The Boogeywoman
Synopsis: Very incomplete story about a young woman who is literally born out of shadow, written for Nanowrimo 2015. I may return to this someday.
The Boogeywoman
I can't stand attention. Yet I need it more than anyone. I've been wandering in the night, following others around, ever since I can remember, which isn't long.
I'm what they call a Shadow- not shadow as “darkness”, but as in the verb- I follow people. Shadows are odd, quiet sorts. We cannot affect the physical world without a more physical being noticing us first. It takes sight, sound, smell and touch for us to become concrete... but too much attention makes us too concrete, far too vulnerable. That's also why we are called Shadows- we do not like the light, for it makes it too easy for eyes to focus on us. But lights alone do not deter us. Sometimes I wonder what I really look like, though.
Now, I see myself as a young woman with dark-haired, wearing off-white jeans, a black collar and black and red jacket. Why? I don't really have a definite form, I just like this look and choose to appear this way to myself. But what others will see... can vary. Some will, the next day after an encounter, mention meeting a man in a trenchcoat, or perhaps a tall faceless figure in a suit or a prowler in a hoodie. Some will even mistake me for another creature of the night, though anyone truly in the know could probably tell I am a textbook Shadow. It seems to be that one's imagination will fill in the blanks very generously. Sometimes if I get too close to a light, they can see something close to what I really am- maybe with different colors or some different facial features, but certainly a young woman who seems to hug the shade a little too closely.
There aren't many like my kind. We have no use for each other, and I do not find them pleasant company. In any case, I have rarely seen another Shadow and they had even less interest in me than I they. So instead, I focus on the humans.
The common human being is sharper than they give themselves credit for. Well, I mean sharper as in senses. All it takes is a slight stir of the air or a glimpse through the corner of an eye to give me that feeling of relief, of being noticed and real. Then I follow them. But not closely. There is no point in alarming them. Usually, a human will perk up a bit and remain a bit more wary upon detecting my presence, but otherwise allow me, willingly or not, to follow them and exist as long as I give them a “reminder” of my presence now and then. A little rattle here or there, or perhaps a fleeting split second lingering in their vision before I move away. But if they should turn their heads, I will leave their vision instantly more often than not, or check my footsteps that I should not make obvious my existence. It is a fine balancing act.
Should I tread falsely, and I have before, they will behave as you would imagine any surprised creature would. They'll move to safety, perhaps in a better-lit area or behind locks, or if especially rattled, even get attention from an officer of the law or a passerby. And no, locks and walls won't stop me, nor will lights alone, but both together may. Usually if I alarm someone, I really have no choice but to leave. As I have said before, too many eyes on me will not end well.
In the daytime, there is little I can do. It isn't only the light, but rather that there are too many people going about their day. I usually explore the city's abandoned subway system or an abandoned house or some cave somewhere in the desert surrounding the city. Sometimes I even sleep- an odd thing for a creature that doesn't breathe or eat or drink, but boredom is a common factor to anything with a mind, right?
In the grand scheme of things, I imagine I am simply a drifter. I exist and I survive, but all I do is watch. Usually.
Humans prey on each other, nighttime or no, that much is obvious. I will avoid having to witness such ugly things. A well-timed slam against a wall or knocking over a garbage can often does a fine job in scaring off those that would make the night ugly for others. This night, though was different. It was fairly standard, an oblivious lone human being stalked by another. I decided to watch, for now, as I always did. This took place right by one of my favorite types of haunting grounds, a bus stop. After all, I don't need to spend effort moving around quietly in a resting area. Today, the one being followed was in a hooded sweater- I surmise this was her daily routine, fearless as she seemed, despite the pitch blackness of the night. She did not startle at my little hints of presence. Nor did the human being following her. Most odd. I know when the humans notice me- there are little tugs of heaviness from my limbs, resistance of my feet against pavement, the reminder that I am becoming corporeal again. Like now. Both humans were quite aware of me, yet showed little sign of fear or curiosity. I decided to take a good look at the second human. The second human was similarly attired to the first, also in a hooded sweater, quickly gaining on the first one. As the first human sat down at the bus stop, the second one took pains not to be noticed, creeping silently along much as I do when I am physical, so I doubt there were benign intentions.
The second one got much closer, much like a lion stalking its prey. I decided to risk being seen and move forward, ready to intervene if I didn't like what happened. The second one then did something I have never experienced before, and looked. Straight. At. Me. I froze. The human's eyes were bright red, and along his face were white growths of some hard tissue. My night-sight is exceptional, but I had to doubt my eyes for a moment. He growled ever so slightly. I glanced at the female human- she had no idea what was happening, from her relaxed posture. The strange human kept looking at me, silently daring me to make a move. I wasn't sure if I could get away with doing anything now- his full attention and weight of his senses bearing on me made me sluggish and vulnerable- too corporeal for my comfort.
I knew for a fact that he could not attack me. Even if I were weakened by his stare, I had many ways to leave the situation, and he'd easily have to abandon his first prey. He seemed to know this too, and slowly advanced towards the bus stop while keeping his head on a swivel, searching for me as I attempted to shake off his line of sight. I make a habit of disappearing when not fully noticed, but I certainly could not intervene forcefully without being seen.
As he neared his victim, he extended a long additional limb from his sleeve... it was hard and light-colored, almost like a tendril. He lunged at the sitting woman. Her head spun to find the source of the jogging and then he struck her. The strange limb dug into her side and drew blood, and she fell to the ground, unmoving. I rushed forward at them. The abnormal human acknowledged by challenge by withdrawing a flashlight from his pocket and shining a strange purple-tinted beam straight at me. Against my instinct to avoid staying revealed, I kept running, and he turned to face me. He was clearly prepared, but so was I. I swiped two fingers clearly along his eyes, finding purchase in one of them and hooking my fingers in to gouge it sharply. He fell back, flailing his arms to fend me off, clearly not expecting a brute response from a mere observer. Naturally, I went for his other eye, but he recovered enough to anticipate my attack and and slam his bare hand to intercept my outreached arm. I felt a very sharp pain, and sure enough, there was ichor leaving my injured hand. I noticed strange hooks, also made of bony white tissue, extending from his hand, now covered in small bits of my flesh.
It was at this point I felt I had definitely stepped into something beyond my reach. Then he made the mistake of following up with his attack, clawing at my face like a crazed beast with his free claws, trying to get a bead on me with the flashlight in his other hand. A sharp low sweep to the shins toppled him over, as I sidestepped his falling mass. However, I did not see his strange extra tendril-appendage until too late, as it stabbed into my shoulder. The flashlight dropped to the ground as it did so, thankfully, reducing my physicality, and his sight narrowed to the concrete beneath us. The bladed tendril harmlessly swept through my form, Now connected with warm, safe darkness again, I drifted over to his prone-form and grasped him by the head just as he got to his feet. I showed him the darkness- the absence of sense, the fear all humans have, of having no body, no form and no identity. Nothing, nowhere, no time, he was no one in that moment. He fell from my hands before I could really get started and slumped back onto the pavement, curling his body into a ball. The strong ones usually still have the strength to scream when all their senses go poof, but he merely froze in place and drew only the most minimal of breath.
I wish I could have made it permanent, but perhaps there was a good reason I could not. He'd certainly live to attack people another day, but also certainly make sure to respect my presence next time we met. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe it wasn't.
Then I remembered the girl needed tending to. I floated over to her. She was barely bleeding, but she didn't move in the slightest, completely still on the floor. I tried to talk, but no words came out of my mouth. Wow, she must really be out of it, having absolutely no awareness of me. I tried to nudge her, but she might as well have been made of solid lead with the difficulty I had in moving her. Still no acknowledgment. I sighed and bent down to wave my hand in front of her face. Immediately I felt a slight tug of gravity again, as she had some idea someone was next to her. I kept waving her face and laid down to her level to show her my face. I felt the hardness of the ground now, so I definitely had her attention. “Hello?” I asked. “Are you alright?” She nodded very slightly.
She was a light shade of brunette, with darker skin and freckles. Shoulder-length hair and a very round chin. I couldn't tell what color her eyes were, but happily, they were not red. It would be too much if I had to be attacked by two weirdoes in one day. She slowly stirred to her feet and grasped at her injured abdomen. “What happened?”, she whispered. “Who... who are you?”
“I'm... a... well.... there was a guy who stabbed you. I think I scared him off.” She looked in the direction the attack came from and noticed the strange man's prone figure lying on the side of the pavement.
“Okay, so maybe I roughed him up.”, I admitted. She smiled slightly, the blood returning to her face.
“I don't think... uh... ugh....call 9-1-1 for me, will you?” She took out a small bright device from her, not noticing my instinctive recoil from its light (unnecessary at the moment, but habit is a bitch sometimes). She returned to pressing her hands against her wound.
I had no idea how to work the device. It had a bunch of glowy squares. I think people talked into it, but I had no idea which places to press. I stared dully at it, shrugged and gave her back the device. I think 9-1-1 was how the humans summoned guardians, but I didn't know how to do so myself. And besides, the number of people that would respond would have been too much for me. She didn't seem in immediate danger, so I tried to silently excuse myself and leave.
“Wait, who are you?”, she asked. I grimaced, absolutely not wanting to answer. “Please. I would like to know who saved me.”
I thought for a moment. “I don't know.”
“I... okay.” She seemed strangely content with the answer. I don't know how she was rationalizing this, what was going through her head, but what she said next definitely stirred me up. “My name is Katie... if you ever see me again... please, don't be shy.”
I wasn't sure how to react to that, so I did what I naturally do. I left her sight... and watched.
The girl named Katie made it safely to the hospital that day. My involvement was done once she was in other humans' hands. Or it would have been. If I had a gut, I would have called it a gut feeling. But it came from somewhere deep inside of me, that she would not have been all right if I just let things be.
