Silver Moon Stories

Chapter 14 Me and my shadows
Robert followed Luke and Ira into the house. They walked through the main floor hallway towards the door to the basement. Ira opened the old but well made door and ushered the others in. There was something about this basement that gave Robert the creeps. Most basements did. It was something about being below the earth with only one exit that felt stifling. His own basement in his home was unusual in that the house had been built on a hill so than the basement had a sliding glass door and windows that looked out into the back yard. Enclosed spaces had always unnerved him ever since he was a kid. He had a bit of claustrophobia but when your power is shadow related, you learned really quickly that you were going to have to face that fear everyday of your life. In the years of being a Super his fear had turned into a dislike and then into a mild feeling of the creeps when he enter into spaces like this basement. The anxiety attacks no longer occurred unless the space was really, really small. Coffin small.
Ira reached the bottom step first and turned on the light. It was easily to tell that this had once been a root cellar and was converted to a basement over time. There were no windows unlike most basement. The ceiling was lower than modern basements which added to the enclosed feeling. They moved towards a wall that appeared like all of the others and Ira placed his palm on the wall at about chest height. A seem appeared and part of the wall swung out into what would seem to be dirt.
“Ya’ll are gettin’ fancy now. When was this installed?” Said Robert to the others.
“We actually only put this in place a couple of days ago. After our original conversation. It was actually Ira’s granddaughter, Tracy who helped us construct it. Her affinity with technology is amazing.” Luke said. Ira simply nodded and move in towards the new space. As soon as Luke and Robert were in the dark room, the older man turned and again place his hand on the wall at a seemingly random place about chest height. The wall closed and for a brief moment, the trio were enveloped in the darkness. It might be a bit odd but, Robert felt at home in the black void of this space. After the unease of the old basement this darkness welcomed Robert like an old friend.
“Ira, how long do we have to stand around in the dark?” Luke said, he now was the one sounding ill at ease.
“The lights will automatically turn on once the room is completely sealed.” Just like his words had summoned them, the lights came on slowly becoming brighter and brighter allowing their eyes to be come accustomed to the new lights which were a magnitude brighter than the old basement.
The new space was large, about the size of a high school gym, sans bleachers. Towards the far wall there was a table and a small set of computers. The rest of the room seemed blank and empty right now and had quite the opposite feeling to the previous room. It was then that Robert realized a few things.
“Ira, this space shouldn’t be possible given the size and the close proximity to the neighbors houses and all. Furthermore, why in the world is it so empty? It is nice that you gave the team a large space for them to train in but where is the equipment?”
Ira ignored the question and walked over to the table and sat down with a bit of a groan, “Getting old is some serious bullshit.” He looked to Luke and asked, “Luke, will you check to make sure all of the countermeasures are in place and functioning?”
The Director nodded his head and moved towards the computers. As he nothing to do, Robert sat on the opposite side of the older man and waited for Luke. Ira Blumenthal was not a man who wasted words. Not when things were important. Robert had learned a long time ago that one of his former mentors was a man of two sides. Lifeline, was warm charming, talkative, and kind. Quick with a joke or a smile and just as quick to aid anyone who needed it. Ira Blumenthal, on the other hand, was a man made out of granite. Emotions were difficult for Ira, and he had high standards for all in his life and he could seem, cold and exacting. One thing you learned if you worked close to him was that he held himself to the same high standards. Unfortunately he didn’t share that with people and therefore he was one of those individual that created no middle ground around them. You either loved Ira Blumenthal or you hated him. Very few people got to meet Ira Blumenthal most only got to see the mask of Lifeline.
“We’re clear, Ira. All of the security features are on and working normally.” Luke came over to join the others sitting between the two men.
“To answer your earlier question, Robert, Tracy is a bit of a miracle worker when it comes to bend the rules of reality. This space exists within what she called a pocket dimension. As for the equipment, everything they could need will be available at the flip of a switch.” Said Ira.
“Sir, pocket dimensions are only theoretical. No one to my knowledge has even confirmed their existence let alone learn how to create them.” Robert said incredulous at the older man’s claim.
Luke turned to Robert, “I was there too, Rob. She did indeed say that she had managed to clip off a small bit of another reality and anchored it here. Crazy as that sounds, it seems to be true.” He smiled and both of them turned towards the senior member of their group.
