Shadow Seekers

Chapter 5

Serena screamed again as she felt a hand touch her arm. "Shh," cautioned a voice from the dark, "Don't alert them that you are here." Serena squinted her eyes as she peered into the corner, she could make out what she guessed to be a human shape, although it seemed old and bent.

            "Who are you?" Serena asked the old man that stood in the corner, "And who are they?"

            The gentleman took an intake of breath and was about it answer her when he was interrupted by Colin running into the room. Colin immediately put himself between her and the old man, his gun leveled at the man's chest. "I suggest you state your name and why you are here before my finger decides to pull this trigger."

            The man let out what could only be said as a low growl before he informed them, "As I was about to tell your friend, “He said in a whisper, pointing one of his gnarled fingers at Serena, "before you interrupted me, I'm Mr. Penham. I'm in charge of the staff here."

            "The staff?"" Colin gave him a questioning look, "What staff?" As if to emphasize the lack of any other staff members, Colin looked around him as if to search for said staff members, then back at the man in front of him.

Mr. Penham shook his head, “They aren’t here anymore.” He said, “Some got away before it was too late for them.”

Serena looked back at Colin, who gave her a look that said, “Come on, seriously?” Then they both looked back at Mr. Penham. Colin instead said to Mr. Penham, “Sir, what was it that everyone was trying to get away from? Why did everyone leave?”

Mr. Penham corrected him, “Not everyone did get away,” he said a bit snippety, “but they were trying to get away from the Martens.”

Before Mr. Penham could continue Serena interrupted him, “Who are the Martens?”

Mr. Penham took a deep breath; he looked as if he were trying to calm himself. It didn’t work because there was definite anger in his voice, “The Martens were the owners of this beautiful house, my employers. I am…was the butler. It was my job to make sure this house always looked in order, and the staff was in line.” He held up his finger when Serena was about to interrupt him again, “Please let me finish, and I will explain what is going on.”

Colin placed his hand on Serena’s shoulder, and nodded his head to tell the older gentleman to continue. “It was about a month ago I would hazard,” he began, “that the Martens started changing. It wasn’t all at once, just small things at first. Sleeping in later, black rings under their eyes…then they started to avoid the sunlight.”

Colin and Serena looked at each other again. Something weird was going on here. “I would go into their rooms in the morning, and I would walk over to open the curtains like I normally do, but I wouldn’t get that far before I was physically being stopped from opening them.” Mr. Penham continued, “Then they would tell me to leave, and that breakfast wasn’t necessary that morning.” He shook his head, “One person telling me that is one thing, but when all four of them acted and would say something similar, I knew something was wrong.”

A pained look entered Mr. Penham’s face, “I didn’t do anything though. I should have told someone, but I have worked for them for so long, I didn’t want there to be any nasty rumors going around about these new strange habits.” He bit his lip before continuing, “Next thing to happen was some of the staff started disappearing. At first I just told myself that they couldn’t handle the stress of the job, and that they left of their own volition. It wasn’t until the numbers started to grow, that I started to pay more attention to the movements of all of my staff.” Mr. Penham licked his lips. “I don’t know how to even explain what I have seen, and what has happened. The Martens have been turned into something unexplainable.”

As if on cue, there was a high pitch scream that rang through the house. Mr. Penham’s face showed fear. “How many of you are there?”

“Three.” Colin answered. “Daniel went to check the upstairs.” Colin’s face paled.

Mr. Penham’s lips pulled up in rage and showed his decaying teeth. “What has he done? I sure hope he doesn’t plan to kill them!”

Daniel finished opening the door by kicking it, allowing him to hold his gun out in front of him with both hands. He was surprised when the door didn’t hit whatever it was that he saw pacing back and forth behind the door. In fact, Daniel couldn’t see anything except for a strange fog. It wasn’t moonlight at all that he had seen under the door, the fog was giving off a dim light that had resembled light coming in through a window, but there was no way any light from any other source would be able to make it through the thick mist in front of him.

Daniel paused. He wasn’t sure if he should proceed, or if he should go and get the other two first. It was safer for him to get Colin and Serena, but if he really was worried about being safe all the time, he wouldn’t be in his profession. Slowly Daniel stepped into the room, letting the fog surround him. He was used to the dark; his eyes had learned to see when there was little light many years ago. This was different. There was light around him, yet he could not see anything beyond a couple feet in front of him. He took a deep breath to steady himself, as he continued to walk forward into the fog.

