SHADOWS OF THE BLOODLINE

CHAPTER 5

 Four Others 

AERIS

I stood in the center of the old subway platform. I'd spent three weeks preparing this space; there was training equipment lined the walls, weapons racks, and first aid supplies. I had to stack up everything that would be needed for five untrained teenagers to learn how to fight an ancient evil in six weeks. 

I coughed into my hand and then my fingers were stained with my blood. My chest burned where the old wound lived, the one that never healed properly because I'd tried to become a vessel twenty years ago and failed. The ritual had rejected me and left me with this slow death instead. I had maybe two months left.

But the convergence would happen in six weeks, so it didn't matter. I'd be dead either way. At least thisway I could die doing something that mattered. At least, I could try to save these kids from making the same mistakes I did.

I thought about Tiago, my little brother. He'd been twenty three when Grimfall corrupted him during the last incursion. I remembered his face as the darkness poured into him, the way his eyes went black. I'd tried to pull him out, but I wasn't strong enough. He disappeared into the shadows, and I was too scared to follow. And that's how I lost him. The guilt never went away. It was also one of the things killing me internally, alongside the old wound.

I'd found five descendants of the element bloodlines, and hopefully, I could train them to stop the Grimfall once and for all. Rune Weaver with his light powers and Wilder Ash with his shadow abilities. There were still three others I needed to recruit tonight before the shadows found them first.

I checked my watch. 11:47 PM. Time to move.

He worked at a warehouse district, the next teenager; Zayan Frost. I'd been tracking Zayan Frost for two weeks. He was eighteen years old and a high school dropout because he needed to work two jobs to support his younger siblings after his mother died from mysterious headaches last year.

The headaches had been Grimfall poisoning.

I found Zayan inside a massive warehouse, stacking boxes on metal shelves that reached toward the ceiling. He was alone, which made this easier. He wore a black tank top despite the cold, and his arms were covered in old scars.

He didn't notice me until I was ten feet away.

"We're closed," he said without turning around.

"I'm not here to buy anything."

He turned then, and his eyes squinted at me suspiciously. One hand moved toward his pocket, where I knew he kept a knife. Street kids always had knives.

"Then you should leave," he said.

"I'm here about your mother."

His whole body went rigid. "What did you say?"

"The headaches that killed her," I said with caution in my voice as I stepped closer, knowing this was a sensitive topic for him. "They weren't natural. She was being poisoned by something called Grimfall. It'san an ancient darkness that's been trapped between worlds for five hundred years. The barrier is failing and your mother was sensitive enough to feel it."

Zayan's jaw clenched. "Get out."

"You've been feeling it too," I continued. "The migraines have been stronger than usual and I know that you are worried."

"I said get out." His voice rose, his face hostile.

A forklift behind him suddenly jerked to life. Its engine roared even though nobody was in the driver's seat. The machine rolled forward, and a pile of boxes tipped over. Hundreds of pounds of merchandise crashed toward Zayan's head.

He moved without thinking. He spun around and threw his hands up to catch the ones he could. I watched the surprise play on his face as the boxes stopped midair. His arms shook from the effort, but he was holding them with nothing but his bare hands and superhuman strength he didn't know he had.

"What the hell," he whispered.

I waved my hand, and the forklift died. The boxes crashed to the floor in a pile of broken wood. Zayan stumbled backward and hit the shelf behind him. He stared at his hands like they belonged to someone else.

"That's your Etherwind bloodline," I said. "It's the Earth element. You have superhuman strength and the ability to manipulate stone, wood, and metal. Your mother had a weak version of it. You got the full inheritance."

"This isn't real." He shook his head as he wiped his hands on his jeans.

"It's real. I know that you've felt like you've been followed."

He snapped his head up. "What the hell?! How did you know that? Where you the one following me?"

"Not me, shadow creatures."

A burst of laughter escapes from his lips.  

"Shadow creatures that feed on fear and despair." I continued, undaunted. "They'll come for you eventually, and when they do, you'll need to know how to fight back."

"Get away from here, man," he laughed, waving me away. "I don't know who you are and what the hell you are talking about."

I had reached by now and I pulled out a card and held it toward him. "Come tomorrow night by eighto'clock at this address. Four others can weave magic like you. Come alone and come ready to listen."

Zayan didn't take the card. He just stared at his hands and then the scattered boxes. Then he snatched the card from my hands.

"I'm only taking this because I need you to leave me alone."

"Don't toss it away, you'll definitely need it for later." I nodded once and left. He was a tough one to crack, unlike the others, so I decided to leave him alone to fight the shadow himself. He was the strongest of all of them so he would be able to oust the shadow temporarily.

When he was done, he'd definitely come to me for answers. My work here was done. Next up was Kaladin Wright.

Kaladin Wright lived in his parents' basement. I'd been watching the house for a week, and something was very wrong. Armed men came and went at odd hours. Strange sounds came from the basement windows. His parents, both government scientists, were involved in something they shouldn't be.

I waited until Kaladin was alone. He sat at his gaming setup with headphones on, completely absorbed in whatever game he was playing.

He was overweight and awkward. The kind of kid who got bullied at school and retreated into digital worlds where he could be someone else.

I appeared behind him in a flash of flame.

He screamed and fell out of his chair. The headphones tangled around his neck. He scrambled backward until he hit the wall, his eyes wide with terror.

"Kaladin Wright," I said. "We need to talk about your parents."

"How did you get in here?" he gasped. "The door is locked."

"I don't use doors." I pulled out my phone and showed him footage I'd captured two nights ago. His parents are in the basement with three people tied to chairs. Armed men standing guard. His mother is injecting something into one of the captives' arms.

Kaladin's face went white. "Where did you get that?"

"I've been watching your house. Your parents are working for someone who runs a cult that serves Grimfall. They're kidnapping people with dormant Etherwind bloodlines and trying to corrupt them."

He blinked at me, trying to process all that I had just said to him. "That's just insane." He tried to scramble up from his seat but fell back down.

"Look at the footage, Kaladin. Look at what your parents are doing."

He looked. I watched his face change as he realized I was telling the truth.

"Why are you showing me this?" he whispered. "I've tried my best to keep away from whatever thing it is they are doing...to distance myself."

I sighed and scooted down to his sitting position. "You're Etherwind, andyou control the air element you have enhanced speed and the ability to become weightless. Your parents probably don't know yet, but they will soon. And when they do, they will either recruit you or kill you."

I saw the scoff of disbelief that rippled through his face.

I shoved the phone in his face again. "If your parents can do this to teens your age, what do you think, they won't do it to you too, if the opportunity is right?"

I handed him a card before he could reply. "I know you have so many questions but I don't have the time to reply. So come tomorrow night at eight o'clock. This address. Four others will be there. Come alone and don't tell your parents."

"What if they're innocent?" Kaladin asked desperately. "What if there's an explanation?"

"Then you'll figure that out after you learn how to protect yourself."