Shadow Born Page 8

  “Okay enough about Shadowlords,” said Jodi. “I’m getting creeped out. Did you figure out how to detect that thing?”

  “Yep,” Pete said. “In fact they invented it like a hundred years ago. It’s called a Geiger counter. I’ll have a dozen of them installed this weekend.”

  “Does Reeves know about all this?” said Gabriel.

  “Of course. I emailed him first thing this morning.”

  The course of the conversation changed when Jodi told Gabriel that the Death Squad had been looking for him. “That’s just great,” he said. “What do they want?”

  “I think they want you to join them,” Jodi said with a sneer. “I don’t think they’ve ever seen anybody fight that good.”

  Gabriel laughed. “Well, I guess that’s better than them wanting to kill me.”

  “You’re not actually thinking about joining are you?” she said.

  “Of course not.”

  The rest of the week passed uneventfully. There were no more shadow creatures detected around the estate, and by Friday, everything seemed pretty normal. Gabriel’s lessons with Mr. Oglesby continued every afternoon. Some of the information was interesting, but there was also a lot of it that was very dull history-type stuff. Essentially, it was a re-learning of the history of the world, this time including the influence of the Shadow.

  Gabriel found that most of the major events of history –wars, rebellions and uprisings, even significant elections-had been influenced by the Shadow. They were masters at infiltrating and manipulating human governments, especially monarchies and dictatorships, where they only had to influence one ruler in order to construct massive change. It was something the Shadow had been doing for hundreds of years, but by the 1900’s, they had perfected the art. That was why the 20th century was the most violent and bloody century in all of human history.

  The funny thing was that once Gabriel understood what had really happened, most of the world’s history made more sense. It was easier to understand the motivations of a mad dictator bent on world destruction once you understood that it wasn’t really him. It was the work of the Shadowlords, controlling his mind. It became a habit that whenever Gabriel read about any historical event, he instantly began to wonder what role the Shadow had played.

  Gabriel also learned more about the origins of D.A.S. and the history of the enemies of the Shadow. From the earliest days, the Shadow had been there. In the Bronze Age, for example, Shadowkind passed freely into the world, doing as they pleased. Mostly this meant torturing and enslaving humans, and feeding on them at will. Shadowlords began to build kingdoms for themselves, and foolish humans formed cults that worshipped them like gods.

  Like the swinging of a pendulum, the power balances shifted back and forth over the millennia, and the Shadow gained and lost power like the changing of seasons. At times, the Shadow became all-powerful, dominating mankind and bringing the earth to the verge of complete destruction. At other times, men rebelled against the darkness, slaying shadowkind and driving them back into their own dimension.

  Throughout all these generations, there remained certain groups of men who specialized in rooting out and killing shadow creatures. Their lives were hard and the only certainty was that of death. Very few of these men lived to old age, those that did were hard as steel and mean as rabid wolves. Their sacrifices usually went unrewarded, and sometimes they were even punished, especially by those who accepted the shadowkind as gods. In all, it was a depressing History, and Gabriel began to hope they’d get on to something more cheerful.

  Gabriel’s combat training began on Tuesday. He had no idea this was going to happen until Julia informed him after school. Apparently, Reeves and Julia had had a talk after his incident at the party, and determined that Gabriel needed to learn some discipline. Julia said she’d originally planned polo lessons for him but now it was going to be martial arts instead. That was okay with Gabriel after he found out what polo was.

  Gabriel found himself sitting cross-legged on a sparring mat next to Jodi, staring up into Reeves’ dark, intimidating eyes. The veteran stood over them carrying a Japanese sword constructed from bamboo strips knotted together with string. The handle was made of leather.

  “I’ve seen you fight, Gabriel,” he said. “I’m going to tell you right now that there’s not much I can teach you about fighting, so you’ll have to think of these lessons as practice. That, and hope that maybe they’ll spur some of your memory. But aside from fighting, I have a feeling that you missed out on some of the really important stuff: Philosophy, reason, and discipline. These are the things that make us human, and unfortunately, the things we most often forget to nurture.

