Book One—Leap Forward

Chapter One--Cinncinati, Ohio (11/04/05)

"I can't believe how much you embarrassed me tonight, Lisa!" said Steven

Malson as he shut the door behind him. "You ruined Evelyn Gregson's dress when you spilled that wine just as I was persuading her husband and the rest of the senior staff into making me a partner and destroyed one of their most expensive vases too! I swear, if you cost me the chance of that promotion…"

"I said I was sorry, Steven, alright?" said Lisa as she rubbed her left shoulder where her husband had grabbed her as they left the dinner party, knowing that a nasty bruise was going to show up there soon. "I passed out, it wasn't like I threw up on Evelyn Gregson…" The truth was that women like Mrs. Evelyn Gregson and the wives of the other partners at her husband's law firm bored her to tears, interested more in the latest gossip than about other people's feelings. Whenever an event was planned where Steven made her come along or send her to, she'd smile and laugh, but inside she felt like throwing up. She kept going though, because it kept her husband calm…most of the time.

"…and those things you were saying!" said Steven as he drank a beer he got from the fridge. He had been ranting for about a minute already, but Lisa wasn't paying attention, having learned when to tune in and tune out when her husband yelled at her long ago. "''No more what, No more what?' and something about a light and something being wrong with your shadow?". He then tossed the empty beer bottle into the trash then glared at his wife as he said "I had to make sure that they didn't start thinking you were on drugs! I think I convinced them, but you still made a scene, and not a good one for me!"

"Please Steven, I heard you!" pleaded Lisa as she headed upstairs with her husband close behind her, feeling his eyes bore into her like laser beams. She glanced at him quickly as she whispered "Now please be quiet, we don't want to wake the children!" Her twin children Melissa and Andrew have heard their father be angry before, but never when he was like that, and she preferred it to stay that way, especially if his rage grew before they went to bed.

He wasn't like this when they had first met in college when they were introduced by mutual friends. When Lisa first laid eyes on Steven, she thought he was one of the most handsome, intelligent, and compassionate men she had ever met and it was obvious that he held similar feelings for her. He quickly romanced her and stole her heart, proposing to her three weeks before they graduated, her with a degree in education, him with a degree in law and justice. Of course, she accepted and they were quickly married within months of their graduation.

Their families were overjoyed about their union and helped support the new couple financially as Steven went to law school and Lisa went to grad school to become an elementary school teacher. However, as time went by, Steven began to get more and more controlling, first with minor things such as wearing a particular necklace with a dress for dinner with friends then with major things on what things not to say or do in front of his family. It was about a year into their marriage when he started to hit her. She managed to cover the more graphic of her bruises with make-up and clothes so that no one would notice. As for the rest, she managed to explain them away as simple accidents.

Lisa thought the abuse was over once her twins were born, she hadn't seen Steven smile like that in years and she thought the darkness was truly behind them both. However, it was only a short respite, as only a few months passed after their births before he started to hit her again. She eventually told everything to a couple of close friends and her mother who begged her to go to the police, but she knew it wouldn't do any good for her. Being a successful lawyer gave Steven a lot of contacts and a lot of ways to make her life more of a living hell if she spoke, the chief one being making sure she would never see her children again. So, she remained and accepted the abuse and tried to be a good wife and devote her self to her children and her third-grade class, the only two things that gave her joy outside her family.

She prayed that he would be too tired to touch her tonight because of what happened to her tonight, an event that even she didn't understand. She was listening and trying to remain awake as Evelyn was blabbering to her and the other women about the affair someone was having with a 16 year-old pool boy when a wave of dizziness hit her. She clutched her head as images flashed in her mind

A man in a blue uniform yelling about a prank someone pulled. She somehow knew that the man was yelling at her.

Playing soccer with a bunch of teenage kids, some of which didn't even look human, yet she felt ok with that, but didn't know why

A young man who looked 15-16 years old shaving in front of a mirror. Lisa somehow knew that the boy was her and again she was ok with that.

The final image was that of a woman with long brown hair in a red cloak crying with her back to Lisa. She then turned to face her, her eyes glowing orange as she said in an accented voice something that sounded like "No More Mutants'. There was a flash of light and the next thing she knew she was back at the dinner party lying on the floor with everyone looking over her with concerned looks on their faces, except for Steven who was glaring at her angrily. As she was helped, she looked down at her shadow and it looked different to her in a way she couldn't tell. She also felt connected to it, as if it something separate from her own self….

"Are you even listening to me!" shouted Steven, bringing Lisa back to the present as he took off his jacket and tie. It was obvious that he didn't seem to care about whether the children were sleeping or not. "I swear to god, I ask you to do simple things like this sometimes, things that a fucking retard can do easily, and most of the time you screw it up! You know if it wasn't for this job I have, we'd all be out on the streets!"

Lisa looked at her husband, feeling the need to speak up even though she knew it would probably be a bad move for her. She took a couple of nervous steps towards her husband, noticing out of the corner of her eye that her shadow seemed to step out of sync with her movement, walking a little bit in front of her as if to protect her. She could feel anger from it, but that was impossible since a shadow couldn't feel…right?

Steven didn't seem to notice it as she said "I may not make as much as you do Steven, but I do come close. You know that if I didn't have my job we wouldn't able to live as well as we do and enjoy the things we do, or rather you do mostly, like your secretary Linda for example. So come down off your high horse and realize that you're not the big king you always think you are sometimes! I didn't do anything wrong to hurt and it's only your damn ego making you think I did!"

WHACK!

