"I... I have to protect..." The mother whispered as she squeezed her baby. "My child..."

The baby's face was red from crying, and he stuck his lip out. "Mama," he said. It was the only word he knew.

The mother pressed her back against the wall, her breathing harsh and heavy. As she patted her baby's back, she tried to imagine what life would be like without her precious child. She willed him to be quiet.

The baby said it again. Louder, this time. "Mama!"

"Shh, my darling," the mother whispered.

The baby's eyes were round as he pressed his head against his mother's chest.

The mother's breath caught in her throat as she saw it. The Shadow. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. 'It's not there,' she thought. 'It can't be there...' She ran her fingers through her baby's silky hair.

"Oh," the Shadow said. "How darling. A mother, desperately trying to save her baby." The Shadow clucked it's tongue. "That is so sad," it said mockingly. "Well, I guess-"

"Get away from us," the mother said, her voice shaky but firm. "Leave us be!"

"Oh, but that's not possible, my dear," the Shadow crooned. "Because, you see, you're here to save your husband, aren't you?" The Shadow laughed. "Princess saving knight, eh? Well, tell me, my love. Why did you take the baby with you? Mmm?"

The mother's eyes filled with tears. "I... I thought..." She whispered, kissing her baby's head.

"Yes, what did you think?" The Shadow urged her. "I beg you to tell me. This is quite interesting, really."

"I thought... I could get him to a safe place. My baby," the mother croaked. "I..." She stopped, for if she continued talking, she would cry.

"That's so... Tragic," the Shadow murmured. "So tragic, my darling. I almost feel sorry for you... Oh, who am I kidding?" The Shadow laughed coldly. "I'll kill you, now. And your baby, If I don't, you'll just cause more trouble than I need, at the moment."

"No, please!" The mother wailed. "Take me. Not my baby! Not. My. Baby!"

The Shadow shook it's head. "Can't be done, I believe. So sorry. I must not spare unneeded... Things. So. You'll have to come with me. The baby, too."

The mother's eyes widened, and a tear trickled down her cheek. "No," she said stubbornly.

The Shadow's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Oh, what do we have here? I haven't had such an... Unwilling customer for a while now."

The mother choked on a sob, and dropped to her knees. "I won't let you take my baby," she rasped. "I can't."

The Shadow raised an eyebrow. It lunged towards the woman, who had her arms locked around her baby. The Shadow grabbed the baby, and for a moment the mother caught the Shadow's gaze. She tugged on her child.

"Go away," she said. Tug. "Get away from us!" Tug. "LEAVE. US. BE!"

The Shadow's eyes flickered. "No." It pulled on the child, and pried him from his mother's arms. The baby let out a long wail, and flailed in the Shadow's arms.

The mother stumbled to her feet, tears streaming down her face. "Why are you doing this to us?" She screamed. "What do you want with my husband?"

"Oh, you know perfectly well what I want with your husband," the Shadow said softly. "I want to use him." It's eyes glittered coldly. "He, sweetheart, is the answer to everything." The Shadow stroked the baby's wet cheek. "He is the key."

The mother didn't say anything. She sucked in a breath and stumbled forward, reaching out towards her child. "My baby..." She croaked.

"You know what I'll do?" The Shadow cooed. "I'll spare your life for just a bit longer. And this brat's, too. I think you want to see your husband, yes?"

The mother, her eyes wide, looked at her feet. "Um..."

"Of course you do," the Shadow said, it's cold eyes glittering. "Come with me, my dear woman, and you'll see what has become of him." The Shadow grabbed the woman's arm, and yanked her forward.

They walked down the bright white halls in silence, except for when the baby would let out a feeble cry, and the mother would hold back sobs and wails.

Finally, after what seemed hours (although it could have just been minutes), they arrived at a grimy room.

The mother shuddered. Most of the Shadow's building had been clean, perfect, free of any sort of dust or dirt. Most of the Shadow's building had an essence of perfectness to it, something that made your skin crawl with unease.

Different. This was different.

The mother could hear agonized screams bouncing off the walls of the room, the gushing of something thick that sounded like blood.

This didn't make your skin crawl with unease. It made you want to curl up in a ball and slowly starve to death, to plunge a knife into your throat, anything, anything, to stop the screams.

"He's not in there," the mother said, shakily. "He can't be." She was aware of hot tears streaming down her face, but didn't bother to wipe them away.

The Shadow curled a hand around the woman's arm. "Think again," it breathed into her ear.

The mother jerked away from it, and let out a scream. "I hate you! I hate all of you, every one of you, GIVE ME BACK MY BABY!" She flailed her fists at the Shadow, but it just raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, but my dear," the Shadow protested, "you haven't seen your husband yet."

