Shadow Play

Lux had always hated moving, especially on her own; hopefully, this would be the last time. After four years of college dorms and sharing leases with drunken housemates, she was glad to settle down in a place of her own. The house she was leasing wasn't any larger than it needed to be, and it was a fair distance away from the city. She liked that about it.

Her family had always told her she should try to get out and meet people more often, but she preferred to spend her time alone whenever she got the chance. It was more than just peace and quiet; it was the solitude itself that she wanted. There had always been too many people—family, housemates, classmates, coworkers. She got along with them just fine, but she was ready to escape the constant presence of others. It felt like she wanted to show the world that she would be just fine with no one but herself. She could be an island if she wanted to.

After she'd signed the lease, though, Lux began to wonder if maybe it was more secluded than she really wanted. Driving out in the moving van had made her realize just how far from other people the house really was. Some paranoid part of her mind wondered how safe she might be there.

The rooms had felt huge and devoid of life as she moved her things in, and she wondered why she hadn't felt this way when she was first looking at the place. An old desk and a few bookcases had been left in a couple of the rooms, making the place seem abandoned, rather than just unlived-in. She tried to convince herself that it was just the stress of moving again that made her feel uncomfortable, and that she would get used to her new surroundings soon enough.

By evening, the moving van had been returned and all the furniture was arranged exactly where she wanted it. With everything in order, she decided that she did feel better. Despite the dark clouds and wind outside, the uncomfortable heat of early June had set in—and she realized with pleasure that there wasn't any reason not to strip down to her underwear. In just her bra and low-cut panties, Lux made a quick dinner, and settled in on the couch with a book while the weather raged outside; before long, she was feeling almost like herself again. Still, she could never quite ignore that slight feeling of tension.

After a chapter and a half, the quietly tense feeling got too strong for her to read anymore, and she had to close her book. She needed a way to break the tension. A sly smile spread across her lips; walking around in her underwear wasn't the only thing she could do freely now that she lived alone. A pleased shiver of expectation rose inside her as she set her book aside, lay back across her couch, and began to relax.

Her long, soft hands moved up and down the smooth curves of her body, admiring her firm, fit torso. She lightly massaged her own breasts through her bra, and a quiet moan purred from her throat. Then her hands were slowly gliding down to her hips, sliding over her navel and teasing over her panties; her vulva tingled with pleasure, and a wet spot quickly formed in her panties as her fingertips gently traced around her lips, over and over. The unhurried feeling brought her skin to full sensitivity before she really got started.

Her breasts prickled with pleasure as she gently squeezed them, pulling down the front of her bra to play with her nipples. Lux moaned as they hardened and grew, and quickly took off her bra altogether. Tossing it aside, she went back to pleasuring her firm breasts, kneading them and teasing her nipples with her fingertips.

Then her hands moved downward again, slipping over her wet panties and reaching under them. Her lips were already wet and open, begging for more of her touch. She traced the folds of her vulva with her fingers again, brushing past her pubic hair, then slid inside the outer labia. Letting herself moan out loud, she began teasing her inner labia, as well, feeling her hot lips blooming like a rose.

She couldn't handle it anymore. She hastily jerked her panties off, and immediately put her hands back where she needed them, tickling and massaging her dripping cunt. The fingers of one hand slid inside her, while her other hand finally touched her begging clitoris. A shockwave of pleasure rolled through her as she indulged her pink jewel, first barely touching it, then rubbing it harder as ecstasy pulsed throughout her body.

This was part of what she had meant when she had talked of self-reliance. For her, at least, "self-love" was no euphemism. Gasping and crying out in pleasure, she plunged her fingers deeper and deeper into herself while grinding her clit, until she at last gave a convulsing, drawn-out scream of pleasure as orgasm seized every part of her body. Trembling on the couch, she gasped again and again as her every nerve burned with joy, darkness creeping into the edges of her pleasure-fogged vision.

Finally, haltingly, her body calmed and she lay still. She half-sighed, half-moaned in contentment, and lovingly wrapped one arm around herself while keeping the opposite hand on her vulva. She wished she could kiss herself. It wasn't conceit; it was simply a profound appreciation for the beautiful, independent person she was. She smiled as she thought about how fortunate she was to feel that way, and eventually got up to put her underwear back on. Living in this house wouldn't be bad at all, she decided, despite the anxious feeling that was already returning.

Through the howling wind, night gradually sank in around the house, creeping in through the edges of the windows. The encroaching darkness renewed the tension she had felt before. In the deepening dark, the still-unfamiliar rooms seemed to grow larger around her, reminding her just how alone she was. She shook her head; she had to stop being silly. She hadn't been afraid of the dark since she was a kid. There was no reason why --

Then the blackness swallowed everything. Her heart leapt into a panic; then the edges of the drawn window shades faded back into her sight, and she realized that the storm had just knocked the electricity out. That was all. There was no need to be afraid.

