AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As subtly as I can, I peer in the direction the feeling’s coming from.
A small, dark creature appears to be staring back at me...
Chapter Six
Shadow People
The thing is half hidden behind a bright blue cabinet housing an ‘erosion simulator’. Kids can push a button and watch a tiny waterfall eat away sand and ‘rock’. It’s obviously not real rock. If water could erode an inch-thick layer of rock in twenty seconds, we have some serious environmental problems.
Yeah, this critter… whatever it is, has its attention fixated on Paxton.
As the crew of rednecks would say on Mountain Monsters: “Summa bitch.”
That said, I get the feeling it doesn’t want to hurt her, simply follow her. Either that’s a bit of psychic intuition going on or wishful thinking on my part. This creature doesn’t really have much of a form, either. It’s about the size of a cat, despite having only two legs and being generally person-shaped. I say ‘generally’ because its head is about one-third of its total height. Looking at it puts the word ‘goblin’ in my mind.
Despite size, the thing gives off a serious amount of malice. Paxton’s description of feeling ‘evil’ totally fits. My intuition that the creature doesn’t want to hurt her is at odds with this. I suspect what’s holding it back from wanting to actively hurt her is that she is somehow useful to it for the time being. This creature has no regard for her well-being; it merely needs her.
Again, I’m making assumptions… or is this my newish psychic senses whacking me over the head with a clue-by-four? After all, it has no facial features of any kind to interpret from. Me getting a strong feeling it needs her alive must be psychic intuition. While I am relieved it’s not trying to harm her, I am more than a little freaked out at why that thing is interested in Paxton at all.
This is not a good place for a supernatural war. I’ve got thirty or so eighth-graders near me for one. For another, I’ve seen at least two other groups of field trippers here, though they’re not in the same exhibit as we are now. If there’s anything I’ve learned over several years of supernatural craziness, it’s that I really do love coffee. Those years where I couldn’t drink it bothered me a lot more than I admitted to myself. Okay, there’s also the ‘don’t judge a demon by its size’ thing, too. I’ve learned that over and over. Just because this shadow goblin thing is diminutive doesn’t mean it’s not potentially dangerous.
My options for dealing with this creature in this environment are limited. I could run to the nearest bathroom for a water source and conjure the ice blade… though, there’s a good chance the museum security would have a problem if some woman started running around with a sword. Could always toss one of my little magic balls at it. My magic isn’t exactly what anyone would call ‘strong,’ but the thing is tiny. If its size isn’t ironic, one of my baby energy balls might do the trick. The bigger problem would be trying to do that in a crowded room without anyone noticing.
Nope. Can’t start a fight here, so I go with the wisest possible option.
I cease being subtle and stare right at the thing, doing my best to give it a ‘back the hell off’ glare.
It doesn’t take Mr. Shadow Goblin long to realize I’m looking at it. As soon as it does, it disappears. Poof.
“Mom,” whispers Paxton. “There. On top of the earthquake machine.”
At that, I spin to face her, then follow her gaze to the right. Thirty or so feet in front of our group, there’s this giant… apparatus. It’s somewhere wedged between a display table and a huge arcade machine with all sorts of moving parts to simulate what happens to the ground and buildings during an earthquake. Two more of those shadow goblins perch atop the arcade.
Maybe it’s the same one from before, but now with a friend. Can’t tell them apart since they look identical.
The need to protect my kid sets off a spike of anxiety in the back of my mind. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can do about them right now in such a crowded place.
Suddenly, a basketball-sized orb of lightning leaps away from my hand.
I barely have time to think ‘oh crap’ before the glowing mass of electricity flies the sixty or so feet to the shadow goblins and explodes in their faces. The subsequent flash and bang startles screams out of everyone in the room—all the kids, several adults, and a couple of museum staff. Blinking lights and buzzing noises come from the earthquake simulator. I think it’s doing the ‘electronic device’ version of having a seizure. After maybe three seconds, the whole machine goes dark—likely a fuse blowing somewhere. Other than some mild charring at the point of impact at the top of the apparatus, I see no obvious damage.
No one is staring at me, so I’m reasonably confident the ball of lightning shot across the room far too quickly for anyone to have noticed it. Not only did this energy ball seem to have a mind of its own—I did not consciously try to throw one—it was considerably bigger than the dinky little lightning orbs my magic usually creates.
As for the two shadow goblins… they’re either atomized or they disappeared. Can’t tell.
Several museum workers run over to the machine to check on a pair of boys who’d been playing with the device at the time. They’re about ten or eleven years old if I had to guess… and both of them appear stunned. Their hair is standing on end as if they had the mother of all static electricity charges.
My stomach does a backflip at the thought of throwing dangerous magic around innocent kids. A few of Paxton’s classmates find the boys’ puffed-up hair hilarious and start laughing at them. They seem unhurt, merely surprised.
Adult voices behind me talk about the flash, one guy blaming it on a really bright one from a camera. The woman talking to him says the machine must have malfunctioned or short-circuited. Most people I can overhear talking about it blame the earthquake simulator. No one is talking about me throwing a magical projectile. That’s good. It means they didn’t see it. It also means I don’t have to adjust their memories.
Hopefully, the security cameras didn’t capture the ball leaving my hand and streaking across the room. Oh heck. Even if it did, who in their right mind would believe a woman could hurl lightning from her hands? They’re going to call it an unexplained anomaly. Going to keep my fingers crossed the ball moved too fast to show up on video as anything more than a glowing blur.
Paxton grabs my left arm and clings to me.
Though I’m not outwardly upset, she can feel my mood. And I’m low-key freaking out, mostly because I just threw a lightning ball without even meaning to that could’ve hit a pair of kids.
My magic is not supposed to act by itself, nor have that much power.
