The Shadows

They came at night.

They moved slowly and methodically, bringing a fog that blanketed the towns they pillaged. They worked silently, at one with the darkness of the night, slowly blanketing the towns in which they appeared in a mist of confusion and terror. It started with the disappearance of children, so few and far between that by the time their patterns were noticed and the disappearances were more frequent, it was too late. Even those that noticed the patterns were powerless to stop them, and it seemed to be pure luck that allowed you to escape their grasp. No one knew what became of those that were taken, as they disappeared without a trace. The Shadow People left nothing but desolation and despair in their wake. The “lucky” survivors became Castaways, constantly trying to evade detection, fearing what would happen if they too disappeared into the fog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose sat in her room staring at the heart shaped locket sitting in the palm of her hand. It was silver, small and delicate with an intricate carving of a chrysanthemum on the front. It was a gift from her grandmother, passed down through the generations. Rose could still picture it sitting around her grandmother’s neck, a constant fixture throughout her childhood, along with the scent of the wisteria perfume she used to wear. Rose used to admire the necklace, wondering when she too would get to wear it. However, she had hoped it would be a birthday or graduation gift, not something she received as part of a will.

Tears sprung to her eyes unbidden. Rose tilted her head back and quickly blinked back the tears, closing her hand around the locket. I’m not going to cry, she thought to herself. Closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths, Rose composed herself once again. With a sigh, she opened her eyes once again and walked over to the mirror on her wall. Clasping the locket around her neck and mustering up a smile, Rose prepared to leave her room.

Just then, Rose caught a glimpse of movement outside her window. Although it was dark, Rose could see the shadowy figures quickly and silently emerging from the woods behind her house. Clothed in all black, they would have completely blended into their surroundings had it not been for the moonlight glinting off the silver masks covering their faces. The masks seemed to be intricately carved but Rose couldn’t make out any patterns from her vantage point. They moved with the stealth and precision of those trained in military tactics.

Rose quickly moved toward the door of her room, starting to call out for her family. Suddenly the house went dark and Rose stopped short, waiting for her vision to adjust to the lack of light. She was about to call out for her family again when she realized just how quiet it was. Her family was anything but quiet, and any other time the power went out she could count on the squeals of her little sister and her brother running down the stairs to ask what happened. The silence was more chilling than the dark.

Sensing that calling out would only bring more danger, Rose held her breath and slowly inched toward the door, listening intently. She could hear the rustle of people clearly trying to move without detection.

“All clear,” Rose heard a low raspy voice call out quietly from down the hall. “Most of the family was taken care of, but we’re still looking for the girl and the necklace.”

Rose quietly gasped and slowly backed away from the door. Clearly they were looking for her, but why her necklace? And what did he mean they “took care of” her family? What, the actual fuck, is going on, Rose thought. She began looking around her room for a place to hide, realizing that the only place she could go was the closet. Great, now I’m going to die like every dumb girl in a horror movie. I really thought I’d do better than that.

Rose heard a creaking near her door. Jolting from her thoughts Rose moved quickly and quietly toward her closet. She slid into the closet, closing the door behind her, leaving only a crack that she could look out of.

Peering through the crack of the closet door, Rose slowly looked around trying to spot the source of the noise.

“Hey, are you in here?” a voice whispered in the dark. “I want to help you.”

Rose’s eyes went wide as she realized the voice was talking to her, but she stayed silent. What does he think I’m that stupid? You say you want to help me and I’ll just walk out?

“Listen, I know you are probably scared and don’t trust that I’m here to help but I really am. I saw the Shadows coming to your house and I hoped I would get here first to help your whole family but now it’s just you.”

Rose watched as the figure slowly moved around the room, clearly searching for her while he was talking. He hadn’t noticed the closet door yet so Rose continued to watch him through the crack. He was clearly younger than the person who she had heard speak before. He wasn’t dressed in the same black clothes either, though the style was the same.

