Shadow Spirit

Ash Blake was suffering from depression. If you told him six years ago that he was going to be in such a low point in his life he would never have believed it. The first part of his life, right up to he was about sixteen years old were good, no they were very good, he was top in his school, he was fit, he was confident and he was looking forward to winning at life. But now for today's Ash that older Ash was just a naive kid who had never experienced the real life. 

Now at twenty-two, he was suffering from depression, his parents didn't believe in mental health and believed it was all his fault, he had developed strong social anxiety and everyone and everything around him was making it worse. He wondered ocassinally when did it all went wrong, and since he was smart even if nobody would believe it, he knew where it all started.

It all started the day he let someone else made life choices for him. But there was no point in thinking about that now, he knew that. The bottom line was he was stuck, stuck bad, and he needed something to pull him out. 

"Go to the shop down the street and get me these groceries!" shouted Ash's mom poking her head in his room, where he was attached to his screen, watching a web series trying to distract his mind from the fact that his life was shit. He knew there was no point in trying to argue, she'll just start up again and ruin his mood further. So he took the list, put on his hoodie, checked himself in the mirror and left the house. 

It was a cold morning, but the sun was out and sunlight was falling on some corners of the street, dividing the path in two colors, bright yellow and dirty grey. He as usual was walking in the shade. He didn't like going out, he used to before, he didn't know exactly what changed, logically most people on the streets would be stranger and they didn't know him so why was he worried about them, but it was what it was. He saw a couple walking on the other side, the guy was tall but not that good looking, he would look much better if he shed just a little bit of weight, the girl was dressed nicely so it didn't matter what she looked like, it was the same as those instagram models, if you look at their faces carefully you'll see they aren't that good, but they know that too, and so they do everything to distract you. 

His mood worsened, he pulled his hoodie over his head and hurried forward. He took a right at the next turn and found himself in a street with no sunlight, the temperature seemed to have cooled down suddenly, the houses were taller here blocking the sun from one side. He moved halfway down the street when he heard the noise of breaking glass on his right. He looked at the house from which it was coming on reflex, the boundary wall of the house was just a couple of inches longer and he could just see the top of the house. He kept walking forward not wondering about the noise. A few steps after, he heard another crash from the same house, this time he looked back and forth in the street wondering whether someone else was there but there was no one here. A sudden memory just popped up in his head, of when they were small kids and they would get on each others back and peak inside houses, butno way he would do that now, he was a twenty two year old man and he didn't look very good right now. But there was no one in the street and no noise from anywhere else. 

 He must have lost his mind he thought as he moved towards the wall. He heard something again from inside the house he wasn't sure what. He reached the wall, it was cold to his touch and he grabbed the ledge, looked both sides once more and peaked over. What he saw made his heart stop beating, the leaving room of the house was completely visible, the large window was open and the drapes were pulled aside. The lights were off, but the living room floor was completely visible and it was covered with blood. It was all too real, he could smell the blood, it was thick in the air, how could he not have smelled it before, or anyone else. He was rooted to the spot, what should he do now? he thought. The logical part of his brain told him he should get out his phone and call the police, the cops would come they'll take his statement and then he can go back to his fucked up life. Or he could do something else, anything else, but what? he thought. Should he jump inside, what if the attacker or whatever, he didn't even know what this was all about, he couldn't see a body. What if somebody caught him as he was entering and he was mistaken for the murderer, or worse what if he was still inside. The house was quiet, although he had heard the noises before. There was still no one in the street. He looked around once more, shut off any thoughts and pulled himself over the wall and dropped down in the grass beyond. He crouched and moved closer to the window, all the time looking around, more of the inside of the house came into view as he moved closer but he still couldn't see anyone. Soon he was right up to the window and he poked his head inside, when he didn't see or sense anyone, he looked at the blood on the floor, it was definitely blood, even though he had never seen blood like that but he was sure of it. Then it happened, he heard a breath intake and something grabbed his shoulders and pulled him inside the house.

A struggle ensued, his attacker had pulled him so hard and that he had lifted his whole body inside through the window, so it alarmed him and he knew he had to deal as much damage as he can and as soon as he can beacuse his enemy was most probably stringer than him, but he wasn't a trained fighter and it had been a while since he had exerted himself much. So he thrashed around, threw punches everywhere, one of them connected and he hit something hard and it almost broke his hand. A very bony and smelly hand clamped over his mouth and he started loosing consciousness. The next few minutes, he was in and out, he could only see flashes of light, he was scared shitless and he felt someone tying him up. He finally gained consciousness, he was in a dark room, his hands were tied behind his back to a bed's leg. His mouth was bound shut too. He felt something moving behind him and he tried to look back in alarm and saw with surprise a girl bound to the other side of the bed just like him. She had black hairs, which were shinning in the dark, she looked to be about his age, she was trying to get a better look at him too just as he was. As his eyes met hers, he saw fight and anger in them. She said something but he could only hear muffled grunts. She again said something this time with more force.

"What?" he tried to say with the cloth in his mouth. They squirmed like that trying to loosen the cloth over their mouths. Finally he felt the cloth slip past his mouth just as he heard the girl take in a loud breath. 

"Who the hell are you?" she hissed at him.

He wasn't expecting that question, he still felt like an intruder so he replied uncertainly "I heard a lot of noise, when i was passing by, I live nearby, I smelled the blood and then someone grabbed me and brought me here" he said looking at her with wide and apologetic eyes. She narrowed her eyes at him for a second thinking something.

"Did you see who grabbed you?" asked the girl.

"Not clearly, It was all very fast" he answered.

"Where is he?" he asked as she looked ahead.

"In the room with us" she replied whispering still.

"What?" he looked around "What are you talking about" the room was dark, the only light was coming from beneath the closed door. But then he remembered he couldn't see him before in light either.

"Where is it?" he asked now wondering whether the thing was a human or not.

"In the shadows somewhere" she said, her voice was now smooth and almost peaceful.

"Are you hurt?" he asked remembering all the blood. 

"No, nothing serious, that was my aunt's blood, down in the living room, it killed her and ate her" she said without much emotion. Ash on the other hand took this piece of information with dread. 

"It ate her? What is it?" he asked.

"Nobody knows exactly, a demon, an evil spirit" she said.

Ash pulled hard on his bounds trying to get out.

"Its no use, the thing is just waiting to digest my aunt, we'll be dead soon" she said. 

"What?" he said, how can she just accept defeat like that.

He looked around the room, the corners not visible in the dark, was this creature hiding in one of them. He thought hard, what should he do now? there had to be a way to get out of here. If the thing only moved and lived in shadows, and that's why nobody could ever see it clearly, then light could be its weakness. But how was he going to get light now?. He spotted the light switch on the wall a few feet away, it seemed to have been scratched loose, the creature must have damaged it. 

"Do you see my phone somewhere?" he asked.

"Who are you going to call, the cops?" she scoffed.

"No, can you just look" he hissed back.

He felt her roll her eyes behind his back and say something very quietly. 

"Yeah I think I see it, although the screen looks to be in really bad shape" she said after a few moments. Ash felt hope return and sat up straight.

"It doesn't matter, my phone case has RGB lights in it they are pretty bright and its very durable, it might still be working" he said with renewed energy in his voice.

"