I knew very little about the deeper workings of the world, but what I did know was where I could perhaps find a few answers.
There was a man named Crinkely who was often mentioned, in little whispers and tidbits, from people I suspected were not quite normal, much like our bone-covered friend tonight. Apparently this Crinkely knew about, and I quote, “spooky shit”, “boogiemen”, and “things that go bump in the night.” His name was often dropped when people were talking about things that their eyes just couldn't quite believe. The rest of the night I spent wandering through the streets, dodging an errant eye here or there, searching for this man. I needed clues and fast. And that was when I noticed it. A very small, modest building, filled with lights, both on the inside and outside. The screens were tinted in a strange color I can't quite describe, and there were various things written on the window that were definitely not human script. It was such an odd place, being so heavily-lit at night with absolutely no one around, but I thought, someone behind such a fortress of light would have something to hide. Information, perhaps. It was worth investigating, if not a lead in itself towards Crinkely. I stepped into the light, trying not to cringe.
And then I saw it. A paper stuck to the front door. “Appointment Only. -Crinkely”. I looked into the store and suddenly a face popped into view. He was orange-haired and young, thin and tall, with rigid, overdone movements, like he was perpetually uncomfortable moving around. He wore a vividly-colored vest with a strange geometric pattern that had to have some significance, but I could not place it. He stared me down like I was some sort of spectacle.
“Are you... Crinkely?”, I managed.
He paused. “What the hell is a Shadow doing here? Are you insane?”
I felt my face fold into a frown before I knew it. This was... perhaps the first time someone actually insulted me. I don't think I liked it. At all.
He then seemed to think better of his words. “I'm sorry. Are you here for me?”, he asked. I did not respond, still boggling at his immediate recognition of my kind and at being greeted with an insult.
He made a beckoning movement with his head. “Come in.”, he said, with a resigned air.
I stepped in, completely at unease with the brightly-lit environment and the strangeness of the moment. The building was a single room, nearly completely bare save for a steel table and two chairs in the center, and a bookcase and a counter at the desk. The floor was painted with the same strange insignia as Crinkely's desk, but the walls simply a pale shade of yellow, with large lightly-tinted windows along all three exterior walls. I have no idea what purpose this place served, or who could be comfortable here all night.
“Sit down.”, said Crinkely. “Tea? Coffee? Blood?” There was no sarcasm was he said “blood.”
Not wanting to worry him, I immediately replied, “Tea”, as I sat down.
It worried me actually, that this was one of the few times I have had to sit down. I don't like the idea of committing myself to staying at a single location. And being this brightly lit, I wouldn't last long if something went astray. But then again, maybe that was why Crinkely was willing to let a stranger in, if he knew how to handle their type.
Crinkely produced a small tray with two teacups. I wasn't certain if his awkward movements as he did so, causing the cups to clatter and shake, were intentional or accidental, but considering I had a run in with a weird skeleton man today, I suspected he wasn't quite normal himself. He himself shook a little, as if treading on unfamiliar territory, despite his recognition of my kind.
In any case, I accepted the tea and immediately drank it. It gave me no pleasure to drink it, or really none of anything. It was just water and it did nothing for me. I can't understand why humans do it. But the gesture seemed to put Crinkely at ease.
“So, what's your name?”, he asked.
“Uh...” I couldn't produce anything.
“Right. You're a new one aren't you. Do you have a job? A registration?”
I shook my head, not quite comprehending.
“Are you associated with the... entrepreneurs?” He twisted his neck sideways while saying the word, as if recoiling from the thought of these “entrepreneurs”
“I don't know. Who are they?”, I said.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. We can do business. What do you want to know?”
“I met a human who was attacked by a strange person with bones coming out of his body. I heard of your name here and there, and apparently you know things that...” Well, I didn't want to say “regular humans”, but...“... other people, don't.”
His eyebrows raised a fair bit. “So you met a Necryn and …”
“And I may have roughed him up.”
He laughed. “Any Necryn dumb enough to fight a Shadow or dumb enough to not win had it coming. So what about the person you saved?”
“Yeah, that's the problem. He stabbed her with some kind of... tentacle? Tail? Something sharp snaking out of his arm. And I think he hit me with some kind of sharp bone coming out of his hand. It didn't hurt much but...”
“But you're concerned of the long-term effects of a Necryn encounter. Right.” He leaned back in his steel chair. “Bad news first or good news first?”
“Bad.”
Crinkely looked down and to the left, not meeting my gaze. “Your friend has probably been infected. Chances are, if she got full medical attention quickly...-”
“She did”, I said.
“-very good, then human medics will probably remove the injected tissue that will eventually turn her into one of them. It looks similar to a regular human bone, but in a spot it shouldn't be in. Probably resemble a weird fracture, and they will almost certainly remove it. But just in case, you should check up with this person later.”
“Good news?”, I asked.
“Good news is that you personally have nothing to worry about. I've always wondered what a Shadow could do to someone who pissed them off, though. Your type generally doesn't get involved with other sapients, you know.”
“Uh... okay?”. I wasn't sure how to take it. In fact, I was kind of in a daze from learning a lot more about myself today than I usually do in a month.
“So how I do find this person?”, I asked. “I don't think she will walk along the same route anymore and it may be too late if I wait to stumble onto her by chance.”
“Well... what was her name?” Crinkely, with his uncomfortable jerky movements, produced a glowy device similar to the one Katie had.
“Uh... Katie.”
“Last name?”, he asked.
“... what name?”
Crinkely gave a sharp sigh. “Humans typically have at least two names. One that is specific to that individual, and one that is inherited from their family. Katie is an individual name, did she have a second name?”
“Um... no.”, I said.
“Then I'm afraid Google can't help you. I don't know any Katies, personally. And unless you two have a mutual acquaintance, I'm afraid finding her will be fairly difficult if you lost track of her.”, Crinkely said.
“Well, I could try the hospital they left her at.”
“You followed the ambulance?”, he asked. I nodded. “That's... hm... I haven't heard of a Shadow being so involved with a human. Really, you guys are known as hangers-on unless acted on first. No offense.”, he said. I wasn't sure why I should be offended. Crinkely clearly knew more about me than I did.
“Okay. Um... so can you tell me about the bone-covered people? The Necryns?”, I asked.
“Sure. They're flesh-eaters, carnivores. Typically they won't eat or attack people, but some of them go batty. They're humans infected with a transforming disease, to the point where they can't be considered physiologically human anymore. But the disease isn't very contagious, and they usually don't feel the need to spread. Really, they're not a bad lot, you just ran across one of them that happened to be dangerous. I hope you put him down for good.”
“N-no... I didn't. I can't.”, I said.
“Oh. Well-”
“Wait.”, I said. “He did seem prepared to fight me, though. He had a strange flashlight-”
“Did it burn your skin?”
“No. But it was strangely purple-colored.”
“Ah. Probably a UV flashlight.” Clearly noticing my lack of comprehension, he explained. “Ultraviolet rays, like those from the sun, hurt a lot of you 'things that go bump in the night'. You Shadows probably would treat it like regular light, but a lot of other people, such as other Necryns, would take very poorly to it, whereas they have no problem with ordinary light from, say, a street lamp or indoors lighting. This guy was clearly expecting trouble.”
“I see.” I wasn't sure what to make of it, but it was handy to know.
We spent a few hours talking about other creatures, about me and about what I'd seen. He clearly had nothing better to do. It made me wonder exactly what this place was used for. I don't recall a lot of it. It was getting close to daylight by this point.
“Look, if you need a dark, quiet place to stay, you can sleep upstairs.”
“Okay.” I looked around for the stairs. “... there's no way up.”
Crinkely flicked a light switch. Huh. I hoped he didn't expect me to float through the ceiling into the attic or something. I don't like tight spaces.
Instead, a large panel on the wall revealed itself and unfolded to show a small set of stairs.
Crinkely waved his hands in his usual uncoordinated manner, probably intended to be a welcoming gesture. Then he remembered something. “Oh right. If someone ever expects you to walk through walls blindly, don't do it. A lot of you Shadows get roped into working for the... uh... you know what you're best not knowing.”
I could barely acknowledge him. I was actually getting tired, for once. Having a physical body for this long must do that to you. Fatigue beat my curiosity for once. He took me up the stairs, up to the upper story. I plopped onto a sofa and fell asleep for the first time ever.
Waking up is a strange experience, like my mind coming back into existence all of a sudden. I think he expected me to be groggy, but I was wide awake the moment I came to. He spoke slowly and quietly, as if implicitly apologizing for breaking a deep sleep. 'Sun's setting. You should probably go check on this Katie person. I trust you don't need help finding your way there.” I got up and nodded. He purposefully looked away, as if expecting me to melt into the shadows. So I walked down the stairs.
I was in Crinkely's home, after all. Probably should follow his rules. On the way out the door, I noticed that there was a line of salt sprayed along the borders of the establishment. I think I should ask him about that later.
I remember a lot about this city, even if I tend to forget about the people in it. Past the park, across the highway, through that statue of that one human, and … there we go. Elisha General Hospital. Barely anyone here at night. Moving unseen was a breeze, and even walls couldn't stop me if no one could see me. But first, I made sure to peer into every lit window to tell who was where. Every window told a story, but I was only interested in one. No one was outdoors, it was like a ghost town, so no one would really mind me floating up to every floor to see who's in there.
Katie was on the second floor. She seemed to be doing okay. She was in bed, all wrapped up in bandages, poking at that glowy square thing from before. I really should have asked Crinkely about those devices. But with how little I seemed to know, even a few hours of conversation wasn't enough.
