As the two grew closer and the smoke grew thicker, Blaine was pleased to see the darkness beginning to camouflage Tim. One of the other reasons they had wanted it to stay with Jesse was the concern of how the others would react to seeing a shadow, especially if they were under attack. Once they got close enough, they could begin to see figures in the smoke. Tim began to lag behind to stay out of view. Blaine could make out a few familiar faces and ran towards them. Unfortunately, they did not see Blaine. Two bodies collided, each going opposite directions. Blaine stumbled to the ground and held their chest tightly, desperately trying not to cough. Dante did the same, squinting at Blaine until his eyes widened with recognition.

  “Blaine? What are you doing? It’s not safe here.” Dante rushed closer and helped Blaine to their feet.

  “I saw the smoke all the way from my house, what happened?” Blaine had to shout to be heard over the commotion of all the people running beside them.

  “We were trying to dispose of the newborn shadows, but the fire got way out of hand. One of them was way bigger than expected and tried to fight back.” As the words came, some got stuck in Dante’s throat and he began to choke.

  “Where is Ishmael?” A weak hand rose and pointed further into the smoke cloud. Blaine pushed Dante in the opposite direction to give him a running start, then headed towards the leader.

  Traversing through the fog became harder and harder. Once Blaine saw Ishmael struggling to carry two young girls on each shoulder, it was as if a guiding light had been shone. Blaine grabbed hold of Ishmael’s hand and began guiding him and the girls through the fog. For a second Blaine felt their strength begin to leave, when an unseen cold hand started pushing their body through towards the exit of the cloud. Once clear air began to fill their lungs and their vision returned, Blaine looked around at the survivors. Ishmael was doing the same, and Blaine could see a grimace on his face.

  “Did everyone make it out?” Blaine asked Ishmael, knowing very well the answer.

  “I helped as many as I could.” Ishmael said with a sigh. “But unfortunately, Dawn is still in there. Her newborn tried to make a break for it, but before she could get away the shadow accidentally knocked over the spare firewood and the blaze became out of control. Dawn was just too close to the fire to start with.” Hearing enough, Blaine started to turn around but was quickly grabbed by Dante and Ishmael.

  “Are you crazy? We don’t need to lose anyone else.” Dante shouted.

  “That smoke is way too thick, you won’t be able to breathe in there.” Ishmael added.

  “We have to do something! We can’t just let her die!” Blaine struggled, eyes beginning to brim with tears. They continued to struggle, being pulled further from the smoke.

  “Blaine. No one could survive in there.” Dante grunted, pulling the crazed human closer.

  “That’s not true.” A quiet voice spoke, familiar only to Blaine. Two white eyes appeared in the black cloud, causing Dante and Ishmael to stand guard.

  “Wait, it’s okay!” Blaine shouted, squeezing themself free. They quickly rushed to the shadow’s side. “I actually know this one, it is a good shadow.” Blaine looked over at Tim and the two exchanged nods. Dante and Ishmael exchanged looks of confusion and distrust.

  “Look, you don’t need to believe me. But I know one thing, I don’t need to breathe.” Tim dramatically opened its mouth and gulped down some smoke to prove its point. Ishmael squinted at the shadow.

  “You want to go in there and save Dawn?” The leader asked cautiously. “Is that what I’m hearing?”

  “I know it sounds crazy, but I promise it’s not a trick!” Blaine begged.

  “Oh, I know it’s not a trick, it’s too insane to be. Blaine, you do realize what this shadow intends to do, right?” Ishmael questioned Blaine, who still seemed out of the loop.

  “The smoke might not kill it, but the fire is a different story.” Dante explained, moving a hand across his charred sleeves. Blaine slowly put the pieces together and then turned towards Tim, who had a stern look of understanding on its face.

  “Wait-” Blaine started.

  “It’s okay, Blaine.” A smile spread across the shadow’s face as it gave the human a big shove into Ishmael and Dante’s arms. “A shadow started this mess, a shadow is going to clean it up.” Tim quickly turned and faded away into the smoke.

  It was hard to tell how much time passed. Dante and Ishmael knew based on how little strength they had left that it had been a while. Blaine knew based on how weak their throat was from shouting that it had been too long. When they finally let their screams stop, Blaine’s body went limp. The other two took this as a sign that Blaine was finished struggling and let them fall to their knees. Ishmael was the first to break the silence.

