Chapter 9 #2
“Hey, stop! That’s our sister! Leave her alone, Caden!” Ross and Harvey yelled as the two of them hustled up the rise.
“Stay back!” Caden yelled. “I know what you are too!”
“He’s crazy!” Ross said.
“Get away from Landry!” Harvey demanded.
But they had slowed down and looked… afraid of him. Yes, afraid. The Behemoth had only been able to pretend to be afraid. It hadn’t been this convincing.
“It’s okay!” Landry said to her brothers. “Don’t fight, guys. That’s what it wants. Just… just let’s all calm down.”
Ross and Harvey exchanged looks between themselves and their sister. They crossed their arms over their thick chests and glared at Caden, but they kept their distance. And their glares looked fragile. Like they could shatter at any moment.
They’re scared and exhausted, Caden realized. The Behemoth doesn’t experience tiredness or fear. Not like this. It couldn’t pretend what it doesn’t know...
There was more movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced down towards the treeline. Jasper Hawes stood there, glowering up at him. There were other people too. People Caden vaguely recognized as those that had come out of the wall in the Below.
“The great White Dragon King is going to beat up a girl. How noble!” Jasper sneered. “How goddamned heroic!”
But whatever Jasper might think of him, the others down there looked up with mild hope as if he might… save them.
“You’re trapped here,” Caden realized.
“We woke up here and we can’t figure out… well, can’t figure out how to get home, Caden,” Landry told him.
Caden really looked at Landry then. No eyeshine. Too long bangs. Slightly exasperated expression. It was her. It was really her. He changed his grip into a hug.
“It’s you,” he gasped.
“Yeah, it’s me, you idiot!” she gave out a choked laugh and wrapped her arms around him. “Who else would it be?”
Caden’s mouth opened and shut. This was the real Landry. The real Ross and Harvey. Hell, it was even the real Jasper Hawes. These were the souls of the people that the Behemoth had taken the bodies from. But that meant…
We’re in the Spirit Realm. Our bodies are back on Earth. The Behemoth has control of their bodies… Does it have control of mine? Caden wondered and a chill went through him.
“Oh, my God, I’m so glad you’re here! I knew you’d come save us!” she babbled against his neck. “I was so certain that if anyone could figure this out it would be you!”
Caden gently pulled back to see her face. There were tear tracks on her cheeks and she was smiling up at him so hopefully. He didn’t want to tell her the truth that this wasn’t a rescue mission, but instead, he might be trapped too.
“Landry, I…” He grimaced.
“Caden! God, things have been so insane! How long have we been gone?” Landry continued. “The light never changes. Always twilight. Or is it daybreak? No idea! And--”
“Landry--”
“I have so much to tell you. And these idiots are going to tell everything too.” Landry turned her head to glare at her brothers and Jasper behind them. “I know who is behind all of this--”
“The Behemoth,” Caden interrupted.
“You said that name before. But I’m talking about a Hydra--”
“Yes, that’s its name,” Caden said. “It’s a Spirit that can--can bind other Spirits to it. Dragon Spirits.”
Could that be what happened to Iolaire? Caden thought with a shudder. Is that why I’m here, too? Trapped? While the Behemoth uses my body, too?
“Yeah, I guess that name totally fits. I mean it's got all these heads that spit fire, acid, poison gas, just everything!” She gave herself a terrier-like shake. “It's terrible. So terrible.”
That was exactly how he would describe it. Terrible.
“Like you just look at it and know its bad news!” Landry let out a bitter laugh. “But, of course, that means my brothers are all in.”
“Landry!” Ross whined.
“No, don’t! We’re only in this mess because of you two lugheads!
All this Humans First crap when all along Jasper just wanted to be a Shifter, to be on top!
” Landry shouted at them with disgust. “Both of you too!” Even though her eyes were covered by her bangs Caden could feel her scowl.
“All of it's been a crock. Humans First indeed!”
Both brothers dropped their heads in shame.
Landry turned her head back towards Caden.
“It gets better or worse. The hypocrisy is so freaking hilarious. So Jasper, here,” she tilted her head towards the scowling, gloomy leader of Humans First, “Some weirdo Faith people come to Jasper here and tell him about the Behemoth. So Humans First and the Faith are in on it together! All of Jasper’s principals and it’s all fake!
” She made air quotes around “principals”.
“Do you know who he met with?” Caden asked, becoming interested in spite of himself and their current predicament.
If they could get back--no, we will get back--then this information would be invaluable.
“I don’t know their names, but Jasper keeps records,” Landry said with a dismissive tilt of her head. “He’s the type to write everything down and I know where those records are.”
“Traitor,” Jasper hissed.
Landry’s head snapped around towards him. “What? What was that, Jasper-I-hate-Shifters-but-want-to-be-one? You want to say something about me and my loyalties?”
Jasper grimaced and looked away. Caden noted that none of the people here--and some of them must have been members of Humans First other than Ross and Harvey--stuck up for him. In fact, there were many who glared at him.
“I think you’ve stuck him in the soft parts, Landry,” Caden remarked.
“Oh, I’d like to do more than that.” She remained glaring at Jasper. Finally, she turned back to him again. “Of course, the biggest irony is that his big deal didn’t work. We went to this wall in a mountain and we were supposed to be turned into Shifters, but we just ended up here!”