She noticed me through the window and waved, a big smile creeping onto her face. What? Had she looked through the window at the exact moment appeared, or... did she know I was coming?
“Oh hey. You went to the trouble of climbing up, huh?”, she said.
“I... yes. I did.” There really wasn't anything else I could say. And she noticed me with such odd nonchalance. Was it expected for humans to visit brief acquaintances by scaling buildings and peering into their hospital rooms? It wasn't, right?
“It's nice to see you again! ”, Katie said.
I wasn't sure if she could hear me clearly through the windows. At least, it wasn't a proper conversation. “Look, I can't- I should-”
With a sigh, I vanished through the wall, into the room, before two things hit me. First, I just moved through a wall in front of a regular human. Second, with Katie's full attention on me, that should have been impossible. I stared at my hands for a second. I felt material. But at the same time I just went through a wall.
Katie suddenly sat forward with the expression of a small child witnessing fireworks for the first time. “Whoa! I thought you were some kind of ghost! Awesome!”
“Wait, what?! I'm no ghost... I... huh.” I had to sit down to think about it. My head was spinning from the implications. I... I didn't remember anything, from a past life and I didn't have any kind of attachments to anything... that's how the stories about ghosts went right? Still, I looked human and acted human (kind of) and wasn't...
No...
Katie gave an excited, almost conspiratorial laugh. “Wow wow wow wow wow! I didn't know ghosts existed. This is awesome!”
“Uh... I'll have to get back to you on that.” I knew I came here for some reason right? If I could get my head to stop spinning, I'd remember it... oh right.
“I, um, was told that the guy who attacked you was carrying some sort of disease. The doctors who looked over you.... they found, uh, an extra bone or something inside of you, right?”
“Yeah. They said it was the weirdest thing ever because it didn't look like a fracture, but rather that part of someone's hand broke off in me or something. They thought it was infected, so they cut it out, which they said would delay healing a bit, but was better than leaving a sharp thing next to my liver.”
“Yes, Katie, it was infected.” In a different sort of way than you think, I mentally added. Then I said, “You're doing alright now?”
“Yeeep. So, what's your name?”, she said, like an impatient child.
“Huh. I don't think I ever thought to come up with one. I don't talk to people much... so I didn't really need a name, I guess?”
“I like your jacket. It looks like a butterfly.”
My jacket was simple and black, with large red spots on some of the borders. But it was unusual that she saw me clearly as what I wanted to look like. Then again, this was the first time I had a straight-up regular conversation with a human being. Maybe all they would see me clearly if I showed myself fully. Not that that would happen regularly, though.
“Name... name... hm, how about... Isra? Somehow that name stands out to me.”
“I like it.”, I said, not entirely sincerely, avoiding eye contact. I wanted to move to another part of the conversation.
“So, what do you do, Isra?”
“I... uh. Follow people around?” Cat was out of the bag. “Literally. That's what my kind does. We shadow people around and just watch. Or at least that's what I usually feel like doing.”
“So you don't go around saving ladies from muggers usually?”
“I couldn't just let it happen. Uh... so what will you do now, Katie?”
“I dunno. My life sucks right now. I doubt my boss will be . Maybe I'll hang around you more. You're the first interesting thing that's happened in a while.” She seemed to think better of the remark as her hands grasped against her injured side. “Okay, first good interesting thing.”
The conversation that followed was largely like those I witnessed between humans every night. We exchanged tidbits on each others' lives (not that I really had much to offer besides what little I overheard). She complimented my hair ,which was flattering, considering I never spent any time even deciding what it looked like. I had to appreciation her lack of questions about “what is being a ghost like” (still wasn't sure I was a ghost or what), which you would think a human would spout over and over once they witnessed something odd like me. Overall, I didn't mind someone's full attention for once.
Suddenly, the doorknob clicked. I remembered I was a decided uninvited guest here and moreover, not willing to deal with multiple people noticing me at once. It took but a thought. To my surprise, there was no resistance to leaving the building through solid wall. Which was strange, since I should have become even more concrete once a second person was aware of my voice. Although I should have just been glad that I didn't loudly pancake against the wall in my haste (the first time that happened was really something else, but that's neither here nor now).
The nurse came in, wondering it sounded like two people talking. Katie put the device up to her ears and continued talking, probably trying to cover for me. It seemed to work. I didn't want to keeping looking through the window, in case the nurse noticed me, like Katie did.
With that said, it was time to go back to Crinkely. I had a lot of questions still, and Katie raised another, very good one.
Crinkely was at... home? I think it was his home. Well, the same spot as before. Actually, thinking about it, I was quite good with directions for someone who never decided to go anywhere specific until recently. The same store with its lights. I cringed at the thought of voluntarily entering again- the last 24 hours were much more stimulation than I typically had in a week. But these questions wouldn't answer themselves and I couldn't be sure Crinkely was always here.
He had another visitor sitting with him at the same table. A man in a tight black full-body suit- I can't call it a jumpsuit, but it was quite odd and form-fitting, and a strange black glass mask. I couldn't notice any of his features, besides an average build and the fact that he was and pointing accusatorially at Crinkely. I didn't like the looks of it, but I decided to watch, as I usually do.
I couldn't hear what they were yelling about. Suddenly, the man in the skinsuit sat up and pointed a gun at Crinkely's abdomen. Crinkely sat up and hopped back a bit, evidently not expecting any of it. The man with the gun started gesticulating like he was giving orders. Crinkely's expression was as someone caught between a rock and hard place. I definitely didn't think it would have ended well, and I wasn't going to have my answers or a friend die on me.
Since neither of them noticed me, I had exactly one shot at this. I could pop into the room, lights or no, and had a moment before both of them noticed me and made me concrete again. Anything less than direct action against the gunman would probably startle him and get Crinkely shot.
I materialized a few feet to the side of the gunman and tackled him to the ground. I was immediately rewarded with a hard smack on the head before he hit the ground. He was much faster than I thought. As my head pushed to the side, I tried to grab at his gun, but it wasn't where I thought it would be. In panic, I dropped an elbow into his abdomen, buying me a split second to roll to the side. But then I felt a sharp tug around me and Crinkely grunted, and the man yelped in pain as something flew and impacted against a window.
Then something really hurt and my vision went black and red for a second. I'm guessing I took a solid punch to the face. The next thing I saw was a quick blur as a black round object loomed larger. Instinctively, I clumsily parried the follow up punch and returned the favor with a sharp right. The man sidestepped and leaned his arm against the side of the strike, before using that arm to launch another punch. I half-stumbled, half-backpedaled to avoid the counter. I think I had a good look at him. He moved like a human, but wasn't afraid in the slightest despite the two on one odds. Then Crinkely slammed a steel chair against his skull, causing a both satisfying and disgusting fleshy crunch as the man nearly melted onto the ground from the force of the blow. Maybe he was human after all. Crinkely discarded the chair and took my hand.
“Thank god you're here, Shadow. We have to leave!”, he started to pull me towards the exit.
Before I could decide to ask for context, a number of machines materialized into existence around the building. They looked somewhat like cars, but not quite. They were bulkier and didn't seem to have wheels.
“Ah, shit.” He sounded like he didn't expect to get out of this. He looked at the gun, which he had evidently kicked out of the man's hands. “You any good with guns?”
I shook my head. “Me neither”, he said.
More men in skinsuits filed out of the contraptions surrounding the building. They were larger than the first one, with bulkier suits. And they all had guns. Big ones. With flashlights attached. I didn't feel great about our odds at the moment.
“Hm. Wait!” Crinkely dashed towards the side of the wall and hit the lights. He then ran for the stairway. I knew exactly what he was aiming at.
A shot pierced through the glass, shattering everything, and a small contraption flew through the wall, before filling the place with blinding light and ear-shattering sound. Or it would have been blinding and ear shattering, but I didn't really have ears or eyes. All that did was hide my presence further.
The first person to come in I quickly slammed against the floor, almost reflexively. Crinkely knew I was there, so I had a little bit of solidity to work with. I left the building with a thought and pressed my hands against the back of the skull of another man in the rear of the armored men's formation. He froze before dropping to the ground, shuddering and gasping. His allies seemed to not notice, so I promptly struck another in the spine. He screamed about being blind, thrashing around with his arms, getting the others' attention. Ah. Shit.
I willed myself to disappear again. I spotted a straggler near the edge of another machine and grasped my ethereal hands around his neck. He gasped for air, panted and wheezed before slipping to the floor.
“Shit! Shit! We have a teleporter! Form back to back!”, someone yelled.
The armored men started to pair up. I counted. About five healthy ones left. The one without a partner ran back inside one of the large machines and started doing something to it.
“I think it's a jaunter?”, one of them said.
The man who was blinded kept screaming and calling for assistance. I don't think I shook him that badly, but clearly I didn't know what I could do.... give me a break, it wasn't like I did this every day.
“Jaunters don't leave enough of you to cry for help. I think it's a Shadow!”, said one of them.
They started sweeping the area with their flashlights. “What the hell is a Shadow doing, fighting us?”, another one of them said.
“Maybe a competitor.” “What? What enemy of ours has access to Shadows?” “I dunno, but there's a Shadow right here fucking with us right now!” The bellows of the blinded man punctuated the conversation.
I went after the one in the machine. I didn't know what it did, but it can't have been god. He noticed me as I reappeared beside him, conveniently enough. A good right hook sent him sprawling from the vehicle. Suddenly my world was awash in gunfire, as some of them armored men sprayed the area with bullets.
I ducked out of there and stuck to a nice spot on the other side of the machine they weren't looking in.
“Frag!” Something flew overhead. I vanished myself again, just as the spot I was just in was filled with a loud explosion and a cloud of debris.
