Land of the Shawdows
Original Idea & Story By The.Dead.Of.Living.Or.Maybe.Im.Really.Dead
Modified & Edited by the TwilightNewsMan (with permission)

Chapter 1 – Introduction

It was a dark, gloomy day in the city. It always seems to be that way these days. Rose walked through the streets back to her house after a long meeting with a couple of friends about a wedding. She was offered a ride but she refused it. The night always seemed to sooth her, made her feel better. Rose walked until she got to the little park that she loved to go to when she had things to think about. Even though it was late and dark, she decided to go through it since it is a shortcut to her house. She walked through the gates and took the cement path to the end of the park. Suddenly she heard a rustling of leaves and she turned to look around. A couple of leaves moved in a trail like a gust of wind had just awoken them from their peaceful sleep.

Rose looked around but didnt see anything. She kept walking being alert with her surroundings. The pace was faster now because her house was only a block away. She felt like someone or something was staring at her but she thought she was just being jittery cause of her surroundings. Rose sighed with happiness when she got near her house and walked at her normal pace. The wind was blowing through her hair and the sensation made her smile as she realized that she was finally home.

She fumbled around looking for her key and finally opened the door to her small single apartment. She felt a glare being cast in her direction. She looked around and again didnt see anything but she was really nervous now. Rose got the door to unlock and then pushed hard to open it. Hurrying inside, she slammed the door closed. She sighed and put her bag down. Leaning against the wall, she slid down and exhaled, running her hands through my face. She had not realized what a toll the walk home had done to her. Maybe she was just very tired she thought. Rose got up again after about 8 minutes and took her sweater off. She went into her room and started to undress and get ready for bed.

She put on some green shorts and a purple tank top for her sleepwear. Her favorite colors were always green and purple. Rose seemed to be happy to finally be out of her skinny jeans.  She smiled and put her hair into a sloppy ponytail and slipped under the covers. She turned off all the lights and closed her eyes finally falling to sleep.

I have forgotten my real name as it has been so long since anyone that has been alive knew it or used it.  People call me Shadow these days as I tend to lurk in the shadows, always watching how humans act and react. I’ve been following her around all day. The surrounding have been a little unreal lately. I wanted to keep her safe if she needed my help. I have never felt so connected to a girl in my 400 years of living on this world. I cant explain what I am feeling or why I am feeling like this. I want to protect her and I dont know why. I have watched her for only a week but I feel like I’ve been with her for a year. As the days pass by I become more and more fond of her. In the beginning, if a guy physically touched Rose in an inappropriate manner that she didn’t like I would want to rip his head off. But now its come to the point where if anyone stares at her I have the urge to rush in and kill him. For now, I have to keep my distance and wait for my time when I could take her with me away from here. For now I will watch her sleep.

The light of the sun woke Rose up the next day. She rembered that it was Saturday and didn’t have to go anywhere today. She smiled and saw something strange. There was a chair next to her that she thought wasn’t there the night before. She stared at it wondering if she had put it there. Rose kept starring at it but shrugged it off. Stretching and arching her back, she finally managed to get out of bed. Rose yawned and went to her drawer. Since she had no plans, Rose decided that it would be a good time to go shopping for a new top and jeans.

Rose walked over to her drawer and picked out a neon green bra and panty set and blue skinny jeans with a regular black shirt. She went into the bathroom, ran the shower, and began undressing herself. Walking into the shower, Rose enjoyed the sensation of the hot water on her skin. Chills started to run up and down my body. She washed her hair and quickly got out of the shower. She then began to dry herself off and put on her clothes. Finally she was able to straighten out her hair when it was dry enough and then Rose grabbed her bag and walked out.

Rose’s car was being repaired so she would have to take the bus today. She waited for the bus while listening to music since the bus takes a long time to pass by her way. Starring at the sky she began to wonder how it would feel like to fly. It’s another gloomy day. There have been so many days like this lately. As she was looking around, a man passed by her. He seemed about her age, 18, and gorgeous. Rose stared at him unknowingly. He looked back, smiled at her and winked. She “blushed” madly and put her head down.

But she thought to herself, maybe today wouldn’t be such a bad day after all…

I had seen her staring at the sky and smiling. Wondering what she was thinking I just had to read her mind. I concentrated on her and smiled at her. She wonders what it would be like to fly. Well my love as soon as you’re in my hands I’ll show you the world. I smiled and decided I couldn’t be further from her any longer (since I spent the night looking after her) I decided to walk past her. I smiled and rushed over there and started walking casually by.

She stared at me with her beautiful eyes. I heard what she was thinking and this put a smile on my face. I smiled and winked at her. She blushed and stared down obviously embarrassed that she got caught staring. I kept on walking forward a little longer than once she was out of sight I hid myself. I’ll still be waiting right here for the right time to take you with me.

Rose was still waiting and finally saw the bus coming around the corner. She smiled and got up. She took my bus card out of my bag and boarded the bus. She sat down in the back, she always liked to be away from most people, and waited listening to music. She took out her cellphone and it had a new text message. Checking it out, Rose saw that it was a message from her own number. She opened the message and it said: “I L0v3 y0u”. She didnt know what was going on and  stared at it wondering if she had sent this to myself. She wondered if she was going crazy. She stared at it then closed her phone and stayed wondering how did that happen.

Getting off the bus about 55 minutes later, Rose decided to walk the rest of the way which was only about a mile up. Rose walked and walked until she got to the only mall in this area. A big smile came upon her face. A girl started to walk beside her. Rose smiled at her and kept walking. Once inside the mall, she went straight towards the clothes store. She looked around for awhile and then In the end she decided to get just a pair of acid washed jeans, a Flapjack shirt, and a new undergarment set. Rose was in line and saw the same guy that she had seen walking by earlier when she was waiting for the bus. She stared at him and then got caught staring again. He just smiled, gave a quick, low laugh and kept on looking around. Rose stared down and blushed once again.

She got to the cash register and paid for her things and walked out of the store. She stopped at the food court, went to go eat and then decided it was time to go home. Grabbing her things, she saw that she had stayed in the mall a little longer than was expected. It would be completely dark in about 2 hours. She started to walk back to the bus stop to wait about another hour for it. She was worried though that she would be waiting a little longer than that. When Rose came out of the mall the bus had barely left. She cursed under her breath and decided to just walk home.

Rose held her things tight in hand and walked. About 30 minutes into walking a couple of men were walking behind her. She thought nothing of it but kept her guard up. She walked past an alleyway but it wasn’t long before they covered her mouth and pushed her into the alley………….