  “It did a good thing.” He spoke softly. “I don’t know why, but a shadow did a good thing.” After these words were spoken, the silence resumed. Some of the bystanders whispered to each other, questioning Tim’s true intentions. Others just stared into the smoke with bated breath.

  There was a shout, as someone claimed they heard something, then silence. A quiet sound echoed in the distance. It sounded like a person walking with soaked shoes after a bad storm, making a squishing sound with every step. Two figures began to be revealed in the fog, one carrying another. The one being carried was human-like, while the other was shrunken-in and deformed. Blaine stared in horror, unable to move, as Dante and Ishmael ran forward and took the human from Tim’s dribbling arms. Blaine’s legs finally woke up and they ran towards the melting shadow.

  “Why?” Blaine spoke through tears. “Why did you do it?”

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  “Someone had to help, right?” The distorted voice answered.

  “It didn’t have to be you!” Blaine sobbed. “There are millions of shadows that should be here instead. It didn't have to be one that didn’t do anything wrong!” Tim thought about making a snarky comment, or a kind remark, but seemed to have lost most of the strength required to say much more than a simple request.

  “Sorry if this sounds strange.” The shadow started, its voice slipping at the end of each word. “But can you sing for me?”

  There was a moment of hesitation from Blaine, as they could sense the stares of the crowd behind them, but they could not deny their friend’s request. There was only one song Tim had ever heard, the one sung for Blaine’s brother, and all it could remember as it closed its bright eyes was the peace and comfort of the love between the two. Blaine was trying their best to hit each note without their voice cracking from the tears, but was unsuccessful. Yet to their surprise, there seemed to be a familiar vocal sound in the background.

  As the background vocals grew in volume, quiet gasps of the bystanders could be heard. The quiet voice caused Blaine to jerk up and turn instantly. Jesse stood at the front of the crowd, holding his blanket in his left hand. His face still had splotches of black, his right eye still tinted grey, but he stood as tall as he did before.

  “J-Jesse?” Blaine whispered. “Jesse!” They threw their body towards their brother and held him in a tight embrace. “How did you get here?”

  “You guys were gone when I woke up, but I saw the smoke and thought you might have been trying to help more people.” Jesse explained. Blaine ran their hands through Jesse’s slightly less damp hair, placing a hand on his forehead.

  “How do you feel?” Physically, Jesse did not look much different, but he seemed to be acting normal again.

  “I’m not cold anymore.” The boy placed a hand on his own forehead. “I don’t think…” Ishmael quickly approached and began examining Jesse.

  “How is this possible?” The doctor asked, seeming baffled by Jesse’s mere presence.

  “Tim helped me!” Jesse pointed at the shadow, who now lay motionless on the ground. Blaine choked slightly and returned to the shadow’s side. Jesse craned his head in confusion. “Why is Tim on the ground?” Ishmael held the boy to his side.

  “Tim did a very brave thing, but I don’t know if it’s going to be okay.” Ishmael said quietly, trying to speak at Jesse’s level.

  “Tim got hurt?” The child walked closer to the shadow and began to sniffle softly. Ishmael sighed and stared at the ground. As he stared, however, he noticed the black drops coming from Jesse’s face in place of tears. Ishmael quickly headed to Blaine’s side.

  “How exactly did Tim help Jesse?” He questioned. Blaine scowled slightly, wanting to reprimand Ishmael for not reading the room.

  “Tim realized that its DNA was different or something.” Blaine summarized. “It put some of its DNA in Jesse and the good stuff fought the bad.” Ishmael looked in shock between Tim and Jesse.

  “So, the shadow DNA in Jesse belongs to Tim?” The doctor asked, walking back to Jesse’s side.

  “Ishmael, is now really-?” Blaine began but was interrupted.

  “Dante, didn’t you say you’ve seen shadows able to reattach their limbs?” Dante seemed confused at first, but realization struck and he nodded excitedly. Ishmael leaned down and spoke again. “Jesse, do you think you can be brave too and help Tim?”

  “I can help Tim?” Jesse asked, wiping some black tears.

  “I think so, but I’ll need a blood sample.” Jesse recoiled slightly at the thought of a needle, then looked over at Tim and nodded at the doctor.

