Dark grey clouds began to fill the air, mixing with the smoke that was beginning to crawl up from the village’s new bonfire. What had started as a trudging walk of shame had quickly turned into a desperate sprint. Blaine had no time to waste. Jesse had no time to waste. Light rain drops began to fall, christening Blaine’s hair like morning dew. A distant thunder began to rumble. At any other time, Blaine would have been worried about running into a shadow, but now they were starting to hope for one in particular. A quiet voice began to escape their lips like a whisper growing into a chant, simply repeating one name.

  “Tim? Tim, are you there? Please. I’m sorry!” Blaine’s quiet cries became loud wails, but as they saw their house approaching in the distance, they noticed a familiar dark figure standing in their path.

  “Blaine, you have nothing to apologize for.” Tim said in a tired voice. “I wasn’t thinking, I shouldn’t have said-”

  “I need your help.” Blaine interrupted. “Look, you were in my house before, did you see Jesse while you were there? Do you think he has much time left?” Blaine’s voice began to break. “Is he going to be okay?”

  “Jesse? Your brother?” It took a few seconds for Tim to register everything Blaine was asking, but eventually it seemed to click, and Tim’s expression turned grim. “Oh yeah, I saw him for a second or two when I was with you. I can’t exactly diagnose anything though; I can’t say anything for certain.”

  “Is he going to be okay?!” Blaine shrieked, causing Tim to back up in an involuntary reaction. The shadow let out a deep sigh.

  “At the way he looked, he will probably be gone in the next day or so.”

  Blaine grew weak in the knees and collapsed to the ground. Their resolve had completely broken, and they began to let out heavy sobs on the grass below them. Fresh mud began to stain their hands, along with their face as they desperately tried to wipe away tears. Tim came closer to comfort Blaine but knew from before to keep a fair distance as well. Blaine was pulled back to reality as they noticed a small black puddle in front of them.

  “I’m so sorry.” Tim whispered, wiping dark liquid from its own eyes. “I truly am.” This was the first time Blaine had seen any kind of liquid come from a shadow that was not resembling blood or saliva. Despite appearing almost identical, it seemed more comforting than the other two.

  “You don’t have to be.” Blaine sniffed. “You didn’t do anything.” Blaine took a deep breath. “But you still can.” Tim squished its face in confusion.

  “What do you mean?” The shadow stared in confusion.

  “You really think that what you said could help Jesse?” Blaine’s voice was empty, Tim could tell this was coming from a place of hopelessness rather than belief.

  “Blaine, you don’t need to consider-”

  “Do you think it will work?” Blaine repeated, attempting not to sound cold.

  “I can’t make any promises, but I think so.” Tim replied honestly.

  “Then it’s the best chance we have.” Blaine said, lifting themself from the ground. “Come inside with me, I’ll talk to him.” Tim wanted to protest more, but realized it was unnecessary.

  As the human and the shadow entered the house, Tim lagged behind slightly, still hesitant. Blaine creaked open the door to their brother’s room and paused. Jesse sat cradled in a ball, lying on his right side. Blaine put a hand on Jesse’s arm and he shuffled, revealing a large patch of black discoloration on his face, partially covering his right eye. Blaine pulled back in shock as both eyes opened slightly, the right eye’s features tinted with grey.

  “Blaine?” Jesse’s voice was soft and weak. “Blaine, I’m cold.”

  “I know, buddy.” Blaine choked, trying not to sob. “I brought someone who can help, but you need to be a brave boy for me, okay?” Blaine shifted their body so Tim was visible to Jesse, whose eyes shrunk in fear.

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  “Blaine, what is going on?” Jesse whimpered.

  “Look, I know it is scary, but I promise this is a nice shadow.” Blaine said softly as Tim waved awkwardly. “I think it can help you.” Blaine backed up and let Tim approach hesitantly.

  “Hi Jesse, my name is Tim.” The shadow whispered. “I want to help, but I need to make sure you are okay with it. Are you comfortable to try?”

  “What do you need to do?” Jesse asked, looking Tim up and down.

  “If this is going to work, I need to give you a kiss.” Jesse shrunk down slightly.

  “It’s okay Jesse.” Blaine said, resting a hand on his cheek and brushing damp hair out of his face. “I will be right here.” They took hold of Jesse’s hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

  “It won’t be long, maybe 3 or 4 seconds.” Tim assured. “But I won’t do it if you don’t want to.”

