- A lonely teen encounters an unwelcome guest.
- Lonely student Nick has had a life filled with endless bad luck. When he encounters a disembodied, sentient shadow in his home, curiosity turns to animosity under the influence of an online group of "shadow hunters", who convince him that his paranormal visitor is responsible for the negativity surrounding him.
- In Eugene, Oregon, in a pharmacy Nick Smith looks on as two boys jokingly fight each other with toy baseball bats. The cashier finally calls Nick up, and he says that he's picking up medicine for his mother Gail. She tells him to remove his food from the counter while she checks on the order, and Nick does so as he glares at the boys. They notice and say he's a weirdo, and the cashier tells Nick that he owes $248 for the medicine. Nick says that they have insurance, and the cashier says that the plan stopped covering the medicine as of three weeks ago.
The cashier tells Nick that she should have received a notice. Nick insists that Gail can't use the generic because it makes her throw up, and the cashier asks if Nick's father can pay for it. He angrily says that he can't, and counts out the $88 that he has and asks what he can get. The cashier gives him the generic, and Nick takes it and storms out. shoving past the two boys.
Nick walks home and stops at a gas station. He hears men laughing inside, then pulls up his hood and continues home. He goes inside and rings one of the bells hanging from the ceiling, then goes to Gail's door and asks if she's okay. When Nick gets no response, he opens the door and says that dinner will be ready in ten minutes. In the kitchen, Nick cuts the non-generic pills in half to spread them out, and microwaves some fast food.
Later over supper, Nick and Gail play blackjack. Gail wins despite the fact she's crippled by a previous stroke, and she asks Nick how school is. He sarcastically says that he's living the dream, and he repeats what the two boys from the pharmacy were doing while claiming that they're friends. Gail says that she wants to meet Nick's friends, and Nick says that he doesn't have time because of work. He assures her that he likes being business, and some day he'll have all of his friends over.
After eating, Nick tucks Gail into bed and tells her to ring one of the bells he's strung up if she needs anything. Nick then goes out and plays games online, and he angrily snarls at the other players. One of the two signs off, and Nick goes to use the bathroom before the next game begins. After Nick and the other player lose, Nick's teammate signs off so he can go to bed and work the next morning. Nick turns and sees a man-like Shadow standing in the corner of his room.
Nick hides in the closet but nothing happens. He peers out and confirms that the Shadow is still there. Nick steps out and ask the Shadow what it is. It doesn't answer, and Nick introduces himself. When he makes a shadow of a duck on the wall, the Shadow imitates him but still says nothing. Nick snaps a photo of the Shadow, and the flash startles it. The teenager takes a photo without the flash, then goes back online and asks his online people if anyone knows what the Shadow is.
While Nick waits for an answer and stares at the Shadow, the bells rings. He runs into Gail's room, and she wonders why he left her. Nick assures her that he's there, and Gail says that she had a dream that Nick left and never came back. Her son assures her, and Gail tells him that he's handsome like his father. Gail begs Nick to lie down in the bed with her, and he does so. When Gail finally dozes out, Nick crawls out of bed and goes back to his room.
The Shadow is gone, and Nick gets a link to "shadowwatch". When he clicks on the link, he imagines three of the Shadowhunters chatting online appearing and discussing the Shadows appearing throughout the Midwest. One of the Shadowhunters, West, says that the Shadows prey on the vulnerable and work invisible for years before showing themselves. The Shadows hate light.
Nick interrupts and introduces himself. Another of the Shadowhunters, Dagr, insists that the Shadows only understand war. West asks Nick how his life is, and figures that it sucks. He suggests that the fact it sucks is because someone or something is pulling the strings... and that's what the Shadows do. West says that they trade in chaos and fear, ruining lives and shattering family. The third Shadowhunter, FinalGirl, says that the Shadows killed her parents.
FinalGirl ignored the Shadow, and her father got laid off, drank, and bought a gun. After her parents' funeral, FinalGirl realized that the Shadow was watching all the time. She insists that her father never would have shot himself and his wife, and West tells her that the Shadow made him do it. West tells Nick that Shadowwatch is a beacon and fighting the war against the Shadows.
