The Shadow and the Darkness

Everyone was still slightly hungover from the weekend, but the overall dread of a normal Monday subsided after they all begrudgingly got through another start of the perpetual cycle that is the work week.  The crowd gathered, canines in tow as the daily amalgamation of species combined into one large chaotic mess of dogs humping and pooping while their owners sipped glasses of cheap wine and beers from the local corner store.   Yoga pants clashed with business suits of the latest GQ fashion as the variety of beasts sniffed butts and created a Lord of the Flies-esque community of animals.  Only the strong survived and the weak, unless they had a human intervention, got pummeled into the ground like small plastic toys.  It was controlled chaos.

But out of the shadows, a figure emerged.  He had been sitting at a small bench, unassumingly observing the social experiment that is the dog park.  He had long blonde hair covered by a beaten-down cowboy hat.  A brown leather duster adorned his shoulders and a pair of black boots met a pair of faded jeans on his lower calf.  He did not belong in this group of yuppies.  Why he was there, no one knew.  And until he stood up, no one had even noticed his presence. 

The dark shadow traipsed across the brown dirt that covered the park.  He passed a group of girls adorning plastic glasses filled with what he assumed was a cheap cabernet recently purchased from the store across the street.  They were too engulfed in their trite conversation to even notice him as he drifted past them like a soft winter breeze.  They all shuttered in chills as he passed them.  They would never know why, but he knew that it was his presence.  Their souls could feel the chilling damnation of his own, and he knew, as he had seen a thousand times before, they were scared; even if they did not know of what.

He breezed through the crowd.  No one really noticed him, but they all made the same shutter as he walked past.  Business men, yoga instructors, administrative assistants; they all felt the chill up their spine as the dark-shadowed man flowed past them.  He took note, but again, it was nothing new.

Through the doors came another dark shadow.  He was dark skinned with white eyes that you would never forget if you saw them.  They pierced the soul when you made eye contact, but the man never did. He was trying to remain incognito as well.  He had a dog with him. It was on a thick leather leash with spurs dotting the length of it.  At the end of the leash was a giant bull mastiff; clumsy in appearance, but ferocious in appetite.  Especially when he was angry.

The shadow gave pause when he saw the darkness entering the park.  He knew this foe, he knew him well.  He had fought this beast for a thousand years and would continue fighting him for as long as he would live.  The darkness stopped as soon as he entered the dog park.  He could sense the shadow’s presence and knew that a battle was about to begin.  The darkness’ dog stopped as well.  He had seen what happens when these two cross paths and he was terrified for a moment for what was about to come.  He had licked the wounds of the shadow too many times in the past.

The shadow stood next to a tree and lit a cigarette.  He blew out thick grey smoke and steeled his eyes on the two entering the park.

“We meet again, shadow,” the darkness belched out as he took a few steps closer, the beast still at his heels.

“Indeed we do,” said the shadow.  Smoke engulfing his face as he stared down the giant of a man and his massive beast.

Time slowed.  A leaf blew between the two in the wind.  A cool breeze could be felt by everyone at the park.  A shiver ran down the spines of all those in the vicinity.  They didn’t know why; just instinct kicking in to warn them a fight was about to begin and they needed to leave.  For safety’s sake.

Before anything happened, a few of the smarter yuppies grabbed their animals and made their way for the exit.  Both the shadow and the darkness waited, eyes locked, waiting for the causalities to leave so they wouldn’t be hurt.  This was a battle of good vs. evil.  No need to bring in the simplicity of the general public.

After a few moments, the shadow pulled out a large hunting knife.  He reflected the light off of one of the lamps and flashed the reflection into the darkness’ eyes.  A few more people saw this and scurried away with their animals.  The darkness pulled out a pistol, a black Smith and Wesson .357 magnum. He grinned a wide set of white teeth at the shadow.

“Bring a knife to a gun fight?” the darkness sneered.

“Shoot me,” The shadow said.

The darkness lifted his pistol and the entire crowd at the dog park panicked.  People ran everywhere.  Screams erupted from across the park as the pistol lifted and pointed at the shadow.

The shadow flicked his burning cigarette into the face of the darkness as he was beginning to aim.  It hit the darkness right in the eyes and his pistol dropped to the ground.  He rubbed the ashes out of his eyes as the shadow ran toward him.

A yuppie ran between the both of them as the shadow rushed the darkness.  The shadow side-stepped her and ran with full force upon the darkness.  The darkness was reaching down toward the ground to pick up his pistol as the shadow reached him.  The shadow thrust with his knife as hard as he could as the darkness picked up his gun.  Immediately, the mastiff lunged at the shadow.  He caught him, and plunged his knife deep into the dog’s gut.  A squeal burst out of the dog as they both fell to the ground.

The darkness picked up his pistol and walked over to the shadow, covered in the blood of his giant beast.  Immediately the shadow pushed the dog’s carcass off of him and was left sitting on the ground, a pistol pointed at his head while the dark-red blood of the giant beast pooled around him.  He was caught, and he knew it.

“I guess this is goodbye,” the darkness laughed as he cocked the hammer back on his pistol. “It’s been a helluva fight for the past thousand years.”

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a sound came out from the other side of the dog park. It was a fast, trampling sound that increased in intensity.  The darkness looked out of the corner of his eyes as he saw the shadow’s dog, a small mutt running toward him.  Before he could act, the dog was upon him.  He leaped up and grabbed the darkness’ wrist with his sharp teeth, pulling the gun down.  A shot went off.  It landed just to the side of the shadow. 

Instantly, the shadow jumped up, pulled the giant knife out of the mastiff and plunged it deep into the gut of the darkness.  The mutt instinctively let go and ran back into the hiding place it was once in.  The darkness stood up, blood dripping from his mouth and out of his nose.

“So this is how it ends?” The darkness dribbled, coughing up blood. “You know there are more of us hunting you down.  You cannot kill all of us.”

“This is how you end.” The shadow said in a soft cool voice.

He snapped awake and looked over the park. It was empty. The dark shadows of the trees painted the rocky grounds black in the basking glow of the overhead streetlights. 

He whistled for his dog, who ran up to his side and placed a paw onto his leg.

They both walked out of the park.  His darkness would remain in the shadows for one more night.