I reappeared between the two pairs of gunmen and dived aside as I got their attention (vanishing was out once they got a good look at me). I don't think I jumped quite far enough, as my leg suddenly seared with pain, but I heard screams as at least some of them were hit by crossfire.
Oddly, despite a gunshot to the leg and all the associated feelings of pain and sickness, I could still stand. And walk. And run. I charged at one of them recovering from the crossfire and gave him a good kick to the abdomen. He lashed out with his rifle, I caught it and spun with the blow to remove it from his hands. He wasted no time drawing a knife and coming at me, so I pinned his knife hand with both of my hands. He struck me with his off hand, briefly knocking me aside, but I managed to relieve him of the knife as I stumbled back. He then drew a pistol. I threw the knife and landed it into his shoulder, causing him to drop his second gun. A solid haymaker to the head dropped him for good.
I looked around. The blinded man was still feeling his way around. Another guy was getting back to his feet, not injured yet. That would change. I seized him by the throat and could feel the fear radiating through his opaque visor. I channeled my anger into my grip. He didn't last long before he started laughing maniacally, then gurgling and choking on his laughter. I dropped him in surprise and revulsion. I really wasn't sure exactly what I did to him, but apparently it worked.
The blinded man shook his head and suddenly, yelled, “Wait, I can see again!” I punched him through the visor, shattering it. He slumped to the ground.
I made sure nothing else was moving near me, then darted back into the house. Crinkely was downstairs again, this time with a backpack and a strange orange-paged book in his hands. He was kneeling behind cover.
I noticed that my knuckles were injured. There were large gouge marks all over it and it felt rather sore. Was that normal? I rubbed at the injury with my other hand and oddly, the marks disappeared, as if they were never there. I had never been hurt badly before, so this was a surprise (there was this one time or two with a dog, but I got lucky, another story for later).
Crinkely looked out of the window to make sure the coast was clear and wasted no time in sprinting past all the fallen gunmen and into an alleyway. I don't think he was particularly concerned about leaving me behind.
I caught up with him in an old, unlit subway tunnel. Man, he sure could run for a skinny, bookish-looking guy. He squatted down, panting and sweating. I made sure to step into his sight so as not to alarm him.
He froze a second before he realized it was me. “Oh hey, Shadow.”
“I... well... Katie called me Isra. I think it's as good a name as any.”
“Hm, alright, Isra. Good to see you again.” He was, understandably, very worried and I think he fixated on me as the one thing he had going for him at the moment.
“What happened back there?”, I asked.
“Uh... well, I think Divinus got sick of -”
“What's a Divinus?”
“Sorry. They're a bunch of slavers. They're the entrepreneurs, I mentioned the other day. Well, one of them. They're basically profiteers after people like you and me. Well, kind of, it's really complicated, and I don't think we have time to cover all that ancient history. But for me, they wanted me to sell out my people. Long story short, I said no a lot of times and this time they just weren't prepared to hear that.”
“Ah.”
“Hell of a job you did back there. I kind of panicked and hoped you would run away and distract them or something, but really, you seriously bailed my ass out of the fire there.”, Crinkely said.
“I... kind of have a history of that, yeah.”, I said.
“Oh, right.”
I remembered I was sore all over. “Uh... dammit. I think I got hit a few times. Do you have anything to help with that?”
“I don't. You don't need anything.”, he said.
“What?”, I asked.
“Incorporeal creatures like you are best thought of as waveforms or patterns rather than solid objects. They don't die from bleeding or organ failure, instead they have to worry about losing coherence as energy is applied to their bodies. Even when you transition to corporeality from others' awareness, you don't manifest vital organs. Rather, it simply becomes easier to apply energy to your form. Normally it would require psychokinetic energy or exotic weaponry to harm an 'incorp'. But when you are physical, simple kinetic energy is enough. If hit hard enough, enough times, regardless of by what, then you will simply evaporate and that's it. But it takes a fair amount lot of force even then, certainly more than to kill a human being.”
“Oh. Good. Is there any way to undo the coherence losing stuff, because I'm pretty sure I'm in still in a lot of pain.”
“I'm afraid I can't do much about it. You'll heal naturally, probably. I don't actually know. We can find out, I guess?”
“That's not reassuring. Also... Crinkely, I have to ask you. Am I a ghost?”
Crinkely markedly blinked a single time, as if for effect. “Phenomena such as ghosts... typically tend to be psychological misinterpretations of Shadow sightings, or collective psychokinetically generated delusions without independent existences or minds. Let me assure you, Shadows were never human at any point. Their, uh, your, origin is generally unknown, but they are not known to have any resemblance or commonality with formerly living persons. I mean, you don't even know what a phone does, so if you are a dead person, you weren't born in this century.”
I felt my shoulders visibly drop at the reassurance. Then I had to wonder. “What's a psycho-thingy generated delusion?”
“A psychokinetically generated delusion is the formal term for basically when a bunch of human minds thinking about the same thing end up fooling each other. It could form from collective belief in a legend, for instance. Generally, it's not very strong- human brains aren't very good at this sort of thing. Certainly it's not capable of having its own agenda or even doing more than a few simple tasks.”
“Ah, I see. And I'm not one of those things?”, I asked.
“Heavens no. You have a brain, right?”, said Crinkely.
“Yeah... well, probably not a physical one, but I see what you mean... So when you say 'my people', what do you mean?”, I said.
“Ah. Well, I'm a member of the subterranean species.”, he said.
“The-....?”
“Yeah, we live below ground. Generally we don't interact with humans much. I'm kind of a diplomat for them. Well, probably not anymore, I'll probably have to go into hiding.”
“So, where do we go from here now?”, I asked.
Crinkely paused for a moment when he heard the “we”. He then exhaled in relief at the implication. Well, it's not like I have much else to do.
He collected himself. “They'll send a second team after me. They know I'll definitely break if they torture me enough, so it's only a matter of cornering me. I have no intent on killing myself to save my people, because honestly I hate them all, but all the same, I'd like to live. And also, even the subterranean world doesn't deserve to be on the receiving end of Divinus.
“So, their second team will probably be much better equipped to deal with us. I suspect the guys you just beat up were a general task force, expecting to mop up with me, which would have happened without you....”
He shuddered a bit in despair. “They have Shadows, you know. Others like you. But they're not quite as nice, I imagine. I've never met one in person, but I hear stories. I don't expect they'll send them after us but... ” He pursed his lips and shook his head.
I scratched my head in confusion. Why would others like me do that? Work for these people?
“So... who will they send after us?”
“I don't know. Trackers, probably. They know you're a Shadow, so I think we can reasonably expect their guys to be kitted out for that. They'll be very prepared next time.... our strategy will basically be to make the search not worth the trouble. They'll call it quits if we can trash their second team, which I really doubt, or dodge them for long enough.” He inhaled sharply. “But the latter will be nearly impossible if they've hired trackers. I know the Fortress of the Unlit-”
“What's that?”, I asked.
“It's the single point of access from the surface world to the Subterranean homeworld. Well, the single point of access that doesn't take a nuclear bomb to make. It's damn near impossible to infiltrate, but their insistence on forcing me to spill everything I know about it means they have a viable plan, and just need something to shift the odds in their favor. I don't exactly have a key to it or anything, but a lot of its security features are impossible to determine without actually falling victim to them.” Crinkely finished his last sentence with a tone of pride. Fair enough, I suppose.
He continued. “They can't get their hands on another subterranean, I think. Which is good and bad. It means there's no one else to distract them from me, but also that worst comes to worst,... uh well, the end of me will mean the end of their leads on the Complex.”
“I thought- “
“Well, if I'm caught and there's no springing me, I want you to kill me. I can't bear to do it myself.”
“I don't know if I can even kill...”
“You can't carry weapons can you?”, he asked. I shook my head. “Well, you'll figure out something.” He sighed, evidently not used to talking about his own mortality. “Okay, we'll need allies. I don't want this to be all on you. I'll be honest here, I'm not very good at taking care of myself. I used to rely on a lot of contacts and clients during my information brokering, but Divinus convinced them to find... alternatives. I really should have seen this coming, that they'd eventually use brute force when they finally had me isolated.
“At this point, my list of people I can reasonably ask for help is very short, and my list of people I can really count on is pretty much... well, I don't know if I should include you but uh, it's not a long list at all. There are other subterraneans about, but revealing them would be a very bad idea, not least since they aren't exactly the kind with the resources to help or inclination to risk being compromised against people who would pick a fight with our whole race. For all they know, Divinus will chase them around instead of me.”
“How about contacting your people directly? Go the Fortress and find shelter there.”, I asked.
“Ehhh...”, Crinkely made a face.
“What?”
“Bad idea. Very bad idea. Don't me wrong, my hatred for other subterraneans isn't mutual, but that is the most obvious escape route. Divinus would be total idiots not to account for me calling home. But I suppose it's worth a shot anyways if we can find a creative way to do it or are desperate. The only way to contact them that I can think of, is to enter the Fortress directly and that will be difficult in my current condition.”
“Which is?”
“I'd rather not say. But I can say I'm not going to be able to go home in a state that is very conducive to moving around or hiding.”, said Crinkely.
“Okay... so what do we do next?”
“You ask a lot of questions, don't you. I have a few friends among the Necryn community. No don't worry Isra, they aren't anything like that guy you had to beat up. They're sort of the... well, I shouldn't say policemen, but kind like the peacekeepers of the underworld. There's a lot of them, and they can really throw their weight around. Divinus, or anyone else, has very limited pull with them. Closest thing there is to a governing body. We can't expect them to do too much for us, though, only find a few days of safety to rest and plan.”
I nodded at appropriate points. This was a lot to take in. I wasn't really following.
