Chapter 10: Shadow Man

I started marching in the direction of my apartment. There was no need for silly imaginary dark smoking figures and people with funny eyes or funny voices that only I saw. I was the problem. My fear of the dark was a problem, too. I was so chalked full of problems I should just end it all.

My thoughts echoed in my head as my footsteps echoed through the empty street. The familiar fear started strangling my guts. It slowly moved up my spine until it was choking up my throat like I had swallowed a handful of marbles. I tried to ignore it, but my heart thrummed and the silence pressed in around me. It was coming. The thing that didn't exist, but somehow it was coming for me. I felt it just like the other times. This figment of my imagination had so much control over me that it felt real. I made it real. I spun. Damn, why did I do that?Looking always made it worse. I faced a smoking black wall of darkness billowing towards me. It filled every crevice as it raced up the street, blackening out the street lights as it went. The image of it eating Mila and dragging her body away filled my mind. That was impossible.

I turned. It was all imaginary. It wasn't really there. I stared straight ahead. There was nothing behind me. Every instinct in my body told me to run. My heart jammed in my chest, my throat closed tight, and even my hands shook. I wanted to run, I needed to run, but I wouldn't. I stared ahead focusing on the building at the end of the street. It was only a block away. Each step felt like I would break into a run, but I held steady. I wouldn't let this construct hold me anymore. In the darkness, the ember flickered into view. Another thing that wasn't there that was now there.

"You'd best be running," a gruff whisper sounded in my ear like he was next to me, but I knew it was the figure ahead of me. That wasn't even possible. I really was going mad. I just needed to fight this so it would stop. I had to get over this.

"You're not real," I whispered to myself. "None of this is real."

"Maybe it didn't used to be, but it is now." The ember flickered and became brighter.

"You're not real."

"I'm serious. It's going to get you."

"Shut up!" I said sharply.

"Look at it."

"I'm not running."

"Then you're going to die."

"Then let me die."

"Then you're stupid."

Something about the way he said that made me hesitate a step. Why did that sound so familiar? I could feel the tingles of the darkness surround my feet as I stopped.

"Why do you even care? You're just a figment, a construct, you don't exist."

I was only ten feet from him. In the shadows I saw him shrug.

"I'd be out of a job." He took a puff. "Now keep coming little girl or else it really will get you."

With a deep breath, I slowly turned. The wall of darkness pressed all around. It rolled out in clouds to all sides of me. It surrounded me like an ocean wave. I stumbled backwards toward the figure, half turning as I did. I scrambled as I fought for footing away from the wall of darkness. It sent tingling sensations up my legs as I tumbled forward just in front of the figure. I braced for impact. I was going to ruin another pair of work slacks, not to mention tear open my poor scabbed up knees.

Right before I hit the ground, arms caught me. The figure pulled me into a tight embrace. The tingling sensations coated my back as it pressed in around us, physically pushing me against him. I felt like I couldn't breathe, like the darkness was not only sucking the light out of the world but also sucking the life from me.

After a few moments, the sensation passed. The streetlights flickered back on behind me. I didn't move. He didn't let go. We were stuck in this awkward hug leaning against the wall in the dark.

A low rumble emanated from his chest and I realized he was laughing. He was laughing at me.

"What's so funny? No, never mind. Forget that. What the hell is going on?" I pushed away from him.

"There we go." He smoothed down the front of his leather jacket. "That's better."

"Answer my question."

The shadows from the streetlights cast his face in darkness. I couldn't make out the features or the color of his eyes, but for some reason I really wanted to know. The red ember floated around his head like a firefly.

He stared at me hard for a few seconds as if reading my expression. "You really pissed it off."

My eyebrows scrunched down in confusion. "I pissed the darkness off?"

He chuckled again. "You sure did."

I balled up my fists. I could feel my mind slipping. I was talking to something that was really here. No, I was about to argue with it.

