A million thoughts were darting around Blaine’s head, but none of them seemed to stand out as the main one. They wanted to ask themself so many questions, but their thoughts were all muted with the fear and imminent danger surrounding them. The main shadow used their newly regenerated hand to cradle Blaine’s chin, rubbing a finger over their mask.
“Aww, you even came with your own muzzle.” It spoke endearingly as Blaine felt a cold hand behind their neck begin to tug on the straps around their ears. The tug started gentle but got tighter and tighter until the mask slipped itself inside of Blaine’s mouth and slowly began to make them gag. They struggled to force the air to go through their nose and it instead tried to go through their mouth. Bits of cloth began to stick to the inside of their throat and even down their windpipe. Blaine began to struggle and shake as they desperately tried to wiggle the mask off. The two shadows restraining them laughed as they released Blaine in an instant, causing them to fall on their face and bite the inside of their bottom lip. The mask flung off after being released so quickly and landed in front of the main shadow, who pushed it aside just out of Blaine’s reach.
Tears began to stream down Blaine’s cheeks as they frantically caught their breath. Realizing their face was now completely exposed, they tried to bring their hands in front of their mouth. Before they had barely started moving, the main shadow gripped Blaine’s hands together in its own while one of the two behind Blaine tugged violently on their hair. Blaine was forced to stare the main shadow directly in the eyes.
“Why would you want to hide that pretty face?” The first shadow spoke.
“Are you sure this one is a girl?” The shadow pulling on Blaine’s hair questioned.
“Only one way to find out.” The other shadow standing behind Blaine chuckled.
“Enough dress-up. Let’s see what’s going on under those clothes.” The main shadow lifted Blaine’s arms above their head and began to reach for their shirt collar as Blaine began to involuntarily whimper. The fourth shadow who had still been watching from the entrance began to creep forward.
“Okay, you guys had your fun, now it’s my turn.” It commanded, causing the other three to turn and stare. Apparently, they had not noticed this shadow enter with them as Blaine had.
“And just who the hell do you think you are?” The first shadow straightened up, but its grip on Blaine’s arms did not loosen.
“Look, I know you didn’t mean any harm, but that one is actually mine. I saw them first.” This intruding shadow picked up Blaine’s mask from the ground and waved it in front of the other shadows so they could see. Blaine was confused, but noticed a small tendril just out of the view of the other shadows grip the laser pointer.
“What? Is that supposed to be some kind of proof of ownership? Hate to break it to you, buddy, but finders keepers.” Blaine quickly shifted their eyes to look back at the main shadow as it went back to continue Blaine’s torment. They were not sure what this new shadow was planning, but Blaine did not want to get in the middle of it.
“I have a feeling you’ll be the weeping losers.” Blaine heard the click of the laser pointer, and everyone stared in shock as the new shadow sliced into its own arm. Dark liquid began to pour down into its hand.
“Oh, so you’re insane. Is that supposed to scare us?” The main shadow laughed, covering a hint of fear.
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“It should.” Before the other shadows had even a second to process what was happening, the new shadow flicked its drenched hand towards the main one and bits of liquid splattered onto its body. A faint hissing sound could be heard as the liquid seeped into the shadow’s form, burning and filling them with pain. It began to scream and released its grip on Blaine’s arms.
Blaine barely had a second to think when their flashlight was kicked over to their feet by the new shadow, they reacted on impulse and grabbed it before the two behind them could notice. The flashlight was shone directly behind Blaine’s head, and they heard enough to know they had hit the two. Their hair was released, and they made a break for the door, only to realize there was still a shadow standing in it. This shadow, whose motives seemed uncertain to Blaine, quickly gripped Blaine’s arm and began running with them towards the exit. It was unclear who was following who as they both ran, but it became more clear once the shadow pulled Blaine into a corner and put a finger to where what looked like lips were. Blaine placed a hand over their flashlight and sat in stunned silence.
Three dark figures ran by one at a time, angrily mumbling and cursing to each other. They passed right by Blaine and the shadow without much notice, it was possible they had given up. Once the coast seemed clear, the shadow beside Blaine let out a quiet sigh and turned towards them. Blaine thought they were prepared for pretty much anything this creature would do, but seemed unprepared when it reached its hand forward and handed back the laser pointer and mask. Like a frightened animal hesitating to take food from a stranger, Blaine slowly crept their hand forward and then snatched the items, inching away slowly afterwards. They carefully examined the mask to ensure it had not gotten any liquid on it, then placed it onto their face. After a couple minutes of silence, partially to ensure the other shadows were gone and partially due to the uncomfortable situation, Blaine was the first to speak.
“What now?” Though they were thankful to be out of the previous situation, they were not sure they were out of danger. “Are you expecting me to believe you’re letting me go?”
“I don’t really expect you to remember, but you did the same to me” As the words came from the shadow, Blaine realized exactly who it was. They attempted to mask the fear that was beginning to creep up, it was unclear how much of a grudge this shadow held.
“Have you been following me?” Blaine suddenly felt vulnerable, as though they had no clue how safe they had actually been in the past few hours.
“Just a little. I wasn’t initially, but I was hoping we’d cross paths again.” The shadow reached a hand towards Blaine. “You can call me Tim.” After a few seconds it became clear that Blaine was not going to return the gesture and Tim put its hand away.
“Is this you returning a favor or do you want something?” The little amount of patience Blaine had for these creatures was running thin, and it was taking all of their will not to reach for their flashlight.
“Getting straight to the point, huh?” Tim sighed; it had hoped the conversation would have been slightly less hostile. “Look, I think there was a big misunderstanding. Those shadows you killed and I, we weren’t the ones that attacked that village. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Likely story, get to the point.” Snapped Blaine, they were not willing to listen to a sob story from a shadow.
“I just want to know what you did with the human we had with us.” As Tim spoke, Blaine’s eyes squinted with anger and contempt. “It’s not what you think, we didn’t do anything bad to him-”
“Those shadows were right, you are insane. Why the hell do you think I would tell you that?” Blaine stood up, deciding this was not worth a fight. Tim stood as well.
“Please, you don’t understand. I want to help him.” It reached to grab Blaine’s hand and beg.
“Touch me and you’ll see your friends again.” They puffed a breath of air from their nose angrily. Tim got the message, pulling away slowly. They began to walk away from the pitiful shadow.
“You seriously won’t help me after what you did to them?” Tim was attempting to stifle its rising frustration.
“I helped you already, you helped me. We’re done here.” As Blaine continued to walk away, Tim tried to squeeze another word in. As a sound came from the shadow, Blaine placed a hand on their flashlight and it was quickly silenced. They kept looking back to ensure they were not being followed, but they still felt uneasy and unsure. All of the objects that they passed as they headed home seemed to have even darker silhouettes that night.