One thing came in mind for her to do as soon as she back to her apartment: laundry. The state of her clothes was a bit ridiculous, even for her standards.
Normally, Asiya would have driven to Avant-Garde. It wasn’t long of a drive, but most nights she was just too tired to walk. Earlier in the day, however, it had been wonderful in terms of weather. The sky was clear, and the temperature seemed to be just right. It was that reason that the artist figured she could change it up a little. She would walk from her apartment to the supply store. Besides, a little spontaneity was refreshing once and awhile.
The sidewalk leading to her apartment was blissfully empty. All that could be heard was the patter of her shoes on the pavement and the sound of a gentle breeze. Asiya smiled to herself as she walked along, content and feeling quite secure. Yet as she came up to pass by an alleyway, something moved just enough for her to catch it out of the corner of her eye. The sound of her footsteps came to a standstill. No longer did she walk on ahead, but instead, she lingered in front of the alley to peer into the darkness. What had she seen?
A stray cat, most likely. That was her immediate guess, as the felines without a place to call home liked to frequent the shadowy, tucked away spaces. Ashdown seemed to have a high concentration of cats, too, a peculiar trait that Asiya never really questioned until now. Why did the town have so many cats? It was a question she’d ask people later, perhaps, as she was curious to know their thoughts, too. But for the moment, her eyes were on the alley, and on the lookout for whatever lingered there.
”...Here kitty,” Asiya called out, hoping to not scare whatever it was away. She had hoped to lure it more than anything else. Maybe it was friendly?
Unfortunately for her, Asiya did not come face to face with a cat. Instead, she witnessed a shadow bolting on the pavement that she was standing on, and rushing away from the alley and off down the street. A shadow! Moving on its own and without a person or thing casting it. Given the nature of Ashdown and its relation to Other Ashdown, she shouldn’t have been surprised. She should have been used to this kind of thing by now, but she wasn’t. Part of her, in the back of her mind, thought she never really would be. Would anyone ever get used to the peculiarities about town? Probably not.
”Hey --” she then called out, immediately turning to try and follow where it was going. ”Wait for me!”
What had been the gentle patter of steps a few moments ago, now turned into sounds of quicker and more frantic strides. Asiya was actively running after the shadow now. The dark figure skittered along quick, ignoring and moving over any sort of obstacle or sign that may have stood in its way. Wherever it was going, nothing seemed like it was going to stop it. All Asiya could do was follow it, in hopes of figuring out what it was.
Eventually, the shadow brought her to one of the local parks in town. A playground could be found there, and it was lit only by a few street lamps. In the daylight, it wouldn’t have been bad at all. Asiya could remember playing at that park, in particular, as a child. But given the darkness of the night sky, and the eerie moving shadow, there was an aura of creepiness around the park. She was glad she wasn’t a child any longer. Being at a deserted playground in the middle of the night would have been terrifying.
The shadow stopped at the playground, and Asiya found herself stopping just before the playground as well.
Whatever it was, she had no idea, but she was determined to find out.
[Word Count: 811]
