Shadows

by RaeAnne Hadley

  “I remember a few months where my parents were tense and strained, everything seemed forced for my benefit. They tried so hard to protect me but you know, kids pick up on everything, even at that age. I remember the day I came home from kindergarten, they were in the kitchen again but this time, Daddy was on his knees, hugging Mom. They were both crying, she was trying to console him and there were flowers everywhere. He kept saying, ‘I’m sorry, so sorry, please forgive me’ and she was murmuring to him, stroking his face that everything was going to be ok. I didn’t know it then but that was the day that they had found out his vasectomy had failed. Somehow, things had grown back and the baby was his.

  They saw me in the kitchen doorway and called me over to them, both of them crying and laughing at the same time telling me that I was going to have a little brother or sister. Seeing them so happy wiped away all of the scared feelings I’d had and I got excited about the baby.”

  Seeing the tears well up in Stacia’s eyes, Tabitha started to console her but Stacia waved her away. “No, I need to do this. I never have before.

  “Mom’s pregnancy went well but she had a complication call placenta previa. The doctor’s said they would monitor her and the baby and she had to be on complete bed rest, no lifting, standing up, nothing. Two weeks before she was due, her placenta tore. They were able to save my sister but my mother bled out in only a matter of minutes, she died before they ever had a chance to save her.”

  She stopped to not only regain her composure but to give Tabitha and Justin time to collect themselves. She could see they were both very uncomfortable but couldn’t see anyway to avoid it.

  “As my sister grew, it became apparent that Jennifer suffered from night terrors. My dad, for the longest time, chalked it up to her growing up without a mother. He put her bed in his room and for a few weeks, she seemed fine but then she started screaming at night, only consolable when the lights were on. It got to the point that she would sleep during the day and be awake all night. Because he was a single, working father, he had to hire a nanny to look after Jennifer at night. As that schedule started to encroach upon his work, he hired her full time and Jennifer and I because accustomed to being raised by a nanny.

  “I remember her always crying or being fussy when it became dark. Dad said it was because of colic, always trying to come up for logical reasons, but the nanny didn’t believe him. She said it was because of the Diablo sombra, shadow devil, and would go around making the sign of the cross. Dad always joked about her being a little loco and we giggled with him, but we girls always wondered if she was right.

  “When Jennifer got older and started to talk, she would point to the corners, under the bed or couch and sob ‘monster, monster!’. It got harder and harder to dismiss it as normal, childhood fears.

  “Dad took her to doctors, so many of them, and they all told him she was just going through a normal nightmare phase, some children experience it more vividly than others. Dad was told to just give it time and she would outgrow it. When it didn’t get better, Dad took her back to all those doctors. This time, they said she had ADHD, attention deficit hyper disorder, with a vivid imagination and gave her drugs. I don’t remember what they were but they didn’t seem to help. I recall one night, she was five and I was eleven, she snuck into my room and curled up under the covers with me, she did that a lot. But on this night, she held my hand so tight and she asked me, ‘Why is God punishing me? Is it because I killed our Mommy?’.

  “She was so sincere, that it broke my heart. I hugged her tight and kissed her on the cheek. I told her, ‘No, honey, you didn’t kill Mama and God isn’t punishing you. You’re a good girl.’

  “’Then why am I the only one who sees the shadow monsters? They scare me and they follow me everywhere.’

  “She went on to describe them and the first time I saw one, it looked exactly like she had described it. I will always be sorry that I could never tell her that she wasn’t crazy or being punished, that I saw them too.”

  Tabitha gently asked the question she thought she already knew the answer to. “Is Jennifer dead?”

  “Yes, she died right after her twelfth birthday. She had been swimming in our pool, she was an excellent swimmer, on the swim team even. Our nanny went out to call her in for lunch and found her in the pool face down. The autopsy said she’d drowned but I never believed it, as I said, she was on the junior swim team and always practiced safety. They’d found a bruise on her left ankle and surmised that somehow she got sucked into the pump drain and the pressure held her down, causing her to drown. If that’s what happened, why wasn’t she still down at the bottom of the pool? I think one of those bastards got a hold of her ankle and held her under, her bruise the result of her struggling for her life.”

  Tabitha and Justin looked at each other, the same thought echoing in their mind. Justin finally voiced it, “A reflective demon?”

  Tabitha paused and considered the question now that it had been spoken out loud but shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense, they’re watchers, passive, not stalkers.”

  “Or so we think. What if I had been trying to smuggle that body out? What would that demon at the elevator have done? We don’t have all of the answers, we’re just assuming things based on our limited experience. We need to set up some controlled experiments, push them to the limits.”

  Stacia, not saying a word, stared at Justin and Tabitha. After clearing her suddenly parched throat, she quietly asked, “You had a body? As in, a dead person?”

  Tabitha quickly jumped in, “Oh no! Not a person, it was a demon, the one we captured in your office.”

  “You captured one of those things, on purpose?”

