"Margot, please," Taya pleaded. "Don't go near it."

     "It's OK." She said, totally calm "I know what I'm doing." She said matter-of-factly. She slowly approached the shadow, camera held up to the level her eye. It looked unblinkingly at her, like a cat watching a bird. With a calm, clear voice, she asked, "Who are you?"

     No answer. Margot tried again.

     "What's your name? Why are you here? Were you the one who attacked us?"

     “Margot please get away from that thing!" Taya whispered, tugging her back. Margot remained where she was standing and wasn't sure if it was sheer bravado or pure terror that rooted her there.

     There was silence for a beat, then it laughed. That same laugh that Taya had heard Friday at class, what she heard over her phone. Without a trace of doubt, she knew it was the same entity.

     “Oh shit.” Margot and Taya muttered.

     "We need to run,” Margot whispered hoarsely. "Right now!"

     In the blink of an eye, the entity disappeared. For several seconds both of them searched for it in a panic. When Taya turned around she saw it was only inches from her face, its empty holes staring at her. A cold hand grabbed her by the arm. It roughly pulled her away so that she was facing it. Her whole arm started to feel numb.

     It’s so good to see you again.

     That voice. That same cold, cruel voice invaded her mind. It was really was him. He forced her to her knees and she heard it laugh. It was mocking her. She suddenly felt very dizzy, the room was spinning. The numbness was spreading to the rest of her body. All she felt was the cold but in the back of her mind, she heard voices calling her name.

     "Stop it! Get away from her!"

     It was Margot’s voice. Taya felt someone's hand, warm and strong, pulling her away. She could feel something else, against her chest something was humming. It felt hot, burning away the cold with such intensity it made her gasp. Opening her eyes, saw Margot holding her up to the side of her. She remembered now what was happening. With as much force as she could muster she made herself stand up.

     "No!" She screamed. She pulled herself free from his cold grip. The entity vanished and Taya was left standing in the hallway, shaking. Turning around she saw Margot leaning against the wall, deep haggard breaths. Without a word they ran inside the computer lab and shut the door behind them.

     "What...what just happened?" Taya asked terror pitched in her voice.

     "A Shadow Entity!" Margot exclaimed.

     "What?"

     "A Shadow Entity." Margot began. "I've read up on them, but I've never seen one before! They are a type of spirit. Very malicious and extremely dangerous.”

     “I know what a shadow entity is Margot.” Taya said.

     “Uh, right. Your arm," Margot turned to face Taya. She held up her camera light to see her. "It grabbed you. Did that thing hurt you?"

     Taya was shaking but she felt oddly calm. The cold feeling that had encased her earlier had gone away. Strangely she felt flushed. "I'm fine."

     "Are you sure?"

     Taya nodded her head. She didn't feel any pain but that might have been the adrenaline rushing through her. Her breathing had returned to normal. Taya turned around to look at Henry. She reached for her phone to give her some light. She checked her pockets but found nothing. Taya padded the floor around her looking for it. "Oh, crap."

     "What?" Margot asked.

     "My phone! Shit, I must have dropped it!"

     Margot shook her head. "Well, we can't go back out and get it. We'll just have to make do with my camera."

     "Don't you have your phone with you?"

     Margot fumbled in her large coat pockets. "Uh oh.”

     "What?“

     “I think...I left it in my car.”

     Taya groaned. What a dynamic duo they made. She reached into her blouse and took out her opal. Every time she wore it she felt like it was somehow protecting her. To her amazement, the opal felt warm and was faintly glowing.

     “Que esta pasando?” She whispered.

     Her thoughts were interrupted when they heard banging. The door they were leaning against burst open pushing them both to their knees. They turned around to face the door but saw nothing. A cold burst of wind blew across their faces, biting at them. Struggling to stand Taya pulled Margot as hard as she could to the double doors on the other side of the room.

     "The breezeway! We can get out through the breezeway!" He shouted.

     The double doors that opened to the breezeway were locked. Taya and Margot slammed into the door but it would not budge. They screamed and begged for someone to help them but no one came. Taya looked over her shoulder and saw the shadowy figure standing in the doorway. Why was he just watching them? She was at a loss at what she could do. Taya knew they were both helpless, a feeling she hated. It was preying on them both and there was nothing she could do. She couldn't fight it.

     That just made her angrier.

     She refused to let this thing make a victim of Henry or Margot or herself. She fought it off twice now. Who was to say she couldn't fight it off again? A keyboard zoomed past her head, narrowly missing her. Her bravado faltered. She looked over Margot who was fumbling with the lock.

     "You have keys?" Taya asked, dumbfounded.

     Margot’s hands were shaking, one hand with keys and the other shined her camera light on the door. "Yes but I need to concentrate the door is stuck!"

     "Stuck?" Taya shouted. Something skimmed over her feet on the floor. She grabbed a nearby chair and held it up. If anything else came flying towards her, at least she'd have something to fight with.

     "Are you sure you have the right keys?" Taya demanded. Margot shot her a withering look.

     "Yes, these are the right keys!" She enthused. Another keyboard came flying at her head. She lifted up the chair and used its leg to block it. Taya dropped the chair. She made it to the door in three short strides, ramming into it with the whole side of her body. The doors burst open, all three of them falling to the ground with a hard smack.

     They didn't waste any time. The doors were closed before anything else could be thrown at them. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the entity, the Shadow, standing only a few inches away. Its glowing white eyes stared at her, never blinking.

     "Watch out!"

     Margot grabbed Taya by the shoulders and pulled her away in time to miss being hit headfirst by the chair she had been holding earlier. It continued bouncing violently against the floor before stopping by the exit. Taya and Margot ran to the doors and forced them shut. It was harder work then they realized when the large double doors refused to shut all the way. They felt something push against them. No guess as to what, Taya thought. If it could move heavy objects, what's to stop it from forcing the doors back open?

     No. Hell no. She wasn't letting that thing get her friends or her. She gritted her teeth, dug her feet into the carpet and pushed. They pushed and pushed until finally with a heavy groan the doors shut. Grabbing the keys Margot locked the door. There was silence for several seconds. A loud boom and the sound of something heavy crashing into the doors made them jump back. The door remained closed and all three backed away. The lights flickered on, the dark breezeway suddenly alight. Taya let out a breath that she had been holding in. This had to be a good sign, she hoped.

     That was real. It had happened. She wasn't the only one who saw it, Margot did too. She wasn't crazy. It was real. Taya felt excited and afraid and terrified and triumphant and a whole mess of other emotions. Above all she was confused. They had escaped it for the moment, but if this thing could appear and disappear as it pleased, how long before it came back? More importantly, why hadn’t it just attacked them all those other times?

     Taya was the first to speak. "Mierda. I’m dropping every class I have in this building.”

     "Baise moi, c'était terrifiant.” Margot whispered.

     The pounding in her chest had ceased and moved back down the breezeway. “C’mon, we can get to the Star Lab and get the hell out of here.”

     “What exactly do you plan on telling them?” Margot asked.

     “The truth.”

     Margot scoffed. "You think they'd believe any of that?"

     "Let's just focus on getting out of here," Taya said as they moved quickly down the breezeway. "I don't think any of us wants to deal with any more ---"

     The double doors leading into the Star Lab burst open making all three of them jump. They screamed the people in front of them were screaming. Taya realized who it was that was in front of her.

     "Taya?"

     "Henry!"