The shadow in the Dark
1219 Words
Ava didn’t realize she was holding her breath until her lungs burned.
The figure in the abandoned building didn’t move.
Neither did she.
The silence between them felt heavier than the dust in the air.
Then—slowly—the stranger stepped forward again.
One foot.
Then another.
The faint moonlight slipped through broken windows, just enough to reveal a shape, but not a face.
Ava’s mind screamed at her to run.
Her body finally obeyed.
She spun around and ran.
Fast.
The folder slipped under her arm as she bolted through the hallway.
Her shoes slapped against the cracked floor, echoing through the abandoned building like gunshots.
Behind her—
Footsteps.
Not slow anymore.
Not careful.
Chasing.
Ava’s heartbeat slammed against her ribs.
She turned a corner too fast and nearly fell, catching herself on a broken wall.
Dust exploded into the air.
“Stop!” a voice shouted behind her.
It wasn’t loud.
But it was close.
Too close.
Her panic doubled.
She ran harder.
The exit was somewhere ahead—she just had to find it.
Another hallway.
Another turn.
Every corridor looked the same—rotting walls, shattered glass, darkness swallowing everything past a few meters.
Her lungs burned.
Her legs ached.
Still, she didn’t stop.
Then she saw it.
Light.
The exit door.
Ava pushed forward with everything she had left.
Almost there—
A hand grabbed her arm.
She screamed.
The folder flew from her grasp, papers scattering like falling leaves.
Her body twisted violently as she struggled—
“AVA!”
The voice cut through the panic like a blade.
She froze.
That voice.
Lucas.
Her head snapped toward him.
He stood there, breathing hard, hair slightly damp like he had been running through the rain.
His grip on her arm loosened instantly.
“Ava… what the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.
She stared at him.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
“I—” She swallowed. “I got a message.”
His expression darkened immediately.
Behind them—
Silence.
The footsteps were gone.
Ava turned sharply.
The hallway was empty.
No one.
No shadow.
No presence.
Nothing.
Her stomach twisted.
“It was here,” she whispered.
Lucas scanned the darkness, jaw tight.
“I know.”
That answer made her pause.
“You know?”
He didn’t respond.
Instead, he stepped in front of her instinctively—placing himself between her and the darkness.
Protective.
Too protective.
And that scared her more than the stalker did.
“We’re leaving,” Lucas said firmly.
Ava didn’t argue.
Not this time.
---
Five minutes later, they were in his SUV.
The engine hummed softly, rain beginning again outside like the sky itself was unsettled.
Neither of them spoke.
Ava stared down at the folder in her lap.
Lucas gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” he said finally.
Ava turned toward him.
“I didn’t know it was a trap.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does.”
Lucas exhaled sharply.
“You could’ve been hurt.”
“So could you.”
That made him go quiet.
Ava noticed it immediately—the way his jaw tightened, the way his eyes flickered with something unspoken.
Guilt.
Fear.
Something deeper.
“Why were you there?” she asked softly.
Lucas didn’t answer right away.
“I was following the signal.”
“The signal?”
His grip tightened.
“I’ve been tracking whoever is sending you those messages.”
Ava blinked.
“You’ve been tracking them?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
A pause.
“…since the first message.”
That landed heavily.
“So you knew from the beginning I was being watched.”
Lucas didn’t deny it.
And that was worse.
Ava looked out the window, her chest tightening.
“So I wasn’t just unlucky,” she whispered. “I was targeted.”
Lucas’s voice softened slightly.
“You were never the target.”
She turned back immediately.
“What does that mean?”
But he didn’t answer.
Not properly.
Instead—
“We’re almost there.”
---
Back at her dorm, the tension didn’t leave.
It followed them inside like a third presence.
Ava spread the contents of the folder across her desk.
Photos.
Dozens of them.
Lucas stood behind her, arms crossed.
Silent.
Watching.
Ava picked up one photo after another.
Some were of Lucas as a teenager.
Some were recent.
Some were taken from far away.
Others were dangerously close.
“Who does this?” she muttered.
Lucas didn’t respond.
Then Ava noticed something.
A recurring pattern.
A black symbol in the corner of several photos.
A small mark.
Almost like a signature.
She held it up.
“This—what is this?”
Lucas went still.
Completely still.
Ava turned to him.
“Lucas?”
He stepped closer.
His eyes locked onto the symbol.
And for the first time since she met him…
He looked afraid.
Not angry.
Not guarded.
Afraid.
“That’s not possible,” he whispered.
Ava’s stomach dropped.
“What is it?”
Lucas stared at the mark like it was a ghost from his past.
“It’s supposed to be gone.”
“What is?”
He finally looked at her.
And when he spoke, his voice was low.
Careful.
Heavy.
“The people who destroyed my sister’s life.”
Silence hit the room like a wave.
Ava froze.
“Sister?”
Lucas swallowed.
Something inside him cracked.
“I never told you everything,” he said quietly.
Ava’s heart pounded.
“Then start now.”
Lucas exhaled slowly.
Then he picked up one of the photos—his sister’s image.
His fingers trembled slightly.
“She didn’t die in an accident,” he said.
Ava’s breath caught.
Lucas continued.
“She was taken.”
The room felt colder instantly.
“And I couldn’t stop it.”
The words were quiet.
But they carried weight.
Years of it.
Pain.
Regret.
Failure.
Ava couldn’t speak.
Lucas set the photo down carefully.
“Whoever is sending you these messages… they’re connected to them.”
Ava’s voice barely worked.
“Why me?”
Lucas hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Because it meant there was something worse.
Something he still wasn’t saying.
Before she could push further—
A loud vibration shattered the silence.
Ava’s phone lit up.
Unknown Number.
Again.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
A single image.
Ava’s breath stopped.
It was her.
Standing inside the abandoned building.
Looking directly at the camera.
But this time—
She wasn’t alone in the photo.
Behind her stood Lucas.
And behind Lucas…
The silhouette of a woman.
Her face blurred.
But her presence unmistakable.
Under the image, one line appeared.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO MEET HIM.
Ava’s blood ran cold.
She looked up slowly.
“Lucas…”
But he was already staring at the screen.
His face had gone completely pale.
Because he recognized the woman behind him.
And when he finally spoke—
His voice broke slightly.
“That’s my sister.”
The lights in the room flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out completely.
And in the darkness, a familiar whisper filled Ava’s ear.
“You’re already part of it now.”
- Writer
