1st chapter
THE SHADOW
Maple Falls Cottage
Washington, August 2040
The storm raged across the small property on the outskirts of Maple Falls early that morning. Ben sat relaxed at the window, as he always did during a thunderstorm, and watched the spectacle. Lightning lit up the sky and took away the darkness from the twilight before thunder made everything seem even bleaker. The rain pelted the roof and gusts of wind kept whipping showers against the window. Ben was happy to sit in his favorite spot in the window niche and be able to watch everything. As always during thunderstorms, his thoughts were with his parents. But the storm also calmed him down, as it always did, as if it cooled his hot-tempered nature.
Seth browsed through old books, ignoring his younger brother's admiration for the forces of nature. He himself still had vague memories from his earliest childhood and a storm like this was anchored in them.
He connected this with the painful experience of having to say goodbye to his parents.
He had a feeling something was going to change, but he didn't know exactly what, so he hid his fears from his little brother for the time being.
But the storm seemed to bring about a twist of fate.
The two had a good home here. They were safe here.
Here they could do whatever they wanted. They roamed the area near the national park and were sometimes out alone for several days.
Something was different about them but they didn't know exactly what it was. They had abilities that they had never seen in their peers.
They had been brought here and taught and trained until Ben was 15 years old.
The people who had cared for them hadn't been keen on coming into contact with villagers, so they had sent one of them out to run errands and shop as soon as possible.
The boys in the small town were well-known, popular and highly valued for their polite nature and also for their willingness to help. As soon as someone needed help, the boys were there straight away and quickly built up a good network.
Now Ben was 15 years old and the helpers left the house. They said goodbye to the boys they had grown fond of and each gave the two of them a few pieces of advice, including more than one that was very puzzling. Only Marga, the one the two affectionately called Grandma, had stayed with them.
The property was remote, rural and very idyllic. Like most country houses, it had a large veranda on which a wind chime tinkled in every breeze.
Today, however, it banged back and forth loudly.
It had been made by someone themselves from small round pendants, bells, colorful stones and pieces of driftwood.
The pendants depicted signs of a snake and a kind of dog, they were engraved in gold on the black stone.
It had been hanging there for years and now the huge storm threatened to tear it from its place.
Ben watched in admiration and awe at the power of the storm as it tried to conquer the trees outside with its gusts. The rain had died down a bit and the lightning and thunder had already subsided when a final flash of lightning made it bright as day.
There was a huge figure standing back there, almost at the edge of the forest. He couldn't see clearly that quickly, despite his incredible eyesight, so he could only see that what he had seen there didn't appear to be human.
The thunder that followed made him jump; it had suddenly become darker again and it was now raining mildly and calming out there, as if it had never stormed. Nevertheless, Ben quickly jumped up to tell his brother what he had just seen.
He excitedly ran over to the house library.
"Seth, you won't believe what I just saw."
His brother was engrossed in a book and didn't notice his little brother's excitement.
"Did you see a particularly bright flash again?" he said without looking up.
"No, much worse! A figure at the edge of the forest! That wasn't human!"
"Then it was probably a tree or a shadow," Seth said, still not looking up.
"It was a figure, lit by lightning, a huge figure stood there. I couldn't see clearly in the brief brightness of the flash, but it wasn't a person, or actually... oh, I don't know..."
Now he doubted himself about what he had seen because it was too confusing. He had had the impression that the huge man had the features of a dog.
That couldn't be right. He must have been wrong.
Seth looked up and saw the confusion in his brother's eyes. As always, he reacted calmly and came out of his book corner to his little brother, put his arm around him, grinned mischievously and teased him a little.
"I have to feel if you're shaking in fear," he said somewhat sarcastically.
Ben pushed him away and gave him a punishing look. "I'm not crazy!"
"Well, sometimes you're very easy to scare or you make things up in your head."
Before his brother could continue, Ben turned around and decided to take a quick breath of fresh air on the porch, which he usually did when something upset him and perhaps to take another look towards the edge of the forest.
It was very cold outside and the fresh air was very good for him. The storm had subsided and the air smelled of the cooled earth, the shaken forest and the air cleansed by the rain filled his lungs fresh and calming.
He inhaled deeply, which helped shake off his brother's little spikes.
