Failing Test: Book One of The Shadow Series Read online

  With the sun having dipped under the horizon, he stood and looked at the Barracuda some fifty yards away.

  “Fourth and long; here we go, buddy.”

  He swung his arms back and forth and let his hands clap in front of him. With a deep breath, he lit the furnace and let out a pulse. He could feel himself lift from the roof and then realized that he had begun to drop. He looked down to see the barn roof collapsing beneath him. Before he could blink, he was landing abruptly on the floor of the hay loft below. The wind was knocked from him, and he struggled to gain his bearings. With great effort, he sat up with his knees bent to his chest and looked around the loft. There were a good number of old square bales, some of which were broken, as well as loose straw covering the floor. As he attempted to force a precious breath back into his lungs, he choked on the thick cloud of dust that lingered in the dead and stagnant air. With a tinge of pain, he threw his head back and viewed the hole in the roof directly above him. With the air finally trickling back into his lungs, he laughed.

  “That was brilliant,” he said lightheartedly. “Maybe I’d better stick with the ladder for now?”

  As the sun set on the old farm, he drove away with a newfound confidence and identity. He felt powerful and in charge of his life. He looked forward to the next day, something that hadn’t happened for a very long time.

  Chapter 5

  The Save

  Nicole pulled up to Test’s modest trailer home just as the sun was setting, and was disappointed to see that his car was nowhere in sight. The neighborhood was definitely something that she was not used to, especially under the cover of night. With no streetlights, the darkness blanketed the street, seeming to restrict the headlights on her car to a pinpoint view. Very few houses had a porch light on, and all but one consisted of old yellowed glass, which made the light produced poor and dim. She drove slowly past his house. The tiny patch of lawn in front of the trailer was overgrown and had what looked like several weeks’ worth of trash littering the street’s edge. Seeing the poor condition of his home left her feeling sad. She had always known that Test hadn’t been raised in the best of circumstances, but the reality had never spoken to her until now.

  Further down the street, she could see a couple of men sitting in lawn chairs by the curb. As she got closer, she saw a heavy-set man wearing overalls and a dirty white shirt. The other man was much thinner and wearing jeans, a NASCAR t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and a ball cap. In between the two sat a case of beer. Each had a can in his hand; the heavy-set man had one in each. As she passed by them, the heavy-set man stood up and walked towards her car.

  “Hey there, purty! What you lookin’ for?” As he moved toward Nicole, he continued obnoxiously. “It don’t matter, I got it fur ya!”

  Panicked, she accelerated further down the street but realized it was a dead end. Hesitating, she stopped the car and looked into her rearview mirror. The man in the overalls was still coming towards her, and the sight of him approaching turned her panic to fear. She quickly put the car into reverse and began to back up. Like a shotgun blast, there was a great bang from the rear of her car. As she slammed on the brakes, she looked in her rearview mirror to see the man leaning on the trunk and peering in through her back window. His drunken smile leaned to one side, and his thin hair hung over his brow with several days’ worth of grease.

  “What do you want?” she screamed.

  The man remained silent and stared at her through the window. Nicole looked in every direction, desperately hoping to find a way out. She could see nothing but the black of night. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw the man still standing behind the car, now rubbing his stomach and licking his lips grotesquely. She closed her eyes, too frightened to witness the man’s face again. Slamming her hands on the seat, she screamed.

  “Get away from me, you drunk bastard!”

  The man eased around to the driver’s side of the car as he took his last sip of beer and tossed the can to the street. Nicole turned to watch him as he moved closer, and froze with fear. The man reached for the door and attempted to lift the handle, but the door was locked. He slowly bent down and gazed through the window.

  “Let me in, purty! I just want to visit with ya.” His speech was slurred from the dozen or so beers before Nicole’s arrival. “Come on, purty, purty please?” he begged.

  Nicole looked at the man’s drunken eyes and knew that there was no chance of reasoning with him. He looked back at her and grinned with tobacco-stained teeth and tobacco overflowing from his bottom lip. His grin melted into a scowl as he quickly stood. Nicole felt a moment of relief, but before she could take a breath, a fist struck her window violently.

  “LET ME IN!” he commanded.

  Nicole buried her face in her hands as she screamed. The man beat relentlessly on the window. In a state of hysteria, she honked the horn repeatedly. Suddenly, she noticed a flash of light in her rearview mirror, followed by a loud car engine and the sound of screeching tires. As suddenly as the sounds had appeared, they stopped. That’s when she heard his voice.

  “What’s going on, Ted?” asked Test, his voice firm with anger.

  Nicole turned in her seat and yelled to him, “Test, thank God. Help me please! Help me!”

  Test was standing behind the open driver’s door of the Barracuda. “Ted, I’m going to tell you one time and one time only. Leave now.”

  Turning away from Nicole, Ted took a step towards Test. “Young Mr. Davis, it’ll be a cold day in hell before I let you talk to me that way. Boy, I’ve dropped turds that are tougher than you,” he replied with a chuckle as he spit on the side of Nicole’s car.

  “Ted, I told you. Leave her alone!”

