Zack panted as he leaned against the cold stone of the building.

“Damn it. Why couldn’t she have picked me up today?” he lamented, nearly in tears. The drops in the corners of his eyes mingled in the early November rain. Cautiously, he peered around the corner, trying not to be seen in the process. The street was empty.

“Cripes, why is there never anyone around when you need them?” he asked aloud. There were no cars or people on the streets. The rain was keeping them inside and blurring the windows. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. 3:53. It would be dark soon. Well, darker. The skies had been cloudy all day, and had only grown thicker and blacker once the rain set in. He looked around the corner again, and looked down the alley. Nothing. He sighed and slumped down onto the ground, taking no notice of the puddles. He’d barely managed to get away this time. They were coming more and more now. He checked the time again and shuddered. Soon it would be night.

It was always worse at night.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. “Why me?” he said forlornly. “What did I do to deserve this?” It was like living in a nightmare. He looked around the corner again. Still nothing. He shivered, not even slightly reassured.

Just because he couldn’t see them, didn’t mean they weren’t there.

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It had started a few days ago. Zack had woken up, like always. He brushed his teeth, like always. He washed his face, like always. That’s when things began to get weird. As he was combing his hair, trying to slick it back but the stubborn strands kept spiking and puffing out in all directions, he paused. It may have been a trick of the light, but it seemed that when he’d turned to see it from the side his reflection grinned and winked.

“Huh?” He stared at the mirror, but nothing strange happened. “How weird.” He shrugged and went down to breakfast.

“Morning.” his father said, not looking up from the paper. As usual, he was searching the want ads.

“Here you go, sweetie.” His mother handed him a bowl of cereal with about half as much milk as necessary. She grimaced. “Sorry, we ran out. I’ll get some more later.”

“Okay.” Zack knew better by now. The milk might come Thursday, but never on a Tuesday. The unemployment check usually ran out in the middle of the week. Zack sighed. He knew it was unfair, but he’d really wanted the milk. Knockoff Frosted Flakes usually went down easier that way. And he knew it wasn’t his parents’ fault; practically everyone he knew was in the same boat. The steel mill closing had hurt everyone. He sighed again.

“Ease up there, Zack. A fourteen year old shouldn’t look like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders. You can only sigh like that when you’re in college.” his father said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Zack said and smiled ruefully. His dad was always about sending him to college, but he didn’t see how. Zack figured it was more for his dad’s sake, like a prayer. If he kept saying it, he would keep from dropping into a pit of despair.

Zack finished his rather dry cereal and hurried to catch the bus. The early morning cold made his breath as white as the frost on the grass. Once on board, he headed to the third seat from the back left-where he high-fived his seatmate Steve. Steve barely looked up as he tapped the seat in front of him in time with the beat from his headphones. They weren’t exactly friends, but since they often shared a bus seat and didn’t mind each other’s company, they had formed an acquaintanceship.

“Yo. Got some new tunes last night. Wanna hear?”

“I can from here.” Zack said. Steve usually kept his music loud enough the sound leaked through clear as a bell. The only ones who could tell him to turn it down were the teachers, and only until the next class. “Aren’t you worried you’ll wreck your hearing someday?” Steve shook his head.

“Nah. I’m gonna be a drummer, and drummers don’t hear the beat so much as feel the beat. Besides, even if my eardrums go, then there’s only one thing to do. Play louder.” Zack laughed, then remembered the mirror.

“Hey, this morning something weird happened. I swear my reflection winked at me.”

“Wicked strange man, wicked strange. But who knows? Could be a sign, like you’re gonna be a something one day. Ooh, check out this drum solo!” Steve redoubled his efforts at tapping the seat. Zack sighed. If it didn’t involve music, Steve couldn’t focus on it for more than a minute.

School passed as it always did but Zack couldn’t really pay attention. In class his mind always wandered back the occurrence that morning. He kept wondering about it. It was probably just a trick of the light, but something seemed…changed, since then. Yes, something seemed different. The noise the kids and teachers made seemed more muted. The room had a darker cast, and the heaters were wearing down and not working as well as perhaps they should. He shook his head. No, today just a weird day. He’d go home, sit in front of the TV, and then tomorrow the strangeness would pass.

Zack was lost in these thoughts in the corridor when a hand smacked his back, hard.

“Heeey, Zack! Be careful where you space out like that. You’re gonna run into something, and we need our cameraman!”

