Shadow Writer Pt.1

Shadow Writer Pt. 1

Her world was falling apart. She was so close to having everything she wanted, and now this. The pen refused to do what she desired. It refused to write. “What is this defiance?” Natalie was beyond distraught. She deserved the world and then some, didn’t she? Yes! More than ever! More than anyone! She would show the world that she was more than a struggling waitress. She was a writer and a damn good one at that! She was strong, powerful, all-consuming. She was insane, and if she didn’t have the means to control her destiny as she had just days before this moment, then no one would be able to do the same for themselves. She takes the pen, raises it above her head, and drives it into the notebook. In that instant, there was a bright flash of light and a shockwave that sent Natalie flying backward into the wall. Her body falls limp and hits the floor. She begins to dream, her mind taking her back to right before all of this began. Of a time before she changed, before she began to mess with forces beyond her control.

Natalie was a waitress by trade. She expected her late twenties to be more fulfilling. She expected to be more than just a waitress. She should’ve been a Pulitzer Prize-winning author with books spanning the dozens on the New York Times bestseller list. There was a lot Natalie could’ve and should’ve done, but her interest in spending money on unimportant things held her back. She’s also a self-diagnosed book and stationery fanatic. Her greatest of all weaknesses, she could never resist buying pens, pencils, notebooks, books, the whole nine yards. Natalie is 5’6” tall, with green eyes and orange hair. She is sometimes selfish and a bit rough around the edges, but she’s a hard worker.

“I need more shifts, Don!”

Don, a tall, heavy-set bald man in his mid-forties with a massive beard braided like that of a Viking and tattoos that say the same, is the main cook and owner of the diner Natalie works at. Despite his rough-looking exterior, he is a kind and gentle man who recognizes the potential in Natalie and wishes she’d see the same in herself. Because of his kind nature, he usually concedes to Natalie’s harmless demands. “You have all of the shifts I can give you; the others are Sam’s!”

“Maybe Sam will give me hers?”

“Sure!” Sam replies. “If you really need more!”

Sam was Natalie’s best and only friend. They met at Don’s Diner a little over a year ago and became quick friends.

Sam is slightly taller than Natalie at 5’7”. This small difference makes her feel like she’s Natalie’s protector, something that Natalie initially scoffed at but came to accept over time. Sam has long black hair, deep blue eyes, and freckles.

Natalie looks at Sam and smirks. “Hmmm. I’ll think about it.”

Don and Sam both yell, “That’s not an answer!”

It was finally the end of Sam and Natalie’s shift, and because they lived in the same direction, they always walked home together, with Natalie living a few blocks past Sam. As they walked, Natalie complained about being low on cash, something that Sam never understood because she was frugal and money-savvy. “If you need cash, I can lend it to you,” Sam said without a care in the world. Natalie thought about it for a moment but declined. “No, Sam. I can’t always come to you because I have a taste for nice things which strangely leaves my pockets empty.” Sam laughed. “You’re growing! But your taste is still junk.” All Natalie could do was pout.

As they walked and joked around, they almost passed an antique shop. “Whoa, Sam. Has this shop always been here? We’ve walked this way tons of times and I’ve never seen it.” Sam agreed. The shop wasn’t there yesterday. “Maybe we should check it out, Sam. See if there’s anything interesting.” Sam was skeptical, not just of the shop appearing from out of nowhere, but of antique shops in general. “Everything in this place is most likely haunted, you know that right?” Sam said deadpan, not really wanting to go inside, but just like Don, she relents to Natalie’s requests.

