The Shadow

Part 2

The Shadow appears. It leers at me; its cold, nonexistent eyes piercing through my flesh. The officer stomps down and out of the cell block. Shivers rattle through my small body as the Shadow draws closer.

"Shaji," the Shadow calls out for me. I push myself backwards until my back hits the concrete wall. The shivers are getting worse. The voices in my head are screaming.

"Stop! Don't come any closer," I scream as I squeeze my eyes shut. I can't hear anything except for the Shadow calling out for me and my own heart hammering against my rib cage.

Help me...

"What was that," I wonder to myself, "Whose voice was that?" I slowly open my eyes to find the Shadow a few feet in front of me and my screams of terror fill the cell block. Its pitch blackness leering at me as my body freezes up. Tears make their escape down my cheeks at a rapid pace as I begin to hyperventilate. My heart beats so fast. Too fast. Too fast. Too fast. Too fast. Too-

I black out.

I peel my eyes open to a plain, white hospital room void of anyone but me. My first instinct is to hide under the sheet, so I don't see any light. So, I dart under the sheet, squeeze my eyes shut, and roll up into the fetal position.

"Please, don't come after me," I beg under my breath. I hear the door to the hospital room open and I freeze. Please, no. Leave me alone! My heart begins to beat as fast as a steam engine.

"Shaji," I hear a sweet, male voice ask, "How are you today?" I slowly unroll myself from my position and peek a little out over the sheets. I see a tall, young, black-haired man with glasses and a white coat. "I'm Doctor Callick."

"I need solitary confinement," I say as fear crawls its way up my throat, "I can't stay here."

"Shaji," the man says, "you need to be in a hospital, not a jail. The judge who sentenced you was wrong to try you as an adult and toss your Schizophrenia to the side."

A hospital? No! I give him a questioning look with fear mixed in.

He then says, "I read your casefile. You repeatedly smashed a politician's head in screaming for 'the Shadow' to leave you alone."

My eyes fill with terror as my brain registers the words that leap off his tongue. It wasn't a man... it couldn't have been a man! My hands clutch my head as tears cascade down my face.

"Ah! I mis-stepped," the man in the white coat panics. He looks to me, to the door, and then back at me. His eyes are wide. Very wide. He's scared.

He makes his way over to me, eyes relaxing, and he gently grabs my hands with his own. "I'm sorry," he says, "How's about we go for a walk?" The man then takes his hands from mine and puts them in his white coat pockets.

I wipe my tears away with the long black sleeve of my shirt. "Can I hold your hand," I ask shyly with a wobbly voice.

He smiles and lets out an exhale with a hint of assuredness. "Absolutely," the man says as he takes my hand as I take the sheet off me with my other hand.

"Wait! I need a blindfold," I say after I take a few steps towards the door entering into the hallway. I give the tall man a worried look and he looks at me with a small, warm smile.

"I have one, but let's try going without it for a bit, yeah?" The doctor holds a black cloth in his hand and I anxiously agree.

"Can I start out with it on," I ask, and he hesitantly nods his head yes. The doctor then gently ties it around my head and field of vision.

I feel the atmosphere change as the door opens and I step out into the somewhat bustling hallway. I hear glass objects clattering together and the sound of hurried footsteps. I hear someone crying a few yards away. I smell a warmer air and more chemicals than I did in my own room. I smell the presence of the nice man with the white coat. I feel a small rush of anxiety run through my veins as I feel the air of someone run in front of me, leaving a trail of cold air to sweep past to the left. I hear their fast steps continue down to the left of me, too. I feel the man's rough hand holding mine and the heat that permeates my hand from his.

I feel the man lead me by pulling my hand with his. He leads me to the left and I can feel the tile change under my feet. He doesn't say anything, the man. He just leads me happily with a bit of a calming aura I get from him. He almost makes me happy and calm, too. He reminds me of my dad.

He leads me through a clear path in the hallway for a few minutes. Many different scents and sounds pass me as I follow Dr. Callick's footsteps and his hand leads me forward.

I hear a rattling sound, like small wheels racing against the tile and the doctor shout, "Watch out!" He grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me to the side of the hallway.

I hear the rattling sound pass me and I tilt my head up in the direction I feel and hear the man's breath coming from. "Thank you," I mutter up to him.

"Yeah, no problem," the man huffs and takes his hands off my shoulders to grab my hand. "Let's head to an emptier hallway. And how about we take your blindfold off for a bit, okay?"

Scared that the Shadow may appear, I respond with a small, "yeah," and we head into a different hallway with less people after he unties my blindfold. Only a few nurses walk the halls. I stare hard at one of their shadows, which seems to move a bit more than it should. It wriggles and stretches in its owner's shade, though Dr. Callick doesn't seem to notice. How do you not notice something that odd?

My steps grow smaller as the nurse with the moving shadow walks closer and closer. I slightly hide behind Dr. Callick as the nurse lightly smiles at me as she walks past.

Her shadow becomes bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. How does Dr. Callick not see this? The nurse's shadow reaches my feet and I feel it grab me.

End of Part 2