“Hi, Ronnie.” Ronnie Atwater was the president of the school’s newspaper club, a junior, and at only seventeen the largest lid in school, towering over the teachers at 6’5”. At the beginning of the year, he decided that to truly serve the cause of journalism he needed to broadcast the news as well. So he marched down to the A/V club and grabbed the first person with a camera he saw-Zack. Since then he’d been forced to shoot the “hard-hitting” exposés Ronnie spent so much time on. Zack didn’t really mind; on the contrary, it was usually entertaining watching Ronnie press students and even teachers with his questions, looming over them. But today he just couldn’t get excited.

“Hey, listen. You ever have a day where nothing seemed quite right?” Zack asked.

“Hmm, yeah, I suppose I have. But don’t worry, everyone has a bad day or so. Remember last month when we were interviewing Mrs. Liddel about the new soda machines? Had a rough day then, and nearly punched her out. I still got the footage somewhere.” Zack nodded. Mrs. Liddel had an extraordinarily condescending attitude. He knew firsthand because of his English class with her.

“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Did a day ever seem, not bad, but wrong? Like the light and sounds on the worlds were messed up?” Ronnie considered this.

“Hmm…nope. Can’t really say I ever had that. But don’t worry!” He slapped Zack’s back again. “I’m sure you’ll be fine after some rest. Just try to make it to the shoot today. If you man the camera I’ll take care of everything else, all right?”

“Thanks, Ronnie.” Zack said and smiled. He was right, Zack was just tired. Everything would be better in the morning.

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“Okay, that’s a wrap!” Zack said. The interview with the cheerleader team had finally finished. The morning news was doing highlights on all school activities, but the girls were all drooling over Ronnie and kept giggling at him. It just wasn’t fair.

“So what if I can’t bench a hundred pounds. So what if I am on the smaller side. Don’t they know beauty’s only skin deep?” Zack grumbled to himself. It was always the same; the girls would swoon over the tall, handsome reporter while the cameraman went unnoted.

“Cheer up, bud.” Ronnie slapped his back again. “Trust me. Girls may not be too into you now, but just wait awhile. ‘Sides, cheerleaders are fun, but most of ‘em are either shallow or not the brightest of the bunch. Not good in the long term.”

“You speak from experience, I suppose.” Zack said dryly, turning red with embarrassment. He didn’t mean to say that out loud. Ronnie nodded. “Figures. Well, short or long, girls don’t seem to be interested in any term with me.”

“Ahh, don’t worry about that. Wait ‘til puberty really puts the hammer down on you, you’ll be a stud.”

“Thanks.” Zack deadpanned. Suddenly, Ronnie’s phone rang. “Hang on, probably my dad. Hello? Yeah? Yeah, I’m finishing…wait, what? That right? Wow. Yeah. See you.” He put his phone away and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, but I’ve gotta run. I know I said I’d take care of the rest, but could you drop the equipment off? It’s a small family emergency.” He looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Uh, sure…” Zack started, but Ronnie cut him off.

“Thanks, gotta go. See you tomorrow!” He ran off.

“Yeah, see you.” Zack said at his back, turning a corner. He was about to turn back to the camera when he caught a glimpse of Ronnie’s shadow. Ronnie himself had gone out of sight, but his shadow suddenly reached to grasp for him. Zack yelped and nearly dropped the camera.

“What the hell?” He raced around the corner, but he only saw Ronnie jogging away, his shadow in perfect step.

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"I'm home." Zack announced, rubbing his hands. He hated November. All month long he'd have to trudge home in the cold wind and darkness, thanks to daylight Savings Time. Zack had often wondered how they were supposed to save daylight if they never saw any. He liked A/V club, but he regretted it had to continue in winter.

"Hi, honey. Gotta go. Your dad's out again, but here’s some bologna in the fridge, we ate earlier. Sorry I have to run, but I'm late." His mother quickly left, the door slamming behind her. Zack sighed. Her part-time job at the restaurant meant she usually just grabbed something quick and easy for his dinner, like bologna. Zack hated bologna. Sighing. He got out the bread and ate two sandwiches.

After dinner, he plopped down in front of the TV. He knew he should've started on his homework, but the day had just been too draining and weird. He'd just have to do it on the bus in the morning.

"Not like it's the first time." he muttered to himself. Since he spent a lot of time alone, Zack had developed the habit of talking to himself. "Eh, tonight's too complicated, so screw it. Just gonna kick back and-huh?" He heard a thumping sound coming from upstairs. He froze, eyes wide and straining to hear any other sound. Slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible, he crept to the kitchen and pulled out the biggest, sharpest knife he could find.

