The Shadow Spectre
Heard this from a friend who was doing some contract work in an office in Chester. Now, Chester was founded as a Roman fort and there are lots of archeological digs going on at any one time. The office my friend - we'll call him Paul - was working in was right opposite this dig where they reckon they'd found a second Minerva shrine, there was a lot of excitment over it and during the day the office workers would watch the excavations from the first floor window.

One night Paul decided to stay late to finish some work. This was in October so it was dark outside by half 6. Now the room he was working in was a big open plan affair, with windows at the far end and a double line of tall filing cabinets in front of the windows. Paul was working at a terminal at the other end of the room, on a desk up against the wall so his back was to the room and the windows and filing cabinets were some way off to his left.

He got quite into his work and oblivious of his surroundings, as you do, but at about 7 pm he became aware of a banging sound, as if someone was running up and down between the rows of filing cabinets and kicking them. This startled him, but it only happened the once so he put it down to 'building sound' and set to work again.

About ten minutes later the sound happened again, only louder. Paul tells me that he literally felt his blood run cold, as no way could this sound be attributed to any settling or shifting building noise. It sounded like someone or something was running up and down between the rows of cabinets and hitting them with a something metal.

Now these cabinets were only 4 foot high so if there was someone there he'd have been able to see them... unless they were a midget or a child... or were bending down in order to stay out of sight...

The sound got so loud that Paul closed down his PC and was getting ready to leg it - no way was he going to investigate - when the sound abruptly ceased.

Then, in the sudden silence, a figure rose up from behind the front row of filing cabinets.

At this point Paul tells me that he felt the most scared he had ever been in his entire life. He literally could not move.

This figure appeared to be the outline of a man - totally black, like a shadow come to life. Paul coud only see the torso, head and shoulders as it was behind the filing cabinets, but as he watched it walked forwards THROUGH THE CABINETS and marched down the office towards him.

Paul couldn't even scream as the spectre drew nearer. It was very definitely the outline of a man, with striding legs, swinging arms and an odd, oval shaped head. And as it came nearer to Paul, he noticed the weirdest thing of all about the apparation. He noticed that it wasn't solid at all.

It was made out of tiny black spheres about the size of a marble, arranged in the three-dimensional shape of a man.

Paul remembers seeing the hand of this shape, the fingers opening and closing as it marched closer and closer, the fingers made of individual black marbles...

It was coming straight for him but he could not move. And, as it passed by him, it paused - AND TURNED TO LOOK AT HIM with its blank, oval head. As though it had just noticed him.

At that point Paul broke and ran blindly from the room, screaming his lungs out. He can't remember much about the next few minutes but the security guards accosted him running through the foyer crying and shouting.

He refused to go back to the room, in fact refused to go back into the building, and lost the contract.

He told people what he had seen but no-one else ever saw or heard anything unusual happen in that building.

The archaelogical dig was a false alarm, they never found a second Minerva temple, instead all they found was remnants of a Roman gladius (sword).

Dr S
(Dr Skagra glorious glargzhem, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 12:00, 11 replies)

The description
Reminds me one of the characters from that retro-Megadrive game Ballz....


anyone ever play it?? ok ill get my coat
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 12:10, closed)

I've read stories about something similar
"runners" they're called. They look like they're made out of black paper, two dimensional and generally are just seen running from one point to another.

I did read about two lads who were walking down a street and saw one, though. They were walking towards it and were both aware that it was there. It saw them, too. They lived on the street and went into their house, leaving the lights off, and crouched in the kitchen. The saw this thing looking in through the front door window.

Very creepy.
( Kroney, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 12:13, closed)

So ...
his brain could only synthesize a low-res ghost? I think he needs an upgrade.
(haberman is singing in the changes, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 12:30, closed)

Runners
Interesting... heard about them before. Can't find anything on the web though.
(Dr Skagra glorious glargzhem, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 12:43, closed)

@ Kroney
Oh fuck that's terrifying *surrounds herself with kittins*
( Maladicta, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 14:09, closed)

Hehe...
...cleaner in a burka, banging the hoover against the cabinets? ^_^

Or fatigue/drug delusion?
(Musuko, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 19:01, closed)

Musoko
Yeah the paralysis sounds like it doesnt it. Still, Im sat here feeling quite edgy.
(kitescreech still here, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 21:40, closed)

Edgy is right. :)
As creepy creations of the imagination go, that marble creature is ACE! Would make a very disturbing monster in an alien/supernatural horror film.
(Musuko, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 21:50, closed)

Sounds like
a shadow person. Very creepy!
( benryves Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good!, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 23:30, closed)

Shadow People
^^
Thanks for that link. Bloody hell, how scary! Thinking of turning this into a short story.

So Shadow marble creature (c) Dr Skagra 2008 ;)
(Dr Skagra glorious glargzhem, Fri 4 Jul 2008, 10:31, closed)

Reminds me
of the ASCII animation of a walking human

users.mtrx.net/funnypics/content/-rdm1-ABCD1234-rdm1-/2005/2005-08-23-0002/emiled_jott.gif
(Ethelred is watching cheese grow, Mon 7 Jul 2008, 14:37, closed)