[quote=@LHG100]
One, two, three, four, five, Rachel took a breath. She paused to question who invented 'this stupid shit', then continued her training. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve... She looked up.

And there it was again, staring at her. Rachel hesitated, laying down on the floor for her thirteenth push-up, and stared back at the [i]thing[/i] in her doorway. She did something she never thought of doing before. [color=8882be]"...So, where'd you come from?"[/color]

She continued her push-ups, training her body for her 'mission'. It was really hard, but that was to be expected. She hasn't really done anything physical in years, last time was when she played simplified baseball in the yard with her Dad. She counted to twenty, then took a break, her noodle arms getting tired. Slowly, she rummaged around the floor for a bottle of water, and rotated until her back was on the floor. As soon as she turned, the shadow-creature was right above her, staring, its head tilted like a dog.

Rachel laughed while opening the bottle and took a sip, lazily letting gravity do all the work. [color=8882be]"You're gonna give me a heart attack one day, spooker."[/color], she snarked at the shadow. [color=8882be]"Are you some sort of shared hallucination? Are there weird drugs in the air or what? Is it terrorists? You're one hell of an enigma, spooks."[/color]

The thing was scary, but she knew it was harmless at this point. It formed shortly after the hospital visit, and it followed her around like a lost puppy. She had a sudden idea. [color=8882be]"Heyyy, grab me... my phone?"[/color], she ordered, while pointing at her phone. Her phone was thrown onto the top of her bed, resting between two pillows. The apparition slowly moved its head towards the phone. Leisurely, it strolled over to Rachel's mattress, as Rachel herself was mildly shocked and analyzed its movements, this being the first time it moved in front of her.

[color=8882be]"Y-you can move..?"[/color], the woman stuttered out, while bolting up with speed currently uncharacteristic of herself. Sitting on the carpet, she glared at the thing as it picked up her smartphone, then she stood up. She swiped for her phone, [color=8882be]"Give me that!"[/color], and the Shade yielded it without fuss. She saw she had a text message. Her 'friend', Carol, sent an update about a 'shipment' that just got delivered, with a discount.

She replied with a thanks and told her 'the usual drop-point' was fine, a hidden box in a specific alleyway of the city. Rachel was very private about where she lived and careful with who she told the location of her housing. Currently, nobody knew where she lived, aside from her parents, who were on the other side of the country. The drop point was also very particular and hidden, a metal container neatly tucked underneath a damaged, but functioning lamp post.

She turned her phone off and looked at the Shade. [color=8882be]"Now, clean my fridge."[/color]. The shade looked confused. Rachel rolled her eyes and walked to her kitchen, and pointed at her fridge. [color=8882be]"Fridge. Clean it out."[/color], she then pointed to all of her cabinets. [color=8882be]"Cabinets."[/color], she touched her nose and contemplated. [color=8882be]"Organize...alphabetically."[/color]

The Shade looked at Rachel, yet without any eyes. Even without pupils, Rachel could tell if they were there, they'd be full of realization, then defeat. It looked back to the fridge, and slumped over in shame, as it began to walk to do its duty. [color=8882be]"Now, I'm gonna handle some business, alert me if anything happens."[/color]

Rachel went back to her bedroom and grabbed her purse, filled with neatly organized credit cards, her phone, a butterfly knife, pepper spray, and two shots of 'candy'. For emergencies, obviously. She hid her purse 'underneath' her hoodie, and set out to the local bars. Drunks are talkative, and she needs info.

[/quote]

	The local watering hole, The Singing Sailor, was the usual spot for the rabble of the city. Misfits, bikers, beard enthusiasts, outcasts, and just plain drunks, you'll probably find them here. Doesn't mean its all bad though. The beer is good, not only that, the menu they served there wasn't half bad neither. Also the bartender, Joey, was pretty hospitable to the usual patrons of his establishment. And he would hear the craziest stories from them. And now with all this dark energy business, the stories just keep coming. In fact, one of his regulars, Gregory, was telling him a story of a guy who was swinging a butchers knife in the street. 

"I'm telling ya, Joey. Something about that blast messed up a lot of people." Gregory said as he finished his beer and set it on a coaster. "He was one of the most harmless people you could find here, and they had to drag him away to a mental home. A real shame, that one." Joey was just finishing cleaning a glass and placing it with the others. "Maybe something personal in his life happened and he couldn't take it? I don't know, and honestly, we probably won't know for a long time. What I do know is that the blast was not a cause." Joey was never a big believer of the supernatural or anything out of the ordinary. For a bartender, he was pretty rational. He had to be to even serve most of the clientele here. "But go back to what you were telling me about. The thing about the shadow people. Shadow monsters? What was it?" Joey asked with a raised eyebrow. Gregory sighed as he pushed the now empty mug to the side. "I told you already, Joey. They are callin' 'em  Shades." "Shades?" Joey asked. "Yeah, it started with one guy seeing his shadow move over him like a shade and the name caught on after that." Gregory said as he motioned for Joey to pour him another pint. Joey grabbed Gregory's mugged, placed it underneath the nozzle and began to dispense some beer while continuing the conversation. "And these shades are like people's shadows or something?" Joey pondered to Gregory. "Yeah, they be like the shadows of what they are on the inside." Gregory said, eyeing his glass on the liquid slowly rose to the top. "The inside? Like their body or something?" Joey said as he stopped the nozzle as the drink just filled to the top. Joey swiped off the foam and gave the mug to Gregory, who was more than happy to take it. Gregory chug some of the cold liquid before resuming. "No, what they are like on the inside. The damn thing is supposed to be you, who you really are." Joey was confused. How can a shadow show your true self? And how can a shadow come to life? And how can a harmless 24 year old go bonkers with a butcher knife? And how did everything go wrong? Before he could ask Gregory to continue explaining, the front entrance opened up.