Ira’s calm demeanor slipped away and in its place came a look of anger so hot that it took Robert aback. “Which one of you invited that arrogant jackass to this gathering?”
Robert and Luke looked at the older man and then at each other and shook their heads, “Ira,” Robert said, “We know how you feel about Cain. Neither of us would invite him. You told us that no one except the families and a few friends should know and none of them have ties back to Cain. We followed your orders to the letter.”
Some of the anger abated at Robert’s statement but it was obvious that the majority of it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“Fuck!” the old man spat out, “Him knowing could possibly jeopardize everything we are working towards. Are you sure no one suspects what we are up to?”
“Ira, please calm down. Everything is under control.” Luke said, “We three are the only ones who know the whole plan. No one else, not even the kids, will be able to figure out everything and they are vital to our success.”
Ira seemed to calm down a bit more, but if Robert knew anything about Ira, it was that he never let anything completely go. “Is everything ready for stage two? How is the team, Robert?”
Robert looked at Ira and felt like he’d swallowed a stone. “I think they are going to settle in just fine, Ira. I gave them the nothing expulsion speech we talked about and I think it scared the devil out of them. I know we’ve gone other this a dozen times already but, are we really sure we should be using these four? I mean Mina is like my own kin, Luke, Ethan is your kin and Max is your grandson, Ira. Sylvia seems like a nice girl too. I just feel like maybe the family connections might be hard for us to do this to them.”
“Robert,” Luke said, “I appreciate your kind but misplaced emotions. Ethan has been causing chaos on every team he joins. Sylvia seems very nice but she will be easily plucked from her life. Mina, as you well know yourself, has some serious authority issues and takes nothing seriously and Max,”
Ira cut Luke off, “Max is none of your concern. Their roles are already decided. Getting all emotional about it will not help now. If you feel like you can’t handle your role, I can always replace you with Luke, Charles, or Detective Murphy.”
Robert swallowed hard, he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to do so if Robert became a liability especially since both Ira and Luke knew how close he had been with Cain.
“No,” Robert said after a moment, “No this needs doin’ and I’ve got your back.” For now he didn’t add out loud.
“Good. Let’s talk about Phase 2. This is where things get tricky.”
I just hope all of the kids survive this, Robert thought, after all, they didn’t really know what they’d signed up for. He had felt bad about having to lie to them but in the end Ira had said it was important. They had to be kept in the dark. Not everyone like the dark, Ira. Just because we’ve become accustomed to it for so long doesn’t give us the right to drag others along. Your going to get the kids killed.

Mina was no stranger to bad dreams. She’s had nightmares as far back as she could remember. The usually involved her running away from some nameless terror or eating something that caused her to be sick, or eating someone and only realizing that too late having to except the fact that she was a cannibal and a murderer. But of course the last one had actually happened now but she’d done her best to not thing about it during her waking hours. But she couldn’t avoid it while she was asleep. She’d begun to have the same dream every night and that first night in the house was no different.
The blackness surrounded her. She seemed to be floating in it, drifting really. There was no obvious up or down, left or right. It was almost like space except there were no stars and of course somehow she didn’t need to breathe.
“Of course I don’t need to breathe. This is just a dream.” She said out loud to no one in particular.
“That’s not strictly true. This is only partly a dream.” The darkness answered her back. This was the part of the dream where it all went downhill into a nightmare.
“Hello again, figment of my imagination that has decided to impersonate Dr. Sant. What is tonight’s screaming rant to be about. The fact that I killed you? The fact that your gun should have worked? How about the fact that I’m a complete bitch and I got totally lucky and if things were different I’d be just a scattering cloud of atoms.” Mina said with a sigh, “By the way, why am I calling myself a complete bitch? I hate that word. It is one of the most demeaning things that anyone can say about a woman. I won’t even dignify the worse one by saying it. Not even in my dreams and definitely not to a crazy ass delusion I’ve decided to whip up to torment myself about something I couldn’t have stopped even if I was aware that I could do it.”
The figment Dr. Sant came into view. He had been a short man, barely half a head taller than Mina. His eyes seemed less crazy then the last time she’d conjured him and it appeared that his comb over was floating freely off of his very bald head.
