SHADOWS

SERIES CONTINUED: “Shadows” is the second short story in a new La Cucaracha News feature – excerpts from books. A third installment will be posted in one week.

By EMILIANO TRUJILLO MEDINA

An old lady glares out of her window before slamming it shut. Outside, music perforates the neighborhood as a young man washes his car without a care in the world. He acquired a red Honda earlier that year. He had worked almost every weekend washing dishes at a local bistro so he could buy his first car. He had spent countless hours to get it to peak perfection. It was his baby.

School had just let out for the summer and the only thing he was looking forward to more than his senior year, was driving his car. He had invested a good sum of money into his sound system and was not wasting a single decibel. A white car pulled up and two girls got out and walked up to the boy, he was hard focused on washing the car.

“Jaden!” one of the girls called.

Jaden was still oblivious and did not hear her over his music, until the other girl walked up behind him and pulled off his sunglasses. He turned around to see his friends Piper and Michelle. Piper put Jaden’s glasses on playfully and gave him a hug. Jaden, Piper, and Michelle all went to the same elementary school, middle school, and now high school. They were always close and supported each other throughout their upbringing.

“I’m sorry, did we interrupt your time with your babe?” Michelle joked.

“Yes,” Jaden said earnestly, “and you should be sorry.” Before he sprayed a spritz of water over the girl’s heads. They shrieked playfully and ran back to their car. Jaden grinned and dropped the hose.  He walked over to the girls and leaned on the top of the white car.

“So ladies, when do you want to take Tina for a ride?” Jaden said slyly.

The girls howled with laughter “Tina? OMG why Tina?”

“Hey! I happen to like that name, until you spend every dollar and every minute working on something, you wouldn’t understand what me and Tina have.” Jaden said.

The girls laughed at the smirking Jaden, but he knew it was all in fun.

“I have an idea,” Piper said as she pulled Jaden’s glasses down the bridge of her nose “we should go out to the Honor Farm tonight!”

“W-what’s the Honor Farm?” Michelle asked.

“You don’t know what the Honor Farm is!?” Jaden and Piper said in unison.

‘It’s where the Colorado insane asylum was,” Jaden said.

“I heard people would hold demonic seances.” Piper said in quick succession.

“I heard they would do human sacrifices!” Jaden continued.

“I heard that’s where the Pig man came from!” Piper continued.

“Ok! Ok! I think I get it!” Michelle interrupted, “It’s a scary abandoned farm, and if I don’t go, you guys will probably call me a chicken, right?”

“…. Yeah pretty much,” Jaden said.

“Well that sounds awful, I’m not going! I’ve seen enough scary movies to know that’s EXACTLY how scary movies start,” Michelle puffed as she crossed her arms and turned her nose up.

“Hey Shelly!” Piper razzed, Michelle glared at her friend “You’re a chicken, and you’re coming with us, k!” Piper said congenially.

Michelle could not hold her glare any longer, even though she hated being called chicken.

Shelly. She laughed at her friends “you guys are butts.”

The friends piled into the Honda and Jaden turned the ignition, the car roared to life. Jaden, revved the engine and rolled the car backwards onto the street. Neighbors peered out of their windows and sneered sourly. Their collective irritation sitting on a razor’s edge, Jaden revved his engine again, building up until his tires screeched with white smoke. Displeased, the neighbors slunk back to what they were doing.

Music blaring, the kids; make their way to the main boulevard that leads out to the highway. The girls are taking selfies and videos. Jaden is engrossed in driving and passing slower drivers. The red car zips away from the casual traffic, windows down and wind in the kids’ hair. There seems to be no greater freedom in this moment.

From the highway, the kids turn off on a dirt road. A big metal gate adorns the entrance to the area.

“Private property. No motor vehicles without permit.” The sign read.

“So what now?” Michelle asked.

Jaden turned off onto a side road, he had gone with his friends to ride four wheelers here before. He knew there were more ways in, and besides, no one ever obeyed the signs out here anyway. The side roads were always a little bumpy, but they carried on until they saw a narrow dirt path snake into the hills and valleys of the property.

Jaden took care on the narrow road. He has put too much time and money into his beloved car to injure it. As he navigates the terrain, the sun lowers and the sky reddens; the blonde grass took on a ghostly white color.

Soon the berms flattened to an open field with gentle slopes. In the distance the kids saw a barn. There was not supposed to be anything where the old honor farm was, Jaden thought they might have taken a wrong turn. This did not halt the excitement the three felt; honor farm or not, here was a spooky barn to explore.

As they got closer to the barn it did not seem as dilapidated as it should have been, but it sure was old, definitely abandoned. The red car rolled to a stop near the barn door, the three got out and walked up to the door. A sliver of the sun poked above the distant western hills.

