Free Infernal Revelation : Collected Episodes 1-4 (9781311980007) by Michael Coorlim Page A

tried, but they
shot me."
    Melchizedek's eyes had become horizontal
blue lines, and Lily found herself holding her breath.
    "I remember the pain of the bullets tearing
through my chest, my abdomen, and I blacked out. When I came to I
was..."
    He trailed off again. Lily thought he was
holding back tears.
    Gideon cleared his throat. "Like that?"
    Melchizedek opened his eyes. "No. Not right
away. I didn't feel too different at first.The men who shot me had
put me in some kind of metal truck, I don't know. It felt like we
were moving. It felt like we were driving for days, and no matter
how hard I shouted, nobody responded."
    "That's awful," Lily said.
    "Yeah. They didn't feed me or anything, but
somehow I wasn't starving. Wasn't hungry. Just, you know,
upset."
    "Right," Gideon said.
    "Anyway, at some point we stopped and they
opened the door and I made a run for it."
    "Did they chase you?" Gideon asked.
    "Yeah, but I was fast. Faster than I've ever
been, even after being locked in that box. Later I found out I was
stronger, too. Physically I was great, you know? Felt like a
superhero. But man, losing Marianne, being on the run, it's... it's
rough. I mean, you get used to it. You have to adapt, to survive.
But it's not really a life."
    "So what happened?" Lily asked. "With all
the shadows and fire and stuff?"
    "I got caught again," he said. "Shot again.
I was tough, but bullets are bullets, and I got shot a lot."
    "Wow," Gideon said.
    "This time, when I woke up, I was like this.
I can control these shadows. And I'm stronger and faster."
    "So every time you die you get more
powerful?" Gideon asked.
    "I wasn't killed, just
very badly hurt, and my body repaired itself, stronger and
stranger. I think if they killed me killed me, like shot me between the eyes, I'd
just be dead."
    "Man," Gideon shook his head.
    "Big downside." Mel pointed at his eyes.
"Can't exactly just go into town and hit the McDonalds or get a job
or whatever."
    "Sunglasses?" Gideon asked.
    "I'm still more pale than anyone has a right
to be."
    "Skin cream?"
    "Yeah, if I get all super elaborate I can
wear a disguise, if I don't let my attention drift and let my
shadows out. I have to concentrate to keep them down like this. I
just don't want to freak you out again."
    "I think we're past that point," Delilah
said.
    Melchizedek nodded, and tiny wisps of shadow
started to leak from his body. "Let me know if they get too
weird."
    "Okay, assuming this is all true," Lily
said. "Why are you here?"
    "Looking for Polvorin. That's, uh, the town
we all came from."
    "I've never heard of it," Gideon said. "Is
it in Texas?"
    "I think so," Melchizedek said. "It's not on
any maps. Marianne might have gotten the name wrong or I might just
be mis-remembering. Or maybe they changed the name. But I have a
few candidates that it might be, and Laton was one of them."
    "If you're right about us being... like
you..." Delilah said. "Three of us here?"
    "That might mean I'm on the right track,"
Melchizedek said. "But I don't think Laton's the place."
    "Why not?" Delilah asked.
    "Simple. Nobody's trying to kill me." He
picked up the soda again, fidgeting with the can. "Your cops did
chase after me, though. Took a few shots. I was running from them
when... when your friends hit me."
    A coldness fell over Lily. She couldn't
believe she'd almost forgotten. "I have to go home."
    "That's why I stuck around," Melchizedek
said. "To see if you were okay."
    Lily rose, brushing her hands off on the
couch. "I'm fine. See? Thanks for your concern."
    "It's more than that," he said, stepping to
her. "The accident. You might be going through the change I went
through."
    She stepped around him. "You don't see any
shadows floating off of me."
    "It's not so obvious at first," Melchizedek
said. "I was just stronger and faster."
    "Yeah, trust me, a week in a coma didn't
leave me feeling like Wonder Woman."
    Gideon stood. "Lily... the way you laid out
Barny..."
    "I said I'm fine."
    She opened the door and stepped