I was either crazy, or bat-shit-crazy. I’d have to decide later. Instead, I peeked at my friends to see the same shock. It was a minor relief but it proved that I wasn’t completely mad. Right? Blinking rapidly as if it could clear the illusion, I realized I’d just watched a shadow morph into a solid man who didn’t appear much older than us, though I doubted that was the case. Nothing that rolls out of shadows could be like us. He was breathtaking and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t look away. I’ve never seen a day-old-corpse before but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had skin like his; deathly pale and flawless. It made a shocking contrast to his midnight hair, like he was digitally remastered instead of real. Without thinking, I stepped forward and spoke past the awkward lump in my throat. “Who are you?” Even his voice sounded dark, low and resonating. “The question is, who are you?” His obsidian eyes sought me out and I unexpectedly felt violated. Read was the first to recover and knocked on the bricked-up window.
