When The Shadow Came

A shadow grew out of the darkness, its edges sharp and defined against the light. The shadow changed and shifted, even though the glowing streetlights did not.

Then the shadow moved, flowing up the lamppost like some film shown in reverse.

The light went out.

The shadow grew as though it fed on the absence of light. It sent out a tendril of darkness that grew up the posts of the nearby streetlights, until they too were lost in the dark of the shadow. Other tendrils moved out and a shop window went dark. One thin finger of shadow snaked up high on a wall and the tiny bright red light of a security camera winked out too.

The two teenage girls were coming home late, loud young drunken laughter as they came around the street corner. They hesitated when they saw the dark street in front of them. A bit further on the streetlights glowed as normal.

���Must be a power��� thing,��� Jenny said.

���Thing?��� Debbie tired focusing on her friend. It had been a dull night, all they could do was drink and now Debbie was beginning to regret it. There was something she wanted to remember, something she���d heard on the TV News a week or two ago. Normally, she paid no attention to the news, just the dirty old men of politics shouting at each other, or a war or disaster in some place she���d never heard of. But, there was something about a late night walk home that had ended in tragedy.

She half-remembered something about shadows and the unexplained death of a young woman, of a girl her age. She remembered it because both parents had turned to her and told her to be careful. For the first time too, she hadn���t answered back because she���d seen something in their eyes she���d never noticed before.

They did care.

That thought, that her parents did care, made Debbie pause as Jenny, barefoot and carrying her high heels staggered on.

���Come on, Jenny said, not looking back at Debbie. ���It���s only out for this bit of road.���

���No, we ought to���.��� Debbie looked back over her shoulder. The other way was miles longer. She felt her stomach lurch; she really ought to cut down on the drinking. She turned to a shop doorway, but a couple of deep breaths and the feeling passed.

She looked up and the deep black shadow was closer now, creeping closer as she watched it��� and Jenny had gone��� disappeared.