Suddenly there was a beep, sounding like the click of a walkie-talkie outside of Rose’s bedroom door.

“Shit!” the boy whispered and began to frantically search the room for a hiding spot of his own. Watching him panic in the same way that she had just moments before, made Rose begin to doubt he had malicious intent and she didn’t want to be the reason someone else was “taken care of”.

“Psst! Over here,” she said, slowly opening the closet door a bit more and sticking her hand out and waving to get his attention.

He immediately whipped around at the sound of her voice and began searching for the source. Seeing her waving hand, he sprinted toward the closet and slid in beside her. Rose quickly backed up to give him more space to come in. Keeping his back to her he too closed the door and tried to peek out. There was another low rumble of a raspy voice, much closer to her bedroom door than before, though they couldn’t make out what he was saying. The boy abruptly turned to look at Rose.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, hand outstretched. His brown eyes were wide, looking into Rose’s awaiting her reply.

Damn, he's cute, Rose thought to herself as their eyes met.

He watched as her face went from shocked to confused, nose scrunching as she answered "Uh... I'm going to have to say no."

"What? Why?" he asks, blinking in shock.

"Why should I trust you? You show up in my house in the middle of the night at the same time as those other guys and now you're holding your hand out and asking me if I "trust you" like some sort of wannabe prince"

Rose hears the floorboards creaking as the intruders move around her house. She knows that they’ll be found sooner rather than later at this point and she’s not sure what to do.

"Look, I'm not going to hold you against your will," he said with a sigh. "I just want to help you get out of here and then you can decide to do whatever you want. So you can either trust me like a ‘wannabe princess’ and get out of here, or you can stay and get caught by those guys. Your choice."

Just then they hear footsteps slowly start to approach the door to her room. Rose knows that if she wants to get out of there, it's now or never.

"Well, I always kind of wanted to be a princess," she says with wide eyes, taking his hand.

His eyes, which had been staring at Rose intently waiting for her answer, soften as his face breaks into a smile. "Okay let's do this"

He slowly cracks the door open, peering into the dark room. He sees the sweep of a flashlight beam under the door and hears the doorknob slowly start to turn. He tightens his grip on Rose’s hand as he throws open the closet door and runs to the window on the other side of the room, pulling her close behind him.

“You’re not afraid of heights, right?” the boy asks, as he starts to open the window in front of them.

“I mean I’m not afraid of heights themselves but I am afraid of falling from a height” Rose answers, wearily eyeing his movements.

“Well, we all have to face our fears sometime” he says with a sorry smile. The boy quickly pops the screen out of the window and turns to lift Rose onto the sill. Startled by the sudden action, Rose can only squeak out an “oh, fuck!” before she's falling from her second story window.

The air gets knocked from her lungs as she hits the ground below. Rose gasps for air, but before she can manage a full breath she feels her arm being tugged upward, forcing her to stand.

“I’m really sorry but we have to move quickly,” the boy says as he begins to run toward the woods at the edge of the yard, keeping a tight hold on her arm. Rose barely manages to keep her balance, stumbling and gasping behind him.

As they reach the edge of the woods, Rose finally manages to yank her arm out of his grip.

“Oh, hell no. Throwing me out a window is one thing, but I draw the line at running into the dark, creepy woods those people just materialized from.” Rose said, sweeping her arm out to gesture to the dark woods in front of them.

“You said you’d trust me” the boy pleaded, reaching out to take Rose’s hand.

“Yeah, I did, and I’m kind of regretting it now. I don’t even know your name!”

“It’s Felix. Now, we really have to go.”

Rose reached up to grasp the locket around her neck. With a deep breath in she steeled herself and took his outstretched hand with her other hand.

“Okay, lead the way then, Felix. At least I could die doing something that I love,” Rose said with a wistful sigh.

“And that is?” Felix asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Dying,” she replied with a sarcastic smile.

“Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine,” Felix said with a laugh, “the others will love you.”

“Others?”

“Yeah. Welcome to the Castaways.”