Shadows in Light

I was so in trouble. Utter deep... trouble if I’m truthful. And that sense of fear that Eli brought came back, with a phantom twinge in my stomach and shoulder from the wounds he caused before. We might have had people around us in the houses, but they weren’t going to stop him.

I ran as fast I could. It wasn’t the best plan, but it gave me time to think, even as he chased after me like a Predator.

I glanced back to see him crossing the road behind me, that leer on his face. How the hell was I going to get away from this guy? I was miles away from home, and while I could take him back to Bianca’s I didn’t want to drop trouble onto her lap.

And I wasn’t going to hide behind someone else. I had Power, didn’t I?

I needed a plan. And right now, staying on Rucker Avenue wasn’t the greatest idea, I needed to get to the other end of Everett to get on the bus to Seattle. Having more people to give me some protection seemed like a good idea, so I swung left bolting for the nearby hospital.

You know how people tell you to look before you cross an intersection? Well, it’s a good idea. I didn’t though, and nearby got hit by a car. Only a bit of quick reactions helped me out as I jumped onto the hood of the car, and off to the sound of screaming brakes and occupants. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t risk it, and they weren’t at risk by my guess.

I hoped that was the case, I wanted to live, but I didn’t want others to die for me to live either.

I kept going, zipping along as fast as my feet could carry me. Despite the work I’d done earlier, the adrenaline burning through me meant I like I could run for miles. Which tonight I might have to do if my luck kept up. I ducked between two cars on the sidewalk and kept going down the street, looking back as I did.

Eli had been slowed by the car I’d nearly hit, and with the occupants out yelling at him and me as we raced along, I had almost a block length on him now. I shot across another street with barely a glance. No cars this time, and the hospital was easier to see up ahead.

Behind me there was a yell, and a thundering noise before a flash of light shot past me, barely missing me.

Oh brilliant.

He was throwing that Light at me, the hit a house ahead and burst across it, but the house just absorbed it without any apparent effect, shimmering for a moment as it did in the darkness. Changing my tactic, I decided a straight line was just a dumb idea for me, and veered left onto the road running with any traffic. Probably not the best idea, but hell, that thing in the back of my head wouldn’t be a good idea.

I started summoning up the Shadow as I ran, and when I got to the next street which a sign informed me was Hoyt as I spun in the middle of the crossroads. I locked onto Eli and fired off the Shadow at it.

When I first summoned up the Shadow in my house, a mass came running to me. When I was protecting against Bianca, I didn’t get anywhere near that level. Nor did I when got into my last fight with Eli. My fight in the Underground got a mass of Shadow like at my house once again.

This time however, it was far beyond any of that. I don’t know what caused it, but a bubbling ball as large as my head fired forth. It skimmed a couple of cars as it went, setting off their alarms as it thundered over them before it intersected Eli as he ran. I don’t think he was expecting me to turn and shoot like this, but I know he managed to counter it as a flare of light came up just before it hit him.

But it hit him even with that. There was that horrible screech, and I saw him go flying back, through a fence before he hit some trees with a crash. One collapsed onto the street, and the second one fell back towards the house.

Part of me might have felt sorry for the house owners later. But right now, in the moment I cackled out loud, and shot off again.

Go feet. Get me to that hospital.

I stumbled to the front of the hospital, pausing to catch my breath. I had a few moments by my guess. Looking back, I couldn’t see anything of Eli, I didn’t think he was dead mind, just slowed down. Time to get a plan, and time to hide out while I thought it through.

I ducked into the hospital. This would slow him down by my guess, all the people, guards and what not. No one paid any attention to me as I moved into the waiting room of the hospital, and I kept going through the place into the bathroom. I got my phone out and started searching on the Internet looking for what public transport they had near here.

Thankfully, there was some. I could get one bus from nearby to Lynnwood which was a nearby City, then another bus to go straight into Seattle. Scheduling it might not be the easiest thing in the world. But could be a lot worse.

It was a straight shot across Thirteenth then down Broadway if I wanted to continue this plan. But that seemed plain stupid to do. Straight lines were easy to shoot at, as both myself and Eli just showed.

I showed it better than Eli mind.

And there wasn’t another place I could pick up this bus. Now for the crazy part, I opened my bag and drew my gun, making sure it was loaded, the safety was on, and slipped it into my pocket. If I got caught, I was as ready for trouble. I ate a cookie too.

Because why the hell not.

Exiting the toilet, I thought about where I was, where I wanted to go, and followed my instincts. I went through one door without anyone looking up at my entrance and started along the corridors. I hurried as quickly as I could. I didn’t feel like Eli was right there, but he wasn’t far away. I was still being hunted by him.