The wind chime that had been hanging on the porch since their time here had been through a lot and now Ben discovered that one of the small round stones, one of the black ones with the engraving of a golden dog, was lying torn off on the ground.
Ben picked it up and took a closer look at the symbol for the first time.
It was a pendant that could also be worn as a necklace. He put the stone in his pocket and decided to put it around his neck. He also felt a strange connection to this symbol, which strengthened his decision to wear this necklace.
He went back into the house and started looking for a leather strap.
Seth had first turned back to his books. But then he suddenly had the feeling he should pay a little more attention to his brother.
He briefly thought about where he could find him and quickly knew that Ben always needed some fresh air when he was a little irritable. So he made his way outside.
He was just coming through the door onto the porch when a shadow disappeared around the corner.
He thought his brother wanted to hide from him because he was still a little upset.
"That's not very grown up, little brother," he called out suspiciously.
He got no answer and now walked along the porch in the direction in which the shadow had scurried.
Suddenly something clattered at his feet; he had pushed away one of the stones in the wind chime with his foot.
The wind must have torn it off. It lay there with a golden snake facing upwards, attracting all his attention. He forgot that he was looking for his brother and picked up the stone with the golden engraving.
It fit well in his hand, it felt like it was part of him.
He carefully put it in his pocket and went to look for his brother.
He found Ben in the kitchen where several drawers were already open and Ben was rummaging through a drawer with all kinds of stuff in it and seemed to be looking for something.
Seth stood briefly in the doorway and watched his little brother, who no longer seemed upset.
"What are you looking for little one?"
"Don't keep calling me that, after all, you can only say that because of my age."
Ben was by no means small. He was tall, broad-shouldered and well trained. He was taller than his brother and the boys also had a few other characteristics that differed from each other. Nevertheless, it was recognized that they were brothers. Both had sandy blonde hair and mischievous grins and gentle eyes.
Seth wasn't much smaller, also trained and incredibly strong. Unlike his brother, he wore glasses and wasn't quite as tanned. He was calmer but his strength gave his appearance a power that was difficult to describe.
However, one difference between the boys was very noticeable, although it was hidden at the back of the neck, but it was still significantly different. Seth didn't always have this type of tattoo there, his neck had the mark exactly once a year for about a week and then disappeared again as if by magic. Ben's tattoo was permanent.
Ben had once secretly tried to read his code at the checkout in Mr. Smith's store, but nothing more than Y2 could be read at the time and so he just had to wear this symbol and didn't think about it any further. It wasn't until much later that a crucial clue about this would appear.
"Better help me find a leather strap," Ben whispered grumpily, leaning over the drawer.
Ben wasn't as calm as his brother. He was talkative and his mood, like the weather, sometimes changed unexpectedly.
"Why do you need that?" asked Seth to send a small peace offering.
At that moment, Seth remembered the stone in his pocket and subconsciously placed his hand on the stone.
"I found something that I would like to wear as a necklace," said Ben, looking up for the first time to see his brother invitingly. The peace offering had arrived and, as always, the boys quickly got along again.
"Well, I'll help you look, but it'll have to be longer because I just decided that I need a piece of it too."
"Here's one," Ben triumphantly tugged on one end of a leather strap, dislodging almost half of the drawer's contents from the drawer. Everything fell to the ground with a crash. However, he made no move to clean anything up but reached into his pocket to pull out the black stone.
He placed it on the kitchen counter and tried to cut the leather strap to size with a pair of scissors that he took out of one of the open drawers.
Seth initially shouted indignantly: "And who will clean up the mess now"?
Then his eyes fell on the black stone that Ben had placed on the counter.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his find as well and placed it next to his brother's.
Ben didn't see what his brother was doing as he pulled on the leather strap to completely free it from the tangle of the drawer's contents, and when he turned back to his find, he was even more astonished by the sight of two stones on the counter.
"Where did you get the pendant from?" he asked his big brother in surprise.
"I just found it on the porch when you ran away from me and whizzed around the corner like a shadow."
"I certainly wouldn't have hidden from you, I've been looking for a leather strap for minutes now, now I'm apparently not the only one here whose imagination is playing tricks."
He looked at his big brother with challenge and amusement and waited for an answer.
