Shadows of Fate

Chapter 5

Sprawled on my bed, I glared up at plastic glow-in-the-dark stars. When I was nine, Dad painted my room midnight blue, and I sat on his shoulders to stick the stars to the ceiling. We even made sure to get the constellations accurate. Right now, I wanted to pull every last star down.

I'd spent the last several hours running for my life. I had more questions than answers, and I was no closer to waking up Tobias. I smothered my face with a pillow and groaned. Some wish that was.

Exhaustion quickly beat out frustration and my eyes lulled. Rolling over, I knocked my pillow off the bed. Its soft thump made my eyes flutter. The blue walls and stacks of colorful book spines faded to gray.

Tobias's form appeared. He sat on my dresser with his feet propped up on the handles.

"About time," he snapped.

"I don't need crap from you too." I scowled at him.

He hopped from the dresser, floated through the air, and landed in a crouch at the end of my bed.

"What was going on?" he asked.

"It's only midnight," I replied. "It's summer break, I can stay up late if I want, you know."

"Not that." Tobias scowled back at me. "One minute you were screaming in front of me and the next you were gone."

I sat up, crawling out of my physical body like a snake shedding its skin. "Oh, that."

"You scared the bejesus out of me."

I rolled my eyes dramatically. "Who says bejesus anymore? Is that the new Hipster lingo?"

"I'm not a Hipster," Tobias snapped.

"Mhmm, Mr. fedora-hat freshman year."

"Charlie, I'm serious! I thought you were dying," Tobias paused then added, "and that hat was awesome."

"I'm sorry I scared you," I sighed. "I tripped and hit my head. But I'm fine. Apparently I was being a whiner over nothing." Although, I still wasn't convinced that Icarus didn't do something. He clearly wasn't a normal guy. Maybe he was sent to help.

Tobias fidgeted, worrying his thumbs. Something was bothering him. I knew all of my twin's mannerisms. We shared most of them.

"What was that thing?" Tobias finally asked.

"What thing?" I tensed, and I could hear my heart beating harder in my ears, even though I couldn't feel it out of my body.

"The man made of light." He shuddered. "You didn't see him? He appeared the same time you did."

My mouth hung slightly open. "You...saw someone? Like, really saw them?"

He nodded.

"You've never seen anyone but me before, right?" I already knew the answer, but I had to ask again.

He stood and turned to the window. The forest was gone and we stared into a swirl of darkness, as if the world didn't exist beyond these thin walls.

"I see the Shades passing in the dark, but they stay away," he explained. In the void lingered the Shades—lost souls, others in the Gray with Tobias who were waiting for whatever comes next.

"I heard you scream. Before you appeared, a light flashed. It felt like my skin was on fire. When my eyes adjusted, I realized the light had the figure of a person."

I stood silently next to him, afraid to hear more, but... "What else happened?"

"The Shades, they came close. Shadows curled around me as if they were fighting the light. I wanted to hide in the dark, but you kept flickering in and out of consciousness." Tobias's shoulders sank. "I couldn't run, not when you might need my help. I know that's dumb. I can't even touch you."