Shadow of Doubt: Part 2 (6 page)

“What about Nanny?”

He grimaced at the mention of her
name. “I don’t know her exact creation date. She’s American,
probably from the thirties.” He grabbed her other foot. “Next topic
or question.” He didn’t want to think about Nanny anymore
tonight.

“What happens if you don’t go into a
pay phone at dawn?”

“I’d be eliminated. It’d be like
suicide, I suppose.”

“Ouch. I’ll skip that topic as well.”
She pulled her skirt up a bit so he could rub her lower leg. “Do
Shadows have ESP?”

He glanced to see if she was joking,
but her face looked serious. “I can’t read other people’s minds or
communicate with other Shadows in my head, if that’s what you
mean.”

“You don’t really have any super
powers?” Aurora smiled like she was thinking about something but
wasn’t going to mention aloud.

“Nope. Just immortality.” He grinned
when he caught on to her subtle hint. “And maybe special powers in
the bedroom. Would you care to test them out?” He shifted forward,
still holding her legs.

“Wait!” She held her hands up in mock
surrender. “I still have more questions, and if we go in there,”
she nodded to the bedroom, “I won’t remember to ask
them.”

“Alright. Five more questions, then
that’s it for tonight.” He relaxed against the couch again and let
his hand travel to the warmth along her inner thigh. “You’re
eventually going to need some shut eye.”

Aurora closed her eyes as Erebus let
his fingers trail up her leg. She pressed her hand over top of her
skirt against his to gently stop him. She opened her mouth but
paused a moment before speaking. “Have you ever been in love
before, with a Shadow or a human? You’ve been around for over a
hundred years…it makes sense.”

It was Erebus’ turn to hesitate. “No.
I guess I’ve never met the right female to shake up my world.
You’re my first.” He grinned, trying to joke.

Aurora sat up and patted his arm.
“You’re my first Shadow, so I guess that makes us about even.” She
pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. “What about these
Shadow rules? You talk about these laws like they’re
sacred.”

“The laws are sacred. They were made
thousands of years ago by Shadows who no longer exist.”

“They’re dead? I thought you said
you’re immortal?”

“We are. However, if the object you
possess is no longer around, you become extinct as
well.”

“Why laws back then?” She now sat
crossed-legged on the corner of the couch and reached for a
chocolate chip cookie on the coffee table.

Erebus grabbed his empty coffee mug
from the table and walked into the kitchen to refill it. He came
back into the living room. “Laws are needed in every society. We
need them to prevent wars, keep the fear of the gods instilled in
us, and most importantly, to keep us alive. When we first came
about, humans knew about us and treated us as gods. They feared us.
Most kept their distance. However, times changed and stories grew
into folklores. We became hunted, so we hid. We set up simple rules
to follow to have humans oblivious to us. Time continued to tick,
and these rules evolved and became laws.” That was what he
knew.

“Yeah, but if Shadows have evolved,
humans have, too. Probably hand in hand. To be honest, you still
don’t seem much different than me, except your job takes you away
during the day. What happens when you’re in the booth?”

Erebus flashed a quick smile. He liked
her analogy. His day job was covering a pay phone. “I guess you
could say I disappear. I act as the phone’s shadow. I’m just an
occlusion, not a person with a brain or a memory…just the thing
stretching across the sidewalk. Maybe something does happen, but I
never remember in the morning. Maybe there’s some other world I go
to that has no memory of this life, like I have no memory of it.”
His shoulders shook as he laughed silently. “I’m just making that
up. I probably shouldn’t joke.”

“If we’ve all evolved, why is it a big
secret for Shadows now not to come forward?” Aurora brushed a crumb
off her shirt.

“Fear. At least that’s what I think.
Fear of getting caught by you and being destroyed. Can you imagine
what the world would do to us? If humans felt threatened by us?
We’d be treated like some alien coming to visit earth. Our brains
put in jars for display.” He rolled his eyes at the thought. “We’re
immortal. Most Shadows would prefer to stay that way. Imagine some
army colonel keeping us out in the day just too teach us a lesson?
We’d eventually all just disappear.”

“That’d be kind of a bummer.
Especially since we’d be experimenting on how you functioned and
worked. Forcing a Shadow to try and possess some other object or
who knows what else.” She snapped her finger. “No need for a lawyer
to protect you. Speaking of that, who upholds justice if your laws
get broken?”

“The Night Council.”

“Who’re they? A bunch of old guys
playing judges?”

Erebus felt the corners of his mouth
curve up at her analogy. “Not quite. It’s five of our oldest
Shadows. They comprised the Council long before even I came into
existence.”

“Like I said; a bunch of old
guys.”

“No, five females: Disciplina,
Indivia, Furena, Laverna, and Poena.”

“That’s their names?” Aurora’s lips
pursed together as she squinted deep in thought at
Erebus.

“Yeah. Five beautiful women who have
the devil’s wrath inside of them.”

“Interesting.”

It was Erebus’ turn to be curious.
“Why?”

“I’ll have to double check, but if I
recall correctly, those are all names of Roman goddesses, maybe
even earlier prehistory times. It’s from that mythology course I’m
taking. I’m going to have to check that book at the library again
for their meanings.”

“Probably Doom and Doomer, Gloom and
Gloomier, and the Punisher.” He grinned. Coty would’ve laughed at
his joke. Aurora just looked confused. “Forget it. It’s too hard to
explain, and it’s getting late. Do you want to stay here tonight?”
It’d be safer for her to leave in the daylight.

“Definitely. If I’m leaving in two
days and you’re going to fight the powers that be.” Her lips
twitched, but she kept her face straight. “I want to spend tonight
with you.” She stood up and reached for his hand to pull him in the
direction of the bedroom. “What about you in the morning? Can you
use this pay phone?” She tapped the British booth as she walked
by.

