The Shadow Behind

Shadow

I slowly made my way home from possibly the longest day at school I've ever had in my life. I was on edge all day, watching out for Shifters and jumping every time someone dropped anything. As I neared my house, I saw the dark green door had been completely repaired as if nothing had tried to tear it apart to feast on one's sanity. I twisted the knob and heard orchestra music blasting from the stereo. Thorn was sitting on the couch, her nose in a book of poetry and a glass of sweet tea in her hand. Mia sat on the floor working with two phones and a computer, her tail curled around her crossed legs.

"Hey. What's going on here?" I asked, turning off the stereo.

"Mia's working on programming a phone for the both of us. That way we don't have to follow you around all the time." Thorn said closing her book and taking a sip of her tea.

"How'd you get the money?"

"We have our ways," Mia stated.

I looked over her shoulder to see she was transferring contacts and information to the phones. I scanned the few names in the list and realized they were the ones that were on my phone.

"Did you hack my phone?"

"Yep. It wasn't that hard. You might want to put a passcode on it." Mia said with a smirk.

"I'll get right on that" I replied.

I went over to the couch where my purse lay and reached for it. As I touched the strap, Thorn stopped me.

"What is that?!" She asked, staring at my right hand.

"What is wha-" I trailed off as I looked down.

A bright red string was tied on my right pinkie finger and a long thread trailed from it. I tried to pull it off and untie it but it wouldn't budge. It didn't hurt or feel tight, it didn't even feel like it was there. The thread made its way down from the loop and onto the floor behind me. I followed the string and ended up staring at my shadow, the red strand disappearing into the dark silhouette of a neck. I felt of my throat and thankfully nothing rested there. Mia slowly tried to hook her finger on it but it only phased through. I was starting to panic.

"Try to pull it." Thorn said.

"Uh, I already tried that." I snapped.

"Not that part! The long part!" She barked.

I took a deep breath and put my hand on the thread. I gently tugged on it and there was an immediate reaction. The silhouette darkened and swirled into a large circle in the middle of the room. It began bubbling and a pitch black spine and head started to emerge slowly. Shoulder blades like knives protruded from the back and a long reptile-like tail slithered out. Long arms and legs with curved talons and sharp joints held the creature up on all fours. It was thin enough to be able to see its bones. Its spine stuck out to where you could count each vertebra from its neck to its hips. The head was smooth and the features were much softer, however, and it seemed to be missing a mouth. Its eyes were a warm gold all throughout with a large black pupil looking down at us. The creature was so massive it had to hunch over to keep from hitting its head on the ceiling.

The three of us stared up in amazement. A Shifter had just morphed itself out of my shadow. I stared at the entity's face and my gaze finally started to drift down. A red string was looped around its neck several times and hung loosely, some excess thread drifted lazily from the small knot. I stood in fear and the string seemed to tighten, bringing the Shifter towards me. I backed up but with every step, I took it got closer. Before I knew it I was pressed against a wall, tears streaming down my face.

I looked away and shut my eyes. My heart was racing and I had never been so terrified. This was the end. I prepared for slashing pain, but it never came. I opened my eye slightly and quickly shut it again when I saw the golden pair of eyes inches away from mine.