Had A Breakdown In The Evening
Kerdict stayed frozen, the shadow's voice echoing in his head. He couldn't move any closer to the gate again, too paralyzed. He felt the figure's presence shift, a black shadowy hand moving beside his, mocking the position of his hand.
"I wouldn't try that again... look what it did to you before," The figure snickered as Kerdict swallowed. He shut his eyes, forcing his body to turn as he came to face the figure again. It looked just as before, but the longer he stared the wider it grinned. His hands were clammy, his hair tips starting to glow a dull blue from his fire.
"You have a staring problem," The figure barked. Kerdicts eyes widened when a face formed moving towards him quickly before fading into the shadow again. He gasped, falling back into the gate. The shadow waved, Kerdicts back pushing the gate open. He clenched his eyes shut as his back hit the sidewalk on the other side, his hands scraping the cement in order to brace his fall. It was silent, his breath coming in huffs as he sat up. He stared at where the figure was, the entity still waving.
"W-why did I fall through-," Kerdict stuttered, patting his back, no signs of wounds. The shadow shrugged leaning down to eye level with Kerdict.
"I just cut your hand up for a bit of fun~, don't take it to heart," the shadow grinned as it shrunk down into a smaller form. Kerdict eyed the fully black creature, almost resembling a cat demon from the outskirts of the city. He backed up, shifting to stand as the small figure padded out of the gate, grinning widely still.
"You seem cool," Kerdict heard, the voice not having come from the cat, but all around him as he twisted, trying to find the source. As he turned back again, the figure was gone. He swallowed sharply as he backed up from the gate, making another small ball of fire to see.
"I might stick with you," he heard again, something shifting in the corner of his eye. He turned his head almost jumping out of his skin, the creature standing on his shoulder, only there was no weight, and the voice sounded almost like it was in his own head.
"Get off of me-," Kerdict barked, swiping at his shoulder. His hand only went through the shadow, the black fizzling away like dust only to reform on his other shoulder.
"Who are you- why are you in the royal palace garden?" Kerdict said, shifting again, trying to get the cat off of him. it dissipated again before sitting down on the ground in front of him. Kerdict eyed its movements, almost glitchy, lagging sort of. Its eyes and mouth were in a grin, just 3 white splotches.
"I live everywhere," The figure grazed, its head tilting in a horrendous way. Kerdict assumed he'd head the neck snap, but it was just a shadow. When it moved it made a crackling sound, like its bones were breaking, the ribs showing before indenting as if starving, but somehow moving and seeming healthy. He eyed it still, the figure staring back.
"That doesn't make sense," Kerdict said quickly, his eyes glancing back to the garden again. The figure moved around in weird spirals as if dancing, its legs padding around. Kerdict watched, waiting for another response.
"I do not have a home that is stuck in one place," the shadow said before growing back to its bigger form again. Its arms opened to the sides, paper unfolding between them as Kerdicts eyes widened. He watched the papers shift and fold before forming a small water droplet shape.
"Like water in an ocean, it's not supposed to be in a specific place, and nobody can tell it from other drops in the ocean," the figure continued, Kerdict watching the paper soak black, dissipating like dust. He thought of the metaphor the figure used.
"Like.. shadows at night?" Kerdict tried to reason as the figures grin upturned. Kerdicts stomach dropped, uneasiness filling him again.
"Exactly," the figure stated. Kerdict watched for a few more moments.
"What was the point of fuckin with me?" He accused, his hands moving with his words, gestures speaking. The figure paused, the edges seemingly fizzling away. He didn't like this situation, but he didn't want to leave just yet.
"Nobody comes back here," The figure grinned further, the smile almost distorting its face as Kerdict glanced away, his eyes catching a few more shadows, wondering if something watched him from there as well. He didn't like the thought, glancing back at the figure again.
"And I needed a new host~," The figure finished before disappearing again. It was like sand being blown into the wind, or dust from a desk. Kerdict paused, processing the words as he glanced around, watching for the figure to reappear.
"...A host?" He hesitated, his hands going to his shoulders. He didn't see the figure anymore, the voice was gone for the time being as he stood for a few moments. He didn't receive a response, starting to walk backward before turning, heading to walk home. He had no idea what the figure meant, hoping it would have left him alone for now.
The experience did shake him a bit, surprisingly. He wasn't aware of anyone in the city with powers quite like the creatures he'd just met. This concerned him more with the minimal human to creature ratio. The creatures made up about a fourth of the overall population.
As he walked home, he noticed the shadow in the corner of his eye again. The strange figure was on his shoulder again, staring at him. He was uneasy but tried to ignore it in hopes it'd go away.
"Yes, I need someone to feed off of. I need someone's help, and you seem purr-fect~," The pun slipping from the voice as Kerdict almost laughed to himself at the stupidity before processing the rest.
"What are you talking about now- are you nuts?"He asked, continued his walk. It was foggy out and he had a long way to go. It was a couple of miles and usually, he would have been driven home at this hour, but no, he had been thrown out.
"I'll give you something in return, something you want just as much as I need this," The voice continued as the shadow melted off of his shoulder. Kerdict stopped as the shadow grew in front of him again. It looked more solid as the voice continued.
"Your family is perishing on the outskirts, and I'm sure you'd love to know more about those royals. I can give you perks of my information, and in return, you play with me," The figure continued to ramble these guides, Kerdict listening closely as soon as his family was mentioned.
"You know about the royal family-?" Kerdict asked quickly, his eyes widening as the figure continued to shift, soon becoming more and more visible to the eye. He watched as the horns became visible, red eyes opening as it finally stopped shifting. He stared at the person who stood in front of him, their ribs protruding from under their shirt, his eyes catching the tendons that seemed to be on the outside of his skin rather than inside. There were lines along his face, and his hair was mangled.
They had long antlers that looked sharp, but their ears didn't resemble that of a deer, more so of a coyote. Its mouth seemed to tear as it grinned instead of smiling.
"Of course I do, and I'll give it to you!" The person said as they shifted one more time, appearing human in front of him other than the red pupils that glowed a dark crimson in the fog between them.
"Everything you'd want to know! Just bring me with you. Give me a source. It will not give you any fallbacks in any way! Just listen," The figure finished, putting a hand out as if to give a deal. Kerdict eyed this, his glance hesitant as the person smiled. He was uneasy still, but the shadows that swirled at this person's feet scared away the fog, making him feel almost protected. Alongside this though, he felt way too easily overpowered.
"My name is unknown to you. But you can call me Zemetric,"
