The Shadows

“Let’s ride!” Parker shouts out as he finally releases the line tethered to the dock. I turn the boat motor on and start steering the boat away from the dock. Cam gives me a high five as he goes to grab a beer out of the cooler. He then proceeds to put up the sails. I steer my wheel for the sails to catch the wind then pull the rope to straighten them out. "I think we're good from here!" I yell. Parker throws me a beer as he pops the top off his. I feel the ocean breeze run through my hair. The water is calm and the sky is clear; perfect for sailing. My sailboat cuts through the water like butter. This sailboat is one of many I own but she's my favorite. The outside of the hull which carries the passengers is modern and sleek. The inside has three sleeping areas and one bathroom. Just enough space for me and my friends to take a three day trip to an island called Martha's Vineyard. It’s a charming island just south of Cape Cod. We will be sailing through Buzzards Bay. Buzzards bay is known to be a challenge to those who take it on. The currents that sweep in between the gaps of the islands can be quite intense. A careful eye and a lot of maneuvering must be done. However, all three of us were in the sailing club in high school and college. We have the experience. It will be exciting to take on the challenge. We haven’t had a group trip like this since college.

“Shame Niles isn’t here,” Parker says as he’s catching a tan in the sun.

“Yea, the last time I’ve seen him he looked horrible. I don’t know what he's on now but it is messing him up for sure.” Cam explains.

“Have you heard from Niles?” Parker asks as he lowers his sunglasses to look at me. “He was your best friend at one point.”

I give out a sigh. “No, I haven’t spoken with him since my breakup with Cecilia. I’m honestly trying to forget about them both.”

“I understand trying to forget about Cecilia, but why Niles? What did he do to you for you to never speak to him again? He has issues right now. Shouldn’t you at least keep in touch?” Cam’s eyes grow stern.

“Listen, Niles’s choices are none of my concern. I’m only responsible for myself.” I say harshly. They didn’t know the whole story with me and Niles and I wasn’t about to tell them either. I mean Parker and Cam are my friends but I wouldn’t classify them as close. I don’t trust them wholeheartedly. After Cecilia and Niles, I didn’t know if I could trust anyone anymore.

“Then what about us, August? We could have easily turned out the same way. We make one slip up and you're not our friend anymore, huh?” Cam runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Is that what happened with Cecilia? She stepped on your toes and then you gave up on her?” You just dispose of people with no use?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Calm down, Cam. We were all close with Niles. August has the right to determine who he associates with.” Parker crosses his arms.

“I just wish I could help him. I just want to shake him back into the person he was before.” Cam frowns and plops down into the chair. “Let’s just enjoy the trip.” He waves his hand in front of his face as if he’s dismissing the conversation.

“Good, your turn to steer the boat.” I gesture my hand to the seat and he walks over and takes my place. “Maybe you should focus on us going in the right direction instead of complaining about circumstances we can’t control” I say in a matter of fact voice. Cam doesn’t say anything as he looks at the chartplotter.

I set out a towel beside Parker and soak up the sun rays. Parker talks to me about his favorite NHL team and how their coach is completely useless. He recently went to their hockey game and they won. It must have been an exciting win because he goes through play by play of the game. He discusses how they could have done better if they would have made different plays. The sky starts to become dark and the stars gleam in the sky.

“Guess that’s my call then,” Parker moves to where Cam is steering and shoos him out of the way. “Whoever's in charge of preparing food, I suggest they do it now. I’m starving.” Parker pats his stomach and frowns.

I make my way down to the hull and heat up the rice and salmon I prepared the previous evening. I even created a garlic butter sauce for the topping. I put them on paper plates and make my way back up to hand each of my friends a plate. “Dinner is served" I say as I give a little bow.

“I feel special, the great Mr.Underwood serving me dinner? This is a once in a lifetime event.” Parker smirks.

“Yes, believe it or not, I know how to cook and I'm good at it.” I sit down and start taking bites.

