded and her body dropped to the ground.

Losing their source
of power, each of the spirits’ form faded as they looked to the ground. There Ashley lay with a single bullet hole in her forehead; her eyes rolling eerily into the back of their sockets so that the whites were nearly all that was visible.

In shock,
Cliff looked to Richardson and realized that Aiden was gone.

Playing cat and mouse in and out of the Shadow world used to be fun for Prim. When he was younger, he and Jenz played it all of the time. It was one of the things that helped him to realize that his abilities were above what most of his kind were given. Now, it was the only advantage keeping him alive.

With his energy already depleted, phasing in and out of realms taxed his stores even more. When he’d arrived at the main room at the end of the corridor, his stomach turned at the sight of the dead infants lying on the ground amongst the debris. He tried not to look at them as he passed, instead, choosing to focus on the far corner of the room.

The bodies of what appeared to be two lab workers were piled in front of
(by appearances anyway) a closet door. Though both of them lied face down, Prim could still see that their heads were oddly shaped and he had no desire to investigate the cause.

Knowing that Casper would be coming any second, he had no choice but to hide in the closet and
to try and let himself recharge before he was found. He quickly phased, stepped through the door and, for a moment, thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

As he phased back, he found himself standing at the end of a cavernous room. It was easily the length of a football field and had a ceiling that was
over forty foot high. It almost reminded him of a coliseum, as there were what appeared to be viewing areas along the walls that were set off the ground mid-way between the floor and ceiling. At the far end was a row of three large overhead doors and, running down the center of the room, were giant column of woven steel that served as supports for the ceiling. These were connected to a network of steel trusses high overhead. About every twenty feet, an insanely bright light hung, and Prim could hear the hum of the electricity flowing through each of them.

A glimmer of hope rushed through him as he realized this room would be ideal for the most ultimate game of cat and mouse, but to use his gift to its full advantage, he needed to kill the lights. He
positioned his hands towards the ground and burst into the air towards the centermost viewing platform in hopes that the controls for the room would be there. As he landed, he saw that there was nothing. There weren’t even any seats. He looked back towards the door from which he entered and let out a growl. “Damn it, Prim. You idiot,” he muttered to himself.

He could see the panel to the wall just to the left of the door. Angered, he jumped from the ledge and propelled himself to the panel. His approach was too fast and, as he landed about ten feet in front of the wall, he lost his footing and tumbled into
it. He forced himself to stand and, as he placed his hand on the monitor, he saw a shadow appear in his peripheral vision.

The glow from Casper’s torso told him all that he needed to know. In one quick motion, he released a pulse that sent the room plummeting into darkness and himself flying straight backwards into the abyss. As he flew through the air, he could see Casper’s glowing form still standing at the doorway. Landing on his back, he slid across the smooth floor and quickly scrambled to his feet to hide behind one of the columns.

“You think that’s going to help you?” Casper shouted.

Prim suddenly found himself thankful for his depleted energy. He looked to his core and, while it lacked the intensity of Ca
sper’s, the light still gave away his position. His gaze leveled in time to watch Casper throw his arms forward. The force of the pulse shook the steel column in front of him and the vibrations resonated throughout the room.

He’d made a critical mistake in not realizing the darkness would make it easier to be seen. His only hope was to let go of the one thing that was always able to save him in the past.

Closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself. He thought of Lauren. He pictured her on that first day that she had come to his home. He remembered the feeling he had when he watched her. He knew that his life had been forever changed by her presence.

When he opened his eyes, the space around him had grown completely dark. As he looked away from Casper, the cavernous black ahead left few clues as to how far away from the end of the room he actually was.

“Marco!” called Casper.

Prim could see the red flashes on the floor to his left were intensifying. His first instinct was to ignite his power, but he knew that would be a mistake. Instead, he ran straight ahead. Holding his arms out in front of him, he prayed that he wouldn’t find the next column with his face. As his outstretched fingers collided with the cold steel, he winced slightly as his middle finger jammed, but without hesitation, he quickly turned to his right and continued to run. With each step
, he tried to sense Casper’s location. It wasn’t difficult as the Reapers surging energy pushed him as if he were a sail. He could feel the waves crashing on his right side and continued to run until they began to push on his back.

With a loud smack, he slammed into something solid and dropped to the ground with a thud. He lay on the ground holding his face in his hands. He was paying so much attention to Casper’s location that he hadn’t considered how close he was to a perimeter wall.

“You are drained, aren’t you?” shouted Casper in a snide voice. “The kid sucked you dry, didn’t he?”

Prim remained silent and stood. He hugged the wall and walked slowly in the direction from which Casper was coming. His heart pounded as he came even with him. He held his breath as the Reaper casually glanced in his direction, but then, as
Casper looked away, he continued swiftly past and towards the entrance.

“We’ve never been properly introduced,” called Casper. “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know how Isaac missed you.”

Prim turned and watched as Casper continued to walk away from him down what he thought was the center of the room.

“You know, it’s too bad for you, really. Isaac would have given you a choice,” called Casper as he reached out and wrapped a hand around a steel column. “I’m not going to give you that choice. I’m going to be honest with you. You’re going to die today.”

Prim waded through the darkness as Casper’s voice disappeared into a dramatic pause. Suddenly the metal overhead began to hum and ring. Though he couldn’t see it, he could feel the structure begin to vibrate. He looked over his shoulder and saw Casper’s energy swell as he gripped the steel column.

The sounds of concrete and steel buckling set his senses on fire. Prim turned to run for the door and behind him, the room flashed with light so brightly that his shadow appeared on the wall before him. His next step was met with a crushing force on his right arm. Having had little time to recharge, Prim ignited what little energy he had, but before he knew what was happening, he found himself being thrust forward into the wall.

His left shoulder hit first and his collar bone snapped. Blind with pain, he screamed.

“Ah, that’s it!” shouted Casper joyfully as he approached.

Prim clutched his left arm as it hung limply to his side. He looked up to see Casper’s smiling face as he approached. Reaching down deep inside, Prim summoned a pulse and threw his right arm at Casper, but the Reaper was too fast and phased to the Shadow realm before it hit him.

The flash of Casper’s reappearance blinded Prim as he materialized directly in front of him. Without words, Casper punched Prim in the stomach, forcing the air from his lungs and dropping him to his knees.
Instantly, Prim felt his body began to tremble. He felt each molecule within him dancing as the light from above intensified. He knew what was coming. He tried to stand, but his body would not respond. Just as he closed his eyes, ready to accept the end, everything stopped.

The room was filled with a loud white his
s, at least that’s how his ears heard it. He looked up and Casper was gone. Flashes of red and blue light flickered on the walls and, as he looked for the source, he could not believe his eyes when he found it.

Lauren raged through the center of the columns as Casper’s body continued to tumble across the floor. Just as he came to a stop, she threw her arms forward again, releasing a pulse so large that it shook
the entire room.

Casper’s body careened into
a section of the concrete wall between two of the overhead doors with a sickening thud. As she approached, Lauren could see that his power was faint. Lying on his side, blood trickled down his forehead and onto the ground while his mouth hung open with his lower jaw hanging limply. Just as Lauren began lean over him, a blue light erupted from the top of Casper’s head.

With the speed of a lightning bolt, Casper jumped from the ground and pulsed into the air, weakly propelling himself back towards Prim and the door. Surprised by the speed with which he could heal, Lauren pivoted while reaching out with her right arm and ripped Casper
from the air. Throwing her arm to the ground, she watched as Casper’s body slammed into the smooth concrete floor.