The Wandering Shadow: Chapter Fourteen
14 When Will woke he felt confusion before anything else. Why is the sun coming in from the wrong direction? He wondered. That's not where our window is. A quick look around jogged his memory. They weren't in their own bed in their little apartment. No, he and Jenna were halfway around the world, staying in the home of a man they had only met the day before. The room was sparsely decorated, with the only furniture being a simply dresser made of a light colored wood, a body length mirror in one corner, and the bed they occupied. There wasn't anything else for him to see, thus his eyes fell upon Jenna. She was still sound asleep beside him, snoring softly in the form of a white wolf, with but a single stripe of copper colored fur running from her forehead, down her back, and to the tip of her fluffy wolf tail. Aside from the black of her nose and pink of her paw pads, the only other color present on her was the piece of what had once been her favorite green dress that was tied around her neck. As he looked over her, it occurred to him that his mental image of her true form had already become a bit hazy. He had become so used to the sight of her as an animal, that it was starting to be all he saw when he closed his eyes and thought of her. That was what he chose to do then, closing his eyes, but instead of just thinking of her, he though of how she truly was. He flaming orange hair. Her pale skin which would have been flawless where it not for the light layer of freckles, that he admittedly didn't even think of as a flaw--in fact he found them rather cute. Then there was her smile, an act of not just her lips, but of her eyes as well, sparkling like emeralds. Yes, he could see her clearly now, as though she were standing before him. Then he opened his eyes, and reality retook its hold on his senses. He leaned back against the headboard, sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Reality, he mused, is not all it's cracked up to be. It's uncaring and cruel, and will do everything to stand in the way of your happiness. He shook his head, and sighed again. It wouldn't do any good to think like that. He didn't have the time anyway. They needed to spend as much of their time as they could on scouring Max's library for any information that could help them. Deciding to let Jenna sleep a bit longer, Will slid out from under the covers, leaving her where she lay. Moving as quietly as he could, he strode across the cool wooden floor to stand before the mirror. He crossed his arms and looked over his reflection. Jenna wasn't the only one who had changed. His hair was longer, and while he was normally clean shaven he now sported a thin layer of rough facial hair. His skin was notably darker than normal, tanned by hours spent traveling. He had also lost virtually all excess body fat, giving him a gaunt appearance. Of course, he hadn't had much fat to begin with, as it was a requirement of his job that he stay in good physical condition. It was still an obvious difference though, and made him look almost like a different person. He struggled for a moment or two to come up with the right words to describe the changes. Then it came to him, and seemed all too obvious. "I'm like a shadow of myself," he whispered. That was it exactly. He was a shadow, clinging to the memory of his former life, when so much had changed already that their past may be just that: a memory. Much as he hated to admit it, if Jenna couldn't be changed back, their life as they once knew it could never be recovered. Will gritted his teeth. He had to try to stay positive. If he believed it was a lost cause, then it most certainly was. He was taken away from his thoughts by the sound of Jenna yawning behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see her at the apex of her morning stretch, tail stiff and raised high in the air. She then sat and looked over to him, favoring him with what was as close to a smile as she could come. He smiled in return. "Good morning. How're you feeling?" She wagged her tail in response. She was feeling pretty good, as she was truly hopeful for the first time since they had left London. Though the previous day hadn't yielded any results, she knew they still had plenty of opportunity to find some information that could help Max to reverse her condition. To her mind, it was just a matter of time. Will smiled again, happy that--if nothing else--she was in a good mood. "Alright then. Just let me change, and we'll head downstairs." Five minutes later they walked into Max's dining room, where David was already seated with a bored look on his face. They could also detect the smell of breakfast in the air. Apparently Max was cooking for them all. David looked over when he noticed them, his expression going unchanged. "So you two are up then. Sleep well? You know, in the actual bed you got while I was stuck on a sofa." Will rolled his eyes as he pulled out a chair for Jenna, then for himself as he took a seat at the table. "Do you have to be so self centered? I mean really, do you?" "Oh yeah...I'm self centered. Not like you after all. 