Once again, I was moving through a maze of corridors that was within a hospital. This time though I was moving around people. Despite being a little late, there was still quite a few people around, nurses and doctors moving about doing their daily tasks. I felt nervous as I went along, perhaps because of the increased personnel movement, or Eli, or the gun.

Or perhaps all of them added together.

A woman watched me as I walked by her, frowning a little. I saw her considering stopping me, asking herself if I should be here, but her mind decided to either get someone else to do it, or not to bother me. The plus side was I could keep going, the negative side was there might be guards after me shortly. Which would add to my worries and woes for today.

I felt that I had to get out of the hospital, and right now I was going on pure instinct as I ducked down corridors. Up ahead I saw an emergency exit. Well damn. I didn’t want to use one of those, but it was an exit.

I did the naughty thing and hit the bar, pushing my way out as the alarm went off, and bolted.

My bad.

I’d come out onto a road, opposite me was a car park, which I dashed into. Sliding over the wall I smashed into a car, but apparently it wasn’t that great of a car as despite the dent I’d put into the hood as I landed, I didn’t set off an alarm. I couldn’t stop to leave a sorry note, so I called it out as I kept going, heading through the car park.

I stopped running as I went, moving quietly. I could feel Eli wasn’t too far away, and I didn’t want to give anything away if I could help it. Maybe yelling out sorry wasn’t the best idea.

I moved along the car park trying to stay low. Sure, it might look suspicious to anyone watching on any kind of camera, but in theory they might forget about it all? I wasn’t doing too badly at moving quietly when I heard a voice

“Come out come out Ryan. You can’t hide forever boy.” Eli called out. His voice echoed around the car park. I looked around thinking quickly. I needed something to give me the edge, last time in enclosed spaces things went well for him.

I stopped where I was and tried to summon up Shadow, but for the first time absolutely nothing came to me. I tried again, and again got nothing. Something was missing, but I didn’t have time to work it out.

I needed a better idea right now. I looked around quickly, spotting a couple of stones that had gotten pulled in by the cars. I scooped them up, and after a check around, tossed one across the car park so it clunked against a car wheel.

The response was immediate, and honestly quite frightening. There was a shout, and Light flared in the faint light of the car park and shot from around a corner where Eli must have been, zooming into the car where I’d thrown the stone. Unlike before with the house, it didn’t get absorbed.

This time it rammed into the car with a squeal of metal and rubber as it moved backwards, the metal to immediately started to burn and melt as the Light smashed into it and there was a thundering explosion.

The sound was absolutely deafening, movies and TV shows can’t describe how loud this is, especially when it happens in an enclosed space like the first floor of a car park. Flames leapt up from it hitting the ceiling, mushrooming out, the neighboring cars igniting from the flames.

I was thankful I had picked one away from me and crouched down because even at this distance I still fell over for a moment. But I knew I had moments, so I was on my feet in the noise and chaos, and bolted for the barrier, dashing between two cars, and without stopping I jumped through the barrier out into midair, landing in some shrubbery below. I barely stopped as Light hit behind me, and the two cars exploded with another boom of metal and gasoline.

I had my moment again, and I ran. Alarms were going off behind me, not only of cars, but emergency alarms from the hospital and car park as fires blazed. There was another explosion as I smashed into a garden gate and ran through a garden that belonged to a house. Seriously who has a house this close to a hospital?

That wasn’t something to worry about right now. I jumped the fence as I heard a scream behind me. I felt that it was Eli. And I laughed to myself in maniac sense as I landed on the ground. Another mass of houses was in front of me, so I ran heading down the street a bit before I did it again, running through gardens and jumped the fence and as I heard fire and police sirens behind me.

I stopped when I landed in another garden, pausing in the darkness, catching my breath. I was about to head out onto the streets, and I couldn’t risk the police pulling me over and finding a gun on me right now. I could put it in my bag without any likely chance of trouble, so in it went again. I quickly switched shirts and stuffed my old one back in my bag. Grabbing my bottle of water, I quickly washed my hands and face of dirt, and pulled a hat on, my hair going under it before I continued out.

In a few minutes I was on a public street and stood at a bus stop. I could hear a mass of sirens behind me, and everyone was looking in that direction. I behaved as everyone else would and looked that way. You see it all the time in films, people looking suspicious because they’re not curious at what’s going on.

I was not going to be that dumb.

