New Shadow!!!! Enjoy!
She could only find me if I entered Umbra I confirmed in my own mind, and with a sigh, kicked down the door leading to the staircase that would take me down to street level.
An hour later, I pushed open the door to my apartment. I’d had to run through the streets, slowing down whenever I saw people. I walked to the kitchen, and pulled a tepid beer from the fridge. Swilling it in one drink, I sat on the now vacant couch, and went over what had happened in my head. A Fury, a fucking Fury, attacked me. Almost dragged me to hell, almost got me caught, and almost fucking killed me. With my powers, I had learned to never think anything was impossible, but this? Fucking bullshit if you ask me.
I shook my head, and decided to deal with things in the morning. Leaving my backpack on the couch, I stood and walked to my bedroom, not even bothering to take off my clothes. I sank into the bed, and was almost immediately in the world of dreams, where I finally got my hands around that Fury’s wrinkled neck.
“Scot!” the woman beneath me moaned, writhing under my body and I pushed even harder. “Oh, Scot!” she breathed again, but this time something was off, and I froze, looking down at her quizzically. “Scot! Wake up,” she said, looking into my eyes. Then she was gone, along with the bed were had been lying on, and everything else. I groaned and rolled over, hearing Alex’s voice ring. “Scot! Wake up man, we got shit to do!”
I cracked an eye open, and found Alex’s form in my blurry vision. The tattered curtains were slightly open, and bright sunlight streamed in, causing me to clench my eyes shut quickly. “Do something about the light!” I crowed.
He chuckled, and walked over to the window. I let my eye open just a bit to see him smirking, hand on the curtain. “Get out of bed Scot, now.”
With that he flung open the curtain, allowing the room to fill with a dazzling brilliance.
“Fuck!” I cursed, flipping my pillow onto my eyes. “You know that shit hurts!”
“It’s almost two in the afternoon. We have shit to do, and stolen property to sell.”
I leveled the best glare I could at him, and for the millionth time wondered why I hadn’t killed Alex yet. We had first met when I was seven, after I came back to the orphanage after the last of only God knows how many foster homes. He was twenty five then, and who in the fuck knows how, but he adopted me. From the minute we had left the orphanage, he told me he didn’t adopt me because he wanted a kid, but because he knew about my powers. I had learned them about a year before that, but nothing too special. I had only learned to blend with shadows at that time, never to become one myself. I was born with an aversion to sunlight, and couldn’t stand being out in it for too long. It sapped all my energy after a few hours, and left me weak and dizzy.
I cursed at him, then untangled the blankets from around my legs. Cursing the whole time, I went to the bathroom, washed my face, fixed my hair, and changed into a white t-shirt and jeans. Walking into the living room, I found Alex on the couch with last night’s prize in his hands. The diamond caught the light streaming in through the curtain, and sent it all over the walls like a disco ball. The Great Star of Africa, weighing in at just over five hundred and thirty carats. A diamond that until last night, was on loan from the private collection of the Crown Jewels. I stole the damn thing from Queen Elizabeth herself, the old bitch.
“It’s huge,” Alex said, turning it in his hands, causing the rainbows on the walls to dance.
I let him have his fun, then stalked over and snatched it from his hands. “I’m guessing Andros called?”
Alex huffed about the loss of his toy. “Yea, he’s leaving the country tonight, and he wants it before he does.”
“Does he have the rest of my money?”
“Yep, and he’s waiting.”
I shoved the diamond in my pocket, and walked toward the door. “Which car did you bring?”
He smiled. “The Bugatti.”
A smirk wound on to my face. “Then let’s go.”
Down the streets I pushed the car, taking hairpin turns at close to a hundred miles an hour. Alex had taken my aversion to sunlight into account after buying the Bugatti, tinting the windows far past the legal darkness. We discussed the job last night, though I deliberately left out my meeting with the Fury, wanting him to be undistracted during the meeting with Andros. Andros on the other hand, was a different story. A billionaire from Buenos Aires, he was the one who contracted me to steal the diamond, and imposed the three day deadline. How he had heard of me, I don’t know, but I didn’t mind much. It had piqued my curiosity, and I took the challenge, knowing that it would be dangerous. Escaping unscathed, I wanted the rest of my money.
The diamond was estimated at over four hundred million, but I took the job to steal it for five hundred thousand. My apartment was in shambles, though I could have much, much, nicer. Money held no value for me, and I didn’t care whether I had it or not. I only take the jobs I take to challenge myself.
I pulled in front of the Wyndham, pulling the car to a curt stop. The doorman hurried to pull my door open, and I handed him a twenty, pushing past him through the revolving door. I noticed the man at the bar look away from me quickly, then bring his wrist to his mouth as though stifling a cough. I chuckled and waved, and he rolled his eyes. Andros knew I was here, and I knew he knew. The man at the bar rose from the stool and beckoned me follow him, heading toward the elevator. Alex followed close behind, bringing up the rear.
