Shadow of Doubt: Part 2 by W.J. May Read Free Book Online

leg. She pressed her hand over top of her
skirt against his to gently stop him. She opened her mouth but
paused a moment before speaking. “Have you ever been in love
before, with a Shadow or a human? You’ve been around for over a
hundred years…it makes sense.”
    It was Erebus’ turn to hesitate. “No.
I guess I’ve never met the right female to shake up my world.
You’re my first.” He grinned, trying to joke.
    Aurora sat up and patted his arm.
“You’re my first Shadow, so I guess that makes us about even.” She
pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. “What about these
Shadow rules? You talk about these laws like they’re
sacred.”
    “The laws are sacred. They were made
thousands of years ago by Shadows who no longer exist.”
    “They’re dead? I thought you said
you’re immortal?”
    “We are. However, if the object you
possess is no longer around, you become extinct as
well.”
    “Why laws back then?” She now sat
crossed-legged on the corner of the couch and reached for a
chocolate chip cookie on the coffee table.
    Erebus grabbed his empty coffee mug
from the table and walked into the kitchen to refill it. He came
back into the living room. “Laws are needed in every society. We
need them to prevent wars, keep the fear of the gods instilled in
us, and most importantly, to keep us alive. When we first came
about, humans knew about us and treated us as gods. They feared us.
Most kept their distance. However, times changed and stories grew
into folklores. We became hunted, so we hid. We set up simple rules
to follow to have humans oblivious to us. Time continued to tick,
and these rules evolved and became laws.” That was what he
knew.
    “Yeah, but if Shadows have evolved,
humans have, too. Probably hand in hand. To be honest, you still
don’t seem much different than me, except your job takes you away
during the day. What happens when you’re in the booth?”
    Erebus flashed a quick smile. He liked
her analogy. His day job was covering a pay phone. “I guess you
could say I disappear. I act as the phone’s shadow. I’m just an
occlusion, not a person with a brain or a memory…just the thing
stretching across the sidewalk. Maybe something does happen, but I
never remember in the morning. Maybe there’s some other world I go
to that has no memory of this life, like I have no memory of it.”
His shoulders shook as he laughed silently. “I’m just making that
up. I probably shouldn’t joke.”
    “If we’ve all evolved, why is it a big
secret for Shadows now not to come forward?” Aurora brushed a crumb
off her shirt.
    “Fear. At least that’s what I think.
Fear of getting caught by you and being destroyed. Can you imagine
what the world would do to us? If humans felt threatened by us?
We’d be treated like some alien coming to visit earth. Our brains
put in jars for display.” He rolled his eyes at the thought. “We’re
immortal. Most Shadows would prefer to stay that way. Imagine some
army colonel keeping us out in the day just too teach us a lesson?
We’d eventually all just disappear.”
    “That’d be kind of a bummer.
Especially since we’d be experimenting on how you functioned and
worked. Forcing a Shadow to try and possess some other object or
who knows what else.” She snapped her finger. “No need for a lawyer
to protect you. Speaking of that, who upholds justice if your laws
get broken?”
    “The Night Council.”
    “Who’re they? A bunch of old guys
playing judges?”
    Erebus felt the corners of his mouth
curve up at her analogy. “Not quite. It’s five of our oldest
Shadows. They comprised the Council long before even I came into
existence.”
    “Like I said; a bunch of old
guys.”
    “No, five females: Disciplina,
Indivia, Furena, Laverna, and Poena.”
    “That’s their names?” Aurora’s lips
pursed together as she squinted deep in thought at
Erebus.
    “Yeah. Five beautiful women who have
the devil’s wrath inside of