Story #302 - Uncasting

Uncasting

There was a snuffling sound behind him, a quick huffing of breath as if for a sigh or a scream.

“V…v…” David could tell from the consonant’s panicked tone that the woman behind him had seen what he’d hoped would go unnoticed.

Ducking into an alleyway before the next strip mall on his right, he took off at a dead run and made for another cross-street. Behind him, the woman’s voice rose to a scream that echoed along narrow alley walls.

“Vampire!”

Coming back onto the street, David slowed his pace and tried to look as stunned as those around him. Vamps weren’t common after the Purging but there were still a few lurking around, weak and wan things that lamented the loss of their brethren. He wasn’t a vampire, but explaining that to anyone who didn’t know him was a stretch. Lacking a shadow meant he was a vamp – for most people, that was enough.

David wasn’t sure where he’d lost his shadow or when it would be coming back, if ever. He’d woken up a month ago feeling as though something was missing, something was gone, but couldn’t put his finger on it and chalked it up to a bad dream. A bright morning and a sharp-eyed houseguest told the tale, leading his hung-over female companion to burst screaming from his condo into the sunlight. From there, it had only been a few steps to his own discovery of the problem.

Not having the black passenger attached to his body hadn’t made life any more difficult, but it also hadn’t given him any kind of super-powers, at least that he could find. Pundits and preachers across the country were whining that “old evils were new again”, but most of those affected by whatever had been stirred up in the metaphysical realm weren’t exactly crying in church pews. Some were out saving the world while others had turned to a life of crime, and vamps – the first such oddities to appear – were hunted nearly to extinction.

“What’s her problem?” A gruff voice said from behind David.

“Dunno,” another dull male tone was the response. “Probably one of them crazies.”

“Shut up, man!” The first one said again. “I told you I don’t wanna hear about that crap!”

“Whatever.” His friend’s tone was frosty. “Like I care what you want. Those freaks are out here – all around us. That dude in front of us is probably some kind of whack-job.”

David tensed. He’d been in a few fights over the last three weeks, leading to a bruised ego more than anything. Blood hadn’t flowed – yet – but it was only a matter of time.


He took a quick left into the next shop door he came to, yanking the wooden door open harder than necessary. If the two behind him had noticed something, chances are they wouldn’t be willing to take it inside a business – the cops were cracking down on trouble in the downtown core.

“Welcome, David Faber.” A smooth female voice said from within the dark confines of the shop. Squinting, he tried to make out the face of the speaker or anything beyond the five feet of light at the front door, but it was no use.

“How the hell do you know my name?” Aggression wasn’t the smartest response, but he was tried of hiding, tried of feeling like a freak. He hadn’t asked to have his shadow ripped away, hadn’t asked to become a whack-job; it was wearing.

“I know many things, Uncasting One – things that are hidden to others or that they do not wish to see.”

“Come out here!” He bellowed. “Where I can see you!”

“Very well.”

There was a slither of movement from the darkness, a wavering shape that seemed to coalesce out of wooden cabinetry and smoky lights. A form appeared, willowy and well-hipped all the same time, smiling and yet stern. There was an overpowering sense of femininity to it, along with a very real sense of repulsion – David was sure a bad pick-up line would get him more than just a drink to the face. Whoever she was, whatever she was, the woman in front of him held power.

“Hello,” he stammered, “my name is –“

“David Faber.” She cut him off, and he didn’t bother to start up again. Aggressive women had always been his downfall. “I had expected you earlier.”

“Earlier?” He chose the single word carefully. Information was what he needed, not a fight.”

“Of course,” she nodded, moving in a slow circle around him. It took all of his willpower not to turn and face her, not to protect himself from her gaze. She hadn’t put a hand on him – yet – but he was sure a touch was only a single mistake away. “You have been known to me since your darkness was lost. Few can banish their darkness, but you did it without thought.”

“Banish darkness?” He said, frowning. “You mean my shadow?”

“Yes. Yes. Shadow.” The word came out through clenched teeth, a sinister thing that was far less benign than when he spoke of it. “You do not yet realize, David Faber. You do not yet know.” She was in front of him again, suddenly. It took a great deal of effort not to step back. “You are incorruptible.”

He laughed, but her face said the words weren’t meant as a joke. His entire adult life had been spent corrupting himself as much as possible, and enjoying every minute of it.

“Silence!” She barked, and he bit his lip to stifle his smirk. “There is a vast darkness coming, one greater than any of your kind has ever seen. Only a few of you have been chosen to stand against it, David – and you are such a one. The shadow you once bore is a conduit, a way for what will appear to enter the world.” The woman spat out a hiss and jumped back, swinging at a blackened creature rising from the floor.

From her shadow.

“Help!” She screamed, and David lunged forward. A swung fist seemed useless, but he couldn’t think of another option. The shadow shattered like thin ice as he struck. “Savior!” The strange woman screamed.

What the hell was going on?



- D