Light was becoming scarce. The kids pulled out their phones and turned on their flashlights. They circled the barn, they did not find anything special, they circled around until they were back at the barn doors near the car.

Jaden noticed that the sunlight was waning, he knew the drive back could get really tricky at night, so there was a part of him that just wanted to get this over with. Jaden reached out to the barn door and gave it a pull, at first it didn’t budge. He then gripped the door with both hands, braced his feet and pulled as hard as he could. The door lugged open with Jaden’s effort, it was only half open, but it was the best he could do. The door obviously has not been opened for a long time, the inside of the barn was in a similar state. Three beams of light peaked in, followed by the teenage trio.

Old manual farm equipment littered the ground. Empty stables lined the sides of the barn, hay was everywhere. The hay was old and turned to dust as the kids walked over it. A few steps in, Piper turned to Jaden and motioned at the open door.

“Ahem, were you raised in a barn? Close that door she said in her faux mom voice.

“As a matter of fact I was,” Jaden said sarcastically as he pulled the door shut. The door closed with less resistance, but by just a little.

Orbs from the cell phones ran across the walls and the floor of the barn. Dust hung in the air from the kids’ footsteps. The barn was quiet, no wind, creaking, nothing but the crunch of old hay underfoot. Michelle shined her light on a wooden ladder that led up to the loft of the barn. She walked up to it and pointed the light up the ladder, she saw nothing but wood, hay, and darkness.

“Jaden, go check it out!” Michelle exclaimed.

“Nah, I’m cool. I don’t like the idea of breaking my neck on some rotting ladder,” Jaden responded.

“OMG, you’re such a baby, I’m going up. If I find treasure, I’m not going to share it, FYI,” Michelle said defiantly.

Michelle climbed the ladder, it creaked on the way up, but she felt like it was sturdy enough. She kept climbing until she was able to look up into the dark loft. Her flashlight in one hand and the other hand gripping onto the ladder. She scanned left then scanned right, nothing but disintegrating hay. She looked over her shoulder to her friends, who stood looking up at her.

As she turned back to the loft, her light illuminated a pair of white flat shoes. She ran her light up the figure and shined it right on the face of an angry woman with a cigarette in her mouth.  Michelle shrieked and fell backwards. Jaden tried to catch her, his arms held outward and he stepped under her falling body.

He failed to catch her and their heads collided as they both crumbled to the ground. Jaden lay stunned, holding his head. Michelle scurried to all fours, the fall had knocked the air out of her. She crawled towards the door, gasping, trying to tell her friends to get out. But, the words were only desperate wheezes.

Piper helped Jaden up and went to catch up to Michelle, who was desperately clawing at the door. The three used their combined weight to push the door open, it stubbornly creaked open as the kids poured out. Jaden rushed and planted his shoulder into the door, closing it. Michelle, still wheezing, pointed at the closed barn door.

But, Jaden and Piper stood staring at a distant hill. Piper grabbed the dyspneic Michelle and turned her towards the hill. The sun had gone down and the only natural light came from the moon and stars. Despite the low light, the kids were able to make out silhouettes on the hill. They looked vaguely human-shaped.

As their eyes adjusted, they saw three of them. One looked like a woman wrapped in a blanket with her hair blowing in a distant wind, the others looked taller, one had a large hat on.

Soon another stood up and was visible on the hill. Then another and another until a small crowd stood watching from the hill. Jaden put his hands on the girls’ backs and ushered them towards the car. The Trio didn’t take their eyes off the hill as they made their way to the car. The shadow people suddenly appeared to drop down on all fours and scurry quickly down the hill. Their shapes could vaguely be seen crawling through the dark valley, covering ground with surprising speed.

Jaden went from gently guiding the girls to the car to almost shoving them towards it. They got in and Jaden started the ignition. Jaden looked up and saw that the car was surrounded by these shadow people. “Lock the door,” he whispered to Piper, who was in the front seat. “Lock it now!” he repeated.

Piper, shaking with fear and holding her hands close to her chest, reached out and slapped the lock on the door and her hand shot back to her quivering body. The shadow people did not have faces, but all of their heads turned to look at Piper.

Jaden had seen enough, he flipped his brights on and the shadow people in front of him seemed to dart out of the way of the light. It was almost as if they were never there, but the kids saw them move out of sight, just barely. Slithering to where the lights didn’t touch them.

The tires of the red Honda spun, kicking up dust and rocks. Jaden sped towards the hills that led back to the highway. The red car bumped and skidded on the dirt trail. Jaden was not at liberty to go low and slow as he did on the way in. He wasn’t even sure if he was on the right trail. But, he drove like a bat out of hell.