“Why not just get a chef?” Cam asks, “we all have one.”

I shrug my shoulders. “I like to do things myself.”

“Well I approve. It is good.” Cam says as he inspects the food further.

“Thank you.” I say as I finish my own plate. “Parker, I will relieve you in the morning. Cam gets the next night.” I stand up and make my way to my bed and fall asleep with the waves gently rocking me. The next day goes by quickly, the waves are a bit choppy but still manageable. We lower the anchor and go scuba diving. The water is cold but I find the whole experience thrilling. The night creeps up on us and we crack open beers and listen to music. Parker falls asleep and I stay up with Cam talking about his car collection. I finally go to bed and leave Cam to keep watch. My groggy eyes open slowly as I get ready to take Cam's place. I make coffee and fill the hull with it’s aroma. I grab a breakfast sandwich and make my way up to the deck. As I reach the deck I see that we are quickly approaching an opening between two islands and Cam is going way too fast. I drop my coffee which splatters onto my legs burning me and then drop my sandwich.

“What the hell are you doing?” I scream out, yanking Cam out of the way.

I grab the wheel and spin it wildly realigning the boat to barely miss the rocks protruding from the side of the island. Parker comes out of the hatch confused.

"Are you trying to kill us?" I shake Cam's shoulders.

"I don't know what happened, something came over me." Cam turns white.

"What? Is this some call of the void shit? I don't think so. I'm steering this boat from now on. All of you can fuck off. This boat costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and I trusted you with it." I can feel my body heating up in anger.

"Relax, we didn't end up dying or wrecking the boat. It was a mistake." He presses his fingers to his temple.

"Mistakes get people killed." I bark back. "Leave me alone." I proceed to shoo them to the hull.

Later that morning, I see Martha's Vineyard in the distance. We dock the boat and I give out a sign of relief. Cam and Parker come out of the hull to help me dock the boat.

"You guys feel free to do whatever you like, I'm going to sleep,” I announced. They scurry off probably in search of a nice breakfast spot. I wobble down to the hull and pass out in my bed. I'm trying hard to brush off the fact that Cam nearly wrecked my boat. Honestly, I'm surprised he made such a mistake. I wake up a little past noon and decide to walk the beach. I throw on my forest green swim trunks and shoes and make my way down the path. Where I'm walking overlooks the ocean. I’m walking on a rocky surface but it’s manageable to navigate. It's a series of cliffs that overlook the sandy beach below. The water is a majestic deep blue and I hear the waves gently crash into the beach below. It's the perfect view. As I'm walking I see a person in the distance. They must be enjoying the scenery as much as I am. As I get closer I realize it's Cam. I wave and get ready to shout his name out. However, I see another person walk up to him. I can't make out who it is so I move closer. As I'm moving something in my gut is making me uneasy. I get the feeling like I shouldn't be here. I move closer behind the rocks and peer through an opening seeing that it isn't Parker, it's someone else. What the hell is Cam up to? The man had curly black hair and a midnight black suit. Not the kind of clothes you would wear to an ocean for sure. He clearly wasn't here for a beach day. They started to yell at each other. I couldn't make out what they were saying. I could only hear talk about a bargain. The man spit on Cam. I started to sweat. I was facing the situation of choosing whether or not to help him. Was I going to put myself in harm's way if I did help him? My ght knew that this guy meant business. Cam started throwing punches at him and I could see that it wasn't affecting him at all. He wasn't getting weak. Was I really going to fight this person when Cam was the one who got himself into this shit in the first place? I don't think so. All of a sudden I see Cam pleading. Cam falls to ground. I cover my mouth to cover my silent screams. Tears roll down my cheeks. Whatever he did to Cam I didn't even see it. I didn't even have time to help him. I wait a couple of minutes to make sure the man was out of sight. I slowly make my way down the rocks. Cam was lying on his side. I shake as I go to turn him on his back. I prop his head up with my arms. I never expected the horror I would witness at that very moment. A black sludge was pouring out of his eyes as if they were tears. It was as black and thick as tar. I scan my way down his face to see it coming out of his nose and mouth. I gasp as I struggle to breathe. My chest tightens. I look at my hand that was propping his head up. I see the black sludge on my hand and gag at its presence. I didn't know whether to call for help or resuscitate him. I frantically moved my hands to feel for his pulse. Then his body started turning to sludge. I crawl away in terror. In a matter of seconds his body is unrecognizable. I shiver. There was no bringing him back. I try to stand and gain my footing. I look around desperately for help. I look up at a rock formation to see a barn owl just staring at me. It was a jet black. It looked like it was observing my desperate attempts to bring Cam back. It was as if it was studying me. I shake off the hypnotic feeling and find the path back to the docks. I tremble as I run back to my boat almost feeling my legs give out. I just watched my friend get murdered and I did nothing. Tears sting my eyes. That guy was still out there and I didn't know if Parker would be at the boat. I run across the dock startling the birds perching. They fly in all directions. I quickly jump onto my boat and grab Parker's shoulders. I look him in the eyes and stumble over my words until I finally say "Someone murdered Cam."

