Chasing Shadows (Shadows 2)

"Simon! My father's here! He's been overtaken!"

I heard the thud of his body hitting the door even harder at my words. "Caitlin, hold on!" The sound of cracking wood made hope flare. My heart dropped when the thuds suddenly stopped. Instead, there was an eerie silence as if Simon had disappeared.

My father looked pleased. "I told you to shut up. How does it feel to be responsible for your boyfriend's death?'

No, it couldn't be true. My mind was racing, trying to come to terms with everything that was happening.

"Where is he? Wha

t have you done to him?"

My father shook his head irritably. "Do I have to spell things out for you?" He glared at me with disdain. "I just told you, he's dead. The house is surrounded." He tapped his mouth contemplatively with his finger. "I don't know how they did it. I didn't give them specific instructions. They're always partial to knives. It's so intimate to slice someone's flesh, to stab through bone and sinew and feel the warm blood gushing out." He looked down at me, his eyes looking insane. "It's a beautiful thing, actually."

Bile rose in my throat and I shot to my feet to run to the door to find Simon, but my father backhanded me so hard that I was thrown back against the couch, my face exploding in pain.

I felt blood trickling down my chin from my mouth. I forced the horror of what was happening out of my mind and concentrated on gathering my energy. It was the only weapon I had.

"Oh, no you don't," My father reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of palladium dangling on a chain. The glinting of shadows made me realize that even the chain was made of palladium. He quickly dropped it around my neck and I heard it clang against my iridium coin. I ignored it and tried to funnel my energy again. Palladium hadn't been able to block my powers before. I concentrated as hard as I could, willing my energy to converge into a single force. But I felt nothing. Empty. There was nothing inside me but pain and fear.

My gaze shot up to my father at his humorless laugh. "Stupid girl. It took us a little while to figure it out. Every other seer has been rendered powerless against us and their iridium made useless when we wear palladium. But you...you're different. The palladium has to be touching you to make you lose your powers." My father shrugged, looking disinterested. "Doesn't matter either way, as long as it works."

I reached up to pull the palladium off my neck, but my father was quicker. The breath was knocked out of me as he kneed me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain as he twisted me around and roughly pulled my arms together behind my back.

"Hurry up," he called out. "Bring the handcuffs and the chair."

I heard footsteps behind me and I desperately craned my head to see who it was. Two boys who barely looked like they were out of high school were walking towards me with undisguised glee. One of them was carrying a dining room chair and the other had a pair of handcuffs dangling from his hand. Rough hands grabbed my wrists and then my head was pulled back sharply by my hair. My scalp screamed with pain as the hands tightened their grip, twisting my hair and pulling back so hard I was afraid my neck would snap.

I was pushed roughly into the chair and I felt myself being shackled to it with the handcuffs. I struggled as panic threatened to choke me, but the handcuffs were looped around the thick wooden slat at the back of the chair, and I only succeeded in making the sharp edges of the handcuffs cut into my wrists.

One of the boys dragged me, handcuffed to the chair, into the middle of the living room, and I instinctively kicked out, my foot making contact with one of his shins.

"Shit!" he yelled, doubling over and grabbing his leg. "You little bitch!"

I saw the fist a microsecond before it made impact, slamming against my head so hard that I almost blacked out. My head lolled to the side, the pain so intense that I could barely breathe.

"Control yourself." My father's voice sounded cold. "We need her conscious. Just tie her legs to the chair."

I lifted my head, staring at my father as the other boy grabbed my ankles, holding each one to a chair leg and tying thick coarse rope around it, effectively immobilizing me. I barely noticed his actions as I kept my gaze on my father. Even though I knew his soul was no longer inhabiting his body, it was hard to think of him as anyone else.

"Why are you doing this?"

"To use you, of course. It's ironic that so much power can reside in someone so unworthy. You're the key to unlocking the secrets to take over all the humans. You're on the cusp of realizing your full power. Why do you think we've been watching you all these years? Waiting? Then your stupid aunt had to get in the way and warn you."

"What did you do to Aunt Brenda?" I started to tremble, anticipating an answer that would crush me.

"I killed her, of course." My father looked at me like I was dim-witted. His mouth stretched into a monstrous smile. "We experimented on her first. She's not on your level but definitely a worthwhile diversion." His voice lowered as his eyes bored into mine. "You should have heard her scream. She begged for you to be spared. She begged until the moment she died. It was tragic, actually. We experimented with her so much that we ended up not being able to overtake her body. It was a waste." He reached over and tapped my cheek with a finger. "Hopefully we won't make the same mistake with you."

A rage filled me. A rage so strong and furious that my body felt like it was going to explode from the emotion. I writhed against the restraints and lurched forward, wanting to attack my father. To make him feel a fraction of the pain that was coursing through my body caused by his revelation.

I only succeeded in unbalancing the chair and I crashed against the floor with a bone-jarring thud. My right shoulder took most of the impact and pain rushed through me. My father sighed above me as if I were a child throwing a temper tantrum.

"Sooner or later you'll accept that you can't escape. It's up to you how painful you want to make this for yourself."

I swallowed a moan of pain, not wanting him to hear any weakness. I had to get the palladium necklace off of me, but it seemed impossible with my hands and feet bound.

I felt myself being lifted and I was unable to smother my gasp when pain radiated from my shoulder as the chair was righted with little care, jostling me. I heard more footsteps behind me, but I didn't bother turning around, knowing it would just be more bodies overtaken by their vardogers.

"Why are you roughing her up? That's not necessary." At first I didn't recognize the female voice. I was too busy frantically trying to think of a way out of this nightmare. It wasn't until she walked into my line of vision that I froze, disbelief coursing through me.