“I had managed to avoid the shadows up to this point. But now…I’m sure one has latched onto me.”
This is the first bit of dialogue from a voice message that was sent to me from a friend who lived in that town…you know, the one where that weird stuff went down. I think she was just thinking out loud, perhaps to keep herself sane, but perhaps she didn’t realised she had pocket dialled me. The message only came through on my end hours later, when contact with the town became possible again.
What she goes on to say is pretty spooky, so be warned.
“We call them shadows, but they are neither shades nor spirits. They are simply so dark and featureless that ‘shadow’ is the perfect description. In truth though, no one knows exactly what they are. All we know about them is the only thing we’ve had time to learn - how they hunt.
I could have sworn I saw one slink out of sight behind the dustbins at the other end of the alleyway, but it’s so hard to tell in the dark.
I come out into the comforting orange glow of the street lights. I still feel a stir of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. What if it really has latched onto me? In that case…
I step across the pavement, still not entirely sure where I’m going. I suppose I’m heading back towards my flat, but I know that nowhere in the town is safe from those things, so is there much point?
I’ve changed my mind. As far as I know, this whole thing is localised entirely within the town. It has been impossible to communicate with the outside world these past few hours, so maybe everywhere else people are still bustling about, oblivious to what’s going on here. If that’s the case then maybe I’ll be safe in the next town over…but even if not, I have to warn them what’s coming. I decide to head towards the road that would take me there.
I hear footsteps echo down the alleyway behind me.
Instinctively I run. I am so STUPID! Only as I hear the chasing footsteps grow nearer and nearer does it dawn on me - I remember how they hunt. I stop dead in my tracks.
I feel like I’m frozen in place. I know it’s not any of my friends because they’re…oh hell, they’re all dead…but it could still be another survivor.
Couldn’t it?
I turn slowly towards the direction the footsteps came from. My heart is thumping. I see a dark figure standing there at the edge of the alleyway. Its body is half concealed by the shadow cast by the tall building on one side of the alleyway. The creature is so black that it looks as if it’s bleeding out of the darkness itself.
Whatever survival reason they have for this, the shadows only move when their prey moves. They latch onto someone and continuously follow them until they catch up with them. But here’s the scary part - they are faster than you. Whatever speed you are travelling at, however fast or however slow, they are that little bit faster.
James is the fas…James was the fastest sprinter at my school, but just this afternoon, after being chased for just a few seconds by one of these shadows, it got him. And when it got him…oh man, I won’t describe the vicious way it killed him.
I dare not take my eyes off the shadow. I know that it still wouldn’t move if I did - it would remain there with one leg visible in the lit street in front of it and the other leg still in the dark alleyway behind it - yet I still felt that I had to watch it carefully just to be sure.
Just this morning I had to watch in horror as a very wrinkly and liver-spotted man scooted away in fear with his Zimmer frame. It took quite a bit longer as both he and the shadow were moving very slowly. But it eventually caught up with him. I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t help. I couldn’t help though. The shadows are far stronger then any of us. What could I have done?
I stand completely still for what feels like eternity. The shadow stands for just as long, just watching me. Still at the edge of the alleyway, half in the lamplight and half concealed by darkness. If their instinct is to only move when their prey does, then they must naturally have an almost unlimited amount of patience. I wonder how long I can stay here. Will I starve to death first, or collapse from exhaustion? Either way, I’ve got quite a while to stay alive - as long as the shadow stays still. I wonder if anyone will come to rescue me in that time. Surely. Surely some kind of help will arrive in that time. Maybe the shadow will starve to death first.
As I ponder the way the shadows hunt - with nothing else to do but wait for rescue - I wonder…if the shadows always move that little bit faster than the prey, then does that count for when the prey isn’t moving? Are they truly still, or are they just moving at an unnoticeably slow pace?
And then I notice…the shadow still stands there watching me, but now just outside the edge of the alleyway’s shade.”