[ WP ] A man suddenly gains the ability to talk to his shadow . As they converse , it becomes apparent the shadow is real and the man is what the shadow casts .

It had been a long day at work. 
 
 Darrell had spent the last four hours cleaning off tables at a place he'd not be too keen on eating at himself. He'd seen the back rooms, how the chefs did n't seem to understand the words'Personal Hygiene'. It was a shitty place to work, but bills had to be paid, and he had to put food in his belly somehow... just not what was available at work. He would n't eat that even if it were free. 
 
 The drive home had been uneventful, a short 5-minute hop from location to home. He had a small house, a gift from his family. Well, a gift in so far as an inheritance could be called that. Paying insurance on it was a hassle, but the house was owned, paid off decades ago when his parents still owned it. They'd moved on to Florida, as was usual for a retiring age couple with a bit of cash saved up. It had been a somber time, living in a house his entire family had, now alone, but it had saved him quite a bit of money in the long run, at least. 
 
 His car turned the corner up the driveway to his home, placing the car in park, and turning it off with a twist of the key. Tugging it from the ignition, he had all of a second to process the electric shock racing through his body before the concussive force of the source sent him slamming against the driver-side seat. 
 
 There was pain for several, long moments. Perhaps minutes. Even an hour. He was n't quite capable of processing just what had happened for an unknown amount of time, until his form finally slumped forward, a low groan erupting from him as his breath finally returned to him in a long, low gasp of pain. He clutched his chest, eyes squeezing shut. His entire body ached! It was like someone had jabbed a thousand needles all along his body, the shock alone was enough to leave him in tears. 
 
 It was all he could do to sit there for some time more, until his wits returned to him. The first movements afterwards were a slow look down at himself. His hands were intact... fingers, arms, chest, legs, feet..Nothing seemed to be broken or burned away. That was good. He could see, hear, smell... pain was definitely there, and he could taste copper from where he had bitten his tongue, blood trickling into his mouth. 
 
 A red, blood-stained tongue slid from his mouth to slide across his lips as his breath slowed to a more normal pattern, rather than the shuddered gasps it had been before. His mouth open, and he finally uttered the first word after his shock. 
 
 `` Fuck.'' 
 
 `` Yeah...'' 
 
 He blinked, and his brow furrowed. He had no passenger, but he'd just heard a response. He leaned back in the seat again, looking around. He was a bit dazed from the shock - had it just been a trick of his imagination? He shook his head some, rubbing his temples with his hands, slowly opening the door and staggering out. 
 
 No visible damage to the car, or surrounding area... it was like the shock had come from nowhere, but he'd certainly felt it! Each step still felt like his legs had been asleep for the past couple of hours, sending pins-and-needles shocks of sensation up his legs with each step. He made his way to the door of his home, and pushed it open, closing it behind him with a grunt, and staggered over to the couch, where he sprawled down against it. 
 
 Again, his lips parted, and he spoke once more 
 
 `` Ohhh... fuck..'' 
 
 `` That hurt..'' 
 
 He jerked visibly. That had **not** been his imagination. He had heard someone that time. He looked around with wide eyes, confused. Had someone broken into his home? His door had been locked, he'd unlocked it himself when coming in. No windows looked broken.. 
 
 `` Who's there?!'' He demanded, eyes searching around him. His breathing picked up some again - had someone attacked him? Is that what happened? 
 
 `` Wait... you can hear me?'' 
 
 He jerked, looking for the source of the sound. Behind him? His eyes searched the half of the living room behind the couch. Nothing. He sat up on his knees on it now, focusing on the sound around him now, looking for some sign someone was there. 
 
 `` Who's there? Come out, or I'm calling the police!'' He fumbled for his cellphone, hand pawing at his pocket before sliding inside to grasp it. It was trembling some - he'd never encountered a break-in before, and it was frankly a bit frightening to know someone was in his home, but he could n't yet figure out where.. 
 
 `` No. No way. You ca n't hear me. That's not possible. *That's not possible! *'' 
 
 Darrell whirled again, cellphone in-hand. This was disconcerting on many levels - he had HEARD the voice not five feet away from him, behind the couch, but *no one was there*. 
 
 `` Yes I can hear you, now show yourself!'' He demanded, holding up his phone. `` I'm calling the police!'' He keyed the power button, unlocking the phone with his trembling hand, eyes darting around and glancing to the phone as he tried to steady it so he could dial. 
 
 `` No. No! No way! Calm down. Look at the wall.'' 
 
 He paused, and looked up. The wall beyond had a few picture frames, some old stuff piled against one corner, but..it was just an off-white wall with his shadow cast against it. Nothing... 
 
