Axiom Theory: Book Four of the Shadow Series (9 page)

With a glancing thought, he knew that the others were going to be pissed, but in the present
, it didn’t matter. His dimmer switch had never worked properly; his anger was either on or off. It seemed that no amount of time could teach him to control his emotions.

****

As Alyssa and Aiden approached the house, she noticed the crack in the living room window and could hear the door rattling on its hinges. A decorative sign that hung next to the door fell from its nail as they approached.

“What in the world is going on?” she asked aloud to herself.

Answering innocently, Aiden replied. “Is it an earthquake?”

Without answering, she proceeded forward with Aiden’s hand in hers and walked through the front door. Feeling a tug from Aiden, she stopped and turned back. Her right hand was
still on the outside of the door grasping his hand. She leaned forward, allowing her head to go through the door, and looked down at the boy whose eyes were wide with fear.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

With a slight stutter, Aiden replied. “You…you…you just went through that door.”

Forgetting for a moment that something was happening in the living world, she exited the house completely and crouched down beside Aiden. “Yep,” she replied exuberantly. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Aiden’s expression didn’t change.

“You can do it too,” said Alyssa, trying to make it sound like an amusement park ride.

The boy’s nose wrinkled as he looked back and forth between the door and Alyssa. “Does it hurt?” he asked.

Wondering exactly how long he’d been a spirit, she found it hard to believe that he’d not yet experienced this sort of thing. “Of course not, silly!” she exclaimed, tickling his stomach. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Alyssa stood and walked casually through the door once again and stood on the other side expecting Aiden to follow. She waited several seconds before poking her head through the door. “Are you coming?” she asked.

Aiden looked up to her with a look that still reflected his apprehension.

“I promise. It’s not going to hurt,” she said.

The boy stepped up to the door and Alyssa watched as he thought for one more moment. Suddenly, she couldn’t help but giggle as Aiden’s cheeks inflated with air as he closed his eyes and pressed his face towards the door. She backed away and watched as his puckered lips and cheeks were the first thing to ap
pear on the inside of the door.

“Good job, buddy. Keep coming,” she said.

Aiden continued a couple more steps after being completely inside, not even knowing that his task was complete. Before Alyssa could offer her praise, Lauren’s voice appeared behind her.

“And who is this?”

Alyssa shot upright and spun around, finding herself face to face with Lauren and Prim who were standing with them in the spirit realm.

“Uh,” was the only response she could muster
as she glanced back to little Aiden.

“You bringing home strays?” Lauren quipped.

Alyssa felt herself become flushed as she stood in the cramped and crowded entryway. With the four of them standing in such close proximity, she was even more uncomfortable. She hadn’t thought about explaining things to the others, only about how to deal with Test.

As the door hinges began to rattle once again, she saw an opportunity to change the subject.
“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Damn that boy and his temper,” said Cliff, appearing around Prim’s side. “That fool boy has done lost his head. I expect this episode will draw some notice from folks ‘round here too.”

“What happened?” asked Alyssa.

With a sideways grin, Lauren was happy to answer. “Oh, we told him that he had to stay here while we all went out and did some reconnaissance
so he threw a temper tantrum about it.”

With his arms folded across his chest, Prim continued. “And in the process could have given away our locatio
n.” He looked to Cliff. “
Fool boy
is right.”

Alyssa looked down to Aiden again with a grin as he wr
apped his arms around her leg, obviously frightened by the loud strangers in front of them. “Well,” said Alyssa. “It’s been a long time since he’s gone off the deep end, right?” She looked between Cliff, Lauren, and Prim, waiting for one of them to at least nod their head. When none of them did anything more than scowl at her, she tried to defend her love one more time. “He’s done well for a long time, controlling his emotions I mean. He doesn’t talk about it, but I know he struggles with a lot of things.”

“And that is exactly why he has to stay here!” shouted Prim.

Aiden buried his face into Alyssa’s leg and began to whimper. She reached down and rubbed his back while shooting Prim a scowl of her own. “Can we please stop shouting?” she asked firmly.

Not having acknowledged the young spirit
yet, Cliff took a step forward and knelt down at Aiden’s side.

“Well hello there, youngin’. What brings you here with Ms. Alyssa?” he asked.

The old man watched as the boy allowed his right eye to leave Alyssa’s leg in order to get a look at who was talking to him. Giving him a quick wink, he smiled and asked, “What’s your name, son?” The boy quickly buried his face once again, but then immediately peeked back out at Cliff.

“His name is Aiden,” said Alyssa.

With a pat on the boy’s shoulder, Cliff said. “Well hello there, Aiden. I’m Cliff. Pleased to meet you.”

Slowly
, Aiden revealed more of his face; his large brown eyes glistening from the tears that had nearly come rushing moments before.

“I’m sorry if we scared you,” said Cliff
. “It’s been a spell since any of us were around a youngin’ like you.” He watched as Aiden glanced fearfully to Prim. With a gruff chuckle, Cliff extended a hand towards both Prim and Lauren. “These are my friends, Lauren and Prim.”

The boys expression suddenly change
d, his nose wrinkling in a way to cause Cliff to chuckle a little more. “What’s the matter, son?” he asked.

Aiden glanced between Prim and Cliff several times before answering. “That’s kind of a funny name,” he said in
the candid way that only the innocence of youth could get away with.

Though he was still upset with Test, the little boy’s comment brought a small grin to Prim’s lips. “Yeah, I hear that a lot,” he replied. Turning to Alyssa,
Prim tried to be as polite with his questioning as the moment allowed. “So, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?” He watched as Alyssa’s eyes grew wide. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to like her answer. Without taking his eyes off of her, he spoke to Cliff. “Cliff, would you mind taking our young visitor into the other room for a minute? Lauren and I need to speak with Alyssa.”