  Test slammed the car door and forcefully took a step towards Ted. Unaware of the man approaching behind him, he was quickly captured in an unknown’s grasp. Test’s right arm was pulled behind his back and his throat choked with a thinly muscled arm. He winced in pain and then choked; not because of the man’s arm, but because of the odor of the man that held him.

  In horror, Nicole watched helplessly through her window. She could see that it was the thin man in the NASCAR shirt.

  “No!” she screamed.

  “Look at the tough guy, Ted. A senior in high school and now he thinks he’s king shit,” said the thin man, reeking of hot beer, Copenhagen, and five days’ worth of sweat.

  “Bobby, is that you?” asked Test, standing limp and without a struggle. “I think you’ve just made an extreme error in judgment.”

  “Is that right?” asked Bobby.

  The man tightened his hold on Test’s neck, causing him to choke as he spoke.

  “That is a fact,” replied Test, now speaking through his clenched teeth. “I’ll give you the same chance that I gave Ted. Leave Nicole and me alone right now . . . or else.”

  Full of sarcasm and alcohol, Bobby replied, “I think I’ll take or else.”

  The fury within Test flashed in an instant. Every particle in his body was screaming with rage. With his right arm still wedged behind his back, he opened his hand and laid his palm on Bobby’s chest. The pulse now running quickly down his arm, Test looked to Nicole’s car and, through the window, saw the look of hopelessness on her face. As he looked into her eyes, he released the pulse. In an instant, Bobby flew backwards and landed solidly on the asphalt some ten feet away. Test fell backwards to the ground, pulled by Ted’s arm as he launched into the air, and then quickly stood. He swiftly turned, ready to face retaliation, but Bobby lay writhing on the ground, moaning in pain and holding his chest.

  “I warned you, Bobby,” said Test as he spun back around to face Ted. With teeth still clenched, he spoke in a quiet and deep voice, “Now I’m done talking.”

  Nicole, wide eyed and amazed, sat in the seat of her car and watched everything unfold like some old movie.

  “Boy . . .” said Ted. “You gonna learn!”

  Nicole watched Test intently, as he was now only a couple of feet away fro
m Ted. Ignoring Test’s warning, Ted took a step. With a sinister smile, Test raised his right hand.

  “Good night, Ted.”

  As if a rope had yanked him off his feet, Ted hurled backwards through the air, landing flat on his back and with his feet rolling over top of his head. Coming to an abrupt halt, he lay motionless in the street.

  Nicole stepped out of the car and watched the man now lying in the street intently. From the corner of her eye she saw movement and turned to see that the thin man was now standing wearily. With eyes as big as saucers, he hunched over with his hands placed on his knees and stared at Test. As Test stepped towards her, he quickly turned and walked away, holding his chest and looking over his shoulder every couple of steps. Every muscle in Nicole’s body was locked with fear and confusion. Test hadn’t touched either of the men, yet one was hobbling away and the other one lay as if dead in the middle of the street. She closed the door slowly and then looked to Test, uttering one word.

  “How?” she asked, her entire body trembling.

  “What are you doing here?” barked Test. He was happy to see her, but not here and not like this.

  Nicole, still in a state of shock, replied, “What? Um, I needed to see you. I . . . I was worried about you.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” Test’s tone had now changed from confident and dominant to insecure and submissive.

  “What just happened?” she asked, motioning to Ted’s motionless body.

  “I don’t know. I guess . . .”

  He wanted to explain it, but he didn’t know how. Unable to look her in the eyes, he looked to Ted, and noticed that he was beginning to stir. Startled by the movement, he quickly turned towards Nicole but stopped abruptly as she flinched with his movement. “You know, I think we’d better leave.” He paused, and standing with his thumbs hanging in his front pockets, continued. “Maybe you’d better go home.”

  His voice had suddenly become soft and his spirit broken. His posture was now that of the little boy that she had met on the playground that first fateful day. He lifted his head, and she could see that his eyes were beautiful, but filled with sadness. She melted in them and lost all apprehension towards him.

  “No. I need to talk to you. Can we go back to your house?” she asked tenderly. She walked to him, laid her hand on his chest, and looked up into his eyes. “Please?”

  Her touch was intoxicating. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

  “Please? I really need to talk to you,” she pleaded as she took his hands into hers.

  “Not my place,” he replied, feeling light-headed with emotion. “There’s a park a couple of blocks from here. Does that sound okay?”

  She stood at his feet and looked up to him innocently. “That sounds perfect. I’ll follow you.”

  Test turned to his car and fiddled with his keys as he walked. A million things were going through his mind. How could he explain to her what had just happened? He worried if she would tell anyone. Worse, he worried that she would think he was a freak. There were so many unknowns.

  The reality of what had just occurred came to him. What would Ted and Bobby do when they wake up in the morning? He hoped they were drunk enough that they wouldn’t remember. Regardless, in the moment with Nicole, it wasn’t a priority.

  They started their cars, turned around, and headed back down the street. With Test in the lead, they drove past his house. He noticed that his mother was in fact home and let out a sigh of relief. He knew that he had made the right decision.

