THE ALGORITHM OF FEAR

6~the history

Eve heard footsteps of Darren and she quickly started studying the cases. Darren stared  deep in her soul. Eve was sweating but she acted strong in front of him . Darren saw her sweating heavily but he didn't bother to ask anything. Eve spent the rest of her shift pretending to study case files, her hands trembling under the desk. Darren lingered in the room for a while, his piercing gaze making her feel exposed. She kept her head down, focusing on the screen in front of her, even as her mind churned with thoughts of the shadow and Darren’s bizarre ritual.

Finally, Darren left, his footsteps echoing down the hallway. Eve exhaled deeply, her shoulders slumping. She couldn’t stay at the lab any longer. Grabbing her things, she made her way to the parking lot, her every nerve on edge. The drive back to her mansion felt endless. The city lights blurred past as her mind replayed the scene in the basement. What was Darren doing? Why had the shadow responded to him? And, most importantly, why was her name tied to all of this?

When she arrived at her mansion, the large, imposing structure loomed in the darkness. It had always been a place of solace for her, a quiet retreat from the chaos of life. But tonight, it felt different. She stepped inside, locking the door behind her. The silence of the house pressed down on her as she moved through the dimly lit rooms. Her thoughts were heavy, and exhaustion tugged at her, but something felt off. As she climbed the grand staircase to her bedroom, she noticed a faint flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. She froze, her breath catching in her throat. Slowly, she turned her head toward the hallway.

There it was.

The shadow…

It stood at the far end of the hall, its humanoid form more defined now. Tall and unnerving, it seemed to pulse with a dark energy that made the air around it feel thick. Eve’s heart pounded, but she didn’t move. The shadow didn’t advance. Instead, it tilted its head, much like it had in the basement. It felt as though it were observing her, studying her.

“Who are you?” Eve whispered, her voice barely audible. The shadow remained silent, but its form seemed to ripple, as though responding to her question. “Why are you here?” she pressed, taking a cautious step forward.  The air grew colder, and for a moment, Eve felt a wave of sadness wash over her..not her own, but something profound.

The shadow slowly raised a hand-like appendage and pointed toward a painting hanging on the wall of the hallway. It was an old family portrait, one she’d inherited when she moved into the mansion.

Eve’s blood ran cold. She approached the painting cautiously, glancing back to see the shadow watching her intently. Her fingers trembled as she touched the frame, and that’s when she noticed something she hadn’t seen before a faint, dried smear of blood on the bottom corner of the canvas.

“What is this?” she murmured, her mind racing.

The shadow didn’t respond. Instead, it began to dissolve, fading into the darkness of the hallway.

“Wait!” Eve called out, but it was gone.

She stood there, staring at the painting, her mind filled with questions. Why had the shadow shown her this? What connection did the painting have to everything that was happening? And most importantly, what did Darren know about it? Eve clenched her fists, her resolve hardening. She didn’t know what she was up against, but she was determined to find out. Whatever secrets this shadow held, she was going to uncover them..even if it meant confronting her deepest fears.The rest of the night was restless for Eve. Sleep eluded her as she sat in her study, the family portrait placed on the desk in front of her. The shadow’s behavior haunted her—its deliberate pointing at the painting and the smear of blood on its edge.