“Lily, it’s alright. I’ll catch you.”
“I promise… Pinky promise.”
Her daughter’s small body weighed little, but Myra Castellanos added an exaggerated oof for show once Lily jumped safely into her arms. The top of the playground set was five feet off the ground—a terrifying feat for a child.
Lily clutched tightly around her mother’s neck, stubby fingers digging into the neckline of her jacket.
“See? I told you I’d catch you.”
That night Myra dreamed Lily grew wings and soared over the playground.
The screams were overtaken by the billowing smoke and flame, unstoppable heat consuming everything in its wake. Exits blocked by the crumbling structure, Lily could do nothing but shriek and cough and cry. Her babysitter collapsed at her feet, lungs filled with fatal smoke. She was alone, terribly alone.
Her throat seized and the coughs choked her.
Sirens blared, but they would never make it in time.
And mother would bury a tiny coffin.
Shadows. Empty, faceless shadows crept along the walls. Their forms held no meaning or purpose. They simply existed. Blank slates.
“Mommy…” one them feebly whispered.
Myra’s hand stretched to the wall, grasping at anything tangible from those dark, dark shadows.
There she was. Brown hair like her father’s and sharp, blue eyes like her own. The dimple in her chin and slim shoulders were exactly like a yearning mother remembered. But she wore no beaming grin, nor a bright, playful gaze.
No, fear was carved deep into her, that form existed among the shadows.
“It’s alright… I’m here, Lily… I’ll—“
The shadows quivered and sprung forth a pair of sinister, jarred hands. They snatched Lily up and away from her reaching mother. Screams vibrated off the walls.
Light jolted Myra awake, her eyes slow to adjust to its ungodly blare. In the doorway of her office stood a mask, his white suit matching the sterilised décor of Mobius HQ.
“He want to speak with you, Agent Hanson.”
tangentwithtanner