His hand came at her so hard and fast that Lisa fell to the floor. Steven had walked over and looked down at her as she touched her cheek where he hit her. "Now, you listen to me, you stupid bitch. I'm allowed to whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want, got it? You're my wife, so all you can do is simply sit there and shut up and don't say anything like that again, you understand?"

"Mommy, what's wrong? Why are you on the floor?"

"Daddy, what are you doing to Mommy?"

Lisa turned her head in shock and fear as she realized that Steven hadn't shut the door to their room and in the hallway stood Melissa and Andrew, surprise and fear on their faces. She had done whatever she could to hide this side of their father from them and now they've seen the way he could be towards her, filling her with fear not just for her but for them as well as she felt the anger from her shadow in front of her start to grow while a small of her brain was telling her that because of the amount and position of thelighting it should be mostly behind her, not in front.

"Go to sleep…." Growled Steven as he glared at the children, but they remained where they were, locked in place by the fear and confusion they felt in seeing their parents, who they loved dearly, in a way they have never seen before. "I said BOTH OF YOU GO TO SLEEP NOW!" he yelled as he stepped over Lisa and took a couple of steps towards them. When they still didn't move he ran towards them as he screamed at the top of his lungs "GOD DAMN IT, IF YOU WONT GO TO SLEEP I'LL MAKE YOU GO TO SLEEP!"

Lisa's heart started to race as she stood up, seeing one of her greatest fears come to life before her eyes. She couldn't just stand there and allow Steven to beat her children, two of the most important people in her life that kept her going day after day. She didn't want them to go through the pain and despair she went through because of her abusive husband…

She couldn't…

SHE WOULDN'T!

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THEM!" she screamed as something that could only be described as 'impossible' happened. Lisa's shadow raced away from her, moving quickly under Steven's legs until it was between him and the children. Steven had looked back at Lisa for a second, wondering how the hell she was causing, but then looked back as he heard his children gasp as the shadow rose up off the floor and filled out until it was a three-dimensional duplicate of Lisa, except that it was completely black and had no facial features.

Lisa stood there in shock, not understanding what was happening to her and her shadow when it came to her. The visions she had, they were a part of something, something that granted her…a gift. A gift to bring her shadow to life as an entity that was both separate and a part of her at the same time which had now responded to her emotional instinct to protect her children. She watched as Steven tried to attack it, but the shadow form simply grabbed his wrist then grabbed him by the shirt with its other hand and threw him against the wall.

As Steven struggled, she finally realized that the moment that she he'd never thought would come had arrived: the moment when she would finally be free of his abuse once and for all. She looked to her children and said with more confidence than she felt in a long time "Get in your rooms and lock the doors. Don't open them until I say so, ok?"As her children ran off, she got an idea of something else she could do with her newfound ability that would make the moment even better. She walked towards her shadow form and merged with it, the form now gaining her facial features. Lisa couldn't help but smile as she felt the power that the shadow form held and it felt so good, better than she had felt in many years.

"Now you will listen to what I have to say Steven, because I will only say this once." She said, her voice sounding a little bit deeper as she looked at him with anger still, but now also with fear, a look she never seen him have. "I am going to pack my bags and the childrens' bags and we are going to my parents. The two of us are going to get divorced and you're not going to complain one bit about how it goes. Oh, and even if you do say something about…this, I doubt anyone would believe you. After all, who would believe someone who abused his wife for many years? I've got witnesses who will back me up and the doctor's reports as well."

She saw Steven try to struggle against her grip as his eyes widened in surprise, which made her feel even better as she said "Oh yes Steven, I kept the papers the many doctors you sent me to gave me and their numbers in case a moment like this came. Granted, I never thought it would come at all and especially not like this, but I guess you should never say never, wouldn't you agree Steven? Did I make myself clear husband, or should I, or rather this…shadow form and I slam you against the wall again?"

Steven nodded quickly and Lisa let him fall to the floor, her shadow form slinking away from her until it was a normal shadow once more, but she could still feel her link with and it felt…satisfied. Her now soon-to-be ex-husband still looked at her with fear and anger in his eyes, looking like he wanted to say something to her, but didn't. If there was one thing that could be said for Steven, he did have good common sense.

Within a couple of hours, her and the children were in her car and on the way to her parents. Even though it was 1 AM, her parents didn't mind being woken as Lisa said she was leaving Steven for good. Her mother simply said "Thank God, come right now. Your father and I will wait up for you and our grandchildren."

Thankfully, her children weren't scared of her because of her newfound power, simply looking at her with shock and awe. Andrew had fallen asleep as soon as they left house, but Melissa remained wide awake as she watched her mother drive. They had spent the early part of the journey in silence, but Melissa soon looked to her mother and said quietly "Mommy, are we ever going to see Daddy again?"

Lisa quickly glanced back at her daughter and after a few seconds said "We'll see sweetie, we'll see…" She hadn't even been thinking about that, her mind still racing with what had just occurred this evening. She definitely was going to get full custody, but Steven was their father after all, so he did deserve some visits, but they would be supervised.

Melissa was quiet for a few minutes then said "So does this mean you're a superhero now because of what you can do with your shadow Mommy?"

Lisa was quiet, a little bit surprised by the question. She gave a slight smile and said "We'll see Melissa, now try to get some sleep, I'll wake you up when we get to Grandpa and Grandma's ok?" Melissa nodded and closed her eyes as she looked back to the road as she thought about what she had received. While she was grateful for what this strange ability allowed her to do, she still had so many questions, like why was she granted this ability and who gave it to her. There was one thing she was absolutely sure of, and it worried her because she didn't know why she was sure of it.

She knew that what happened to her would be happening to others very soon, maybe right at this moment….