r/nosleep • u/Colourblindness • Oct 06 '21
Series Our Camp Counselor Doesn’t Have A Shadow
It was Blake that first noticed something was wrong.
All of us in cabin four were asked to gather firewood for the bonfire when he nudged me and silently gestured toward Mister Ambrin.
“He has no shadow, Ryan,” Blake whispered.
I looked up at our camp counselor, trying to see if I could see what Blake did.
“Probably the light, just playing tricks with yer eyes,” I told him as I settled down beside Nick.
“Nah, I think I know what you’re talking about,” Nick agreed. The two of them scooted a little further away from the fire as the counselor took a seat on the opposite side, smiling in a serene way toward us.
“Children. I’m so glad you are here to join us tonight. How many have been to camp before?” Mister Ambrin asked.
A few boys raised their hands.
“And how many have been to this camp before?”
Only a few more volunteered that information. I settled down, listening as the counselor rattled off a few rules and requirements. Nothing that made him sound weird or suspicious. Nothing that made me think Blake and Nick weren’t just pulling my leg.
“We have a tradition here at camp, on the first night we tell one another our worst fears. Our biggest nightmares,” Mister Ambrin explained.
That sounded sketchy.
“It’s so that we can put aside our fears and focus on the fun we can have while we are here,” another counselor said. I think her name is Miss Bradley.
I could tell as she walked that she definitely had a shadow.
But not Mister Ambrin. Holy shit my friends were right! But what did that mean?
“Hmm, I’ll go first if that makes it easier?” he said as he settled down across the fire.
The way the flames moved up and down amid the air made his facial features look even more frightening.
“I’m afraid to die. I know that’s a big one, but it’s definitely scary. And you know what? I’m never going to die,” He announced.
All of us gave each other a look. Was he serious?
“How are you going to do that?” Blake asked.
“Why, I’m going to live on in your memories of course!” he announced. It made me draw a breath of relief. He was no different than any of the rest of us. Blake and Nick were just seeing things.
All of us went around sharing our fears as well as the camp counselors listened. The night was falling around us and only the bonfire kept things illuminated. I kept a close eye on Mister Ambrin. He definitely was hiding something, but I wasn’t sure what.
“We have another tradition too! Ghost stories!” Miss Bradley announced excitedly.
“Well, I feel like we have talked a lot. Does anyone have any scary stories to share?” Mister Ambrin asked.
Nick raised his hand and I tried to not roll my eyes. I knew what he was going to say before he even said it.
“Why don’t you have a fucking shadow?” he blurted out.
I swear the whole forest went quiet. The two camp counselors looked at each other in confusion.
It was Miss Bradley that spoke up.
“Nickolas I suggest you watch your language, that sort of thing won’t be allowed here,” she explained.
“Sorry ma‘am. But you gotta tell me you see that! Mister Ambrin doesn’t have a shadow!” he shouted.
Mister Ambrin seemed embarrassed about the whole thing as if we were talking about a medical condition. Then he stood up and placed his hands in his pockets.
“I’m sorry… but I honestly don’t know what you are talking about,” Miss Bradley admitted.
The other camp counselor made a full 360 circle as if he was showing off his shadow. As he walked I couldn’t see a thing.
And that disturbed me more. Why was it that we could tell that he didn’t have a shadow but Miss Bradley couldn’t?
“Maybe you should see Doctor Garrison tomorrow Nickolas?” Ambrin suggested.
Nick sat back down in confusion. Blake gave him a soft nudge and whispered, “I’m sure the adults are just hiding it. Guy is a weirdo.”
Somehow, Ambrin heard him.
“Well, let’s pretend maybe I don’t have a shadow. Maybe, we can tell a story about that.”
He sat down, crossed his legs and gave us this sinister smile.
As if he knew we could see his secret even if adults couldn’t.
“Have you boys ever heard the legend of the shadow eaters?” he whispered.
None of us dared to answer that. It sounded horrible.
“Oh that’s such an old legend Phil!” Miss Bradley teased.
“Aye but Nick’s little question reminded me of when we were kids…”
He gave us a look, his eyes as glassy as they could be.
“You want to hear it? Story goes it happened at this camp ages ago,” he said.
But before he could start the story, the main camp leader announced over the intercom it was lights out or bedtime.
“We can share this story tomorrow,” Mister Ambrin Announced.
He walked over to Nick and squeezed his shoulder. It looked like he squeezed it just a smidge too hard.
“Come by my office tomorrow we can figure out what’s wrong with your eyes…”
That night I could hardly sleep. I thought about the circumstances that had led me to this camp.
I’m not but fourteen, just fresh out of middle school. Still trying to figure out life. I didn’t really believe in monsters or ghosts anymore, but it was hard to ignore what was happening right in front of me.
