The Shadow Setters Book 1: Prominence

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jason slammed the front door of the dark house behind him along with what seemed the only warmth in the entire country as he stepped out into the sub zero evening night, its immediate chill pounced upon his body with frightening swiftness, eager it felt to consume him into its harsh bitter world. 

Jason jogged off half heartedly to the front of the driveway and turned left, looking behind him for any sign that he was being watched by his father. Within a few minutes he had reached the crossroads that gave way to a much larger, potentially busier road. After a couple of minutes jumping on the spot to keep warm and futile watch gazing in pitch blackness, a car approached and slowed, pulling over just past his position. Jason rushed around to the passenger side; the prospect of a warm confine was paramount in his thoughts. Jo looked bright as Jason settled into the silver coloured Fiesta. She greeted him with a smile that was as warm as the cars interior. 

'Hi. I don't usually pick up strangers but you seem like a nice boy.' 

Jason raised an eyebrow theatrically and smirked. 'Very funny. Where are we going?' 

Jo began to pull away, her concentration was fully on her driving as she spoke, not giving Jason another glance as she talked. 

'There's a place I know about a mile from here, it's an old motorway diner. We can park up there and chat.' 

The two sat in silence on their short journey to their destination. There was an atmosphere between them that felt like they were here for business. It was a serious matter, Jason knew that and he felt anxious and nervous on top of being in a car with a very pretty girl that owned a car. She was the only girl he knew that could drive and the thought of it distracted him slightly from his negative state of mind. Jo turned in and parked up at the back of the old motor stop. Its lifeless boarded up body epitomised everything that Jason had come to regard about his new surroundings; dull, dark and inhospitable. Jo unbuckled her seatbelt and turned her body towards Jason's direction. She paused briefly, searching his features, thinking to herself, preparing. Just the low hum of the necessary heater broke the silence before she started. 

'Are you ok Jason?' 

Jason was just staring out through the windscreen, his face was deep in thought, miles away from Jo and the car and the icy grasp of winter. His young features were ever so slightly folded that could easily have been misinterpreted as dealing with physical pain. 

'No. No I don't really think I am, to be honest.' He re-emerged from his deep wayward thought and turned towards her, his upset was visible. 'I need to know what's really going on down here. It's bad enough being dragged down to this shit hole of a place without all this other weird stuff topping it off. I want to know everything you know or think you know.' 

Jo sighed and looked Jason in the eyes, the strain of her knowledge was evident, creasing her own beautiful features as the weight and magnitude looked as if it was virtually impossible for her to maintain control. She paused slightly as if trying to keep her own emotions in check, which was not missed by Jason. His own features softened as he watched moisture swell in the young girl's eyes. In an instant and without thinking anything apart from wanting to eradicate her pain, Jason put his hand out and took hers. He patted the back of her hand in a gesture of support and friendship that warmed Jo and made her smile brightly as she choked back the tears. 

'I'll tell you what I know. Up to about two months ago things in this place were fine, as much as they can be for teenagers like us in a place like this. Everybody went about their business day to day just as you would expect them to. Then one night we heard the planes and the next day everybody in the village was talking about them. They don't get much to gossip about at the best of times so as you can imagine, the locals were all over it. It wasn't until the following day we woke to find that the morning sky was nearly as dark as night time. As you can imagine, people didn't know what the hell was happening. The air was thick with what looked like fog but it was dark, almost like smoke from a chemical fire. There was no smell to it though and it felt like fog, you know, when it is damp to the touch, it left our clothes wet as it passed over us. A few of the villagers phoned the local fire brigade and police services to check if something happened around the area but they knew nothing, they didn't even send anybody out to check the situation. There was absolutely nothing on the TV or the radio. The whole thing was just spooky. Then about early afternoon a couple of people carriers and a large coach turned up. All these guys got out dressed in chemical suits on. They rounded up everyone from the village and surrounding area and informed us that there had been a fuel leak from a high altitude air force transport. We were told that the local authorities had been informed and had been told not to say anything for fear of the media jumping on it and blowing the situation out of proportion. They convinced us that it was mostly harmless and that it would clear in the next twenty four hours or so but went on to say that as a precaution they would have to take everyone over the age of thirty back to a local HQ that had been set up to administer an inoculation as a precaution. There were several of us that were under the age, some kids from another village, a young girl and an older boy about my age who were up here visiting their grand parents. They just gave us a strip of tablets and said that we would be fine. They didn't give anyone a chance to protest, they just bundled them all onto the coach and sped off. I went back to the shop and the others that were given pills were dropped off home. I sat around the shop until seven that night, worried sick about my mum. She finally turned up but she just wasn't the same. She had changed, they all had.'