The Stranger in the Shadows
1518 Words
“Do you ever feel like those closest to you might be hiding something from you?"
Elara's hand hovered on the door to her apartment, her body immobile. The voice was unknown-low and even, as if he had all day. She turned, her heart with a skip as her gaze scanned the dark hallway. No one should have been in here, let alone at an hour like this.
She peered back into the shadows, and there, leaning indolently against the wall, stood a man she had never seen. His form was tall and commanding, yet it was his eyes—sharp and keen—which held her rooted. They glinted like twin daggers in the dim light, watching every movement of hers.
Excuse me?" she said, attempting to sound steady. Now, with barely seeing his face, it was the manner of his ease-standing oozing confidence-that sent a shiver down her spine.
"I said," he repeated now, softer, almost a whisper, "do you ever feel that the closest people around you might be concealing something?
It felt as if her heart seemed to beat against the ribs. But who was that man; more importantly, why would he ask her such a weird question in the middle of the night?
"I do not know who you are," she replied. Her fingers clasped onto the strap of her bag, as if ready to swirl and leave. "But you are not supposed to be here.
He pushed himself off the wall. His movements were lethargically slow, utterly deliberate. A step into the light, and the face that emerged was both striking and unsettling-the sharp jawline, the dark stubble across his chin, deep, calculating eyes that were simply too intense.
He smiled, but more of a smirk, the knowing kind, where he knew something she didn't. "People always think they know who's supposed to be where. But I've found assumptions like that can be dangerous."
Elara's pulse quickened. "What do you want?"
He took another step closer, his voice low. "It's not what I want. It's what you need to know.
The air thickened. Elara got the distinct sensation that this wasn't any accidental meeting at all. And yet the weight of this man seemed to carry with him some secret so dark, it should never be spoken aloud.
"You're asking the wrong question, Elara," he said, hunching toward her, his eyes never leaving hers.
Her breath caught in her throat. "How do you know my name?
He had said nothing. He went back behind the screen of shadows; he was not there, it seemed, one moment more than another.
The next morning, Elara's mind was still reeling from that encounter with the stranger because she had hardly slept. Teeming questions filled her mind: Who was he? How was it that he knew her name? Why was she suddenly beginning to get this growing intuition that everything in her life was about to change?
She walked to the diner for her shift, her mind circling again and again around the man in the hallway. There was something unsettled about him, something that felt. recognizable. Still, all the same, she knew she had never laid eyes on him before.
"Elara!" Claire's voice snapped her out of her reverie. "Earth to Elara?"
She'd been staring blankly at the sidewalk, it seemed, and now Claire was already seated at their usual booth inside the diner, waving her over with a teasing smile.
"Sorry," Elara muttered as she slid into the booth across from her friend. "I didn't sleep much last night."
Claire lifted an eyebrow. "Bad dreams or something?
Elara hedged. She had no idea how to explain what had happened the night before. Claire would probably either think she was overreacting, or worse, that she was imagining things.
"I. had a weird encounter last night," Elara said carefully.
Claire tipped forward onto her elbows, eyes shining with curiosity. "Weird how?
"There was this guy," Elara said, her eyes darting towards the window as if she half expected the stranger to pop up at any moment. "He appeared outside my apartment. Asked me these really bizarre questions."
"Like what?"
Again pausing, as though taking another deep breath, Elara tried to do better. "If I ever think people who are close to me have secrets."
Claire's brow furrowed. "That's creepy. You did call the cops, didn't you?
"No, I didn't," Elara said. "I didn't know what to say. He wasn't threatening me or anything. Yet there was a something in him … the way he spoke, the way he looked at me."
Claire said nothing for a moment before she shrugged. "Maybe it was just some weirdo coming through town. You know how Silver Creek gets its share of characters.
Maybe, Elara whispered to herself, but she did not really believe it. There had been something more to this stranger's being there-something not quite placeable.
Claire leaned over the table and clutched her hand. "Hey-don't let it get to you. "Hey, don't let it get to you. It was probably nothing."
Elara forced a smile, but the knot in her stomach would not disappear.
In the evening, she walked home under a setting sun, quiet streets in Silver Creek. But that familiar comfort did nothing to dismantle what was growing in her gut. Every footfall, every rustling leaf, seemed louder than it should be with the world holding its breath as if in anticipation of something.
She had paused at her apartment building door and peered into the shadows, an old habit. But no one was there. She let out her breath in a whoosh of relief.
A step inside, and the air seemed uncommonly still. The space was colder, darker than usually occupied, too. Elara set down her bag and flipped on the light, freezing.
On the table in her kitchen, there was just one piece of paper.
She reached in for it, placing a shaking hand to her chest against the pounding of her heart, as she picked it up.
The note was to the point and in a sharp, precise handwriting: "You can't hide from what you are.".
Elara's blood ran cold. She had no idea who might have left the note, but the words leaped before her mind with unmistakable clarity. Whoever this person was--this stranger--he was not done with her. And he knew something about her that she did not.
A knock on the door jolted her out.
She froze, her heart racing with runaway thoughts as her gaze riveted on the door. The same stranger from the hallway? The one who'd left that note?
She went to the door with a slow and methodical movement, her heart in her throat, peering through the peephole, half-expecting those piercing eyes staring back at her.
It wasn't the stranger.
It was Kaden.
Elara exhaled a sigh of relief; her shaking hand unlocked the door and pulled it open. Kaden was standing there. His normally calm and collected manner masked whatever urgency had brought him to her door.
"Elara," he said steadily, "we need to talk."
She swallowed hard, opening for him. "About what?"
He shut the door behind him, somber-faced. "There is something you should know. About me. About us."
Elara's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
Kaden ran a hand through his hair, his jaw tight. "I haven't been honest with you. And I'm sorry, but I didn't have a choice."
Her stomach twisted with dread. "What are you talking about?"
It was Kaden's eyes that met hers, and in them she felt the weight of his secret. "I've been keeping something from you. Something I never wanted you to find out like this."
Thick was the air between them at the hike of another notch in tension.
"Kaden," Elara spoke, soft, just a whisper, "what is it?"
He took a deep breath, squaring his jaw. "I'm not who you think I am."
At that, the light about her flickered and the shadows in the room seemed to writhe and darken about them; the door creaked, ever so slightly ajar as if something-or rather someone-were merely waiting beyond the threshold.
And thus, Elara knew it-the things would never be the way they used to be.
The night closed in, thick with secrets and shadows, around them. Elara's mind whirled in a mad scramble as she tried to fit the pieces of truth Kaden had just shattered before her into place. There was always an underlying feeling that he was keeping secrets, something beneath the surface-something he never spoke of.
But here, in the dimly lit light of her apartment, it was truer than it had ever been, and it terrified her.
Kaden stepped closer and his eyes were dark and unreadable. "There's so much you don't know, Elara. About me. About this town. About what's coming."
Her breath caught in her throat, her mind racing. "What's coming?"
In an instant, the excitement left Kaden's face; his voice was literally a whisper. "The past. And it's coming for you.
This was but the beginning, and deep within her heart, Elara knew that.
- Writer