Daniel decided that the first thing he needed to do was figure out the perimeter of the room. His best way was to walk forward until he hit into a wall, and then follow the wall around the room. Once he knew how large the room was, he could then worry about trying to track something down since he was unable to see very far in front of him. He consciously knew that his ten minutes were up, and that he should return to downstairs to meet up with Serena and Colin, but for some reason he feared that if he were to leave the room, he would not be able to find it again.

Daniel swung around as he thought he felt something walk by his right side, but he couldn’t see anything. His heart was racing, but he kept his breath steady as he looked around him, slowly turning in a circle. The hardest part was that he didn’t know what he was looking for. They had heard it was a rumor of an Timori, but he had never heard of an Timori being able to actually create things before. Timori’s messed with the mind, they couldn’t actually change the things or environment around them. Nothing Daniel had ever heard of or faced could do something like this.

Off to his left Daniel saw a shadow, so he turned towards it. This time he didn’t turn slowly, in fear that it would already be gone if her did. His quick turn and the fog in the room disoriented him for a moment, and even though he had tried to be quick the shadow still had disappeared. So now he wasn’t sure where the shadow had gone, or which direction he was facing. The thought crossed his mind that maybe whatever else was in the room with him had done that intentionally so that he would get lost in the fog, not that he felt he needed much help with that. It was always difficult to know where you were when everything looked the same.

After taking a moment to think, Daniel decided to still stick with his original plan. Walk straight until he found a wall that he could use to guide him around the room. It also would help him find the door again. Along with that, he also decided that in order to find the wall, he would have to ignore anything he saw unless it was close enough to do him harm. He didn’t want the thing turning him around again. Taking a deep breath, Daniel put his plan into action, and took his first step forward. At that same moment a loud piercing scream rang though the room. Daniel ducked his head and covered his ears from the sound. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up as the scream continued from somewhere in the room.

Colin pulled Serena back from Penham. There was something about the look he had with his last announcement that made Colin feel uneasy about him, well more so than he had before. Them? Did Penham mean the family that had lived in the house? The family that, according to what Mr. Penham had said, decided that they didn’t like the sunlight, and were the reason the staff was disappearing? Why would Penham stay? Colin thought, Why didn’t he leave with the others after he knew what was happening to the staff?

There was definitely something that wasn’t right about Mr. Penham, and Colin began to wonder if Mr. Penham had something to do with what had happened to the Martens, or if maybe he was being affected in the same way that they were.

“You better join your friend before something goes wrong.” Mr. Penham said, “I can show you where you should look.”

“It’s ok. I’m sure we can find it ourselves.” Colin tried not to show his uneasiness. If Penham really was involved in some way, he didn’t want to let him know that he suspected it. Colin then tried smiling at the man, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t fooling him.

“I insist.” Was all that Penham said, before he smiled back at Colin, and walked past him. Colin’s head turned to follow him until he had left the room. Then he quickly bent down and whispered in Serena’s ear, “Something is wrong with that man. Keep your eyes open, and don’t trust him.” Serena nodded her understanding and then they both exited the room after their guide who was already heading up the stairs.

As they began to follow the man, Colin was internally struggling to decide if it would be better to stand in front of Serena so that he stood between her and Penham, or if he should stand behind her incase anything came up after them that they weren’t expecting. His indecision showed as he was constantly pushing past Serena to stand in front of her, and then with his steps slowing she would pass him, and he would be behind her. Every time she did, she would give him an annoyed look.

This continued until they reached the landing, at which point Colin was in front of Serena and was able to see the many doors down the hallway. At that point he decided that, based upon the multitude of doors, it was best for him to stay in front, and he would check each door that they passed to make sure nothing was lurking behind it. He also decided it was a good idea because he could tell by the glare he had received from Serena that she didn’t appreciate constantly being pushed either in front of him or behind him. He wished that he could let her know of his suspicions, and that he was just worried about her, but with Penham only a few feet in front of them, he didn’t think it was a good idea.

Colin eyed each door that they passed; pausing the group at each door to open it and check behind it. Nothing was hiding behind any of the doors he checked, but that didn’t alleviate any of Colin’s anxiety that something was bad was going to happen. At the end of the first hall they turned left, and it became apparent which door Penham was leading them to. The door in front of them was thrown open and all you could see through the doorway was some sort of glow that came from the mist that was inside the room. Colin thought it was strange that the mist seemed to only stay in the room even though the door was wide open.

Serena paused next to Colin. He looked down at her and could see that there was fear in her eyes. “Daniel is in there?” She said, her voice coming out in a small whisper.

