Rogue Shadow

Chapter 23 - Two Steps Back

Chapter 23 – Two Steps Back

02:07 Wednesday, 25th October 2017

A dull red light emanated from underneath the door to the once empty bedroom, spilling into the darkened hallway. It was only the lack of light that allowed Slade to see the red glow from Tash's room. What was she doing up at two in the morning? Didn't teens need inhuman amounts of sleep to function? She was close enough to a teenager, right?

Slade wandered over to the door and silently pushed it open. Tash's lava lamp was on, the bubbles changing from a deep red to a cool amber, tinting the room as it did so. The sheets on her bed were stripped back on one side. So, she had gone to bed, but just not stayed there. Slade caught the flickering of a light in his peripheral vision. A quick flash against the back wall. Slade followed the trail of light back to the large lounge chair facing away from the entrance. A torches' light was bleeding over the far edge.

Tash.

Approaching silently as to not scare Tasha into oblivion, Slade came around to see Natasha curled up and reading, the large chair making Tash look even smaller than she truly was. She had one of the spare blankets from the chest at the end of her bed wrapped around her shoulders as she clutched a torch in her right hand, illuminating the pages of her book.

The reason Tash hadn't jumped out of her skin just yet, Slade realised, was because of the large black headphones covering her ears. It was quiet enough that Slade could hear the soft melody of her music leaking through the headphones. It was the 'Gladiator' soundtrack. Through the dull light, Slade saw that Tash was already on to the third book in the series, 'The Return of the King.'

A somewhat depressing thought crossed Slade's mind, and it was that Tash may not have even enjoyed reading, but more so the fact that she could escape into another world through books. She read to leave her life behind. Way to ruin a hobby. No one deserved to suffer the way she had.

Slade stepped around to his left of the chair so he would be in Tash's line of view. The torches' beam shot up to his face and the kid let out a startled cry. The torch flickered off, meaning that Slade should not have been able to see as well as he could, but being genetically and physically enhanced had its perks.

Tasha rolled backwards off the armrest, dragging the large blanket off with her. She landed in a stumble but quickly backed herself into the wall. The book had slipped off her lap and clattered to the floor, closely followed by her iPhone; after snagging once on the headphone cord, it disconnected and fell to the floor as well.

"You're okay, Tash. You're fine. It's just me. It's Slade. No one else is here." The poor kid always managed to work herself into such a state. "You are safe now. I promise you; you're safe." Slade echoed his words from days prior. She was always on edge.

Holding his hands open in front of him, Slade carefully advanced on the girl in what he hoped appeared a nonthreatening manner. He saw her eyes flicker up towards his once, but she dropped her head, only pulling the blanket around her tighter.

Was it his height that intimidated her so much? She was barely breathing from fright.

As Slade got closer, he crouched in front of her, kneeling on one knee so she had no choice but to look at him. "Tashie," he coaxed. His voice low and soft but held an air of authority that was hard to ignore. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and lifted her gaze to meet Slade's. There was terror in her eyes. The kid couldn't hold still. Her hands were fidgeting in an almost frantic manner, she was shifting her weight back and forth, and her teeth were biting down on her lip hard to stop it from trembling. Even her eyes were flitting around the room frantically. He reached out and slipped her headphones off, placing them softly on the floor.