Short Story: Her Shadow

She looks pretty in the dark.

I can only see a hint of her auburn hair, illuminated by the dysfunctional street lamp she's walking under. It made her hair reminiscent of a bonfire. She left work early today; but I'd grown accustomed to her irregular work hours, and I always come an hour beforehand. I sit on the filthy bench outside her club, and sometimes even try to hold the stare of the bitter old lady in the kiosk next to me. I get nothing but ugly stares from the lady, and barks from her damned dog. The devil is no longer here, though, and the lady has been in mourning for the last few days to pay attention to me.

But I didn't want to think about that. Not tonight. Not now.

Some nights, the auburn headed beauty would notice my presence, and I'd have to wait back a few steps so she wouldn't see me. She doesn't like to be taken care of, I know that, but the streets aren't safe for a girl like her. Should anyone even dare walk up to her, they'd have to answer to me.

If only she'd see enough reason to quit that job of hers. I could make her happy. Not for long, I know, but I can. If she'd agree to it, I'd just let her stay at home. But she's not that kind of girl. She's the kind of girl that lives in a garage, works ten hours a day, and goes home with a different guy every night. I noticed she had a type. Most of the guys she went out with had blonde hair, so I obviously had to dye mine as well. I look a lot like them. Except that they're dead, of course.

Tonight, she was by herself. I cherished nights like these, where I could stare at her without having to worry where another man placed his hand.

I had thought of entering the club, trust me I did, but this was not how I wanted to meet her. I wasn't going to be another one night stand. No, absolutely not. What awaited us was something more.. beautiful than that, even if she didn't know it yet. Tonight, I was going to get one step closer to that majestic dream I had for us.

Tonight, I didn't hide when she sensed me.

She spun her head around once she saw my shadow. I must have been smiling, because she didn't flinch back, but stared at me.

She was a beauty.

"Can I help you?" she said. Her voice was huskier that I'd imagined, but it didn't affect her elegance.

"Yes, Zoella." I said. She seemed taken aback by the fact that I knew her name. I knew much more about her than just her name.

"I'm sorry," she said, and I noticed a slight stiffness in her posture. This is not good. "Do I know you?"

"No," I said, and this time, I knew I wasn't smiling. This time, she did step back, and her smile turned to pressed lips, then a deafening scream as she saw something silver in my hand.

I took hold of her,pressed the knife to her throat, and her screams instantly stopped. "Shhh, just stay still now, Zoella. I'm doing this for us. I want you to remember that."

I was doing this to protect her from hands that had no right to be placed on her. From eyes that had no right to notice her beauty.  I was doing this so we could be together, forever. This.. this was only the first step.


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Good luck getting sleep tonight, you guys. Sorry if I went a little too creepy on you, but.. come on. Most of my stories are creepy. Or macabre. Or messed up. Seriously guys, what's wrong with me?

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading. You awesome thing, you! <3