Chapter 06: Mirror

Taking a firm grip on the containment suit at the shoulders, I concentrated on turning it ethereal along with me. It turned shadow when I did, and I pulled it away from her slightly. When I saw the skin of her left shoulder, I instantly halted and put the suit back in place.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You're only missing a sleeve on your right side," I explained. "When I started to remove the containment suit, I saw your shoulder on the left. I was accidentally taking the jumpsuit underneath with it. Give me a minute, and I'll try again."

I inhaled deeply and centered my focus on the containment suit once more. It changed into a featureless shadow as I did, but when I pulled it away, the blaze orange of her clothes showed through. Knowing I was only taking the containment suit, I pulled it off her and dumped it on the floor. The instant the suit left my hand, it became solid and crumpled into a heap.

"You did it!" she cheered in delight.

I retook physical form and helped her off the table.

"It just occurred to me," I told her. "I don't know your name."

"It's Denise," she told me. "Denise Greer."

"Well then, Denise Greer," I announced, offering her a hand. "Shall we go? The time has come for your escape."

She put her hand in mine, and I smiled while relaxing my focus. I drifted out of physical substance first, followed almost immediately by Denise.

I'd never gotten a look at myself when ethereal, so her appearance startled me. She was a transparent figure of darkness, completely devoid of all distinguishing features except for her eyes; they were orbs of the purest white. No iris or pupil broke the completeness of the pale surface.

"Do I look like you when ethereal?" I questioned.

"I don't know," she answered. "What do I look like to you?"

"You appear as a three dimensional shadow," I described. "I can't tell what you're wearing as it's all blended together in one dark shape. You don't have a mouth I can see. Only your eyes are visible, and they are pure white."

"Yep," she confirmed. "That's what you look like."

"Interesting," I mused. Redirecting my thoughts to our escape, I held up a hand and pressed it against the wall, sinking in to the wrist. "You try."

Denise placed her palm against the wall and pushed, but the concrete structure had no more success holding her back than it had with me. Her hand easily passed through the spongy softness of the wall. I didn't have to encourage her to do more as she eagerly ventured ahead.

Not wanting to lose my hold on her hand, I walked quickly alongside her and entered the wall and the soil surrounding the military compound. We paused momentarily outside to look the base over.

"This is how you see?" she asked in awe. Her voice was slightly muffled by the earth between us, but I heard her well enough to answer.

"Yes," I confirmed. "Let me show you something."

I walked her upward from her cell, giving her a better view of the other people who'd been experimented on.

"Is there anything we can do for them?" she inquired.

"Not yet," I denied. "We don't know if they would even be on our side, or of they would trust us after what they've been through. If we can find a way off the island, then, we will have an easier time convincing them. Until then, they had best stay where they are."

"I understand," she replied. "We have enough enemies with guns looking for us; we don't need enemies with powers."

"True," I agreed, pleased with her quick grasp of the tactical situation. "Time to go. If you'll accompany me, I'll show you to our sanctuary."

She followed along with me to the far side of the island where my cave was located. We exited the wall, and I released her hand, instantly turning her solid again.

"You have a truly amazing ability," she said admiringly.

"Thank you," I accepted. "What's yours, and why did they need a containment suit rather than just a cell?"

"I haven't been able to control my power," Denise explained. "I don't even fully understand it. During nighttime hours, my hair turns white, and I project moonlight from my skin."

"I saw that," I told her. "It's nice."

She smiled indulgently as if I had no idea what I was talking about.

"During daylight, however, my hair goes intense blonde, and I mirror the fire and radiation of the sun," she explained. Denise looked down at her hands, curling her fingers into fists. Small flickers of golden flame wrapped around her fingers like fiery snakes.

Her green eyes glanced toward the water tunnel leading into the cave, and I followed her gaze, noticing the growing light of early dawn. When we looked toward each other, we both became aware of slight changes in the other.

"You're turning solid," she told me, and I looked down to see my hands were becoming flesh and blood without my having to focus.

"You're changing too," I mentioned. Her radiant white hair had turned a striking shade of blonde. Its brightness seemed to radiate a light of its own rather than simply reflecting it.

"You had best leave," she warned me.

"Why?" I asked, even though I had a fairly good guess.

"I'll roast you alive, even if I don't want to," she explained. "I never wanted to kill those soldiers, but it happened, and the same will happen to you."

"I learned to focus my power," I replied. "I believe you can too, we just need time."

"I can't control it," she stated as she gritted her teeth together. Flames wreathed her hands and filled the cavern with light and blistering heat. "They may detect my heat signature back at the base. There isn't anything you can do. Go, now!"

"Wait here," I instructed as an idea came to mind. I turned ethereal and dived through the wall, mentally berating myself for being so stupid as to not have thought if it earlier. Her powers were unfocused and uncontrolled. I needed a way to hold them in check until she mastered the discipline needed to turn them off. I only just realized our enemy had already planned for such an eventuality, her containment suit.

I ran toward the base at a full sprint, mentally chiding myself for not having the foresight to bring it along in the first place. I hoped I could return with the suit before the base sensors detected the heat spike in our hidden cavern. Our sanctuary might not remain concealed and safe for much longer. Doubling my efforts, I ran harder.