  Jesse hesitated slightly, looking from Tim to Blaine, then gave a slight nod. Tim looked at Blaine, who nodded as well, then back at Jesse. After a moment of acknowledgment from everyone, Tim leaned in and pressed its lips onto Jesse’s. A couple seconds passed and there was a small hiss, followed by some steam rising from Jesse’s face. Tim quickly pulled away; a pained expression painted on both faces.

  “Okay, I think it’s done.” Tim said, wiping liquid from its face.

  “Jesse? How do you feel?” Blaine asked, leaning in to see their brother’s face. Jesse’s breaths were heavy. “Jesse?” A grimace was still stained on Jesse’s face, his eyes began to close. Panic began to rise up to Blaine’s chest as they turned to look at Tim. “Why isn’t he better?”

  “Jesse is pretty far along in the infection, I doubt the results would be instant.” Tim replied nervously, exchanging glances between the two humans.

  “How long will it take? You said he only has a couple days!” Blaine was now unconsciously wiggling Jesse’s shoulder in hopes his eyes would open again.

  “We don’t know that for sure, the infection is being fought now. He might be better in a few hours, maybe a few days.” Tim was once again speaking while lost in thought.

  “DAYS? He doesn’t have days! He needs to be okay!” Blaine’s chest was rapidly heaving up and down, then almost instantly stopped. “He needs to be okay.” This time the words came out soft and emotionless. Blaine stood and walked away, pushing past Tim as if the shadow was not even there.

  “Blaine?” Tim called, concern beginning to grow. It paused for a moment as it looked again at Jesse and wondered if it should stay by his side, then looked back at Blaine who was now sitting on the porch steps slowly getting soaked by the steadily pouring rain.

  As the shadow approached, Blaine sat motionless. Their eyes were empty, yet not lifeless. There was a moment of hesitation as Tim’s hand grew closer to Blaine’s shoulder, but for the first time they did not draw away. Blaine was sopping wet, their face damp from rain and tears that seemed to flow steadily somehow without emotion. They resembled a mannequin, completely limp, using all of their energy to keep their head up facing the endless horizon.

  Tim decided there was no use having two sick humans, it was time to intervene. A gentle grip was formed around Blaine’s arm as they were slowly lifted onto their feet. Their arm was strung across the head and neck of the shadow, its other arm doing the same to Blaine. It was as if Tim was puppeteering a life-size marionette, just barley keeping itself from manually moving each leg. As the two of them entered the dark bathroom, Tim glanced for a moment at the bloodied razor blade laying in the trashcan atop a pile of tissues, then back at the almost lifeless human at its side. Blaine was sat on the toilet seat with care, as Tim approached the bathtub with slight hesitation. It’s eyes focused on the knob with the big red “H” printed on it, then awkwardly reached for both and turned them. To the shadow’s surprise, water actually began pouring. Now was the hard part.

  The first thing that needed to come off was the sweatshirt. It was dripping as soon as Tim gripped it. One hand went on the left sleeve while the other went on the bottom. Tim was pleased to feel there was an undershirt that was slightly less damp underneath. The shadow made eye contact with Blaine, who continued to just look through Tim. A gentle sigh escaped Tim’s lips as the sweatshirt was carefully lifted up and over Blaine’s head. It took a lot of strength for Tim to keep a straight face upon the sight of Blaine’s scarred and bruised arms, their wrists darker than the rest of their skin. In an effort to not draw attention to it, Tim gripped Blaine’s withered sneakers and fumbled a bit to untie the laces. They came off one at a time, taking the socks with them, and Tim closed its eyes in preparation for the next part. In a quick, yet gentle movement, Tim gripped Blaine’s sweatpants and tugged. As the elastic expanded and gave one final contraction, Tim heard a slight drop of liquid that stood out from the rush of the water. Looking at the ground, Tim opened its eyes and saw the droplet of black on the floor. Tim moved towards the mirror and saw more cascading slowly down its body. The steam from the bath water was fogging up the mirror slightly, and Tim realized the temperature might have been good for Blaine, but not for a shadow.

  In a quick and careful movement, Tim reached for both knobs and turned them off to stop the flow of water. It turned to look at Blaine who was still staring vacantly into the wall. Tim struggled to hold back both tears and the other drops of liquid trickling down its form.

  “I’m sorry,” Tim said in a hushed voice. “You’ll have to do the rest yourself. Please.” As Tim began to close the door, one more phrase came out. “You need to be okay too.”