Shadows that Follow

Feeling the power to control everything at his fingertips, surely this day would unfold differently. Damien embarked on a new journey in the outside world. Calm down, he repeated to himself, while walking near a noisy road. Everything is going to be alright.

His awareness kept him relatively calm, and he was sure that everything would turn out as he had planned. Every footstep took him farther away from his last home, away from the places he knew. Damien saw for the first time a large building decorated with plants that hung from its walls.

Damien’s curiosity helped him walk without fear of the unknown. Everything will be different this time. As soon as he reached the entrance he saw a strange man by the door, wearing a black uniform. Damien immediately turned, realizing he made a mistake, but there was no one behind him.

It’s all in your imagination, he told himself.

Damien tried to act normally and entered the mall. At least that’s what he thought, while cheerily walking with the tune of a melody in his head, and picking up the pace as soon as he passed the guard. This has to be a trap.

Frustration overtook Damien when he realized his plans began to fail. Why do they want me? Can’t they understand I’m trying to put them behind me?

He took the first right and felt safe away from the guard. Then, Damien stopped and turned to see if there was someone chasing after him. The mall was filled with strangers, it was impossible for him to know.

No one is chasing you, he thought. Just relax. Breathe

Damien continued walking casually. Admiring the large glass wall in front of a store. Waiting for a signal to confirm his suspicion. Paying attention to the people walking nearby. There were too many of them. Damien couldn’t distinguish the people chasing him from the rest, and his heart began to race. It was now clear to him that he had fallen in their trap.

Act normal, he thought, let’s find a way out of here.

He saw a person walking out of a small hallway and walked towards it to hide. What am I going to do? he thought, grabbing a gun out of his backpack. There are too many of them.

Damien’s hand began to tremble, as he hid the gun behind him.

Breathe and wait for them to take the first step. Most of these people are not part of the trap.

Damien walked down the hallway to find a way out until he reached a dead end. There has to be another way out, he thought and returned to the large corridor of the mall. He tried to walk inconspicuously, but his fear made it almost impossible. He carefully studied all the people walking nearby, and imagined taking out the gun to defend himself.

This was the worst trap he had fallen into, Damien was sure that someone was about to attack him, and he felt trapped. He wanted a regular life. Like the people walking around him, unaware of the dangers behind the secret society. Free from the constant fear of getting caught.

Damien couldn’t remember a time in his life when he wasn’t running from them. Not even as a young boy. They had always chased after him. He had something they needed.

Calm down, he thought as soon as he saw an exit sign. Everything is going to be alright.

He walked towards the sign….

“Sir, would you like to try one of these…” said a beautiful young woman offering samples on a tray.

“I know what you’re doing,” Damien said and pulled the gun.

The woman froze as soon as she saw the gun pointed at her, and let go of the tray. The strange man behind the gun looked aggressive and ready to shoot.

“You won’t catch me alive,” he said and I raised his gun to shoot at the ceiling.

The people closest to the gun shot threw themselves to the ground, while the rest of the people in the mall stopped and turned to look in the direction of the blast.

The crowd began to run in search of the nearest exit. Damien also ran with them, and felt comfortable being part of the crowd. They were like a team with the same objective. They also wanted to escape from the people looking for him.

Damien allowed himself to be carried away by the group and concealed the weapon.

They can’t catch us now, he thought, and ran out of the mall.