The Shadow Side [ManxMan] (short story)

Chapter 5

After what felt like an eternity, the voice stopped and I managed to doze off a little less than one hour before my alarm was supposed to ring. I rubbed my eyes tiredly before turning my alarm off and anxiously looked in the direction of the mirror and sighed in relief as my shadow had disappeared. I went to the bathroom and took a cold shower, hoping the freezing water would wake me up. I turned the water off when my teeth started to shake and I wrapped a towel around my waist. I dried myself and put my work clothes on before going back to my room to take my phone. 

I looked at Damien's message as I made my way to the kitchen and smiled softly. His first message was a small resume of what he had done during the day and his second message was letting me know he was happy I had a great day and that he was next to me in spirits for the night, hoping I would have a great sleep. I turned the coffee maker on and answered to his text while waiting for my coffee to be ready. I let him know how my night went but told him not to worry too much about me and that I was going to try to figure things out on my own.

I drank my coffee and ate a brownie before leaving for work. I arrived a few minutes before the beginning of my shift and immediately went in the back of the store. I greeted a few colleagues that were also in the back and put my stuffs in my locker. As I was closing it, Rick, an older colleague, stopped next to me. "A delivery truck is going to arrive soon. I'm going to need your help to unload the truck."

"Alright, no problem." I told him, looking at his dark eyes.

I waited for the truck to arrive and followed Rick outside, at the back of the store, where we started to unload everything. The boxes were heavy and the physical effort was hurting my already aching muscles. We had to put the boxes toward the back of the big warehouse but we were going at a great pace and we had already unloaded a big part of the truck. As I was carrying a box full of cans, I stopped in my tracks as I thought I saw someone move in the semi-darkness of the warehouse.

I looked around and shook my head as I saw I was alone and that Rick was still outside. I continued to walk through the warehouse and put the box on the ground, next to the others. As I was about to turn around and go back outside to take another box, I heard a low whisper on my right making me turn my head toward the sound. My eyes widened as I saw my shadow kneeling in a dark corner right behind a box. "That's not possible..." I whispered as I continued to stare at it.

"Come join me while you still can." He said with that particular voice that still made me shiver.

"You can't be here..."

"Why? Because I'm not behind a mirror or a window?" He asked, telling out loud what I had been thinking. "They are easier to use but any dark place is fine. Now, come join me. You won't regret it."

I stared at my shadow that was waiting patiently and let his words sink in. I've always thought that I could only see him during the night and through a window or a mirror but the fact that I could see him here, in the middle of the day, was a lot scarier and I didn't know how to react. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder and I turned around, my heart beating at a crazy pace. 

"What the fuck are you doing? I've been waiting for you outside for almost ten minutes." Rick asked, an angry frown on his face.

I looked behind me, trying to spot my shadow but he was nowhere to be found. "I-I'm sorry... I thought I saw something but... I'll get back to work..." I said in a slightly shaky voice as I walked back toward the truck. I could feel Rick's eyes on me but did my best to ignore it.

I finished unloading the truck, feeling relieved not to see my shadow. I was still shaken by this experience and I didn't know how I was going to pretend everything was good during the whole day. I wanted to forget about the strange events and sleep. But mainly forget. Before I ended up losing my mind completely.