Landry was frowning as if that wasn’t everything that happened. He remembered her face as she was pulled into the wall, her screaming face, her reaching arms. He was glad that she didn’t remember it.
“Well, that’s not exactly true,” Caden said now that she was quiet for a moment.
“What do you mean?” She frowned more deeply.
“Yeah, what do you mean?” Ross asked, jutting his chin forward. “We’re not Shifters. We’re just here…” He spread his arms to gesture to this place, “in this stupid forest with nothing to eat and the monsters--”
“Monsters?” Caden interrupted.
“Yeah, there are things here! Like every Shifter type ever!” Ross said with another gesture.
Caden blinked as he realized what they were actually seeing, which was the Spirits.
The Spirits that bonded with humans. To Landry, Ross, Harvey and everyone here they must look like the animals that humans shifted into like Sphinxes, Dragons, Werewolves and more.
“Of course, there would be. They would all be here and--”
“Where is here?” Landry asked. “Oh, hell, I don’t care! Just get us home!”
Caden drew in a sharp breath between his teeth. This was the moment where he had to take her hope away. “I’m not here on a rescue mission, Landry. I wish I was. But I’m not sure how I got here at all.”
Did they take me through a wall? Am I sticking out of it like a statue? Or am I walking around, looking for Valerius… oh, God, no!
Panic wanted to settle over him again in a heavy blanket of despair. He scrubbed his face with his hands. There had to be a way out of this. There had to be! He couldn’t give up or let himself be overwhelmed.
Landry’s expression fell. “You didn’t come here… on purpose?”
“I was chasing you… uhm, your body,” Caden explained, going through his memories for himself as much as her. “The Behemoth has possessed all of you. So you are Shifters just… Well, your bodies are the Behemoth’s to control. Looks like it went around the middleman and just occupies them.”
Landry’s head slowly nodded as if this made sense to her, though her expression was getting grimmer and grimmer.
Caden continued, “I trapped your body in an ice cocoon--”
“Ice cocoon?” Landry’s eyes went huge. “Is my body okay? You better not have frozen something off!”
“I didn’t. But your body is pretty immune to most things when the Behemoth is occupying it,” Caden said, though he grimaced at the memory of being beat up pretty well.
“Anyways, I’m not sure if it was a trap or bad timing, but I was captured and…
I don’t actually remember anything after that until I found myself here. ”
Jasper Hawes let out a sharp, mirthless laugh. “See?! He can’t help us! He’s as stuck here as us! I--”
“SHUT UP!” Landry shouted at him. “You’re responsible for this! Your jealousy and desire for power brought us here!”
Jasper shook his head. “I’m not listening to any more of this shit!”
He then stalked off into the woods. No one went after him.
“So what was I doing that you were chasing me?” Landry asked, searching his face.
“That doesn’t matter--”
“It does, Caden! What was I doing?” Landry’s voice was high and tight.
“You, Ross and Harvey… took your parents hostage,” Caden explained, “to draw me and Valerius to you.”
“Our folks?!” Harvey cried. “Are they okay?”
“Yes, I think so. They were unconscious last I saw them, but I think we stopped the Behemoth in time,” Caden said. He really hoped that was true.
“Oh, my God.” Landry covered her mouth with one hand and nearly sank down to her knees. Caden caught her and kept her upright. “We were so stupid. Why did I ever think…”
Something occurred to Caden then. “Landry, why did you go with them to the mountain? You should have escaped… I mean, if you could--”
“I probably could have. But I…” Her lips flattened for a moment. “I wanted to be a Shifter, too. Then we could be Shifters together! You, me, Wally and Rose!”
“Oh, Landry--”
“Don’t, Caden! Don’t make it sound so stupid! I know I’m not special!” Landry shook her head and tried to turn away from him. “How else was I going to become a Shifter unless I did this? No Spirit will choose me!”
Caden drew in a deep breath. “I don’t think it’s stupid. You are special. And Spirits choose people… I don’t know the answer to that. But I wouldn’t count you out on becoming a Shifter. But, even if it never happens, that doesn’t mean you aren’t a wonderful person--”
“I don’t want to be just a wonderful person, Caden! You don’t understand--”
“Yeah, I actually do, because I was just like you not that long ago,” Caden told her. “And I can tell you that I… I don’t know if it makes me special so much as lucky. I get why you want this. I get it.”
“But some of us have to be human, right? Yeah… yeah,” her voice dropped off.
“Let’s just--”
There was a roar that shattered the air. Caden’s head immediately snapped upwards towards the sky. But he didn’t see what he thought should be there.
“Oh, fuck! It’s back!” Ross slapped his brother’s chest as he started to stagger back to the forest. “We’ve gotta get out of sight!”
“Caden, we’ve got to go!” Landry grabbed his arm and tried to drag him towards the forest.
“Wait! Wait!” Caden kept glancing around the sky as the roar repeated. It sounded muffled as if it was coming through stone. “That’s got to be--”
“It’s a Dragon, Caden! There are Dragons here and--”
“Yeah, I know!” Caden grinned as he realized where the lair had always been. “That’s Raziel! Raziel is here!”