Shadow Morphs

Talons crashed into the brick wall, missing the target by a foot to the left, and Evan guided his dissociated shadow bird back to his position.

“This is harder than I thought,” Evan muttered to himself, giving a puzzled stare at the wall with scattered targets painted on the wall. Behind him on the other side of Brett’s basement was Taylor, her eyes closed and her smoky shadow swirling around her. Brett watched on closely, barely blinking as she conjured her shadow. With all of the extra help he had been giving her, Taylor had progressed to the stage of dissociating her shadow, but hadn’t quite been able to achieve it yet. Evan was now stuck on accuracy, but Brett knew he would soon master that too.

“I know it’s tricky focusing on a need rather than an emotion, but you can do it. I know you can,” Brett encouraged quietly when he observed Taylor’s forehead crease with concentration. Taylor was doing all that she could to convey to her shadow the need for it to form a rhino on the chair next to her, but the shadow was still resisting. Her head began to feel pressurised as the shadow kept fighting, but the shadow was gradually peeling away from Taylor’s body and heading towards the chair on her left. Brett watched it eagerly, silently cheering her on. He knew that because she had been relentlessly practicing for days, it was surely only a matter of time until she could do it. Taylor ordered her shadow further away, pretending that she wouldn’t be able to release her resentment for her parents if the shadow didn’t get to the chair, and the shadow listened. As if it had received a push, the shadow lurched forwards and began to condense on the chair. With a bit more concentration, Taylor controlled the size of the rhino to form a miniature beast that stood comfortably on the chair.

“It’s not right. I can only see through its eyes,” Taylor spoke, catching Evan’s attention too. He turned and spotted the shadow rhino that was still connected to Taylor’s body by a thread of wispy shadow. Realising she hadn’t accomplished what he had, Evan focused back on perfecting his accuracy.

“You haven’t completely dissociated. Can you pull yourself further away from it?” Brett asked Taylor, able to only talk to her on the shadow link.

“I’ll try,” Taylor replied before searching through her mind. It was easy to find the main connection she had to her shadow, the one that was fuelled by hatred for her parents and the government, but she couldn’t sever that link otherwise the shadow would disperse. Instead, Taylor dug deeper inside her mind until she located a tiny thread of shadow presence that was lingering as if it had no purpose. Because it was unfamiliar to her, Taylor pushed it from her mind and awaited the consequences. Her eyes flew open in time to see the shadow cloak around her fall, which would have unveiled her to a norm. The shadow gathered at her feet before floating to the rhino and merging with it. Taylor slowed her heavy breathing and became filled with joy. She had finally dissociated her shadow, and even managed to shed her cloak, which had taken Evan an extra day to accomplish.

“Well done,” Brett grinned, using the shadow link so only she would hear his proud praise. He gazed up at Taylor as she stood, her rhino jumping down from the seat and walking forwards. Taylor effortlessly commanded her shadow to enlarge, a process she had now mastered thanks to Brett’s additional assistance, and she lined up the rhino to the target Evan was still attempting to strike. When Evan sent his hawk flying forwards once more, Taylor drove her own beast towards the target too. The bird missed again, but a rhino horn dug into the edge of the target. Evan gaped and spun around to see his friend standing tall behind him, a mix of shock, embarrassment and delight crossing his face. Taylor beamed back at him, glad that her determination had paid off.



With a hefty sigh, Sofia sat in her desk chair and looked at the countless brown files that were tossed across her desk. After a quick microwave dinner at the office she wanted to get back to work, but her job seemed impossible. She had no clue where to start. Should she reread Kasey Wells’ file and see if she missed any key details? Perhaps another look at the photos taken at Taylor Roberts’ residence would reveal a crucial detail. Sofia pushed her straight black hair behind her ears and grabbed a folder that was hidden beneath others because she hadn’t read it recently. The words ‘Shadow Morph’ printed in block letters on the cover made her rigid posture even stiffer as an image of her sister flashed before her eyes. Despite containing two of the mutants recently, it still didn’t feel like she was doing enough. Sofia opened the file while wondering if she could ever sufficiently protect the citizens of Dormere, but soon dismissed the thought with another sigh.

The file contained the reports and photographs from the morphing incident at the World War II museum, an event that felt like a lifetime ago for Sofia. She read over the summary on the first page, including her handwritten scribble at the bottom that confirmed that Fred Andersen had been the Shadow Morph who had caused the public distress and damage. Sofia knew that wasn’t all; most of the people had reported seeing two beasts at once, meaning another Shadow Morph had to have been there with Fred, though he hadn’t admitted to that yet. She flicked over the page and began reading the descriptions people had given during their interviews. The controlled elk with the humungous antlers could be credited to Fred, but the dangerous rhino was most likely still on the loose. Sofia grimaced, wishing she had more information to track the rhino down.

