The walls of the science building were lined with various diagrams, graphs, and charts of things that Blaine vaguely recognized as parts of the body. It was beginning to dawn upon them that there was a lot about science that they missed out learning on due to not being able to finish their education. There were basic things that Blaine knew, like the difference between plant and animal cells, and the difference between cells and viruses. They knew about the biological differences between men and women, and what it meant to be something other than the two.
It was the things that Blaine knew about science that made them more confused about the existence of these living shadow monsters. Their bodies seemed to be some kind of mixture of solid, liquid, and gas depending solely on what form suited their needs most. Their bodies seemed far too cold to be able to sustain any kind of life, but that did not stop them from moving at incredible speeds. Intellectually, they seemed to be at equal standings to humans. Biologically, however, they were much more advanced in many ways. Blaine had never observed any organs, though admittedly they had only ever been in close contact with one before. There was not much left of that one to investigate.
As Blaine walked through the empty halls of the building, they placed their hand on each door they came across. They had never actively tracked shadows before but figured that if there were multiple of them in one room, they would be able to feel the chilled air through the door. It was not a foolproof plan, but it was more thought out than the scrambled mess of ideas about what to do when they actually found the creatures.
One idea was to turn on the generators and have the lights smoke them out, but there was no way to know where they would come from, and it was impossible for Blaine to guard every exit single-handedly. Another idea was to activate the fire alarm somewhere in the building to attract them, though inviting the shadows to swarm Blaine seemed like a bad idea when they did not know exactly how many they were up against. Blaine preferred having the element of surprise on their side.
Blaine had just reached the third floor of the building, and a mix of anticipation and anxiety was eating away at them. As they pulled their hand away from the door of room 338, they recoiled slightly. They had not even registered the frost on the door’s window until that moment. The blind bravery that Blaine had been running on was slowly starting to melt into a deep fear. They ducked their body under the window while leaving their head upwards so that they could peer through the frosted glass. Blaine felt their stomach drop at the realization of just how much danger they were in. A group of eight shadows were gathered around a table, each looking down and taking turns poking and prodding at something just out of view. It was not clear whether they were using tools or just their own bodies.
Blaine was hesitant to enter, unsure if they could truly face so many of the monsters at once. That hesitation dissipated instantly when they saw the human arm drape down from the table the shadows surrounded. Without any second of thought or planning, they kicked the door open and were met with a dozen piercing gazes aimed solely at them. Blaine held their flashlight as steady as they were physically able and aimed it directly into the face of the shadow closest to them. It brought them a strange satisfaction to see its body melt from the top down like a black candle.
There was a moment of stagnation from the shadows as they seemed to each process the death of one of their own, and even Blaine was not immune to the second of shock and awe. The moment ended with one of the shadows just out of the flashlight’s range starting to dart for the door to a neighboring room. In an instant, Blaine pulled out the laser pointer and it provided them with much needed range. The beam of light sliced through the shadow’s form like a hot knife through butter. The top half of the creature fell to the floor and Blaine took no time to rush by its side and melt it with the flashlight, leaving the bottom half a lifeless lump on the ground.
An icy hand fell onto Blaine’s shoulder and instinct kicked in. In one swift motion, they ripped a green glowstick from their pocket, cracked it down the middle, then held it firmly in their fist while plunging it into the face of the shadow behind their back. The black sludge slid down Blaine’s hand and they felt it soak their shoulder as well. This sparked a new idea in their head, starting with cracking a pink glowstick and cracking the initial one again since the chill of the shadow was enough to freeze the liquid. They dug their nails into the flimsy plastic casing that held the liquid inside until it began to flow in their hands. Blaine cupped as much of the glowing liquid as they could and tossed it towards the two shadows on their left and right sides. Just as Blaine had hoped, the liquid acted like acid and took globs of their forms away as it dribbled down their bodies. Blaine had to crack two more glowsticks to get enough liquid to finish the two shadows off.
Two more of the shadows attempted to flee out of the doorway Blaine had entered through, but their quick movement was caught in Blaine’s peripheral vision. They rushed towards the two shadows with one glowstick left in one hand and a rainbow of the glowing juice in the other. Blaine grabbed one of the two with their glowing hand while the other hand moved in a stabbing motion into the body of the other shadow. The first shadow was experiencing a burning pressure in what looked like a neck, similar to being choked. The second shadow was slowly being drained of its life as their form was melting out of the holes that were being made in their body. After a couple minutes of repeated clawing and stabbing, there were two large piles of goo sitting where the two shadows once struggled for life.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Blaine knew there was one remaining but was slightly concerned that there was no surprise attacks made while they were dealing with the other seven. If the last shadow had snuck out of the room, there would be no telling where it could have gone. As they stood up to begin searching, their eyes fell upon the table that the shadows had been surrounding and Blaine remembered what they had been fighting for. An unconscious man laid face up on the table. His eyes were dark and sunken despite clearly having been sleeping for a while, his hair looked like it had once been blonde but now was dark and damp with grease. There were splotches of shadow coating parts of his skin, it was unclear whether they came from outside or inside of his body. Most surprising seemed to be the fact he adorned a pair of navy-blue boxers and a pale tank top which was also painted in splotches of black. Blaine had honestly been expecting to see someone wearing nothing more than the outfit they were born in.
