Land of Shadows (2.03) Shadow of the Escaped

[Stormm]

Warm breaths of anger rolled from the mouths of Doug and Luke Williams, the father son duo inside the Geneva Police Department. Their car was parked on the side of the road, but they were standing in front of the vehicle arguing. Both front doors to the vehicle were open, along with the passenger side rear door; the only thing missing here was a suspect, a man nobody knew, not even that man himself.

Headlights from their cruiser cast shadows across Highway 81 of finger pointing, foot stomping, and head shaking while the argument they were engaged in reached a fever pitch. The late night had turned to early morning, the moon had dipped below the horizon, and the local law enforcement had just lost a suspect.

The tirades of both cops ceased for a moment as Luke's facial expression went from one full of anger, to that of total confusion. "How did he know that the door in the back was just going to open up like that?" He asked rhetorically.

A look struck Doug's face not unlike Luke’s, but for different reasons. He was speechless, his mouth gaped open, and nothing more than heavy breaths escaping his chapped lips. With nothing to say, he simply shook his head, rolled his eyes, and turned his back to his son.

"Well?" Luke questioned his father, now hoping to get a response.

Moving out from in front of their vehicle towards the driver's door, Luke followed Doug like a lost puppy. The Sheriff placed his right hand on the open driver's door and turned around to face his son. The flabbergasted look gone, a smile now advertised Doug's feelings, though, not a smile of enjoyment. "Because you said it would, dummy!" Doug proclaimed with a touch of enthusiasm in his voice.

This time Luke was the one with a surprised look on his face. "No I didn’t..." He tried to explain, but his father was not about to let him lie about it.

Doug removed his right hand from the top of the driver's door, and placed it firmly on his son's left shoulder, and with a handful of uniform, pushed him to the hood of the car. "Since you don't remember, let me refresh your memory!" Doug yelled, the echo of his voice could be heard in the surrounding fields, as the slight breeze started to pick up. "We hadn't even gotten out of park yet, at the gas station, before you opened your stupid mouth!"

Seething, Doug's face inched closer and closer to Luke's, and his son looked terrified, but still continued to believe he had done nothing wrong. "That’s, that’s not how it happened." Luke pleaded, his voice full of uncertainty.

The inability to own up to his mistake did not sit well with his father, and Doug's left hand came flying from his side, hitting Luke on his left shoulder, before another handful of uniform was latched onto. "I've raised a complete moron!" Doug bellowed, a heavy sigh quickly followed, before his tone of voice turned from anger to disappointment. "And I've let you become little more than a danger to this town." He admitted with a heavy sigh.

"What are you saying?" Luke questioned hesitantly.

Taking deep breaths in and out of his nose, like a bull ready to charge, Doug snarled. "You can go home." He stated before picking his son off the hood of the patrol cruiser, and tossing him to the pavement, nearly at the exact spot that the unknown man who is now on the loose was tossed earlier. "You're fired!"

...Shadow of the Escaped...

When I invited Luke Williams into our home, I had a vague idea of what happened that night all those years ago in Nebraska. I had no idea the impact that Kaden made in such a short period of time, or what his visit to that small town would ultimately mean for so many. It didn’t take long to figure out once I opened the door that afternoon.

Months of mental and physical preparation had led the Force of Nature to that moment. He was just days away from his second World title defense, on what is arguably the biggest stage in Pure Class Wrestling, Mass Destruction. A milestone for the grand stage, never the less, as the entire locker room prepared for the tenth edition, and they all hoped to walk out with their heads held high.

An unusual match for arguably the biggest superstar to grace the PCW ring, as Grimm would open the show against the former Underground Champion, Holden Ross. It would be Ross’ stage to take, as you would be hard pressed to find anyone willing to bet against the Hangtown Hellbilly.

Next, a twist PCW has used in the past, pitting two teams against each other, with a singles title on the line. A match not unlike one Stormm retained the Genesis title in some years prior. This time, Rick Majors and a returning Tyrone Smith would take on the newly returned High Tide and the Modern Momma’s Boy, Jason Willard for the Underground title. Anything could happen in a match such as that, especially without any disqualifications.

Then you had the man that ended Stormm’s record breaking North American title run, Dominator, putting that same title on the line against another that had returned to the ring recently, Cory Steel. Biding his time until Living a Legacy to square off for the World title, the big man was on his second reign with the North American title, and continued to do as his name suggested, dominate anyone standing in his way. Steel, on the other hand, had always been a wild card. It would certainly be an entertainment match, regardless of the outcome.