 `` Wh... what?'' 
 
 His shadow. His shadow was *standing* beside the couch. He looked back at the window behind him, then at the wall, the shadow, again. Back to the window. The wall. The window. The wall again. 
 
 `` What..how... **What?! **'' He dropped his phone in his panic, staring at his own shadow doing what he was not. It looked like he was standing, facing the wall, with his arms crossed over his chest. 
 
 `` Listen. Calm down. We have a problem. You should **not** be able to hear me. Or talk to me. Or even see me..well, like this. Something happened in the car after that shock. Something that shoul --'' 
 
 `` No, *no*, **NO**, I am NOT having a conversation with my shadow. Nope. No.'' Darrell stood now, hand on his head `` I must have gotten a worse shock than I thought,'' he stammered out, a panicked half-grin on his face as he tried to explain away the impossible happening before him, `` I should probably go to the hospital. Hallucinations..that was one hell of a shock!'' 
 
 `` Darrell, I'm not a hallucination, and you ca n't leave the house right now.'' 
 
 Darrell whirled, facing the wall again. `` I just said I'm not having a conversation with my shadow! Its just... just a hallucination!'' 
 
 `` If I'm a hallucination, then no harm in talking to me, right? I'm just in your head then, and there's nothing I can do to harm you.'' 
 
 Darrell paused at this. His father had been a doctor, and though he himself held no medical training whatsoever, he at least knew the basics of human biology and the like. It was true, a hallucination could n't directly harm you. It could convince you to harm yourself, though... 
 
 `` That's... No, if I do n't go to the hospital, something could happen. I'm having hallucinations! That's reason enough to go! Obviously that shock did something to my head and I need to go before it gets worse.'' He said in a reassuring manner to himself. He crouched to grab his phone. 
 
 The shadow of his hand, however..slapped the phone away. Darrell paused and stayed crouching there for several long moments. His hand touched the ground where the phone had been not moments before, then rose up as he looked to where the phone was now. That..should not be possible. At all. 
 
 A hallucination was a hallucination. It could n't touch things, move things. But he had clearly seen it slap the phone across the floor when he reached for it. Somehow... 
 
 `` Listen. And listen carefully. You're in a whole world of trouble..and so am I. You are not supposed to be able to see or talk to me. The fact you can means something has gone *incredibly* wrong. If you go outside, and the others even think you can see or talk to me, we're both dead.'' 
 
 Darrell stood up now, setting his eyes once again on the shadow. It was now kneeling on the couch, arms resting along the back, as if it were a reflection in a mirror looking out at him. 
 
 `` This is n't p --'' 
 
 `` Is n't possible, yes, I get it. Focus. We need to find out what just happened and reverse it. 
 
 `` Or what?'They' will kill me?'' Darrel asked, frowning as he faced his shadow. `` And who, tell, are'they'?'' 
 
 `` The others. The other'shadows'. Every one of you have one, after all.'' 
 
 Darrell widened his eyes, sliding back to sit on the coffee table infront of the couch now. `` Everyone? You mean, other people's shadows are..'' 
 
 `` Alive? Yes.'' The shadow nodded its head in affirmation. It was still disconcerting, seeing it move like that without him. 
 
 `` But how? Why? W-wait, why are you even telling me this?'' Darrel had a million questions to ask but the threat of his apparent death was still in the air. That took precedent. `` And why would they kill me?'' 
 
 `` I'm telling you because they'll kill me too. You die, I die. That's how it works. The problem is you're, the lot of you, never supposed to know we're alive. That was n't part of the plan.'' The shadow explained, hands moving through the air as it spoke. `` We're..well, what you'd call'Extra Dimensional Entities'. We're... well. Imagine what a two-dimensional being would think of a three-dimensional being. Impossible for it to conceive, right? Now apply that to you.'' 
 
 Darrell frowned, looking at the shadow `` But you're two dimensional. I mean, you moved my phone, somehow, but..you're not in a physical body.'' 
 
 `` No, but just because I'm not operating in the third dimension does n't mean I'm not aware of it. That's why we're here.. We know OF the third dimension, but... we ca n't experience it. That's why we do what we do. As your shadows, we can experience everything you can. Know what you know. Do what you do.'' 
 
 Darrell sat back, mind swimming with questions, but he had to keep them short. No telling how much time he had to ask them before..well, his luck had been shitty enough today. For all he knew an asteroid would atomize him and his house any minute now. The cosmos did have one cold sense of humor sometimes... 
 
 ( ( Will continue if interest is shown, looks like I've hit the word limit. Huh. ) )
