Pouring Shadows (Chapter 4)

Iris chewed onto the last piece of bread and then gulped it down with some water. She felt content and lightheaded at the same time. The dizziness and weakness from before had vanished now that she had had her meal. She realized that it hadn’t been wise of her to avoid eating.

‘All done, Lucy, take it away,’ the woman spoke in a sharp voice that made the maid jump onto her feet in one panicky motion.

She rushed over to the tray of empty plate and glass and took it away from Iris’s sight. The woman landed a nasty glare on Iris.

Iris quickly averted her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt goose bumps up her arms. It wasn’t too long ago that the same woman had been about to beat her with the metal rod. Iris had no choice but to start eating, which did not seem like a bad choice to her, now that her head was no longer spinning. She waited under the penetrating gaze of the dark haired lady who seemed just as wicked as she was dressed.

After a few minutes the lady exhaled exasperatedly and got up from the table end, on which she’d been sitting, to leave. Iris didn’t dare to look up until she heard the ‘thud’ of the grilled door shutting. A weak smile spread its way across her face and she looked up at the grilled window once more. A burning sensation took over. Her eyes flashed a rosy pink color, followed by the slight golden glow of the shards from her skin.

The bars on the window began to vibrate.

****************************************************

Cheryl’s small figure made its way from the corner of the street. I stared emotionlessly at the approaching person for I felt like someone had just punctured a hole in my chest. The sound of her footsteps filled my ears and for a second I thought I might faint. My mind was phasing out by the time she reached me.

Once she was near, she looked around for any sign of that dark creature. When she didn’t find it, her gaze fell on my face. Her eyes widened as if just noticing my expression for the first time. I saw her lips move quickly. She asked me what happened but I was unable to respond. I just stared at her like I didn’t know her. She grabbed my shoulders and shook them hard. I blinked.

‘What…’ I gasped.

‘I said what happened to you? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?’

‘I… it’s nothing,’ I looked away. For some reason, those childlike eyes were hard to look into when they were full of worry. And I was not used to people worrying about me.

‘It got away,’ I said, changing the topic but she didn’t say anything.

She was looking elsewhere. I followed her gaze to my jacket pocket. My eyebrows went up in surprise. The shard was glowing once again. I took it out, it felt warm. Not only that, I could swear I felt a faint pulsation from the piece, it felt so alive.

I didn’t even realize that Cheryl was reaching for it until her hand touched mine. I glanced at her. Her gaze was tender as she took my hand and opened it, revealing the black marks I’d just gotten. She traced a gentle finger onto it.

‘You might have kept this a secret too if I hadn’t noticed…’ she trailed off.

‘No.’

I jerked my hand away rudely. Who was she to keep a look out for any of my secrets?

‘That’s my problem. I would appreciate it if you didn’t interfere,’ I told her.

Cheryl looked at me, not with irritation, but something else. It was the same look she had given me back at the night force institute; like she was trying to find something by searching my eyes.

‘We should probably warn the nearest night guards about this creature that’s on loose.’

I quickly turned away, taking out my cell phone. I did not wish to be tormented by that gaze Cheryl was giving me. I slid my night force card into a thin space on the side and lights blinked at me. Very few guards were nearby but I sent them a message, describing the cape and also warning them not to touch it if they encountered the creature. Replies came almost too quickly that they had not yet encountered anything as such so far.

All replied except for one. We started to walk back to the area we were originally assigned to guard. When we were half-way there, I checked my phone once again, no replies, to my disappointment. Cheryl stopped at once with a gasp.

‘What?’ I asked.

She didn’t seem to hear me. She was staring into space, completely frozen from head to toe. I frowned at her, and reached for her shoulder when something shocked me. I jerked my hand back. ‘Did I just feel electricity come from her…?’

The next second passed and Cheryl broke into a run in the opposite direction.

‘Wait, where do you think­–’ I started after her.

She was quick. It wasn’t her normal speed. Either she’d been holding back before or something had happened to her. Her red braid swayed from side to side and her figure seemed to shrink as the distance between us increase. I cursed myself under my breath, panting. It was no use following her on foot.

My wings emerged from my back and I moved with ten times the speed as before, levitating above ground. I felt the sudden rush of wind while passing several streets. I was closing in on Cheryl but just barely. Why was she so hard to reach even when I was flying and she was only on foot?

‘Cheryl!’ I shouted with as much power as I could muster.

To my surprise, she halted. I quickly arrived at the street she stood gaping at, and looked. There it was. I let out a whistle. The creature stood hunched in one corner a few paces away from us. Something was wrong though, I narrowed my eyes. I could see a pool of blood near his feet and I doubted that blood was his.

Before I could charge at it, Cheryl surprised me once again because while I was busy looking at the creature, she somehow moved behind him. She was so close to him and he still hadn’t noticed her. She was good at this. I wanted to move but my feet seemed to be stuck to the ground. I felt fear once again, not for myself but for her this time. I was afraid that my presence might alert the creature and it would be impossible to save Cheryl when she’s so close to it.