Then, the main event, the very thing Stormm had been preparing for. He’d narrowly escaped Collision Course with the World title back in December, when the numbers game almost caught up to him. While the finish was anything but clean, there was very little about that match that was in the first place, and he did what he had to do.

Which is why for the second pay-per-view in a row, the Faithful would see Stormm and Gerard Angelo close things out by bringing down the house. Had Gerard learned his lesson the first time, with a realization that the champion had no problem equalizing the situation? Could Stormm keep his head on a swivel, looking out for the inevitable assist from one of the Hollywood Hero’s goons, and still stay focused on the real opponent?

Those questions would be answered in just a few days, and he had done everything he could to prepare himself for any and all situations to arise inside of the squared circle. He waited eight years to hold the World title again, and while his current reign had outshined his first by leaps and bounds, would it end at Mass Destruction, or would the Force of Nature live to defend his title another day?

No matter how prepared he was for Mass Destruction X, nothing had prepared him for what was on the other side of his front door that afternoon.

The doorbell rang through the interior of Michaels Manor, a typical Sunday afternoon for the Michaels clan, or as typical as it could get for them. Lindsay and Izzy were chasing the rugrats around the backyard during an unseasonably warm February day while Justin waited inside for their guest

What I say was nothing more than a desperate man looking for answers, and to put his life back together. It was not unlike the looks I had seen on my own face in the mirror before, but I had never been that far gone. For a split second, I didn’t think I was going to be making it to Mass Destruction that year.

There was a level of excitement most kids get when their friend’s come over for a sleepover inside of Justin as he opened the door. Not for the man on the other side of the door, but for the information he might have that would add to the search for Kaden Calix. But when the door flew open, and before Justin could even say anything, his heart jumped into his throat, and was pushed back inside with a revolver being pointed at his chest.

“I’ve had just about enough of you people pestering me!” The former Geneva, Nebraska police officer yelled as he shut the front door to the manor behind him. “I’ve answered your questions for years, and it’s always the same. I don’t know who he was, where he came from, or what he was doing; sorry if that’s not good enough for you to make a story out of!”

With both hands held up as shoulder height, Justin backpedaled as far as he could inside of the foyer, and hopefully within earshot of those in the backyard. “Listen Luke, that’s not why…”

“No, just no! I lost my job, I lost my wife, and I lost my Dad searching for answers to you people’s questions!” Luke pulled the revolver’s hammer back with his thumb, his right hand trembling. “The only thing I have left is my life, and I’m not going to let someone benefit off of that! I’d rather die that say one more word to you people! I’d rather die finding the answers myself!”

While Justin was fearful, with the gun pointed in his direction, the shaky hands of the man holding the weapon made it obvious Luke was just as scared, if not more so. The standoff went on in silence for some time while Justin contemplated what to say, but as he looked closer at the situation, decided to act, and took a step forward. “Don’t you, just, don’t, don’t move!”

Motioning with his hands to lower the weapon, Justin took another step towards the scraggly-bearded, overweight man. The gun began to rattle around in his hands even more. “Everything okay in there babe?” Lindsay yelled from the back door as she stuck her head inside. The sound of toddlers’ joyful laughter could be heard through the silence.

Justin didn’t respond, he actually hoped it would bring Lindsay inside to witness this, and it did just that. “Justin?” She called out, as her voice got closer, and beads of sweat formed on Luke’s forehead as he shook his head at the Force of Nature.

“I don’t want to shoot no woman.” Luke growled under his breath as he used the gun to signal for Justin to answer his wife.

“Oh my god, Justin?” Lindsay shrieked as she peeked her head around the corner from the living room, into the foyer. “Do I need to..”

“Don’t do anything, yet.” Justin answered right away. “He’s got two choices he can make, and we’ll see if he makes the right one.” Justin took one step closer to Luke, who panicked, and pulled the trigger. The hammer shot back down, but nothing happened.

Grabbing the gun out of Luke’s hands, Justin flipped out the cylinder and showed it to his would-be shooter before tossing it to the ground towards Lindsay. “Next time, you might want to load it first.” The sarcastic tone Justin added didn’t help the situation any, as Luke felt he was merely being condescending, and took a swing at him. A much bigger mistake, as Justin easily dodged, and laid the main out.

While pulling a gun on me was far from necessary, it was apparent that through all his loss, there had been several others hoping to benefit off of his situation, and had bugged him for years. I still hoped, even after knocking him out, that once he came to, and heard the real reason I wanted to talk to him, that he’d be willing to help.