'Poor me, my girlfriend's a wolf, won't everyone drop their lives to help me with my problems?' Don't act like you're better than me." Jenna growled and Will scowled. "Maybe you should just be quiet. I can't guarantee one of us won't do something regrettable if you keep talking like that." David scoffed. "Whatever." David said nothing else after that, and in fact made a point of also avoiding eye contact with Will and Jenna. Several minutes of awkward silence passed until Max walked in from the kitchen, carrying two plates of food. He smiled widely when he saw Will and Jenna. "Ah, I'm glad to see you two are awake! You're doing well I hope?" Will smiled back, a bit less enthusiastically. "Yeah, we're both fine. Just anxious to get started with today." Max nodded. "Yes, I was thinking about that. Let me go get a plate for each of you, and we can talk over breakfast." The archaeologist laid one plate in front of David, and another in front of an empty chair. He then walked back into the kitchen then returned a moment later with two more plates, setting one in front of each of them. Max then took a seat and they all spent a few minutes eating in silence. Max then spoke, the words coming between mouthfuls. "Now, I was thinking late last night that the issue Jenna faces may not be a new one. It could be that there is some ancient knowledge of her transformation--well, not her transformation specifically, but there could have been others like it at some point in history, and if there were, we could gain some useful information that would help me to reverse what's been done to her." Will nodded. "So what are you suggesting?" "Well, we don't display everything we recover at the Museum. Some of it gets stored away for future study. It's possible that somewhere among the ancient texts we've preserved, there could be reference to such magics." "Right...but how would we go about reading them? I mean, I'm sure you would be able to, but the rest of us can't, as far as I know." Max smiled a sly smile. "Ah, well as it happens, I can't read them either. But, that shouldn't be an issue." Will paused with his fork an inch from his mouth. He set the utensil down and gave Max a confused look. "Would you care to..." he gestured vaguely, "...explain that?" Max chuckled and tapped the rim of his glasses. "I don't need these to see. I can see as well as I have since I was your age. No, these glasses are special. When I started my career, I realized that there were simply too many ancient languages for me to learn them all. So, I commissioned a friend I met while at university to make a few pairs of these glasses for me. They translate any language into one that the wearer can read." "How the hell do they do that?" Max shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Damned if I know. It's not my area of expertise. But I know that they work. And I have enough spares that all of us should be able to read through those ancient texts." Will flashed an astonished smile and looked to Jenna, who appeared likewise impressed. She wagged her tail once then both looked back to Max. "That's amazing. So can you bring them here for us to read?" Max shook his head. "Unfortunately no. You'll have to accompany me to the Museum so that we might be able to look over all the material together. There is the potential to make our work take longer, but if my hunch pays off, we could gain valuable information from the endeavor." Will was less than optimistic about taking a day--or more--away from Max's library, but he couldn't argue with the logic. "Well...if it pays off I suppose it's worth it. We'll leave after breakfast then?" Max nodded. "As soon as we can yes, if we're to make any sufficient progress." Jenna wagged her tail, and Will smiled. "Excellent." David broke his self imposed silence, muttering under his breath. "Oh yeah, bloody excellent. More time spent in this damn desert, unable to leave when I should already be gone." Though the others had in fact heard him, they elected by unspoken consent to ignore his comments. Within the hour they were all out the door, some more willingly than others.
Down a dark alley on the other side of the city someone else was partaking in a morning meal, but this was one of far more sinister connotation, with the Anubis' Shadow--still possessing the body of the Museum security guard--hunched over the spastically twitching form of its newest victim. A moment or two passed before the body lay still, and the Shadow rose to the full height allowed by its current vessel. It turned to look down the alley where Logan stood, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. The Shadow contorted its vessel's mouth into a sickening smile. "I do believe I'm done here Nightstalker. A few more like this one, and I will be strong enough to proceed." Logan nodded as he pushed off from the wall. "Right then. As many as you need, just as long as you don't forget why I'm helping you." The Shadow