  “You see, a warrior who can’t think or feel is like a boat without a rudder. It has a purpose and it should be capable of fulfilling that purpose, but it’s lacking the one tool that would allow it to do so effectively. When a warrior fails to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, he has only himself to blame. If you want to separate yourself from your enemy, if you want to be superior, you have to strengthen your mind as well as your body. Understand?”

  Gabriel nodded.

  “Good. This is called a shinai,” he said, holding out the weapon. “It is a practice sword used in the art of Kendo. Like all of our practice weapons, it is relatively safe to use with minimal armor. In fact, I prefer that you only use gloves and eye protection, because the welts and bruises you get will strengthen you and sharpen your reactionary skills. That way, when you’re in real combat, you won’t be distracted by a minor blow. Jodi, would you be my assistant please?”

  Jodi rose to her feet, took a bow towards Reeves, and then waited for further instruction. “The first lesson is this,” said Reeves. “Fighting consists of three components. It does not matter if it’s you fighting with a kid at school or if it’s two countries battling in a war. All combat follows this rule. The three components are: attack, defense, and flight. This is what I mean by that…” He held the sword up and made as if he were attacking Jodi. She stepped back, lowering her posture to brace for the attack and raised her arm defensively.

  “What I’ve just done is attack. In doing so, I forced Jodi into a defensive position. This is the critical moment for her, because she must decide what to do next. If she’s got superior strength and technology, it’s only logical that she will counter my attack and then defeat me. If we are equally matched, then she can hold her ground and look for an opportunity to gain the advantage. Those are the hypothetical answers to this scenario. Unfortunately, in real life Jodi is hopelessly outnumbered. She’s fighting a larger, more powerful opponent, and she is unarmed. The only logical course for her to take, is flight.”

  Reeves’ speech went on a bit longer as he explained a couple of recent historical blunders. One was the Battle of Little Big Horn, the other was the Vietnam War. In both instances, a small and unassuming enemy subverted a larger military force because the attacker overestimated its abilities, and underestimated its opponents.

  Custer’s forces at Little Big Horn were hopelessly outnumbered and yet General Custer attacked anyway. In Vietnam, the enemy used evasive tactics and guerilla warfare that made their fighting forces virtually undetectable. The result was that a superior fighting force became handicapped by its inability to distinguish the enemy fighters from the citizens that surrounded them.

  Both battles, Reeves said, should have been handled differently. Better yet, avoided entirely.

  He brought out a second shinai and then handed them both off to the children. He told Gabriel and Jodi to face off, then he grabbed a long staff and leaned on it as he watched them spar. There really wasn’t much to watch. Gabriel and Jodi were an uneven match, to say the least. It didn’t matter how they started, Gabriel could beat her in three moves every time. Less, if he started on the attack. It was frustrating for Jodi, but Reeves told her it was good practice. He pointed out a few flaws in her technique and weaknesses that she could look for in an opponent. Eventually he told her to take
a seat. Then Reeves faced off with Gabriel.

  “I’m a little closer to your skill level Gabriel, but I do have a couple advantages. I’m larger, I’m stronger, and I have a weapon with more reach. Let’s see just how good you are.” The fight that ensued was startling.

  Reeves went on the attack, driving Gabriel off the mat and into some weight-training equipment. As Gabriel stumbled, Reeves struck him on the left arm. Gabriel had only been defending himself at first, but when he felt the sting of the staff, he forgot his lack of confidence. He went on the attack, and the shinai became a blur. It was Reeves’ turn to get pushed off the mat.

  Gabriel pressed forward, driving Reeves back towards the obstacle course. Just when Gabriel thought he had him, Reeves spun the staff in an unexpected direction and brought it cracking down on Gabriel’s knuckles. That hurt, even through the leather gloves.

