Feral Shadow

Chapter 3

He collapsed on the floor as the moonlight fell on him, revealing his glistening olive skin and jet black dark hair with a faint hue of blue. He was naked as a newborn. The shadows only hid half of him as he lay motionless on his chest. I mustered up the courage and got on my feet to flip the light switch on, still struggling to catch my breath.

There he was in front of me.

A boy.

His head was turned to the side and his eyes were closed shut. He was unconscious. I could see his back gently rise and fall.

I grabbed the quilt from my bed and tossed it over him to cover his bareness, hesitantly kneeling down beside him. He had a beautiful, chiseled face and long eyelashes that brushed his cheekbones as his eyes were closed.

He appeared to be in his late teens, barely older than myself.

How did he come to be?

Shadow.

This is not happening. I must have fallen asleep and this must be a dream. That must be it.

He stirred, jolting me from my thoughts.

His mouth ajar and eyes flinched. A strand of dark hair fell over his eye. When I reached out to brush it away, his eyes snapped open, making me jump. I crawled back, leaving a decent amount of distance between me and the strange boy.

He pushed on his arms to sit up straight, wrapping my quilt around him and his eyes finally met mine.

I froze.

They were alluringly violet.

Just like Shadows'

"Who are you?" I asked, mind frantic as I took in the person infront of me. His eyes bore into mine pleadingly. He had beautiful eyes under graciously arching brows.

"Mabel, it's me...Shadow." He said, his voice coarse and warm like steam against cold glass. My name on his lips. An uncanny part of me thought it calmed me.

Shadow.

I scoffed. "What- I- how-"

"It's you." His voice came out shaky. "You broke my spell, Mabel."

This is unreal. "W-what?" My feet shuffled under me as I tried to sit cross-legged facing him. His beauty was oddly at contrast to my ragged quilt around him. He sat, doe eyed, wrapped in a cloth, His violet eyes searching my face, as I searched for words.

"Witches," His face scrunched as the word tasted bitter on his tongue. "They put a spell on me and trapped me in a cat's body."

I stared at him blankly, "Witches?" I tasted the word. It was unreal. "They're real?" I had to believe him. I saw him transform. I saw the burst of violet flames. It was magic.

The boy simply nodded, "Like cockroaches, breeding under a rock."

"Why would they put a spell on you?"

His gaze was still lowered, "I don't know." He shrugged, "Witches are immoral."

I slowly leaned forward, making him lift his gaze to mine. " What's your name?" I asked rather shyly. The boy shuddered, "The witches took away most of my memories" he said with his brows furrowing.

Most. What did he remember? Why would the witches do that?

"You should know I've grown rather fond of the name you have given me." He said when I didn't respond immediately. His eyes beaming at me in its vivid violet.

"Shadow." I breathed, taking in the human form of my cat.

"Shadow." For the first time, I saw him smile revealing a perfectly straight row of pearly white teeth. The corners of his mouth pinched neatly cheeks as they tinged with red. I felt red on my own face.