Chapter 18: Michael’s Shadow

“Wait,” Zophie said, tugging on my arm to stop me. “There’s something… Here, follow me!” she shouted, all but dragging me along with her. I was surprised by her strength, so much so that I didn’t immediately realize she was dragging us directly toward the source of boundless sin.

“Zophie!” I snapped, trying to tug on her arm, but she bounded forward with enthusiasm, not noticing the fear in my voice.

“Come on, just a little bit more. I think someone needs my help!”

Was this how she always found people down on their luck? My mind raced back to the homeless man she shared a sandwich with outside the gas station mart. I’d been drawn by the weight of his sins, but she’d been drawn to him to help him.

We turned a corner, seeing a man wearing a surgical mask, hands in his hoodie pockets with the hood up. Next to him stood a shadowy figure— Michael’s presence, though he wasn’t here in person. Both of their eyes widened when they saw us barreling toward them, the former’s body tensing up. Michael’s shadow smirked at me, his eyes flashing with malice, before evaporating and vanishing altogether. He was gone, I knew, leaving us to deal with someone else I recognized.

I leaped forward, picking the tiny girl up. She squeaked in surprise as I manhandled her, my arms grabbing beneath her arms and twirling her until she was behind me. Turning back around, I faced off with the man hiding behind his mask. The smell of brimstone practically radiated off of him.

“Stay behind me,” I growled at Zophie, my eyes locked onto the man.

Regardless, she peeked her head around my shoulder, staying behind me only technically.

“Asmo, my guy. I just heard you’ve gone soft.”

That explained why he was waltzing around my territory, pushing boundaries and poking at perceived weaknesses— no doubt having been led here by Michael.

“Wendigo,” I growled, “The hell are you doing up in my ass for?”

He shrugged his shoulders, like he didn’t have a care in the world. “I ain’t doing nothin’, man. Just taking a stroll.” He cocked his head to the side. “And you?”

Zophie took that opportunity to poke my shoulder and ask, “He’s not Michael, right?”

She must not have noticed Michael’s shade, mortal as she was.

“You know him?” Zophie continued. Before I could answer, she called out to him, “Is there something we can help you with?”

“Yeah, sweet thing. There’s plenty you can help me with. I’m in pain, ya see. Need some scratch.”

“Piss off,” I demanded, “Or I’ll do to you what I did to Hannya.”

Despite the mask hiding his face, I could see the corners of his eyes upturned in a smile. “Fought her yesterday, huh? Must’ve been pret-ty tirin’ for you after all that, yeah?”

“Asmo, can’t we help him with whatever he needs?” Zophie asked me sweetly— ignorantly.

“Not all who cry are babies, Zophie. He doesn’t need our help; he wants to take it, by force.”

“I see how it is,” Wendigo said, having easily overheard us. “You don’t wanna help poor, little old me, yeah?” Something dangerous flashed in his eyes before the creature jabbed his hand into his waistband.

Just as I began to see the flash of a muzzle reflecting the artificial light, I drew on the shadows around me.

A crack rang out through the hall right as I pulled my shadows in front of us. Zophie shrieked so loudly in my ear that I had to double-check that the projectile had hit my shadows and not her. Luckily, the bullet had vanished into them, but not without a cost. The powerful impact took a toll on me, feeling my sore spiritual muscle already complaining.

For a brief moment, I considered staying to fight. Letting this bastard trample over my territory galled, and eliminating Wendigo here would prevent him from attacking us in the future. But, I couldn’t do that— not while defending Zophie at the same time. If I had to focus on attacking him and defending Zophie at the same time, I’d lose. Simple as that.

Zophie was the absolute priority. “We’re running.”

“What is that!? Is that a gun?” Zophie half-screamed, panic lacing her tone. She was too freaked out to listen.

With one arm, I wrapped around her torso, throwing her over my shoulder and causing her to squeak. Using my left arm, I held her hips tight against my upper body, her upper body in turn half-dangling down my back.

