Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Web of Shadows

The radio buzzed with static as Zack steered his patrol car through the empty streets, the night heavy with tension. His fingers tapped the steering wheel rhythmically, matching the nervous beat of his heart. Despite the warm summer air, a chill ran down his spine. Another disappearance—another mystery without answers.

"Unit Seven," the dispatcher's voice crackled through the speaker, "be advised. Multiple vehicles involved in a pileup on Highway 22. Witnesses reported unusual circumstances. Proceed with caution."

"Copy that," Zack responded, his voice calm but his mind racing.

He flicked on his siren and sped toward the highway, the dark city receding in his rearview mirror.

---

When Zack arrived at the scene, the sight that greeted him was something out of a nightmare. Cars lay smashed into one another, a chaotic sculpture of metal and glass. Headlights illuminated the twisted wreckage, casting eerie shadows across the pavement. Steam rose from ruptured engines, hissing like serpents.

But there were no bodies.

Only clothes remained—shirts, pants, dresses, and shoes, all eerily arranged as if the people wearing them had simply melted away.

Zack swallowed hard, stepping closer to the nearest vehicle. A pair of sneakers sat on the ground beside an open car door, their laces neatly tied. He crouched down, his fingers brushing the fabric of a discarded jacket. It was still warm.

His grip tightened on his flashlight as he scanned the surrounding darkness.

"Duke, stay sharp," he murmured.

The old German shepherd, his constant companion, sniffed the air and let out a low growl. His hackles rose, and his eyes fixed on a point in the distance.

A vibration stirred the air—subtle at first, like a bass note just beyond hearing. The ground beneath Zack's feet seemed to hum. He recognized the sensation immediately.

The ripple.

He turned toward it, flashlight beam slicing through the night. The ripple shimmered, a distortion in the air that moved like liquid glass. It shifted and pulsed, almost alive.

Zack's heart pounded. He drew his gun, aiming directly at the center of the distortion.

A crack of gunfire echoed across the highway.

The bullets sparked as they struck an invisible barrier, ricocheting harmlessly into the night.

"Shielded," Zack muttered through gritted teeth.

The ripple twisted and expanded, a shape beginning to form within it. It let out a screech—a sound so piercing and unnatural that Zack felt it reverberate through his skull. He staggered back, clutching his ears as Duke barked furiously.

The shape lunged forward, but as Zack fired again, it vanished into the shadows, leaving only silence behind.

---

Back at the station, the tension was palpable. Zack and Ethan sat in the dimly lit briefing room, surrounded by reports and surveillance footage. The grainy images from the highway showed cars driving peacefully until one abruptly collided with an invisible force.

"Pause it there," Zack instructed.

Ethan hit the pause button. The screen froze, capturing the moment the car crumpled against the unseen barrier. A distortion rippled through the frame—a shimmering shield.

"It's the same as before," Zack said, his voice low. "It creates barriers. Traps its prey."

Ethan leaned back, rubbing his temples. "It's evolving. First it was confined to houses and buildings. Now it's out in the open. Highways, public spaces. What's next?"

"It's learning how to hunt better," Zack replied. "It's adapting."

"And it's using sound," Ethan added. "That screech… it's like it's designed to disorient us."

Zack nodded, his mind racing with possibilities. "We need to think outside the box. Bullets are useless. It's shielded. But there has to be a weakness."

Ethan gestured toward the kennel. "What about Max? You said he was the only dog that wasn't afraid."

Zack's eyes narrowed. "Because he's blind. He can't see it."

"Exactly. Maybe it uses perception as a weapon. If you can't see it, it can't manipulate your fear."

A spark of realization flickered in Zack's mind. "That's why its attacks are so disorienting. It relies on fear to paralyze its victims."

"But how do we fight something we can't see?" Ethan asked.

"We change how we look at it," Zack said firmly. "There's always a way."

---

The next night, another call came in.

"Highway 6," the dispatcher reported. "Another pileup. Same M.O."

Zack's jaw tightened. "I'm on it."

The scene was eerily similar—wrecked cars, scattered clothes, and the oppressive hum of the creature's presence. He approached cautiously, flashlight in one hand, gun in the other.

Suddenly, headlights appeared in the distance. A pickup truck barreled down the highway, its driver oblivious to the danger ahead.

"Stop!" Zack shouted, waving his arms.

The truck didn't slow.

Then, as if slamming into an invisible wall, the vehicle jolted violently. Tires screeched, metal crunched, and the driver vanished.

Zack sprinted forward. The ripple shimmered around the truck, its distortion twisting the air like a heat mirage.

He fired again.

The bullets sparked and deflected. The ripple screeched in response, its frequency rising until it felt like the world itself was screaming.

Clenching his jaw, Zack focused on the sound. If blindness protected Max, maybe sound was the key to seeing.

He pulled out a high-frequency sound emitter from his belt—experimental equipment designed to disorient suspects. He activated it.

The ripple trembled violently. The shape within it began to solidify—a grotesque, serpentine form with tendrils that writhed like living shadows. Its body was covered in a translucent, shield-like membrane.

For the first time, Zack saw it.

And it was hungry. 

Shocked and his whole body was frozen. What kind of thing was this? 

" What the?, this can't be real" 

Each time it didn't take a human life and the sounds hit it a peace of it was dying and fading away. But also the sign of power no fear it leaned on fear and the darkness made it grow stronger once it fed.

" This is impossible, the story is true, but how?" Saying to himself.

"What do you see Zack?" Asked a man standing by his car door thankfully wasn't close enough to get taken. 

" You wouldn't believe me if I told you". This thing now begins to whisper around them making weird voice noises and like scream noises because it was trying to communicate. 

"Wha,....where is that coming from?". Looking around the noise was all around them once more.

The secret to this all was going to be the saddest story you'll ever know in your life. And very soon enough story was about to be told .