Kicking up dirt Jaden would peep into his rear view mirror and then put his eyes back on the trail. He struggled to focus as every hill could hide a treacherous obstacle. This road is used for off road vehicles, not cars. But, Jaden knew he had to get back to the highway, he didn’t know what the shadows are capable of.

Michelle, who was in the back seat nervously looked out of the rear window for any trace of the shadow people. She poked her head between Jaden and Piper.

“Hey guys, I think we lost them, “Piper said.

Jaden craned his head over his shoulder and saw nothing but darkness with a hint of moonlight peppering the terrain.

Michelle screamed “look out!”

Jaden slammed both his feet on the brake pedal and slid to a stop. What looked like a hill was a twelve foot drop into a large natural pit One tire hung off of the ledge. The kids were as still as the night, the car sat precariously on the hill. Jaden pressed his clutch down to shift into reverse, but the car started to lean forward ever so much. The headlights started to illuminate the tall grass in the distance as the car tilted forward even more.

Jaden looked at Michelle, she was leaning almost into the front seat. Her eyes wide with fear looked back at Jaden. Without saying a word, he nodded his head towards the back seat. It took her a moment to understand, but she slid back into her seat, distributing the weight back onto the rear wheels. When the car tilted back down, Jaden gently pressed down on the clutch, the car seemed sturdy. As he was about to put the car into reverse, he looked at Piper. She gripped her seat and held her eyes shut.

Jaden worked the shifter into the ‘R’ position and applied just enough gas to make the engine purr. Once the engine revved up, the tires began to move. The tires slipped at first, the kids would hold their collective breaths. It felt like an eternity but the car finally got its front wheel from over the ledge. It was rolling back onto the dirt trail with the edge of the cliff safely in view.

Jaden slunk back into his seat and put his hands on his face. He let out a loud sigh and pulled his hands down to his chin. He looked over to see the girls, wide-eyed, like they didn’t just escape driving off of a cliff.

Jaden looked out of his window, the shadow with the large hat stood staring at him, they were once again surrounded by shadows. The empty void of a face peered at Jaden. It pointed its empty gaze down. As much as this whole situation felt like a dream, it became very real when they heard the door handle’s metallic parts working. Luckily the door was locked, but the sound broke the silence of the night.

Jaden, pressed down in the accelerator and the car propelled backwards. The shadows seemed to dissipate and reappear on the cliff’s edge. Jaden put the car in gear and with spinning tires, drove away as fast as he could. He didn’t look back, he just focused on getting away from the shadows. He saw scattered distant lights on the north side of town and headed that way.

He weaved through the dark hills until he finally made it to a white gate. It was closed and probably locked, but Jaden didn’t hesitate, he pressed on the gas, a loud metal clink, and the gate arm swung open.

Dirt and rocks kicked up into the night sky. The red car hit the paved road and was finally in its domain. Jaden was driving as fast as he could while staying focused on the road. The girls shrieked, “They’re still following us!!”

The shadow people were sprinting and darting over the black top and through the grass on the side of the highway. Jaden didn’t understand how these things were so fast. Jaden looked out his window and saw one of them running alongside the car. It’s dark limbs were longer than before, it was moving with ease as Jaden watched it reach over and grab at the door handle.

Jaden swerved away from the shadow creature and his tires skidded, he fought to regain control of the car. The running shadows begin to close in, the girls started to scream. The kids could hear the creatures hitting and scratching at the car. As Jaden’s mind was working to find a way out, headlights appeared behind them.

The beams of light were gaining quickly, Jaden realized how fast he was going and how fast this car was coming. Its lights seem to dissolve the creatures as it roared past. It was a black car with dark tinted windows, it was easily going over 100-miles-an-hour. Not more than a moment passed when a state patrol car went barreling past, lights and sirens blaring. This must have cleared away the shadow people — for now.

Jaden pressed his gas pedal down so hard he was worried he’d break it, but there were street lights ahead and they knew that was their salvation. Jaden looked in his rearview and saw the shadows regrouping. He gripped his steering wheel and focused on the lights.

Behind them the shadows were darting around, getting closer. Just as they were upon the car again, they dispersed under the first street light. The car slowed to a normal speed, the kids looked at each other, their beating hearts still ringing in their ears. They all smiled with relief.

They pulled up to a stop light by the city park. Jaden started to laugh.

“Like seriously, what was that?” Jaden snickered.

“What is so funny?!” Piper sneered.

“I’m sorry, but how is this real, this is like some kind of scary movie. I mean, what else could happen, huh? Aren’t you glad I was the getaway driver?” Jaden said boastfully.

