The thing in your shadow had been there for as long as you could remember, teaching you as a child which corners or alleyways to avoid, which people to cross the street to avoid and you’d always feared that feeling, the adrenaline running through your veins. You could only feel it every now and then, like someone was following you or watching you even when you were home alone but it’d never tried to physically interfere with any part of your life and your never felt it whilst in someone else’s company. You thought it was normal, just that feeling you sometimes got, giving you the urge to walk faster or even run to a well lit area, it was a feeling most people got, nothing to be overly concerned about. So, when it happened, not only in the presence of someone else, but physically pulled you out of a situation you began to listen to it intently, giving it more control in your everyday life out of fear of something happening to yourself or someone around you.
You’d been out to dinner with a young, attractive man. He had short, dusty blonde hair with blue eyes and his smile was crooked but welcoming. He seemed nice enough, smart and inquisitive. You finished your food and talked about things You usually do on dates, work, family, friends, before walking back to his car. It was dark, the street lights not giving a lot of leeway to see your surroundings when suddenly the usual tingle went down your spine, nearly stopping you in your tracks but you ignored it, feeling relatively safe in the company of someone else. When you reached the car he opened the door and you were about to get in when you felt the first hand grab you, this one belonging to the man, his grip tightening as you registered what was happening, he reached down with his other hand to unzip his pants when you screamed for the first time, earning you a crisp slap to the side of the face, forcing your head to smack against the car door and lose your balance, falling to the floor you felt the familiar sensation down your spine again, this time it didn’t stop until it felt as if someone were gripping both of your arms and dragging you backwards. The dragging stopped and suddenly the man was being thrown across the parking lot, his head hitting the side mirror of another car before he hit the floor. He got to his feet, telling at whatever or whoever was attacking him. Then you saw it, nothing but a shadow but an outline sharp enough to see, walking back over to the man, reaching down and touching him on the cheek. The man screamed, his eyes turning a dark shade of red before they started tearing blood and liquidating in his skull. The silhouette rose, making its way back towards you and kneeling down to touch your cheek ever so gently but no scream escaped your lips and it seemed to smile, removing its hand and walking around your limp body, laying itself gently on your back and taking its rightful place behind you.