Half of Blaine wanted to help this man, but the other half knew there was still an imminent danger present. Almost right as their contemplation settled on finding the rogue shadow, the hairs on the back of Blaine’s neck began to involuntarily stand on end. A quick turn of the head revealed the last monster attempting to sneak behind Blaine on a mission for the door. Blaine dropped the used glowstick and wiped the sticky non-glowing goo on their sweatshirt, then grabbed the flashlight from their pocket. In that time, the remaining shadow slipped past Blaine and beelined for the door. Predicting the shadow’s desired trajectory, Blaine shined the light at the door right before the shadow could make its escape. Blaine reached into their pocket for another glowstick only to find it was empty, the number of broken ones on the floor seemed to be the same as the amount they had in their pack to begin with. They attempted to dual wield both the flashlight and the laser pointer, but their thumb slipped on the button for the pointer, and it fell from their hand. A stray beam of light shot from the laser pointer as it slipped and ended up hitting the shadow’s head on the white glowing orb that most resembled an eye. Much to Blaine’s shock, the creature let out a painful wail and dropped to the floor clutching its face in pain.
After seeing all of the others die so easily without much of a struggle, seeing the pain they had caused this one seemed to cause the gravity of the situation to hit Blaine like a truck. The gravity got heavier as Blaine slowly reached for the laser pointer only to see the shadow reveal its face again. The orb that had been hit was leaking ooze in a manner that resembled someone crying, which seemed to fit perfectly with the expression of fear that covered its ghoulish face. Blaine thought about the man laying on the table and tried to muster up the strength to finish the job, but their mind was still clouded with doubt. There were eight of them alone with that man for who knows how long, and he was still alive, even wearing clothes. If they wanted to do something worse, why had they not done it already?
All of that bravery that had once been pumping Blaine’s body full of adrenaline was slipping, leaving them a shaking mess trying desperately to hide their fear. In an act that was a mixture of stupidity, mercy, and fear, Blaine took a deep breath and clicked the flashlight facing the door off. Their breath remained stuck in their throat as they watched the shadow hesitate, unsure if this was a trick. Blaine was not sure either. The shadow crawled slowly at first, then slipped through the door in an instant. As the creature left Blaine’s sight, the air finally escaped their lungs, and their breathing began to steady. The realization of what had just happened slowly began to sink in, and Blaine was desperately trying to justify their action.
Now it can go tell the others to stay away. They thought. Now they will all know not to come back. It was a desperate attempt to convince themself that they did the right thing. Blaine shook their head to quiet their racing thoughts and focused on the task at hand. Their initial task of finding and eliminating the shadows had been (mostly) successful, but they had a new mission now. The person on the table was in desperate need of medical attention.
Blaine placed a palm on the man’s chest and much to their relief felt a slow and steady beat. They were not sure the best way to wake the man up, so they pulled a thick piece of skin from under his neck and pinched hard with a sharp twist. His face flinched slightly and eyes blinked open, not as extreme of a reaction as Blaine expected but at least he was awake. After a few seconds of silence, Blaine realized it was their turn to speak since they were the one to wake the man.
“Sorry about that, my name is Blaine.” They spoke awkwardly.
“Peter.” The man said between coughs and jagged breaths. Peter slowly attempted to sit himself up, but after losing balance Blaine was quick to extend a hand to help.
“Do you know where you are or how you got here?” Blaine questioned, gesturing at Peter’s current condition. He clutched his head as though recalling the events was a painful experience.
“I remember hearing about a village nearby and coming to ask for supplies.” His eyes closed as he thought more intently. “I remember running into a group of shadows. They asked for the location of the village, but I refused to tell them. They said they would force it out of me.” Peter’s slightly teary eyes opened and stared into the distance. “I don’t remember much after that.”
“I’m sorry.” It was all Blaine could choke out of their gritted teeth. They took a deep breath to attempt to quell the rage that Peter’s story stirred. The choice to spare the shadow sat in the back of their mind and festered into guilt at what it could do with the life that Blaine had allowed it to keep. There was no time for regrets, they had to focus on the now. “You’re in one of the unused buildings of the village. Come on, let’s get you to the doctor while you still have the strength.”
Peter nodded in agreement; he seemed just as aware of his deteriorating health as Blaine was. Blaine helped Peter to his feet and slung his arm around their shoulders and neck. Peter walked slowly while resting some of his weight on Blaine. The two of them trudged to the door to make their way to the health center. Blaine looked back while they paused in the doorway for a moment. Their new additions to the lab room were now still puddles of goo scattered around. All but one spot by the door that was unsettlingly clean. Blaine was not religious, but in that moment, they prayed that shadow would stay far away from them.