Page 7 of Something Worth Keeping
Physical markers: Referenced “corruption” as if it had a tangible presence/taste
Julian added a new bullet point:Entity displayed restraint when confronted by a non-threatening human. Did not attempt harm.
He opened a new browser tab and continued the research he’d started hours earlier. Most shadow mythology fell into predictable categories Julian was already familiar with - beings such as demons, vengeful spirits, or even manifestations of human fear which were less tangible than demons, for example, but no less valid. None of them quite matched what Julian had witnessed.
Then he found a reference in a digitized folklore collection from the 1800s. It was a passage about “Guardians of the Threshold” that described beings who existed between light and dark, and who fed on corruption to maintain cosmic balance.
“Feeding on corruption,” Julian murmured, highlighting the text. The shadow-being had said something similar -I eliminate problems -which suggested actions that were less like murder and more a form of cosmic pest control.
Julian sat back, processing the new information. If the entity genuinely targeted criminals - defined as people who caused measurable harm to society - then its actions served a utilitarian function. By removing the source of corruption, there was an improvement in overall community welfare. Which was all very logical when considered in terms of the wider context.
A shadow moved in his peripheral vision, and Julian’s head snapped toward the window. The curtain hung motionless, but the shadow on the wall beside it had definitely shifted, curling in a way that went against atypical shadow caused by a solid object.
He stood, approaching the area slowly, but the shadow didn’t move again.
“Fatigue,” Julian murmured. “I only had four hours sleep. Visual hallucinations are a documented side effect of sleep deprivation.”
He reached out to touch the wall where the shadow had been, and his fingers brushed against something solid.
Julian jerked his hand back as an object fell, clinking against the hardwood floor. It was small - roughly the size of a quarter - and impossibly black. Not the black of ink or paint, but the black that came from an absolute absence of light.
Crouching down, Julian studied it without touching. The object was circular, smooth, and seemed topulse with a faint rhythm that matched his own heartbeat - a token of some sort, or a marker. Something deliberately left behind because Julian hadn’t seen it before.
By what?The question answered itself.By whom.It had to have been the shadow-being. It had been here, in his apartment, while he slept.
Julian’s analytical mind immediately began cataloging possibilities. There was the breaking and entering, although there were no signs of forced entry. Could it be a form of stalking behavior? If it were, that would be concerning but not immediately threatening. Julian could be under some form of surveillance, but he had no idea why. Underneath the analysis, Julian could still feel a strange comforting warmth, a feeling that intensified as he looked at the token.
A gift?
“That’s ridiculous,” Julian said to his empty apartment. “Unknown entities don’t leave gifts. They leave threats or warnings or…”
The shadow in the corner darkened again, just for a moment.
Julian grabbed a tissue from the box on his desk and carefully wrapped the token. He should dispose of it, throw it away, lock his windows, and maybe invest in better curtains.
Instead, he placed it in the top drawer of his desk, beneath the stack of unused thank-you cards his mother had sent him, stroking over the little package before quietly closing the drawer.
Back at his laptop, Julian opened a new document.
Behavioral Analysis: Shadow Entity
Hypothesis: TheEntity is capable of tracking/locating individuals after initial contact. Demonstratescuriosity rather than hostility toward non-threatening humans. Left token - purpose unknown. Possible territorial marking? Claim of ownership? Warning to other entities?
Julian paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard.
Or a gift.
Wrinkling his nose, Julian deleted the last line. It was too speculative. But he didn’t remove the token from his drawer. If further evidence proved it was a gift, then getting rid of it would be rude, even if Julian was more comfortable with gifts that had a purpose.
His phone buzzed. Another text, this time from Colin, a colleague from the library:Heard about the suspension. Patricia’s on a power trip. You okay?
Julian stared at the message. He believed the appropriate response would be to express gratitude for theconcern and provide reassurance. Instead, he typed:I’m fine. She was wrong about the provenance chain.
He deleted it and tried again:Thanks for checking in. I’ll be back next week.He hit send before he second-guessed himself again.
Colin would probably think he was being cold again. People always thought that. Julian had stopped trying to modulate his tone years ago because it never seemed to work anyway.