“Yes, and it is your job to get him out.” Mr. Penham turned to look at them as he said this. There was a smile behind his eyes that Colin didn’t like. It looked like he was holding in some sort of secret joke that Colin highly doubted he would find as funny.

Colin swallowed and turned towards Serena, gently grabbing her shoulders. “We don’t have to go in there.” Colin said, “I don’t know if Daniel needs us, but if he does we are the only ones that will go in there after him.” Serena just nodded, then she grabbed one of his hands off of her should. “Lead the way.” She said, not letting go of Colin’s hand.

Colin gave her a wry smile, turned around then walked into the room.

As suddenly as the scream started it stopped. Daniel continued to stay crouched down for a few more seconds, making sure that it wasn’t just going to start up again. Slowly he drew himself up, keeping to his promise that he wasn’t going to pay attention to anything he saw. He stuck out his hands in front of him, and began to walk counting his steps, “1…2…3…” The room might as well have been pitch dark for all that he was able to see. He felt like he was a blind man searching for something that was just out of the reach of his hands. “37…38…39…” This room must be rather large. Daniel thought as he counted, “74…75…76…”

At 92 Daniel stopped. Something wasn’t right. He was pretty sure that the room couldn’t be that large. Daniel looked about him, and only saw the same fog floating about him. Daniel dug his fingers into his palms, and his mouth pursed as his eyes glared at the fog. He knew it was ridiculous but he started firing his gun into the fog, shot after shot, and when he emptied the barrel, he filled it back up and started firing into the fog again the opposite direction.

Two bullets after reloading had left his gun when he suddenly stopped. He was sure he had heard something. He fired again in that same direction. There the noise was again. A little ping noise of his bullet hitting something in the fog. Daniel couldn’t help himself he dropped his hand, but held onto the gun, and ran in the direction where he had heard the noise. It wasn’t until it was too late that he saw the metal wall and ran face on into it with a loud BANG! He pulled back from it rubbing his forehead where he could feel a bump already starting to form.

What is this doing here? Daniel thought it seemed a strange thing to have a metal wall in such an elegant house. He took his hands and ran them along the area that he could reach. There were weird markings that protruded out and were carved into the wall. Daniel heard a noise from behind him, and quickly turned around, putting his back against the wall. His gun was already raised and was pointed towards two shadows coming towards him. His heart started racing as they grew closer. How many of them are there? He hoped that these two were the only ones he had to worry about.

Serena continued to hold Colin’s hand as they walked into the room. She looked over at Colin once they entered, and almost jumped back startled, because all she could see of Colin was the hand that was holding hers. Everything else of him was just a shadow in the mist. “Colin?” She whispered.

Out of the mist his other hand came and held her face, “No matter what, don’t let go of my hand.” He told her, and then moved his hand away from her face. He didn’t have to worry; she wasn’t planning on ever letting his hand go as long as they were in this room. She felt Colin start moving so she mechanically moved her feet along with his. She didn’t ask him what his plan was, or how they were going to find Daniel in the mist. She also didn’t bring up the fact that the mist shouldn’t have even been there, and that they didn’t know what else could be in the room. She just trusted him.

It felt like ages that they walked in silence. It wasn’t until she heard an expletive leave Colin’s mouth that the silence was broken. He then said, “I honestly don’t know where we are going, or for that matter how we would even get back.” Serena felt chills go up her spine and down her arms as she realized that she wasn’t sure how they would get back either. She thought they had been walking in a straight line, but they had been walking for quite some time, and hadn’t run into anything. Plus, she recognized, the mist was making it difficult for her to tell what any direction was. “Let’s just worry about finding Daniel for right now.” She heard herself say, as if from a distance. “Then when we are together we can worry about the rest.” Serena had shocked herself. She hadn’t realized that she was even thinking that before it came out. She hadn’t realized that she was even calm enough to think something so rational.

She didn’t get any agreement from Colin, although he could have nodded his head without her seeing, but knew that he agreed with her when he started pulling her along again. The silence between them came back as they continued to walk through the mist.

Colin doubted that even Daniel knew how to get out of this godforsaken room. The mist seemed to just encompass everything, and they hadn’t seen or bumped into anything yet. Colin wasn’t going to admit it, but he could almost hear that voice in his head, and it was telling him that they never would get out. Maybe that’s why Penham was almost smiling. Maybe he knew that there was little chance of us ever being able to navigate our way through this mess! “Bastard!” The word slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it.

