Shadows

Samantha looked around nervously, her hands clenched tightly around one another and clammy from the cold sweat that she couldn't stop from rolling over her skin. A part of her was excited. She had been crushing hard on the mysterious boy that was Alex, always dressed in black with his hair swept back, his skin incredibly pale even though she always seemed to see him outside. She had tried flirting with him for well over a year, but he never seemed to respond to her advances until just recently. She couldn't explain the wave of nervous happiness, mixed cold and hot, that washed over her when he had turned to look her in the eyes the first time.

He had asked her to join him on an "excursion" late into the night, and without a second thought she had agreed to it. Any extra time she could spend with him - and especially time alone with him - was worth whatever the cost as far as she was concerned. But now that she was out, in the dark night with the cold air piling down on top of her, she was beginning to think that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. She admittedly had not actually talked to Alex very much, and most of what she knew about him were really more of rumors. She had thought that the mystery around him was hot. Now she was reassessing that assumption.

Alex seemed undisturbed by Samantha's discomfort. He led her down a series of back alleyways, unconcerned as Samantha was about the possibility of someone trying to jump them, and he wasn't wearing so much as a coat to combat the frigid air. He was just dressed in his usual black t-shirt and black jeans. He never slowed or paused until he came to a dead halt at a dead end fence under an overhang, painted pitch black by the shadows.

"You, uh... You didn't get lost, did you?" Samantha asked timidly.

Alex turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised as he examined her. "You've seemed pretty set on going on a date with me," he responded abruptly, completely ignoring her question. Samantha's face burned beet red with blush. She did want to go on a date with him, but the way he just said it like that... "Now's your chance." He held out his hand. "Are you gonna take it or not?"

Samantha's hand was in his before she had even fully processed what he was saying. His hand was so cold, but the way his fingers weaved between hers sent shivers down her spine. She was suddenly very aware of how damp and clammy her hands had become, and her face burned even brighter. She was making such a bad impression. There was no way he could ever want to date someone like her...

She hardly noticed that he was leading her towards the wall of the dead end until he pushed her hand against the cold bricks. She gasped and turned to say something when she gasped again, this time in an almost painful way. She looked down at her hand and saw it flattening, turning pitch black as the wall it was melting into. She could barely see its outline against the deep shadows in front of her. But while it looked like she was flattening, she felt as though her hand was being stretched out beyond the three dimensions of their world. She was sinking into the shadows, but she felt like she was being expanded past that which her mind could comprehend. She wanted to scream, but no sound would come from her throat. She turned to Alex, but he was already halfway into the shadows.

Throughout the experience, she could still feel Alex's hand on hers. It wasn't until she herself was halfway into the wall that she looked down and saw that he clothes were not going with her, simply pushing up against the wall as she sunk into it. Her heart raced and her eyes widened. Would she be naked with Alex?

The entire thing lasted only a matter of seconds, but it felt like agonizing years passing by. But as soon as her last finger slipped into the shadows, the pain vanished. It took her a moment to catch her breath, which she was surprised to find she could not only still do, but that she could feel her breaths passing through her entire system, rather than just in and out of her mouth. All of her sense were enhanced. She could see for miles through the pitch blackness. There was no color, but she could see the texture of everything like it was the reflection of the sun on water. She could feel the fibers that made her up, as well as Alex.

Heat shot through her entire body as she realized they were, in fact, naked. Despite the lack of sight, the way the texture of his skin looked... It was more intense than anything she could have imagined before. And if she could see him like that, that meant that he...

"W-where are we?" she asked, trying not to think about it.

Alex smiled. "This is my home," he answered. "The shadowworld."