• "thunder" chapter nine

    We walked into the secrity building and reviewed the videos. they were completely gruesome. And we had to watch them like home movies. Matt's dad was right, the outcome was the same throughout the videos. The hunters were guarding the gate as usualThen the shadow would creep up on them. The hunters never been trained to defend from shadows, so they had never developed the ability to sense shadows, making them perfect bait. The shadow stretched out its dead, black claw, and ripped out the heart from behind. The victims barely had time to scream. Then the shadow simply passed through to the gate into the demonic realm.
    "You have no security tapes of the demon coming from the demonic realm?" I asked hesitantly.
    Matt's dad thought for a moment, "Actually, no, we don't have any like that. But that would mean Either the shadow is using another gate to get in..."
    "Or we have a necromancer dealing in shadows. Either way, I'll kill those bastards! Take me to see the bodies."
    "Why?" The woman following Matt's dad asked.
    "If it was a shadow, then I should be able to figure something out about where the shadows came from." It was a simple thing to sense with shadows. They leave a mark after killing their victim that only someone with demonic senses can see. It's sort of like a bloodstain, but black. I have experience with shadows because I survived a battle with Death (somehow). Death was actually a shadow, and it's said that his scythe (stolen from his summoner) was key to his connection with the greater beings of the Material and demonic realms. meaning that something about that scythe can get this damnded bracelet off of my wrist.
    We made our way to a large room fuul of dead bodies. The stench of decay was raging through the area. Guys in strange outfits were shuffling about. examining bodies, storing bodies, and talking to relatives of the bodies. "This is why necromancer's work low profile," I said to myself, "that way if we die, there's no commotion."
    Matt's dad talked to one of the guys in the strange suits, talked to him barely above a whisper, and the man immediately led us to a body on a stretcher. It was soaked in blood. But more than that, through my eyes, I sawthat real scars the shadow created. the large black marks spread across the poor guy's body in a hellish mess, and the eyes had a charcoal black smoke running from them. "This one was killed from the inside out/" I concluded.
    "How can you tell?" the woman blurted angrily/
    I pointed at the eyes, "If you had my senses, you'd be able to see it, but he started by burning his way into one eye," I traced the scars in order from newest to oldest, "Clawed out the inside of the body like crazy around these points," Finally, I pointed to the other eye," then made his way out of this eye."
    "Why would the shadow want to kill the man from the inside?" Matt's dad wondered.
    I shrugged, "His summoner told him to. But, reasons for the summoner to want that would be A: He wanted them killed thoroughly, B: He didn't want to leave scars visible to normal necromancers..."
    The woman cut me off, "I thought a shadow's scars can't be seen by normal necromancers."
    Obviously, this chick was new, "Normally, they can't. But those who enter and exit the spectral realm commonly have a tendancy to develop similar 'shadow senses' to mine, though a very uncommon tendency. By killing them from the inside, they can't see the scars. i can only see the scars because of this stupid thing." I held up the bracelet in disgust.
    "Why don't you just take it off?" She asked. wow, this chick is stupid.
    I looked at the dumb b***h angrily, "Do you really think I haven't tried that before? please tell me you're joking."
    Matt's dad stopped me from going any further, "Now, Adrian, she knows little of you're curse. Don't be so hard on her."
    I let out a deep breath," lastly, there's the possibility that there could be a message embedded in the scars. Shadows usually do this when they have the O.K. from their summoner to mark their territory. but judging from the size of the scars, he probably just wanted a thorough kill. Will that be all?" I asked Matt's dad.
    "For today, but I have a favor to ask you." He replied.
    "What do you need?"
    "I'll let you have a sick day if you come back tommorrow and write me a full report on the bodies. how they died, what else other than the shadows may have killed them, stuff like that. could you do that for me?"
    I looked up at him, "Of course I will, but I've already used up all my sick days." Then I realized that I shouldn't have said that.
    "Okay, then, off to the gate with you." He said, more worry in his voice than anything else. He drove me to my house to get my equipment, and was silent the entire way to the gate.
    Matt's dad handed me a strange looking amulet, "This is a life charm. It will keep your soul close to the body. this way if you die, we can at least find you in the spectral realm."
    I took it and put it around my neck, "Thank you, sir. It may prove useful. for a shadow to be able to kill a person from the inside out, it must be pretty strong."
    "Do be careful, boy. i couldn't stand the look on your mother's face if you were killed. if you cannot kill it, get out and find help."
    "I will." I said as i left in to the abyssmal cavern that held the great gate. for the first time in so long, i felt a sense of doom come over me.