If Shadows Had Names

They were surrounded. The loud rumble and impending darkness inched closer with every second. The trio did their best to bring their best fighting stance, fists drawn and swords out, but they did not hold out much hope. There was no way any sword, gun, or strategic combat plan could fight the thick black fog that was about to swallow them into an unknown territory. It was inches away from them now, slowly pulling them in the dark as they thrashed and kicked with all of their might, but it was no use as it started to consume them and call to them and-

“Kiera!” Someone called above the dark fog that started receding as Kiera became aware of her surroundings. Car with black interior. Parents in the front seats. Brother and little sister beside her. Fast paced countryside scenery flashing by outside of the tinted car window. Weekend road trip to a rented cottage. 

“What?” Kiera looked up from her book, feeling a little carsick from the 1 1/2 hours of reading in the car. 

“We are going to drop our things off at the cottage and then go out for dinner, so make sure you are ready, we’re gonna be there in 5 minutes”, her mother said.

Ugh. Kiera had planned her whole weekend at the cottage: going to the lake, hiking up mountains, sword fighting in a distant land, talking to fairies, and becoming queen at her coronation. Half of her backpack was filled with books of different genres, sizes, and worn, and she was more than happy to find a good place to sit on the couch and stay there the whole weekend only pausing to sleep or eat take-out. 

It was around 8pm, and it was getting dark when they arrived at the quaint and secluded  cottage. The area surrounding it was all flat farmland, besides the little pond that resided a metres away from the house. The house had two stories complete with a small attic that could be seen through a small circular window at the very top of the house. The outside of the house was a light tan colour with wide windows on either side of a medium blue door with the number 82 made of metal numbers. Surrounding the house and the pathway up to it was a thin garden filled with tulips and bush daisies as well as some clusters of purple he but weeds. Although Kiera preferred a book setting over a real life one, she had to admit that this really looked like something right out of a novel about fairies and talking animals. 

The inside of the house was just as decorative as the outside and Kiera made to take notice of this as she made a direct path towards the couch. As she was about to find out what happened to the trio consumed by the black fog, her mother had interrupted the thought for a second time. 

“Kiera, this was only supposed to be a stop to drop off our things, we should get going now.”

“Go without me.” Kiera said, desperate to start her weekend plans.

Her mother sighed. “ Well, what are you gonna eat if you stay here? We have no groceries here.”

“Bring back some chicken nuggets?” Kiera asked hopefully, because food was unfortunately one thing that books couldn’t give her.

Her mother did not answer her question, but she knew that her silence meant yes. As her family was leaving, her mother said one last thing before she went out the door: “Make sure you can tell the difference between real life and fantasy once you’re done your books” she joked, as she closed the cottage door.

The dim living room in which Kiera occupied was still and silent except for the crackles of the fire housed within a beautiful medium sized fire place with a few kerosene lamps on its mantle. Kiera got her book out of her backpack and took the magnetic magnet off the page and for the third time in only that hour she was interrupted again, not by her mother, but by the whistling wind outside that blew through the open window, taking out the glowing lights from all of the kerosene lamps with one blow. Kiera put her book aside conscious to put the bookmark back in its holding place as she stood up to close the window. She didn’t know how to light the lamps again, but at least the fireplace was still aglow. As she was about to head back to the couch, she looked over at the fire. Something about the fire on top of the wood looked unordinary, like it wasn’t glowing because the wood was burning, but almost as if the wood was creating the fire, remaining in burned. Like how a superhero with powers can summon their power in an orb of light without it hurting the user. Then, all of a sudden the fire started coming forward, the flames licking at the edges of the fire place, almost prodding Kiera to back up. As she turned around she realized how bright the fire was glowing and how the shadows of everything in the room suddenly seemed very visible. The shadows in the room were still, echoing the stillness of its object, where the only thing moving was the light flickering on the walls, produced by the fire. Kiera could see her own shadow as well, right in front of her, with her back to the fire. The silence lasted for only a few moments more because in a matter of seconds, the shadows of the couch, table, lamps, and Kiera’s bag were solidifying in a dark colour and shape and began to move from side to side animatedly, almost like a weird dance. The shadows grew bigger and bigger until the darkness crashed onto their respective items and ripped them to shreds. The couch was ripped with feathers and stuffing coming out of it, the kerosene lamps had crashed to the floor, small bits of glass spreading over the area, the table was broken in two, and the backpack had exploded with books and clothes littering the already damaged floor. 

Everything was a chaotic mess and Kiera was as confused - and scared - as ever. After getting over her frozen-in-fear stance, she went to the kitchen, where things weren’t any better. The drawers had exploded open and the wooden cabinets were stabbed with knives and forks. Doing her best to not get herself wet from the exploding faucet, she grabbed a bucket and tried to collect as much water as she could. Once the bucket was over flowing, she hurriedly brought it to the fireplace, where the fire was glowing brighter than ever, almost blinding. Kiera squinted her eyes, steadied the heavy bucket, and started tipping the bucket in the direction of the fire but missed it, as she felt a hand pull her backwards and onto the floor. She got up quickly holding onto the empty bucket, soaked in water, and turned around to see what pulled her back. A solid figure of black, stared at her. It almost looked like a person wearing a large cloak, which immediately brought Kiera’s bookworm brain to the thought of a dementor from Harry Potter. But this thing looked less scary. It was the same height as her, with long black hair. Her shadow. Before Kiera could get over her horror, her shadow had grabbed her, and was flinging her onto the floor again. As she looked up, her face was in front of the fire, and while it had been expanding only moments before, it had started to recede, and almost call to her. Kiera knew what she had to do. As her shadowed self was about to get one last strike, Kiera rolled to her front and out of the way. The shadow had stumbled and Kiera seized her opportunity. She pushed her shadow into the fireplace, and watched it dissolve in the flames. The fire hissed and smoke filled the room.

A knock on the door sounded before Kiera could properly congratulate herself on beating her opponent, and suddenly she was stricken by fear again. She looked around and the house was still in a mess. Kiera couldn’t imagine what her parents would do when they saw this. She slowly turned the lock and reluctantly opened the door for her family, ready to receive any punishment they gave and was beyond surprised to see that her family hadn’t noticed the mess and were looking content from their meals. 

“Hey Kiera! How was reading?” Her dad asked. She was speechless, back turned from the living room. She turned around and found that everything was back to normal. The smoke had cleared, the kerosene lamps were back in place, the table in one piece, her bag halfway zipped how she had left it, and the fire burning like a normal fire. But how? How was this possible? The house had just been overtaken by shadow monsters a second ago. “Kiera we got you chicken tenders because they didn’t have nuggets”, her brother said as he thrusted the take out container into her hands. Kiera was still in shock, but happy nonetheless to be back with her family in a normally lit cottage. She held on tight to her takeout and brought it to the table, pausing at the once ripped couch to grab her book. As she settled at the table, she opened her book to her bookmarked page to finally read about the fate of the trio, wondering if it had been a dream. 

And as the thick black fog covered the last bright lamppost, everything was still. It stayed dark, for many days, and the people inside were unaware of the light. The earth was covered in darkness as it wafted over the mountains and oceans. That is, until a single match with the tiniest bit of glowing fire emerged out of the fog. The last in the match box and a little splintered at the end, it came up and out, providing a light; just enough light to make a shadow. As the fire at the end of the match swayed and flickered, so did its shadow, and it continued to follow its movements.