The Shadow People
I awakened to the pain in my right hand. Something bit me, in fear I began to search the room for the source. I see multiple shadows moving softly in my dark room, nearly human in appearance. I pulled myself tighter hoping I was still dreaming. When they didn’t seem to be coming any closer, I started to worry about the bite.
Is it contagious? The one who bit me smiled. I am reminded ever so much of the Cheshire cat from through the looking glass. “Don’t fret” it rasped. “We are what happens when people are forgotten while they are alive.”
I looked into the hundreds of dead eyes glowing from the shadows around me. “But there are so many of you!” I was dismayed by the thought of so many forgotten souls. The idea of the world forgetting someone whilst they still lived was admittedly more terrifying than I wanted to consider. “We became eternal.” Another shade rasps.
“We are the timekeepers…And now we need to be remembered so that we can fix what humans broke.”
“Whaa—t?” I was still struggling to gather my wits, so I was stuttering more than usual. I normally took my time with speech to avoid it, but being in the situation I was in…well as I said before I was certain I was still asleep. The throbbing in my hand was the only thing that caused doubt.
The smiling shade rasped more. “Humans have forgotten the last mandate of heaven. The innocents are supposed to be protected. The problem is too much for even one such as the Snowman to handle. We must be remembered.” The raspy voice trailed off as though there was more to say but it wasn’t able.
“So, why bite me? Ho-oow am I to help? Snowman?”
My frustration at the stutter must have been obvious, for one of the other shades tried to comfort me. “Calm down child of time. We will explain. We have time for you to ask your questions without the need to rush…” This one felt feminine. So far the other two seemed male to me, though their images and raspy voices did not speak of a gender. I felt calmer by seeing them as such. I considered what she said. “Child of time? what do you mean by that?”
The one that bit me answered instead. “You need to remember who you are before you can remember us. It will not be easy for you and we apologize for that.” The fear that was starting to claw its way up my throat didn’t make sense to me. What reason did I have to suddenly be afraid? I wanted them gone, but as that didn’t seem likely, I would demand they answer my questions. Or at least that was where my thoughts were going. “If you want my help, Yooou neeeed to…”
The smiling shade cut off what I was saying. “No! You need to remember!” His voice went from a soft rasp to a loud firm sound. He almost seemed to be more defined as he spoke this time. My head suddenly felt like an ice pick had been shoved through my skull. My mind raced with memories. I could remember Heaven. I remembered the Fall. We were not meant to remember that. The Divine took the memories of our pain away to allow us peace. Yet, I stood there… remembering it all. I remembered that pain as the heavenly presence was taken from me. I knew that there were others like me, formerly divine beings who were suddenly forced to live in the human world. It was devastating.
The shades watched in silence as I suffered from the pain of remembering. I had been given the task of watching the river of time and making sure it was undisturbed. My last assignment was not something that I had expected to be called to do when we were given a chance to forget. Only the divine beings could even reach the river of time. With most of us forgetting what we were… well that meant the river should be safe. As the pain started to subside slightly, I again looked around at the shades that were surrounding me.
“Who is this snowman?” I demanded as I was not exactly happy with being made to remember the fall. The one that I had mentally nicknamed Cheshire answered again in the same soft rasp. “They who was set to protect the innocent. They became Frosty the snowman.”
“Have any other of my brethren remembered?” The question was instinctual and a worry about the river more than truly caring about the others. I wanted to ask more questions about Frosty but I didn’t want to push the issue here either.
Cheshire nodded. “one other so far…. and it did not end well.” I debated asking for the story but decided it was not pertinent to what was going on right now. Maybe I could get them to tell me the story later, or I could watch it in the river of time after I deal with the situation at hand.
I remembered the shades. and realized that what they said was only half the truth. yes, they were ones who were forgotten while they were still alive…but they were also ones who chose to be invisible to the world as well. They hid their own faces from those around them. It was a vague form of immortality, a half-life for eternity if you will.