“Okay, now, Isra, a few things you have to remember about the Necryns. First of all, they don't like sunlight, but that doesn't. Second, don't sneak around. They have much sharper senses than.”
I can't stand attention. Yet I need it more than anyone. I've been wandering in the night, following others around, ever since I can remember, which isn't long.
I'm what they call a Shadow- not shadow as “darkness”, but as in the verb- I follow people. Shadows are odd, quiet sorts. We cannot affect the physical world without a more physical being noticing us first. It takes sight, sound, smell and touch for us to become concrete... but too much attention makes us too concrete, far too vulnerable. That's also why we are called Shadows- we do not like the light, for it makes it too easy for eyes to focus on us. But lights alone do not deter us. Sometimes I wonder what I really look like, though.
Now, I see myself as a young woman with dark-haired, wearing off-white jeans, a black collar and black and red jacket. Why? I don't really have a definite form, I just like this look and choose to appear this way to myself. But what others will see... can vary. Some will, the next day after an encounter, mention meeting a man in a trenchcoat, or perhaps a tall faceless figure in a suit or a prowler in a hoodie. Some will even mistake me for another creature of the night, though anyone truly in the know could probably tell I am a textbook Shadow. It seems to be that one's imagination will fill in the blanks very generously. Sometimes if I get too close to a light, they can see something close to what I really am- maybe with different colors or some different facial features, but certainly a young woman who seems to hug the shade a little too closely.
There aren't many like my kind. We have no use for each other, and I do not find them pleasant company. In any case, I have rarely seen another Shadow and they had even less interest in me than I they. So instead, I focus on the humans.
The common human being is sharper than they give themselves credit for. Well, I mean sharper as in senses. All it takes is a slight stir of the air or a glimpse through the corner of an eye to give me that feeling of relief, of being noticed and real. Then I follow them. But not closely. There is no point in alarming them. Usually, a human will perk up a bit and remain a bit more wary upon detecting my presence, but otherwise allow me, willingly or not, to follow them and exist as long as I give them a “reminder” of my presence now and then. A little rattle here or there, or perhaps a fleeting split second lingering in their vision before I move away. But if they should turn their heads, I will leave their vision instantly more often than not, or check my footsteps that I should not make obvious my existence. It is a fine balancing act.
Should I tread falsely, and I have before, they will behave as you would imagine any surprised creature would. They'll move to safety, perhaps in a better-lit area or behind locks, or if especially rattled, even get attention from an officer of the law or a passerby. And no, locks and walls won't stop me, nor will lights alone, but both together may. Usually if I alarm someone, I really have no choice but to leave. As I have said before, too many eyes on me will not end well.
In the daytime, there is little I can do. It isn't only the light, but rather that there are too many people going about their day. I usually explore the city's abandoned subway system or an abandoned house or some cave somewhere in the desert surrounding the city. Sometimes I even sleep- an odd thing for a creature that doesn't breathe or eat or drink, but boredom is a common factor to anything with a mind, right?
In the grand scheme of things, I imagine I am simply a drifter. I exist and I survive, but all I do is watch. Usually.
Humans prey on each other, nighttime or no, that much is obvious. I will avoid having to witness such ugly things. A well-timed slam against a wall or knocking over a garbage can often does a fine job in scaring off those that would make the night ugly for others. This night, though was different. It was fairly standard, an oblivious lone human being stalked by another. I decided to watch, for now, as I always did. This took place right by one of my favorite types of haunting grounds, a bus stop. After all, I don't need to spend effort moving around quietly in a resting area. Today, the one being followed was in a hooded sweater- I surmise this was her daily routine, fearless as she seemed, despite the pitch blackness of the night. She did not startle at my little hints of presence. Nor did the human being following her. Most odd. I know when the humans notice me- there are little tugs of heaviness from my limbs, resistance of my feet against pavement, the reminder that I am becoming corporeal again. Like now. Both humans were quite aware of me, yet showed little sign of fear or curiosity. I decided to take a good look at the second human. The second human was similarly attired to the first, also in a hooded sweater, quickly gaining on the first one. As the first human sat down at the bus stop, the second one took pains not to be noticed, creeping silently along much as I do when I am physical, so I doubt there were benign intentions.
The second one got much closer, much like a lion stalking its prey. I decided to risk being seen and move forward, ready to intervene if I didn't like what happened. The second one then did something I have never experienced before, and looked. Straight. At. Me. I froze. The human's eyes were bright red, and along his face were white growths of some hard tissue. My night-sight is exceptional, but I had to doubt my eyes for a moment. He growled ever so slightly. I glanced at the female human- she had no idea what was happening, from her relaxed posture. The strange human kept looking at me, silently daring me to make a move. I wasn't sure if I could get away with doing anything now- his full attention and weight of his senses bearing on me made me sluggish and vulnerable- too corporeal for my comfort.
I knew for a fact that he could not attack me. Even if I were weakened by his stare, I had many ways to leave the situation, and he'd easily have to abandon his first prey. He seemed to know this too, and slowly advanced towards the bus stop while keeping his head on a swivel, searching for me as I attempted to shake off his line of sight. I make a habit of disappearing when not fully noticed, but I certainly could not intervene forcefully without being seen.
As he neared his victim, he extended a long additional limb from his sleeve... it was hard and light-colored, almost like a tendril. He lunged at the sitting woman. Her head spun to find the source of the jogging and then he struck her. The strange limb dug into her side and drew blood, and she fell to the ground, unmoving. I rushed forward at them. The abnormal human acknowledged by challenge by withdrawing a flashlight from his pocket and shining a strange purple-tinted beam straight at me. Against my instinct to avoid staying revealed, I kept running, and he turned to face me. He was clearly prepared, but so was I. I swiped two fingers clearly along his eyes, finding purchase in one of them and hooking my fingers in to gouge it sharply. He fell back, flailing his arms to fend me off, clearly not expecting a brute response from a mere observer. Naturally, I went for his other eye, but he recovered enough to anticipate my attack and and slam his bare hand to intercept my outreached arm. I felt a very sharp pain, and sure enough, there was ichor leaving my injured hand. I noticed strange hooks, also made of bony white tissue, extending from his hand, now covered in small bits of my flesh.
It was at this point I felt I had definitely stepped into something beyond my reach. Then he made the mistake of following up with his attack, clawing at my face like a crazed beast with his free claws, trying to get a bead on me with the flashlight in his other hand. A sharp low sweep to the shins toppled him over, as I sidestepped his falling mass. However, I did not see his strange extra tendril-appendage until too late, as it stabbed into my shoulder. The flashlight dropped to the ground as it did so, thankfully, reducing my physicality, and his sight narrowed to the concrete beneath us. The bladed tendril harmlessly swept through my form, Now connected with warm, safe darkness again, I drifted over to his prone-form and grasped him by the head just as he got to his feet. I showed him the darkness- the absence of sense, the fear all humans have, of having no body, no form and no identity. Nothing, nowhere, no time, he was no one in that moment. He fell from my hands before I could really get started and slumped back onto the pavement, curling his body into a ball. The strong ones usually still have the strength to scream when all their senses go poof, but he merely froze in place and drew only the most minimal of breath.
I wish I could have made it permanent, but perhaps there was a good reason I could not. He'd certainly live to attack people another day, but also certainly make sure to respect my presence next time we met. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe it wasn't.
Then I remembered the girl needed tending to. I floated over to her. She was barely bleeding, but she didn't move in the slightest, completely still on the floor. I tried to talk, but no words came out of my mouth. Wow, she must really be out of it, having absolutely no awareness of me. I tried to nudge her, but she might as well have been made of solid lead with the difficulty I had in moving her. Still no acknowledgment. I sighed and bent down to wave my hand in front of her face. Immediately I felt a slight tug of gravity again, as she had some idea someone was next to her. I kept waving her face and laid down to her level to show her my face. I felt the hardness of the ground now, so I definitely had her attention. “Hello?” I asked. “Are you alright?” She nodded very slightly.
She was a light shade of brunette, with darker skin and freckles. Shoulder-length hair and a very round chin. I couldn't tell what color her eyes were, but happily, they were not red. It would be too much if I had to be attacked by two weirdoes in one day. She slowly stirred to her feet and grasped at her injured abdomen. “What happened?”, she whispered. “Who... who are you?”
“I'm... a... well.... there was a guy who stabbed you. I think I scared him off.” She looked in the direction the attack came from and noticed the strange man's prone figure lying on the side of the pavement.
“Okay, so maybe I roughed him up.”, I admitted. She smiled slightly, the blood returning to her face.
“I don't think... uh... ugh....call 9-1-1 for me, will you?” She took out a small bright device from her, not noticing my instinctive recoil from its light (unnecessary at the moment, but habit is a bitch sometimes). She returned to pressing her hands against her wound.
I had no idea how to work the device. It had a bunch of glowy squares. I think people talked into it, but I had no idea which places to press. I stared dully at it, shrugged and gave her back the device. I think 9-1-1 was how the humans summoned guardians, but I didn't know how to do so myself. And besides, the number of people that would respond would have been too much for me. She didn't seem in immediate danger, so I tried to silently excuse myself and leave.
“Wait, who are you?”, she asked. I grimaced, absolutely not wanting to answer. “Please. I would like to know who saved me.”
I thought for a moment. “I don't know.”
“I... okay.” She seemed strangely content with the answer. I don't know how she was rationalizing this, what was going through her head, but what she said next definitely stirred me up. “My name is Katie... if you ever see me again... please, don't be shy.”
I wasn't sure how to react to that, so I did what I naturally do. I left her sight... and watched.
The girl named Katie made it safely to the hospital that day. My involvement was done once she was in other humans' hands. Or it would have been. If I had a gut, I would have called it a gut feeling. But it came from somewhere deep inside of me, that she would not have been all right if I just let things be.
