Hidden In The Shadows

The door slowly creaks open and I shine the flashlight around the room.

Nothing but a pink set-up, a light blue vanity placed to the right of the closet, and white blankets.

I’d shown up here at my sister’s house to make sure she was okay. She’s older than me, out of high school, so she lives a bit away from me and our parents. Abigail didn’t call me when she said she would and then she didn’t respond to my calls or texts.

A quiet thud rings down the hall, stopping me in my tracks. At first, my fear makes me hesitate, but then it pushes me forward and towards the end of the hallway.

“Who’s there?” I ask cautiously, my heart racing in my chest.

A hand reaches out and pulls me around the corner, placing a hand over my mouth and turning off my flashlight. “Shhhh.”

I blink a few times, adjusting to the newfound darkness.

Rose Morrison.

The girl from my English class. I never paid much attention to her before, so I don’t really know what she’s like, but from what I’ve gathered, she seems like the usual bratty, obnoxious teenager.

So far, I don't think I like her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I question through her hand, my eyes narrowing.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” she insists quietly, her eyes scanning around frantically. Her green eyes settle on me and she sees the persistent look in mine. She sighs, dropping her hand from my mouth. “Your sister’s my friend, okay?”

“No, not okay. Again, what are you doing here?” I push myself away from her and dust myself off.

“I was coming to visit Abigail. I hadn’t seen her in a while and wanted to check up on her,” she tells me. She sounds honest, but I don’t know if I can trust her yet.

“Of course you were.” My voice comes out harsher than I’d intended. I almost feel sorry for sounding mean.

Almost.

“Be quiet, Lucas,” Rose whispers, holding out a hand towards me, as if she’d grab me again to shut me up.

“Why? What’s gonna happen?” I ask, purposefully being slightly louder than before.

“Lucas, shut your mouth right now. I will explain, you just need to listen to me,” she says in an irritated tone. She purses her lips, her hands resting on her hips as she stares me down.

“Fine,” I grumble. My shoulders slump forward a little and I lean back against the wall, looking at her and crossing my arms.

“I searched this entire house. Abigail is not here. But someone…something is. The door was open, a few windows too. I heard steps upstairs, but they were too heavy to be a person. That’s why I’ve been trying to get you to shut the hell up,” she explains. She sounds genuine, looks genuine. Her voice has a slight tremble to it, and she keeps glancing around, like something is going to pop out of the shadows.

I open my mouth to respond, but freeze as I hear a sound.

A faint swish echoes around me.

Rose hears it too. She jumps a little and turns her head, her eyes scanning the darkness relentlessly.

“You heard that too?” I ask quietly, now believing her words.

“Yes. It’s the same thing I’ve been hearing for the past twenty minutes. But I can’t see anything here,” she murmurs, placing a hand against the wall.

“Wait. If you’ve been here so long, why haven’t you turned the lights on?” I tilt my head, squinting my eyes to see the expression on her face through the dark and misty hall.

“The electricity shut off when I tried to. I don't know, it was weird, and sudden.” She shivers slightly, perhaps either from the cold, or the thought of being in a house with the lights off, near the middle of the night.

Another rustle passes through my ears and I whip around to see…

Nothing.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. It’s probably just the wind,” I say, ease settling in my mind for a moment.

But only for a moment.

“Lucas, it’s not windy out right now,” Rose says with worry etched on her face. She walks over by the stairs and pulls open the curtain on the window.

She’s right. The trees are still, the night frozen in silence.

So what was that sound?

“Rose, I’ll be honest, I’m starting to get scared,” I admit feebly, continuing to stare out the window.

She drops her hand from the curtain and looks at me, her eyebrows raised. “Starting to? I have been for the past-” She’s interrupted.

A bang travels from down the small corridor. Rose and I spin around, our eyes widening at the sight in front of us.

A shadow of a man races down the wall of the hallway, and my breath catches in my throat. I reach out my hand to grab the stairway railing behind me, but it’s not there and I slip.

I almost fall down the stairs, but the dark figure reaches out a shaded hand and something grasps the collar of my shirt, holding me up by a thread.

“Lucas!” I hear a faint shout come from Rose, but it’s mixed with a loud buzzing.

The being’s shadowed face is so close to mine. Its eyes are bright red, yet pitch black at the same time. Its breath is something of week-old food.

The sight and smell makes me dizzy. My eyes slam shut, a scream working its way up my throat and ringing through my ears.

~~~

I wake up in a cold sweat, my heart still pounding in my chest and my hands clenched around the blankets.

A dream.

I take a deep breath and gradually calm down, sitting up in my bed.

I’ll check in with Abigail after school, see if she knows anything about what just happened.

I go through my normal wake-up routine, getting ready for school and all. I’m making my way to the kitchen when a subtle movement in the corner of my eye catches my attention. I glance in that direction, but there’s nothing there.

It takes all morning, but I eventually manage to shake the feeling of being followed.

As the day goes on, I begin to believe it was all just a dream, but the look Rose gives me at school tells me that she remembers it all just as clearly as I do. And she looks terrified.

For all the right reasons.

Because little did I know that tonight, I would see the shadowed figure again.

And this time…

I wouldn’t be able to escape the nightmare.