Chapter 3.4

Ten minutes later the apartment smelt like steam and Theo appeared in fresh clothes and dripping wet hair.

"I wish the guy who lived here had a hair drier." She commented, trying to pat her hair dry with a towel that was far too small. She sighed, plopping it in a wet pile on the floor, giving up on her endeavour.

"There's some toast if you want it. But it's a bit cold."

She nodded and took the plate. "Are you okay?" she asked reluctantly.

"Yeah. What do you mean?"

"You haven't eaten much since we've been here. It's been a week."

It was true, I realised, my stomach felt tender but not hungry. I took a piece of bread and nibbled on it "I'm fine. Probably just been worrying." I lied.

"Okay…. At least one of us has our appetite." She chucked as Tommy inhaled the rest of his food and begun eyeing up the rest of mine. He probably didn't get fed much where he came from.

"Tommy, I was wondering if you knew how to train a Shadow."

"Train it? What do you mean?"

I explained what happened at the school, and then what happened when I tried to make it happen again later.

"I've never heard of that happening. But as soon as our Shadows get to a certain level, they take us somewhere else, so it's possible there are other people out there who might know."

"There are different levels? What does that mean?"

"Well, you're a level one if you have the potential to have a shadow, level two if you've bound to it, level three if you can manifest it, level four if you can share one of its senses. I don't know what the other levels are, but if you get to level five or you fail to get to level two, they take you away."

"How do they know what level you are if they can't see it?"

"They have machines, and there was a woman who helped the scientist who could see it, but she didn't have a shadow."

"What level are you?"

"I'm a level four. I can use Rex's hearing, but I'm not very good yet."

"How do you do it?" I asked, maybe it could help me figure how to make it happen again.

"I don't know really, I kind of just imagine I'm him."

"You imagine you're a dog made out of shadow?" she asked with a slight sneer of disbelief.

"Yeah." He chuckled uncomfortably.

"Okay." I agreed slowly. What would it be like to be Shadow? He was large, strong, protective but gentle, he'd seen the things I've seen, he travelled from a beautiful peaceful world with a red sky just to help me. Why would he even do that? What was I to him?

I wanted to know more, I wanted to know what it felt like to have a semi-solid body that could still touch and feel but also pass right through things. In words I didn't understand, but I could feel an understanding intrinsically. He and I were connected across worlds, I've seen his world and its wonder, and he's seen ours in its devastation. He was always with me; it was a connection that couldn't merit words. So, I stopped trying to articulate, and instead, just felt.

His world bled into mine; the scene was coloured in red, but I could see Theo and Tommy from much higher up, my head- his head- almost touched the ceiling, when we looked up was only a few inches from his face. I could still see through my own eyes, but it was pale like an after image. I could see myself from above, and when I turned to look at Shadow I could see both myself through Shadows eyes, and Shadow through my eyes like some weird trick with mirrors. "Wow, I can see… it's so weird." We both turn to Theo, who was moving around the apartment trying to find Shadow even though it was obvious she couldn't see him.

"Where is he? What can you see?"

"It's just like seeing through two peoples eyes… But it's still not the same, last time I could see things…" our eyes track her movements, then it happened. We saw her trip and stab her foot on the out-turned kitchen chair, only it hadn't transpired yet.

"Watch out!" I called, and reach out, but it's not my arms that steady her, its shadows. His long arms stretch out and catch her on the shoulders. She gave a look of bewilderment, her eyes gave upwards into ours and there's a second a complete stillness and I thought that she could see him before pain erupts behind my eyes. The connection is ripped from my vision and I stumble back, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes, but the pressure wouldn't release. It becomes more and more until there nothing I could do other than to scream my throat coarse.

"What's wrong with him?" Tommy shrieks in alarm.

I couldn't understand her reply, but I could feel her hands lifting me under the armpits and I vaguely felt the floor under my feet as I was half-dragged to the sofa.

I wanted to rip my eyes out, I want to gouge out the pain, and I struggle against someone hands pulling my hands away from my face. I pull and twist against them, squirming in pain, failing against a pair of hands trying to pin me down.