Almost on cue, the entire city went dark. The traffic lights blinked red; rhythmically illuminating the road, then pitch black. Jaden sat for a moment in disbelief of the timing of the black out. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. In his rear view mirror he saw a silhouette. It was the man with the hat. Then darkness, when the light blinked again more shadows appeared, this time closer.

Jaden didn’t want to wait around for them to converge on them again, he turned into the city park to try and escape. He sped around the zoo, hitting the speed bumps so hard, his back end threw off sparks into the dark night.

The kids rounded the corner of lake Joy and past the tennis courts. Jaden drifted the last turn out of the park, bumping his rear tire in a curb by the fountain. His precious car taking more damage, but it was doing its job helping them escape.

Jaden looked in his mirror and saw the shadows darting around the street behind them. He looked out of his window, they were jumping roof to roof on the houses. Others were jumping car to car. They were quiet, nimble, and showed no sign of giving up the chase.

Jaden swerved around other vehicles, they honked and swore at him, completely unaware of what was pursuing them. The shadows were careful not to cross paths with the few headlights on the road.

The red car accelerated down the dark street, the cars thinned and the shadows ran along the sidewalks, taking leaps close to the car. One of them pounced and landed on the trunk of the car. It scurried up to the roof and began banging on the back window.

Piper screamed “do something! It’s on the roof!”

Jaden heard the back window crack, he looked behind him and saw that the spider web shaped crack, a dark fist struck it again, making the web larger.

“Hold on!!” Jaden screamed to the girls.

He took a sharp turn by the library, the car skidded over a curb and fishtailed through an empty bus stop. The kids shook violently in the car. Michelle, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, slammed into the side of the backseat.

Jaden’s head spun worse than when Michelle had fallen on him. He hit his head on something. He didn’t know what and didn’t care, he knew he had to keep going. He put the car into gear, the transmission grinding, he got the car moving again. He headed over the bridge into downtown.

He slowed for a moment to assess his passengers. Michelle sat up groaning, Piper held her forehead. He saw blood running down her face from her scalp. Jaden decided to pull into an alley to try and hide.

They didn’t get far before the temperature light turned on and the car sputtered to a stop. Steam seeped from the hood, Jaden knew this was the end of the line. The night was once again silent, too silent.

Out of the corner of her eye Piper saw shadows climbing down from the buildings like spiders. One of them looked at her with two glints of light that were its eyes. She felt a cold, sharp, pain shoot down her spine. She realized that this is how a rabbit must feel before it’s overtaken by a predator.

Just as her imagination thought it, the shadow that was looking at her leaped from the wall and up to her window. Her adrenaline was already dumping out. She didn’t have any screams or lamentation left in her. She could only stare at the shadow person as it stood at her door.

It reached out and tried to open the door, the handle only clicked fruitlessly. The shadow began to tug on it, rocking the crippled car. The other shadows drifted over. Piper stared at the thing with contempt.

Finally, she cracked. “Whatever you want with us just get it over with! I’m sick of running from you! We didn’t do anything to you!” Piper said red faced, almost nose-to-nose with the shadow by her door.

The shadows began to go into a frenzy, pounding and scratching the car, the sound was deafening. The car rocked back and forth, shadows climbed on the roof and were beating every conceivable part of the vehicle.

Finally, Piper’s window shattered. Phantom hands flooded into the car, grabbing Piper and pulling at her. Jaden and Michelle each grabbed one of Piper’s legs. Piper, flailed and fought the specters. Most of her small frame was already through the window. The kids held on for dear life.

Just as Jaden and Michelle were losing their grip on Piper; Florissant green, red, and pink flooded the alley. Piper fell to the ground outside of the car with a thud. Her assailants evaporated into the night. In a stroke of luck, the kids ended up in neon alley.

An entire alleyway decorated with vintage neon lights.

Jaden and Michelle peaked out at Piper, she lay on the ground, eyes wide.

“Am I dead?” she asked in disbelief.

“They’re gone?” Piper said, looking around, hardly able to believe it was finally over.

The kids looked around confused, but glad the shadows were gone. The kids got out of the car. Jaden looked at his precious Honda and put his hands behind his head.

He sighed in disbelief as he realized his car was thrashed beyond repair.

“Tina….” Jaden whispered sadly to himself.

As Michelle was helping Piper up, she said “wasn’t tonight the Chile festival?

Where is everyone?”

The kids looked around, there was indeed no one downtown. The festivities would have been in full force right now, music and all. Downtown was dead silent. Dead silent, until the shuffling of feet came from the mouth of the alley.

The End?