  “Can someone fill me in?” Blaine asked in frustration.

  “If Jesse gives Tim some of his DNA, Tim could regenerate its body from it.” Ishmael exclaimed. “Dante, did you grab my medicine bag?”

  “Right here.” He passed a big brown bag to the doctor, who was quick to pull out a syringe and a tourniquet. Blaine went to Jesse’s side and held his hand while Ishmael wrapped the blue band around their brother’s arm.

  “Hold still, you’re going to feel a little pinch.” Jesse yelped slightly, but Blaine squeezed his hand and their brother did his best not to squirm. The vial slowly filled with a dark liquid, and was pulled away once it could not hold any more. “That’s all I’m taking for now.” Ishmael walked over to Tim’s limp form and leaned down. He was unsure where exactly to inject the liquid, if it even mattered, but picked a spot and plunged the needle in. When the syringe was emptied, he stepped back as the shadow began to stir slightly.

  “Tim? Are you okay?” Blaine asked. There was a quiet groan in response, but no words.

  “I doubt that will be enough, but it is a temporary fix. I’m going to need some more supplies to keep a steady flow of shadow DNA going from Jesse to Tim.” Ishmael said, looking towards his ruined village.

  “Excuse me?” One of the other members of the community approached. “My son also contracted shadow syndrome, do you think this boy could help him?” A few other people mumbled similar stories.

  “People, one at a time. Jesse and Tim both need to rest. We have a lot of work to do first.” He looked at Dante. “Can you collect as many supplies as you can to get control of the fire?”

  “Of course. Though I could use a hand or two.” Dante smiled at Blaine. “What do you say, kid?” Blaine made a stern expression and nodded, accepting their new responsibility with pride. They gripped what they believed to be a hand from Tim, promising to be back soon. A promise that was sure to be well kept.

  “I rescued a few new humans, they are in the infirmary now.” Blaine reported, pulling out their notebook from their backpack. “They showed mild symptoms of Shadow Syndrome and should be back on their feet in no time.”

  “And the shadows?” Ishmael questioned.

  “In the interrogation room, I tried asking them nicely but Dante seems to think they’re holding out on us.” They started to put away their travelling supplies. “How is Jesse holding up?”

  “He is quite a trooper, though a few more people stepped up to donate as well, so we don’t have to bleed the poor boy dry anymore.” The doctor was skimming a few documents and signing off on them. Being the leader of an ever-growing settlement was much more difficult and involved much more paperwork.

  “Thank God.” They heard the tolling of the evening bell, time for dinner and time for dusk. “I’ll have to get back to you tomorrow, but let me know what Dante gets out of those shadows.” Ishmael nodded, and Blaine quickly exited the room.

  As the last rays of sunshine fell beyond the horizon, the bedroom door opened. As Tim stepped outside and adjusted to its surroundings, it looked over and saw the two humans sitting at the table, three plates of food set out in front of them.

  “Did you guys wait up for me again?” The shadow asked, feeling guilty again for its nocturnal cycle.

  “Of course, we wanted to make sure you got your dinner.” Blaine stated.

  “Or is it technically breakfast since you just woke up?” Jesse pondered.

  “You guys remember I don’t actually need to eat, right?” Tim smiled, taking its seat at the table.

  “Yes, but it’s rude not to share.” Jesse asserted, pushing the plate closer to the shadow. It was a frozen dinner, still frozen (the way Tim preferred it). The three of them nibbled at their meals happily until they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Blaine stood and walked over, answering it to see Dante, still panting from running over.

  “Hey,” Blaine started. “I’m guessing you didn’t come to join us for dinner.”

  “You know I wouldn’t interrupt if it wasn’t important.” Dante straightened his back and leaned in. “Those shadows finally revealed the location of the shadow strip-” Blaine cleared their throat loudly and made a nod to remind Dante that Jessie was still within earshot. “I mean, uh…the shadow ‘dance party’. Anyways, they’re moving the ‘party dancers’ tonight and we have a perfect window to rescue them. Are you in?”

  Blaine smiled and looked over their shoulder, Tim nodded and started to lead Jesse to bed. Blaine turned to the desk beside the front door and pulled out a pair of glowsticks tied together that they had dubbed “sun-chucks” as a big smile spread across their cheeks. “I’m all in.”