Eclipser

[S.W.A.T.K.]

You quickly draw the flashlight from your pocket and rap it on the lamp. Light bursts from the lamp. A horrifying screech sounds from the shadow. It retreats to a corner of the room.

Chase it? Or leave with your lamp?

[Griffin2448]

Leave with your lamp.

[S.W.A.T.K.]

Your heart is pounding rather loudly in your chest right now, but you figure that's better than if it were not beating at all. You quickly stuff the flashlight in your pocket, grab the lamp, and make a mad dash for the door. It opens with a creak but without a hitch, and you are soon out on the street once more.

You look up at the white sky. It occurs to you that there is a vague outline of a circle floating about up there. It emits no light, so it certainly couldn't be the sun, you think. Then again, just because a lamp emits no light does not mean it is not a lamp. You begin to wander to the next door, rather reluctant to try this again. Your hand lethargically reaches out to grab the black doorknob when something moves in the corner of your eye. You look.

A shadow. Your shadow. It is standing there, in the middle of the street. It is eerily still, and you rather wish it were back at your side, where it belongs. Though you are still a bit perturbed by its creepy behavior.

Do you approach it? Or perhaps chuck something at it? Do you open the next door? Or do you sit and wait for time to pass? Or do you try something else?

((If the latter question, please specify.))

[Griffin2448]

Approach it and shine the lamp on it.

[S.W.A.T.K.]

You notice the lamp in your hand is still lit. You really don't want to try another door, and you're fairly certain that if your shadow meant you any harm, it would have done something by now.

You approach your shadow, holding the lamp out in front of you, just in case. Ten steps later, you find that you are as close to the shadow as you were ten steps earlier. Each time you move closer with your lamp, the shadow moves farther away without so much as a single step. It simply glides over the street. You consider turning off the lamp when something catches your attention.

The sky is darkening as before. You glance at your watch. It is ticking faster, and your heart is beating louder. The hairs on your arms stand on end. Your shadow has not taken a step closer to you. You glance back at the doors.

Should you make for a door? Continue pursuing your shadow? Sit and wait for time to pass? Or something else?

[Griffin2448]

Try another door.

[S.W.A.T.K.]

You forget your shadow and dash for another door. Thus far, the rooms have seemed a touch less dangerous, and you're not sure that your lamp or flashlight could help much to fend off whatever happens when the sky blackens. Your hand closes around a black doorknob, and out swings the door. You step through.

You find yourself in a small room. With your lit lamp, you explore. It is empty, save for a white staircase. That's new. As with everything else, the designs carved into the steps were extremely intricate and Gothic in style. Your lamp does not provide enough light to see where the stairs lead.

Do you ascend the staircase to explore further? Do you leave the building entirely? Do you sit and wait for time to pass? Or something else?

[Griffin2448]

STAIRS NOW!!

[S.W.A.T.K.]

You take a step up the first stair. Then the next. Then the next. You climb higher and higher, but there seems to be no end to the staircase. You glance down. The floor is too far away to be visible. There is just you and the white stairs, covered in darkness. And then you're there.

You are back outside. On the street. But everything is reversed. The street, the sky, both are black. The buildings and sidewalks are blackish shades of gray. Your shadow watches from the other visible end of the street. It is whiter than the doorknobs. You glance at your lamp.

It is sucking away the light around it rather than shining. Even your hand is enveloped in the resulting shadow. Only the white lamp is visible. You tap your flashlight on it. The shadow flickers out.

Your focus returns to the surrounding area.

Do you try a door? Approach the shadow? Chuck something? Sit and wait for time to pass? Something else?

[Griffin2448]

Find something besides your lamp and flashlight to throw at the shadow.

[S.W.A.T.K.]

You gently set your lamp and flashlight on the street. How odd it is that the flashlight still doesn't actually light itself, you think. Glancing around, you scan your surroundings for anything you can throw at your shadow. Surely something is lying around.

You run around the nearest buildings, hoping to find something chuckable, but for a while, nothing catches your eye. Suddenly, the horizon fades white. You glance at your watch as the hairs on your arms stand on end. The watch is ticking clockwise, for once. Then, it hits you. The watch.

You could throw the watch! But you look at the sky. It is quickly turning white, and the ground beneath your feet is rumbling. You glance at the circle in the sky, then at the lamp and flashlight, then at the nearest building. You are running out of time.

Do you go ahead and throw the watch at your shadow? Do you run for the lamp and flashlight? Do you try for a door? Sit and wait for time to pass? Something else?

[Griffin2448]

Run for the lamp and flashlight, and try another door.

[S.W.A.T.K.]

You dash for your lamp and flashlight, snatching them up as you swoop past, sprinting for a door. The rumbling gets louder, and you feel something in the air. And just in time, you find a doorknob.

But it's locked.

Now what?

[Griffin2448]

Go into a fetal position and cry.

[S.W.A.T.K.]

A horrible screeching noise rends the air. Your tears obscure your vision to the point that you don't notice when your flashlight and lamp, which you dropped before going into the fetal position, collide with one another, thereby "lighting" the shadow lamp.

And then, chaos. All around you, buildings are destroyed, parts of the sidewalk are tossed about in an intensely bright light that blinds you. Except, you are unharmed. You open your eyes long enough to notice the lamp. Light is disappearing into it at an alarming rate.

Silence. The apocalyptic light storm is gone, sucked into the darkness of the lamp. Your crying has stopped, replaced with what should be a heart attack. You stand up. Everything is gone. Almost.

Your shadow is there, standing amid the rubble. It watches you. Still. It points. You look behind you. The stairs are there.

Do you take the stairs? Throw your watch at the shadow? Or try something else?