It took a few minutes before a bus arrived and I used my transit card to pay my transport to Lynnwood. I took a seat, pulling out my phone and plugged in my headphones to listen to music as we rumbled down through Everett. The sense of Eli was getting dimmer as we went on. I was leaving him behind, at least for the moment. I took advantage of that, resting back closing my eyes.

It took somewhere around half an hour or so before the bus arrived at Lynnwood Park and Ride. From here I could get a bus to Seattle and continue my journey to get home.

Things were looking up.

We arrived in Lynnwood without incident, and I leaned against a lamp post. My instincts were relaxed by now, I felt safe. I just had to wait for the bus to arrive, then I’d be back in Seattle.

My phone started buzzing and then my ring tone went off in my ears cutting off my music. Looking down at it, I saw Malcolm’s number on the screen.

I answered the phone “Malc...” was all I got off

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” he yelled down the phone, almost deafening me.

I jumped in surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“Everett police scanners are going mad, talking about someone wandering through the hospital hallways, then explosions. I went poking around and saw you in it. What the hell are you doing boy?” His voice might have decreased in volume, but his anger was apparent. Maybe this was why he was grumpy.

I moved away from the few people that were waiting at the bus stop with me.

“It wasn’t me. Well, it was me going through the hallways, but Eli was after me.” The phone line went dead at that for several moments before he whispered back.

“Eli is hunting you. Through Everett streets?”

“He was, I’m not there anymore. I never meant for any of that to happen I swear.”

“Quick boy. Tell me what happened.”

I spoke quickly and quietly, telling him about going to Bianca’s for a job, then when I left Eli catching up with me. The race through the streets. I could hear him muttering as I spoke, repeating my words. I could hear him typing and clicking on a computer as I went on. I got to the part about the hospital when he stopped me.

“Got you coming in. Then... yes! There he is, wouldn’t have spotted him if I weren’t looking for him. I’ve already altered their recordings but kept the copies I stole. You’re not anywhere on their stuff anymore. But you’re going to have to speak to Joseph now, he’s going to be poking around about this okay? I can build you a file to take to him. When you get home, call him up. Ask to speak DIRECTLY to him and him alone. Tell him Eli was hunting you, and you have proof you just need to collect it. You’ll get a couple of days by Law to build your file and present it. I’ll be waiting for you with it. Don’t mention me! You’re going to owe me for this boy.”

“Ryan!” I snapped back at him “My name is Ryan. Not boy, not child. Ryan. I’m thankful for what you’re doing but I deserve my name to be used”

He went silent for a moment, then when he spoke, instead of the expected anger at my own, I could hear him, dare I say it? Smiling? “There we go Ryan. Stand up for yourself. Good, get here quickly as you can.”

“Thank you, Malcolm. I mean it, I won’t say a thing, and I’ll call Joseph when I get back to Seattle.”

Whatever reply he was going to give got cut off in a hiss of static, then my phone went dead. Instead of the sound coming back on, my phone stayed dead. I was about to look at it when the lights around the place went out.

And my instincts kicked in again.

Eli was here.

There was a rush of air that sent dust into my eyes, and with it came a sense of fear. Stronger than before. I wanted to run, and for a moment I was going to. But then another part of me kicked in, declaring that no, I wasn’t going to run. I was tired of that, and it wasn’t helping me. I stood my ground as the people around me screamed, bolting off left and right.

In a few seconds I was left alone in the darkness. I could hear cars passing on the nearby I5 Freeway, but other than that, it felt eerily silent. I reached into my bag and dug out my gun, getting the safety off as I dropped my bag to the floor, looking around as my Sight kicked in. I searched for him. He was close I knew it.

I scanned the area once then twice without seeing anything. Dammit where was he.

Then I looked up.

Hovering many feet in the air above me, was Eli. My eyesight had to be deceiving me. He was. Flying? Seriously? And staring down at me without a care in the world. I focused on him, pointing my gun as without asking for it, my eyesight changed, allowing me to see him.

I didn’t get darkness about this guy. All around him was pure blinding Light in the darkness. He looked a pillar of strength as he flew above me, with giant bright white wings beating in the darkness. He dropped down onto the ground not far in front of me as I stared.

What the? He looked like an Angel. Why would an Angel be chasing me around like this? I faltered in that moment. My arms dropped to my sides.

I couldn’t shoot an Angel.

Then my instincts were flaring up, and I knew he was going to attack me. He had that smirk on his face as his wings settled behind him in my Sight. My arm wanted to rise and fire Shadow at him. I knew it was the right thing for me to do,

But I ignored that and shot at him with the gun instead. It hit him somewhere, causing him to rock back as the sound boomed out. Taking solace in that, I kept on firing.