I knew very little about the deeper workings of the world, but what I did know was where I could perhaps find a few answers.
There was a man named Crinkely who was often mentioned, in little whispers and tidbits, from people I suspected were not quite normal, much like our bone-covered friend tonight. Apparently this Crinkely knew about, and I quote, “spooky shit”, “boogiemen”, and “things that go bump in the night.” His name was often dropped when people were talking about things that their eyes just couldn't quite believe. The rest of the night I spent wandering through the streets, dodging an errant eye here or there, searching for this man. I needed clues and fast. And that was when I noticed it. A very small, modest building, filled with lights, both on the inside and outside. The screens were tinted in a strange color I can't quite describe, and there were various things written on the window that were definitely not human script. It was such an odd place, being so heavily-lit at night with absolutely no one around, but I thought, someone behind such a fortress of light would have something to hide. Information, perhaps. It was worth investigating, if not a lead in itself towards Crinkely. I stepped into the light, trying not to cringe.
And then I saw it. A paper stuck to the front door. “Appointment Only. -Crinkely”. I looked into the store and suddenly a face popped into view. He was orange-haired and young, thin and tall, with rigid, overdone movements, like he was perpetually uncomfortable moving around. He wore a vividly-colored vest with a strange geometric pattern that had to have some significance, but I could not place it. He stared me down like I was some sort of spectacle.
“Are you... Crinkely?”, I managed.
He paused. “What the hell is a Shadow doing here? Are you insane?”
I felt my face fold into a frown before I knew it. This was... perhaps the first time someone actually insulted me. I don't think I liked it. At all.
He then seemed to think better of his words. “I'm sorry. Are you here for me?”, he asked. I did not respond, still boggling at his immediate recognition of my kind and at being greeted with an insult.
He made a beckoning movement with his head. “Come in.”, he said, with a resigned air.
I stepped in, completely at unease with the brightly-lit environment and the strangeness of the moment. The building was a single room, nearly completely bare save for a steel table and two chairs in the center, and a bookcase and a counter at the desk. The floor was painted with the same strange insignia as Crinkely's desk, but the walls simply a pale shade of yellow, with large lightly-tinted windows along all three exterior walls. I have no idea what purpose this place served, or who could be comfortable here all night.
“Sit down.”, said Crinkely. “Tea? Coffee? Blood?” There was no sarcasm was he said “blood.”
Not wanting to worry him, I immediately replied, “Tea”, as I sat down.
It worried me actually, that this was one of the few times I have had to sit down. I don't like the idea of committing myself to staying at a single location. And being this brightly lit, I wouldn't last long if something went astray. But then again, maybe that was why Crinkely was willing to let a stranger in, if he knew how to handle their type.
Crinkely produced a small tray with two teacups. I wasn't certain if his awkward movements as he did so, causing the cups to clatter and shake, were intentional or accidental, but considering I had a run in with a weird skeleton man today, I suspected he wasn't quite normal himself. He himself shook a little, as if treading on unfamiliar territory, despite his recognition of my kind.
In any case, I accepted the tea and immediately drank it. It gave me no pleasure to drink it, or really none of anything. It was just water and it did nothing for me. I can't understand why humans do it. But the gesture seemed to put Crinkely at ease.
“So, what's your name?”, he asked.
“Uh...” I couldn't produce anything.
“Right. You're a new one aren't you. Do you have a job? A registration?”
I shook my head, not quite comprehending.
“Are you associated with the... entrepreneurs?” He twisted his neck sideways while saying the word, as if recoiling from the thought of these “entrepreneurs”
“I don't know. Who are they?”, I said.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. We can do business. What do you want to know?”
“I met a human who was attacked by a strange person with bones coming out of his body. I heard of your name here and there, and apparently you know things that...” Well, I didn't want to say “regular humans”, but...“... other people, don't.”
His eyebrows raised a fair bit. “So you met a Necryn and …”
“And I may have roughed him up.”
He laughed. “Any Necryn dumb enough to fight a Shadow or dumb enough to not win had it coming. So what about the person you saved?”
“Yeah, that's the problem. He stabbed her with some kind of... tentacle? Tail? Something sharp snaking out of his arm. And I think he hit me with some kind of sharp bone coming out of his hand. It didn't hurt much but...”
“But you're concerned of the long-term effects of a Necryn encounter. Right.” He leaned back in his steel chair. “Bad news first or good news first?”
“Bad.”
Crinkely looked down and to the left, not meeting my gaze. “Your friend has probably been infected. Chances are, if she got full medical attention quickly...-”
“She did”, I said.
“-very good, then human medics will probably remove the injected tissue that will eventually turn her into one of them. It looks similar to a regular human bone, but in a spot it shouldn't be in. Probably resemble a weird fracture, and they will almost certainly remove it. But just in case, you should check up with this person later.”
“Good news?”, I asked.
“Good news is that you personally have nothing to worry about. I've always wondered what a Shadow could do to someone who pissed them off, though. Your type generally doesn't get involved with other sapients, you know.”
“Uh... okay?”. I wasn't sure how to take it. In fact, I was kind of in a daze from learning a lot more about myself today than I usually do in a month.
“So how I do find this person?”, I asked. “I don't think she will walk along the same route anymore and it may be too late if I wait to stumble onto her by chance.”
“Well... what was her name?” Crinkely, with his uncomfortable jerky movements, produced a glowy device similar to the one Katie had.
“Uh... Katie.”
“Last name?”, he asked.
“... what name?”
Crinkely gave a sharp sigh. “Humans typically have at least two names. One that is specific to that individual, and one that is inherited from their family. Katie is an individual name, did she have a second name?”
“Um... no.”, I said.
“Then I'm afraid Google can't help you. I don't know any Katies, personally. And unless you two have a mutual acquaintance, I'm afraid finding her will be fairly difficult if you lost track of her.”, Crinkely said.
“Well, I could try the hospital they left her at.”
“You followed the ambulance?”, he asked. I nodded. “That's... hm... I haven't heard of a Shadow being so involved with a human. Really, you guys are known as hangers-on unless acted on first. No offense.”, he said. I wasn't sure why I should be offended. Crinkely clearly knew more about me than I did.
“Okay. Um... so can you tell me about the bone-covered people? The Necryns?”, I asked.
“Sure. They're flesh-eaters, carnivores. Typically they won't eat or attack people, but some of them go batty. They're humans infected with a transforming disease, to the point where they can't be considered physiologically human anymore. But the disease isn't very contagious, and they usually don't feel the need to spread. Really, they're not a bad lot, you just ran across one of them that happened to be dangerous. I hope you put him down for good.”
“N-no... I didn't. I can't.”, I said.
“Oh. Well-”
“Wait.”, I said. “He did seem prepared to fight me, though. He had a strange flashlight-”
“Did it burn your skin?”
“No. But it was strangely purple-colored.”
“Ah. Probably a UV flashlight.” Clearly noticing my lack of comprehension, he explained. “Ultraviolet rays, like those from the sun, hurt a lot of you 'things that go bump in the night'. You Shadows probably would treat it like regular light, but a lot of other people, such as other Necryns, would take very poorly to it, whereas they have no problem with ordinary light from, say, a street lamp or indoors lighting. This guy was clearly expecting trouble.”
“I see.” I wasn't sure what to make of it, but it was handy to know.
We spent a few hours talking about other creatures, about me and about what I'd seen. He clearly had nothing better to do. It made me wonder exactly what this place was used for. I don't recall a lot of it. It was getting close to daylight by this point.
“Look, if you need a dark, quiet place to stay, you can sleep upstairs.”
“Okay.” I looked around for the stairs. “... there's no way up.”
Crinkely flicked a light switch. Huh. I hoped he didn't expect me to float through the ceiling into the attic or something. I don't like tight spaces.
Instead, a large panel on the wall revealed itself and unfolded to show a small set of stairs.
Crinkely waved his hands in his usual uncoordinated manner, probably intended to be a welcoming gesture. Then he remembered something. “Oh right. If someone ever expects you to walk through walls blindly, don't do it. A lot of you Shadows get roped into working for the... uh... you know what you're best not knowing.”
I could barely acknowledge him. I was actually getting tired, for once. Having a physical body for this long must do that to you. Fatigue beat my curiosity for once. He took me up the stairs, up to the upper story. I plopped onto a sofa and fell asleep for the first time ever.
Waking up is a strange experience, like my mind coming back into existence all of a sudden. I think he expected me to be groggy, but I was wide awake the moment I came to. He spoke slowly and quietly, as if implicitly apologizing for breaking a deep sleep. 'Sun's setting. You should probably go check on this Katie person. I trust you don't need help finding your way there.” I got up and nodded. He purposefully looked away, as if expecting me to melt into the shadows. So I walked down the stairs.
I was in Crinkely's home, after all. Probably should follow his rules. On the way out the door, I noticed that there was a line of salt sprayed along the borders of the establishment. I think I should ask him about that later.
I remember a lot about this city, even if I tend to forget about the people in it. Past the park, across the highway, through that statue of that one human, and … there we go. Elisha General Hospital. Barely anyone here at night. Moving unseen was a breeze, and even walls couldn't stop me if no one could see me. But first, I made sure to peer into every lit window to tell who was where. Every window told a story, but I was only interested in one. No one was outdoors, it was like a ghost town, so no one would really mind me floating up to every floor to see who's in there.
Katie was on the second floor. She seemed to be doing okay. She was in bed, all wrapped up in bandages, poking at that glowy square thing from before. I really should have asked Crinkely about those devices. But with how little I seemed to know, even a few hours of conversation wasn't enough.
She noticed me through the window and waved, a big smile creeping onto her face. What? Had she looked through the window at the exact moment appeared, or... did she know I was coming?
