Moonstone Lake

Shadow Tag

"I can't believe this? I should have paid more attention to my surroundings." Kiki cried, following behind Mono on the sidewalk.

"If I remember right Yoko said it wasn't too far from the high school, so it should be somewhere around there."

"You go there, right? You should have seen it at least once."

"I'm in Middle school. High school is for the older kids. And I try to avoid that place as much as possible."

"Why? It's not full of dogs is it?" She asked, looking a bit fearful.

"No, it's more like differences of opinion. On whether or not I want to keep my teeth," he mumbled, before spotting something across the street. "Hey, let's go there." He pointed to a large white building.

Kiki studied the building. "That's the place, where I lost your dad's scent."

"His what?"

"Nothing. What were you saying?"

"If we go through there we should be able to get to the Stall faster."

"I don't think I went too far when I was in there... But that place is bad for my ears. It's so noisy."

"We only need to go straight, so it'll be quick."

"As long as it gets me there faster."

They went a crossed the street and as they were entering the mall.

Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.

"I don't remember the door making that sound. Did they add that?" 

"That wasn't the door," Kiki answered.

"How do you-!" As Mono turned to Kiki. He realized there was no one in the mall. "What! We just saw people walking in and out. What's going on?"

"Mono, look at the ground."

Mono did as Kiki said and to his shock. Their shadows formed words that spelled out; Shadow Tag. Within the words, an arm as dark as charcoal rose, then another beside it. A body came up from the floor, then stood up with its head down. It shaped mirror Mono from his clothes to his hair as it lifted up its head, revealing blood red eyes and a white smile that reached ear to ear.

A shiver ran down Mono's spine. He felt a tug on his arm and before he could think his legs were moving. Kiki had grabbed his arms and was running as fast as she could.

Once he felt the wind on his face, he snapped out of his shock. "What was that?"

"Those were my mom's shadow puppets."

Once Kiki was sure they were far enough away, she pushed Mono into a small dark corner. "Hide here, they can't enter places where there's no light."

"What's going on?" Mono asked frantically.

"We're-"Kiki was about to answer.

"What were those shadowy things?"

"They-"

"Why are we -"

"Would you shut up, so I can explain?" Kiki shouted.

"So-sorry."

"We're trapped in an illusion game," Kiki said.

"An illusion... Doesn't that mean this isn't real?"

"When it's my Mom's Illusion it's hard to tell. Besides, we're better off playing along. It's the only way out of here."

"But why would she make us play this game?"

Kiki's gaze turned away from Mono. "Well... I may have left the stall unsupervised while she was gone, "she said in a small voice. "Anyway, you should be more worried about the shadow puppet. When they touch you they take away your energy. In my case, if I lose I won't be able to move for a couple of days. You on the other hand, maybe much worse off. You could be left in a coma, your life could be drained completely or-"

"Okay, I get it! So what do we need to do to win? Tag them back?"

"No, we have to ring the bell to end the game, but tagging them is-" Kiki's fox ears appear and she jumps back before a shadow version of herself shots up from the ground between them. Kiki moved forward with an outstretched hand tagging the shadow as it met the floor. The other shadow appeared behind her but before it could touch her, she ducked and tagged it on the leg making it freeze in place.

Mono came out of his hiding place and stared at both of the lifeless shadows. "Why aren't they moving?"

"When you tag a shadow they won't be able to move for a while. It'll give us some time."

"Wow, Your surprisingly good."

"What's that supposed to mean? I may have messed up a few times, but this is something I know best. Or do you think you can do better?" she pouted.

"No way." Mono shook his head back and forth. "You're awesome, Kiki."

"Thanks," she grinned. "Let's go before they start moving." She grabs Mono's arm and starts running again.

"Any ideas where the bell is?"

"Nope."

"What do you mean no? You've played this game before right? You should have some ideas."

"That's the thing, the bell is hard to find. Normally we split up into groups," She mumbled.

"We?"

"I'm the fastest, so I'll be the one to distract them. You look for the bell."

"What!?" Mono stops running. Do you have any idea how big the mall is!?"

"We have to keep moving!"

When a head came up from the floor. Mono and Kiki instantly moved away, then Mono's shadow appears between them. Kiki tried to tag the shadow, but then another hand touched her arm. Kiki's shadow rose up and stares at her with an ominous smile.

"Mono, run!"

Without a word he did as she said and ran as fast as he could. Kiki staggered But before her shadow could go after Mono she tags it. Unfortunately, she was unable to do the same to the other. It was already out of her reach.

Author note

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter.  Kiki  finally gets her chance to shine. Her luck has been pretty bad after running into Mono. Next time you'll get to see how Mono deals with being chased by an energy sucking shadow.

If you had a whole mall to yourself what would you do?