The old man stood and extended his hand for the boy to take,
but Aiden continued clutching Alyssa’s leg tightly.

“
It’s okay,” said Alyssa as she gently pried Aiden’s arms from her. “He might look a little rough, but Cliff’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.”

Slowly Aiden released
his grip and took Cliff’s hand. Walking past Lauren and Prim, the two of them strolled out of the room with Aiden looking over his shoulder most of the way.

Turning themselves to make sure that the boy was out of the entry way, Prim and Lauren
phased back to the world of the living.

“Spill it,” said Lauren
, she and Prim standing menacingly as Alyssa materialized. “Why’s the kid here?”

Fidgeting with her shirt, Alyssa replied. “Well, you see, I was out
walking in the woods and came along this camp.”

“Stop,” said Prim firmly while raising his right hand. “We don’t have time to recap your morning. Just tell us why the boy is here.”

“Jeeze,” said Alyssa as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “I didn’t think doing the right thing would cause so much of an issue.”

Prim and Lauren were both unfazed by her comment. They remained motionless while awaiting Alyssa’s answer.

“Fine,” said Alyssa. “He died recently, but didn’t know it until I told him.” She watched as the two Shadow’s expressions lightened slightly. “You should have seen him,” she continued. “He thought his parents were mad at him. He said they never talked to him anymore or gave him any attention.”

“So
, what, you’re going to adopt him?” asked Prim with a light hint of malice in his voice. “That’s the last thing we need right now, a child to worry about.”

Alyssa’s eyes shot to the floor. When she looked up, she noticed that Lauren was staring at Prim with the color completely washed out of her face.
She watched as Lauren slowly raised her right hand to her stomach.

“Lauren,” asked Alyssa. “Are you feeling okay?”

As if coming back from another world, Lauren’s head snapped to Alyssa as she nodded fervently.

“Don’t try to change the subject,” barked Prim.

“I’m not!” shouted Alyssa defensively. “And don’t yell at me!”

Brimming with frustration, Prim rubbed his face. “I apologize. It’s been a long morning.” He glanced to Lauren and
could clearly see why Alyssa asked if she was alright. “Are you okay?” he asked taking her elbow into his hand. “You look very pale all of the sudden.”

Chewing on her lip
and yanking her arm away, Lauren gave a curt response. “I’m fine.”

Alyssa took the opportunity to consider her options. She knew she had to ask Test to help Aiden give his final goodbyes to his parents, but Prim and Lauren didn’t necessarily have to know about it, especially if Test was staying behind when they all were leaving.
She could deal with Test after they were gone. “Look,” she said, interrupting the awkward moment between Prim and Lauren. They both turned to her though Lauren’s eyes seemed distant. “He just needed a friend. He was scared and I didn’t want to leave him alone. I haven’t committed to anything, so don’t get all worked up. Okay?”

More concerned now with Lauren’s behavior than the presence of the
kid, Prim replied. “Yeah, whatever.” He turned back to Lauren who refused to make eye contact with him. “What’s the matter?” he asked, attempting to touch her arm again. Once more she pulled away.

“Nothing,” she replied as she turned and walked away towards the bathroom.

Prim’s brow furrowed as he looked back to Alyssa. “What the hell just happened there?” he asked.

Concerned herself, she looked over his shoulder and watched as Lauren disappeared from view. “I don’t know,” she replied though she had her suspicions. “Why don’t you let me talk to her, okay?”

Nodding his head weakly, Prim simply turned and walked into the living room, plopping himself on the couch, resting his head on the wall behind it.

****

Test sat in the middle of the crater with his arms wrapped around his knees. Though it had taken a bit of doing on his part, he had managed to calm himself enough to think a little more clearly. Unfortunately, after moments such as what had just transpired, the clarity brought about intense feelings of regret.

He knew it was a mistake to have released such power. Had Isaac still been alive, he most certainly would have revealed his location.
Now, he didn’t know who might be watching. What he did know is that he was going to catch hell from Prim and Lauren when he returned. Worse, he would get a speech from Cliff which would only leave him feeling worse than he already did.

Suddenly
, he heard the sounds of a helicopter in the distance. “Shit,” he whispered as he picked up a small rock and hurled it through the air. He looked up, but couldn’t see the craft just yet. Instead of waiting, he chose to phase to the spirit world to remain hidden from the unwelcomed visitor.

The sound of the helicopter’s blades sent chills down his spine. It seemed every time he’d heard them in recent memory, they were coming for him
, or because of something that he’d done.

He remained seated in the same position, though the view of the world around him had changed. Blurred lines whipped like visible wind as he continued
into look to the sky. Finally, after a short wait, an orange and white helicopter appeared over the top of the trees and was flying alarmingly low. He watched as it hovered on the edge of the crater, obviously surveying the scene and looking for an explanation. He half-heartedly chuckled to himself as he thought of what he’d hear on the radio later tonight.

With the craft still hovering overhead, he stood, looked up, gave a quick salute, and rushed
with otherworldly speed into the cover of the forest.

Since Destin’s powers had come to be, Ashley’s days had been spent teaching the boy how to do the simple things. She found it best to keep Casper out of the picture, as his constant spewing of condescending remarks kept Destin from even trying half of the time.

Quite by accident, she had discovered the perfect spot for their training sessions. Destin had seen an advertisement for Jenkinson’s Boardwalk on the television and wouldn’t stop nagging her about going. “You don’t even know what that is,” she’d told him over and over again. But it didn’t matter. He saw other kids laughing and having fun and told her that he would try harder if she would take him there.