The Warrior Gene

Chapter 9

We all sit on the circular couch and Alec stands in the middle of the room.

"So tell us, is there some magical secret to your powers." Clarity is impatient to prove me guilty for a crime that's not even an actual crime.

"Well I'm not really sure how to explain it." Alec is nervous and there is no doubt about it, whatever he's about to tell us he was planning to keep to himself.

"So there is a trick to it? Does that mean that Eston is innocent?" Nyle seems confused which doesn't surprise me.

"Well that might not be true." Alec says and I can tell he regrets it.

"What do you mean? Can't you just explain?" Clarity is starting to get irritated and we can all tell the Alec is procrastinating.

"Okay fine, just please keep an open mind." Alec has always had some social anxiety but I've never seen him this nervous. "Okay, so let me ask you guys a question have you guys ever noticed my shadow? Maybe passing me in the hall or just at some point? Eston you have know me since we were little, have you ever noticed anything strange about my shadow?" None of us say anything. I try to think hard about Alec's shadow but nothing comes to mind I have no idea what he's talking about.

"Okay so take a look at my shadow now." We all stare at his shadow not really sure of what to expect. After a minute or two Nyle speaks up.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" Again he's confused, but this time I don't blame him because we all are.

"Nothing yet, Kai can you please turn the lights off?" Alec takes a deep breath and Kai flips the switch, the lights turn off but it's not completely dark we are still able to see each other and our surroundings.

"How is that possible?" Lennox asks finally speaking up again.

"What is it Lennox?" Clarity asks.

"His shadow is still there." Lennox sounds confused but not in a way that makes her seem uneasy but in the way that you can tell she is trying to figure out the puzzle, But she's right.
On the floor next to Alec is his shadow.

"That shouldn't be possible." Says Kai and he's right. Shadows are caused by light so if you take away the light then there shouldn't be a shadow.

"Can someone please turn the lights back on?" Alec sounds a little distressed. The lights come back on and he lets out a sigh of relief.

"Can you please explain further about how this protects you from your abilities?" Kai asks he seems very interested in this and quite frankly so am I.

"Sure." Alec says "I'll explain as much as I can. Ever since I was a little kid my shadow was always there no matter what, even in the dark. So as a kid I thought that my shadow was my imaginary friend. It wasn't till I was about ten years old that I discovered my powers. At first I couldn't control them and when I would try to use them I would pass out the same as Eston. One day when I was practicing with my mom she pushed me past the breaking point and I ended up hurting her pretty badly. While my dad took her to the hospital I ran into the forest behind my house to hide away from everyone. I stayed out in the forest all night hiding in the nook of a tree, that's when I realized that my shadow was moving in ways that I wasn't. I started to freak out, I was a ten year old in the middle of the forest by myself with this thing. I had no idea of what to do or think and then all of a sudden it disappeared with out a trace and I was no longer scared in fact I was aware of everything around me I was aware of everything I could do. Anything that the moon shined on casted a shadow, and I could sense those shadows. After five minutes or so my shadow returned and that's when I realized that my shadow didn't disappear it had become a part of me, like a suit. That's why Eston passed out, because his shadow didn't become a suit like mine can."

"Okay well that explains why he passed out but it doesn't explain why he almost killed me." Lennox says coldly.

"But it does Lennox, and if Alec finishes his story we will see how." Kai seems to always be one step ahead of everyone else.

"Well this is where things might get a bit weird." Alec says uncomfortably. After a few more times of using my powers and getting the hang of summoning my shadow as a suit I started to discover new abilities such as molding shadows and the ability to use dark places as portals, that's when I started hearing the voice. At first I thought I was just hallucinating, that it was stress from using my shadow suit to much but I started to hear it even when I wasn't using my powers. Finally one day I decided to confront the voice in my head. To find something far more terrifying, the voice wasn't some delusion in my head it turned out that it was my own shadow talking to me. I asked questions and the more answers I got the the more terrified I became. That was the day that I learned that in a way my shadow was alive and all those innocent conversations I had with my imaginary friend as a kid were real." Alec is starting to shake I'm not sure that he has ever shared this with anyone before and if he has it must not have gone well.

"You guys my shadow isn't just a living part of me, it's the darkest parts of me. It's made up of my hate and my envy, my loneliness and my fear,
my rage and my treachery, and there are times like the day I hurt my mom that it controls me." I can see the fear in Alec's eyes. Before he hid it well under his moody silent attitude, but now he is more vulnerable then an open wound.

"So what you are saying is that there is this evil shadow you who has a very bad temper and no conscience. Did I get that right?" Clarity now has her claws of judgment out of me and has them firmly around Alec, but I find myself wishing that they were back on me so that I can save him from the dirty looks that he is getting.

"I have a question." And again Kai is back to shed some light that the rest of us are missing. I don't know but I feel like there is more to this guy then he's letting on.

"Well my question is this, if your shadow contains all your darkest qualities and none of your good ones then wouldn't it stand to reason that you contain all the good qualities and none of the bad?" With that everyone's mood lightens a little.

Kai's question makes perfect sense I've know Alec for a long time and I've never seen him lose his temper or even talk bad about someone in fact the only times I've heard of him doing anything wrong at all it was as if it was done by someone else entirely. I guess in a way it was.

"It's true, that has to be it. I have never seen Alec do anything wrong not even as kid." This revelation about my friend is exciting but in a way I'm disappointed that I'm just figuring it out now.

"All we have to do is figure out a way to keep your quote dark side in check." Kai says.

"Well this is ironic, the most good hearted member in our team turns out to be the emo guy." Nyle says it jokingly but he's right. We've only been a team for a day and so far everyone has been at each others throats, or my throat to be specific. I have to make things right.

"Guys today has been kind of a mess and it's mainly my fault. I've been so caught up in all my emotions and anxiety that I forgot that as the leader I have to put you guys first. So what do you say that we blame all this on first day jitters and try again tomorrow?" Everyone is staring at me now, and I'm not sure what else to say.

"Well as long as you don't try and kill me again I won't beat you up again." Lennox says sarcastically, and everyone begins to laugh.

This is my team now and in just one day we have had a duel, a mystery and a confession let's see tomorrow top that.

"Oh I almost forgot." Kai says just as everyone was getting up to go to their rooms. "When together we are going to be known as team-214." And with that we ended a very long day.