She read another account of a young man who had been at the museum, claiming he loved history so had dragged his friends along for his birthday. Sofia’s eyes flicked to the bottom of the page to find his name and she hesitated. Evan Myers. The name was familiar to her, so Sofia turned to her computer. Searching the identification database for Dormere, Sofia soon brought up Evan’s file. The face immediately took Sofia back to Fred’s apartment. She had spoken to the young man after she had caught Fred, which explained why he was at the museum. Her eyes fell to Evan’s birthdate and she realised his birthday was in two months. It all came together; Evan was lying, he knew about Fred’s powers, and he was the right age to start showing morphing abilities. Fred had protected his roommate during his interrogation. Evan wasn’t simply a loner who wasn’t aware he was hanging out with Shadow Morphs; he was one too. Sofia hastily wrote down Evan’s address then sent out a page to the members of her field team for backup. She had to speak with him.



Evan was slouched in his favourite armchair watching a boring programme on the television while Taylor sat on the edge of her couch, completely immersed in the dramatic show. Upon rolling his eyes at a corny joke that Taylor giggled at, he became aware of the time and rose to his feet.

“Uh… I am feeling unwell… I will try getting some fresh air, to see if that helps,” Evan informed his new roommate as he threw on his grey jacket. Without him realising, his face had changed to his sad puppy expression from the guilt of lying.

“Okay. I hope you come right,” Taylor smiled gently, deciding not to confront him.

“Me too,” he nodded before walking out, locking the door behind him. Taylor repositioned herself on the couch to watch the thrilling ending to the show’s episode. Her nerves were on edge as she watched the characters become exposed to an unexpected turn of events, and when the loud bang resonated from the front door her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

“This is the Shadow Morph Containment Unit! Open up!” a gruff voice shouted from the other side. Taylor’s breath hitched in her throat and she temporarily froze on the chair, wondering how they had found her. Then adrenaline kicked in and Taylor sprung from her seat and into Evan’s bedroom. There she grabbed the photo frame of the four friends as well as a dark sweater to pull over her faded pink shirt. The knocking repeated at the door as Taylor rushed out of Evan’s bedroom and into the kitchen. She heaved open the side window and climbed through it, out onto the fire escape. As she pushed the window back down, Taylor heard the loud cracking of wood coming from the lounge, signalling that she had run out of time.

She clanked down the metal stairs while calling upon her shadow to morph to disguise her, hoping that the safety contraption hadn’t rusted much and was stable enough. As Taylor’s shadow was taking form, a screw came loose on the step she jumped on and her leg fell through. Her arm instinctively reached out and grabbed a hold of the next step. Taylor’s eyes fluttered shut from her shadow uncontrollably morphing and her vision changed to that of the shadow creature. She frowned as she saw a hairy brown arm reaching upwards and effortlessly holding onto the step, pondering why she had taken a monkey’s form instead of her typical rhino. Taylor dismissed it and allowed the shadow to use its animal instinct to rescue her. The monkey guided Taylor down to the ground efficiently, gently swinging on the fire escape instead of running and barely any sound was heard from the deteriorated contraption. Without a second thought, Taylor darted across the road and ran as fast as she could to Brett’s apartment, sticking to the shadows and heading away from any sirens.



Sofia had left her office as quickly as she could, but roadwork on a main road had forced her to use a detour and increase her travel time. As she drove towards Evan’s apartment she stole a glance at a man in a grey jacket walking alone on the scarcely lit street. After she took a left at the end of the street, Sofia slammed on her brakes and recalled the man’s face. He looked similar to the identification picture that was attached to Evan Myer’s file, with his messy brown hair, patchy stubble and square face. Sofia reached forwards and grabbed her radio.

“Team, have you located the possible Shadow Morph yet? I repeat, have you located the Shadow Morph?” she said urgently, her heart rate quickening. There was a pause of static before a man replied to her.

“That’s a negative, Agent Perez. He must have just left; the television, lights, and heater are still on.”

“I think I drove past him. I will leave my car and track him on foot. Follow me so we can apprehend him. My earpiece will be in,” Sofia ordered before tossing aside the receiver.

“Roger that.” Sofia obtained her pistol and Taser from the glove box and then secured her earpiece before exiting her vehicle. Her black sophisticated sneakers made no noise and her black formal suit allowed her to blend in with the grainy walls of Dormere if Evan was to turn around. Because Sofia kept her distance, Evan didn’t sense her presence and continued eagerly on his way, the only thought in his mind being that of Abigail’s sweet smile. After ten minutes of following Evan and instructing her team to remain a block behind her, Sofia halted behind a bus stop. Evan had stopped and was checking for cars, then crossed the road and disappeared into a shady alleyway.

“I’ve lost eyes on the target. He has entered an alley to my left,” Sofia informed her team while she considered her options. “Move in closer. I’m going after him.”