“Wow that was quite the speech. Can I ask what the worst thing you can call a woman is? Oh, can I guess? Is it …” the delusion began.
“Nope! Stop it right now! I will not be having this conversation. What in the hell do you want? Do you want me to feel bad that I ate a guy? I do. Do I wish there was any way I could take it back, even for a piece of grime like Dr. Sant? I do. Now please leave me alone, I need to get real sleep tonight. Tomorrow, I have to go looking for a cover job while we are actually trying to figure out what in the hell is really going on at SUAVE. On top of that, I have to be a team leader to a team of newbies and screw ups. All while trying to pretend that I am any different from them. Oh no, Mina has her shit together. Mina’s the responsible one. Meanwhile, I’m ranting at an illusion of a dead guy that I ate to torment myself.” Mina realized that she probably looked insane, good thing this was just a dream.
“Oh, I’m not dead. Far from it.” Say nightmare Dr. Sant
Mina paused for a moment and then smiled, “Good one me. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.” She said with a ridiculous French accent.
“Monty python fan, eh? Yeah, I like them too but no I mean me, Dr. Vincent Sant. I am not dead. Just stranded in this void. The void inside of you.” The Dr. Sant said. This was no longer fun or funny.
“Okay. Time to wake up. Bye annoying figment of my over active imagination.” Mina waved at Dr. Sant.
“Wait!” The Dr. Sant delusion said, “I can prove that I’m real. Umm…Let’s think. Do you know anything about quantum physics?”
“My mentor is a professor of applied physics. I know a bit about quantum physics. Nice try me. I’ll give me two more chances. Okay, question two, what is your quest?”
“Still with Python? Okay, here’s something you don’t know. My quest was to destroy all Supers and most of the damage you saw in the tech center? Wasn’t caused by me.” The phantom Dr. Sant said.
“Strike two. Every villain who is a few eggs short of an omelet wants to destroy all Supers and who am I to believed caused the bulk of the damage, Captain Cable? Even that concrete brain wouldn’t be that stupid. Last question, What was the capital of Assyria?”
“Please stop with the Python references and why in the world would I know the capital of an ancient civilization. Wait, I do, it was Assur. Ha! Now moving back to me, it so happens that yes, the giant with the pea sized brain is the one that caused most of that damage. My goal is not to hurt innocents or do property damage, all I cared about was removing Supers from the human equation.”
Mina realized that she hadn’t known the capital of Assyria, only the bit from Holy Grail. Wait, had Dr. Sant all he cared about and that his quest was to destroy Supers? As in past tense?
“Are you really Dr. Sant? You’re not dead?” Mina said shocked.
“Much to my own surprise, yes.” The man attempted to catch the rogue, extremely long bunch of dirty blond hair that he used to cover bald head. Once caught and readministered, it didn’t stay in place for more than the briefest of moments. “Please, I insist that you call me Vince now that we are…intimately acquainted.”
“What do you mean by ‘intimately acquainted’,Vince?” Mina held up her hands with air quotes and a sour expression on her face. She was afraid that she knew what he meant but Mina was going to make this man say the words.
“Well, beyond the fact that you swallowed me whole, which many people that I know through the Internet would love, I will not kink shame even if it is unusual, but in a technical sense as well as a literal one, I have and still am inside of you. Thus intimacy achieved. Please don’t take this the wrong way but, your not my type and if I could have avoided this, I would have.” Vince averted his eyes from Mina at the end, knowing that he’d probably pushed his luck too far.
“Okay, Doc. There is a lot, and I mean a lot of anger I now am going to unload on you. Are you telling me that because I ate you whole, you now think that equates to us having sex. No way, bub, not in a million years. I don’t even want to know who has a kink about being eaten. What? Why? Lastly, not your type. Why, because I’m short, skinny, dark haired, and bossy? You have a lot of nerve mister comb over! What is your type, pray tell? Tall, with legs that go on forever, luscious lips and a bosom you could set a drink on?” That came out all in one go. She thought maybe it would have drained her anger at this twerp but it didn’t. Mina was fuming with anger and she almost let him have a second blow when Vince spoke up.
“No…because…because you’re a woman.” Vince stammered and the last came out as a whisper and tears began to fall from his eyes and snot from his nose. They both just hung there in little globs that circled his head like planets around the sun.