He didn't get an answer, instead, without saying a word, Seth took the scissors from his hand and cut off the already untangled part of the leather strap, began to attach his stone, which also had a hole for hanging, to it and hung it around his neck.
"That was probably two stupid people and one thought," said Seth and wanted to leave the kitchen.
"Stop, now just wait a moment, help me for a moment and then we'll clean everything up," Ben called after him.
But Seth had no plans to take part in the cleanup.
He wrapped his hand around his new necklace and went back into the library to look at the books he had found this morning. After years of searching, they finally seemed to have the last missing answers ready for him.
Ben shook his head but knew his brother well and this somewhat absent state was very familiar to him.
He began to put the drawer back in place. He took a closer look at the stuff. Between packing cord, leather strap, a ruler and some wires lay an old map of Seattle.
The city was not unknown to him. He knew he and his brother had been born there but they had never been there again.
He looked at the map that showed the different sectors that were set up after the disaster.
He scanned the card briefly and then put it back in the drawer with all the other stuff.
He then set about making his necklace from the other half of the leather cord.
He threaded his pendant onto it and tied the leather strap behind his neck.
When he raised his head again he thought he saw a shadow behind the curtain in front of the kitchen window and wondered if his brother was running around the house. He had assumed Seth had gone back to his books.
He went over to the library and was surprised to see his brother sitting at the table in front of a stack of books and writing something down.
"Now you were even faster than usual." he said admiringly.
Seth raised his head "What do you mean, I don't read any faster than usual".
"You were just outside the kitchen window."
"No, I've been sitting here since I left the kitchen."
"But the shadow……".
Ben didn't finish the sentence. He thought he had imagined something again and let it go.
He watched in admiration for a few more seconds as his brother worked his way through the mountains of books, as he had been doing for years.
He had never questioned exactly what he was looking for there, but he admired his big brother's perseverance and hoped he would soon find what he was looking for so that he could go out with him again.
Almost 8 days had passed since Seth had found the last books and since then the boys had not roamed around the area as they often did.
This time there had to be very exciting things in the books, because Seth had never buried himself in the books for so long, even though he had a book in his hand almost every day.
Seth rarely told Ben what he had found, in all his hours of research in the library.
This time he decided to let his little brother in on some of the secrets and enigmatic finds as they both became more and more aware of their extraordinary abilities.
Seth looked up briefly and said, "You could take care of some food, little brother."
Now it was still too early to tell him and his stomach was growling again, even though the last meal wasn't long ago.
Ben briefly considered whether he could come up with a snarky answer to that, but then realized that he was the one whose mood would sink first when he was hungry. So he made his way to the small town of Maple Falls to do some shopping and get a decent meal on the table, because Marga was staying with friends over in Canada for a few days.
He walked into the small town, which wasn't a problem for him because for some reason he was often twice as fast as other people. He ran across the meadows and jumped over high fences without any problems. He was hardly out of breath running through the landscape. Every now and then it seemed to him that the whole world was blurring and he swept across it in his own path.
Shortly before the city he slowed down his uninhibited strength and remembered the words that one of the helpers in the house had said to him when he said goodbye: "Keep your temper, your extra strength and your skills under control in the city and stay the simple little one Brother they know you as."
So he leisurely strolled the last hundred meters to town and acted as if he had been on the road for a while.
First he went to the small supermarket where he had been shopping for as long as he could remember.
It was a small shop, cramped, old and the shelves had seen better days.
The owner was a bit of an oddball.
He was always working on the shelves and the whole store himself because after the big catastrophe, many of the buildings were still in a dilapidated state and have still not been completely restored after more than 20 years. The material was still in short supply and so the old codger had been rebuilding everything himself, piece by piece, for many years.
Ben strolled through the shelves, as always using one of the small baskets that were provided at the entrance for customers. He didn't actually need the basket because he could carry more things than any normal person. But to keep up appearances, he conformed.
As he walked past the old gentleman who was repairing something on a shelf, the frame creaked and tipped forward a little in the direction of Ben and the old man. It threatened to bury the old man.
Ben had the presence of mind to grab the top edge of the shelf that was swaying towards him and pushed the entire shelf back into place. With his foot he quickly pushed a block of wood, which had probably already been placed there beforehand for support and had somehow been transported into the aisle, into the place where it had been before and the whole shelf stood upright again.
