Thank you so much to all of you who respond to the questions I ask on my message board. You're all such sweethearts!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter is taking place in Canada on the Shadow Side, at the same time that chapter 28 is taking place in the US on the Werewolf side. This is right after Karina's call to Suzzanah get's disconnected.

Dedicated to alicesingh31 for always having been a sweetest and most wonderful reader ever! Love you honey and love your work! This cover and the others you made for Shadow Play are perfection!

The spectacular cover above was also made by the amazing alicesingh31.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY WORK! Especially not the concept of Shadow People. I will go bat-shit crazy on you! You have been warned!

This chapter is unedited so please excuse the grammatical errors. Enjoy!

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Karina's POV

They're here...

The multitude of sounds from traffic, cars honking, machines buzzing and people talking were still not loud enough to keep me from hearing my own terrifying thoughts.

The bright fluorescent multicolored lights danced over me like luminescent waves of an ocean which looked lit on the surface, but was darker than black underneath.

They'll come for me...

Pulling my hoodie over my head, I kept walking, each step a little faster, each turn a little quicker. I didn't dare look up, I didn't dare let my eyes wander.

Because I was afraid of what I would see. And I knew I would see it.

I knew I would.

They're numerous...!

Just seconds ago I had gotten off the phone with Anna, and my heart was still in my throat from the unfathomable terror I had been feeling with every word that escaped my lips.

But just as luck would have it, the goddamn line was off. I could hardly hear her! Still, from what I did hear, she sounded okay. Maybe it was because she didn't know. She didn't know what was really going on.

And maybe it would have been better that way. Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't said anything to her.

After all...these people seemed to spare the ignorant. Its the ones who knew that became their targets for their twisted games.

But then I realized that I wasn't the only one surrounded by such non-human beings. Suzzanah was too. The organization that my sister worked in was also run by Supernaturals. Supernaturals who were ridiculously strong.

Supernaturals who were...dangerous...

The Royales...

My skin prickled as that name resounded in my mind. I didn't know what kind of Supernaturals they were yet, but from the little that I did know about them, I knew they were just as powerful and dark as the Magnifis'.

If not more...

And so, even though I knew it was perilous, even though I knew there was a definitive risk, I couldn't not say anything anymore. I had to let Anna know.

I had wanted to warn her that there were beings out there who weren't human. Creatures that we couldn't have even imagined existed!

But all I was able to get out was,

Stay away from the Shadows...

I knew she must be confused, and I wished more than anything else that I could call her again and explain, but I couldn't!

One wrong move, and the secret would be out. The secret of their existence, and the secret that I knew of it.

And it would cost me...dearly...

My heart was thundering inside my chest, which felt like it would burst any minute. I wanted to stay close to the crowds because I knew that if I was alone, they'd corner me.

But at the same time, the more people there were around me, the more vulnerable I felt. The more tension tore through my veins when my eyes scanned the ground underneath me.

Because who knew how many of these people were...one of them...

"Keep walking Karina", I told myself under my breath, "Keep walking and don't look up. Don't look up"

I shoved my hands into my pockets, trying to offer some kind of warmth to my icy fingers, but nothing helped. Because my blood was still freezing cold.

There were humans who believed in aliens. Humans who believed that there were beings of superior intelligence in worlds outside of our own. Beings whom they respected, yet revered. Beings who they fantasized, yet feared.

But whether they existed somewhere out there in the universe or not, on this planet Earth, humans ruled supreme. Or so they thought.

Oh what ignorant fools we humans were! Let alone beings who lived thousands of light years away from us, we couldn't even see the ones who were right in front of our eyes!

Behind us.

Beside us.

And all around us.

They're everywhere...!

They breathed the same air as us, lived in the same houses as us, worked with us as colleagues at our workplaces, interacted with us in our everyday lives. They did everything we did, and yet...there were not us.

They were not us.

I shuddered at the thought, my fingers fisting of their own accord. The hair on my neck was standing on end as chill after chill tore down my spine.

I was afraid.

No matter how much I wanted to deny it, I was afraid.

Because these creatures were not the fairy tale characters I had grown up reading about. They were not poor misunderstood beings who just desired to live in peace and harmony. And they were not righteous princes who had been cursed into the bodies of vile beasts.

No, there was nothing righteous about them.

These people...were dark.

Sinister beings who fed on the fear of us humans. Ominous creatures who relished the taste of terror. Any and all terror, be it human or supernatural.

I clenched my teeth hard, desperately trying to keep the terrified scream from escaping my lips. My breath came out in ragged puffs as I struggled not to break into a run.

Unknowingly, unsuspectingly, I had stumbled through a door that had led into a world where I didn't belong. And now I couldn't find the exit. Now I couldn't escape.

They're watching me...

I couldn't let them know that I knew. I couldn't let them know that I had figured out what they really were. Because if they found out, that would be the end of this game.

As of now, the world was their stage and we humans were the actors. Puppets attached to the strings they were pulling from behind the curtains. And if they found out that my strings had snapped, they wouldn't need me anymore.

