Chasing Shadows (Shadows 2)

My eyes fluttered closed and I considered going back to sleep. Even though I felt sated, I didn't want to lose this feeling of pure pleasure, and I had a feeling that if I woke up completely, it would dissipate into the wind.

"Caitlin!" a woman's voice yelled out. I opened my eyes, frowning at the disruption. The last thing I needed was for someone to ruin my serene environment. I wanted to block out the sound, but the voice yelled out again.

"Caitlin, wake up! You need to wake up!"

I sat up with a gasp when I saw my mother running towards me. She was beautiful with flowing black hair, just like her pictures. But her face was marred by fear.

"Caitlin, please! Wake up before it's too late!"

I sat up with a scream, my heart pumping so hard I felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. It was dark in my room, but in seconds it was flooded with light. Simon straightened from turning on the lamp by the bed and grabbed me.

"Caitlin! What's wrong?"

"My mother." I was trembling, my mother's face so vivid in my mind that I felt like she was about to materialize in front of me at any second. "My mother was warning me to wake up."

I felt Simon's hand on my back, soothing me with long strokes. "It's okay, baby. You're awake now."

I shuddered as Simon enveloped me in his embrace. "I've never dreamed about my mother before."

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

I pulled back so that I could see Simon's face. I was about to tell him about my dream when something made me turn my head. It was as if I could sense a presence, goose bumps rising on my arms.

"Oh my God," I whispered in horror as I stared at Sarah standing at the foot of the bed. But I knew it wasn't Sarah. I could faintly make out the shape of my dresser through her.

"What the fuck!" Simon yelled, jumping when he saw her. "Sarah, you scared me to death!"

I grabbed Simon's arm, frantically pulling him back towards the head of the bed with me. "That's not Sarah!" I screamed.

Sarah's vardoger smiled at me, seemingly amused by my fear. I barely had time to register the thought when it rushed towards me, moving so fast that all I saw was a blur, until I felt like I was slammed into a brick wall. I heard Simon's distant cry, but all I could feel was unending pain as the vardoger tried to seep into my body. It took all my strength to grab the iridium coin I had placed under my pillow, my fingers gripping the metal tightly.

I vaguely heard pounding and other voices in addition to Simon's, but I concentrated on the vardoger trying to enter me. I imagined my energy funneling together, a whirling mass of pain and vengeance, and willed it to push out the darkness with all my strength.

The pain was searing but I forced myself to ignore it. I thought about my mother's face, the fear that had made her features tight. I hated the darkness inside of me and I screamed my rage at it inwardly, the howl reverberating in my head until it was all I heard.

A light exploded in my mind and suddenly my body was flooded with peace. I felt arms on me, shaking me urgently, but I had to fight my way back to the surface.

"Caitlin!" Simon was yelling my name, and I could see his terrified face as he tried to get me to res

pond.

"Simon, I'm okay," I croaked, needing him to stop the shaking. He hugged me fiercely when I responded, and I could feel him trembling. I saw Sarah and Grant standing by the bed, their faces white with shock. Tears were streaming down Sarah's face and Grant looked like he was in a stupor.

"What the hell was that?" Simon whispered brokenly, pulling back so he could see my face but not letting go of me. "I mean, what the fuck was that!?"

Simon sounded like he was on the edge of hysteria and I didn't blame him. I felt like I was on the edge of hysteria.

"It was a vardoger. More specifically, it was Sarah's vardoger. It was trying to enter me." My voiced sounded weak and breathless.

Sarah collapsed onto the floor, which seemed to startle Grant out of his trance. He immediately sank to the floor, holding her.

"It looked like me!" she cried out. "I saw it! It was on top of you, attacking you! But when we tried to pull it off, our hands went through it like it was a ghost! We couldn't do anything to help you!"

I took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of my emotions. "You can't touch a vardoger when it's outside of a human body. It kind of is like a ghost."

Sarah started sobbing loudly and Grant held her, rocking her back and forth. My heart broke at her despair and fear.

"But it's gone now, Sarah. I was able to destroy it."