Faithful Shadow by Kevin J. Howard

Hurry!”
    Arthur shut the door and locked it, his heart racing faster than it should at his age. He calmed slightly as the man gave out a deep breath, sinking to the floor in an exhausted heap. He wrapped his arms about himself and began to cry, lying there like a helpless infant. This stranger of perhaps thirty, a thin young man, held himself before two complete strangers.
    “You’re safe now.” Arthur spoke calmly, lowering the knife to his side as he assessed the situation. “The door’s locked and you’re safe inside. Just calm down.”
    “What’s wrong with him?” Sandy asked as if he weren’t there, looking him over like a new species.
    Arthur shot her a quick glance over his shoulder, telling her with his eyes that she wasn’t helping. He got down on his knees and reached out to the man, withdrawing his hands as the man tensed up, pulling away. His hair was matted with dirt and grime. Dried mud caked his skin and clothes.
    “What’s your name?”
    The man looked at Arthur, perhaps really seeing him for the first time. “What?”
    “Your name, son. What’s your name?”
    “Alex Boone.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, smearing damp soil into his bushy eyebrows.
    “What’s going on here, Alex?” Arthur got down on his knees, keeping his tone calm to help Alex relax.
    “My girlfriend and I were camping up by Fairy Falls four nights ago…I think, I don’t even really know what day it is.”
    “Calm down.” Arthur thought for a moment. “Fairy Falls is about fifteen miles north of where we are. You say you’ve been wandering around for three days? Did you get lost or drunk?”
    “It just took her.”
    “Who took her?” Sandy asked with interest, leaning toward them in her seat as her fear of Alex subsided.
    “It did. The darkness.” Alex looked up with pleading eyes, seeing the only woman he’d ever loved being pulled away from their tent by her feet, screaming his name as she disappeared in the brush. “The night took her.”
    The camper shook, knocking Sandy out of her chair. Arthur fell backward, hitting the wall hard with the back of his head. The camper shook again, and again. Rocking back and forth like a bear shaking a thin tree. Then it stopped all at once.
    “What the hell was that?” Arthur rubbed his head as he sat up, falling back with a shock as something landed on the roof. “Who’s with you?” Arthur screamed at Alex.
    “It found me,” Alex moaned, falling to the floor while cradling his head. “Don’t let it take me!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, pressing the boundaries of a shriek.
    Arthur crawled toward the driver’s seat, jumping every time whatever was above them hit the roof. He looked up and saw the center of the roof was beginning to cave in, as if it were reaching down to Alex. Arthur was scared stiff. Never had he been more afraid, his heart rate had been set to its maximum setting, ringing in his ears like a kettledrum. He crawled up into the seat, stepping over Sandy as she lay curled on the floor, shying away from the cacophony above them of twisting metal and repetitious impact. He fumbled with the keys, losing them between his fingers with every hard smack from above. Even though the key was already in the ignition. Finally he gripped the key and started the camper, putting it in drive and taking off with the emergency brake still engaged. He frantically kicked it off and gripped the wheel tight, turning it as tight an arc as his camper could make.
    “You’re going to tip us!” Sandy screamed, holding onto the bottom of the seat as momentum pulled her toward the door.
    Arthur pressed his teeth together and straightened the wheel, breathing hard as the camper turned back down the trail and up toward the main road. The hammering from above had ceased, leaving an eerie silence filled only with their short breaths and the hum of the camper’s engine. Arthur turned left onto the main highway and pressed his foot down on the