Monotonous Work

All Hallows' Eve is a night that I dread.

Oh, don't get me wrong, the tacky decorations are fine. The hyperactive sugar crazed children are avoidable and while I sometimes do have to deal with a drunk idiot accidentally stepping into the Second World all I need to do there is give them a good scare and they usually find their way back home. No, I don't particularly give a damn about the human traditions of the holiday, they can do as they please for all I care. It's the less than human I take issue with. The undead, the ghoulish, the downright incomprehensible. For whatever reason, be it God or Satan's will these otherworldly creatures are so much more active this one night. Personally I think it's the human's fault. It usually is. They bring attention to the matter when they really needn't to. They should stop getting involved in things that don't concern them, maybe then they wouldn't die as much.

It was one of these death prone human's that I was watching right now. They had drawn a pentagram in red paint on some paper which they then laid on the ground and held done with rocks. They had also lit a number of dangerously flickering candles which I figure is the only reason why this so called ritual was being done outside. They were chanting gibberish that sorta sounded like Latin as their drunk friend tried to keep a straight face. Honestly I should just let it get them, it's what they are trying to do after all. They wanna summon a demon I should let it happen. But of course I won't. I can't loose this job. If I did I'd loose my main source of entertainment along with it.

Sighing I rolled my shoulders and stepped through into the Second World. Which fir those of you who don't know, is exactly like the Mortal Plane except light doesn't work they way scientists claim its suppose to, it's almost completely void of sound and also its infested with terrible, deadly creatures.

There was one in front of me right now. There wasn't much to it, just a giant writhing mass of shadows trying to force its way into the Mortal Plain to kill everything in its path. I couldn't really tell what it was and honestly didn't care. I just wanted to go home.

"Hey!" I yelled, immediately getting the things attention. I mean I assume I did, it doesn't have a face but its stopped moving, "ok just, leave the idiots alone alright. Then I won't destroy you."

The thing let out a grunt, it sounded questioning.

"I know you have an innate desire to bring carnage to the Mortal Plane and its completely uncontrollable, but consider this; you'd make my job a lot harder so please don't." That was actually a lie. In my contract it only says I have to stop the things from getting into the mortal plane, not that I have to deal with them once they were there. But unfortunately its the only selling point I've got.

Shadowthing tilted it's head, or at least it moved in a way that suggested the movement. For a moment neither of us said or did anything but then it let out a screech that could shatter eardrums and lunged at me. I was expecting it and still only just managed to jump out of the way. I'm tired alright? I'm working a double.

"ok, that was rude." I said dusting myself off, "I just brought these jeans."

The thing let out another ear bleeding screech and attempted to leap at me again but I flung up a shield at the last moment. The shadows if it body scattered and split against the translucent form and yet it Did Not stop screaming. Bloody dedicated it is. I'm almost impressed. My shield began to crack and splinter as the thing kept pushing against it. In all honestly it lack of durability was probably more due to my laziness than the thing actually being strong. It was just shadow after all.

I let out a groan and steeled myself just as the shield broke and the thing slammed into me. It shoved me through the air into the drunk idiots (who had taken off their shirts and started dancing) and right on through to the bushes behind. The shadow were bitterly cold, and I could feel the ice begin to form on my skin. It was probably a ghost then. Lazy thing couldn't even bother to form a proper body. This night really wasn't going well for me and it had barely begun.

Armed with new knowledge I dug into my bag I managed to pull out the right seal while also stopping the thing from completely consuming my head, which is an achievement in itself. My ears were really starting to ache at this point and so I wasted no time in shoving the seal into the mass of shadow's non existent face.

The good news was it stopped screaming. The bad news was it stopped screaming because it had suddenly exploded into a blinding burst of light which flung me across the street, right through the drunk idiots again, who at this point and seemed to have completely forgotten about why they had gone outside in the first place and were trying to see who could do a handstand.

I hit the ground hard, the wind pushed out of my lungs, and skidded to a painful stop. For several moments I just stared up at the starless sky too winded to do anything. But then I reminded myself I was on the clock and pulled myself to my feet begrudgingly stepping into the Mortal Realm. The streetlamps started behaving themselves again and sound returned just in time for me to hear the drunk idiots start singing Bohemian rhapsody, having no idea that they really did almost summon a ghost.

I hate my job.