The Shadows Series: Black as Night

Mission: Failed

Claire sat patiently, sipping her Chai Latte that warmed her frozen fingers. Tiny snow flurries floated in the winter air outside, sticking to the windows of the café. Her victim was just finishing up his order at the counter, drumming his fingers on the counter top.

She was on another one of her father’s clan missions. She hated it. Her mother didn't even know about them. But Claire had no choice in her fate; being a Shadow, or even half-Shadow like Claire, spared no one from their duties. If she didn’t carry this out, her father would probably kill her, and anyone that knew of her failure in the mission. Obviously, there was a lot of love in the family.

She pulled on the strings at the end of her grey knit scarf impatiently. The cashier was having problems with the register, making Claire feel like she’d been there for an hour instead of fifteen minutes. Fine, let the boy take his time, enjoy his last few minutes.

She sighed, then glanced up when she heard the register open. Finally, let’s get this over with.

The boy paid for his coffee, snatched it off the table, and turned to go outside. Claire glanced away quickly. It was easier to kill someone if she didn’t see their face. Didn’t make it personal.

He strode outside into the harsh winter atmosphere. Claire waited a minute, then exited the café silently.

Her victim was strikingly tall, about a foot and a half taller than she was in heeled boots. She watched him go around and into the back parking lot like he had done all the other times Claire had watched him from a distance in her car. She guessed he was friends with an employee at the café and was allowed to park in the back, which was usually dark and practically empty. At least there’d be no witnesses to mess up her mission.

Claire followed, her body against the cold brick wall, and stopped at the corner of the building. Her victim was checking his pockets for the keys that she’d pick-pocketed from him earlier to buy some time.

She focused on the feel of the darkness around her, and felt herself become lighter than a feather. She was simply part of the shadow cast by the café. She was used to the feeling by now; it disturbed her, sent chills down her spine.

Claire slithered and floated in silence, closer and closer to the boy and his car. She reached forward with hands that were now long, dark claws.  But just as she was about to strike, he turned around. Claire froze. His face was so innocent; Claire doubted he could hurt a fly. His brown eyes glanced in her direction in what seemed like concern and fear. Why was he looking at her like that? Could he see her?

Then Claire realized something:

She couldn’t do it.

She ran away, dropping the keys on the gravel as she went.

Never had any one of her victims looked at her like that; it was like he could see her. And no human has ever been able to see them. Unless he was never human in the first place...

In front of all these speculations, one thing nagged at Claire's mind: she had failed. Claire knew her father would probably kill her for it, too, so she had to kill someone else to make it look like she got the job done. She swore against the grey scarf that still clung to her chin and neck.

Claire headed to the darker side of town, where the druggies and most low-lifes lived in abandoned buildings.  She could see her breath in the cold air and rubbed her hands together for warmth. She found an older man who looked like the habit of taking drugs was coming back to haunt him. Despite the cold, the old man was dressed in rags. He leaned against the side of a dumpster, muttering nonsense to no one in particular. Claire finished him off as quickly as she could, then ran away silently.

She would find a way to escape this life. Somehow, someday, she’d escape the roots that held her to her father’s will.

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Alright, first chapter!!

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