The building looked the same as when she last saw it the night before. That's what troubled her. It looked, well, dark. Too dark. The sun was bright and hot, the air thick and heavy with the usual humidity in late August. But walking up to the building Taya felt the temperature drop. There was an odd sort of darkness to the place like it had been covered with a heavy shroud which contrasted so eerily against the brightness of the green lawn and the trees that dotted around it. Taya paused at the front entrance. Why was she hesitating?

     She moved to the door to push it open and found it locked.

     Can I try the back? She wondered then thought better of it. It's probably locked too. She thought biting her lower lip.

     Taya took out her phone and dialed Henry. Her heart was beating hard inside her chest, afraid of what she might hear on the other end. But the phone continues to ring until she heard Henry’s voicemail.

     "He still isn't picking up." She said aloud. Taya's fear was palpable. What should she do? What could she do? Don't panic, she thought. Think. She knew Henry was in some kind of danger but she couldn't really tell anyone why. Hey officer, I was attacked by an evil shadow thing and I think it's after my boyfriend? In a fit a frustration she kicked the locked door which slammed open. Taya was stunned and wary.

     I guess it wasn't locked. She thought. Taya turned the flashlight on her phone on and walked through the open door. She stopped to look at the door and found to her surprise it was almost hanging off its hinges.

     "I didn't kick it that hard." She muttered.

     Taya noticed even with the light from the outside now pouring in it still seemed unusually dark. She grabbed for her opal necklace and rubbed it. It felt warm in her hand and the cold began to ebb away from her body. Thinking of Henry she pushed her fears away.

     Henry was most certainly at the Star Lab. The quickest way was through the upstairs computer labs. A breezeway leads into the Astronomy tower from the lab. She kept her eyes forward, not daring to look into any of the classrooms. She felt a chill go down her spine when they passed by their classroom, forcing herself to push past the memory. Henry, find Henry. She told herself.

     Almost there, almost there, almost there. She repeated. She wasn't alone, Henry was here, she would find him and then they'd leave. But what if something had happened to him? What if he was hurt or had been attacked by that thing? Anything could have...

     No. She told herself. Stop thinking like that. Henry is fine. If something bad had happened to him you would know it.

     She made it to the stairs without any problems. When she reached the upstairs everything was still and dark. Flashing her light ahead of her she caught her reflection in the glass window of the upstairs computer lab.

     A second figure stood behind her.

     Taya screamed and whipped around to see who was behind her, heartbeat racing. There was no one there. She was alone.

     Her breathing came out labored, eyes darting madly around for any sign of movement. Finding nothing, she let out a nervous little laugh. "It's just my eyes playing tricks on me." 

     Bullshit.

     Belatedly she regretted coming here alone. She'd run headfirst into the situation without thinking. She felt more like a fly that had flown headfirst in a spiders web. Now it was just toying with her. She moved quickly to the end of the hallway. On the right were two double doors leading into the computer lab. Taya cursed, realizing that they would keep the door locked on weekends. Regardless she shined the light on the door.

     It was open.

     "A-HA!"

     The door slammed open and a person rushed out to face her, shining a light in her eyes. They meant to take her by surprise but Taya reacted on instinct. She lunged toward the person, grabbing both arms and slamming the stranger hard against the wall.

     "¿Quién coño eres?" She demanded with a growl. The person she had pinned against the wall, as it turned out, wasn't a crook or monster.

     "Stop! Stop! Stop! I'm not a threat! I'm a student! ¡Soy un Estudiante!"

     With a jolt, Taya realized she knew who she had pinned to the floor. Taya was face to face with a girl, roughly around her own age, African-American with short hair dyed white and large brown eyes staring back at her.

     “Margot?”

     “Taya?”

     Taya released her, shock giving way to indignation.

     "What the hell are you doing here? Why did you jump out at me like that?" Taya demanded.

     "I'm sorry. I...thought you were something...someone else." She said, breathing heavily.

     She pushed herself off of Margot and groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. Of course, she’d be here.

     Once upon a time, Taya and Margot were the best of friends. They’d met each other during detention Freshman year of high school. Margot had gotten in trouble for dying her hair a vibrant red that her homeroom teacher deemed “too distracting” while Taya had gotten in trouble for cussing out another student. What was once was a strong bond had withered and frayed away and the thought of it made her sad.

     Taya stood up and held out a hand to help up Margot who took it.

     “So, since we’ve reintroduced ourselves, mind answering why you are here?” Margot asked, straightening her heavy steampunk jacket.

     “I’m here to find Henry. What are you doing inside the computer lab?' Taya asked.

     Margot blinked rapidly, a nervous habit of hers when she was afraid. "A friend of mine let me...borrow their keys."

     It was a blatant lie. She could see Margot's brow glisten with sweat as she watched her reaction.

     "Borrow?" Taya asked, skeptical.

     “Yes.”

     “From who?”

     “I can’t...say.” Was Margot’s belated reply.

     Taya made a noncommittal grunt. She could just imagine Henry’s indignation if he were here. These keys are a privilege, given to only a certain number of students to be used for school work and research only. We don't just lend them out to friends! 

     “OK, but why are you here?”

     “Isn’t obvious? People have been talking about strange activity going on here and I decided to investigate.” Margot answered.

     “You mean the shadow man?” Taya asked.

     She could see Margot was staring at her, watching her closely. "I didn’t mention anything about a shadow.”

     A loud crash, the sound of glass shattering, made them both jump back, screaming. The crash had come from inside the computer lab. A rush of cold air hit their faces as it blew past them like a wave. It didn't feel like wind, Taya thought, it felt as if someone was breathing on them. She caught a whiff of something odd. It was faint but she could have sworn she smelled something pungent and awful, like dead things and tobacco.

     "Do you smell that?" She asked.

     “Yes! God, c'est grossier!” Margot coughed.

     "Who else is here with you?"

     Margot shook her head. "No one" She turned her head toward the lab. "....I think."

     They heard another crash, like something heavy had fallen to the floor. Margot was fully aware of the danger and from her position near the window saw, a computer, floating in mid-air.

     Her first thought was she wished she could have gotten that on camera. Her next thought was realizing there was a floating computer not five feet away from them and when she saw it surge toward them like a torpedo Margot grabbed Taya by the shoulders, managed to yank both of them away from the door and onto the floor before it could hit either of them. The computer, a desktop with a wide flat screen laid shattered and crumpled against the opposite wall, the mouse and keyboard trailed behind it. Margot's heart was beating a mile a minute, eyes wide with shock. Noise from inside the room drew their attention. Taya shined her phone light at the doorway into the computer lab.

     They could see the outline of a person standing in the doorway. With growing dread, Taya realized what she was looking at. It was him, it, that shadow thing that had attacked her. She looked at his face, at least what was supposed to be his face. All she could see were a pair of eyes, solid white and empty of anything, staring back at them. It tilted its head to the side and looked directly at her. She moved backward and came against Margot. Margot put her hand on her shoulder and quickly pushed her behind her. She held the camera up with her other hand and moved toward it.