“What did you say?” Serena said. Colin turned his head towards her but wasn’t able to actually see her face.

“Nothing.” He said, then he shook his head, there was no point in shutting Serena out now. Penham couldn’t hear him and talking to her might ease some of the anxiety of the room. “Penham,” he said, “I felt like he was too happy for us to go into this room. I just was speculating on why.”

“Why do you think?” Serena asked him; her voice coming out of the mist. “Do you think he didn’t expect us to be able to get out? Or do you think it was more he thought whatever created this mist would make sure that we wouldn’t?”

Colin tried to ignore the slight fear that he heard in her voice while she asked. Serena was fairly new to all of this. It had only been about two years since they had brought her in, since they had decided to teach her what they knew.

“He could have been smiling because he thought that we were going to rid the house of whatever caused this.” Colin said, but even he knew that Serena wouldn’t believe his attempts at optimism. It didn’t take long for this life to drain you of all the optimism you once had.

“Thank you.” Serena said. Colin gave a small smile, and then remembered that she wasn’t able to see it, so he squeezed her hand. At that same moment there was a sound like shots being fired that rang through the air. Colin could feel his throat constrict, as Serena panicked, “Daniel!”

Colin Squeezed Serena’s hand a little tighter as he dragged her behind him in the direction they had heard the shots.

Daniel felt the fear fade, as anger took control. They thought that they had him cornered, that he was easy prey? They would be wrong. Daniel would not allow for this to be easy for them.

He was ready to pull the trigger, be the first to strike when he heard Serena’s voice, small, quiet, and a little shaky ask “Daniel?” His heart pulled at him. He could tell that she didn’t hope for it to be him. That she wouldn’t allow herself to think it, to be disappointed. This is how their lives were. Be ready for death at any time, whether it is your enemies, yours, or a companions...you must always be ready.

“Serena,” Daniel said, as he suddenly realized how exhausted he was, “it is me.” The exhaustion made him wonder what time it was. He wasn’t sure how long he had been in that room.

Serena ran towards Daniel’s voice, and sighed when she felt his arms encircle her. She wrapped hers around him as well.

“Don’t cry.” She heard him say and was stunned to find that she was. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

“It was out of frustration.” She told him, “I’m sick of this fog.”

“I agree.” He said, looking over her shoulder. She looked as well and saw Colin glide into view.

“Where do you think it came from?” Colin asked, his eyes roaming around the fog surrounding them. Daniel just shrugged his shoulders in response. “I thought you were all knowing?” Colin joked. Daniel rolled his eyes then looked down at Serena, giving her a slight smile and squeezing her arms.

“With the three of us though, I’m sure we will figure it out.” Daniel said. Serena nodded her head up at him and smiled. It fell though when she saw the look on Daniel’s face. He was staring behind her. She felt herself shiver as she slowly started to turn around.

Daniel saw a shadow coming towards them, just past Colin. It had a distinct human shape, and for a moment he tried to convince himself it was just another person that happened to be in the house. They weren’t the only Shadow Seekers in the area, so maybe someone else decided to come to the same house. The dream rapidly faded as the shape got closer. It was larger than a normal human, and misshappened. He felt that it almost had to be twice the size in the shoulders, although it seemed to be no more than a few inches taller than him.

He felt Serena shiver beneath his hands and without removing his eyes from the shadow still slowly moving towards them, he pushed Serena behind him. Daniel also felt Colin move to his side, and heard him whisper, “Where did they come from?” Daniel couldn’t help but think back to the shadows he saw earlier when he was by himself in the room. The way they moved so quickly. Could these things be the same creature?

That’s when it hit him. They? Daniel let his eyes move from the shadow in front of him to see that there were two more shadows closing in on them. “s**t!” he said under his breath.

“You took the words right out of my mouth.” Colin said, beside him.

Daniel looked behind his shoulder at Serena, her bottom lip was between her teeth. Her eyes were staring ahead in fear. He knew he should say something to ease her mind. Maybe if he was Colin would joke about it, but he wasn’t Colin. He was a realist, and he didn’t think things were in their favor. They couldn’t even see what the creatures in front of them were, and he had his doubts on that even helping them. He had a feeling that they hadn’t ever faced something like they were about to before.

So instead of saying something to soothe Serena’s nerves, he just turned his sight back on to the encroaching shadows. At that moment, if he believed in a god, he would have prayed that the shadows were other Shadow Seekers, that they were friendly figures. He didn’t believe in a God though, and he didn’t believe that they were friendly.