Chapter 4 Shadow Walk

The familiar sensation of awakening my talent surges all over my body. And the feeling of gaining a new power inflicts me with pain as my body is trying to get accustomed to the magic. And soon, it’s over. The magic transfer is complete. I now have the gift of foresight. Good.

But now comes the next question. Should I hunt for more demons? 

I look at my phone. It’s already almost 11 p.m. 

Crap. 

If only the foresight demon wasn't so far away, then maybe I would have more time to hunt more demons. Come to think of it, I wonder if there are any demons nearby that I can kill to make this day satisfying?

As if my new gift of foresight was answering my question, images started to enter my mind. I see a convenience store that seems to be nearby. Then, a familiar man exits it with a can of soda in hand. It took me a while to realize that it’s the driver from before. 

That’s odd. Why is the vision showing me this?

I watch patiently as the driver drinks the whole can of soda and heads for the back to take a pee. I was about to shut the vision off because I have no intention of watching someone take a loo in public. But something caught my attention. It’s the displacement of the shadow on one of the posts. I notice it seems to be moving.

Memories of my past began to fill my mind like a puzzle. I remember that there was once a demon who could hide in the shadows and murder people every night. I remember how it caused a lot of death in the hunters' association because, with its power to travel in the shadow, it could basically travel anywhere.

I know that this isn’t the time to celebrate, but thinking about acquiring that kind of talent will make sneaking out easier! I have to hurry, not only to acquire the skill but also to protect the guy from being killed.

I remember the words that the driver said to me earlier. If I decipher it correctly, it seems like the driver is supposed to die today. No wonder he thought I was going to kill him back then.

I ran as fast as I could towards the location of the convenience store. It’s only a block ahead, and since it’s this late, I am fortunate that the area is clear. I manage to reach the location in time. 

Just like in the vision, I see the driver drinking the soda that he bought from the store. I stood in the shadows to keep myself hidden as my eyes scanned the area to locate the shadow demon.

It’s here, and it keeps itself hidden in the shadows of the street lamp near the store. It’s waiting for the driver to move past it so it can use his shadow to get to the back and follow him. In my vision, that is how the demon killed him.

Too bad for him, but the shadow demon is going to be the one to die today.

The shadow demon is a little tricky. If it can sense that it is in danger, it will flee. From what I recall, it can travel through shadow, but if there isn’t any shadow for it to crawl, it is trapped.

I have to act carefully. Right now, it can easily escape through the shadow of the trash bin and use it to travel to the other street. If it manages to get past that, then it’s over. I have to act inconspicuously so it won’t know what I am doing.

Using my phone’s flashlight, I can use it to trap the demon in place. And I have to do it before the cab driver moves past the street light.

I pocketed my phone and knife in my hoodie and started to move carefully towards the store. I kept my eyes on my phone and pretended to scroll, but in reality I was just preparing to turn the flashlight on. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest. I can’t tell if it was from excitement or from nervousness.

My eyes kept stealing glances at the street lamp to know how much distance I needed to cover. 

Just a few more…

I held my breath. It's like the idea of breathing would startle it.

As I neared the shadow, I cast my phone flashlight to the ground, making sure that the shadow demon no longer has anywhere to travel to. At first, I wasn’t sure if the demon was in the shadows, but upon seeing some slight movement from it, I could not help but let out a breath of relief. 

Good. It’s here. I caught it! But now what?

“Oh? Aren’t you that girl from earlier?” As if luck were against me, the cab driver notices me and begins to make his approach. “How is it? Did you meet the prophet?”

“Stay away!” I scream at the top of my lungs, hoping that my voice can at least intimidate him enough to back off. Unfortunately, it was too late. The cab driver steps in and casts his shadow within the range of the street lamp.

Before I can shift my flashlight to block off its path in the shadows, the demon already rests within the shadow of the cab driver. But it did not stop there. The demon was far too restless to emerge from the shadows to attack the cab driver.

The man screams and stumbles back, but the demon, now resting in the man’s shadows, follows him.

The demon’s real form is just like a shadow. It’s as black as darkness, with no eyes—just a big gaping jaw and sharp claws.

Its gem rests on the ground where its body connects with the man’s shadow. I almost missed it if I haven’t looked twice at the spot.

“HELP!” The man screams frighteningly and throws his empty can of soda to the demon. The only effect it had was to divert the demon's attention long enough for me to draw my knife and strike at the gem. 

I missed it because the man thought that it was a good idea to run. I cursed because the tip of the knife got bent.

“STOP RUNNING!” I screamed and ran after the man. He wasn’t able to run far enough because the demon clawed his back and drew blood in the process. The man falls to the ground in pain, but at least it stopped him from running.

Before the demon can strike the man again, I lunge at it. My arms skid on the cement ground when I dive for the gem. My eyes fully focus on the gem, and my arm muscle tightens when I exert more effort to stab my blunt knife to the demon’s gem.

The shadow demon screams. It turns toward me, and even when it doesn’t have eyes, I can feel its fury. I press on the gem further to increase the crack. The demon went for the attack with its teeth, but I use my left hand to push it back. At my current body, I am still so weak that I can barely keep it from biting my head off.

The shadow demon has other ideas. It dug its claws into my shoulder and drew blood. I bit my lower lip to keep myself from screaming. I’m getting weaker, and it is getting dangerous. I should have known that battling a demon that plagued the city in my past life isn’t going to be easy. But with its gem cracked, the demon is getting weaker. Right now, it is a battle between the two of us over which side is going to pass out first.

I release my hold on the knife and push myself up. It resulted in the claws digging further into my shoulder blades, but at least I can now freely use my feet. With the gem having a massive crack in the center, I use the heel of my shoe to stomp on it, shattering the gem in the process.

The demon cries out in agony and lets go of me. It begin to whitter in the air and is now reduced to ashes.

Finally, it’s over.

I fell on my knees and gasped in pain. The surge of new power slivering inside my body felt like someone was inserting a foreign liquid into my veins. 

The power to cross the shadows is finally mine. And yet, it is not the time to celebrate. The man’s life is still in peril, and I am losing a lot of blood.

I dug in the man’s pocket and called the emergency hotline before I left. I used my newly acquired shadow weaving magic to leave the scene.