It was the 24th of July, and every teenager was enjoying summer vacation. It was nearing midnight, and there were very few people out in the streets of New York, many of them safe in their beds. Shadow and Amy were sleeping peacefully, having almost completely forgotten what had happened a few nights ago. Shadow was deep in sleep, thinking about how to spend tomorrow, when his cell phone rang. He woke up with a groan, checking the time. It was 11 o'clock. He groaned again as he reached for the phone, noticing he had a new message, he opened it, expecting it to be an annoying message from some idiot like Adam or Steve. His eyes widened when he read a little bit of it, not expecting who had sent it. Somehow, it had been sent by April, and he didn't believe it as he and April had hardly ever talked, let alone exchange phone numbers. Amy was still asleep, and there was a number included in the message. It was the phone number for April's best friend Shannon, and Shadow sometimes talked with her. He keyed the number into his phone, waiting as it rang.
Before he could say anything, Shannon, a little annoyed at getting woken in the middle of the night, almost shouted "Adam if this is you, then you better hope tomorrow doesn't come cause the moment I find you I am going to throw off a cliff. If this is Steve, then you had better start running because you will regret ever meeting me and getting my number." Shadow held the phone at arm's length, almost deafened by Shannon shouting. When he was sure she'd calmed down a little, he said "So this is how you treat friends who simply try to call you?" He waited for Shannon to reply, and she said with surprise and slight embarrassment "You heard all that didn't you?" Shadow said quietly "I should start running, shouldn't I?" Shannon said "Of course not, but more to the big question, how did you get my number?" Shadow said calmly "I think you have April to thank for that. Any idea how she could have gotten my number?" Shannon replied, a little confused "No, why'd you ask?" Shadow answered "Somehow she sent me a message telling me to call you and find out where she would be right about now. Mean anything to you?" Shannon paused for a moment, then said "She as over at my house about half an hour ago. I think she mentioned something about taking the back alley in the park as shortcut. That help?" Shadow paused, and then said calmly "I think it might be just enough." Before she hung up, Shannon asked "And you're going to do what exactly?" and with that, Shadow replied "I'm going to find her, since she asked me to come and help her."
The alley was dark and full of an ominous mist, giving Amy chills as they walked through it. She looked around, constantly seeing shadows moving. After Shadow had called Shannon, he'd woke her up and the two of them had left for the back alley in the park, finding it full of an unnatural mist. As they walked through it, they both heard something move, a low moaning as the mist seemed to swirl around them. Shadow turned to her, saying "You don't need to come here with me. Besides, someone should go ask Shannon about anything strange that's been going on." Amy nodded, saying as she left "Don't let the mist try to eat you," and ran back down the alley. Shadow kept walking, following the sound of the moaning. The further he walked through the mist, the more the moan sounded human. He looked around, seeing a shape in the mist. It looked like someone lying on the ground, and as he moved closer, the more familiar the person looked. It was April, lying almost completely limp and weak. As Shadow moved closer, he saw that she was breathing, but also felt something coming towards them through the mist.
Whatever was coming towards them was fast, knocking Shadow to the side as it dashed past them. Shadow looked up to see five men standing over April, preparing to carry her away. He got to his feet, sneaking up behind one of them. He reached out, grabbing the back of the man's neck. He pushed him to the ground, attracting the other men's attention. The men were already striking out at him. This time, Shadow was ready for them, dodging their attacks and countering with his own kicks and punches. The men stepped back as Shadow dashed towards them, striking each of them in the back of the neck before landing. As the small fight ended, April managed to wake up in time to see the men fall. She tried to stand up, still a little weak. Shadow took her by the hand, helping her to her feet. Before she could ask what happened, Shadow started leading her to the park, moving slow enough for her to keep up. As they walked, April said weakly "I see you got my message. I didn't think anyone would come since I just pressed random numbers. Guess I'm just lucky." The two of them made it to the park, with April gathering enough strength to walk on her own. As they prepared to run, the men from earlier caught up with them, ready to attack. This time, they had grabbed old pipes to use as weapons. Shadow got ready to fight, leaping at two of the men.
One of them managed to get behind April, grabbing her arms. Without thinking, April lashed out with a backwards kick, striking the man between the legs. He crumpled, his breath knocked out of him. April smiled a little; glad her parents had talked her into self defence classes. She ran at one of the other men, ready to strike, but he was ready for her, grabbing her wrist and twisting it painfully. She almost screamed, watching as another man came in to try and use something to keep her quiet. She yelled out in pain and fear, watching as Shadow dodged the attacks of two of the men. As she yelled, he paused for a second, long enough for the men to hit him in the head with a pipe. He fell to the ground, knocked unconscious. April watched as the two men who had struck him down moved in on her, ready to capture her. She screamed, and something deep inside Shadow stirred, like a powerful entity awakening after being asleep for so long.
He felt a strange power run through him, filling his veins with what felt like a warm fire. He started to feel his arms and legs, feeling the energy surge through them. He woke up, using his arms to support himself as he got up. The men were still concentrating on April, so they didn't notice him get to his feet. He looked towards them, saying "Five men on one girl? Those odds don't seem very even." The men turned on him just as he concentrated his new found energy into his hand, feeling something surround it. He raised his arm just as four men tried to jump him. Before anyone knew it, he fired a powerful blast of flames at them, sending the men flying onto their backs. He turned on the last one, who was holding a weak, limp April. He dropped her, throwing rocks at Shadow. Shadow simply launched another blast of flames, incinerating the rocks. As the men tried to run, Shadow prepared to give chase, but fell limp as the energy left him. He landed beside April, his hand resting on hers. Little did they know, they had just discovered a power within them both beyond imagination.