quickened her pace, and the shadow followed. She broke into a run, and then skidded to an abrupt halt, the momentum putting her on the tips of her toes.
The other shadow, the one that seemed to be leeching the very color out of hers, had moved a fraction of a second longer than she did. Apparently it was startled that she stopped so quickly. Althea bent down, putting her hands on her knees and studied it.
It extended from the bottom of her right foot and crossed her own shadow at a right angle. She turned around and looked again, and again she saw nothing at all.
Yet somehow, it reminded her of the shadow she and Jake saw on the bayou, although not as well formed. The thing they saw looked three dimensional and utterly terrifying. This one wasn’t, although it was much darker than her own. She cocked her head, trying to decipher the puzzle.
You’re being silly , Althea reassured herself as she straightened. It’s just a shadow after all. Maybe it’s an optical illusion, a trick of the light, nature’s smoke and mirrors. Surely something is casting it. After all, shadows don’t move on their own accord.
Except for the thing that glided over the water the day before .
Althea’s mouth went dry. She quickened her pace, and then broke into a light jog.
The shadow followed. Ice cold adrenalin poured through her. Althea ran full tilt down the sidewalk. Shops and bistros seemed to fly past as she ran. The shadow kept up. Her mind was running faster than she was, soaring ahead, trying to figure out how to ditch the thing that was surely following her. The opportunity came up when she spied a narrow ally between the Rexall Drugstore and Louver’s Feed and Seed. She ducked inside, and pressed her back against the wall. Her heart pounding, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead, she pressed her cheek against the old crumbling brick and mortar wall and watched the entry way.
The shadow, a long thick slanting line of a black so dark that Althea had trouble comprehending it, passed slowly across the entrance. Her head pounded; thin, insanely bright zigzag lines slammed against her field of vision. A profound bout of nausea and dizziness caused her knees to sag. She closed her eyes, feeling tears trickling down her cheeks. She opened her eyes, rubbed them and was startled to see streaks of blood on the back of her palm. She rested her head against the crusty bricks and watched whatever it was paused at the threshold, then glide away.
The pain and dizziness eased, and then disappeared. Althea peeked around the corner, surprised that the shadow-thing had disappeared so quickly. She blinked, confused. The whole world at that moment seemed to be filled with people and noise. Traffic reappeared on the streets, people walked along the sidewalk. A kid of about ten skateboarded around a couple walking arm and arm.
Where had all the people gone? Althea wondered. Nobody was on the street but me. Nobody.
Althea heard something behind her. She jumped, gasping as she spun around. Toward the back of the ally she heard a faint sigh followed by a grunting noise coming from behind a stack of orange crates.
She scowled, looking very much like her mother. If someone’s trying to sneak up on me, then he’s in for a big surprise, she thought as she stepped up to the wall and pulled a piece of one by four off a dilapidated stockroom skid. She gave it a couple of preliminary swings, reminding her of the time her mother consented to let her play girl’s softball when she was ten years old. She was pretty good too, she recalled. She hit more balls out of the park than most of the boys.
Whoever’s messing around with me is getting a line drive straight to the face , she thought with angry satisfaction as she strode down the ally toward the crates.
“Alright you sorry bastard,” she shouted as she rounded the stack of crates. “Now you’re gonna get it.”
Shocked, she stopped dead still. Her jaw dropped. She dimly heard the piece of
The other shadow, the one that seemed to be leeching the very color out of hers, had moved a fraction of a second longer than she did. Apparently it was startled that she stopped so quickly. Althea bent down, putting her hands on her knees and studied it.
It extended from the bottom of her right foot and crossed her own shadow at a right angle. She turned around and looked again, and again she saw nothing at all.
Yet somehow, it reminded her of the shadow she and Jake saw on the bayou, although not as well formed. The thing they saw looked three dimensional and utterly terrifying. This one wasn’t, although it was much darker than her own. She cocked her head, trying to decipher the puzzle.
You’re being silly , Althea reassured herself as she straightened. It’s just a shadow after all. Maybe it’s an optical illusion, a trick of the light, nature’s smoke and mirrors. Surely something is casting it. After all, shadows don’t move on their own accord.
Except for the thing that glided over the water the day before .
Althea’s mouth went dry. She quickened her pace, and then broke into a light jog.
The shadow followed. Ice cold adrenalin poured through her. Althea ran full tilt down the sidewalk. Shops and bistros seemed to fly past as she ran. The shadow kept up. Her mind was running faster than she was, soaring ahead, trying to figure out how to ditch the thing that was surely following her. The opportunity came up when she spied a narrow ally between the Rexall Drugstore and Louver’s Feed and Seed. She ducked inside, and pressed her back against the wall. Her heart pounding, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead, she pressed her cheek against the old crumbling brick and mortar wall and watched the entry way.
The shadow, a long thick slanting line of a black so dark that Althea had trouble comprehending it, passed slowly across the entrance. Her head pounded; thin, insanely bright zigzag lines slammed against her field of vision. A profound bout of nausea and dizziness caused her knees to sag. She closed her eyes, feeling tears trickling down her cheeks. She opened her eyes, rubbed them and was startled to see streaks of blood on the back of her palm. She rested her head against the crusty bricks and watched whatever it was paused at the threshold, then glide away.
The pain and dizziness eased, and then disappeared. Althea peeked around the corner, surprised that the shadow-thing had disappeared so quickly. She blinked, confused. The whole world at that moment seemed to be filled with people and noise. Traffic reappeared on the streets, people walked along the sidewalk. A kid of about ten skateboarded around a couple walking arm and arm.
Where had all the people gone? Althea wondered. Nobody was on the street but me. Nobody.
Althea heard something behind her. She jumped, gasping as she spun around. Toward the back of the ally she heard a faint sigh followed by a grunting noise coming from behind a stack of orange crates.
She scowled, looking very much like her mother. If someone’s trying to sneak up on me, then he’s in for a big surprise, she thought as she stepped up to the wall and pulled a piece of one by four off a dilapidated stockroom skid. She gave it a couple of preliminary swings, reminding her of the time her mother consented to let her play girl’s softball when she was ten years old. She was pretty good too, she recalled. She hit more balls out of the park than most of the boys.
Whoever’s messing around with me is getting a line drive straight to the face , she thought with angry satisfaction as she strode down the ally toward the crates.
“Alright you sorry bastard,” she shouted as she rounded the stack of crates. “Now you’re gonna get it.”
Shocked, she stopped dead still. Her jaw dropped. She dimly heard the piece of