  Justin could see Stacia was unnerved and becoming a little unraveled. “After my family had been killed, I made a promise to myself to avenge their death. I know, it sounds theatrically romantic but I was just a kid and didn’t know better. As I grew older, I realized that I wasn’t dealing with a typical predator, they were unknown and unseen to everyone but me, until I met Tabitha. Now we’re working together to find out about these things and how to destroy them.”

  Stacia blew out her breath and took a drink. “It sounds like you are a lot more informed than what I first guessed. Do you mind telling me your stories? I’d really like to know.”

  Justin cleared his throat and looked at Tabitha. “Sure, Stacia. Tabitha, why don’t you go first?”

  For the next forty-five minutes, Tabitha told the story of her life since that fateful night when she was six years old, including her shiver experience during her interview with Stacia. When she was done, they decided to take a little break, allowing everyone to clear their heads, absorb what the other had said and to freshen their plates and drinks.

  Justin’s story took longer, Stacia interrupting with questions about his research and his experiment. He finished with their last experience, the reflective demons’ visit and when he disposed of the body. By the time he was done, it was nearing midnight and everyone felt physically and emotionally fatigued. As they all agreed to call it a night, Stacia turned at the front door and faced both of them.

  “Thank you so much for sharing such an intimate part of your lives. It gives me a lot to think about and see what I may have missed in my past. With it being this late and tomorrow being Friday, I want you to take a three day weekend.”

  When Tabitha opened her mouth to protest, Stacia put up her hand. “I’m the boss and I insist. Besides, I’m not going to hold you to that two week deadline, although you and I both know you’d get it done perfectly anyway. I’ve seen the samples and the plans for the office. The carpenters can have the bar knocked out in three days and the walls and carpet in four. You have exquisite taste and there’s no way I’m going to let you go, even if you weren’t helping me with my ‘rodent’ problem.” She smiled at Tabitha and patted her on the arm before turning to Justin. “Take her shopping, keep her in bed, I don’t care. Just do whatever you can to keep her out of the office. We all
need a mental break from the things that are going on. I have a suspicion we’ve just scratched the surface and it’s going to get a lot uglier.”

  Tabitha blew out a sigh and nodded. “You’re the boss. I will be there bright and early Monday morning.”

  “That’s another thing, don’t make it before eight. You’re gonna make the boss look bad.” Stacia smiled, then stepped in so quickly and gave her a hug that Tabitha didn’t have a chance to respond. When she released her, Stacia quickly went out the door, waving good night as she strode down the hallway.

  Tabitha watched her until the elevator doors closed to take her boss downstairs before closing her own door and engaging the locks. She turned and ran into Justin, who held a box of sea salt in his hands.

  “I’ve sealed the living room and the kitchen. Just need to do this door, your bedroom and the bath, then we’re sitting cozy tonight!”

  Tabitha grinned and stepped back, “I always knew you worked fast!”

  TWENTY TWO

  They didn’t leave the apartment for three days, throwing together sandwiches for lunches and ordering takeout for supper when they got hungry. Though they both enjoyed each other, often looking at each other and taking “breaks” to make love and be with each other, they both felt compelled to spend the weekend researching. Tabitha spent most of her time reading the books Justin had purchased over the years, while he searched the Internet for any similar hits for demons, religious or otherwise.

  During dinner Saturday night, while Tabitha nibbled at her meal and read one of the folklore books, she paused, frowning at a section that she had been reading.

  “Did you know that Chinese and Thailand folklore talk of shadow demons in their history and even the Germans talk about shadow doubles? It seems like every country, even every religion, documents and warns of creatures that go bump in the night?”

  “I actually didn’t read about the other countries or religions, focusing my research to only that within our own country.” Justin mumbled through bites of his smothered burrito.

  “I have a thought, maybe even a theory. What if every country, maybe every religion, has its own boogyman, with their own set of rules? What if the demons in say, Germany, only come out in the cold, like an abominable snowman, or in the Mexican region, they have the Chupacabra, that only seems to come out at night and goes after livestock or the weak, like children or elderly people?”

  Justin looked up from his meal and chewed thoughtfully, then he almost choked as he swallowed. “Good Lord, Tabs, do you realize what that would mean? For every country or religion, that we would deal with, would mean a new set of rules, a new way of having to deal with these things!”

  “True, that would be a possibility. But what if there is one basic piece of the puzzle that can be tied in with all of those things and we just haven’t figured out the commonality yet?”

  “Which leads us back to what’s here. We need to find out what their weaknesses are, how we can protect ourselves before we can start worrying about other countries, religions, etc..”

  “That’s true to a point, Justin, but remember, America is the melting pot of the world. All races, religions and lifestyles are here. I think we need to study the commonality and that’s what’s going to boil down to what their weaknesses are.”

  Justin put his fork down and ran his fingers through his hair as he blew out his breath. “That could take months, years even. We need to figure this out faster. Not only to give us some stability but now we have someone else depending on us.”

  “It might not take as long as you’d think. I believe if we buy a software program and plug-in all of the symptoms or stories of say five different cultures, this program would weed out the unnecessary information and list out the common factors. I think I can have it done in a month, once I find the right program.”