laughed the laugh of the soulless. "Worry not, Nightstalker. I haven't forgotten our bargain. I only want to recover my strength." Near as Logan could tell, the Shadow had already built a significant amount of strength. Since the previous night it had devoured the life force of five people, counting the one it had just finished off. This was rapidly becoming evident in its appearance. Where before the possessed guard had shown only a faint black aura around his form he was now becoming coated in a layer of black energy to thick to see through. Thus far it had grown to cover most of the lower half of the guard's body, as well as an offshoot of energy forming a jackal like 'tail'. From the base of the tail there traced a single tendril of energy, protecting the guards spine and flowing up to intermingle with the guard's hair. His hands and lower arms were likewise covered giving him claws and a layer of armor. Yet none of it was really the guard's, all of it being an extension of and possession of the Shadow. And even as Logan watched, the energy began to spread, drawing from the Shadow's most recent meal. The energy on the arms flowed up to cover the shoulders and cover the upper half of the guard's chest and his neck, leaving only his face and midsection visible. The Shadow looked through its vessel's eyes at the changes, and smiled. "Yes, this is progressing nicely. It will take some time to rebuild the full extent of my former power, but even now there are few who could match my strength." It looked over to Logan, still smiling that dark smile. "Let us proceed. There's no point in wasting any more time here." Logan agreed, and the two set off through the darker parts of the city to find further people to satisfy the Shadow's hunger.
The day was warm but not hot, in a pleasant way that was unexpected to say the least. Jenna especially found it likeable, glad that she didn't feel as though she were overheating for the first time since they had arrived in Egypt. She yawned lazily as she watched the city go by from her usual place in the back of the cart. Will was seated beside her, and Max was opposite them, the two talking back and forth about something she hadn't bothered to pay any attention. David sat--albeit reluctantly--on the driver's bench, urging Vincent forward, the grey shire colt seeming to share David's lack of enthusiasm. Jenna was unconcerned with any of them though, because she felt happy. Things finally seemed to be going their way, even if only a little. And yet... Under all that, she hadn't forgotten. She knew how bad things were, and she certainly wasn't deluding herself into believing that they were guaranteed to find a solution. If anything, she knew how unlikely it was. But she still felt happy, in spite of all that. When they entered Tahrir Square Jenna sat upright looking to the Museum. She couldn't place it, but her instincts told her something was wrong. Between her sudden movement and David muttering 'oh shit', Max and Will couldn't help but look. The Museum was roped off with Police tape and there were a number of officers--both Cairo and M.E.L.D.--outside the building. Max was dumbstruck, unable to put words to his emotions, his mouth moving soundlessly. It was inconceivable to him that anyone would dare commit any crime against the Museum. They pulled to a stop in front of the Museum, Vincent snorting with discomfort at being in the midst of the crowds of people who stood just beyond the barrier, starring at the crime scene. The four of them left the cart behind and approached the barrier, being immediately stopped by a man in an M.E.L.D. uniform. He took one look at them and called to another nearby officer in Egyptian. The other officer--also M.E.L.D.--came jogging over. He spoke English, though with a light accent. "I'm sorry but you uh...you'll have to leave. We're dealing with a major crime scene here." Will rolled his eyes. "Uh huh." He pointed to Max. "He works here at the Museum, and could provide helpful information. And if that's not enough..." Will shifted his cloak to one side and shifted through his bag for a moment before pulling out his badge. "Lieutenant William Keller. I can be of service here, and these people are with me." Remembering Jenna's nonhuman form he added, "Oh and uh...the wolf is with me too." The officer snapped to attention, saluting. "Apologies Lieutenant. Had I known--" Will waved hand dismissively. "At ease. Now, who's the ranking officer on site?" "Actually sir, I am." Will smiled. "Excellent. I'll be taking over from here Sargent." The Sargent hesitated then nodded compliantly. "Yes sir. But, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing in Cairo?" Will answered quickly with a simple lie, knowing the truth would cause more harm than good. "Vacation. Me and my pet here came to visit a couple of old friends," he said, pointing back to David and Max. Jenna's ears splayed out at being called a pet. It was necessary sure, but she still didn't like it. The Sargent nodded. "Very well then. Would you like me