Living in Shadow

 

 

 “Forrest, wake up!  just wanted to check on you an—” Gideon froze as he ran into his little brother’s room. A young man, shrouded in black, as tall as Gideon, stood in the center of the room. It wasn’t Forrest. Gideon squinted, he could see the young man’s muscles pumping, height stretching, all within the darkness. Finalizing. 
 
The room had items lying about and shirtless men on the wall. Forrest was way too particular to leave stuff out and his room was covered in science shit. Rocket ships. The solar system. Things Gideon couldn't even begin to understand. Fear settled on the older brother as he stumbled back. He could only think of one explanation.
 
—-
 
Growing up, Gideon and Forrest got along like two peas in a pod. Gideon was the older, cooler jock brother. Always a new scrape or cut on his body from playing outside. As he grew, his body grew with him packing on muscle. People flocked to him, always the life of a social setting.  Forrest was younger, more introverted, and preferred the safety of indoors. Gideon used to pick Forrest up from school and Forrest would often fall behind, failing to keep up, as his big brother's longer legs strode him forward faster. Gideon would have to stop and slow his pace for his brother. As such he took to affectionately calling his little bro, his shadow.
 
Forrest was a nerd. It became obvious he wasn’t developing, nor had the same interests as Gideon. This was beyond his personality. His body simply wasn’t racking up bulk like every year was a new level up. Forrest didn’t let much get to him, but he knew what other people were thinking.
 
“Do mom and dad hate me?” Forrest asked, his hands clutching his book bag straps, the two were halfway home.
 
“What?” Gideon spun on his feet, “No, they don’t hate you, where'd that come from?”  He was in his school varsity Letterman jacket, dark blue jeans, and white sneakers. No hiding how much broader than his brother he was. He may as well have been a giant.
 
Voice getting quiet Forrest said, “I heard them last night. Saying they didn’t like I was in the house all the time.” He pulled off his private school tie. 
 
Gideon facepalmed,” Why would they do that?” he bemoaned to himself, then turned to his little brother welling up. “Look mom and dad can be obtuse, but I know they love you.”
 
A smile formed on Forrest's face.
 
“You believe me, Shadow?” Gideon asked.
 
“Gideon you, just used the word ‘obtuse’ correctly.” Forrest's mind had gone somewhere else. 
 
“Oh, I guess, I did.” Gideon smiled. Forrest’s tutoring was actually paying off. 
 
Forrest jogged up beside him as they continued their walk home, the setting sun casting their shadows back onto the pavement. They stretched far into one large shape: Gideon’s. His physique swallowed and dominated his brothers.
 
“Look,” Forrest moved behind Gideon to give his brother's shadow extra arms and play around. Gideon would flex and Forrest would follow, making them a four-armed creature. “We’re strong!” Forrest stated. The two boys laughed. 
 
People had joked about Forrest living in Gideon’s shadow. They never paid it much mind since they had their own accomplishments. But it was funny to see him embrace it literally.
 
That random silly afternoon was the start of Gideon’s nightmare. 
 
When Forrest stopped playing and stepped out of the shadow, Gideon glanced down. His shadow’s head turned towards Forrest. Only a second and when Gideon blinked it was back to normal. A trick of the sunlight was all Gideon could consider. The rest of the walk home was uneventful.
 
But after that day? Gideon would catch something moving in the corner of his eye. He didn't know what at first. More of a feeling at that point. Akin to another person moving everything in the house 2 inches to the right. Off-putting, but unable to place why. Forrest and him continued to walk home, with Forrest playing with their shadows. He’d found his new favorite activity.
 
One day, Forrest stepped into Gideon's shadow, laughing as normal. His body hidden in his brother’s as he matched movements. Gideon paused to watch and had the strangest rush of energy fly into him. His shadow expanded across the pavement, stretching larger. However, it didn’t match the shadows other objects were casting. Forrest got tired and almost passed out on the sidewalk, Gideon had to carry him on his back.  When they got home, Gideon set his brother down to put the house key in. Forrest was awake and talking again. As Gideon turned the key, then turned back to tell his brother to come inside, his mouth stopped, though he kept moving. Out in the orange sunlight, only his shadow stretched down their walkway. Forrest’s shadow was gone. 
 
The sight was so unnatural. Not scary or horrifying, but it shocked Gideon to the core all the same. His body’s momentum carried him through the front door before he knew it and Forrest walked in after him. Gideon slammed the door. 
 
Neither their parents nor doctors could figure out the reason behind Forrest’s fainting spell. He was healthy as a whistle. Forrest’s shadow did come back, but only Gideon noticed it looked a bit more muscular, broader, than before. It sounded crazy, but Gideon had a sinking feeling, that wasn’t his brother’s shadow, but a piece of Gideon’s own shadow, shaped to look like his brother.
 
