Shadows

Prologue

I found myself within yet another dream that felt all too real. I've had the same dream every single night for the past 2 months. As I walked down an eerily quiet hallway, the eyes of portraits followed my every move. Goosebumps began to form on my arms and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I got the sudden feeling that I was being watched by more than just the portraits.
Calm down, Catorina.... Its just nerves... I tried to reassure myself, though it didn't sound convincing.
I know that every time I dream, it I'd just that. A dream. But the farther I go down the hall, the more realistic and ominous it becomes. Something about the hallway makes everything feel dark, and overall creepy. The only light was a red glow that seemed to come from nowhere and lowered my visibility considerably.
The hallway itself felt alive, somehow, and slam packed with negative energy. It felt like with all of the negative energy eating away at it, the hall was in a way, dying.
Every night I have the same dream, and every night nothing changes. Down to the smallest detail everything always remained the exact same. Except for tonight. For some reason, tonight, that all changed.
I approached the spot where I usually leave off at, but this time I didn't wake up like normal. I took one step forward and it was like opening the front door in late fall, early winter. The sudden blast of cold air was shocking, yet only significant enough to give me the chills and see a small white cloud coming from my mouth with every breath I took.
Mustering up what little courage I had left, I continued walking. Just when I felt like my curiosity outweighed my nerves, I heard someone laughing and approaching quickly. It wasn't a good, heart felt laugh that, in turn, makes you laugh either. It was more sinister, and quite terrifying, to be honest. I spun around trying to catch a glimpse of who, or what, was coming toward me. The sound of the movement stopped as soon as I turned. The laughter continued and grew louder as if it was getting closer. The outside world dissolved, and I was back in that same hallway with no way to escape. I turned on my heel and ran as fast as I could, looking for a way out as I ran. A door, a window, anything to get away.
After what felt like a century, instead of a door or window, I came face to face with a red brick wall. The red light seemed to, somehow, be emanating from the wall. There were no fixtures or torches in sight.
Turning my back to the wall, I looked and saw a cloaked figure approaching me, its face concealed by darkness. My heart rate went through the roof as I tried to think of a way to escape. The hooded figure darted toward me and slammed me against the wall. As I tried to recatch the breath that the figure knocked out of me, it grabbed me and held me off the ground against the wall. The rough bricks bit into my skin an snagged my tank top.
"Please... Wh-what do you want with me?" I gasped frantically.
"Don't worry about what we want. We will get it soon enough. Think of this as more of a warning to you."
His, or its, face was black like decaying matter and its breath smelled of rotting flesh. It took everything I had not to gag by the overwhelming smell that assaulted my nostrils.
"There are m-more of you?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"Yes, Catorina. Many more."
"How do you know my name?" I was terrified and begging myself to wake up from this nightmare.
"We have been watching you for a long time now."
"Why? Why me?"
"The answer to your first question will be revealed to you in time. As for why you, well you can see us. That is but one of many reasons."
"Us? Who are you??"
"WE are the figures you see in the mirror for a split second out of the corner of your eye. We are the dark shapes that blow past you, but when you look, there's nothing there. We are the beginning and the end. We are in everyone and everything. Everything that you people keep hidden from the world; your darkest parts, that's us."
By this time I was getting light headed by both being held to the wall so tightly and the smell coming from the breath and body under the hood.
He continued, "now that we have made contact, you will see us everywhere. Every person has one of us and we will all know that you now have the Sight."
"But... WHO... are... you...?" I chocked out between breaths.
"We are the Shadows. And you have been warned."
He dropped me to the floor and was gone as fast as he had appeared. Not even 5 seconds later, it all went dark.