  Minutes later, they pulled into the park. On the west side was a tennis court, and on the north were several softball diamonds. The light coming off them lit the park up well. Test parked the Barracuda and looked out his passenger window to see Nicole pulling in beside him. Like the night before, he again had a feeling of disbelief; only this time it was accompanied by a feeling of apprehension. Nicole looked to him and smiled as she stepped out of her car. Test opened the door and exhaled deeply as he stepped out. Mirroring each other, they walked to the front of their vehicles. The air was filled with uncomfortable silence. After what seemed like an eternity, Test broke the silence.

  “Do you like to swing?” he asked.

  With a nervous look, Nicole replied, “Yeah. You?”

  “Yeah,” said Test as he kicked at a pile of gravel under his feet.

  Nicole looked at him with desire in her eyes. Her hair was down and covered half of her face. When she looked at him, she looked up through her bangs. He melted when she looked at him.

  As they arrived at the swings, he held one for her as she hopped up into the seat.

  Softly, she said, “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” he replied as he took the swing next to her.

  Abruptly and full of regret, Nicole looked to Test with her arms wrapped around the chains. “I feel horrible about last night.” She paused and measured her words. “I wasn’t honest with you.”

  With the pain still so near the surface, he replied sharply, “You didn’t have to make me think that you liked me to get me to help you with your homework. I would’ve done it anyway.”

  He nervously began kicking at the ground beneath him.

  “Who said that’s what I wasn’t being honest about?” she replied, somewhat shaken by his tone.

  He planted his feet and stopped swinging. “What do you mean?” he asked. Confused, he squinted.

  “Who said I didn’t like you?” asked Nicole.

  He looked at her in disbelief and mildly annoyed. “You,” he replied.

  “No, I said I needed to think about it. That’s what I wasn’t honest about.”

  Test was speechless. The light was reflecting off her face, giving her a glow that made the moment even more surreal. He sat silently and stared into her eyes.

  As abruptly as the conversation had started, Nicole instantly changed its direction.

  “Test, what just happened back there?” she asked.

  He had already forgotten. The conversation and situation at hand had consumed him, and this change of direction caught him off guard.

  “What do you mean?” His mind was scrambling to try to figure out a way to tell her, or conversely, how not to tell her.

  “I saw the guy in the overalls fly backwards like he was hit by a car, and the only thing in front of him was you.” She paused, once again measuring her words. “Did you do that to him?” she asked cautiously.

  After a moment of silence, he answered reluctantly, “I guess so.”

  “You can tell me. Please? I swear I won’t say a word to anyone,” she pleaded.

  He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. “After I left your place last night, I was really upset. When I got home, I started drinking, and things started happening.”

  “What do you mean ‘things’?” she asked.

  Frustrated with the conversation, he replied without looking at her, “I don’t know. It sounds crazy.”

  Nicole’s fear had returned. Anxious for explanation, she replied tentatively, “Test, seriously. I need to know.”

  “I am being serious! How do I tell you that I have powers that are beyond comprehension and not sound insane?” he replied, now agitated and struggling not to get too excited.

  Nicole sat motionless, her legs dangling from the swing seat.

  “I don’t understand.”

  He turned to her with tears welling in his eyes. “How do I tell you that when I reached for a bottle of vodka last night, that instead of picking it up, I somehow threw it through the television?”

  “Okay, you lost your temper. It happens to everyone at some point,” she replied.

  “No, Nicole, you don’t understand. I mean that before I could touch anything, what I was going to do happened, and in a more violent way.” Determined to make her understand, he looked at her straight in the eyes.

  Stunned by what she had just heard, Nicole remained motionless. She let her bangs cover her face so that s
he could see him out of the corner of her eye, but so that he couldn’t see that she was watching him. She flashed back to junior high when he had fallen off the bleachers. Now it made sense. She brushed her hair out of her face and turned to him.

  “So at my house last night, you are the ultimate poet? Then once you get home you discover that you’re Superman?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Something like that. Sounds crazy, huh?” he replied softly. “Not Superman though. I still bleed, and I can’t fly . . . very far,” he said with a sideways smile and a tear running down his cheek.

  Nicole wasn’t laughing.

  “You think I’m a freak, don’t you?” he asked under his breath.

  As if by reflex, she quickly grabbed at his arm. “No, I don’t think you’re a freak.” She wiped the tear from his cheek and continued. “You have to at least give me a minute. When the guy you like tells you that he has special powers, well, it’s just not a part of the conversation that a girl plans for.”

  “The guy you like, huh?” he asked with a bit more enthusiasm.

  Nicole brushed her hair from her face and looked at him through the chains. “Yes, Test, I’ve liked you for a long time.”

  “Why didn’t you say something? There have been so many times that I’ve wanted to approach you, but you would kind of, well, brush me off,” he replied, trying not to sound overly frustrated.

  “Honestly, it was because I . . .” She hesitated, ashamed to admit her fault. “I wasn’t enough of my own person to not care what other people thought.”

  “Heather and Tracy?” he asked.

  “I don’t know why I cared what they thought. To them, if you weren’t dating one of the football or basketball team, then you weren’t in their clique. It’s true that I’ve seen a couple of guys, but deep down I’ve always been watching for you.”