Shadow Things

XVIII

Hansel sat up sluggishly and grabbed for the phone he had put under the bed right before he had gone to sleep. His eyes were burning and he blinked several times before he took a look at the phone's screen. Whoever was calling wasn't saved in his contacts, but the number was familiar to him. It had to be someone he knew, although he couldn't recall who exactly the number belonged to.

He tapped the accept button and put the phone to his ear.

He heard the ragged breathing first, then the hoarse, exhausted rasp. "Hello?"

Hansel recognised the voice immediately.

Julian.

The last of his sleep fled him. He swung his legs off the bed. "What is it?"

"Help..." he wheezed. "Please."

Hansel's first reaction was shock. Why was Julian calling him in the middle of the night? Why was he asking for help? And how did he know this was Hansel's new number?

This did not make sense. No matter how dire or desperate his situation was, he would never say please to Hansel.

"What's wrong?" Hansel asked. By now he had stood up from his bed and had taken a few unconscious steps towards the window.

"The shadows are attacking me," Julian's breath was ragged on the other end. His voice jittered with panic. "I don't know what to do."

Ah. It made sense now. Julian must believe he was only calling someone who volunteered aid at night. He probably didn't know the number belonged to Hansel.

"Okay, calm down," Hansel said soothingly. He had pulled on a shirt already and was searching for his car key. "Are you alright? Are there any houses nearby? Can you run?"

"I'm wounded. I'm outside a tall building, hiding in a recess. But the building is abandoned. There's a convenience store nearby, but no one's inside there either. I guess I can still run, but I don't know where to."

"Don't run," advised Hansel. He grabbed a torchlight from a shelf. "If the shadows are ignoring you for now stay where you are. Send me your location. I will come get you."

"Okay."

A beep from his phone alerted Hansel that a text message had arrived. It was a pinned map of Heart City, a tiny red dot indicating where Julian was currently. Hansel zoomed the map. He recognised the place.

"Alright. I got the location. Stay put. I'll get there in ten minutes."

Hansel hung up. He glanced at Felix briefly. Felix was deep in sleep. Let him stay asleep. He pushed his phone into the pocket of his pants and raced down the stairs. He flung the front door wide and burst out into the night.

His car groaned like a beast when he turned the ignition. He drove recklessly fast. Buildings and streetlamps whooshed past and the wind wailed in his ears.

He arrived at Julian's location very quickly. Out through the windshield he could see shadows funnelling above like a school of monster fish. A little distance away he spotted a row of broken traffic lights, pulsing between red and green and yellow. Hansel killed the engine, then quietly, cautiously, opened the door and got off.

He looked around to see if there were any shadows nearby, then turned on the torchlight he had brought with him. He walked into the dark, guided by the beam of light. Soon he found the tall building Julian had mentioned during his call, then, several yards away, the convenience store. But where was Julian?

Hansel walked towards the tall building briskly, channelling the torchlight this way and that. The light fell on the sides of buildings, the street, streetlamps, pavements and retreating shadows, but Julian was nowhere to be found. Had that call been fake? Was Hansel being played? Would Julian really go that far? Would he endanger him to this extent? Unable to keep at it I he called out. "Julian, where are you?"