Parker didn't dismiss my claims. He just reads my expression. His eyes water and his face turns white. "What exactly did you see." His voice tightens. "He was fighting with a man on the beach. I heard something about a bargain and then he killed him." I swallow hard. "The way he killed him… wasn't normal." "How was he killed?" Parker tenses. "It happened so fast. I saw him fall to the ground then I went to see if he was alive. I turn him over and…" I shudder and my voice turns raspy. "There's this black tar sludge coming out of his face. It was like a horror movie." "What do we do?" I yell out in desperation. I pull my hair in frustration. "First we get the hell out of here before whatever the thing that killed Cam comes for us." He makes his way up the hatch and starts pulling the lines. Once he finishes I start the engine and quickly get the boat into gear. I get the boat into a steady pace and ask Parker what Cam was doing before they parted ways from each other on the island. "He said he had a old friend that lived on the island and wanted to stop by. I didn't pay much attention to it. I wanted to explore the island by myself for a bit anyways. He was acting odd though. We went to this breakfast place and he was talking about how he was free to do whatever he wanted in life. He had no one holding him back. It was like he had the mentality of a prisoner being released from prison." "I think Cam got involved with something dark. He stepped on the wrong toes and got murdered. It was beyond our control." "Should we tell the police? How do you know they won't pin it on us? Cam is wealthy, they won't stop until they figure out who did it." "I think we should tell them. He went missing on the island. If we stayed quiet that would just make us look guilty."

We make it home. Time passes after we tell the police. They interrogate us but they do not suspect that we did anything. We talk with his family and explain how Cam might have been involved in things that were beyond us. I don't talk about witnessing his death.

