In Shadows

“Numerous reports of a ‘man in shadows’ have been reported throughout these few weeks, claiming that this man has been stalking families, and even some going missing–”

I shut off the TV as soon as I heard about “the man”. I hate the news because of those stories, people are just so cruel… and disturbing. But as the famous celebrity I am, it’s sort of expected that I’m caught up in the recent-anything. I set the remote on the coffee table covered in stains from every mug that has rested on its wood, and check my phone. My friend is calling.

I pick up and raise the phone up to my ear. “Hey! Where are you?” She asks, “you’re gonna be late to your interview.”

“I’m just about to leave, don’t worry about it,” I assure her. I grab my keys and head to my car. “Good, just checking in.”

“Well thank you, see you soon.”

“See you soon!” Click.

To be frank, I’m really not that well-known, so it’s not every day that I’m invited to a TV show, but I don’t hate it. Right now, I’m sitting in my car and watching as I pass whatever’s in the road, on the road, and maybe even away from that. There’s not really much to see. My city often is covered in a blanket of gray sky and dead grass. Nothing really seems that alive, but that’s what happens, I guess.

After around ten minutes into my drive, I see something vague in the background that makes me think of the news earlier. I expect a shiver to shake me by the spine, but nothing hap - pens.

“Am I late?” I ask with a natural smile I’ve practiced for months. I seat myself in the chair across from my interviewer. My eyes quickly go to the camera, the red light is flashing. I look back as he laughs slightly and responds, “not at all, ma’am. My name’s Louis.” He extends his hand, offering a handshake. I’m almost intimidated by his formality, but I brush it off. I shake his hand, which is surprisingly firm. “I’m Juliana, pleasure to meet you.”

“Lovely name, Julie– do you mind if I call you that?” Louis asks, and I nod.

“Totally, yeah.”

And so we talked for probably twenty, thirty minutes. Long enough for a full episode, at least. I enjoyed it, really. Louis was really nice. I almost felt disappointed when time was up. At the end, he stood up and thanked me for coming, as well as everyone else working behind the scenes. It left a nice feeling in me like not everyone is totally evil. “Well, I’m glad I’ve been invited, it was really nice,” I started, and he continued, “oh, of course! You’re welcome back anytime.” He continued about something like the business number to call him later, but I felt sort of distracted out of nowhere. Like, something was wrong. And there it was.

“... Julie? Hello? What are you looking at?” I could see Louis trying to navigate where my eyes felt glued onto. All the color in my skin faded and I was frozen. “Julie?”

I know I’m probably just on edge, I think I’m seeing things. “Sorry, I thought I saw something.” I snapped out of my trance, trying to ignore whatever I saw in the fake bushes by the wall. I grabbed my bag and left with a goodbye.

It felt real. I knew I saw that… thing. Was it always there? It was blinking, it had a smile stretched across its face. It looked like a man.

But what felt even more real was when something grabbed me with disgustingly greasy hands and pulled me into the shadows. I couldn’t fight back. I felt something covering my face. It smelled intoxicating and I felt myself getting wearier. I felt my body giving up. I felt the world leaving me.

Leo Amundson