"I've... I've seen enough!" The mother sobbed. "Get me away from here!"

The Shadow's tongue flicked over it's lips. "Stubborn, are we? Well, well. Come on, then." He grabbed the mother's arm again, flung open the door to the room, and pushed her in.

The mother's breath caught in her throat when she saw the scene in front of her. "No," she gasped. "No, no." Tears blurred her vision, and she dropped to her knees. "No, no..."

"A wonderful sight, isn't it?" Came the Shadow smooth voice. "I have worked hard to create a system like this, my darling. And it is all thanks to your husband. See him over there? The one with the toddler?"

The mother forced herself to look up. Her husband was digging a knife into the child's chest, and blood spurted from the wound onto the floor. It was everywhere. Soldiers were plunging knives into people's chests, and blood splattered the floor.

"Do you want to know what they are doing?" The Shadow asked calmly, almost cheerfully, as if this were all a game.

"No," the mother whispered. The stench of blood was making her feel dizzy, and she rested her head in her hands.

"They," the Shadow said, ignoring the mother's feeble protests, "are digging out their souls."

"What?" The mother rasped. "How-?" She stopped. "My husband would never do this," she said.

"Of course your husband would never do that," the Shadow said. "No human, my dear, would ever do that. So," he said, "I yanked his soul from him. Quite stubborn, that husband of yours. A bit like you, I must say."

"Why... How..." The mother's mind was spinning with questions, none of which she wanted answers to. "Get me out of here," she whimpered.

The Shadow ignored her. "Well, my darling, humans with souls are quite... Vulnerable creatures. Most of them would refuse to kill someone, or torture someone, which creates a problem for me, you see." The Shadow folded his fingers together. "Look around you, at the people who are stabbing others, and snatching their souls. Look closely. At their eyes. What do you see?"

The mother forced her gaze to her husband. "He used to have green eyes," she whispered to herself. But now, in place of his green eyes, were empty, black pits, with not even a flicker of feeling in them. The mother turned away, choking on sobs.

"Right," the Shadow cooed. "Black pits. No souls to light them up. Unfeeling eyes only see murder and torture, which would make the perfect army, wouldn't you say?" The Shadow stroked the mother's hair as it talked, and the mother yanked it away from it.

"Army?" The mother murmured. "What do you mean?"

"An army of soulless human beings," the Shadow said. "Yes, it is just too perfect. No souls, no empathy. I keep their souls in jars, you see, because souls can never be destroyed altogether. Too bad, really." The Shadow stroked it's chin thoughtfully.

"An army?" The mother demanded. "Why?"

"Revenge, that's why." The Shadow's black pits for eyes narrowed. "The humans exiled me, they made me... This. And now, my dear, with an army, I can show them how it feels." A smirk curled on the Shadow's lips. "Although, without souls, they may find it quite... Unfeeling. Your husband was my first successful "guinea pig", you could say, my test subject. I owe it all to him, really."

"No," the mother choked.

"Yes," the Shadow said. "Although, they aren't really humans anymore, are that? No, humans without souls are merely echoes of humans, shells of them. So..." The Shadow's lips curled into a cruel smile. "I guess you could call them shadows."

I gripped my knife as he entered the room, and tried to crouch tighter against the shadows of the corner. It was too risky to show myself. The government's soldiers were everywhere--and besides, even if he was on my side, I wasn't sure I wanted to make alliances.

He had mousy brown hair and freckles splattered across his nose and cheeks. He had brilliant green eyes, but bags hung beneath him, indicating that he had not gotten much sleep for days, like most people. Dirt smeared his face and hands. His lips parted and he let out a quiet yawn.

I narrowed my eyes and held my knife closer to me. What was he doing here? Why did he seem so careless? I scowled. Was he even going to do something, or was he just going to stand there like an idiot?

His gaze darted around the room, and I tensed as it flitted past me. I relaxed. He hadn't seen me yet. I stroked my knife, and glanced up at him.

His gaze rested on a vase, and he walked over to study it. He took it from the shelf and turned it over in his hands, running his fingers along the intricate designs and carvings. After what seemed like hours--although it could have just been minutes--he lay the vase back on the shelf, glanced around one more time, and walked out of the room.

I sat crouched in the corner for a very long time after he left, to make sure that he wasn't going to come back. Finally, I crawled out of the corner, knife in hand. I stretched, and tip-toed over to study the vase. The designs and carvings seemed to tell a story--one that I could not follow, of course, for the carvings and designs were jumbled all over the place--but it was a story, at that.