This asshole had stabbed me, shot me, chased me across a town and caused more destruction than any single person I’d ever seen. I moved closer as I shot at him, gripping the gun with both hands as I did.

I wasn’t the greatest shot in the world, and I reckon only a small few of the shots I fired at him, but they exploded through him, with white Light spraying out behind him, along with a cry. I’d gotten him surprised as he rocked back with each shot that hit him.

My gun clicked empty and those instincts kicked in again. Fire Shadow at him they were screaming. So far ignoring them had worked out well, so I charged without a pause, sliding to a stop in front of him on one foot, putting all my weight onto my other one, and tried to power kick his flying ass onto the I5 with all the force I could muster.

Apparently, I mustered more than strength as Shadow bloomed out as my foot hit him. He shot backwards like a stunt man pulled away, smashing into a dead lamppost as that metal scream was emitted by our colliding forces. I barely kept my balance though, surprised with his sudden leaving.

He gave a cry as the metal lamppost bent from the force of his impact and caused it to lean dangerously over some nearby vehicles that were parked up. I grabbed at something that was stuck out of the ground, pulling out a metal bar and bared down on Eli. I wasn’t giving up this advantage, I wasn’t sure I was going to have it again. He was trying to get to his feet as I swung it at his head, but he moved it before I managed to connect, rolling to one side and pushing himself up as I tried once again to regain my balance.

I got to him before he was on his feet and proceeded to hit him in the stomach, then uppercut to the face, causing him to fall backwards with a groan. I shifted the bar to baseball style and moved to hit him again, and he raised his outstretched hand.

I got Shadow swarming around me into that protective shield before Light burst out and hit me. Instead of flying away, it bounced off into the air like a massive shockwave. The air boomed in time with the screech from the collision, as I flinched from the Light, looking away.

By the time I looked back, Eli had gotten to his feet, although he looked a little shaky on his feet to me. He growled at me angrily, looking like a bully that had finally met his match but refused to back down. I don’t think he was used to the idea of someone fighting back anyways.

We closed and I swung the bar at him. This time he was ready for it and while it smashed into his ribs with a fair bit of force I dare say, he managed to close his arm on it and yanked it away. Then he punched at me with a fist of white Light. That did send me tumbling away, rolling across the ground giving me a few scrapes and bruises. But whatever damage I’d done to Eli was enough to slow him down enough that he couldn’t get to me before I was getting up.

It didn’t stop him from leveling his gun at me though, and the tumble didn’t give me time to get fully to my feet, leaving me crouching as he pulled the trigger.

With a manly yelp, I formed that shadow protection again as his gun went off. Rather than the loud boom of my gun, his made a quieter noise like a gun fired from a long way away. Every shot hit my shield, and I could feel the drain as it did. Blocking constant fire like this was exhausting, and I could count every single shot as it hit. Apparently, his clip was bigger than mine as his gun took much longer to empty than mine did, and I could feel every shot hit my shield.

I barely held the shield up to the last bullet, and let it drop the moment I heard his gun click empty.

I was running out of time, and energy, to survive this.

As the shield was dropped, I called all the Shadow I could muster and manage. And in one shot I flung it at Eli. What I called forth was as wide as my body that arced from my position crouched down on the floor and streaked at Eli. He was either unprepared, or unable to stop it as it hit him like a baseball bat swung up at his head.

He tumbled upwards through the air, going up several feet with a scream that rattled the vehicle windows. For a moment I thought he was going to plummet back to the ground, but instead his wings flared, and he flipped in the air until he was pointing up, then in a flash of Light he went straight up.

And I was alone again. I got myself to my feet, staring up at where he’d gone, but nothing happened as I panted. That feeling of exhaustion came back quickly. The shield and the last shot had taken up the last of my energy.

My vision blurred for a moment, and I stumbled over to my bag, scooping it up and staggered to a seat getting my water out and poured some of that stuff Bianca had given me into it and downed the bottle in one long go. It somehow managed to make plain water taste like pure delight and my vision straightened in time to see the light around me come back on.

I didn’t know what the results were going to be from taking this again, but I couldn’t afford to fall asleep right now. Not while waiting for a bus or on it. Wallets and stuff get stolen like that, and I wasn’t sure Eli wouldn’t come back.

I wasn’t sat there more than a few minutes before people returned like nothing had happened. The people who had run screaming before had, apparently, forgotten all about it now. They paid no attention to the newly bent lamppost, nor any attention to me. The only thing that got their attention was the bus that pulled up in front of us. We got on it and I started my second stage of my journey back to Seattle.

And now I had yet more questions.

But I had just kicked ass. That made me smile.