“Aren’t you gonna stay and fight?” Wendigo taunted, and on the other side of my shadows, I could see his form begin to shift underneath his clothing. His wiry muscles pulsated like some kind of grotesque muscle cramping all over.

“It’s gonna be okay, Zophie,” I tried to reassure her, holding her tight against me. But she was still hyperventilating.

“You gonna run, big man?” Wendigo scoffed. “You’re still a beast, but you’re leashed now. Michael was right. Pathetic.”

Red hot rage flashed through me. “You don’t know shit!” I shouted at him, already looking for the nearest exit. Damn these fucking mortal built mazes! I didn’t recognize this part of the mall.

Wendigo didn’t leave me time to keep looking. He slammed forward right into my shadows. Wendigo shattered my shadows into wisps, lunging forward. I flung us backward, heart pounding.

I would have brought forth my wings, but as things were, they’d smack into Zophie. Instead, I pulled the shadows closer to me. Even while feeling the strain, I managed to concentrate them beneath my feet.

The moment Wendigo got in my face, his now inverted knees springing him toward me, he pointed the gun at my shoulder— at Zophie.

With a snarl, I used the shadows at my feet to push my soles and spring me backward. The sharp crack of a firearm rang out again. I could hear the bullet as it whizzed past me, just narrowly missing.

The shadows crawled up my one free arm, and I used them to lash out with claws, forcing Wendigo to agilely leap away. Now with more space, I turned around and bolted.

“He’s still behind us!” Zophie shouted helpfully, and I realized she’d still been screaming in terror up until this point.

As I ran toward a neon red ‘exit’ sign, I pulled my shadows up behind me.

“I can’t see!” Zophie exclaimed. I could feel her chest heaving in short, shallow breaths above me. She wrapped her arms around me, pushing her face into my neck as she held on with terror.

“They’re mine! It’s okay, Zophie. It’s gonna be fine.”

I could feel her nodding rapidly in response.

I kept running. Reaching a staircase, I leapt forward, landing and sliding down the rail. A group of echoing retorts rang out behind me, each bullet precisely aimed at the shadows just over my left shoulder. Each impact made me wince, forcing the shadows together more out of pure will and determination rather than raw strength. I could feel myself flagging. I ran harder. He wouldn’t dare follow us into my domain. I concentrated the shadows at my left shoulder, since he was so intent on shooting Zophie.

I hit the bottom of the stairway running, already seeing the door to the street. With my supernatural hearing, I knew when Wendigo skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs. He’d never reach us before we got outside, and from there, I’d be free to phase us into the shadowy night, out of the sterile bright lights of the mall. It’d be easy to get home, I was already anticipating it.

Another gunshot went off behind me, and I stumbled as the bullet shattered the thin layer of shadow covering the back of my leg. Blood spurted out, but I managed to keep running even as Zophie gasped in shock and horror.

“Hah! See?” Wendigo shouted behind me. “She makes you weak!”

I slammed my shoulder in the exit door, not waiting for whatever human machine to open the doors for me. Glass shattered all around me, a loud wailing alarm ringing out of the mall’s ceiling and walls.

The second my feet touched the sidewalk, I jumped into the nearest shadow, bringing Zophie along for the ride. We made it, I reflected. The bullet wound in my leg stung like crazy, and my spiritual powers had been all but drained. Yet, we’d made it.

Swimming through the shadows drained whatever power I had left, and I knew that if it weren’t night, we would have been screwed. We lost our physical forms, melded into the shadows like this, so Zophie couldn’t shout or cry. As it was, I held her essence close to me, a bright, glowing thing despite the murky black around us.

I found my way to our apartment by muscle memory, sliding underneath the door. There was just enough time for me to gently push Zophie from the shadows before the last of my spiritual essence ran out. I hit the flooring hard, forcefully ejected out of the shadows.

As I lay on the hard floor, gulping heavy breaths, I focused on the apartment door, making sure danger hadn’t followed us home.