Zack inched his way to the stairs, still trying to hear anything. The staircase was silent. He made his way up, wincing at the fourth step from the top that always creaked when weight was put on it. He searched every room, looking for the source of the noise, but found nothing.

"Guess it was just my imagination, then." He gave a relieved chuckle and shrugged. It had been a very long and weird day. Imagining a sound wasn't that unusual anyway. He stopped off at the bathroom to relieve himself.  As he was washing his hands, he chuckled at his reflection.

"Boy, hope I'm not losing it. Nah, there's got to be some kind of rational explanation. I just didn't figure it out yet. But it's not worth losing sleep over, right?" Zack said to himself. His reflection suddenly smiled wider than him.

"We're coming for you." it whispered and was immediately replaced by Zack's normal reflection, screaming at the top of his lungs.

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Zack was groggy the next morning from lack of sleep. Every time he laid his head down he recalled the mirror and the ominous message. He felt like he was losing his mind.

"No." Zack muttered, and shook his head hard to clear it. "That was real. It really did happen. I can't explain it, but you're not going crazy." he reassured himself. Then realized what he was doing. "Talking to myself is not a good sign." he groaned.

He carefully avoided the mirror getting ready that morning, hoping his hair wasn't too puffed up and spikey.

"Jeez, you look miserable." his mother said when he went down to breakfast.

"Had a...bad dream last night." Zack said carefully. He knew no one would believe him, and he didn't want anyone to think he was crazy. The worst part was he didn't know himself whether he was or not. "Couldn't really get to sleep."

"Mmm. Want some coffee? It'll help wake you up." She offered him her cup, but he shook his head.

"No thanks, it tastes terrible, like hot mud."

"Suit yourself." She shrugged and took a sip. "You'll just have to make it through the day best you can." Zack nodded and groaned. He'd had to do that yesterday, too. He hoped this wouldn't become a habit.

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Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“You,” Ronnie proclaimed, “look like crap.”

“Gee, thanks.” Zack deadpanned and turned back to his lunch. The cafeteria’s food was pretty much slop, but that was to be expected. He needed expected. It was normal. Zack badly prayed for normality. He took a bite of freeze-dried mashed potatoes, then made a face.

“It’s better if you pour ketchup on ‘em.” Ronnie said. “Listen, are you all right? I mean, we’re covering the opening of the new outside gym Thursday. We can’t do it if you’re sick.”

“No, I’m not sick. I just couldn’t sleep last night.” He decided to ask Ronnie something that had been bothering him. Screwing up his courage, he said “Hey, Ronnie. How do you think you know if you’re crazy? I mean, like actually mentally unwell? Do you know if…like, seeing stuff’s a part of it?”

“Hallucinations? Well, yeah I guess. Have you been seeing things?” he said curiously.

“Not really. I just notice some stuff out of the corner of my eye. Like anything unusually colored, I kind of see it move.” Zack lied. He decided to keep the extent of what he’d seen to himself. “And at home I keep hearing this thumping noise no one else can.”

“Really?” Ronnie considered this, and took a long sip of his soda. “Has this been going on for awhile now?”

“No, just since yesterday.”

“Well then, it seems to me you’re just tired. I’ve heard people hallucinate after four days of no sleep, maybe this’s like that. I’m sure that after you get some solid sleep down, you’ll be back to normal.” Ronnie said confidently.

“If you say so.” Zack said, casting his eyes down to his potatoes. The lunch bell rang, cutting off their conversation.

“Trust me, you’ll be fine buddy.” Ronnie slapped his back and ran off. Zack sighed, dumped his trash, and slowly trudged back to class. ‘If only I believed that was the case.’ he thought to himself.

The class after lunch was history, which normally Zack had to struggle through, and today keeping his eyes open was impossible. The heater was blowing warm air, the teacher was droning on about medieval Europe, and Zack could feel the food in his stomach settle.

“…there were three major classes of society in Europe at the time; the nobility, the clergy and the peasants. Often, the lower class peasants were extremely superstitious due to the lack of education, and believed in demons and witches as the cause of their ills. This helped the church…”

‘Oh my lord, I just don’t care.’ Zack thought, trying to stay awake. His efforts were in vain, however; soon he was deep in slumber, drooling on his desk.

