The Silhouette – Free Paranormal Fiction Short Story

Kirin gawked at the screen with despair.

How could this have happened?

He couldn’t recollect anything that had gone wrong. In fact, he was quite certain he followed every instruction to the tee.

Yet here they were, photograph after photograph, ruined.

The spectrum of emotions he was going through was a far cry from what he had experienced just yesterday.

The enthusiasm and excitement he had felt were like a child devouring the wrapping of a Christmas present.

Kirin spent weeks studying the art of astrophotography. He had always wanted to take his fondness for stargazing a step further. But when he finally got the deal on an otherwise expensive telephoto lens, his exhilaration knew no bounds.

It was the perfect companion for his DSLR well capable of capturing the magic of the night sky. He stretched his budget a bit further and got a tripod along with a remote shutter release for his camera.

He canvased several remote locations about a couple of hours’ drive from where he lived. Astrophotography needed a place where the only possible light was from the stars above.

Kirin found the perfect location, drove all the way last evening and reached minutes before the sun was about to wave its final goodbye for the day. He parked his car just off the road and walked a few hundred meters or so before setting up camp. He was in the countryside in the midst of a gorgeous meadow. It was just him, his equipment and the vast expanse of the sky for company.

Using his flashlight, he painstakingly set up the tripod with the camera, attached the telephoto lens, adjusted the settings on its manual mode and waited with bated breath. In the dark of the night, with all the stars out to play, he used his remote shutter release to start clicking the photographs. He could not wait to see what the Orion nebula would look like in the final images. Using a star chart, he had clicked all the possible constellations and captured every angle of the mesmerizing night sky landscape.

However, it all seemed like a blur now. Especially after Kirin downloaded the photos on his laptop and was greeted by a rude shock.

All photos barring none had a problem. There was a silhouette of what looked like a man right in front of each photograph.

Kirin was sure he was the only human anywhere close to his camera yesterday. He quickly took some test shots inside his studio apartment and all of the new images seemed absolutely fine.
There was nothing wrong with the camera or the telephoto lens.

Was there some kind of shadow he was not aware of? Did he mess up with the settings needed for shooting images of stars? How could he be this stupid? All that effort, completely wasted.

The silhouette was the primary focus of each image. It could not be edited out. It was right there in front of each shot as if Kirin was shooting portraits at night.

After messing around with his editing software for the better part of the day, Kirin finally decided to give in. It was evident his efforts to recheck each photograph and salvage whatever possible was not going to bear any fruit.

In the darkness of the night sky, the silhouette stood even darker.

—- X —-

Kirin decided to turn in early that evening. It was partly due to the fact that he had been awake all of the previous night and was tired. But mainly it was due to the disappointment he was still going through and just did not want to deal with it any longer. He fell into a deep sleep within minutes of hitting the bed.

At some point during the night, Kirin opened his eyes. His blanket could not keep him warm and he found himself shivering. The room had gone cold.

Kirin pressed his elbows down on the bed and tried to sit up, just about managing to raise his shoulder. He looked around and wondered if one of the windows had been left open. There was clearly a chill in the air.

He gazed around the room when he saw it.

A shiver went down his spine and it was not from the cold.

He could see it. Standing next to the desk with his laptop, the silhouette.

There was no doubt it was the silhouette from his photographs. It was the same menacing stance. In the darkness of the room without any lights on, the silhouette stood darker.

It clearly faced Kirin. There were no eyes but he was certain the silhouette was watching him.

Kirin did not know how to react. He wanted to move, switch on the lights but he could not take his gaze off this dark figure.

And then it moved.

The silhouette took a step. Kirin missed a heartbeat.

Slowly but steadily, the silhouette crept closer to Kirin.

Within moments, it was right next to him. Standing beside the bed. Its head tilted forward watching Kirin intently. It stood there, motionless. There was something going on in its head. It hesitated.

Kirin wanted to run. He wanted to shout for help. He wanted to do a lot of things but all he could do is want. His body had stopped cooperating. It was as if the line between his brain and his organs had disconnected. His central nervous system had decided it would no longer carry messages from the brain. He was paralyzed.

All of a sudden the silhouette began to move again. Kirin’s heartbeat was so loud it broke through the silence of the dark room with deep thuds.

The silhouette got on the bed, right above Kirin. It was holding him down. Hands on Kirin’s hands, legs on top of Kirin’s legs. Head and chest a few inches away.

It slowly started merging with Kirin’s body. There was excruciating pain. It was not a physical pain though, it was worse.

Kirin was suffocating. He felt like someone was physically preventing his lungs from expanding and contracting with their bare hands.

Kirin could not keep his eyes open. He was battling something inside. He could feel it. The pain was nothing of this world.

Finally, Kirin felt something snap. Something detach from his body. The pain subsided and Kirin lost all consciousness.