Suddenly, the door opened, and I dropped the vase. It shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, and a gasp came from the door.

I glanced over to see him again. I gritted my teeth. I had been sure he was gone--yet here he was. I ran my thumb of my knife's handle, and said, my voice thick with menace, "Who are you? Friend or foe?"

He gazed at me for a long while before answering. He tipped his head and said, his voice a bit shaky, "I--I would ask the s-same of you."

I raised my knife. "I asked the question first," I hissed. "Now, answer me, or I'll kill you."

He blinked. "You're--You're one of them, right? The government's enemies?" He drew in a breath. "I guess I'm a foe."

I rolled my eyes. "Thought so. Government's pet." I paused for a moment, and lunged forward, knife in hand. "I guess I'll have to kill you."

I tried to stab his throat, but he blocked my blow with his own knife. He tried to knock my knife out of my hand, but, when that didn't work, he squeezed his eyes shut and stabbed my shoulder instead.

I dropped my knife and fell away from him. It took me a moment to register that I had been stabbed. I glanced down at the knife lodged in my shoulder, and thought simply, 'Oh. I've been stabbed.' And once I realized that, pain started running up and down my arm, making me gasp in agony and resist the urge to scream.

His eyes widened, and his eyes searched the room. After a quick moment, he raced up to a table and stole the cloth from it, and he then ran back to me. "Sorry," he said quietly, "but this is going to hurt." He yanked the knife from my shoulder and pressed the cloth against the wound, which had started gushing blood.

And hurt it did. Pain exploded from my shoulder and black spots started to dance in my vision, but I pushed them away. Confusion started to cloud the pain, and I asked, "Why are you helping me, government's pet? You're supposed to be the enemy. Need help with that? Okay, I'll give you instructions. I'm the enemy. You kill the enemy."

He stared down at the cloth, which was starting to redden with my blood. "I don't like killing people," he said softly.

"You don't like killing people?" I scoffed. "Uh-huh. You're a soldier; you're a government's pet. That's what you do. You fight, you kill."

Suddenly, he stopped applying pressure to my wound and gazed up at me. "I don't kill people," he said, and then mumbled something that I could not make out.

"Then why're you a soldier?" I snarled."Well, pet? Why do you stand with the government, loyal like a drooling dog?" I narrowed my eyes. "Soldiers kill people, and that's why I don't stand with them."

His eyes started to burn with an angry fire. "Why do I fight for the government?" He asked, his voice low. "Why am I a soldier? Because I need to support my family, that's why. Because we are poor, and we need money. And by fighting for the government, I can give them the support they need." His voice started to rise. "I do NOT kill people. I have not killed anyone; not once in my life. And what about you? You are apparently against killing people, huh? Well, what about back there? You tried to kill me. And how many others have you tried to kill? How many soldiers, how many elders, how many children, standing with the government? And how many times have you succeeded?"

I stared at him, silent for a long, long time as I, surprised at his outburst, mulled over what he said. Finally, I said softly, "Four. I have killed four soldiers." I turned away, suddenly ashamed under his intense gaze.

His hands started to push against the cloth again. "I thought so," came his whispered reply.

After a few more minutes, he removed the cloth, for the blood had stopped. He gave my shoulder a few more dabs, and then said, "How's your shoulder? I'm really sorry that I hurt you."

My shoulder was lightly throbbing, but I said, "It's fine." I paused. "And, um, thank you."

He smiled a bit. "You are very welcome." He tilted his head. "What's your name? I'm Cooper."

"Amanda," I replied, not smiling back, "but my friends call me Mandi." I prodded my shoulder a bit, resting where it hurt and where it didn't. I winced as my fingers found a tender spot.

Cooper laughed quietly, for no reason. "And can I call you Mandi?"

I thought about this. "No." I got to my feet. "Well, I'll be leaving now. I should probably go before you run off to get the authorities." I rolled my eyes, walked over to the corner, and slung my backpack over my good shoulder. I turned on my heel and started out the door.

"Wait!" Cooper called. "Mandi--I mean, Amanda." He grabbed my hand.

I spun around. "What do you need?" I spat. "I'm not coming with you willingly to the headquarters, pet." I yanked my hand away from his.

"I know that..." He paused, and locked his gaze with mine. "Where are you going, Amanda?"

I sighed. "Somewhere. Anywhere. Away from here." I made big gestures with my hands as I said it. "Everywhere."

"I..." Cooper hesitated. "Um, could I come with you?"

I blinked, and scowled. "Are you kidding me, pet? God, no. You're a soldier. Is this some sort of dumb trick? Because I'm not falling for it."