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“What? Where am I?” Zack said, looking around. He was suddenly in a dark, strange field with long, withered grass and odd iron posts stuck upright in the ground. It looked like a cemetery, if the posts were grave markers. He went over to one and touched it.

“It’s rusted over.” he said, but could feel writing underneath. He rubbed off as much as he could, and squinted to see the name. It was nighttime, but the moon was so full and bright he could see practically as well as if it were day.  The post read ‘Alvastar Zuckerin.’

“What a weird name.” he said aloud.

“You think?” Zack turned to the voice, but there was no one there. However, there was a small pond he didn’t notice before. Walking over, he peered into the water.

“Guess I was just imagining things.” he said to his reflection.

“No you weren’t.” it answered back. Zack gasped and jumped and fell back as his reflection reached a hand out to pull him in. “Why so scared? Here’s where you belong. With us.” His reflection pulled himself out of the water and walked towards Zack, who scrambled back against one of the posts. “It’s no use. Join us.” his reflection said.

A withered hand came up out of the ground and grabbed Zack’s wrist. He screamed and flailed, managing to shake it off, but he saw other hands popping out of the other graves. The reflection smiled too widely, showing off more teeth than in a normal mouth. Zack stared at his own face, horrified.

“There’s no escape. You can’t get away. Join us. It is your destiny.” Still smiling wickedly, the twisted reflection of Zack raised his arms and the zombies broke free of the soil, staring at him with blank, lifeless eyes. They shuffled and called at him, moaning.

“Join us.”

“Join us.”

“It’s your destiny.”

“Join us!”

Zack desperately wanted to run away, but he was surrounded by decaying arms. They latched their cold hands on him, and began to drag him into the ground. Zack was screaming at the top of his lungs and struggling to break free, but to no avail. There were too many hands, pulling him into the dirt until only his head was clear. They parted like the sea for Moses and his reflection sauntered between them, his mouth so wide he was literally grinning from ear to ear.

“Poor lost soul, scared of his own shadow. Don’t you realize it’s your destiny to join us?” it said.

“What are you!? Leave me alone!” Zack begged, howling. The reflection chuckled.

“A lost lamb so ignorant shouldn’t be allowed to live.” it said and knelt down. “Join us, so I can devour you.” It opened his mouth, and Zack could see every one of its pointed teeth in gruesome detail. It leaned down and bit off his head, and Zack saw no more.

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“Auuuuuuggghhh!” Zack sat bolt upright, screaming as loud as he could. Everyone around him jumped, even the teacher.

“Um, Zack, is something the matter?” she asked nervously.

“Uh…n-no, sorry. Won’t happen again. Sorry.” He sank into his chair, red as a beat. Ordinarily, the class would’ve laughed at someone falling asleep and waking up with a start. But Zack woke up screaming like there was someone out for his life. There were a few half-hearted chuckles, but everyone could see there was something deeply wrong.

After class, the teacher unsurprisingly had him see her.

“Zack, I want to know why you disrupted my class with your little outburst.” she said, folding her arms across the desk.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Henderson. I fell asleep. I haven’t been sleeping very well lately, and I had a big lunch, and well…it just sort of happened. And when I was asleep, I had a nightmare. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. But you said you haven’t been able to sleep well? Zack, you know you can tell me anything. Is everything all right at home? Anything causing you a lot of stress-so much you can’t sleep?” For a moment, he almost came clean. He considered telling her about the strange things he’d been seeing, because he almost believed she could help him.

But he stopped; he considered what would be the next step. Psychiatric counselling, then pills, maybe even a trip to a padded cell. He didn’t tell her because he was afraid that even after all of that, it still might not work and he’d still be crazy. But, ultimately, he was afraid that what he’d seen wasn’t a product of his head at all.

“No, Mrs. Henderson. I’ve just been having a bit of insomnia. But since I managed to get a little sleep today, I think I can get some rest at home. Thanks, I’ll be fine.” Zack quickly stood up and walked out.

“Zack!” Mrs. Henderson called after him, but the door had already closed.

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The rest of the day was hell, but somehow Zack managed to get through it. He could do without the staring and whispers around him, though. As luck would have it though, there wouldn’t be any news storied after school until the big shoot Thursday. Ronnie was doing projects for other classes, so Zack was free to go home on time for once. He opened the door just as his mom was leaving.

“Hi, honey. Sorry, gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you." She kissed his head and got in her car. "There's half a pizza left. Enjoy!" She waved and drove off. He went inside and saw a note that explained his dad was seeing an old friend about a job, and wouldn't be back until his mom got home. Once again, he was alone in the house.

