Personal Demons: Shadow Without a Host

I sat in the chair across from Mimiru, next to my dad and poured some cereal into an empty bowl on the table. I reached for the milk, when suddenly; Mimiru quickly snatched it from my reach.

“H-hey,” I cried in surprise, “I need some too you know…”

Mimiru winked at me mischievously, “Not this kind; you need…” she paused and pulled a milk jug out from under the table, “skim milk!” she chimed.

I practically fell over in my chair, “Skim milk?! Why the hell do I need skim milk?!” I shouted at her from across the table, slamming my fist on the hard wood.

She laughed and handed me the skim milk. I pushed her hand away, “I'm not hungry.” I whined, “I'm gonna' go brush my teeth.” I stood and lazily trudged towards the bathroom.

“But you need to lose weight if you're going to be running from aliens all day!” Mimiru called from the dining room.

I spat out some toothpaste and snapped back at her, “Mimiru, shut up!” I peeked out into the dining room. My dad seemed oblivious to our conversation. He only sat, reading the newspaper from two days ago.

“It's okay,” Mimiru pointed to my dad casually, “I think they brainwashed him or something. He's been as dumb as a doornail all morning.

I gasped; it was true! My dad hadn't said a thing all week…he just nodded and grunted and napped…not to mention he had been reading the same newspaper for the past two days…

Mimiru poked my dad in the ribs, “Yep, dumb as a frog,” she grinned, “eh, Mr. S.?”

I glared at Mimiru and growled with clenched teeth. She immediately got the message and stopped.

Together, Mimiru and I stepped onto the front porch, ready to walk to school. I turned to her quickly and whispered in her ear, “Do you really think that they brainwashed my dad?”

Mimiru nodded. I could tell by the stern look upon her face that she was not joking…I began to worry…what if they could brainwash us too? My thoughts would have to wait. Now was the time to act as if nothing was happening. Why? Because nothing was happening; nothing ever happens in a small town like this-not now, not ever.

Mimiru and I approached campus slowly. She hummed a tune while I spaced out and listened. The tune made me think of all the things my mother used to say…and how, perhaps, she had been right all along.

“Sassi…”

“Call me Tsukasa.” I interrupted Mimiru in mid-sentence.

She blinked and pretended not to hear me, “Sassi, what if they come for us again today?”

I shook my head, “Why won't you call me by my first name?”

Mimiru ignored me again and pressed her question, “What are we going to do if they come? How long can we keep running from them, Sassi?”

I grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her face towards mine, “My name is Tsukasa! Sassi is my last name! Call me by my first name!” I demanded, “Only acquaintances call me Sassi!”

Mimiru gaped at me in utter surprise, “Sassi…”

“Kazuma,” I shouted angrily, “why won't you call me Tsukasa?!” I let go of her shirt, hurt by her refusal to call me by my own name and not my father's.

She looked away in shame, “Tsu…ka…sa…” she whispered.

“Louder.” I demanded.

“Tsukasa.” She said it more distinctly, yet faster, as if it were painful to say.

I shook my head in displeasure, “Whatever, that's good enough for now…” I turned away from Mimiru and resumed walking. I heard her footsteps, now in a slow trot, come up behind me.

“Tsukasa…” she stopped and turned in front of me, blocking my path. “There, I said it…happy?” she pouted.

“Yes.” I replied bluntly. I stared coldly at her as she glanced around nervously. Tired of waiting, I pushed her lightly out of my way and continued towards the school.

“Tsukasa Sassi…” Mimiru pleaded.

I cut her off, “I don't ever want the name Sassi to come out of your mouth again, Kazuma.” I made sure that my voice was harsh and stern, for sometimes, it took Mimiru a while to take a message.

Mimiru's head sunk, “I'm sorry, Sa-…Tsukasa…”

I glanced back at her, making sure she understood, “My name is Tsukasa…remember that.”

“I will.”

I slowly made my way to the school doors, kicking dirt along the way. Engaged in deep thought, I almost passed my locker. I quickly turned around to find it. The halls were silent, which meant I was either early or late. I assumed that I was early considering how quiet they were, because when I'm late I can at least hear the voices of teachers echoing through the building. I noticed Mimiru hadn't entered through the doors behind me, “I wonder if she's planning on skipping out again…” I muttered. Mimiru had a reputation for skipping class. Then again, she had a reputation for everything you shouldn't do.

I stuffed my backpack into my locker and unzipped the zipper, which was, as always, jammed of course. I felt the room seem to get hot and humid as I struggled getting my books out of the bag. I felt a bead of sweat run down my forehead. This is strange, I thought, the school is usually on the cold side. Did they get a new heating system?

I gasped in surprise when I heard a loud slam at the end of the hall. I turned my head slowly; three shadows came into view. Three people were down the hall, and a girl was screaming for help. Doesn't any of the staff hear this? I thought, shouldn't they be helping down there? Two of the shadows looked as if they were harassing the other. The girl's shadow fell to the floor; I saw her hand come into view from around the corner. She was clawing at the hard tile floor, screaming in desperation to escape.

I ran down the hall, leaving my locker wide open, “Hang on, I'm coming!” I turned the corner to see that the girl's body had been mangled. I opened my mouth to scream, but couldn't. Her skin was shriveled and her hair was tattered. The sockets where the eyes were supposed to be were empty and her lips were pulled back, like the blood had been sucked out of her-as if her very life was sucked out. Her school uniform was torn and dirty. She was definitely dead, but then why did I hear her screaming? Why was she just moving around a minute ago? There was no trace of the owners of the other two shadows.

I needed to get help, surely, I thought, there has to be someone else here! I ran down the hall to find any staff member I could; a janitor, a teacher, a nurse, anything! But no lights were on in the classrooms, and no one else was in the halls. I looked back in the direction of the girl's body, and saw two shadows of people standing over her. I gasped and turned back, ready for anything, “Hey,” I screamed, “Unless you're there to help her, get away from her!” The shadows didn't move, even as I approached threateningly.

I finally turned the corner again, to see who created the shadows. It was an astounding sight to see; the shadows had no hosts. There was nobody there, only two shadows on the wall. I glanced around; there was nothing there to cast any shadows in the shape of people. Suddenly, I saw one move slightly. “Damn!” I cried out, stumbling backwards over the girl's twisted body onto my back. I sat and stared at the shadows as they walked away. There was no one there though…no one to lead their shadows…the shadows had been leading themselves. Or maybe I was just seeing things?

I heard a slam from the other end of the hall. I looked around the corner to see that my locker had been shut-but no one was there.