The Shadow King [DE2020]

"Draw a circle with chalk.
Put two chairs facing eachother in the middle.
On the one facing north place a mirror and a dark candle, idealy black, or dark red to the left of it."

Chiara giggled in excitement and took another sip of her whisky bottle. Since the lockdown because of that stupid virus had forced her into isolation she was bored out of her mind. But tonight she'd have a little party. On an obscure paranormal forum Chiara had found this fun little ritual "The Shadow King". The special guest.
She went to work and followed the instructions to the last detail.

"The room has to be completely dark except for the one candle.
Sit on the chair facing south, make sure you can see your own face in the centre of the mirror.
Repeat the words 'Shadow King ruler of the world inbetween not alive not dead make yourself be seen' until he appears.
Remember to treat him with the upmost respect.
Enjoy"

Chiara repeated the words mumbling about twenty times, interrupted by some more whisky, on her couche before she was sure to have correctly memorised it. "Okay." she said while twisting her long dark curly hair into a knot. She stood up and entered the circle. Somehow she felt a little bit dizzy as she sat down on the chair and lit the blue candle. It wasn't perfect but the only dark candle she had.
As always she couldn't resist to enjoy her reflection in the mirror, gave herself an encouraging smile because she started to feel silly and used the remote control to turn off the lights.

The candle needed a little adjustment, a little more to the front of the chair. But now it was perfect. Her face was in the centre of the mirror and with her eyes slowly adjusting she could see herself good enough surrounded by the darkness of the room, a white head without a body.
"Shad..." she needed to clear her throat, a little cough and she was longing for her bottle, but there'd be plenty of time for that later. Chiara took a deep breath and started over.
"Shadow King ruler of the world inbetween not alive not dead make yourself be seen. Shadow King ruler of the world inbetween not alive not dead make yourself be seen! Shadow King" her voice became a bit overdramatic and she made herself laugh. "This is just stupid. What am I doing?" Chiara wanted to reach for the remote control to turn the light back on but couldn't move. "What the...?" Able to move her head but nothing else she panicked and houled.

A dark voice rolled through her body, Chiara felt the echoes of it trembling in her core. "Look at me."
She didn't want to, she closed her eyes, she didn't dare to look, the voice was horrible enough. "No go away!" it was more a squeek than a scream. The thing answered with a very relaxed laugh that got her stomach rolling in her belly. "You called me. Look at me."
Her neck twisted and threw her head back, against her will she opened her eyes. In the mirror she saw the black outlines of a city surrounded by grey clouds and fog. It looked almost normal, except for the complete lack of colour. It was definitely not what Chiara had expected. And that gave her a bit of her courage back. "Where are you?"

"Here." As if a whirlwind had grabbed her by her feet she was thrown around, turned inside out and the darkness faded into grey. She stood on the other side of the mirror, the wrong side and watched her own pretty face blowing out the candle.
"No! Stop it! Come back!" Chiara hammered her fists against the black square. It took her a second to realise she was able to move again. And another one to look at her hands. Black bones. She screamed louder than she ever had screamed before. Then she sank to the ground, lifeless, shivering, she had lost her mind.


Tom sat in his underwear playing Red Dead Redemption II, finally he had time for that. His phone rang, the display showed it was Chiara calling. He paused the game and answered. "Hi. What's up Baby?"
"I need you Tom. I'm drunk and wearing nothing but the skirt you like so much. Why don't you come over and we play a little?"
"But the lockdown..."
"I know. It's an adventure. I promise I'll reward you."
"Haha, really what will you do?"
"I'll let you have me three different ways."

Tom was the first of 30 young men disappearing during the lockdown of April 2020. Something with an unsaturable appetite was out there. Hunting.


The End

...or is it the beginning?

a reply to: Peeple

Chiara is screwed. Once someone opens those doors they are very hard to shut. It is the beginning for her, the beginning of mental illness.

Cool story. Adding current event made it that much sweeter.

a reply to: Peeple

Very cool story, Peeple!

a reply to: Peeple

Nicely done

a reply to: Peeple

Hah!

I liked reading this one.

Thank you for writing it.