Holding a bag of ice against the left side of his face, Luke sulked in one of the living room chairs as he came to. Justin tossed the gun into the man’s lap, and took a seat on a chair opposite of him. Lindsay, fuming at Justin for not letting her call the cops, joined Izzy and the kids back outside, as if nothing happened. “I can see why you didn’t make it as a cop.” He took one more jab at Luke, before holding up his hands again with a smile, a show of surrendering the jokes.

“I don’t see why you care about that maniac, you’re obviously no journalist, looking at this place.” Luke said, taking the ice away from his chin. “I tried for years to redeem myself by finding him, but found nothing. Between losing my job, and then my mind, looking for him, my wife left me. I didn’t think my life could get any worse at that point, and it stayed that way for a few years, until Dad and I started talking again.” Luke admitted. “He came to me with a ‘break in the case’ he said. Something the gas station owner’s widow had told him about, so we headed up to Lincoln.” Setting the bag of ice on the chair’s armrest, Luke continued to relive one of the lowest points of his life. “He didn’t tell me what she had said, only that he knew where to start looking next. Digging around up there, though, that’s where he got shot.”

“That, I hadn’t read about.” Justin conceded.

“Yeah, most people don’t give a shit about the off-duty cop who got shot accosting drug dealers about a ghost.” Luke confessed. “I probably shouldn’t have thought anything good would come chasing the past like that. Hell, you’d think by now I’d know better, but here I am, still chasing after it, like it’ll get me my job, my wife, or my father back. I still don’t even know the kid’s name.”

“Kaden.” Justin told him. “Kaden Calix.” Standing up and walking out of the living room, back to his trophy room that also doubles as his office, Justin returned with a copy of the file he had on his former protege. “He was going to be the biggest thing in sports entertainment, a complete monster inside of the ring.” He continued. “You and I aren’t much different, I’ve wondered where the ghost has been hiding for the last ten years myself.”

Luke glanced through the file, between all the redacted information and notes Justin had since made in it. Everything about Southwind Gardens and Dr. Sorrow included. While the former Officer Williams may not have been that great at his job in the past, he’d since learned some new tricks, and picked up on some things in his time digging around, and pieced some of it together. “So a routine mental health check with a supposed world-renowned doctor turned sociopath turned into all of this?” He asked, and Justin nodded. “And you’re blaming yourself for it all, why?”

“It was my suggestion that put him in there in the first place, and my trust in a man that turned out to be a bigger monster than the one I’m looking for now.” Justin said, angered by the truth, and saddened by the odds that Kaden was still alive.

The room fell silent, only the sounds of the rest of Justin’s family playing outside could be heard between the gusts of wind that rustled the trees all around the estate. Luke closed the file folder, and smacked it against his open left palm before standing up. “Well, I should probably get going.”

“Wait, what?!” Justin asked, confused, and caught off guard. “I thought we were coming to an understanding, and could help each other out.”

“You’ve helped more than anyone else has in nearly seven years, thanks.” Luke made a quick dash for the door, and Justin was right behind him, pushing the door closed as Luke tried to open it up.

“So, you’re just going to take what I gave you and, what? Continue looking for him yourself? This is a man that, from what I gather, has no idea who he is, and has been missing, and probably living on the streets for a decade, if he’s still alive. What are you going to do if, when, you find him?” Justin asked with an intense glare, getting into Luke’s face.

“Don’t act like your life is as bad as mine because of this person. I’m going to do what has to be done to get my life back on track!” Luke matched Justin’s intensity with a stare of his own, and the Force of Nature removed his hand from the door.

“If that’s the way it has to be, then so be it. But at least give me all the information you have, to make this a fair fight.” He hoped for one last little nugget to tip him in the right direction.

Luke, on the other hand, simply opened the door with a smile and a shrug. “Sorry, I’ve told you everything I know already, but good luck.” He didn’t lose a step on his way to the clunker of a car that he made the trip in. A car that Justin was surprised even made the drive in the first place. “And may the best man win!”

Funny thing about Luke saying that to me was, in that situation, neither of us was the best man. If anyone was going to win in the end, it was going to be Kaden. And while he thought he had been vague enough, and not given me anything to work off of, he had actually given me everything I would need to keep going.

It’s funny how in life we all come across people that we choose to spend time with, but in the most negative of situations. Rivals, while on the surface, should be avoided at all costs, however, when you break through all the layers of that rivalry, it’s amazing to see how much better of a person you can be because of it.

I had worked myself up to face off against one such man for the top prize in the business, while in that same week, meeting someone new, and realizing I would have another in Luke Williams. The prize there being the safe return of a man who deserved so much better than life had given him. A life much worse than either Luke or I could have ever imagined.

And I knew just where to start.