  “Do they have that kind of software?” He asked skeptically.

  “Well, not specifically for this kind of situation. But they have software for earthquakes, hurricanes, basically weather disturbances and I’m sure they have it for marketing. What people are buying, what trends people are going for, it’s just a matter of tweaking it for our own research.”

  Justin sat back and stared at Tabitha, thinking over this new possibility. “Damn, Tabs, it does sound plausible. Anymore ideas up your sleeve?”

  “Just give me time, my mind is always working. This is just like figuring out a puzzle and I love puzzles.” She grinned.

  “Oh, God,” he groaned, “you’re a master at the Sunday crossword puzzles, aren’t you?”

  “Sudoku and some online games, like mahjong actually. I find it keeps my mind sharp.”

  “Good to know. Are there other things you like to do, say, to keep your body sharp?” He asked suggestively.

  “As a matter of fact, there are.” She leaned forward and began to rub her fingers along his forearm. “I do yoga.”

  Not missing a beat, he took her hand and began sucking on her fingers. “I would love to see how you do yoga, you know, me being a novice and all. I hear the downward dog is very enlightening.”

  “Oh, it is. If you’d like, I could show you some very strenuous moves.”

  “My body is yours for the training.” He stood up, still holding her hand and moved closer.

  She stood up and started laughing, “You could care less about learning yoga and just want to ravage this body.”

  “True, on both counts. You’re amazing! I think we should add psychic to your list of talents.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply before pulling her down the hall to the bedroom.

  * * *

  Justin felt cool, damp hair brush over his shoulders right before he felt soft kisses caress his back. He lifted his head slightly and opened one eye to peek at Tabitha, fresh from a shower and very awake. He groaned as he rolled over onto his back, quickly grabbing her waist to keep her still, making her straddle him. She giggled and leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek.

  “What time is it?” He asked, trying to crane his neck towards the nightstand clock.

  “It’s six o’clock and I need to get ready for work. Breakfast is cereal or instant flavored oatmeal.”

  He groaned again but pulled her in for another kiss. “Mmmm, morning toothpaste. What are you doing to me, Tabs? Before I met you, I was always alert and got by on only a few hours sleep. Now, I sleep like the dead and don’t get up until morning.”

  “Well, if you can count how many times we got up during the night, and you were very alert during those times, you only did get a few hours of sleep. But if it really bothers you, I promise not to wake you up again.” She stated as she wiggled back and forth across his hips.

  “Not complaining!” He growled and helped move her hips a little faster.

  She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation before leaning down and giving him another kiss. “Mmm,” she mimicked, “morning breath and not as enticing. Especially since I had a three day weekend, I’ve got to get to work.”

  “So your going to tease me, then leave me? Devil woman! That’s just cruel!”

  “Sorry, but we have to get going! We’ve had three days to ourselves and now we have responsibilities and promises we have to follow through with. Remember, there’s another person involved.”

  Sighing, he released her and she scrambled off of him to go get dressed. “You’re right, save the world and all, it just sucks being responsible sometimes.” He groaned.

  She laughed and threw his shirt at him, “Yeah, tell that to the rest of the working-class world.” She left him to get dressed and went out to the kitchen to make coffee. Ten minutes later he came in, freshly shaven.

  “I’d like your opinion on something.” He whirled her around and gave her a deep kiss.

  Breathless when he pulled away, she stammered, “What was that?”

  “I wanted your opinion on how well I got rid of my morning breath.”

  “Oh! Very well, Mr. Murphy. Very well.”

&nb
sp; “Whew! That’s a relief. I didn’t want to have to try it on another woman.”

  Temper flared in her eyes and she pulled him in for another kiss, deepening the intensity.

  “And what was that?” His turn to ask breathlessly.

  “My way of showing you that your breath is just fine and if you kiss another woman, it will be the last time you kiss me.”

  “Point taken, and noted, Miss Reynolds, I will never kiss another woman.” He smiled smugly, enjoying the moment of her jealousy.

  While they ate their bowls of cold cereal, they talked about their plans for the day. “I really need to get back into the office to remove books and items from the bar before they tear it out tomorrow. I was hoping you’d be there when I was.” Tabitha explained.

  “I was thinking the same thing. Can you give me an hour before you do? I was going to go purchase a cat carrier before I come over.”

  “A cat carrier?” She finished eating her cereal and got up to carry her bowl to the sink.

  “I figure if we come across another one, we could shove it in the carrier and then cover it with a tarp. We need to get samples so I need to buy some microscopes and some slides.”

  “That’s pretty clever of you. When…” she stopped in mid-sentence as she was walking back to the table with a cup of coffee, her eyes focused on the living room.

  “Tabs, what is it?” He looked in the direction she was focused on at first, didn’t see anything, then he saw the faint watermarks on the television. Even as he got up to inspect the TV, she was crossing the living room to inspect it herself. The lower left portion of the screen was filled with small water spots. Tabitha went to touch them, then pulled her hand back as if they’d burned her. Suddenly, she got up and started towards the bedroom. “The bedroom mirror!”