The old man now looked up and recognized Ben.
"Nice to see you again young man, would you just have a few minutes to give me a hand"?
Ben grinned, the old man hadn't noticed anything. He nodded and quickly placed his purchase at the front of the checkout.
He then helped the old man make the shelf secure again.
"It's a good thing you just came by, otherwise the thing would probably have tipped over at some point," said the old man and went to the checkout with Ben.
Ben smiled and answered politely as always: "I'm always happy to help Mr. Smith, you can also contact me if you need someone to help you with something" and he added somewhat mischievously "the shopping is here too always a little cheaper, so of course I can help."
As always, Ben got a small discount on his purchase for the help and now he headed home.
He was practically racing towards the country house at an even higher speed than on the way to the city.
He had to quickly tell his brother what had just happened. In the store he still pulled himself together. But now he realized what he had just accomplished.
His power was even greater than he had ever realized, even greater than he could have ever imagined. Something was changing and now it was clear to him what his big brother had recently meant when he said that a lot had changed recently.
On his way home he gave full rein to his strength. He jumped higher than ever before, he dared to do jumps that he had never even considered before.
He ran like the devil was after him and was home in record time, where he immediately stormed into the library.
Seth was still sitting there poring over the books but he seemed happier than before Ben's trip.
"Seth, you won't believe what just happened to me."
"Put the groceries in the kitchen first, Ben," replied Seth, somewhat amused by his brother, who was completely out of it.
Ben brought the shopping into the kitchen and at the same time loudly told the story about the shelf. He didn't notice the first signs. Drops of sweat formed on his forehead.
"Did anyone see that, Ben?"
"No, not even Mr. Smith noticed anything."
"Good, then we are still safe. I think I have to tell you now what I have learned from the last few days. Your story surprises me less than you think."
Seth didn't get an answer, instead he heard a crack and a quiet moan.
He jumped up and was in the kitchen in a few seconds.
Ben crouched on the ground, shaking.
"My pills," Ben said barely audibly.
He was huddled on the kitchen floor, soaked in sweat. His hands were shaking. He was actually shaking all over.
His face reflected the pain he must be in and he looked up at his brother pleadingly.
Seth sprinted to the kitchen cupboard and looked for the can of tryptophan. Here it was!
He quickly took out two capsules and gave them to his brother.
Ben just managed to swallow it before he was too exhausted.
Seth sat down next to his little brother. He knew these attacks all too well because his brother wasn't always as disciplined with taking his pills as he should be and it would have been good for him.
He put his arm around his brother and waited for the tablets to take effect.
It never lasted very long but always long enough to worry Seth.
Each time he resolved to find out why they weren't both affected by this disease.
He had found clues in the books today to find a solution to why Ben got this illness.
When his brother regained his strength he said: "Is it okay again? I have to tell you some things."
Ben was still weak but he was also curious: "If you give me a few more minutes to recover, I'll come over to the library."
Seth slowly stood up, looked at his brother encouragingly and nodded briefly before going back over to his books.
Ben picked himself up from the floor, annoyed as always that he had forgotten his pills that morning.
It wasn't the first time it had happened and now he felt like the weak little brother again. This annoyed him and he hit the kitchen counter in anger.
Since he wasn't back to full power yet, there was only a small crack in the work surface, which he didn't even notice at that moment.
The tablets were now working and he quickly made himself a glass of water.
As he let the water run briefly, his thoughts wandered to his discovery during the storm.
What was that?
Was he mistaken and his imagination playing tricks on him?
But what if he had relied on his keen senses and had actually seen that giant with the dog-like face?
He discarded his thoughts and decided to go to his brother first and listen to what he wanted to tell him.
When he entered the library, Seth was already there as if he had just been waiting for him.
He had books, maps, lists and everything he had laid out for the last few days, months, even everything from the last few years and now he wanted to initiate his little brother.
Ben had a somewhat crooked grin on his face at all the studies that now seemed to be coming his way. His brother was actually responsible for studies and all the paperwork.
But he was curious and since he needed a training partner again, he decided to listen to everything so that he could finally lure Seth out of the library again.