She wished she'd brought a flashlight.

There were candles, though; Lux remembered seeing them somewhere while she was moving in. They were in the old desk that had come with the place; right, that was it. Pushing back an unreasonable fear of the inky darkness that enveloped her, she slowly made her way to the little extra room where she'd put the desk, feeling her way around corners and doorframes until her hand at last brushed the aged wood. Wishing there had been at least some moonlight to make the shades worth opening, she fumbled a drawer open and felt her fingers brush over the cool, smooth wax. Its touch was reassuring somehow, and she quickly brought several of the candles out and onto the desk.

In the back of the drawer she thankfully found candle holders and a box of matches. She didn't waste a second fitting a candle into its holder, and struck a match. As the light flared before her, the shadows backed off, dancing within a tight radius of the match but coming no closer. The tiny flame wavered, and the shadows moved—almost as if they were alive, it seemed. Lux hurriedly lit the candle, telling herself to stop being stupid.

With the long candle burning, she waved the match out and glanced nervously around the room. The darkness still rested all around her, hiding almost everything from her sight, but the candle's steady flame held it back. She tried to will her heartbeat to slow down, and quickly lit a second candle.

With a candle holder in each hand, she walked to the bathroom, determined to finish the night as normal. There was no reason for her to be scared.

A glimpse of movement shimmered in her peripheral vision. She stopped moving and looked around through the corners of her eyes. Just as her eyes touched on it, another flicker of motion darted out of her sight. A gasp escaped her as she turned to face it, the candles' flames leaning dangerously low with the motion, but she saw nothing—it had just been a trick of the shadows. She forced a laugh, and wished she could fully convince herself that was it.

Finally, she set the candles down on the bathroom counter, closed the door behind herself and started brushing her teeth with a shaky hand. She knew the house was empty. There was nothing and no one inside except her. She was just anxious because it was her first night in a new house, and because there was a storm outside, and because she hadn't expected the power to go out. That was all. That was all.

She rinsed her mouth out and began brushing out her hair by candlelight. The comforting, repetitive movement made her feel more like herself; she had always liked her soft, dark hair. She looked into the mirror—Lux had always been a quietly pretty girl, but it wasn't what she saw then. Her eyes looked haunted, her skin paler than it should have been, and her chest heaved with breathing that shouldn't have been so rushed. Even the comforted smile that her lips tried to form looked, and felt, insincere. She tried to ignore that she could suddenly hear her own heartbeat. She didn't know why she was --

She saw it again in the mirror, a faint movement behind her, barely enough for her to be sure it was there. Frantically, she turned, her eyes darting around feverishly ... and found the room as empty as it always had been. Every corner was bare in the shadowed candlelight. Everything was in its place. Nothing was out of the ordinary. She kept telling herself that.

She wanted to believe it, but that was impossible. She didn't know what she had seen, but she had seen it twice now. She hugged herself and leaned back against the wall, trying to watch every shadow while she slowly regained her composure and her sense of reason. It couldn't have been anything but herself; she was alone, and she knew it. It had to be her imagination getting away with her.

Slowly, unwillingly, she opened the bathroom door and walked to her bedroom, candles in her hands. The darkness retreated two steps ahead of her, and followed two steps behind. She didn't like to admit it, but she knew that in this moment, she didn't want to be alone.

She pushed her bedroom door open with her foot, letting it swing into the room and watching carefully for movement before she entered. She saw nothing, and smiled and told herself she'd been right.

Candlelight climbed along the walls as Lux set one of the candles down on the nightstand by her bed, and reluctantly blew out the other. She closed her bedroom door behind her, not caring that it was hot inside. In the pocket of light that the candle afforded, she slowly stripped off her bra and dropped it next to her bed. Her hand gently caressed her soft, sensitive flesh as she looked around the darkened room one last time. Lux smiled; she ought to fully pleasure herself again before she fell asleep, now that she didn't have a roommate to worry about. The idea made her feel better. Finally satisfied that all was as it should have been, she bent over and slid down her panties, and turned toward her bed --

Her heart leaped into her mouth. This time, the movement was undeniable, right in front of her. A scream caught in her throat, painfully, as she looked down at the slender figure that lay in the floor, colored the same inky black that surrounded her, reaching for her.

She dropped her arm, and the silhouette on the floor did the same. A giddy, delirious laugh of relief rose in her chest. It was just her shadow. All this time, she'd been scared of her own shadow. Lux put a hand to her forehead and laughed again—and the shadow moved without her.