Dagr wonders how Nick found them, and West tells him to back off. Nick says that there's a Shadow in his house, and West says that it's a good thing Nick is there. They disappear as the chat stops, and Nick goes to bed. He can't sleep, and finally looks in the corner but the Shadow isn't there. He goes out to his family truck and gets in, then gets a bottle of alcohol out of the glove compartment, sniffs at it for a moment, and puts it back.
Nick then takes out his father's shirt from the glove compartment, and takes in the scent of his father. He wraps up in it and goes to sleep.
The next morning, Nick wakes up and discovers that his phone is dead. He goes into the house and makes breakfast, and Gail rings for him. He yells that he's last for work, and correctly corrects himself and says "school". After putting some of the pills in the breakfast, Nick takes it to Gail.
Later, Nick arrives at the fast food joint where he works. He's late, and his boss Darryl calls him into the back office. Darryl tells him that he's fired, and explains that Nick is two and a half hours late for his shift and it's a regular thing. Nick explains about how Gail is sick, but Darryl says that everyone there has problems and the world doesn't owe Nick anything. The teenager curses at Darryl, punches a locker, and yells in pain. Darryl, unimpressed, tells Nick to hand in his uniform. Nick takes it off, throws it at Darryl, and walks out.
Nick walks home and stops at the gas station. He asks the mechanic if he knows Mark Smith who used to work there. Mark left 15 years ago, and the mechanics don't know Mark's number. One of them tells Nick to go to school, and Nick walks off.
That night at supper, Nick and Gail eat and Gail asks Nick how his day was. He says that it was fine, and claims that he's flunking English. He says that his teacher hates him, and after supper Nick tucks Gail in. She asks him to brush her hair, and she drops the brush from her nightstand onto the floor. When Nick reaches for it, the Shadow reaches for it from under the bed. It disappears when Nick looks again, and he tells Gail that he thought he saw a spider and brushes her hair.
Later, Nick logs on with Shadowwatch. He says that he saw the Shadow again in his mother's room, and West assures Nick that it's smart to be scared because if someone sees the Shadows, it means they've already got their hooks in. He asks Nick if Gail has had any trouble in the last year or so, and when Nick says that he has West tells him to tell them if anything bad happens to Nick. Nick wonders what if he just has shit luck, and West tells him that the pain his life is strategic and organized by the Shadows. The Shadows thrive on their doubt.
West says that they need to talk to Skip Fletcher, a Presidential candidate who knows about the Shadows. They give Nick the tag of Wolf, and West assures him that he's not alone. They go out to the garage and drink to celebrate, and West asks Nick what his story is. When he says that he doesn't have a story, Dagr asks why he's so depressed all the time. Nick insists that he isn't, and West tells Dagr to lay off.
FinalGirl and West say that Dagr was posting suicide notes online when he was 12, and they talked him out of it. Dagr says that a Shadow was responsible, and West explains that his brother James had a Shadow but he didn't. James got hooked on painkiller after he broke his leg during a skiing accident. West angrily tells them not to die on him, and West and Dagr prepare to life off. FinalGirl says that she'll stay up with Nick.
In Nick's room, he sets up a string of lights under his bed and watches as FinalGirl undresses for bed. She joins him on his bed, and Nick talks about where he lives. FinalGirl says that she lives in Montana, and wants to move to Florida. Nick admits that his life sucks but he doesn't want to live Eugene. She asks if Gail is cool, and Nick says that Gail had stroke at work cleaning someone's teeth and now she needs pills they can't afford. When FinalGirl asks where his father is, Nick says that his father left when he was 5 and he hated him for it. He hoped that his father was dead until Gail got sick, and all he has left of Mark is his truck.
FinalGirl says that it isn't fair, and Nick figures that it's the way the world is. He says that there are two types of people: those who get things and those who get nothing because they're invisible. FinalGirl tells Nick that she sees him, and he says that he sees her back. They continue talking online, and both wish they were together in person.