'This time's going to be different.' he thought to himself. He quickly grabbed a kitchen knife, turned the TV on loud, and switched on every light in the house. Satisfied, he sat down in the middle of the floor to eat his pizza. 'There. Like to see 'em have an easy time getting to me with so much light and noise.' Zack thought smugly, munching a pepperoni slice.

Indeed, the plan seemed to be working. Night came quickly, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Zack took a shower cautiously and quickly, but even the mirror seemed normal, reflecting nothing but himself. He put the knife away and breathed a sigh of relief, happy he could finally get a decent night's sleep.

Suddenly, the TV turned off.

Zack froze, staring at the blackened box in horror, hoping beyond hope that it was merely broken. But his hopes were in vain as a tremor moved through the house, darkening the lights as it vibrated through. Not all of them went out, though Zack almost wished they did; the remaining lights flickered and flashed, casting shadows on the walls, strange shapes that moved and writhed toward him. He screamed and bolted for the door, but before he could open it the shadows covered the knob and stung his hand when he touched it.

"Yowch!" Zack frantically searched for a way out, but the doors and windows were all blocked by the writhing shadows. He ran as fast as he could to his room and slammed the door. "What am I doing, that's not enough!" he screeched, panicking. "But what is!?" Just as he thought, the door didn't prove to be any obstacle. The shadows flowed in like water around the sides and bottom.

"S-S-Stay back! Get out?! Go away!" he shouted at them, frightful tears running down his face. There was nothing he could do. He knew he would be eaten alive by the shadows. Zack closed his eyes and prepared for the end, trembling.

"Huh?" Nothing was happening. He opened his eyes and saw the last of the shadows receding through the door. Zack opened it, and saw the house exactly as it was before the shadows attacked, all the lights on and the TV blaring. He gaped, and sank to his knees, overflowing with anger, confusion, relief, all his emotions swirling out of control. He gasped.

"W-What? What the hell is going ON!?"

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Despite his forlorn cries to the heavens, Zack never got an answer. And the strange phenomena persisted.

The next day, he had to use the bathroom but wasn't thinking when he crossed in front of the sink.

"Come on. Join us." his reflection said.

"Sh-Shut up." Zack whispered fiercely, looking down, trying to keep his gaze off the mirror, but giving it furtive glances from the corner of his eye.

"It’s inevitable, you know. There's nothing you can do to stop it. You might as well give up already." the mirror continued to taunt.

"I said, shut up!"

"It's your destiny. Written in script far more solid and immutable than stone, it's a done deal sooner or later. Why put yourself through this?" it said, leaning back on the backwards wall. Zack turned furiously and shouted at the reflection.

"Why are you doing this to me!? I said shut up!" The image chuckled.

"Your destiny is upon you. It is to join us. You will." it said and went away, leaving Zack's normal reflection staring back at him. He slumped down on the sink, tired beyond belief.

It was like that every day. Zack felt hunted, like there were monsters behind every door, and for all he knew there were. Thanks to the mirrors and the shadows, he lost weight and acquired dark bags under his eyes. He could barely keep his eyes open in class, and only the threat of returning to that nightmare graveyard kept him from slumping over. And every night, the shadows rampaged through the house, lights on or not. He didn't dare come out of his room, spending the time curled up in a ball in the corner, whispering "Go away, go away, go away.” over and over like a mantra all night. Eventually, his body would succumb to exhaustion and he would fall asleep around three in the morning, waking up at seven the next morning to shuffle around like a zombie and do it all over again. Zack didn't know how much longer he could last.

Soon Thursday came, with the big news story about the gym to be taped.

"All right! It's the big day, and I'm excited! How about you?" Ronnie said, slapping Zack on the back before class.

"Yeah, sure." he replied dully.

"You okay, man?"

"Mmm. I'll be fine. I just haven't gotten over whatever I got earlier in the week." Zack Forced himself to smile. "Don't worry. I'll be okay, I'm just tired."

"Are you still okay to do the story on the gym? Because it's going to be the biggest event of the season. Not even the usual sports stories are this important for the school. They've been working on this for a couple of years now, and it's completed tomorrow. I need to know my cameraman's going to be there. Are you?" Zack sighed internally. Well, he did promise he'd do it.

"Yeah, I'll be there." he said.

"Excellent!" Ronnie slapped him on the back again. "I'll meet you at the A/V room after school, then we’ll go over to the gym. See you later!" Ronnie ran off, smiling like a little kid.

