Claimed by the Shadow

Reese

Being a night guard was boring as fuck.

Although I really just sat behind a counter all night and waited for the condo owners to breeze in.

There were a few second shift workers or 'hard working CEOs' that would waltz in.

Or the divorced fathers going up with their newest and youngest conquest.

A beautiful woman swanned out of an elevator, her tiered skirts flowing in the air around her.

Her bracelets and bangles jingles echoed against the tiled flooring of the lobby.

She smiled, and it felt like the entire room lit up.

She was probably a conquest. Some of those rich boys loved alt girls from what I noticed.

Sometimes it was sex workers and sometimes it was someone they found on an app.

She must have went up before my shift and I couldn't' figure out who she came from.

She saw me watching and paused by the desk.

"Some rich tech asshole."

I blinked. How'd she know what I was thinking? "What?"

"The tech CEO from Plagg Industrisies. You know, the dick from the commercials? He's the prettiest of all of them."

My eyes darted to the sides, and I shifted my mouth to the side of my face. "Uhm."

The woman rolled her eyes and leaned against a small decorative table and a vase with wilting flowers wobbled.

"The commercial where the guy is like . . . blah, blah, blah, big tech is amazing. See how we helped with this small community, but what they don't tell you is that they fired all the poeple that created that job site and their workforce numbers are like ten. Scammers."

My eyes darted to the sides of the room again because I wasn't sure why she was blurting all of this out. "Oh, yeah, I know that one," I mumbled. "Are you checking out? Are you under guest?"

The strange lady laughed and it seemed like music in the air.

Something weird shifted by her shoulder bag.

It appeared like a shadow moving out of her bag.

My eyes darted around as I examined the different light sources and where a shadow should be.

Before she could notice, I snapped my eyes back to her face.

She smiled brightly. "That's why I'm talking to you. I know y'all keep track of that shit."

She waved her arm at the desk in front of me, and her eyes narrowed on the screens underneath the lip of the desk.

This woman was all sorts of weird and I couldn't figure out why she seemed to know what I was thinking or where my items were.

Even people that lived here for years didn't seem to care or know that there were CCTVs in that location.

The etherial woman smiled wider, but my eyes shifted away.

The shadow slid off the table and appeared to assume a humanoid form.

My eyes widen slightly and I swallowed, tamping down my fear.

A big bad, tough security guard, but I didn't feel like one.

I felt like a little girl that was frightened of the stories her dad used to tell her as a kid.

My eyes reverted back to her because this had to be a trick of the light.

I went to bed too early, and I didn't get enough sleep.

That's what third shift is to you. You kind of go crazy. It's not good for the human body.

"Yeah, thanks. I really do appreciate that," I replied.

" I like your skirt by the way. Your whole vibes really cool. Like cottage core witchy s***."

my eyes flickered back to the shadow. It looked like it was leaning against the table, like a human.

This is crazy. This was insane. There's no way this is possible.

Quote I actually own a shop. I saw a bit of these garments if you want.

They're like luckily sores from local vendors and a couple or like from like small women-owned missions and like a third world country or developing Nation.

It depends on which one we're talking about.

There's so many in the little corner of my shop.

If you want to ever check it out," she handed me a business card and I grabbed it.

When are fingers connected? A slight sparkle of sac electricity shot through my fingers and I dropped the card, gasping.

"Static."

Her eyes tightened as her smile shrank. Just a touch.

Most people wouldn't have even noticed but I did.

It was like the same doubt. Floating through me was floating through her.

I don't think it was static, just like she didn't want to believe — but I knew that there was a shadow that crawled out of her purse.

"Yes, that happens sometimes," she said as she spun on her heels and clipped clopped out of the building.

"Toodles! Come to the shop and buy some crystals and skirts!"

The shadow was still there. My heart raced as my breathing picked up. It felt like the shadows were closing in.

Fuck, they were actually coming closer.

Fuck. I threw a binder at the shadow; it smashed through and reformed before it slipped into the floor like water finding a creek.

The darkness merged with the other shadows, and I watched in horror as the darkness spread across the bright white linoleum.

Jumping back, I tripped over a box behind me and falling on my ass.

The shadows looming around me vibrated and then retracted back to their normal place. Nothing moved. No sound rang out.

It was all my imagination.

It had to be.

The rest of my shift, I was bright eyed and starring at every shadow around the room. I couldn't get out of their quick enough when my co-worker came in. "Good night?" he asked.

"Boring as shit," I muttered as I ran out.

Reaching for my car door, I froze as I saw the shadows flicker underneath my hand. Were they following me?