Mina felt the anger drain from her. It was obvious to her that it was the first time he’d ever said it to another person. She natural instinct to comfort others kicked in, “Vince, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. This must be awful for you. I’m still mad that you tried to kill me but since you didn’t and it appears that I didn’t kill you let’s start over.” She held out a hand to the man, “Hi, Vince, my name is Mina. Why do you want to kill all Supers?”
Vince wiped at his eyes and nose with the sleeve of his coat. “Hi, Mina, my name is Vince. I used to want to kill all Supers because my dad was a Super and he was a bastard too. He constantly tortured me by telling me that I was not good enough to be his son, and the fact that I’m queer made him sick to his stomach. Didn’t I know that it was offensive to God to want to be with other men? Once, I was able to get away from him as an adult, I through myself into my work to find a way to rid humanity of him and all people like him. Eventually, I created a disintegration gun that completely atomized anything I shot with it. That was until I met you. How did you survive?”
“I don’t know myself, to be honest. I instinctively put up my hands like anyone might. Your beam hurt like the blazes but that was all. It was supposed to atomize me?” Vince nodded his head at that, “Weird, I really don’t understand it. By the way, I how you realize that being homophobic is not a normal part of being a Super. It is a part of being a bag of dicks, and anyone Super or not can be a bag of dicks.” Mina’s voice softened, “Vince, I really am sorry for what you went through. No one has the right to treat some one like that, especially a parent. My best friend is gay and he is one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met.”
“Ethan was also goes by Tortie, right? I know, I’ve seen him in your mind and I’ve got to tell you I wouldn’t mind climbing aboard that kitty.” Vince almost grinned.
“Wait you can see into my mind? That is not okay!” Mina said angry once again.
“Wait,” Vince held up his hands, “I can’t dive into your mind or thoughts. I can only see what you see when you dream as apparently this space is connected to you subconscious mind. It is one of the reasons we can speak now. Spending the last month in this void has made me realize a number of things, including the fact that my employer was keeping me on edge in order for me to made the breakthroughs that he wanted towards destroying all of the Supers in the world. I was working nearly eighteen hours a day at the end, which is when I had my mental breakdown that caused me to go and try my weapons on things outside. I swear to you that if anyone died, it was not by my hand. The only person I shot at was you, and I wasn’t trying to hit you even though I did. Sorry about that and sorry for all of the nastiness I said. There is no excuse.” Vince hung his head to hide his shame.
“Okay, I need a to ask you a few questions, Vince. Do you think you are up to the task?” Vince nodded his head slightly, “Okay, first question, how do I know you aren’t just creating stories for me to believe so that I’ll help you.”
Vince raised his head and put his hand up to stroke his chin, now covered by a blond patchy beard. “Hmm…okay…I think I might have a way to prove that I’m telling the truth. As I’m currently in a void that is a part of you, I think it will be possible for you to reach into my mind just like I’ve been able to see some of your dreams. Technically speaking, the only reason I still exists is because of you and your disgust at the thought of taking the life of another person.”
“Okay, we’ll work on that in a minute. Do you have any idea why I would be able to survive a disintegration beam? As far as I know, I can’t eat energy.”
“It is possible for powers that Supers have could morph in different ways during times of great stress.” Vince continued to stroke his chin, “Generally though, in my understanding of the mechanics powers and how they’ve come to be, in order to aid my work on destroying all of you, sorry again, I’ve become quite an expert, and it would seem that further mutation should only occur in individuals that had parents or grandparents that had developed the Super mutation first. Are your parents or grandparents Supers?”
“My whole family is dead. I have no idea if anyone had powers.” Mina hugged herself as she said that. It was a constant truth in her life but that didn’t mean she was okay with it.”
“My apologies for you loss,” Vince said somberly, “Although I loathe my father with every fiber of my being, my mother on the other hand was a kind and generous soul. The wound from her death still hasn’t healed. In any event, I would need to be able to review your genetic makeup to see if you carry the inherited gene in it’s mutated form. Which I can’t do from in here.”
“Once we resolve question one, we will see about getting you out of here. Last question. You said that you were creating the disintegration technology for an employer. What employer?”