She reached for his dark cape that reached the floor. My heart skipped a beat, why hadn’t I told her about this. I was the one who texted all those other guardians to beware of the cape, yet I forgot to mention this to her. Her eyes still held that far away look.

‘This is impossible. If I don’t do something now, she’s bound to get her hands dirty with that slimy liquid,’ I mused aloud, too tense to think straight.

My wings were still on my back. I disappeared from sight. Flying around the buildings just so I could ambush the creature from another direction. I sprang out from a thin alleyway right beside the creature and landed a kick on his head. He fell and rolled over to stand up speedily. I saw his face for the first time. He really was a creature of darkness. The face was black, covered with rotting flesh and the small patches over it, to my assumption, were traces of his skin. I winced, and noticed that Cheryl was doing the same.

His creamy yellow eyeballs flickered rapidly from me to Cheryl. Seeing that he was out-numbered, he turned around and dashed into another alleyway. I would have rushed after it in a good chase but there was someone who needed help right now. The guy’s forehead was bleeding, like he must’ve hit it somewhere.

‘Cheryl, go back to our area. Nobody’s guarding it. I’ll take this guy to the night force hospital.’

She nodded and waited till I was in the air, holding the injured body in my hands. When I looked down again, she was gone from sight. Whatever power she held, it looked like she had ways to extract it just like I did with mine.

****

I rushed into the elevator, slashed the card through the slit and slammed my fist on the ground floor button. Lights blinked at my face as the lift moved. I felt something churn in my stomach and it was not due to the elevator, nor the fact that I hadn’t had breakfast today. It was the urgent message from Jonathan that I was requested to appear in the underground night force court. That may not have been something to worry about but apparently I was being held as a suspect for last night’s events. At least that’s what Jonathan texted me.

The elevator stopped at the night force institute underground. I slipped through the doors before they’d completely opened and dashed across the corridor. Tube lights hung at intervals, illuminating the path brightly. The court was just past two turnings. Several people walked past me, some even giving me skeptical looks as I dodged my way through.

My heart was racing and my breath came rapidly when I reached the correct turning. I stood there at one end of the hallway, panting while staring at the lights that illuminated my way. The tube lights gave off a violet light. Violet was the color chosen for the path to the court. It depicted the deeds of evil doers; not that I’d done anything to fall as low as to walk this path.

I exhaled deeply and started walking. I felt a bit light-headed because I hadn’t gotten the time to sleep after my duty last night. I only slept two hours after which my cell phone went off. I checked that there had been 3 missed calls from Jonathan, followed by a text message. That was all it took to jump out of bed and quickly get dressed. I was halfway through the purple corridor.

Five minutes later, I was sitting on the suspects’ chair, facing rows and rows of people, some of whom I recognized since I’d almost bumped into them earlier. Their faces showed no expressions which made me more tensed. It was like I was facing an army of robots and if I didn’t hand over some technical proof of my innocence, they would simply destroy me.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a door spring open. I craned my neck a bit to see Cheryl and Jonathan rushing to my side.

‘Dude, how’d you get yourself into this mess?’ Jon asked, sounding more surprised than I was.

‘Don’t worry, we talked with the coach and he said that they’re going to bring the guy you saved last night to tell the story. He’ll tell us he was attacked by some unknown creature and not you. That’ll easily clear your case and prove your innocence,’ Cheryl said and for the first time, I didn’t want to close my ears after hearing her talk.

‘Thanks…’ I said, trying to sound cheerful.

The judge walked in from a door on my left and took his place behind the tall wooden desk. Feeble murmurs and whispers that had started when I’d arrived now ceased at once.

‘Let the case begin.’ The man said in a high and urgent voice. He was a skinny guy in his middle-age who seemed incapable of judging anything but looks never mattered here. If someone as small and fragile looking as Cheryl could fight, then anything was possible.

There was only one lawyer here who would try to defend me as much as possible but would also play fair which meant that if the evidence proved I’m guilty, he would not try to defend me. That was how cases of the night force were dealt with. There was no bribing or lying here. The lawyer stood up, reached for the spectacles on this nose and pushed them upwards slightly. He wore a black coat, black pants and a black tie which was the uniform for people belonging to the judiciary.

‘Good morning your honor, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Claude Simon. I would like to welcome you all to this court. We are gathered here because a night guard, 18 years of age, Dixon has been suspected to have attempted to attack another night guard. Before I say anything else, I would like to ask Dixon to share with us his story of last night’s events.’

I breathed in deeply and stood up, dragging the chair back. I explained how I chased after the creature, leaving out the part about the marks on my hand. No one could see them since I had purposely wrapped a white bandage over it to make sure no marks were visible. My explanation ended at the part where I’d found the guy injured by the creature. After which I’d taken him to the hospital.

