Girl of Shadows (Arc Four in the Chronicles of Hades' Park)
By Rose
I sprinted down the dark alley, anxious to be home after such a long day. Twilight seemed to cover the sky, a shadowy mask not quite opaque, yet still black enough to steal away the sun's precious light. Slowly, as the path seemed to grow smaller, my dash turned into a walk, which then in turn became silence as my cold feet paused. I knew it was following me. I knew sure as my heart beat, but still, the overwhelming desire to turn my head and see the featureless face gazing back quickly came upon me. Fear was all that stopped my head from turning slowly around to check. I gritted my teeth and began once again to move forward. It would always be there, I knew. I might as well get used to it, the monster. My shadow. It would always walk in my footsteps. It was weak, I knew, to fear one's shadow. But still, how could one help but feel strange and frightened as the quiet stalker watches them live their life, omnipresent and always ready to break pace and jump at its unsuspecting master. I knew it was true, though it was also impossible.
I rounded the corner of the alley, only to stop dead as a dark figure entered my view. It stood in the middle of my path. A closer look revealed an innocent and infinitely sad face. Straight black locks framed a beautiful portrait of deep red eyes and pale white skin. The face was turned downwards, as though it was admitting to a terrible crime. The little creature wore the dark blue skirt and coat of a school girl, a red bow adorning her porcelain neck. As I stared at the beautiful doll, her head twisted slowly up to look back into my inquisitive eyes with her red pools.
"You fear your shadow, do you not…" The girl's low, calm voice paused, leaving me entranced. "…mummy?" She finished. I raised my eyebrows. Mummy? What was she talking about? And how did she know about my secret phobia?
"What are you—" I was cut off suddenly by her hypnotism.
"The dark creature who creeps in your wake wherever your cold feet may lead…your shadow." Cold feet, is it? This girl was a strange one. "You contradict yourself. Do you not fear the dark and cling to the white sun with your weak, claw adorned hands?" She waited silently, as if she expected me to answer her impudent question. Last time I checked, my hands were happily claw free.
"…yes," I said simply, unable to think of anything else. Her solemn face did not change.
"You lie. Your shadow could not exist without the sun. It is a being of the light. It is naught but a mixture of you and that warmth you claim to adore. What is there to fear, then, in that abhorred potion? The sun? Do you not love it? Or yourself? The only thing you have a right to fear is yourself. You are a monster," she stopped suddenly, appearing to be deep in thought. My expression of shock was frozen onto my face. Then she continued, and it turned to one of fear. "A Herculean feat, to slay the monster. All fears to be instantly quenched. Right, Hero?" She took a slow step toward me. I was gone before she could take another. She was completely insane! I was a monster? She wanted to kill me? The sun and I…were my shadow? Back through the alleyway, I fled. At least now I had something I feared more than my shadow. Behind me, the girl sadly watched me run.
"My conclusion exactly," she said, as though someone else stood beside, listening to her every word.