Haunting from the Shadows

In a crumbling city where passion has long died, Elias, a reclusive photographer, lives alone in a dim apartment he calls “The Cave.” He rarely leaves, accustomed to the comfort of his own home.

Every night, he can see shadows stretch across his walls due to the reflection of light, unknowingly—one becomes too familiar to ignore. A woman in the apartment across the alley moves in a pattern; her routine never changes.

Or so he thinks.

Elias photographs the shadows, the plants—anything he feels a strange pull to.

Hundreds of images, each carrying a different story—Elias grew curious as time passed, curious about the woman, her routine, and as to why he keeps capturing all of it in a photo frame. His wall had dozens of photos, paintings and anything that gave him a glimpse of hope, anything that made him feel less like a man who spends all his days in a cave. Anything that convinced him that he wasn’t a failure.

Here, he sat, twirling the cup of coffee in his hand as he walked his way out of the maze in his mind. Elias was a man of no concentration at all; he’d second-guess things he did a minute ago—it was partially the reason for his failure of a situation.

The shadow appeared again, but this time? It didn’t move. It was still. The haunting silence stretched on—Elias’s eyebrows furrowed. He got up, putting the cup of coffee down on the table, and opened his window to see who it was.

The street was eerily empty; no trace of human life could be seen—all the shops had been closed, the only source of light was the street lamps by the road crossing. It was strange; the city usually became busier at night.

For Elias, the shadow had been something he had linked and recognized as being part of the woman. The one who had become his latest muse, his obsession. That’s at least what someone else would’ve called it. What he was doing. The way he was on edge awaiting her to make herself known. But tonight, he felt chills travel down his spine. The streets were empty and there wasn’t a source to create the shadow he had grown to admire—even love, maybe.

The shadow watched him as he stood over the window, choosing to move to lean against another wall. The one right behind him.

Elias was definitely puzzled, closing the window. He was still creeped out. He turned around, his eyes widening as he saw the shadow had moved.

He grabbed his mug with shaking hands, downing the drink in hopes of it giving him courage. Even though he felt like a complete coward in that moment.

“Who’s there?” he yelled, hoping the shadow would reveal its motives.

The shadow had moved to be on his wooden floors now, the orange light above stretching it.

It hadn’t dared to respond yet, but it hadn’t disappeared. It was still there.

The shadow and Elias were still in a standoff. Elias was too frightened to move, while the shadow was simply watching him.

After all, the shadow had also grown obsessed with him.

Elias finished his coffee, setting the mug down.

“Look, please don’t hurt me,” he said, his voice shaking and filled with fear, raising his hands in surrender.

The shadow backed away, moving to rest on one of his walls, moving towards the framed pictures.

The shadow pointed at it, looking back at Elias.

What was she trying to communicate? Was she asking to be photographed or…?

Elias picked up his camera hesitantly, his hands shook as he angled the camera towards the shadow—pressing down on the button to fulfill its wish.

Clack.

The sound rang like a bell in the suffocating silence. Elias turned the camera to check the photo—his eyes widened. He found himself muttering “what the fuck” over and over again; he couldn’t take his eyes off the photo — he wouldn’t dare to look at the shadow. He was too afraid. Elias was too afraid.

He bit down on his tongue, nail pressing into his hand as he slowly built up the courage to look up—the shadow was gone. There was nothing.

Huh?

He frantically tossed the camera onto the bed, looking out of his window again—it was all normal again.

There were people roaming the streets. Sounds of music, chattering, and yelling reached his ears loud and clear; he couldn’t believe himself. The shops were open, the whole town sparkled—it hurt his eyes.

Elias drew the curtains back, picking up the camera to review the photo again—it was gone. The shadow was gone. It took only a moment before everything went black; Elias passed out on the floor. He couldn’t handle it all, he couldn’t find a reason for it. He needed a reason, a fact to prove that it was normal, that it wasn’t what he thought it was.

Time passed; by the time Elias opened his eyes, it was midnight again.

“I must be going insane.” He muttered, fisting his hair as he sat on the floor. He had taken all the photos on his wall down; they were scattered on the floor—camera in the bin. It gave him a sense of relief, that maybe if he did this the shadow wouldn’t approach again.

Elias looked around at the mess, his own art scattered on the floor, and his camera in the trash. He groaned, getting up and choosing to go to bed. After all, maybe it had all been a result of sleep deprivation. Had it not? Elias had barely slept the night before… and sleeping on the floor wasn’t exactly the definition of comfort.

Elias was careful, moving around the framed images and stepping on the gaps where his wooden floor could still be seen. He soon made it onto his twin-sized bed, sighing loudly to himself.

He lay down on his back, looking up at the ceiling, too lazy to drape the covers over his body. He took a few deep breaths, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion. It didn’t take long for him to succumb to sleep, his breathing evening out.

But sleep wouldn’t last long. As he slept, the shadow came back and placed all of the pictures in their original spots on the wall, with his camera returning to his coffee table. It almost looked as if nothing had happened. At all.

The shadow soon vanished into the darkness, watching intently, waiting.

Elias felt watched, gasping as he woke up with a start, his chest heaving and his heart racing as he took in his surroundings, rubbing his eyes as he thought he was crazy. Perhaps he had imagined… everything? The events from the past few hours?

Nothing was making sense anymore. He turned on the light, looking around. His apartment felt foreign. It didn’t feel like home anymore. That sanctity had been violated by the mysterious entity.

The shadow smiled. This would be incredibly fun… driving another soul to madness, just like she had done to his neighbour. The shadow was relentless, intense, and cunning.

Elias wasn’t alone.