to brief you sir?" "Yes, but do it on the way to the actual crime scene." "Yes sir. Follow me." He turned and started toward the Museum, the four of them a few steps behind. As they walked David leaned over to Will and said, "I have to admit, it's was pretty amusing, seeing you walk in here and just...take over like that." Will smirked. "Yes, he did seem a bit flustered. Does this mean you're done being a jackass?" "Probably not. I still don't want to be here. But how did you know he was a Sargent? And how is he the ranking officer here?" "Pretty simple really," Will explained, "With M.E.L.D. officers you can tell rank based on the number of stars on their uniform, just below the badge. As far as ranking systems go, in a case under M.E.L.D.'s jurisdiction, we automatically outrank everyone on site. We carry a lot of weight in the world." David nodded, impressed to say the least. The Sargent looked over his shoulder and cleared his throat. "Now to call this event unusual would be...putting it lightly." Will quirked a brow. "Isn't it always when we get involved?" The Sargent nodded. "True sir. To start from the beginning, the opening staff for the Museum came in and found a body up on the second floor. One of the nighttime security guards. One of the relics was also stolen." Behind them Max made a distressed sound--a sort of whimper--but it went ignored when Will asked, "Any other know casualties?" "No sir, not as of yet." "And it was just the one relic taken?" "Correct." By that time they had made it to the second floor, and Will felt as though something had been dropped into the pit of his stomach. They were headed right for the wing of the Museum dedicated to magical artifacts. If even one had been stolen it could be catastrophic. Now he knew why M.E.L.D. had been called in. He gritted his teeth and did his best not to react when he saw the crime scene. The guard's body had already been moved, replaced by a chalk drawing on the ground. The lack of any officers in the immediate area told him that the scene had likely already been thoroughly investigated. But what most drew his eye were the shattered glass and the now open alcove in the wall. The amulet that Max had shown them was gone. Will turned to the archaeologist. "I warned you." Max's shoulders slumped. "I...I never thought this would happen." Will turned back to the Sargent. "Anything else to tell me?" He shook his head. "No sir. We..." He hesitated then said, "We have yet to determine the uh...cause...of death, or the reasons for the artifact being taken." Will rolled his eyes. "What's the cause of death?" Again, the Sargent hesitated. "Sir, forgive me, but I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss in front of civilians." "I'll deal with the repercussions if there are any. Now, enlighten me of cause of death. And that is an order." The Sargent cleared his throat. "This is highly irregular sir...and I would like to go on record as protesting this order." "Noted. Now proceed." "It was vampirism sir." Will gulped, feeling a surge of anxiety, but managed to maintain his composure. "Very well. You can go Sargent. I'd like to take a look over things here for myself before I give any further orders." "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to stay sir?" Will shook his head. "No. I want you to deal with getting everyone ready to move out of here. Local officers can deal with clean up here. We need to work on finding the culprit. And for god's sake, don't start a panic." The Sargent saluted and walked out, leaving the four of them behind. One he was out of earshot Will shook his head, saying, "Dammit. I warned them." David gave him a curious look. "What's wrong with you?" "Those damn idiots in Alexandria. They didn't think a vampire would be an issue in Egypt, but here's the proof." "You think it's the same one from the ship?" Will nodded. "I do. It's the most likely explanation." "Right...but why would he be here?" "I...I'm not sure." Will admitted. "There's any number of reasons. But I don't think that's the important part. What's important is that we find him, and the amulet." Max, lost in his grieving up to the point finally spoke up. "I wholeheartedly agree! We need to recover the amulet and return it here to the Museum!" Will turned on him, his face contorted in anger. "To the Museum? Are you insane? It needs to be destroyed! We don't know what it's capable of, or where it is. No one can be allowed near it. No one should be offered that temptation." Max was all too ready to protest. "But--" Will cut him off, not interested in hearing an argument. "No. This isn't your decision. It's dangerous, and if it gets activated, we could all be in serious trouble. Now, you're going to leave this to people qualified to handle it. Am I clear?" Max stuttered for a moment with no coherency before he finally found his voice. "I...I have opened my home to you, and offered to help you with Jenna--neither of which I had to do--and this is how you show your gratitude?" Will shook his head. "This has nothing to do