William the Scab had been in hiding for the last month. He had been waiting for the manhunt to calm down before he resurfaced. He’d had to hole up in a hotel suite for the entire time and now his urge was becoming like a tsunami in his mind and he was needing to find a release soon, However, first he’d been asked to meet his employer to explain what had happened and why he had to disappear so quickly. He wasn’t looking forward to this. This was the first time he had ever failed to produce results. He’s worked for the company for years and never in all of that time had something like this happened. Damn all cats to hell. The next time he saw one that would be the end of its carefree mission destroying life. Maybe he could turn all of his need towards the damned creatures. Yes, that might work. He turned the corner of the dark street he had been told to go to,
He hadn’t seen this part of town before. He thought that he knew every nook and cranny in Denver but, this was new. There was only one active streetlight on this block. Other than that, there was nothing else. No pedestrians, no bums, no trashcans, no mailbox, not even any trash littered the ground. It was as if they’d been all erased from existence. There was one doorway on the same side of the street William was walking and one entrance to an underground garage.
The was no markings on the double doors, no signage around the door as well as no number to the building. He had been somewhere on Wazee St. before he had turned off onto this side street. This seemed like another world from the street he was just on. It might have been. He’d heard about people that could pinch off pieces of worlds for their own purposes. Seemed he’d been directed to walk into this one.
No matter. He walked up to the doors and gave a gentle pull on the handle. The door opened easily and silently almost as if this was a well repaired door. He looked closer at the door, or perhaps it was new given the lack of wear and tear on the doors and hinges. He entered into the lobby of the building. It seemed like an ordinary building lobby. There were a number of chairs and side tables around the area. On the far side from the entrance was a receptionist desk and a hallway to the left of it that disappeared into shadow. It all seemed to be in shadow and yet he knew it wasn’t. He could see the lights were on and yet in his sight they seemed dim and shed less light than normal and the light seemed gray in hue.
“Mr. William the Scab, I presume?” came a voice from the desk. He now could see than there was a figure sitting behind the desk. As he walked forward, he noticed that the figure seemed to be a child.
“Kid you should get lost, know.” William said in his nastiest growl in an attempt to scare the kid into leaving.
There was a grumble from the desk and the voice said, “Herald? Mr. William the Scab is for his appointment.”
Herald was here? Good, Herald knew William well and would side with him if things got dicey. He always seemed like a person with feelings, maybe even positive ones towards William. At least he hoped so. William wasn’t always that good at reading people. Some people said that was because William was a Sociopath, but he had no idea what that was, so he just said thank you to anyone that called him one.
“Herald will be down in just a moment Mr., William the Scab. Please remain right here with me.” Said the kid.
“What’s your name, kid?” Said William. Conversations were not his strong point. But over the years he’d learned that most people loved to talk about themselves. As the saying went if you gave them an inch, they’d take a mile.
“No name.” Said the kid. “Please refrain from moving forward Mr. William. Herald will be here shortly.”
William looked at his feet and realized that he had taken several unconscious steps towards the youth. The urge had crept up again and was knocking on his consciousness to be freed on the young smooth flesh. Herald wouldn’t miss one underling would he? The steps towards the youth became conscious and he began to cross the room licking his palms and creating the signature scabs of his powers ready to bestow there pain upon a body that had never know pain such as this.
About one third away from the desk the elevator chimed. In to the lobby walked to men. The first was about average height, brown hair and had a presence that was larger than the man himself. The only thing unusual about him was that silly fake English accent.
“Stop! This instant William!” He commanded in that aristocrat accent of his. William stopped and it was then that William looked to the second man. He was tall and exceedingly thin, like a pipe cleaner brought to life. The man must have been nearly seven feet tall but probably somewhere in the range of one hundred and fifty pounds on a good day. He had a think shock of nearly white blond hair on his head and was one of the palest people William had ever seen. Was this guy an albino? William had heard of them but ever actually met one in person. Now the urge turned towards the rare kill, but he held onto it until Herald was done talking.
“Sorry, Herald. The urge almost got away from me but I’ve it contained. “The wounds in his palms began to burn but he paid them no mind. Soon he’d be free to pick his pray. Herald always offer William his choice of playthings at the end of a mission.
“William, what happened with the girl? Why are we without her knowledge and finally why did you feel the need to hide for a month? I want answers, now!” As Herald spoke it was almost as if William had no resistance to the command. He always assume that Herald was a Super, he just had no idea what the man’s power was.