"Yeesh. Where does he get his energy? I could use some." Zack sighed enviously, glancing around to see if there were any shadows reaching out for him.

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“Remind me again why we're doing this." Zack grumbled, pausing the camera.

"Because it's the biggest news story in this school's recent history." Ronnie said through clenched teeth. Their big story was a bust. No one wanted to talk about it. Even if they did, like the vice-principal, they didn't know much about it.

"I'm sorry boys, but the principal was the one who commissioned it and is involved with the project, not me. And she's gone home for the day." He'd told them. "Maybe Coach Baily could help you out."

However, Coach Baily was absent today, and so they'd ended up having to get the opinions of students on the gym. Ronnie was displeased with the lack of interest and information, but Zack would say Ronnie had vastly overestimated how much people actually cared about it.

"We're doing this because it's our job to report on events." Ronnie said, teeth grinding together. "This is what reporters do."

"I'm not a reporter, I'm a cameraman. And it's freezing out." Zack looked at the sky. "It's getting dark and it looks like rain. Maybe we should just call it a day."

"But..." Ronnie started, then shook his head, realizing Zack was right. "Fine. We'll do the story tomorrow. But first we should get some shots of the inside."

"Whatever." They went into the empty gym and Zack panned the camera around. The heard the sound of rain pattering on the roof. "You ever know why schools and gyms are so creepy at night? Because I'm getting a real freaky vibe here."

"Ah, it's nothing more than an absence of light and people. You’re used to seeing that stuff in the daytime, and usually with people around. You see it so often that it's jarring when you don't, that's all." Ronnie explained.

"Well, maybe. It's still-" Zack's voice died in his throat when he looked in the corner. The shadows had formed a hand, reaching out towards him before dissipating. "No. It's daytime. They can't come in the daytime." he whispered, eyes wide.

"What was that?" Ronnie asked. Zack shoved the camera in his arms and ran out the door.

"Sorry, but I gotta go. Take it to the A/V room, thanks!" He was scared the darkness would try to take Ronnie too, but as he ran from the bewildered teen he saw shapes form in the shadows around him, keeping pace. "Oh God." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his mom.

"Yes?"

"Mom I'm done with the shooting, I'd like to go home now, can you pick me up?" He tried to sound as calm as he could, but it was hard to do when the creatures in the shadows were picking up speed.

"Zack, I'm late for work." she said, annoyed. "I'm sorry, but we discussed this earlier; if you want to shoot your story, you're going to have to walk home. Sorry, but I've got to go now. Love you, bye." She hung up, and Zack stared at his phone in terror. He was on his own.

"C-C-Come." He turned and saw a nightmare. There were people climbing out of the shadows, if you could call them people. They looked like shadows made solid, completely black and feature less except for their pale, glowing yellow eyes.

"C-C-Come." one of them said, despite them having no mouths. They reached out and shuffled toward him. Zack screamed, but the noise of the increasingly heavy rain drowned him out, and was keeping any people around inside, oblivious. He desperately ran into the city, a mob of shadow creatures at his back.

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He panted as he looked out around the corner again. There was still nothing, but Zack didn't believe it for a moment that they were gone.

"But maybe they pulled back for now." he said to himself, trying to keep calm. "So, maybe I can try and get away for now. Dear lord, why is this happening to me?" He tried to get up, but was still too tired to stand. "Maybe in a minute." He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time again. The thought of calling the police never crossed his mind. What would he tell them? 'Less than an hour before it gets dark.' He leaned against the wall, and found he'd put his hand in a puddle. "Crap." He tried shaking the water off, but the rain made it impossible. Suddenly, he felt a tugging on his wrist. Zack looked down and saw a black tendril wrapped around it.

"Auuggghh!" He screamed as loud as he could, but another wrapped itself around his throat. Zack looked and saw the tendrils were coming out of the puddle beside him. He saw his blurry reflection grin in the water, far too widely. "No!" he choked out.

"Come down with us." A shadow man hauled himself up to his chest out of the puddle, then shot his arm out at Zack. It turned into another tendril, tying itself around his torso and dragging him to the puddle. Zack desperately clawed at the ground, but the tendrils drew him in, and to his horror he found himself sinking. 'I'm going to drown.' he thought.

Zack once again flailed to get free, but the shadows were too strong, and he was losing consciousness. He was pulled into the dark, cold puddle with only a large ripple across the surface, the last thing that signified his presence in the world.