Banished To Earth Book Two, Souls Adrift, (13)

45

 

   The others exchanged confused looks. “It’s a whole thing, guys,” Silhouette said, “Chase, I mean, Davin here is just a big ol’ lock box of secrets.”

 

  “Why?” Trudy asked, suddenly looking very tired again.

 

  “That’s for later,” Davin’s eyes darting down at Nikki, as he spoke.

 

   Later, was Nikki’s nap time to be precise…

 

  “So, ya’ didn’t actually see ya’ Mother,” Trudy asked as they all sat around the dining room table.

 

  “My Mother died on Alisar thousands of years ago.” Davin’s tone had more of an edge to it than he intended.

 

   Pry laid a soft hand on his arm, which was stretched out on the table. The room was grey in the late afternoon gloom. Trudy had lit the chandelier hanging over their heads- a crystal crown projecting as much gaudiness as light. 

 

  His arm rolled a bit beneath her fingers. Its shadow moved. Pry blinked. Something was off. The shadow lagged, split, then retracted.

 

     “What is it, Pry?” Davin asked.

 

    She jerked her hand away as if she had just seen a serpent’s tail slither from sight beneath his arm. She lied. “Nothing. It was nothing.”

 

    But there was something in her eyes. Davin saw it but remained silent.

 

  “There was a shadow…” he began.

 

   Pry snatched her hands up to her chest as if she were protecting her heart.

 

  “What is it?” He asked, drawing her to him. She barely budged.

 

   “The shadow. Did it move?” Pry implored.

 

    He looked down at her. “Yeah, it did, but there was nothing there. The shack was empty.”

 

    “Chase, I, I mean Davin. Your shadow moved, and, and pulled apart, then went back together.

 

    He snatched both his hands up to the light. Their grey counterparts slid across the tabletop perfectly synchronized with his hands. No lag. No split.

 

 46

 

     The familiar warmth of his body and the sweet scent of his skin calmed her. He moved his hands again, then stopped them. His shadows stopped. They were his and nothing more.

 

   “Trick of the light.” Tucker chimed in. “Lights, a funny thing. I’ve seen my shadow slide, more than a few times, light bounces offa’ everythin’ don’t mean nuthin’ and it reacts to tha’ slightest motion. I’m more concerned about this werewolf thing.”

 

  Davin looked over at him, “You said I could control it.”

 

  “And ya’did, but what made it come out.”

 

“A dream.” Davin’s voice dropped an octave. It was approaching a growl. “Stayner got in my head, invaded my dreams. I saw what he saw. I tasted what he tasted. He slid away from Pry.

 

     She knew why. He did not want Stayner to touch her, even vicariously. Relenting, she sagged away from him. She did not want Stayner touching her either.

 

    “Nah, Chase,” Tucker said.

 

   “Davin.” Pry whispered, “He is Davin. We must call him that.”

 

    “Yeah.  Okay, whatever.” They could easily see Tucker’s frustration. “You’re talkin’ possession, and, and ghosts and stuff like that...”

 

    “We are all ghosts, Tucker. Do you not know that?” The little alien's words vibrated against his ears, then bounced right off.

 

    “Aliens, I get, super tech stuff, I get, but ghosts, souls, possessions, not buying it.”

 

   “So, you’re an atheist too,” Silhouette said, her voice tinged with admiration.  

 

   Trudy glanced away. Tucker could not help but see disappointment on her face. “Didn’t you see him turn? Her Carolina drawl had drained away. Her coolness chilled the room.

 

    “It’s that big a deal to you?” Tucker was taken aback. “Okay, Trudy. All this is crazy enough. Let’s not turn it into some kind of Holy Roller revival meeting. I believe in science.” His voice was rising. “His transformation was nothin’ more than a hyper-cellular mutation. Super strange, but strange ain’t woo woo spiritual junk. The possession was just some sort of quantum consciousness entanglement. Yes, it is really weird, but natural, explainable, science!” 

 

   “Junk. So, you’re afraid ah tha’ truth.” Trudy’s drawl was obviously intentional. “Ya’don’t need to answer. Simple, we track down Stayner and blow his head off.”

  47

 “And demons fly out.” Tucker snapped.

 

    Silhouette reared back, “Yeah, I like that. But I think we’re going to need a bigger boat.” She

joked, clearly trying to redirect the conversation.

 

  “A boat, we don’t really need a boat, do we?” Davin said, after a bit. “Hunters thrive in seawater.” He turned toward Silhouette. “We can breathe it, right?”

 

   She nodded yes, “Think you're getting the hang of this Hunter thing. Must be your cloak. Or not. It probably helped Stayner turn into Sharkman.”

 

   “That tracks” Tucker injected, “since we all come from the ocean anyway.” He turned toward Trudy, glaring at her, “Everyone knows that.”

 

    She didn’t take the bait.

 

   “A fire-breathing dragon is sloshing around just off the coast.” Sil quickly added, “Let’s not forget that.”

 

    “A fire-breathin’ dragon in the sea.” Trudy quickly added. “That ain’t a new thing. In fact, you can read all about it in the Bible, in the book of Job.”

 

    She threw her statement straight at Tucker.  He grimaced, “Well, your horses have been acting strange. I was going to see to them. You can come with me…”

 

     “No.” Trudy’s answer was terse as it was cold. “You’re a cowboy, go be a cowboy.”

 

   “I can do that.” Tucker’s tone was razor sharp. He got up to leave.

 

    “Tucker,” Pry threw his name at him as though it were a lariat. It worked.

 

    He stopped and turned to her.

 

    “I remember not having a body, flying through space and time. I was aware, helpless, but aware. I was a ghost, in space and on earth. We are so much more than we see. Consciousness, you use the word. Do you know what it means? Ghosts are real. We are ghosts, Tucker. It matters that you know that.”

 

  “Why?”

  

  This time, Davin responded. “What I saw in the shack was not a trick of light. What I was, what I am matters. I heard Mabel in my head. I never told her my name.”

 

   “You heard yourself, Davin. Your guilt. That’s what you heard.”