I could not imagine choosing to live like that. I never enjoyed being immortal anyway. I saw it as a curse. I could give them the release they sought, though I wondered if it would accomplish what they wanted. After all, My giving them the release meant they could no longer be invisible. It also meant they would no longer be eternal. They would return to humanity with no more ability than any other person. I was unsure if they would even keep the memory of their time as shades. I considered the lot of them for a few minutes. I knew I needed to tell them what was possible before I did anything…However considering one already bit me…I did not look forward to any of it.
Finally, with a sigh I braced myself. “You did not tell me the whole truth about your situation. The details you left out matter. Yes, I can remember you…But there are consequences to being remembered. You lose eternity. You lose invisibility. You go back to being normal human beings. I have no idea if you will even have memories of being shades. You all need to consider this carefully.”
Cheshire was still grinning as I spoke. Unfazed, his rasp sounded more confident now. ” We know the possibility that you speak…and do not believe we will be punished thus. Our intention is to help those who Frosty has been too busy for…”
With that I realized…Why did they come to me. Frosty could have done the same thing for them as I. The curiosity spilled out of my mouth before I could stop it. I felt like they were still lying to me… and that made me furious. After all they were asking for my help but they couldn’t be arsed to be honest?
Looking around, I focused briefly on each of the shadows. I let my body language show the same irritation as my voice. “Quit lying to me! Why did you come to me instead of getting Frosty to help you? We all knew that the Snowman could have done it just as I can!”
The female who tried to calm me spoke again. “We went to Frosty first. Frosty said that there were some among us that did not deserve to be remembered. We do not understand what was meant by that.”
Hearing her say that made me stop. I stepped one second out of time so I could look into the river of time. I needed answers. First I looked at the others like me, and grieved for the ones who had remembered. Then I looked at the shadows and what they had done. Frosty was right. Some of them were hiding from their own sin. That left me in a quandary. If I only released those who were worthy, then the others were dangerous to the river I needed to protect. If I released them all, then I endangered innocent lives. I needed Frosty’s help. There had to be a way to remove the dangerous ones. This was not my normal problem to solve.
Frosty used to be a friend. However, I did not know if they still were after the change. I hoped they were.
They looked at me and sighed. “So the shadows decided to awaken your memory. I am so sorry you could not stay ignorant.”
I nodded. “If I let them all loose they endanger the innocent, If I only let the worthy loose…well they endanger all of time. How can I deal with them and not endanger anyone?”
They smiled. On the snowman’s face the smile was both comforting and disturbing. “Call forth Mazikeen. Have her determine their fates. Those she does not take for Hell, you can safely release.”
The idea made sense. Mazikeen was the right hand of the Devil. She wore Hell like a cloak. Though it was rare for her kind and mine to interact…it did happen. This was the sort of thing that would delight her.
I stepped back where I was and called for Mazikeen. The shadows shuffled uncomfortably. Mazikeen walked in with a sulfurous stench following her. At six foot three she towered over all in the room. One side of her face was a flawless caramel. The other side was reddish with a horn poking out of her temple. She was intimidating just by sight. When she spoke it was pure smoke and whiskey. “Why, creature of the Divine, have you summoned me here?”
I quickly explained. “These Shadows have asked to be remembered. That requires judgement. Frosty said to have you perform the judgement. Those you choose are yours. The rest are for me to deal with.”
Mazikeen’s smile made my blood run cold. She started choosing. Those she chose tried to run and found themselves rooted to the spot they were in. No surprise Cheshire was among them. After she picked the ones she wanted, Mazikeen and those shades disappeared. I looked at the remaining shades. “Are you certain this is the path you want to take?”
The shades all gave me an affirmation. So I said what they needed to return. “I remember all of you. May you not come to regret it.”
They left my house to go help champion the innocent, and I have not seen them since. I read about them in the news every now and again…but none of them have come back to see me.
Pattimouse 