Cooper took a step back. "No."

I crossed my arms. "Well, then. Why do you want to come?"

"Because... Because, your shoulder isn't fully healed yet. I need to keep an eye one that." His mouth twisted into a half-smile.

I sighed. "Okay, look. I know that's not the only reason, so unless you can cough it up, I'm leaving you here."

Cooper looked down at his shoes. "Well... Well... You're the closest thing I've had to a friend for a long, long time." He looked at his feet. "And... My family. There's something I didn't tell you." He sighed. "Well, okay. I lied. My family doesn't need my support. Not really." He turned away. "My family's rich. But they... They support the government entirely, and... And so... I had to work for the government, or else my family... Well, let's just say, um... They aren't exactly kind to people that don't support the government."

I was quiet for a long time. "You mean... You don't support the government? And why did you lie?" I scowled, and crossed my arms.

He bit his thumbnail. "If I told you the truth, you would have killed me. You know you would have."

"Yes," I said slowly. "Yes, I would have. But if it was a choice, why did you join? And what's all this about not supporting the government? And why did you choose to tell me the truth now, only minutes later? I could kill you right now, if I wanted. Oh yeah, and just to be honest: we aren't friends. I tried to kill you, Cooper. That isn't friendship."

He smiled the tiniest bit. "You softened up in those minutes. You won't kill me; I can tell. I could have killed you, but I didn't." He shrugged. "I don't support the government. Not really. But I'm not against the government, either, not like you." He sucked in a breath. "If I hadn't of joined, my family would have gotten suspicious." He glanced at me, eyes wide. "And Amanda, you don't know my family. They're harsh." He shuddered a bit. "You may have tried to kill me. But you didn't."

"I tried. And I can do it again." I picked my knife up from off the floor.

"You aren't going to."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I just healed your shoulder. And because of your eyes. They aren't cold, although your voice may be. I already told you this."

"And stabbed it," I said, ignoring what he said about my eyes.

"I could have killed you, but I didn't. You owe me one."

Silence.

"Oh, fine," I sighed, giving in. "But you make any attempt to find the government officials, I will kill you."

He grinned. "Got it." He started out the door, and I followed.

In the empty hallways, I said sternly, "You aren't allowed to talk, pet. Too dangerous."

"Okay, fine," Cooper said, and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

There was a long silence as we walked through the metallic halls, occasionally stopping to hide in the corners as soldiers passed.

Then Cooper spoke. "Hey, Mandi?"

"Don't CALL me that," I mumbled.

"Amanda?"

"What?!"

His eyes glinted a bit. "We make a good team."

I hesitated before speaking. "No, we don't. We aren't even a team yet." I heard a soldier's footsteps, and him and I hid in a corner.

Once the footsteps had faded, Cooper let out a quiet laugh. "We are to a team. I'm protecting you; you are protecting me."

I gazed at him for a long time before answering. Then I picked at my cuticles with my knife point, and said, "I guess... We sort of make a good team. We make an okay team."

We started walking down the hall again, and Cooper said, "We need to come up with a team name."

"Oh, no. No, no, no."

"Please?"

"No! What are you, ten?"

"Almost eleven."

"Stop joking." I scowled.

He poked me. "Okay, grump." His eyes lit up. "Wait! We could be the Tenners! Yeah, that's a good name."

"Stop shouting, Cooper. Anyway, that's a stupid name." I almost smiled, but I managed to keep my lips pressed in a tight line. "How old are you, anyway? I'm seventeen, if you must know."

"I told you. Almost eleven."

"Oh, shut up and be serious."

He sighed softly. "Seventeen."

"Thought so."

We walked in silence for a long time, hiding from guards, listening to our echoing footsteps.

"Um, Mandi?"

I didn't correct him. "Yes?"

"Uh..." He hesitated. "Thank you. For taking me with you."

I opened my mouth to shoot a sharp remark at him, but I thought better of it, and said quietly, "You're welcome." What I didn't tell him was that I was glad of his company--that I liked the sound of double footsteps, that it was nice to hear his voice.

I wasn't alone anymore.

The U.S. should focus all of its attention on "The War in America." Bring all the troops back. Keep paying them with tax money to be soldiers - but to combat The War in America. Not with guns, force, and violence, but with determination, inspiration, and creativity. Educate every single soldier on education itself - holistic education. Education that optimizes the entire human - body, mind, and spirit. Transform every single U.S. warrior into a peaceful warrior. A warrior-scholar hybrid. Turn the troops into Jedi. Win The War in America. Then spread the love and wisdom elsewhere needed. True victory.