“Oh hey. You went to the trouble of climbing up, huh?”, she said.
“I... yes. I did.” There really wasn't anything else I could say. And she noticed me with such odd nonchalance. Was it expected for humans to visit brief acquaintances by scaling buildings and peering into their hospital rooms? It wasn't, right?
“It's nice to see you again! ”, Katie said.
I wasn't sure if she could hear me clearly through the windows. At least, it wasn't a proper conversation. “Look, I can't- I should-”
With a sigh, I vanished through the wall, into the room, before two things hit me. First, I just moved through a wall in front of a regular human. Second, with Katie's full attention on me, that should have been impossible. I stared at my hands for a second. I felt material. But at the same time I just went through a wall.
Katie suddenly sat forward with the expression of a small child witnessing fireworks for the first time. “Whoa! I thought you were some kind of ghost! Awesome!”
“Wait, what?! I'm no ghost... I... huh.” I had to sit down to think about it. My head was spinning from the implications. I... I didn't remember anything, from a past life and I didn't have any kind of attachments to anything... that's how the stories about ghosts went right? Still, I looked human and acted human (kind of) and wasn't...
No...
Katie gave an excited, almost conspiratorial laugh. “Wow wow wow wow wow! I didn't know ghosts existed. This is awesome!”
“Uh... I'll have to get back to you on that.” I knew I came here for some reason right? If I could get my head to stop spinning, I'd remember it... oh right.
“I, um, was told that the guy who attacked you was carrying some sort of disease. The doctors who looked over you.... they found, uh, an extra bone or something inside of you, right?”
“Yeah. They said it was the weirdest thing ever because it didn't look like a fracture, but rather that part of someone's hand broke off in me or something. They thought it was infected, so they cut it out, which they said would delay healing a bit, but was better than leaving a sharp thing next to my liver.”
“Yes, Katie, it was infected.” In a different sort of way than you think, I mentally added. Then I said, “You're doing alright now?”
“Yeeep. So, what's your name?”, she said, like an impatient child.
“Huh. I don't think I ever thought to come up with one. I don't talk to people much... so I didn't really need a name, I guess?”
“I like your jacket. It looks like a butterfly.”
My jacket was simple and black, with large red spots on some of the borders. But it was unusual that she saw me clearly as what I wanted to look like. Then again, this was the first time I had a straight-up regular conversation with a human being. Maybe all they would see me clearly if I showed myself fully. Not that that would happen regularly, though.
“Name... name... hm, how about... Isra? Somehow that name stands out to me.”
“I like it.”, I said, not entirely sincerely, avoiding eye contact. I wanted to move to another part of the conversation.
“So, what do you do, Isra?”
“I... uh. Follow people around?” Cat was out of the bag. “Literally. That's what my kind does. We shadow people around and just watch. Or at least that's what I usually feel like doing.”
“So you don't go around saving ladies from muggers usually?”
“I couldn't just let it happen. Uh... so what will you do now, Katie?”
“I dunno. My life sucks right now. I doubt my boss will be . Maybe I'll hang around you more. You're the first interesting thing that's happened in a while.” She seemed to think better of the remark as her hands grasped against her injured side. “Okay, first good interesting thing.”
The conversation that followed was largely like those I witnessed between humans every night. We exchanged tidbits on each others' lives (not that I really had much to offer besides what little I overheard). She complimented my hair ,which was flattering, considering I never spent any time even deciding what it looked like. I had to appreciation her lack of questions about “what is being a ghost like” (still wasn't sure I was a ghost or what), which you would think a human would spout over and over once they witnessed something odd like me. Overall, I didn't mind someone's full attention for once.
Suddenly, the doorknob clicked. I remembered I was a decided uninvited guest here and moreover, not willing to deal with multiple people noticing me at once. It took but a thought. To my surprise, there was no resistance to leaving the building through solid wall. Which was strange, since I should have become even more concrete once a second person was aware of my voice. Although I should have just been glad that I didn't loudly pancake against the wall in my haste (the first time that happened was really something else, but that's neither here nor now).
The nurse came in, wondering it sounded like two people talking. Katie put the device up to her ears and continued talking, probably trying to cover for me. It seemed to work. I didn't want to keeping looking through the window, in case the nurse noticed me, like Katie did.
With that said, it was time to go back to Crinkely. I had a lot of questions still, and Katie raised another, very good one.
Crinkely was at... home? I think it was his home. Well, the same spot as before. Actually, thinking about it, I was quite good with directions for someone who never decided to go anywhere specific until recently. The same store with its lights. I cringed at the thought of voluntarily entering again- the last 24 hours were much more stimulation than I typically had in a week. But these questions wouldn't answer themselves and I couldn't be sure Crinkely was always here.
He had another visitor sitting with him at the same table. A man in a tight black full-body suit- I can't call it a jumpsuit, but it was quite odd and form-fitting, and a strange black glass mask. I couldn't notice any of his features, besides an average build and the fact that he was and pointing accusatorially at Crinkely. I didn't like the looks of it, but I decided to watch, as I usually do.
I couldn't hear what they were yelling about. Suddenly, the man in the skinsuit sat up and pointed a gun at Crinkely's abdomen. Crinkely sat up and hopped back a bit, evidently not expecting any of it. The man with the gun started gesticulating like he was giving orders. Crinkely's expression was as someone caught between a rock and hard place. I definitely didn't think it would have ended well, and I wasn't going to have my answers or a friend die on me.
Since neither of them noticed me, I had exactly one shot at this. I could pop into the room, lights or no, and had a moment before both of them noticed me and made me concrete again. Anything less than direct action against the gunman would probably startle him and get Crinkely shot.
I materialized a few feet to the side of the gunman and tackled him to the ground. I was immediately rewarded with a hard smack on the head before he hit the ground. He was much faster than I thought. As my head pushed to the side, I tried to grab at his gun, but it wasn't where I thought it would be. In panic, I dropped an elbow into his abdomen, buying me a split second to roll to the side. But then I felt a sharp tug around me and Crinkely grunted, and the man yelped in pain as something flew and impacted against a window.
Then something really hurt and my vision went black and red for a second. I'm guessing I took a solid punch to the face. The next thing I saw was a quick blur as a black round object loomed larger. Instinctively, I clumsily parried the follow up punch and returned the favor with a sharp right. The man sidestepped and leaned his arm against the side of the strike, before using that arm to launch another punch. I half-stumbled, half-backpedaled to avoid the counter. I think I had a good look at him. He moved like a human, but wasn't afraid in the slightest despite the two on one odds. Then Crinkely slammed a steel chair against his skull, causing a both satisfying and disgusting fleshy crunch as the man nearly melted onto the ground from the force of the blow. Maybe he was human after all. Crinkely discarded the chair and took my hand.
“Thank god you're here, Shadow. We have to leave!”, he started to pull me towards the exit.
Before I could decide to ask for context, a number of machines materialized into existence around the building. They looked somewhat like cars, but not quite. They were bulkier and didn't seem to have wheels.
“Ah, shit.” He sounded like he didn't expect to get out of this. He looked at the gun, which he had evidently kicked out of the man's hands. “You any good with guns?”
I shook my head. “Me neither”, he said.
More men in skinsuits filed out of the contraptions surrounding the building. They were larger than the first one, with bulkier suits. And they all had guns. Big ones. With flashlights attached. I didn't feel great about our odds at the moment.
“Hm. Wait!” Crinkely dashed towards the side of the wall and hit the lights. He then ran for the stairway. I knew exactly what he was aiming at.
A shot pierced through the glass, shattering everything, and a small contraption flew through the wall, before filling the place with blinding light and ear-shattering sound. Or it would have been blinding and ear shattering, but I didn't really have ears or eyes. All that did was hide my presence further.
The first person to come in I quickly slammed against the floor, almost reflexively. Crinkely knew I was there, so I had a little bit of solidity to work with. I left the building with a thought and pressed my hands against the back of the skull of another man in the rear of the armored men's formation. He froze before dropping to the ground, shuddering and gasping. His allies seemed to not notice, so I promptly struck another in the spine. He screamed about being blind, thrashing around with his arms, getting the others' attention. Ah. Shit.
I willed myself to disappear again. I spotted a straggler near the edge of another machine and grasped my ethereal hands around his neck. He gasped for air, panted and wheezed before slipping to the floor.
“Shit! Shit! We have a teleporter! Form back to back!”, someone yelled.
The armored men started to pair up. I counted. About five healthy ones left. The one without a partner ran back inside one of the large machines and started doing something to it.
“I think it's a jaunter?”, one of them said.
The man who was blinded kept screaming and calling for assistance. I don't think I shook him that badly, but clearly I didn't know what I could do.... give me a break, it wasn't like I did this every day.
“Jaunters don't leave enough of you to cry for help. I think it's a Shadow!”, said one of them.
They started sweeping the area with their flashlights. “What the hell is a Shadow doing, fighting us?”, another one of them said.
“Maybe a competitor.” “What? What enemy of ours has access to Shadows?” “I dunno, but there's a Shadow right here fucking with us right now!” The bellows of the blinded man punctuated the conversation.
I went after the one in the machine. I didn't know what it did, but it can't have been god. He noticed me as I reappeared beside him, conveniently enough. A good right hook sent him sprawling from the vehicle. Suddenly my world was awash in gunfire, as some of them armored men sprayed the area with bullets.
I ducked out of there and stuck to a nice spot on the other side of the machine they weren't looking in.
“Frag!” Something flew overhead. I vanished myself again, just as the spot I was just in was filled with a loud explosion and a cloud of debris.
I reappeared between the two pairs of gunmen and dived aside as I got their attention (vanishing was out once they got a good look at me). I don't think I jumped quite far enough, as my leg suddenly seared with pain, but I heard screams as at least some of them were hit by crossfire.
