As Shadows Play

I walked out into the bright sun, feeling…

Empty. As always. I’m completely pathetic, I know. I am one person… sort of. I have one shadow… sort of. I need to find the other half of my shadow, which lies within another person… somewhere.

But the thing is- I’ve been searching for my other half for… a long time- and yet- I’m still alone; Missing part of myself. I walked along the edge of the garden bed, making my way out of the coven house’s yard. I’ve been trying. So hard… So very hard. I was even gone for five years looking. I missed this place… my home. I sighed and walked down the middle of the street, the moist air of Chicago hitting my face. Afton appeared in front of my face, hanging upside down from a tree, grinning like a dork.

“Hello Bren, what’s up with you this fine morning?” His sandy gold hair that usually hung over his eyes was hanging off his head, showing his face for once.
“Not much Aft… You really have to stop sneaking up on me like that. He grinned wider, his light shadow splayed on the ground below him, getting up and hugging me.

“What are you planning to do? Anything besides mope?” He flipped over the tree branch and gracefully landed on the ground, Asher then let go of me and rejoined Afton. I rolled my eyes at the boy and his shadow.

“I don’t mope! That’s Bill! And yes… I’m going for a walk,” I stated plainly, starting to walk past him. Asher and Afton joined hands and Asher gained color and dimensions, his shape matching Afton’s exactly, except for his smoky grey eyes. The two boys followed me down the street into town.

We had been walking for some time before I decided to get competitive. I started whistling and walking faster. The others soon caught on and were following my speed. I grinned and started to run at a normal human speed. I looked over my shoulder and saw Afton fling Asher onto his shoulders and pick up the pace. When he started to get ahead, I ran a little faster than a human could manage, keeping up with anyone on a bike easily. He increased his speed to that of any car on a main street. I gaped playfully and saw he and Asher both stick their tongues out at me, before I picked it up.

In a matter of minutes, we were both going faster than jet planes, gliding on our inhuman feet, scaling buildings, and jumping between rooftops at speeds the human eye can’t see. A few minutes after that- we were WAY out of the city (and possibly state) line and were alone on an empty street. There were no houses around us, and no people either. Something stirred inside me and I spun to face the scent floating to my nose. We were facing the West, the wind blowing in a way that warned me of something big. I silenced Afton with a quick hand signal. In a split second he and Asher were back to soul and shadow- ready for anything. I turned my face to the wind and growled. Like sand blown by the wind, a group faced Afton and I, obviously not human.

“Relax dude. We’re not here for a fight,” a guy with blond hair standing in the center of the group assured, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. I relaxed a little and stood up from my slight crouch.

“Ok, but I’m gonna have to ask you not to enter this city until you’ve been checked,” I said, putting my hands into my pockets and letting my ego and confidence filter in. “Coven rules, you know,” I said, smirking.

“Totally fine. Oh, pardon my manners- I’m Alex. This is my coven from out West. That’s Spencer, Jon, Andy, Jack, Zack, Chizzy, The Tristan twins, Andi, and Kim. And we also have three missing right now. They’ll be here… like tomorrow.” I nodded.

“This is Afton, and my name is Brendon. I’m sorry for the formalities.” Alex waved a dismissive hand. “Aft, go tell Ace to inform Bill and the coven of this and get a group here to check these guys.” He nodded. “And- make it quick?” He grinned and was gone. Poof! And he’s gone!

The group across from me all congregated for the ten minutes Aft was gone. Aft came back with the Ace, Bill, Pete, Alex, Adam, Brittany, Angie, and Carrie.

Bill stepped forward. “Bren? What’s the deal?” Bill appraised the group with his eyes.

“They’re from out West.” He looked at me with a small inclination of his eyebrows, so I shrugged a little.

“I’m Alex. This is my coven… minus three.”

“Hmm,” Bill responded, looking a little irritated. I punched him internally and he snapped back. “Nice to meet you. I’m William. My coven resides in this City. We just have to run a quick analysis before we can let you proceed… bad luck in the past I’m afraid.”

“Of course. Take as long as you need,” Alex invited. Bill turned on his heel.

“Ace- check it,” He commanded. Ace nodded, his shaggy brown hair sticking up in that insanely messy, but completely pulled off way. He sunk down to his shadow, melting into the outline of a wolf. The shadow crawled across the ground to the group ‘sniffing them out’ as Pete and I always joke.

“Good,” the distant monotone voice called. Bill nodded approvingly and turned to the others. They nodded without instruction and went about their duties. I zoned out as the other group was checked for threats.

Finally Carrie gave the ‘all good nod’ before checking out Chizzy’s ass. I rolled my eyes at her.

“Welcome to Chicago,” Bill said crossing his arms and smirking.

I couldn’t place exactly what I expected to happen next… but I knew it had better be good.