Bam! I shoot my rifle and a nicely sized duck swirls to the ground. I’m pleased with myself. I haven't been hunting in a long time, however I don't think i lost my skill at shooting. My Coondog Jack, quickly runs over to the duck and I follow slowly behind. His floppy ears bounced back and forth off his head and his tail wags back and forth in excitement. I can sense that he feels exhilarated just as much as I am. I feel the morning sun on my cheeks and it feels nice. England is so cold and wet at times, I hardly feel the sun, so I can appreciate times like these. Definitely different from back home in Cape Cod. I miss the sea though. I love to sit out by the ocean and take my sailboat out whenever I desire. Even the air smells different there and the ocean has a gleam to it there. My boots crunch in the snow as I reach for the bird. I think about how my father took me here as a teen. I was scared. I didn't have confidence in my abilities to kill anything. Even though I practiced with disks, it was different trying to kill a live animal. I did know that hunting would get easier with time. I just had to make that first shot. Hunting did spark my love of nature. It's is amazing how it can provide everything we need but then can take it all away. It’s ever changing and that brings me peace. Nature doesn’t care about your issues, it just is. I don't have anyone breathing down my back. I just have the company of my coondog Jack. I feel like if I wasn't here, I would just be lying in my bed. I also find myself to be drinking a lot lately. The people in my hometown host these frivolous parties. It's hard not to slip into the drugs and alcohol they provide. I've seen way too many people slip up. I have seen a lot of my classmates overdose. I've seen it happen way too many times. You get bored with life and take a little dabble. To tell you the truth, I am bored too. I am just so tired. I've been everywhere. Spent time with people that I thought were friends for them to just ask me for favors and when I need them no one is there to do the same. I asked my good pal Niles to come over to play some pool after my breakup with Cecilia. I was distraught. I was drinking everything in sight. I didn't feel myself. That day he made plans to speak with his business partner. He said the matter of discussion was too serious that he couldn't make it to see me. Later, I find out through a party that the matter of discussion was a vacation in Malibu partying with escorts. I don't understand why Niles had to go during that time. He was my friend. We were friends throughout school and I even gave him money to start the business he currently owns. It wasn't like it was hard for him to plan the trip another time. Niles was different growing up with me. We were in the sailing club together. He wasn't as rash and condescending as he is now. I always suspect that his father was rough on him about starting his own business. His father always seemed like he needed to control Niles life and decisions. He was always threatening Niles that he wouldn't let him inherit the business if he didn't act accordingly. Maybe Niles grew jealous with me. Most people do, unfortunately. My father was always willing to hand over his business to me. In fact, he always strived to hand down his craftsmanship skills to me. It wasn't like we needed anymore money than we actually do. He enjoyed what he did though. He learned watchmaking from his father and wanted to pass it down to me. For Niles to ask me for money and for him to not be there when I needed him the most, haunts me. However, maybe Niles grew into someone I don't want to be around anymore anyways. Yea, we did have the passion for sailing but what more was there?

I take the bird and sling it over my back and make my way back to my fathers estate. I take the dirt trail as Jack follows behind. I look over to see a large lake with its water glistening from the sun. I look up to see tiny snowflakes make their gentle descent down. Jack sniffs the air as if he is trying to track another animal. I shift my eyes away from the lake and back to the trail. The more I make my way down the dirt trail the heavier the wind blows. My hand start to freeze so I reach for my wool gloves in my pocket. I quickly put them on as the cold wind brushes my face. Jack runs in front of me and makes the oddest howl I have heard. It is not a howl to indicate that he is in search of something but more of a warning. He growls as his red fur is standing up. He looks at me with worry as if he is saying “Don’t go any further.” I look over in his direction scanning every possible area until I see a midnight black smoke slowly spread out from behind a tree. Could this possibly be some sort of smoke bomb device that someone set off? Am I about to be sabotaged? I certainly did not have any cash on me and I did have a rifle slinging off my shoulder. I throw the duck on the slow beside me and point my rifle towards the black smoke.

“Come out now!” I demand. Jack's howls are turning more to whimpers as he scurries back behind me. He looks up at me with his tail between his legs. The smoke spreads faster, almost encircling me and Jack. I can feel the sweat running down my forehead as I think I am going to be ambushed. There is no way I can shoot whoever is coming if I can’t even see where they are coming from. I am at a disadvantage.“Can’t you see I have a weapon?” I shoot into the distance. I hope the shot can be of some warning. I blink my eyes and the smoke is gone. There is no way that it could dissipate so quickly. I look for the dirt path clearing and start to run with the rifle in my hands. Jack follows in my direction. The way back to the estate is about a couple miles total. Whoever was trying to get my attention could have ran off or is still tracking me. I yell back in the distance

“Don’t mess with me!”