When I arrived at the base, I'd already adjusted my angle of approach, so I didn't have to descend to the prison level. I dived through the wall, becoming solid and rolling across the floor.

The containment suit was within my reach, and I grabbed it up. When I tried going back through the wall, I ran into the unyielding concrete, and it painfully reminded me I needed to concentrate. It had been so effortless during the nighttime hours, I hadn't even been thinking about it.

Focusing my mind, I turned into a shadow along with the suit. I lunged again at the wall, and this time, it didn't halt my movement.

I had a clear direction on where the cave was located because I could see, even from this distance, a small supernova burning brightly near the island's shoreline.

As I came out of the wall, I was instantly aware of the heat present in the cave. It felt warmer than the jungle outside in a full sun.

Denise was completely wrapped in a blanket of fire. Fortunately, as long as I remained a shadow, none of the flames pouring off of Denise in waves could harm me.

"Stay away!" she warned, throwing out a hand to keep me at bay. A solar flare of red hot fire washed out from her palm in a jet that scorched the wall behind me. Had I been human, I doubted I would've survived. As it was, the torrent of flames passed clear through my ghostly body with only the smallest difference in temperature from the cave itself.

Her powers seemed to be intensifying as the moments passed. Reacting quickly, I draped the shadowy form of the containment suit around her and let go. The instant my fingers broke contact, the suit became solid, cutting off her powers and extinguishing the flames.

"Your plan worked," she told me.

"Thank goodness," I said, becoming solid again. I felt weary and tried to steady myself against the wall, only to burn my hand on the blistering stone.

"Are you alright?" Denise asked, putting her arms around me for support.

"Fine," I answered. "Changing from shadow to solid takes concentration at night, but the reverse is apparently true in the daytime. I can only focus for so long. Maintaining my concentration in a room is one thing, but it's totally different keeping my mind centered while running back and forth between here and the military base. It takes a lot."

"Do you think it will be the same for me?" she inquired,

"I don't know," I admitted truthfully, not wanting to hold anything back from her. "It may become easier with time and practice, but I don't know. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time I've gained powers from being a medical experiment, so this is new to me."

She chuckled and seemed to accept the fact I didn't know much more than she did when it came to our altered physical states. I took her gloved hand in mine and smiled. This was new territory for us both, but we had something to help us get through it, each other.

"Since we seem to be limited to working on your control during nighttime hours only," I mentioned, "I suggest we use the day to catch up on our sleep."

"Good idea," she agreed. "I wish there was a way to keep this suit a little cooler."

My gaze traveled to the water tunnel. It might be useful if there was a way to keep her from either drowning or floating out to sea. I also looked toward the depression in the rock where I had spent part of my first night. It wasn't deep enough, and I didn't want to fill my dry resting place with water. I had an idea in mind, but I didn't know if it would work, let alone if I had the energy to make it happen.

Groaning a little as I knelt down, I focused on turning my hands ethereal. I scooped them into the rock, trying to turn some of the floor to shadow while leaving the surrounding material alone as I had done with the containment suit. It allowed me to lift out a double handful of stone. Keeping it ghostly, I pushed it through the wall and left it there. Continuing the process for several minutes, I dug out a shallow basin near the back of the cave. I carved a trench between the watery tunnel and the basin; the moment the two connected, sea water flowed in until the basin was filled to the top.

"There you go," I said, laying down beside the newly created pool.

Denise sat down on the edge of the basin and put her legs in. Gently sliding off the side, she immersed herself in the waters. The slope of the basin let her rest her helmet out of the water while keeping the remainder of her submerged. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly.

"Perfect," she whispered. "Thank you."

I knew the tropical liquid was warm, but each successive wave sent new water streaming in along the trench to the basin where Denise relaxed. The constant infusion of seawater would help keep her temperature at a consistent level and prevent her from being overheated inside the suit.

I considered setting up my tripwire defense, but I was too tired to make the effort, and I thought with both of us here, it was not as likely for someone to enter undetected. I only required a moment to phase the both of us through a wall or the floor. A quick escape was always possible when you didn't have to worry about physical obstacles. I couldn't keep my eyes open, and the steady rhythm of the ocean waves put me to sleep.

***

Nightmares haunted me again. I sat up quickly, my breathing and heart rate speeding nearly out of control.

The twisted horrors and violent images I'd witnessed left me certain I didn't want to remember who I had been. If the brief glimpses I'd seen were enough to shake me to the core of my being, I wondered how knowing the full experience hadn't left me insane, but perhaps I had been.

I rested my elbows on my knees while holding my head in my hands. My whole body shook convulsively as the nightmare continued to chew on my soul with sharp metal teeth.

A slight sloshing of water came from behind me before Denise snugged her arms around my stomach. Her helmet rested against the back of my skull. The water coursing down her suit soaked my clothes, but I hardly noticed. She held me tightly until the shaking ended.

Denise didn't say a word; she didn't need to. Words couldn't patch the gaping hole in my memories, or cleanse the dark stains the nightmares had left behind.

It took me longer than I would've wished to get control of my emotions. Denise stayed with me and gave no indication of wanting to break the embrace she held me in. I drew a steadying breath and forced my unpleasant emotions down where I could keep them from interfering with me.

I squeezed Denise's hand, wordlessly thanking her for her understanding and compassion.