“There was a group of cats that came down into the cellar, and I ran for my life. Cats are evil. My mom said so. By the time I tried to come back to the house to finish the work, there was a group of Capes hanging around and I saw the girl being led towards a car with SUAVE logos on it. I figured that I’d been made and decided that hiding was the best thing for all of us.” As he talked, William began to feel his pulse in his hands.
“Cats! You bloody mucked up this mission because your Mum told you cats were evil?” Herald shook his head, “I am very disappointed in you. The Old Man now has to use alternative methods to get the job done. Tsk, tsk, William.”
The Old Man. William had only met The Old Man once and he had walked away like his brain was sweating on the inside of his skull. William had only met a few others. There was the crazy doctor, Herald, The Old Man, and a couple of his agents that he couldn’t remember right now. Oh and all of those people they has used William to prune the tree of the company, but they didn’t count as they were dead.
“How can I make it up to you, Herald?” William said the urge was like a big dog running to the end of its chain and beginning to pull the stake free from the ground.
“There isn’t any need for that and I said, The Old Man now has to use alternative methods. Here comes one now.” The outer door opened and William heard footsteps behind him. He was too focused on maintaining his control to look at the newcomer. Herald spoke again.
“Steel Night, how good to see you. Have you been well?”
There was a deep voice from behind William that only said, “Yes.”
William didn’t know why but that was the moment that the urge sprung loose and propelled William into action. Faster than most men, William ran towards the albino next to Herald. Herald for his part stepped out of the way of the running madman. Almost there, almost. William was beginning to drool.
All of a sudden William was no longer moving forward. He felt like there were iron bands around his body that had rendered him perfectly still.
“My apologies, William, where are my manners? Let me introduce two of my colleagues that you hadn’t met before.” At this he waved a hand towards the thin giant, “This is Anguish and,” the other hand waved towards the child, “… my apologies my dear, I’ve forgotten your name.”
The child like figure got up from the chair. It was at this moment that William realizes that it wasn’t a child at all. Just a very short girl. She might have been a few inches above four feet tall was nearly as slender as the giant, but where he was an albino the girl was dark of complexion, dark of hair, and dark of eyes. As she moved into the dim light she spoke.
“No name.” The girl began to smile wickedly.
“Right!” Herald but his hand to his forehead, “Where has my mind been. This, William, is Noname. They are two of my oldest and most competent associates. Unlike yourself.”
“Please, Herald!” William heard himself said, “Please, tell me how I can make this up to you.”
“Goodbye, William.” With that, Herald turn and walked back towards the elevator.
A second later, felt his entire body awash with the most delicious pain he’d ever felt. Every part of his being screamed in pain, including his mouth. After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, William felt a small body climb onto his back and perch on his shoulders. That to caused beautiful pain of a different flavor.
“Herald, sends his regards and hopes you find hell to your liking, William the Scab!” Said the childlike voice of Noname.
“Thank…”His words were severed just like his head from his body.
The last thing William saw was a small figure with a thread of golden light whirling around its body. It walked towards the tall angel and they walked away. William the Scab knew no more.

“Did you have to kill him so brutally?” Came the deep voice from the elevator.
“Did you see his face? The man died in ecstasy. Anyway he was a serial killer and a horrible human being, if you could call him one at the end? Why all the concern, Steel Night? You do know that there will be a lot more killing once our plan comes into action.” This voice was older and more flippant.
“That is supposed to set things back on their proper path. That was just evil.”
“An evil end to an evil man, Night. He got what was coming to him. Don’t tell me that changed your mind about all of this?” The older voice was more concerned, and flippancy had disappeared from his tone.
“No. I’ve know this needed to happen all my life. But even monsters deserve better than that.” The voice called Steel Night said with a tone of sadness.
“No, they don’t and neither do the rest. This will set things right, you’ll see.” Said another voice, this time high pitched and childlike.
“Noname’s right you know. We are the only solution to the problem.” Said a tenor voice that was barely more than a voice.
“I just worry about us becoming the problem. The Old Man will know how to ease my mind.” Said Steel Night.
“Why don’t you just call him what he is. Why don’t you just call him, Father?” Said the older voice.