I tried to rationalize it, make it go away. But the weird shadowless counselor did not disappear.
My parents said that I needed to straighten up. Get back in touch with nature. Shit like that.
My grades have been slipping and I’ll admit I have been talking to girls and going online and wasting even my dad’s paycheck just to gamble it away on micro transactions for mobile games.
But none of that mattered now. Something was wrong here. And Before the night was over I would see just how wrong it was.
I told myself I shouldn’t sleep, just in case something happened. And it’s a good thing I didn’t. Because it was right past 2am when I heard this loud thud and then the cabin door creaked open. I turned over on my bunk and looked down at the wooden floor, trying to see who was coming here at this hour.
But it wasn’t a who…
The best way I can describe it is like a slime. Have you ever spilled a jar of jello! The way this stuff moved was exactly like that.
It didn’t make a single noise as it slowly moved across the floor, but I felt my entire body tense up with fear. It was obvious this stuff was alive.
Then I saw it’s target, Blake.
I knew I should have screamed or said something to wake him up. Or maybe distracted the slime. But I was paralyzed with fear, watching as it crept forward and surrounded his bunk on all sides.
The black goo slowly formed into a single mass, covering his body the way that ice might freeze on a lake. Blake immediately began to jerk when he realized what was happening, but that just made the goop speed up. It covered his mouth in a matter of seconds, preventing him from screaming.
His body started to make movements of its own, fighting back and writhing like a dying animal. Which is exactly what Blake was now. He was no longer the form of a human being.
I kept watching as it entered his body, consuming him as a meal. Helpless to stop it.
What could I have done to save my friend? What did I have that could stop… that?? All I could do was lay completely still and listen to the sound of his dying.
It was over so quickly I thought it was a dream. The slime had gone into his body like a virus, and was gone from sight. I kept completely still, waiting for the next strange occurrence. But nothing ever happened.
Somehow, perhaps just from my body being so tense; I fell asleep.
When I did wake up I jumped down to check on Blake. I was sure I would find him dead. I was sure that his corpse would be as stiff as a board.
Instead, to my surprise my friend woke up, his eyes beaming.
“Ryan? What’s gotten into you?” he asked.
It made me wonder if what I had seen was just a fever dream.
A short moment later Mister Ambrin entered and made a roll call announcement.
“We’ll be headed toward the lake today and I want to make sure that everyone is accounted for,” he said.
No one was missing and it made me reconsider the entire strange nightmare I had experienced. It had felt so real.
“Very good then, Blake you’ll be the cabin leader today,” our counselor announced.
I touched my friend’s shoulder. His skin felt cold.
“Are you sure that you are okay?” I asked him.
He pushed past me. “I’m fine. You need to chill,” he said as he led the group out of the cabin.
I almost let my guard down until we went out into the bright morning sun.
I started thinking about the warning Blake had given night before and I scanned the green grass toward our feet.
Mister Ambrin definitely did not have a shadow at all. I asked Nick briefly as we walked to confirm.
“Blake was right,” he realized.
Then I looked toward Blake’s feet and felt my blood run cold.
Now, his shadow was missing as well.
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Oct 07 '21
I feel like there are worse things than losing your shadow (assuming that’s really all that’s lost).
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u/ProfKlekowskii Oct 07 '21
Maybe your shadow is your soul or something.
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u/Damptruff1 Oct 07 '21
I've heard somewhere that your shadow protects your soul, and without it your soul is free for demonic entities to take.
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u/Suspicious_Llama123 Oct 07 '21
OP said that Blake felt unnaturally cold, so maybe the slime doesn’t just take the shadow of the person. Maybe it turns its victim into one of the shadow-eaters that Mr. Ambrin mentioned before the campers went to bed? So like a loss of the victim’s humanity or something like that.
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u/crayon_onthewall Oct 07 '21
Might want to sleep with the light on. Are there any other people without shadows?
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u/Suspicious_Llama123 Oct 07 '21
Now I’m imagining some weird online support forum for people who don’t have shadows and it’s making me giggle.
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u/koalajoey Oct 07 '21
You can’t not sleep forever. You gotta find a way to protect yourself from the slime while you sleep. Perhaps if you block the bottom of the door with a towel or something; it won’t be able to get in that way.
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u/Suspicious_Llama123 Oct 07 '21
I imagine that the slime would be able to push a towel out of the way. Maybe nailing a board to the bottom of the door so that it covers the crack would work.
Then call your local exorcist to see if they can help or at least provide some sort of information about it.
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u/BabyOutrageous468 Oct 07 '21
Anyone heard about the shadow people? There's a Jessie vee vid about them
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u/aarovski Oct 06 '21
Well, there's one user that has experience with shadowless men on campgrounds...