I would be...discarded.

I knew...because I had seen it happen with my own eyes.

The horror...

Therefore, I couldn't show weakness. I couldn't show fear. I couldn't let them know that I knew what they were.

Because...I couldn't afford to die.

Suzzanah...

Her face flashed in my mind and I took a deep breath. For the sake of my sister, I forced myself to remain calm. No-matter what happened, I needed to survive. I couldn't succumb to this twisted world that I had waltzed into with my eyes closed.

I couldn't die and leave her all alone.

Determination flooded my veins and I finally had the courage to lift up my head to check how much further I needed to go. My hoodie fell back and my eyes immediately zeroed in on the red car in which my friend was waiting for me.

Just one more block, I thought to myself, forcing my feet to go faster, Just one more block and you'll be there. You'll be safe...

For now...

Feeling just a little bit relieved, I reached up to pull my hoodie over my eyes face again. But just as I did, a car whizzed past me, its bright high-beams shooting past my frame, momentarily illuminating my body in blinding light.

And in that fleeting moment that hardly even lasted a second, my head whipped to the side, shielding my eyes from the light, and my gaze zeroed in on the long dark shadow on the ground that was staring right back at me, silently.

For a moment I felt my heart stop. My breath caught in my chest and my body froze mid-motion. But just as soon as the headlights zoomed past me, the world began to spin again and I was left staring petrified at the dull grey silhouette that was my own shadow.

Reaching up, I wiped the sweat that had beaded on my forehead with a trembling hand, and swallowed hard. My throat had gone dry.

Hurriedly readjusting the hoodie over my head, I began walking again, no longer feeling reassured.

Because now I knew, that there wasn't a single place I could go where I would truly be safe.

Safe from their predatory eyes...

I didn't dare raise my eyes head again, till my fingers felt the cold handle of the car door. Pulling it open, I slid into the seat and promptly closed the door behind me.

Inside the car, the temperature was pleasant, but I still felt chilled, right down to the bone. And I wondered how much longer I could keep up this facade. How much longer I could keep playing these dangerous games.

How much longer I could survive them...

"You took longer than I expected", Antoine, my boss and good friend said, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

I nodded shakily, unable to speak a word.

"Good! I got our order. Would you like to start eating now or should we wait till we get home and eat it with Leah?" he asked.

"With Leah", I managed to cough out, not having any semblance of an appetite at the moment, "Let's go now, or the food will get cold before we get back"

"Alrighty then", he said cheerily and I kept my gaze down on my lap as he drove out of the parking lot and into the busy streets.

Not wanting to drown in my terrifying thoughts, I reached out and turned on the music. Some obnoxiously loud song which was probably hazardous to every living thing's eardrums began to blare through the speakers, but at this point, I didn't even mind this.

I just...didn't want to think anymore.

"Well this is a first", Antoine said surprised at my choice of music and I shrugged, not knowing how to explain my uncharacteristic behavior.

"You okay, mon amour?" Antoine asked frowning as he handed me my cola, "You're so pale. You look like you just saw a ghost"

No...I'm just...afraid of my own shadow...

"I'm just tired", I told him, "Don't worry, its nothing"

He didn't look convinced by my answer, but chose to leave his interrogation at that for now, knowing that I wouldn't tell him any more.

I took a sip of my cola before turning to look out of the window at the dark night sky above us.

I didn't remember my parents. Even though I should, I didn't. All I remembered was one cold winter day, one grey gloomy sky, one small hand encased in mine.

And...one heart-wrenching promise.

From that fateful day up until now, I had never let anything deter me from keeping that promise. It had been my driving force, it had been my motto in life. And I realized now, more than ever before, the real weight of those words I had spoken that day.

But with that weight came also the realization that now...now those words had far more meaning than they ever had before. And now was when I really needed to stay true to the promise I had made as a child.

Because from here on forward, everything depended on how I organized my pieces in this diabolical game of chess. Everything rode on whether or not I could keep my King alive, while we played on enemy turf.

Because my enemy was invincible, and the only one who could lose in this game, was me. The minute I made a mistake, it would be over.

Checkmate...!

So, no-matter how scared I was, I needed to keep it together, not just for my sake but for my sister. I needed to try as hard as I could to get out of here, and back to Suzzanah's side. I could not lose my only remaining family.

Still staring up at the grey-black night sky, I placed a hand over my heart and reaffirmed my resolve, silently, through trembling lips.

Because I knew, that now, more than ever before, I needed to not lose this game.

Now, more than ever before...I needed to...

"Be strong...!"

****

A/N

A glimpse into Karina's world.

A world much, much darker than you have known so far.

I always wanted to write something from Karina's POV, so that you guys could see what was actually going on on her side. That was the whole point of Shadow Play, but seeing it was discontinued, I thought why not add her POV in Unconditionally.

And a few of your requested it too so violà!

What do you guys think? There is one more chapter in her POV in that is coming up soon. Would you guys be up for it?

And did you like this chapter?

If you did, please don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE!

Until next time,

All my love,

May