—- X —-

Kirin slowly opened his eyes. The shimmering stars had a calming effect on him. He lied on the grass and gazed at the sky above. It was beautiful.

He felt light. He had no thoughts. It was just him and the night sky. Something he had relished all his life. The solitude in the middle of nowhere.

He sat up leisurely. It was dark but he could see the grass swaying in the breeze. He ran his hands through the grass but something felt odd.

First, the grass was swaying but he could not feel any breeze or wind on his face, skin or anywhere on his body for that matter. Second, his hands looked strange.

Kirin examined his hands as he got it closer to his eyes. He could see the outline of his fingers and palm but could not actually see his hands. It was a pure kind of darkness. Darker than the surroundings.

He inspected his legs and whatever else he could. He stood up, twisted and turned to investigate his body, whatever possible.

It all came back to him in a flash. It hit him like a truck and although he could not feel anything physically, he still felt the pain. He was the silhouette.

Kirin panicked, looked around and saw the curved road a few hundred meters away. He started walking, his steps brisk and steady. But that made him even more agitated and confused. No matter how fast or how long he walked, he found himself almost at the same spot from where he started.

He tried moving to the other side. Away from the road, deeper into the meadow. Same result. He could walk for hours but would land up at more or less the same position.

Why did this happen to him? How could this have happened? What would happen to him? His mind kept racing over and over again. He could not control his emotions. He kept agonizing about this incredibly perplexing situation. He swung through extreme emotions. He felt sorry for himself. He felt anger. He tried to reason but failed miserably. His slow descent into madness had begun.

Although Kirin had no sense of time or day any longer, he knew months had passed. He realized there was no light in his life. Only darkness. The stars disappeared for him during the day and as probably the sun set, he could see the stars appear one by one till the sky was filled with these cosmic wonders.

He could figure out the seasons had changed. The Orion Belt now rose much above the horizon towards north-east. At some point, he even stopped gazing at the stars. He felt nothing, he was empty.

Sometimes he walked aimlessly for days. Not that it took him anywhere. There were days when he would just lay on the grass not bothering to get up at all. He did not have the ability to sleep. But that didn’t matter. He was an insignificant speck in an endless limbo.

It was one of those days that Kirin lay on the grass, eyes open but not really looking at anything when a light passed his vision.

He was startled for a moment. What was that?

He sat up, looked around and yes, there was a light at a distance. In fact, there were two.

He hoisted himself hastily and gazed at the light with amazement. He had only witnessed darkness for so long.

The lights went out. As they slowly faded, Kirin realized what it was. They were headlights. Someone had parked their car just off the road.

Kirin could see someone come out of the car. The boot was opened, then shut. One of the backseat doors opened and got closed with a thump. Someone carrying a lot of things started walking towards Kirin. He had a little flashlight to guide the way and ensure there were no sudden surprises.

The stranger got quite near to Kirin. Completely clueless about his presence. He had a camera mounted on a tripod. A fellow stargazing enthusiast.

Kirin was impressed with all the gadgets. This enthusiast had a telescope as well for viewing deep space objects. Once the setup was complete, the flashlight got switched off and there was complete darkness once again.

After viewing through the telescope for a while, the stranger turned to his camera. As soon as he started setting up the lens, Kirin suddenly realized what was going on. He knew what he had to do. He was the silhouette now. It was his time to get out, get a new life.

Kirin quietly stood right in front of the camera lens. The stranger moved it around a bit trying to locate what he intended to shoot. Kirin followed.

The man then set the camera timer to 10 seconds as most astrophotographers do to avoid any kind of vibrations.

As he clicked on the shutter button, Kirin felt a wave of conflicting emotions. He was going to get his life back. But it would not be his old life. It would be a new body, a new way of life, a rebirth of sorts.

The timer countdown had started. 10, 9, 8……

Kirin wondered. Is this man married? Does he have children? What kind of life does he lead? Will he be able to adjust?

The countdown continued. 7, 6, 5…. when Kirin had another thought. He was consumed with immense guilt.

Was he about to condemn this innocent man’s soul for his own salvation?

Kirin understood the hesitation of the silhouette that had consumed him that fateful night.

It was obvious there was something supernatural at play here. This cycle must have been on for god knows how long. And it would go on till someone had the courage to break it. However, this person, this saviour would be the one to pay the ultimate price with no chance at redemption.

With just a couple of seconds on the timer, Kirin had his final thought.

He looked straight into the eye of the stranger. He saw the same enthusiasm and excitement he had once felt on a similar night like this. Although Kirin knew the man would not be able to hear him, he sighed, “I am sorry. In another life, we could have probably been friends. But for today, all I can hope, pray and wish for you is that your spirit is not trapped in this purgatory for too long.”

The shutter went click!