As I run I sweep the area and notice the black smoke transporting between trees. I blink and the next area I look, it is there. My breath is staggering now. I am in fit shape but it’s the fear that is causing my breath to stagger and the cold air I breathe in. The last thing I want to do is trip on a tree root or rock. It also doesn’t help that I'm carrying a rifle while running but i’m not about to abandon it.I try to steady myself and keep at a decent pace. I worry that I won’t even be able to outrun this thing. When I look at the smoke, I notice it's pitch black and not the kind of smoke you would see coming from a smoke device. I've come to the realization that what i’m dealing with is not human at all. It sends a shiver down my spine. I try to run faster and notice that it’s keeping pace with me. As I’m running I think that whatever this thing is, is going to kill me. Funny how now I am the one being hunted. The universe has a fucked up way of getting karma huh? What goes around comes around. I think about my dad and how he won’t have anyone to spend Sundays with tinkering with watches. I think about all the beautiful places I’ve been to and then I think about Celia. I specifically think about the time I took her out on my sailboat and watched the full moon and stars as we were sprawled out on a blanket. The waves rocking us back and forth. The way she would wrap her fingers in my curly hair and look deep into my eyes. However, like all people in my life she used me. My eyes tear up and it stings my ice cold face. If I don’t have Celia anymore and I don’t have anyone to even trust. What’s the point? She knew me for who I was and yet stuck a dagger in my back. Why am I fighting for my life if everything that I held dear to me has vanished? I stop turn myself towards the trees and scream “Kill me, kill me! You want me so bad then just do it now! God knows I don’t have anything to fight for. You sadistic shit!”

The black smoke comes darting towards my throat. I fall towards the snow covered ground. Jack grows and whimpers, biting at thin air. It wrings my neck. The grip is tight and focused. I gasp out. It feels like i’m drowning. I desperately try to pry the smoke off my neck only to grab nothing. I can feel my heart slowing and my process of thinking is not clear. I know my body is shutting down. I gurgle as I strive to take my last breaths. Then, a gold gleaming smoke makes its way out of my mouth. The black smoke releases its grip on my throat and I gasp for air. I roll over to my side. I see the masses dancing around each other only to realize they are fighting. They are tossing and turning, zipping through the trees. I struggle to keep my focus and my eyes roll back. I am dizzy and then everything goes black.

I feel my face being licked. My eyes flutter open and I see Jack looking down at me. I pat his face and slowly lean myself up. I obviously haven’t spent too much time passed out because I would have frozen to death. I scan the trees looking for the black smoke which is nowhere to be seen. I give out a sigh of relief. I scan the snow to try and find my rifle. I clear the bit of snow on it and sling it over my shoulder. I feel dazed. What the hell did I just encounter? Am I becoming sick in the head somehow? Jack is no longer whimpering and is prompting me to walk with him. I can’t shake the feeling that that thing wanted me dead and it was close to succeeding. I finally walk up to the door of my estate and lock the deadbolt behind me. Not like it’s going to stop that thing from trying again. I rush to the bathroom and run warm water into the tub. I walk to the kitchen and start a kettle of hibiscus tea. I don’t bother taking my rifle from room to room and place it on my coffee table. I wouldn’t normally leave it lying around like that but when something is tracking you down it doesn’t hurt to have a weapon in an accessible place. I go back to the kitchen and pour myself the tea in a glass mug. While I’m pouring I realize my hands are shaking and i’m nearly spilling the cup i’m holding. I’m in shock. I place my cup down and make my way back to the bathroom. I tear off my clothes and wrap a towel around my waist. I look up into the mirror and see my freckled face. My auburn curly hair is a mess and my eyes are now a dark shade of green. I smooth my hair back, my curls running through my fingers.I then proceed to look down my neck. If that thing was trying to choke me there surely must be marks from it. There is nothing. I press on my neck and expect to feel some sort of pain from tenderness. Nothing. I make my way to the tub and sit there in disbelief. This is an experience I will have to carry on my shoulders because no one in their sane mind will believe me. Whatever the hell these creatures are, I'm going to have to face them on my own or die trying at least.