Chapter 3.2

A ragged-looking boy sat at our kitchen table; he leaps up when he sees us. He looked at us expectingly, as if he thought we knew who he was and why he was there. He was a little nervous, but energetic despite looking like he'd lived in a dumpster half his life. "Hi!" he exclaimed, breaking our trance.

"Hello…" Theo shot me a questioning look and I just shrugged. "I think you're in the wrong apartment."

"I don't think so." He pointed at me, "You have a shadow."

I startled, but Theo rescued me, "yeah, when the suns out everyone has a shadow." She says with a hint of condescension.

"This is a different sort of shadow. But I don't recognise you so other groups must have escaped at the same time as us."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Escaped? Escaped from where?

"I'm Tommy, this is Rex." He gestured behind him and I coughed in surprise, choking on the air in my lungs. Behind him was a small dog. Only it wasn't a dog, it was dark and made of swirling semi-solid shadows, that morphed and shuddered when it moved.

At the same time, Theo exclaims. "Who's Rex?"

"Who are you?" I asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"You can see him, can't you? I knew I wasn't mistaken! Have you seen any of the others? Are you alone? I got separated from my group and now I can't find them, do you know where they are?"

"What's the crazy kid talking about?" Theo muttered, not taking her eyes off him.

"I'm not crazy! I'm like him!" he pointed at me again.

"Keep your voice down and put the dog away." I ordered, hastily drawing the curtains, and moving him away from the windows.

He plonked down at our kitchen table. "So you can see him!" he excitedly bobbed on the chair.

"Yes, I can. Now put him away before someone sees."

"It's not like anyone can see him." He argued with a pout. He had a point. And I sighed. I knew there were probably more kids with shadows, but I didn't expect one to turn up in the middle of our living room during the hostile takeover of our country.

"What the hell is happening?"

"I'm Tommy, I got separated from the rest of our group when we crossed the border and I was trying to find them, but instead I found you. Do you know where there are? Have you seen them?"

"I'm sorry, you're not making any sense. Start from the beginning. Pretend we know nothing (because we actually know nothing)." Theo drew him a glass of water and sat opposite, strangely calm. I slid into the chair next to her.

"A couple of weeks ago my friends and I saw a chance to escape. We attacked the guard keeping us there-"

"Where is 'there'?" She asked, her eyebrows creasing.

"The facility. The place that made us like this." Theo was about to ask what that meant, but I had a pretty good idea, and I stopped her. There wasn't any need to get the kid to explain something like that, so I made a note to explain it to her later. He continued, "we escaped, it was weird how there weren't that many people there anymore, but we didn't care. We got out. We knew north was safety, and we easily got past the border, but then, when we were on the street, soldiers came after us. Garlantian soldiers that weren't meant to be there. I was sure we were past the border. But he attacked us, and we had to scatter… I've been trying to find them since. But instead, I found you. Have you seen them?"

"I'm sorry, you're the first person I've seen with a shadow."

"Then what happened to the other kids in your group?"

"I didn't come from where you did. I was never at the facility."

"Then how do you have a shadow?"

"I just do." The look of disappointment on his expression was crushing. "I'm sorry I can't help you."

He managed a sad smile and sipped the water.

Theo gave me a look that said you're going to explain everything to me later and asked him if he wanted anything to eat. He nodded enthusiastically and looking at him it was probably a long time since he ate properly. He was scrawny, with circles under his eyes of yellowish flaky skin- a sign of vitamin deficiency, his clothes were ripped and far too big for him, and I hate to admit it, but he kinda smelt.

While Theo made some food, I summoned Shadow to help me move the wardrobe in front of the window, leaving only a small gap for the binoculars when we needed to scan the city. This way, if he kept quiet, they needn't know there was an extra person living here. Although we knew little to nothing about him, I could guess the rest of his story and I bet he was due a little kindness. I knew Theo would want to help him as well.

"Your Shadow is massive!" I hear him exclaim in the doorway and almost lost concentration. It dropped a few inches before I regained my grip on both Shadow and the wardrobe. Once I settled it down, blocking the light except for a thin strip, wide enough for the binoculars, I retorted, "your shadow is tiny."

"He's not that small, there was one girl who had a shadow butterfly, hers was tiny."

"How old are you?" I asked, I felt like I was talking to a kid much younger than myself, but if he'd been locked up in the facility for years, I guess it was expected.

"I don't know for sure, but around thirteen or fourteen I think."

"I'm Ezra, and that was Theo. We're both sixteen."

"You know it's rude to give out a lady's age without asking!" I hear Theo call from the kitchen.

"Good job you're not a lady then!" I call back.

"Is Theo your sister?" He asked. We moved back into the main area, and I released Shadow. Rex still cowered at his feet, but he no longer had his tail between his legs.

"He wished he had a sister as awesome as me." she grinned.

"No. I don't have any family."

Theo hesitated, her hand hovering for a second before putting the paper plate in the middle of the table, filled with triangles of buttered toast.

"We don't know what happened to our parents. They could still be alive." She comforted optimistically. Her eyes brimmed with moisture. I couldn't forget she was hurting too, she loved Alex as much as I did, and she must be wondering if her parents were still alive. I couldn't wallow in self-pity by myself, we needed each other, and now, this kid needed us too.

"What happened to this place?" he asked.

"Galantia invaded about a week ago. They took all the adults away and locked all the kids up." I explained.

"We're working on a way out." She added.

"Can I help?" he asked, licking his fingers of the grease.

"I think so. If you managed to get in, there must be a way for us to get out." I nodded.

"If the other kids in your group got caught, they'd probably be in a place like this. If we figure a way out of here, it could help us rescue them when we find them."

"How many other kids were there?"

"I'm not very good with numbers. But I think there was eight of us." He blushed under the layer of dust and grime on his face.

"How old were they?"

"The youngest was six. He didn't have his shadow yet. But the rest of them were about nine to twelve. It's hard to know our exact ages."

"Hmm… How did you manage to get in?" she pondered, nibbling on her crust of bread.

"I saw your shadow in the window, but there were guards. So I waited until you were outside, and when they were looking I slipped in the crowd and followed them up."

"You make it sound simple."

"Rex helped."

"How so?"

"He has good hearing. He told me when to move."

"How can a dog tell you to move?" she asked, a little bluntly.

He looked at her as if we were mad, "you know that feeling you get? I just knew when to move. And sometimes, I think I can hear what he can. That's a sign that our link is getting better, but it wasn't stable so that's why I was left alone."

I think I knew what he meant; I think it was like the danger sense I had. "What do you mean 'why you were left alone'?"

"When the link gets really good, and it's stable, they took them somewhere else."

"Where did they take them?"

"I don't know, but we never saw them again." He yawned, and his eyes started to droop, but I was reluctant to let him use the bed in his current state.

"You can have a shower if you want. We still have hot water. And then you can sleep."

His eyes sparkled at the prospect of hot water and sleep; remembering my life in Garlantia, I could imagine that he didn't often get to have hot showers and a comfy bed with a mattress.

I showed him how the shower worked and I noticed scars popping out from under his ripped clothes, but I pretended not to see. I don't know what they did to him but having met the mad scientist in charge, I could imagine.