  Gabriel dropped the shinai and yanked off his glove, rubbing his throbbing fingers. “I forgot rule number four,” Reeves said. “When it’s life and death, there are no good guys. Fight dirty.” Gabriel gave him a dirty look, even though he knew that was one lesson he wouldn’t forget.

  Julia’s voice buzzed through the intercom. “It’s bedtime, Gabriel,” she said. “Jodi, I told your parents you’re on your way.”

  “Okay,” Jodi said. They disbanded for the evening, but Reeves said that they would have nightly practices for the next couple of weeks.

  True to his word, the next night they fought again. This time Gabriel was expecting Reeves’ dirty little tricks and he fended off most of them. That was, until Reeves feigned a blow. It looked like his staff was going to come down for a strike on Gabriel’s shoulder, but instead Reeves spun around and kicked Gabriel’s feet out from under him. Gabriel landed hard. Mostly his pride got hurt. He was sure that in a fair fight, he could take Reeves, but it never worked out that way. It seemed like Reeves always had another trick up his sleeve.

  Finally, after several more lessons, Reeves explained the problem. They were alone in the armory, and Reeves had just disarmed Gabriel for the third time in a row.

  “You’re good, I’ll give you that,” he said. “In fact, you’re probably one of the best I’ve come across. You’ve got the moves, the coordination, even the strength… at your age that’s phenomenal. There’s only one thing you’re missing: experience. Unfortunately, that’s one thing I can’t train into you. You might learn all of my moves, but there’s always something else out there, always some trick that you haven’t run into. It’s important that you understand that.

  “It may seem like our training is repetitious, but there is a reason for it. Your body is learning how to respond to attacks that come from any direction, even the unexpected ones. That way, when it happens, you’ll be ready. That’s all I can do for you. The rest you’ll have to learn in the field, from experience.”

  “In the field?” Gabriel echoed.

  Reeves motioned for Gabriel to have a seat on the butterfly press, and then took a seat opposite him on the bench press. “There’s something we need to discuss, Gabriel. D.A.S. may seem pretty impressive, but the truth is, we’re a small operation.

  “There are only about ten D.A.S. headquarters around the world, and no more than thirty field agents. I can’t give you an exact number because we’re only allowed to know about two other agencies, but I’m sure that’s a fairly accurate estimate. We do have support from certain governments and military branches, but it’s very covert. So for the most part, we’re on our own. There’s a lot of shadowfriends out there, and not many of us.”

  “Are you asking me to join D.A.S.?” Gabriel said.

  “That about covers it. We need all the help we can get. But it’s not a decision to take lightly, so I want you to take your time and think it over. Every time we go in the field, we’re risking our lives. The Shadow plays for keeps. On the other hand, we’re also the only thing that stands between the Shadow and the end of our way of life. If we didn’t do what we do, the world would be a very different place.

  “That’s why they call our kind heroes. We do the things most people can’t. We face danger instead of hiding from it or ignoring it. We keep the world safe for people who never really know or understand what we do. Most of us don’t even understand why we do it. We just know that we have these abilities that other people don’t. That makes it our responsibility to protect them.”

  That gave Gabriel something to think about. He’d known he was different, but he hadn’t thought about it like that. The way Reeves put it, Gabriel’s abilities gave his life a purpose. He had the ability to help save the world. In a way, that made it his obligation, his responsibility. It wouldn’t be right to stand around and watch others suffer when he could save them.

  On the other hand, all Gabriel actually wanted was to find his family and live a normal life. Was that even possible now, knowing what he knew? Suddenly he wished he’d never heard of D.A.S., or of the Shadow.

  “I understand,” he said. It wasn’t exactly a commitment, but it was going to have to do. Gabriel wasn’t sure he was ready for what Reeves was talking about.