"I pissed it off? No, fuck no. It pissed me off. It killed my friend and took her. Where'd it take her? What is it? Who the hell are you?"

The corner of his mouth quirked up as he made a small approving hmph. "You're just like her," he whispered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He shook his head and remained silent.

"Are you going to answer any of my questions?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Depends what they are."

"What's the darkness?"

He shook his head.

"Why is it pissed?"

He shook his head.

I balled up my fists. "What the hell is that?" I pointed at the glowing firefly-like thing.

"Oh, that's Ember. She likes to tell me what to do."

Ember zipped around his head and dived at his ear. He swatted her away. She floated closer to me. I held out my hand. She landed in it. She had no form. She was only a ball of light. Despite the orange glow, it felt cool to the touch. There was a presence to her that felt oddly familiar.

"It's nice to meet you Ember."

Ember danced a circle in my palm, then floated back over to the man's shoulder.

His chin lifted to look over my shoulder. "Looks like my time it up."

I turned as running footsteps behind me closed in. Anton was running full speed, blonde hair flying in a mess about his face. When I looked back, the dark figure was gone.

"Kira," he said as he came to a stop, breathing hard. "Are you okay? I got a message to come help you."

I looked around the wall for the shadow man.

"No, I'm definitely not."

"How come you always show up here at night?" I asked.

Anton shrugged. "Always? This is my first time. And I got a message that said I shouldn't let you walk home alone. After what happened with Mila, I think it's probably a good idea."

"What did happen to Mila?"

He gave me a sideways glance. "She was hit by a car. You were there, you saw."

I stopped dead in my tracks. What the hell? Wait... wasn't that what I was telling myself happened earlier. I squeezed my eyes shut.

Anton stopped and turned to look at me. "Are you alright?"

"What about the darkness?"

"The darkness? What?"

I just blinked at him. I must be going crazy. "The freaking darkness. You dislocated my shoulder getting me away from it! It wasn't a car! It was the darkness! You saw it!"

"I thought you went to the doctor's today to get that concussion looked at it. Did they really let you leave?"

"Anton, seriously. I'm not fooling around. Mila died. This big cloud came and took her."

He stifled a laugh. "Kira, I'm not fooling around either, but you sound crazy. She was definitely hit by a car and I pulled you out of the way right at the last second. We were pre-partying for your birthday next week. They took her away in the ambulance. Don't you remember?"

How could this be? That seemed perfectly logical, but I didn't remember things like that. I was going crazy. My heart began thrumming again. I really was crazy.

"Are you okay?" His breath was more even now.

When I didn't answer, he tugged on my hand. "Come on, let's get home. I think you need to get some rest."

My mind sifted through the memories while we walked. What was real? I didn't remember a car. I didn't remember a party either. But what made more sense? A dark cloud and a shadow man with an ember or a concussion?

"Why didn't they check me out then? The ambulance, why didn't they fix my shoulder?"

"They were kind of busy with Mila."

"What happened to the car that hit her?"

"What?"

"Did it hit her and drive off? Did it veer off and hit something? Did it flip?"

He made a funny face while he concentrated. "I was kind of focused on Mila."

"How'd I get the concussion?"

"I don't know. You fell when I pulled on your arm or something."

"Was there a lot of blood?"

"What? No. That's a horrible question. Can we stop talking about this? You're making my head hurt."

At least he knew how it felt.

"Are you going to pay rent?"

"Do I get paid for walking you home?"

"No."

"Then, nope."

"Then you better be looking for a new couch to crash on. And find a place for Mila's stuff."

"Are you going somewhere?"

"I can't pay the rent on my own."

"You don't have any cash anywhere?"

"Don't you think I would have gotten my car fixed if I did? Can you ask your dad for money? I think he was helping Mila out before."

He fell silent again.

The rest of the walk home was quiet. I lay in my bed after a shower. I felt like I was losing my mind, but one thought kept me awake. There was no blood.