Alex looked up. The streetlights were out along the whole strip. But when she focused, she noticed they weren’t out. The black cloud had covered them in its thick fog as it hung suspended roughly twelve feet from the ground. It wasn’t her imagination. They just couldn’t be seen.
Alex looked to her left and right. The area she sat in was bathed in crisp white light from the overhead bulbs illuminating the pathway from door to door. Beyond that, in the parking area, the entrance and the road were covered in blackness. It was a strange feeling to think she was protected somehow by the light and moving not three feet in front of her was seeped with lurking danger. Alex leaned forward in her chair. As she stared out along the light reflected on the asphalt she noticed it was diminishing. Little by little. Centimetre by centimetre. The shadow was shortening it, almost as if consuming it. Closing in on her.
“You ok?” Alex called to the man in the SUV, shaking her head. “There’s a phone in the office to call roadside assist if you need.”
“No thanks,” he called with a wave. “I’m a mechanic. I’ll check under the hood and see what’s happening. Thanks all the same.”
Alex replied with a wave of her own as the man checked on a young girl in the back. Alex saw the mist coming from his breath but found it pleasant on this dark night. She didn’t feel one bit cold. Just as she was thinking of heading in, a screeching made her stop. At the top of the street, a car was speeding down the straight, narrow strip. Alex would’ve grimaced at the hoon driving and simply shook her head but the girl inside the SUV had accidently flicked her teddy bear out the open door. It lay in the middle of the road, and she was out of the car heading towards it. The father was head first into the hood, no idea what was about to happen. Alex didn’t scream, instead she found herself hurtling towards the girl. The lights of the speeding car illuminated one side of the child who froze in place as the car came within a foot of her before the driver slammed the breaks. Alex dropped to the ground and wrapped her arms around the girl, trying to cover her as best she could when a skip and almighty crash was heard from behind and all around Alex, followed by splintering and scattering of parts. Just as she opened her eyes, the car that had been inches away from crushing the poor girl had now gone over Alex’s head and landed on its roof in front of her. The front of the car, even though upside down, had partially caved in.
By some sheer miracle, it had ricocheted off the parked cars in the street and missed them entirely. Flipping over them even.
The father had reached them, checking over his daughter, crying over her fear and shock, but otherwise unharmed. He asked Alex if she was ok.
“I saw that car hit you. I could’ve sworn…”
“Just missed,” Alex replied breathlessly.
“No it didn’t! I saw it hit you.”
“I’m fine. Really. Didn’t feel a thing. He missed.”
“We have to get you an ambulance, or the police? Something!”
“Nah, I’m good. I gotta get an ambulance for them though…” Alex gestured with her head, patting the little girl on the back who had clung to her father.
Alex really needed to buy a lotto ticket. Two near misses was crazy, but as she ventured towards her room, she couldn’t believe how lucky she was but also how calm. As she looked at her steady hands, out of the corner of her eye she caught her vague reflection in the glass window. She stopped to check her back. The back of her clothes were shredded. Just as she wondered what the hell was going on, the light above her head flickered. Not only that. All the lights overhead along the walkway flickered, on off, and in perfect time with each other. Alex looked down. The shadow had completely enveloped the light reflection. It had hit the edge where the pavement met the concrete of the walkway. The lights continued to flick off and on, even more rapidly. Alex reached a hand behind her to the door handle. A sound like an earthly growl rattled around as a sense of dread came over her. Something in the darkness lurked. Something was descending…closing in.
Just as the shadow seeped over the edge of the concrete where she stood, the lights popped and exploded, all at once, spitting glass underneath them. Alex pushed her door open and stumbled inside, closing it and holding her back to it, keeping whatever the hell was outside at bay.
“Alex…”
“Fuckety,” she hissed, both in surprise and worry. With everything going on, hearing voices no one else could hear was at the top of her worry list. Michelle bolted awake at the sound of her cursing. “What’s wrong?”
“I…um…” Alex cringed.
“Alex…you have to leave. Now.”
“I’m ok…I just…”
Michelle had leapt out of bed and rushed over to her, holding her face. “What’s wrong?”
“You can feel it, can’t you. It’s closing in. Your time is now, Alex. The city needs you…”
The room rattled like a quake. Michelle gripped her hard.
“What?” Alex cried.
Michelle answered first, but Alex hadn’t asked her the question. “I don’t know…”
“Find me, Alex…”
“We have to get out of here…”
