Dark Tales: Shadow (bxb)

“Say, Shade. Do you think I will do well in the test?”

“Haha, too late to worry don’t you think?”

Dan huffed and glared at me as angrily as possible. We erupted with laughter, unable to hold the staring competition for more than a few seconds.

“Come on! Let’s go, we’re late for class already!” I exclaimed and swung the door open.

BAM!

I instantly froze on the spot. A hooded figure stood in front of me. Smoke was coming out of the gun barrel. A thud sounded from my left, I didn’t even need to look to know who fell.

“Ah... Wrong target, whoopsie.” The hooded male laughed maniacally. His hand was littered with tattoos all the way to his fingers as he spins the gun. “You’re the only one left, boy.”

Scarlet red coated the walls and even the ceiling. Everyone I knew was either lying on the floor or on their chair. The floor was painted red, wet sticky liquid dripping from bodies and gathering on the floor.

‘No...’ My mind went blank

‘NO...’ I feel like I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t run. My legs won’t move.

“No reaction? That’s boring.” The man exclaimed. He started dancing around the bloodied floor while humming an eerie tune.

BAM! He fired another shot at Mr. Hugh who was just lying lifelessly at his feet.

“Hmm, I still prefer shooting live prey.” He says, casually kicking the body away from him. My legs gave out and I collapsed backward onto the floor. My palm skidded on the wet floor until I hit something soft, making me yelp. “Oh! You finally reacted!”

Red. My palm was red. The floor was red. Dan was red.

‘NO... Save me.’

“Too bad, I’m gonna have to kill you now.” He cheered with a huge smile on his face.

‘NO! SAVE ME! SOMEONE! ANYONE!’

I woke up in a sweat-drenched bed, panting heavily. The moonlight still leaked into the room, indicating the time of day. I slowly changed the sheets and took a change of clothes into the bathroom. I got into the shower, dumping the dirty sheets and sweaty clothing into the laundry bag just outside the bathroom. Standing there, feeling my heart calming down as the hot water flowed down my body, I could spot the swirls of darkness that always appears when I’m alone. They are always there, in my shadow, in the darkness. Reminding me that I’m never alone as much as I want to be.

Stepping out and drying myself, I can hear movements from the other rooms. I got dressed and quickly got out of the bathroom.

“Argh!” A loud bang, followed by a thud on the ground. I apologized profusely to my foster father, Blaze, who is rubbing his forehead that was starting to swell badly. The commotion caught the attention of my other foster parent. Rain came stampeding down the stairs, slightly tripping as he made his way to us. He fussed about Blaze, completely ignoring Blaze’s effort in trying to get him to calm down. With a slight wave of his hand, a blue glow covers his hand and the now swollen forehead. Rain muttered something under his breath and the swelling starting to fade away. I watched in amazement at the precision Rain always has in his spells.

My curse prevents me from living a normal life, as such, I can only live with people that are able to stop me from going out of control. Or in the worst-case scenario, kill me. Blaze and Rain are not only renowned mages in the world of magic, but they are also soulmates so that made them the best choice to take me in. Blaze has the Blessing of Fire while Rain has the Blessing of Water. Although mages with Blessings are rare, it’s even rarer for them to be soulmates. They have always tried to get me to learn magic, but the shadows never listen to me. They are there but nobody knows when, how, or why. Blaze rubs my head and gives me a wide grin as if silently assuring me that he’s fine before going into the bathroom to do his business. Rain got up as well, letting out a loud yawn before retreating back into his room to sleep. I made my way to the kitchen, pouring myself a cup of instant coffee since I didn’t feel like sleeping.

“My gosh, why is it so dark.” Blaze complained before switching on the lights. “Had a nightmare?” I gave him a small nod while he took a seat beside me. He placed a comforting shoulder around me and sat with me for a while.

“Is it the same old?” He asked. I gave him another nod, involuntarily shivering from the memory. After sitting beside me in a comforting position, he got up and started preparing breakfast. Contrary to how he looks and his abilities, Blaze is pretty laidback as opposed to the fire equal passion stereotypes. He is 6’1 and muscular, credits to his construction side job, with multiple tattoos on his left arm and leg. Rain on the other is the more passionate one when it comes to doing things. He is 5’7 and lean. He works as a model for famous companies and although he is very professional on the job, he usually gets very worked up which ends up in arguments between him and others.

“What do you mean that the board decided on this! We are his foster parents, are we not! What say do those old farts have!” Rain screamed while walking down the stairs, his hand ran through his messy hair, clearly annoyed at the situation at hand. “While I do agree that he needs to get some exposure and that they’re FINALLY letting him out, you can’t just suddenly tell me to let him go with no preparation.”

A pause.

“Don’t you call him that. That poor boy never asked for this.”

“How dare you! Unlike all you bloody cunts that kill people for ‘disobeying’ you, that boy is traumatized. If anyone is a murderer, it is all you and those higher idiots that.”

After a few more moments, Rain angrily cut the phone call and rolled his eyes as Blaze served some food to him.

“So, what happened?” Blaze asked carefully, trying not to anger him further.

Rain just stared at me and said: “You’re going to school tomorrow.”