“It’s set up as a working phone but
not as a pay phone. I think I have to get it converted back to a
paying phone.” He gave a quiet, husky laugh. “I’m still a little
paranoid to test it out. Nearest pay phone from here is two blocks
away.”

“Oh…That’s too bad.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head.
I’ll leave in plenty of time.” He glanced at the bedroom, a raw
hunger deep inside begging to be satisfied.

“Oh, one more question.”

He rolled his eyes before she turned
around.

“Are there any famous Shadows? Like in
Hollywood or anything?”

*****

Erebus shifted
uncomfortably. He fought to push through the darkness and the
current that wanted to pull him back. Struggling to stay conscious,
a new terror pulled on the fringes of his mind he couldn’t place.
Someone was in danger besides himself, and he swirled around
helpless in this oblivion. An angel blurred into his vision and
disappeared into the darkness engulfing him.

“Aurora.” Erebus jumped with a start.
His head brushed against the metal ceiling of the phone booth. He
clung to the sides of the glass walls, trying to steady his racing
heart and the panic.

It was dark outside of the booth, and
the pavement was wet. The snow that had fallen the past week looked
to have disappeared. It must have been a sunny, warm day to melt
it. He stepped out of the booth and opted to head straight back to
his apartment instead of the coffee shop. He could make some of the
French vanilla coffee Aurora had bought.

As he walked, he glanced around to see
if he was being followed. He didn’t sense another Shadow, but when
it came to Nanny, nothing could be assumed. No one seemed to pay
attention to him. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and
stared at the ground in front of him.

He thought about his waking tonight.
He’d never before thought about anything other than fighting the
darkness. To have Aurora in his unconscious thoughts was disturbing
and intriguing at the same time. He knew she was safe and sound
asleep when he left this morning. Nanny had no idea where Aurora
lived, or her last name, or of any other information. Aurora should
be fine for now.

Climbing the stairs to his apartment,
he touched in the keyless entry numbers to his door. The only light
inside came from the phone booth in the middle of the room.
Shrugging out of his coat, he tossed it onto the back of the couch.
The sliding door had been left partly open so the light didn’t turn
off. He pressed his palm against the cool glass, about to close it,
but paused when he noticed the white lined paper taped to the
phone.

His heart missed a beat as worry
filled him. He shoved the door open, stepped inside, and snatched
the folded paper. Stepping inside the K6 helped erase the anxiety,
and he stood calm as he opened the sheet. He noticed Aurora’s neat,
script handwriting.

Welcome home, (excuse the
pun as I put this into the booth!)

I’ve got a group meeting
tonight which might run a bit late. I’ll book a flight today as
well. I’ll call you around midnight, so don’t forget to turn your
cell on.

Hearts, Aurora.
Xoxoxo

Relief flooded through his body. He
thought again about his waking and wondered if it had been some
sort of premonition to something happening tonight. What if Nanny
got to Aurora or what if she went to the Night Council? If she
approached them with concerns Erebus might be in a relationship or
worse, telling a human the truth about himself, she’d create more
problems. The Night Council wouldn’t touch Aurora without proper
proof, but they’d trail him and find out whatever they needed about
her. They might go after Coty or Janus, and putting them in the
line of fire wasn’t a safe thing, either.

Erebus needed to find Janus before
Nanny did. He couldn’t wait till tomorrow night’s meeting. He
stuffed the note into the back pocket of his blue jeans.

He stepped out of the booth and rubbed
his face with both hands. Brushing his fingers through his hair, he
let his hands rest on the back of his head as he tried to think of
a way to find Janus. He had no idea what Janus did during the week,
so he didn’t even know where to begin to look. He could approach
one of the Night Council and see if they had the means to contact
Janus, but that would just arouse their suspicion. He didn’t need
any sort of attention at the moment.

Standing in the dark wasn’t going to
give him any answers, either. He went around the living room and
switched on a few lights. He made his way into the kitchen and
flipped the switch by the counter. He measured out six cups into
his new coffeemaker. As the coffee brewed and delicious aromas
filled the air, he thought about asking Coty if he could help him
find Janus tonight.

A loud pounding on the door made him
almost drop the mug he’d just grabbed from the cupboard. With
trembling hands, he set it on the marble counter and waited to see
if the door-banger would give up and leave. The hammering
continued, louder and harder this time. Insistent.

Erebus watched the percolating coffee
for a moment, wishing the dripping noise would drown out the
knocking and make it disappear. Taking a deep breath, he slowly
stepped out of the kitchen and forced himself to go to the door.
Terror filled his body.

Chapter 5

Worse than a
Nightmare

He wanted to hide. It seemed a much
better idea than opening the door to what might be hidden behind
it. A Shadow stood behind the door. Erebus knew it wasn’t Coty. He
would’ve shouted or pounded with more erratic consistency. That
left only Shadows he would be happy to never see again. Whoever it
was, he needed to open the door before they literally broke it
down.

Spreading his feet shoulder-width
apart, he rested one hand against the wall beside the door, as if
to brace for the worst, and turned the knob. He pulled the door
slightly open. With his gaze downcast, large men’s dress shoes
shifting impatiently crossed his line of vision. His first thought
was of the scarred guard that evening a few months back at the
Night Council. He closed his eyes as he exhaled a long breath and
opened the door a bit more.

“Erebus? Finally! I’ve been knocking
for about five minutes.”

The familiar voice almost made Erebus
burst out laughing with relief. He opened the door fully and spread
his arm wide to let the man into the room. “Janus! I’m happy you’re
here. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get a hold of you. I
didn’t think I’d survive waiting until tomorrow.” He heard his
voice, emotional, too gushing.

“I had a feeling you’d want to see
me.”