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Case Files of the Imaginary Assassin

By John Cantrell

Case #426: The Eye-Shadow

Albert Finkleblatz hit a bump in the road and instantly checked the safety of the package in the passenger seat. He could see the ball rolling around in the black velvet pouch as it’s occupant continued to dart in an endless escape attempt.

Eye-Shadows weren’t all that particularly smart. They didn’t do much other than show up in mirrors when people were on edge and then dart away off the edge of the surface as soon as you looked at them directly. Cowardly little bastards. But they were plentiful and kept him busy in the slow seasons.

They were also easy enough to trap once you knew the trick. Enter the room with the lights off. Cover the mirror. Take out a perfect sphere that was shiny enough to hold a reflection (Christmas ornaments worked well, but were a bit too fragile) and flip on the light. When you looked into the ball, bam. The little bugger showed up, then would try to run off the edge. No edge. Trapped.

Containment would probably do, but containment isn’t his job.

Bert found the dirt road leading into the open field he used for this sort of thing and turned right. Minding the holes and roots and various hazards, he drove slower than was necessary until he arrived at the pit.

Lifting the bag and exiting the car he held it tight. They may not be smart but sometimes instinct kicked in. In the early days, one threw such a fit, he dropped it right onto a rock, shattering the trap he had spent hours polishing and off it went. Probably somewhere in these woods right now, waiting for someone to look into a puddle.

Bending down, he pulled the lighter from his pocket with his free hand and lit the kindling. There hadn’t been any rain recently so it went up in a flash. Gently, Bert pulled the sphere from the bag and looked into it. The shadow slid like ink out of his sight but with no where to the ball vibrated as it trembled.

He reach out and dropped the sphere into the blinding light of the fire.