A Requiem Eternal

Chapter 35 - Out of the Shadows

"He is no one, why bother with reading him? He knows just enough of our kind to be dangerous and not even of his own volition. He learned about us through his relationship with an unawakened. We have every right to end him now." Charles Rothschild II said to his fellow elder William Brookingshire while they walked through New Haven's antique district.

"That is precisely why we should always read, Charles. This is a different age. There are many more unawakened, sometimes I think more than we suspect. There is no other way to be sure he will not be made Psyon...or worse."

"Let it be on my head then William. I'll do it."

"NO-- This one falls to me. Do you realize what is at stake if we do not continue? There are few chosen Psyon with elder status sufficient to rule."

"Very well, but I highly doubt this mundane has the strength of character to give you another century of life."

"Stop talking; keep your mind focused to the task at hand, Charles. We need to find him quickly. He has been mindful of being on his own as of late. This may be our last opportunity for some time to come."

"I hear him. Do you see? That one, going into the shop."

William and Charles entered the shadow realm. Two shadows in the shape of men walked up to the antique shop. They quickly stepped into the glass to hide themselves from the people window shopping on the street at dusk. Charles tried to continue past the glass with the intention of entering the shop. William raised his arm across Charles's chest to stop him.

"Be still, Charles. I will read him now to know what we are dealing with."

Visions of two former past lives in addition to the present one flowed into William's mind, all very long-lived, but none remarkable. Lives William judged were squandered with collecting scientific knowledge, the minutia involved with avoiding social interaction and lastly in his most recent, human technology. Much of William's life had been spent in the time and place of Regency England. Computers, cell phones and everything that exchanged information in the present world he found a complete mystery. It was why he wasn't able to detect Nori's intention of striking a blow to the Psyon veil of shadows until it was too late. William thought at least if there was no chance of another century of life from Nori Laurent, he would gain something almost equal of value; information that would make him stronger and more equipped to carry on. He motioned to Charles to move from inside the glass door into the antique shop.

With their first steps, a voice cut through the darkness like the shrill shriek of a dying animal in the forest at night.

"Who's there?"

William and Charles walked to Nori's desk in shadow. Nori was illuminated only by an overhead desk lamp. On his desk were several antiques he was photographing for the antique auction website. Charles picked up a gold pocket watch and transferred it to his pocket. Nori watched as the pocket watch levitated then disappeared into the black nothingness beyond his desk. When his eyes finally adjusted to the dark he saw the faint outline of a shadow. It was about the size and shape of a man.

William looked at Charles with contempt at the loss of the element of surprise.

"Five minutes, you could not restrain yourself for five minutes?" William sighed.

Startled at the sound of a disembodied voice, Nori pushed himself back in his chair about a foot from the desk. The chair shot backward. It became unstable dumping him to the floor. Nori scrambled to his feet and ran to the door of his office.

William looked at Charles with annoyance and walked again to Nori. With a thought towards the office door, he locked the deadbolt then broke it off halfway in the aperture. Nori tried the door knob repeatedly then realizing the door wouldn't open began frantically hitting it with his shoulder, trying to break it down.

"Nori Laurent, you have been expecting us-- No?" Charles said, mocking Nori's accent.

Nori leaned against the door and slid down to the ground closing his eyes tight.

William motioned to Charles to approach Nori. Charles stepped out of the shadow realm and walked to Nori taking his head in his hands and holding it back to face William. Nori didn't open his eyes and remained motionless. Charles forced open Nori's eyelids. William materialized in front of Nori.

"Keep your eyes open, or I'll rip your eyelids off." Charles threatened Nori.

Without another word, William focused on Nori. Radiant yellow threads of light spilled from Williams eyes into Nori's ending in a flash of blinding luminescence on Nori's face. Digital strands of cognition began to flow into William's mind which brought a smile to his face. Then unexpectedly William began to see visions of a stunning young woman with deep red hair. Abruptly the memories of her became blurry and ambiguous. A slow and thin stream of blood ran under Nori's nose.

"He is bleeding." William heard Charles say from the distance of reality.

"Let me see her." William told Nori.

Nori's body began to tremor in seizure. Charles felt a sticky wetness on one of his hands that covered Nori's ear. He looked he saw his hand was covered in Nori's blood. He called again more urgently to William.

"William stop, something is happening--"

William watched as hazy visions rushed past him into the distance then faded into the onslaught of black taking over Nori's mind. Then all was dark and he could see nothing but the pinpoint of light from the realm of shadows coming for Nori. In a rage, he struggled to break free of Nori's mind.

"Useless." William said with his hands on his temples, stepping away from Nori.

"Are you alright, William?"

"Yes, You need not hold him down now, Charles. It's done."

"What is useless, William?"

"Everything." William said with frustration.

"This human you believed to be insignificant, it held her identity. The one who is leading a coven of turned Psyon." William said, his hands clenched in tight fists, then kicking Nori's body on the floor. The kick broke loose another stream of dark blood. It ran from Nori's mouth onto the floor and pooled to the side of his face.

"I've never seen one bleed like that."

"I have. It was the single reason for his status as a wunderkind in computer language at such a young age. I was trying to get information out of him he didn't want me to see. He had a dormant embolism at the left of his brain. It broke loose precisely when he began to think of ways to resist me. Everything I saw of her became complete gibberish. All that we have succeeded in is carrying out the sentence levied against him by the Psyon for violating the veil of shadows."

"Which is all we were sent to do." Charles reminded William.

William stepped in to the shadow realm and Charles followed.

"That was not all; we also need to know the whereabouts of the unawakened he learned of us from." William said with an impatient sigh.

"She cannot be far from him. A few more days and I suspect more than one mundane's thoughts will lead us to her. She's becoming quite notable among them. It is only a matter of time."

"Yes...time I would rather spend hunting my estate grounds, rather than one more moment in America."