The way Gideon came to it was intuitive-like. He started to feel his shadow’s intentions and suddenly he could place why he saw things moving in the corner of his eye. If light was cast, he’d find his shadow being incongruent with his body. It was hard to believe. He hung out in the living room, shirtless, in nothing but a pair of gym shorts sitting on the couch. Watching a game, he’d feel his shadow skulking. Searching for everyone in the house. Gideon had no idea what to do. He couldn’t get rid of his shadow; it was a shadow.
 
There comes a point when even the absurd has to be accepted so one can stay sane. Another sunset. Another walk home. Another round of shadow puppetry. Gideon wasn’t laughing this time. He tried to outwalk Forrest, but his shadow was so large Forrest could step into it easily. When they got home, Forrest came out of Gideon’s shadow. Forrest’s hue however was off, looked like he was still standing in shadow, though the sun was right on him. Not only that, Forrest was bigger, taller. His uniform didn’t fit right: ankles and forearms all visible. His tie was loose hanging off a wider neck. Then there was his face more angular than before. The beginnings of the sort of jaw Gideon saw in the mirror every morning.
Gideon touched his brother and the shadow clinging to Forrest slowly raised off him like dust and faded into nothingness.
 
“You, okay?” Forrest asked, his older brother essentially poking his shoulder. 
 
“Uh yeah, you had dirt on you.” Gideon lied brushing off nothing. The two went inside. Gideon’s mind was using all its power to figure out what was going on. His shadow had attempted something on the walk home. What did Forrest call it? An experiment. Gideon’s shadow had tried to force itself into Forrest’s body, but there wasn’t enough time. 
 
Forrest moved awkwardly around the house, bumping into things, tripping over his own feet. He wasn’t used to his size. There’d be an apology to the inanimate object, followed by Forrest laughing. A low chuckle Gideon had never heard from his brother’s mouth. Gideon tried to point it out to his parents and brother. But they were convinced it was a late growth spurt. 
 
As a protective older bro, Gideon had heard enough he started drawing curtains, turning off light. Reducing the amount of times his shadow could be present. If no one would listen, he’d solve it himself. But it would never be a permanent solution.
 
Sunday's sleep was hard to beat. Gideon was lying in bed, sleeping, as the sun crept into his room. His mom had moved it just a smidge to let light trickle in. It was enough that Gideon’s shadow stretched far from his body. It morphed on its own reaching towards the lock doorknob and twisting. The door creaked open.
 
In his dreams, Gideon had a hazy vision that he was walking down the hall headed to his brother’s room. He couldn't see himself as he walked. He got to the door and his shadow’s hand was the only thing he could see pushing it open further. Forrest was standing in the middle of the room, repeating flash cards. When the door opened. Before Forrest could even process, the shadow lunged at him, running off the floor and over his body, encasing him. 
 
A weird sensation overcame Gideon. He could feel part of his identity detaching and pumping into Forrest. The effect started with the body. Forrest shot up in the air, limbs and torso growing longer. His body got broader as his muscles added a layer of thickness. There was a rumble when his glutes pressed out and perked up. The feet connected to the floor had grown in seconds. Forrest was trapped, couldn’t use his voice because it was now Gideon’s. The night clothes Forrest had been wearing were shredded as his naked form took precedence.
 
Gideon couldn't visually make out anything happening—too dark. However, Forrest's struggle was ever present. The muscles forming, were pushing against the shadow’s restraints. Gideon’s mind melded with Forrest’s body. And for a moment Gideon was inside Forrest. Then the grand finale Forrest's cock stretched down his thigh, balls sagging lower filling with seed. It was jock sperm. The same stocked in Gideon’s balls. Why was Forrest making Gideon’s sperm?  
 
The cock kept growing larger. And that’s when Gideon realized he knew that cock. He knew the pecs. He even knew the ass. It was his own. Forrest’s cock spasmed sending cum flying. “GAAAA–
 
--HHHHH!” Gideon woke up in bed, unloading his jizz across the sheets. But there was no time to deal with that, he raced out of bed running down the hall. He wanted it to be a dream he prayed it was. 
 
Reality wasn’t so kind.
 
“Forrest, wake up!  just wanted to check on you an—” Gideon’s mouth clamped up.
 
Standing there was a duplicate of Gideon’s own frame. A young man’s obscured naked body. The new 'Forrest' breathed like a beast. Like he had never done it before. A faint smile peered from the darkness. “Hey bro, guess I really am your shadow now.”