with gratitude, Maxwell. This is a matter of protecting the safety of everyone in this city, including you. I don't want to upset you, but sometimes sacrifices need to be made. I'm sorry but you're just going to have to accept that." The archaeologist stood there for a moment, silent and wrapped in his own thoughts. Then he sighed deeply, clenching his fist a few times. "Very well. I don't like it, but...I...can see the need...if only to protect people." Will nodded. "Good. Now, can you tell me anything else about the amulet? Or anything that could be helpful?" Max shook his head. "No. I told you everything when I showed it to you yesterday. I can't believe how quickly things went downhill. Two guards dead. One of our most valuable relics taken." Will placed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright. Well not for the guards but--" Will stopped cold. "The guards. Plural. But there was only one body." David walked over to them. "So what? Does that make a difference? Maybe one was...on break or something." Will shook his head. "No, I doubt it." Max nodded in agreement. "They don't take breaks. If he was here, he was at his post." Will gulped. "Max, do you know what guards were working last night?" "No, but I can get the information." "Good. Do that, and take the information to the Sargent. Tell him to send out search parties for the missing guard." Max nodded. "Alright, anything else?" "Not now." Without another word Max set off. David watched him go and asked, "Do you really think the missing guard is important? I mean, what if the vampire just...dragged him off to eat later?" Will sighed. "That could be the case, but I doubt it. Not only that...but the vampire may not be the only issue...if that amulet can really drain life force from people...we may be looking at a lot of deaths." "So what's the plan then?" "I'm not sure. It would be best to create a quarantine area in the city. Close off roads. Problem is a vampire can be hard to deal with. They move like shadows, even during the day. Sometimes you can't even see them, or you'll just see a blur of a shadow. But we can deal with that later. Right now, we need to go talk to the Sargent...and get to the city's M.E.L.D. office. From there, we can coordinate the rest of this. The most important thing is to make sure people are safe." David sighed. "Alright then. You know, being around you two must be having a bad influence on me. I'm actually starting to care about people. Bloody awful feeling." Will shook his head. "Now isn't the time for jokes. We need to get moving." "Lead on then boss." Will turned and walked out David following behind. Jenna hesitated for a moment. Through all that had been said she had listened intently, and had come to one conclusion: she didn't want Will to get involved. It wasn't only because it would take away from the time they could be spending on researching a cure for her, which was bad enough. No, she was worried about what could happen to him. She had already lsot so much...if she lost him... She shook her head. She didn't dare think about it. Seeing she was rapidly falling behind, she took off after them hoping everything would turn out alright.
As the hours passes the situation showed little improvement. Though Cairo's main roads had been blockaded--along with most of the minor ones as well--there simply weren't enough officers in the city to deal with the manhunt they had all undertaken. The city's police force and M.E.L.D.'s officers were spread thin, creating entirely too large gaps in their search patterns, certainly large enough for a person or two to slip through. To compound this lack of manpower, there was growing dissent in the city, the population quickly catching on to how bad things must be, but frustrated with the lack of answers they had received. There had already been a few near riots, with aggressive citizens nearly riling up the more passive people, and each passing hour made the tension in the air all the more palpable. Perhaps the greatest thing weighing on the mind of every officer in the city though, was time, and how little they had. Already a number of other bodies had been found in dark alleys and secluded corners all through the city. So far six victims had been found, which counting the original guard, brought the number up to seven, though it was suspected that there were more as yet undiscovered. Perhaps most unsettling about the corpses was that--though they bore the majority of the signs associated with vampiric assault--there were no puncture wounds anywhere on the bodies. All ranking officers had been informed of the dangers posed by the stolen amulet, and they had all agreed on one conclusion: it was active, and it was taking lives, just as a vampire might, but without the need to come into physical contact with the victims. This revelation raised its own questions. How many people could be killed by the artifact's power at once? What was its range? What was happening to the lives it stole? Could the power be unleashed in some way? So many vital