  Chapter 17

  Gabriel was so busy with chores, studies, and martial arts lessons that the week positively flew by. It was Friday afternoon when he finally realized why Julia had been keeping him so busy. She’d been keeping his mind off his worries. A gloom settled over him as Gabriel realized that an entire week had passed and the police hadn’t discovered his identity yet, or found his family. He spent the day brooding, until school let out and he met Jodi and Pete on the bus.

  “So are you doing a flying lesson this weekend?” Pete said to Jodi. Gabriel and Jodi were sharing a seat, and Pete was sitting in front of them. He turned around to face them.

  “As always,” she said. “You guys wanna come?”

  “I can’t,” said Pete. “Gotta get those system upgrades installed. I bet Gabriel would like it though.”

  “You mean in a plane?” Gabriel said. “Somebody’s actually crazy enough to let her fly?”

  Jodi punched him in the shoulder. “I’m a good pilot,” she said. “Just ask Reeves. He’s my teacher.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. Every other Saturday. So how about it? Do you wanna come?”

  “Sure.”

  When Gabriel got home, he tackled his chores and then surfed the internet for a while in the library. He was determined that there must be some clue out there as to who he was. He spent several hours digging through old news articles and police logs, but he didn’t find anything. There were no missing person reports filed under his name. There were no big accidents around the time of his disappearance. It was as if he’d appeared out of nowhere. He had no idea where to look next.

  After dinner, Julia announced that she and Reeves had some D.A.S. business to attend to. “Why don’t you call Pete and Jodi?” she said. “They can come over and have a movie night.”

  That sounded like fun, so Gabriel made the call. Half an hour later, Pete and Jodi had arrived. Julia led the way to the theater at the back of the house. Gabriel’s eyes bugged out when they stepped into the lobby.

  It was a realistic looking theater lobby, complete with neon lights and arcade games. There was an air-hockey table located near the entrance, and two pool tables rested in the center of the room. A row of arcade games lined the back wall. There was a snack bar against the inside wall, with a glass counter full of candy and a soda fountain. Next to it sat an old-fashioned popcorn machine.

  “Grab some snacks,” Julia said. “Better now than after the movie starts.”

  They greedily filled up trays of candy and popcorn, and then followed Julia through the tall swinging doors that led into the theater. Gabriel’s jaw hit the floor. It was a real theater, with a digital projector and a twenty-foot screen. Long curtains framed the enormous screen and gold-framed movie posters lined the walls.

  There were several rows of chairs, more than twenty seats in total, but they weren’t run-of-
the-mill theater chairs. These were recliners, with leather upholstery and cup holders and snack trays built right into the armrests. Suddenly Gabriel regretted not exploring the mansion more thoroughly before.

  Julia opened a closet at the back of the theater to reveal thousands of hi-def DVDs and videos. She even had a collection of something called Laserdiscs, which was apparently a predecessor to the DVD. The discs were about fourteen inches across but otherwise looked just like a DVD. Pete said they were cool to have for a collection, but the technology really wasn’t very good.

  “A lot of movies required two or three laserdiscs,” he explained. “You have to get up and change the disk to watch the rest of the movie.”

  Gabriel was speechless. Pete noticed him gawking and said, “Pretty cool, huh? The sound system is state-of-the-art, too. It’s way better than a real theater… you can get as many refills as you want!”

  “And no gum on the seats, either,” Jodi added. “If I had this in my house I’d probably never leave.”

  “I might not,” Gabriel laughed.

  “Help yourself to more sodas if you run out, children,” Julia said. “Reeves and I will be in the basement if you need anything. Pete, I believe you know how everything works?” Pete nodded. “Good, have fun then. We’ll see you in a couple hours.”

  The children took a vote on which movie to watch. Pete and Jodi picked out a few of their favorites, and Gabriel looked them over. He had no idea what to vote for, because he’d never seen any of them. He just voted based on the covers. Lord of the Rings won. Pete said it looked great on the big screen, and then joked that Jodi had a crush on the elf. Jodi denied this emphatically, but her face was beet-red with embarrassment.