Chapter 3: Story #3: The Shadow Man

I sat on a bench in the park at night. I enjoyed the cool evening air that many do not seem to enjoy.  It wasn't long until a homeless man came to sit next to me.  I assumed he was homeless by his wild hair and pungent scent.  He wore a brown leather duster that had many stains and different variations of mold and mildew growing over most of it.  I could not see his eyes as he had a grey fedora casting a shadow over his eyes hiding them from the orange streetlight. But I paid no mind to him as he was still a person who deserved some even slight humanity to be left alone.  He faced forward and said nothing or acknowledged my presence.  I remained silent as well.  I was about to break the silence and greet him but he broke it first with the sudden and disquieting words one could possibly hear from a stranger.

"I have seen the things that walk in the shadows." His voice was deep and smooth.  It sounded as if hemlock had found a voice. Alluring and perturbing.

"I do not have to worry if they have seen me, because I know they have even if they do not have eyes.  But some do. Big black eyes that soak in all the light and only hold darkness."

The orange light coming from above seemed to flicker or dim when the man spoke.  It felt like the light was afraid to hear what he had to say.  I could feel the fear in me rising, but my mind kept me frozen in place wanting to hear more, hanging off of his every word.

"They all know you are there.  They have ways of knowing. Some can smell your blood pumping.  Some can hear the chill running through your veins. Some feel your fear of the dark." He continued, never moving himself to face me.  I had felt like I had had enough of this deranged man speaking of monsters in the dark. I prepared myself to get up and leave.

"And I do not speak of the dark you know.  The dark with street lights and stars and the moon.  I speak of the dark one sees where the sun does not even dare venture.  The dark that even a bat is blind in.  That is where they reside, Daniel."

His last word gripped me in place. I had not mentioned my name to this man. I had never met him before in my lifetime. 

"You see, sometimes they grow tired of being ignored or forgotten.  They begin to hunt, letting parts of them slip out of the dark, attracting unsuspecting folks.  Those folks are never seen again."

The light overhead has almost completely gone out, doing nothing but cast shadows from its dim light.  Yet the man's eyes remained hidden. It was as if they were taunting me, wanting me to come in closer.  I jumped off the bench and took a few steps back from the man, who remained motionless, facing forward.  

"I do feel bad for them.  The light from all around them flees, even the light feeling of joy and happiness. They only feel despair and jealousy of the humans in the light. They are jealous of the way they walk so fearlessly in and out of the shadows. As if they mock us."

The man moved to a standing position, but it was as if he made no movement of his own.  It was as if he was moved by something else.  Like he was a puppet.  Or bait.  

I witnessed the shadows rise above behind the man.  They towered over him standing more than four times my own height. It was a being made of the darkness of a black hole, eating the light away from its surroundings, bending it to be consumed.  It looked down upon me as a predator had captured its helpless prey. I cannot comprehend how but its eyes were the blackest things beyond imagination. they caved in trying to drag my soul into them. One of the things that would be its arms was attached to the old man. The gray hat fell to the ground as the shadow moved towards me revealing a corpse. The corpse of a poor man who was likely the previous victim being used like a lure for fools such as I. With matching eyes to his new owner he stared at me and spoke with a voice pushed out of his throat.

"But I do not have to be jealous of you anymore, Daniel."

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