Oddly, despite a gunshot to the leg and all the associated feelings of pain and sickness, I could still stand. And walk. And run. I charged at one of them recovering from the crossfire and gave him a good kick to the abdomen. He lashed out with his rifle, I caught it and spun with the blow to remove it from his hands. He wasted no time drawing a knife and coming at me, so I pinned his knife hand with both of my hands. He struck me with his off hand, briefly knocking me aside, but I managed to relieve him of the knife as I stumbled back. He then drew a pistol. I threw the knife and landed it into his shoulder, causing him to drop his second gun. A solid haymaker to the head dropped him for good.
I looked around. The blinded man was still feeling his way around. Another guy was getting back to his feet, not injured yet. That would change. I seized him by the throat and could feel the fear radiating through his opaque visor. I channeled my anger into my grip. He didn't last long before he started laughing maniacally, then gurgling and choking on his laughter. I dropped him in surprise and revulsion. I really wasn't sure exactly what I did to him, but apparently it worked.
The blinded man shook his head and suddenly, yelled, “Wait, I can see again!” I punched him through the visor, shattering it. He slumped to the ground.
I made sure nothing else was moving near me, then darted back into the house. Crinkely was downstairs again, this time with a backpack and a strange orange-paged book in his hands. He was kneeling behind cover.
I noticed that my knuckles were injured. There were large gouge marks all over it and it felt rather sore. Was that normal? I rubbed at the injury with my other hand and oddly, the marks disappeared, as if they were never there. I had never been hurt badly before, so this was a surprise (there was this one time or two with a dog, but I got lucky, another story for later).
Crinkely looked out of the window to make sure the coast was clear and wasted no time in sprinting past all the fallen gunmen and into an alleyway. I don't think he was particularly concerned about leaving me behind.
I caught up with him in an old, unlit subway tunnel. Man, he sure could run for a skinny, bookish-looking guy. He squatted down, panting and sweating. I made sure to step into his sight so as not to alarm him.
He froze a second before he realized it was me. “Oh hey, Shadow.”
“I... well... Katie called me Isra. I think it's as good a name as any.”
“Hm, alright, Isra. Good to see you again.” He was, understandably, very worried and I think he fixated on me as the one thing he had going for him at the moment.
“What happened back there?”, I asked.
“Uh... well, I think Divinus got sick of -”
“What's a Divinus?”
“Sorry. They're a bunch of slavers. They're the entrepreneurs, I mentioned the other day. Well, one of them. They're basically profiteers after people like you and me. Well, kind of, it's really complicated, and I don't think we have time to cover all that ancient history. But for me, they wanted me to sell out my people. Long story short, I said no a lot of times and this time they just weren't prepared to hear that.”
“Ah.”
“Hell of a job you did back there. I kind of panicked and hoped you would run away and distract them or something, but really, you seriously bailed my ass out of the fire there.”, Crinkely said.
“I... kind of have a history of that, yeah.”, I said.
“Oh, right.”
I remembered I was sore all over. “Uh... dammit. I think I got hit a few times. Do you have anything to help with that?”
“I don't. You don't need anything.”, he said.
“What?”, I asked.
“Incorporeal creatures like you are best thought of as waveforms or patterns rather than solid objects. They don't die from bleeding or organ failure, instead they have to worry about losing coherence as energy is applied to their bodies. Even when you transition to corporeality from others' awareness, you don't manifest vital organs. Rather, it simply becomes easier to apply energy to your form. Normally it would require psychokinetic energy or exotic weaponry to harm an 'incorp'. But when you are physical, simple kinetic energy is enough. If hit hard enough, enough times, regardless of by what, then you will simply evaporate and that's it. But it takes a fair amount lot of force even then, certainly more than to kill a human being.”
“Oh. Good. Is there any way to undo the coherence losing stuff, because I'm pretty sure I'm in still in a lot of pain.”
“I'm afraid I can't do much about it. You'll heal naturally, probably. I don't actually know. We can find out, I guess?”
“That's not reassuring. Also... Crinkely, I have to ask you. Am I a ghost?”
Crinkely markedly blinked a single time, as if for effect. “Phenomena such as ghosts... typically tend to be psychological misinterpretations of Shadow sightings, or collective psychokinetically generated delusions without independent existences or minds. Let me assure you, Shadows were never human at any point. Their, uh, your, origin is generally unknown, but they are not known to have any resemblance or commonality with formerly living persons. I mean, you don't even know what a phone does, so if you are a dead person, you weren't born in this century.”
I felt my shoulders visibly drop at the reassurance. Then I had to wonder. “What's a psycho-thingy generated delusion?”
“A psychokinetically generated delusion is the formal term for basically when a bunch of human minds thinking about the same thing end up fooling each other. It could form from collective belief in a legend, for instance. Generally, it's not very strong- human brains aren't very good at this sort of thing. Certainly it's not capable of having its own agenda or even doing more than a few simple tasks.”
“Ah, I see. And I'm not one of those things?”, I asked.
“Heavens no. You have a brain, right?”, said Crinkely.
“Yeah... well, probably not a physical one, but I see what you mean... So when you say 'my people', what do you mean?”, I said.
“Ah. Well, I'm a member of the subterranean species.”, he said.
“The-....?”
“Yeah, we live below ground. Generally we don't interact with humans much. I'm kind of a diplomat for them. Well, probably not anymore, I'll probably have to go into hiding.”
“So, where do we go from here now?”, I asked.
Crinkely paused for a moment when he heard the “we”. He then exhaled in relief at the implication. Well, it's not like I have much else to do.
He collected himself. “They'll send a second team after me. They know I'll definitely break if they torture me enough, so it's only a matter of cornering me. I have no intent on killing myself to save my people, because honestly I hate them all, but all the same, I'd like to live. And also, even the subterranean world doesn't deserve to be on the receiving end of Divinus.
“So, their second team will probably be much better equipped to deal with us. I suspect the guys you just beat up were a general task force, expecting to mop up with me, which would have happened without you....”
He shuddered a bit in despair. “They have Shadows, you know. Others like you. But they're not quite as nice, I imagine. I've never met one in person, but I hear stories. I don't expect they'll send them after us but... ” He pursed his lips and shook his head.
I scratched my head in confusion. Why would others like me do that? Work for these people?
“So... who will they send after us?”
“I don't know. Trackers, probably. They know you're a Shadow, so I think we can reasonably expect their guys to be kitted out for that. They'll be very prepared next time.... our strategy will basically be to make the search not worth the trouble. They'll call it quits if we can trash their second team, which I really doubt, or dodge them for long enough.” He inhaled sharply. “But the latter will be nearly impossible if they've hired trackers. I know the Fortress of the Unlit-”
“What's that?”, I asked.
“It's the single point of access from the surface world to the Subterranean homeworld. Well, the single point of access that doesn't take a nuclear bomb to make. It's damn near impossible to infiltrate, but their insistence on forcing me to spill everything I know about it means they have a viable plan, and just need something to shift the odds in their favor. I don't exactly have a key to it or anything, but a lot of its security features are impossible to determine without actually falling victim to them.” Crinkely finished his last sentence with a tone of pride. Fair enough, I suppose.
He continued. “They can't get their hands on another subterranean, I think. Which is good and bad. It means there's no one else to distract them from me, but also that worst comes to worst,... uh well, the end of me will mean the end of their leads on the Complex.”
“I thought- “
“Well, if I'm caught and there's no springing me, I want you to kill me. I can't bear to do it myself.”
“I don't know if I can even kill...”
“You can't carry weapons can you?”, he asked. I shook my head. “Well, you'll figure out something.” He sighed, evidently not used to talking about his own mortality. “Okay, we'll need allies. I don't want this to be all on you. I'll be honest here, I'm not very good at taking care of myself. I used to rely on a lot of contacts and clients during my information brokering, but Divinus convinced them to find... alternatives. I really should have seen this coming, that they'd eventually use brute force when they finally had me isolated.
“At this point, my list of people I can reasonably ask for help is very short, and my list of people I can really count on is pretty much... well, I don't know if I should include you but uh, it's not a long list at all. There are other subterraneans about, but revealing them would be a very bad idea, not least since they aren't exactly the kind with the resources to help or inclination to risk being compromised against people who would pick a fight with our whole race. For all they know, Divinus will chase them around instead of me.”
“How about contacting your people directly? Go the Fortress and find shelter there.”, I asked.
“Ehhh...”, Crinkely made a face.
“What?”
“Bad idea. Very bad idea. Don't me wrong, my hatred for other subterraneans isn't mutual, but that is the most obvious escape route. Divinus would be total idiots not to account for me calling home. But I suppose it's worth a shot anyways if we can find a creative way to do it or are desperate. The only way to contact them that I can think of, is to enter the Fortress directly and that will be difficult in my current condition.”
“Which is?”
“I'd rather not say. But I can say I'm not going to be able to go home in a state that is very conducive to moving around or hiding.”, said Crinkely.
“Okay... so what do we do next?”
“You ask a lot of questions, don't you. I have a few friends among the Necryn community. No don't worry Isra, they aren't anything like that guy you had to beat up. They're sort of the... well, I shouldn't say policemen, but kind like the peacekeepers of the underworld. There's a lot of them, and they can really throw their weight around. Divinus, or anyone else, has very limited pull with them. Closest thing there is to a governing body. We can't expect them to do too much for us, though, only find a few days of safety to rest and plan.”
I nodded at appropriate points. This was a lot to take in. I wasn't really following.
“Okay, now, Isra, a few things you have to remember about the Necryns. First of all, they don't like sunlight, but that doesn't. Second, don't sneak around. They have much sharper senses than.”