She froze, but the silhouette on the floor would not obey. Ignoring her choking attempts to scream, it turned its body and reached for her again, even as her own hands flew to her mouth in horror. Her own outline rose, its hand and arm lifting off the ground, and its fingers wrapped around her ankle.

But the shadow's touch was soft, and warm. Its gentle fingers touched her leg as it climbed off the ground, and it slowly ran its hand up her body to her face as it rose to exactly her height. Tenderly, the black hands caressed the sides of her face, and leaned closer to her.

Lulled by her receding fear, Lux touched it back; its skin felt as soft and sensuous as her own. It only made sense, she realized—the shadow was a part of her, a reflection. And she loved herself. She hesitated, then let herself lean in to kiss the featureless form. The shadow's lips, as supple as her own, kissed her back, and her hands gently touched her shadow's naked shoulders.

Her dark half ran its fingers through her hair and lowered its mouth, sweetly kissing the sides of her neck and the hollow of her throat. Lux's skin prickled and her nipples hardened, pressing into the shadow's breasts as she felt its identical arousal pressing into her. The hot moisture between her legs rubbed against her second self as she held it closer, her hands entwining its soft hair while it kissed her collar bone and gently pushed her onto the bed.

She didn't need to be afraid. She wasn't alone; she was with herself. It was herself that she was making love to, moaning as it kissed her breasts. The shadow's tongue slipped out of its dark mouth and traced a slick line between her breasts, then swirled around her nipple. She whimpered in pleasure, clinging to the dark shape as it licked, sucked, gently dug its teeth into her breast, fondling the other with one hand. With its hair cascading over its shoulders, the shadow flowed over her body and kissed her other breast with a slow, deliberate passion. With one hand still tangled in the shadow's hair, Lux slid the other downward, over the smooth curve of its ass, fondling it while the shadow lavished attention over her breast with its mouth, teasing her erect nipple with its lips, its tongue, its teeth.

Then it kissed its way down her soft abdomen, dipping its tongue into her navel in the candlelight, its lips touching every inch of her skin, all the way down. Lux's moans became louder in anticipation as its mouth drew closer and closer, kissing the tuft of her pubic hair, teasing her on her hips, and then pressing gently, sweetly, lovingly into her lips.

Lux gasped as pleasure shot throughout her body, as the shadow pressed its darkened mouth into her, licking her outer labia, running the tip of its tongue along the very edges of her lips, and then slipped deep into her hot, moist vulva. Her hands held the shadow against her as it made love to her with its mouth, gradually kissing her harder, faster, its tongue pleasuring every inch deep inside her while the flickering candlelight danced over her glistening body. Its tongue traced out of her and up to her throbbing clitoris, teasing and circling her sensitive, exposed bud. It only teased, letting her whimper and beg for more, before finally sliding over her clit, sending delicious waves of pleasure pulsing through her every nerve. She quit trying to fight back the gasps and cries of pleasure, and surrendered herself amid the shadow's delicious attention.

The beloved specter seemed to chuckle to itself, and pressed its eyeless face into her once again, kissing and licking her swollen red lips, raising a hand to rub her clitoris as the throbbing, urgent tension of growing climax intensified to the point of near-pain. Grabbing her own breasts, squeezing her nipples, Lux bucked against the shadow's mouth, crying out in growing ecstasy that threatened to overwhelm her completely. Writhing on the bed, she ground her hips into the shadow, grabbing its hair and shrieking until at last the intensity of pleasure, of love for this newfound part of herself, overcame her in a blinding orgasm so powerful it numbed her to the reality of all else. She abandoned all restraint and screamed in pleasure, thrashing against the silhouette's loving mouth as the last of her strength fled from the sheer force of her rapture.

As the soul-wracking pleasure finally ebbed from her exhausted, heaving body, Lux felt her shadow sliding itself over her body, gifting her with one last, passionate kiss on her mouth as the candlelight wavered, then went out.

*

Consciousness returned to her slowly. The feelings of pleasure, of love, were still with her as Lux opened her eyes to the light of morning. Sunlight streamed into the room through the windows. She thought she blinked in confusion; she couldn't remember having opened the shades—and then she realized she couldn't blink.

Panic overtook her as she looked up from the bed. Someone who looked just like her—the dark hair, the slender body, the perfect curve of the hips—looked down at her, and waved a hand in greeting. Without intending to, Lux raised her own hand and waved back. She couldn't get up from the bed.

Her mind reeled as the truth overtook her. The other woman smiled, maliciously, and laughed out loud before turning to leave the room; powerless to resist, Lux silently mimicked the lurching motion of laughter in a twisted self-mockery. She found herself unable to even scream as she slid from the bed to the floor, helplessly following the body that had once belonged to her.