questions, and yet no one had answers, not even Max, the only person who could be remotely called an expert on the subject. All of this information played through Will's mind again and again as he walked through the city, keeping an eye out for anything, anything at all that would give them a lead. Jenna and David followed behind him, both of them keeping a vigilant eye out as well in the case that Will should miss something. Already it was late in the day, and the city was filled with ever growing shadows cast by buildings blocking the sun's light. This they knew would make it all the more difficult to see what they were looking for, if it was even there to be seen. As he walked, Will kept one hand on his gun, ready to draw at a moment's notice. He honestly didn't believe he would need it though. He felt that the odds of them actually running into the vampire were rather low, especially while the sun was still up. So far the creature had evaded everyone in the city, and had a generous head start on them if he had in fact already left Cairo behind. Still, Will knew they had to try, even though answers were presently more scarce than gold. In his mind one of the most important questions was still that of the missing Museum security guard. If the guard was simply dragged off by the vampire to be killed later, then they had to find the body. But if something more were going on, like if the two were somehow working together, it could have far darker implications. He heard David sigh behind him. "You know what? I'm starting to think this whole thing is pointless. I mean honestly, what are the odds of us actually finding anything? If this vampire is found, it'll only be because he wants to be found." Will stopped walking, the other two stopping a short distance behind him. He thought for a moment then nodded. "Unfortunately, I think I agree. He's proven he can hide well, and even if he is still in the city, we aren't likely to find him." Will shook his head. It was all looking rather bleak. David took a moment to respond, a bit surprised that Will was actually agreeing with him. "Yeah...exactly. So what're we gonna do then?" Jenna sat and watched as Will tried to come up with an answer. She had--despite her misgivings about Will being involved in such dangerous goings on--been admittedly interested to see how he handled himself out in the field. She had never seen him at work before, at least outside of visiting him in the office once or twice. To her, he was almost a different person. He was still mostly him, but there was a greater sense of purpose to everything he did, as though the fate of the world were at stake. In a way, she thought, I suppose to him it is. He takes everything seriously when it comes to protecting people. It's why he's good at it. She felt a stir of pride in her heart, glad to know that what he did really did make a difference. Finally coming to an answer a minute later, Will turned and started back the way they came. "We may as well return to the center of the search grid. I want to see if anyone has found anything, and we can't do much here anymore. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and find something along the way back." The other two nodded in agreement and all three set off toward the center of the city. *** The Shadow of Anubis smiled to itself as it watched them go by, amused to say the least. It couldn't help but enjoy that none of the humans in the city--not a single one!--knew what it truly was. No, they though the amulet itself was the thing that was killing, as opposed to it being the Shadow itself. It would have to change that misperception soon. It had more or less rebuilt its strength to a satisfying level, and it showed. The guard possessed by the Shadow was almost completely covered in dense black energy--which now held an almost fur like appearance--with only the lower half of his face still exposed. The only other color present on his form was the gold amulet, situated squarely in the middle of the chest, only just visible beneath a thinner layer of black, and edged in spike like protrusions. Perhaps the most prominent feature--aside from the energy itself--was the structure that had formed on the guard's head. The Shadow--ever so fond of the shape of its namesake god--had molded the energy surrounding the guard's head into the shape of a jackal's head, with the tall ears and long snout that the forms called for. Another meal or two and it would change again, the energy obscuring the guard's face completely and forming a muzzle. Only then would the Shadow consider itself truly reborn, when all vestiges of its vessel were buried beneath that umbral layer. Soon. Then it would complete the witch's pointless errand, and then...yes, then, it would be able to pick up where it had left off, so many countless ages ago. It smiled a bit wider. For now, it thought, For now I shall return to the Nightstalker...and when the moment is right, this city...all these weak little humans...they shall form the first realm of my new dominion.