Later, Nick lies on his bed but can't sleep. He sees the Shadow on the ceiling and shines a flashlight beam on it, and it disappears. When Nick sees it moving on the walls, he runs out and hides beneath the kitchen table. He glimpses the Shadow again, and Gail rings the bells. Nick runs to his mother's room and finds her lying on the floor, unconscious. He calls the EMTs, who give her a sedative. Nick says that he gave Gail half of what she's supposed to have, and explains that their insurance stopped covering it.
The EMT tells Nick to give Gail a whole pill, and says that Gail had night terrors. He says that Nick can't afford to have Gail taken to the hospital, and after he goes Nick strings up more Christmas lights on Gail's bedroom door.
Nick goes to his room and tries to log onto the Shadowwatch page, but discovers that his online access is no longer warning. He calls the company, and the operator tells him that his account has been suspended due to non-payment. Nick angrily hangs up.
The next day, Nick goes to the high school and logs onto the Internet computer at the library. He contacts Shadowwatch and tells them what happened, and didn't want them to watch. West says that the Shadows are out of control, and they need to mobilize to protect Nick and Gail. He gives Nick some non-generic pills for Gail, insisting that they're family, and says that if Nick ever needs something, all he has to do is ask.
A teacher, Mrs. Harmon, comes in and greets Nick by name. He says that he took time off to take care of Gail, and says that he came in to check his email. Mrs. Harmon claims that he left something in her office and goes to get it. After she leaves, two guards confront Nick and tell him that he can't be there if he's not a student. They tell him to open his bag, slowly, and Nick sees Mrs. Harmon watching from across the library. Nick opens his bag and shows the guards that the only thing inside is his system. He angrily tells them that he's selling it to pay some bills, yells "Fuck you" at Harmon, and leaves.
At home, Nick contacts Shadowwatch and complains that people think he's the threat after everything that has happened to him and Gail. Dagr tells him to go back and give them what they want, but Nick figures that he'll end up in jail. He figures the Shadow has been messing up his life for eleven years, and FinalGirl says that he's free now. Nick is furious at Mark and wonders if he should kill himself, then asks West how they get rid of the Shadow.
West says that they kill it, and tells Nick that they can destroy it if they hit it with a strong enough light. He tells Nick that it would be self-defense and justice for Nick and Gail, and FinalGirl says that they have to go bigger and make the Shadows fear them. Nick suggests that they livestream it.
Later, Nick rigs up a "light gun" and shows it to Shadowwatch. West is impressed, and FinalGirl figures that Nick taught himself how to make the gun. When Nick offers them plans for the gun, West tells him that he has to kill it because it chose Nick. He says that they can't fly across the country and do Nick's job for him, and Nick wonders if he can. Nick wonders if the Shadow is just a shadow, and Dagr tells him to man up.
West tells Nick that he's confused, and Nick wants to be a part of them but doesn't want to do his part for the cause. Nick insists that he wants to but doesn't know if he can a killer. West tells him to "wake up", and it's a war. He yells that they've given Nick everything, and has Dagr tell Nick that he might have found Mark. They send Nick photos of the expensive suburban home that Mark now lives in.
Nick "watches" as Mark greets his wife and son in his home. Furious, Nick sees a bottle of the same pills that his mother is taking, Atavax, and screams in rage. With the help of Shadowwatch, Nick equips himself and then tells Gail that he has to go. He tells his mother that if something happens to him, he did it for them.
FinalGirl assures Nick that the whole world is going to see him, and gives him a kiss. Meanwhile, Nick tells Gail that it's a war and he has to do his part. He goes through his house, livestreaming his hunt from the camera in his helmet. The Shadow moves in the shadows, avoiding Nick, and Nick continues hunting it. He tries to spot it but it evades him,
Nick finally spots the Shadow on the ceiling. When he trains his light gun on it, it retreats before he can get a clear shot. He runs through the house searching, and yells asking where it is. It stops outside of Gail's door as Gail rings the bells. She calls to Nick, asking where he is, as the Shadow drops to its knees with its hand raised in apparent surrender. Nick opens fire, shooting real bullets.
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