As they enter, they are greeted by the smell of old, musty furniture, something they both believe a proper antique shop should have. The shopkeeper is nowhere to be seen, so they help themselves to some window shopping until Natalie stumbles upon a glass case towards the back of the shop housing a beautifully crafted pen with a blue pearl finish and intricate gold inlay, the blue looking like that of an ever-shifting galaxy. The notebook that sat beside it was just as beautiful and seemed almost otherworldly. Natalie knew she had to have them, but the pen alone was $100, and it just wasn’t in her budget, not only that but the price tag for the notebook was missing. “I’ll get them for you,” Sam said smiling. “Call it your gift for growing, your birthday gift, your Christmas gift, and whatever other gifts I was supposed to give you this year.” Natalie smiled with tears in her eyes and hugged Sam tightly. “But what about the notebook?” they still hadn’t seen the shopkeeper, and the glass case was unlocked. “Let’s grab them, take them to the counter, and see if they appear?” Sam said somewhat quizzically. Five minutes had passed with no shopkeeper in sight. “I’ll leave them $200. $100 for the pen and $100 for the notebook.” It had always baffled Natalie how Sam seemed to always carry large amounts of cash. “I don’t really keep a lot of cash on my person. Today just happened to be your lucky day that I had more than $50,” she said as she smiled. They left the store and proceeded home, Natalie jumping with joy over her new gift and Sam following in tow.

They make it to Sam’s place and Natalie says goodbye, making her way home. As she walks, her mind floods with ideas of what she will write about. This could be her chance to write that Pulitzer Prize-winning book she’s always dreamed about, never mind the pile of half-used notebooks in the corner and the pens strewn across her messy table, an “organized mess” as she likes to call it. She enters her apartment and rushes to the table, almost forgetting to lock the door. She pushes away her organized mess and sits down to write the title of her book, “The Savior 7,” a short story series about seven heroes, each possessing a different ability, who at some point in their stories must face an antagonist that seeks to steal their powers and make them their own. She had the idea floating around in her head for what seemed like ages but knew there needed to be more depth to the stories beyond just the title. Writing the title was as far as she got before all the day’s efforts and stressors finally got to her and she found herself dozing off after only being home for twenty minutes. She admired the pen and the notebook before bringing both to bed with her and admiring them again before turning off the lamp. That night she experienced vivid dreams unlike any she had ever had before. They were lucid in nature. In her dream, she was brought before the pen and the notebook. They were communicating to her in sounds and what appeared to be garbled mumbling, but she could understand them both clear as day. They explained to her that they were entities that existed beyond human comprehension, and that they could feel her strong desire to write. In exchange for giving her the tools she needed to become a great writer, along with some other fascinating abilities, all they asked was for her to allow them to observe how she used their gifts. She accepted with no thought of the consequences.

The next day she wakes up ready to write her very first story, inspired by last night’s dream. She picks up the pen and notebook from her bed and wonders for a moment if accepting the pen and notebook’s offer was the right thing to do, but as quickly as the thought came, it left and all that remained were her story ideas. She called out of work that day and immediately began writing “The Savior 7.” Her very first character was given the ability of ultimate invisibility and was undetectable to the point that it was believed that they slipped out of existence when they used their gift. Natalie was proud of what she had written so far about her character. She had never given a character so much depth. It was as if they had a life of their own as if they were alive. This made Natalie a bit jealous, and she felt foolish for feeling so, not just because it was a made-up character, but because it was her made-up character. It was her creation, but she couldn’t shake the feeling. She wanted what they had. It was then that Natalie began to become the antagonist of her “Savior 7” series. She began to think about ways to obtain such power for herself and all the things she could do with it. She decided to return to the idea after a nap. After falling into a deep sleep, she was greeted once again by the pen and notebook. They tell her that what she wants is possible, but it could come with dire consequences. Natalie, being more concerned with the reward than the risk demands that they tell her what she must do. “You must be willing to put your creations in perilous situations that will leave them vulnerable to having their abilities taken.” She began to realize how utterly ridiculous all of this was. In the span of a night and part of a day, she had been conversing with an otherworldly pen and notebook, which were probably entities far more sinister than she initially suspected. She had fully fleshed out her first character and their story and was now contemplating taking their abilities. “I’ll do it,” she resolved.

Awakening from her nap with a fire in her eyes, she was ready to seize all that she could.