Shadowman x Jester

Chapter 3 - Shadow's POV

Coming up to the gates, Shadow could see guards rushing towards the opening, gawking at the odd-ball bunch of kids and their green adult trailing behind them.

Ed took the lead, walking up the stone steps towards the nearest guards, Kyle at his shoulder, as per usual.

Shadow, however, remained at the back of the group, casting glances around the streets, always on his guard. He didn't want to risk getting overwhelmed again, he himself knew better than anyone how quickly sickos could swarm without anyone realising.

The guards opened up the gates with a loud screech, metal grinding against rusted metal as all the kids were shuttled off inside, the gates closing with a clang behind them.

More kids slowly filtered out of the main doors of the museum upon hearing about the arrival of Ed and his group.

Shadow, knowing that they'd be safe now that the gates were locked, still cast nervous glances behind him, even though he knew for certain the only sickos he would come across were random stragglers, those who hadn't quite approached the main group yet, and they would then most likely ignore the clusters of kids here.

"Dylan, you coming?" Ed called over his shoulder, drawing Shadow's attention back from outside the main gates. He nodded once, rolling his shoulders back, as if he could physically remove how tense he had gotten.

Shadow ducked himself inside the museum, becoming taken aback at the sheer size of the room. Arched ceilings, domed roofs, and several doorways leading further back into the museum, it was blatantly obvious that this must be one of the most secure buildings in the city, besides Buckingham Palace and The Tower.

Upon closer inspection, many of the doorways had been closed off, leaving only a few galleries on the upper levels open for the inhabitants.

Shadow felt incredibly unsure of himself though, every other person in Shadow's group, besides maybe Kyle, seemed to know someone else in the museum, and he assumed that they were the kids Ed had gotten separated from when all of this started.

Kyle, just from his body language, was tense, his arms were crossed over his chest and he'd jutted his jaw out somewhat, Shadow could practically see the veins pulsing in his neck.

Shadow followed Kyle's line of sight, spotting Ed with a brunette girl, who was incredibly close to him, almost hanging from him. She seemed to be trying to flirt with Ed, but he was just brushing her off, and Shadow understood why Kyle was so mad.

He remained silent though, it was none of his business, and he didn't want to get too involved with these people, considering the fact that he'd be leaving soon enough, and was unsure of whether they'd even meet again.

"Babe." Kyle called out, swallowing his annoyance, walking over to Ed. The girl, Brooke Shadow thought her name was, had her face twisted into an expression of confusion, glancing from Ed, then to Kyle, then back to Ed. She appeared to understand what was happening here, and took a step back from Ed, making a bit more reasonable space between the pair of them.

Shadow moved on though, deciding he should probably give them a little privacy, instead walking to look around the museum. Shadow knew he'd been here before, probably on a school trip or something, but he couldn't quite remember anything about it.

"I don't recognise you." A male voice said behind Shadow, and he spun around, face to face with a rather tall, lanky boy with pale skin and glasses. Shadow, surprisingly, had to look up at someone for once, and, just to be polite, pulled down the hood of his cloak.

"I'm -." He paused for a second, thinking of whether he should use a fake name or just give out his real name, Ed and Kyle already knew, and he thought it would confuse them if he gave this kid a different name.