I sat down with a sigh. My eye caught sight of Jon and Cheryl somewhere in the middle of the audience. They nodded approvingly and it actually made me feel less tensed.

‘Thank you Dixon. I appreciate that you put much effort into making up that story–’

‘What the–? You think I’m lying?’ I snapped at him, and he returned my question with a penetrating gaze. I really didn’t like this guy.

‘Let us examine that story of yours.’ Claude turned towards the audience. ‘According to our friend Dixon here, he was already there before the so-called creature-’ he made quotation marks with his fingers and continued, ‘-could actually do any harm to the night guardian of that area. My question to you is, how did you know exactly that the creature was going to attack the boy? How did you know where the boy was?’

‘I told you, when I sent the message, all except one replied. That one was the same boy who was targeted by the creature.’ My voice hinted annoyance as I spoke. I was careful not to mention Cheryl’s name throughout the story as I had no intentions of getting her involved with this.

‘I knew the guy was close so I searched for him from above. It’s easier that way and I saw him lying hurt on the ground with the creature shadowing him.’

‘I see, well that’s great. Unfortunately, the victim does not agree to all of those facts.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘What do you mean?’

Claude pushed his spectacles upward again. ‘Jason, would you come to the witness’s chair please.’

The door to my right opened and my eyes widened as they fell on the person on the wheelchair, making his way beside the witness chair. His head was bandaged neatly and without looking at me he turned toward the audience to speak.

‘I was doing my duty as any other night guard when I got this text message from someone warning me about a creature. I didn’t have the number saved in the contacts so I had no idea who it was. Then before I knew it, something hit me from behind and I was pushed down from the 3rd staircase.’

Jason paused to touch his bandage and then continued.

‘I never got the chance to land properly and my head hit the ground. When I gained consciousness again, there was only one shadow lingering above me.’

Jason’s eyes met mine in an intense gaze and I realized that everybody was looking at me now. What was going on, why did they doubt me like this? My face probably showed the shock I was experiencing. Even the coach was eying my skeptically.

‘Why,’ I mouthed.

‘You see now, from Jason’s story, we can conclude that Dixon is guilty of the crime–’

‘Wait, are you kidding me? You’re just going to dismiss my story? I told you before.’ I looked at Jason in the eye again. ‘I was the one who texted you that warning and when I flew over the buildings I found you on the ground with the creature towering over you. When it saw me approach, it ran away. I would’ve followed it again but Jason there needed to be taken to the hospital and so I flew him there. That’s all there is. I don’t get it why you’re making such a fuss about it.’

I hadn’t realized my voice was higher than normal. I cleared my throat and sank back into my seat. Claude signaled the coach to come at the witness corner and say something.

‘Let’s see what Dixon’s very own coach has to say about this.’

‘I’ve been noticing for a while that Dixon’s powers are getting stronger day by day. At times I wonder if it’s really safe for us to let someone like him on loose–’

‘What do you mean by ‘on loose’?’ I retorted but the judge banged his hammer on the wood.

‘Order, you may not speak unless asked to. The coach may continue.’

‘Like I said. He is very unstable, and always has been, ever since his parents left him… and we can all see why.’

I felt a sudden rush of anger well up inside me. What was the coach trying to do, pick a fight with me?

‘He used to cause trouble for his parents all the time. Later after he joined the night force, I remember I had a hard time trying to discipline him. He would always act like he didn’t care about anything. And just recently he was the only one who encountered this so-called creature for the first time. It is strange how nobody in the area was able to see anything. I am not saying that he is guilty. I am just saying Dixon should be held under supervision until further notice.’

That did it. All that anger that had been boiling up inside me burst out like a volcano. I stood up just as instantly as someone else did. And that person beat me at speaking first.

‘I don’t believe Dixon could commit such a crime. I was there that night too. He even saved my life. And I saw that creature with my own eyes. Dixon didn’t hurt the boy. He saved him from going into a serious coma. Jason could’ve died of blood loss if Dixon hadn’t taken him to the hospital. This isn’t how you repay someone’s generosity.’

My eyes met Cheryl’s in surprise. What did she think she was doing? Here I was trying to avoid getting her involved with this and she just ruined everything for herself. Did she not know that defending a criminal would make her one of the suspects too?

I signaled her with my eyes to sit down and keep quiet but it was already too late.

‘Do I sense comradeship here?’ Claude’s eyebrow went up in suspicion.

‘She has nothing to do with this, leave her out of it!’ I yelled but it seemed like no one was listening. Claude inched closer to the crowd. I looked at Cheryl’s face clouded by fear underneath those red bangs. She was trying not to look into the lawyer’s eyes directly. I noticed that her hands were trembling slightly and it made me want to go stand between her and Claude. I just felt this sudden urge to protect her all of a sudden. This wasn’t her battle to fight. That girl was always interfering with my business even though I’ve told her to stop doing that.

She never listens…