Light of the shadow

Chapter One.

     Sammy, pulled the blanket tighter around his neck and pull his knees up to his stomach when he felt the chill. He always felt the temperature change before he saw the shadows move. One moment the shadow was solid and the next it would shift slightly, as if it was being taken over by something. Sammy had discovered the moving shadows nearly a year ago, shortly before his three year old kid sister mysterious vanished. At first, he would feel just the cold chill and occasionally that tingly feeling when your arm falls asleep, when you my on it for a long time. He had discovered, that there is another reason for that tingle feeling; a shadow creature may have touched you. The first time he saw a shadow move, he had just recently turned nine. It was so quick that he was sure it was seeing things, but then it started happening several times a day. He discovered that if he started at the shadow, it would move towards him when ever he turned away and once it reached him, that tingly feeling would start. He realized that when he squinted a bit the shadows seemed to have more person shape to them, but that shape existed inside of the other shadow, as if it were a costume. 

     The figure that he was watching from the corner of his partially closed eyes was currently using the dresser shadow to move about the room. Sammy didn't want it to notice him, so he just laid still. The shadow made it half way across the lightly stained hardwood floor and stopped. Even though Sammy had never seen a shadow with eyes, he felt the entity staring at him. He remained completely still, after a long moment, the shadow began moving again and made it to the door-less entrance to Sammy's room and down the hall to its unknown destination. Sammy's father, James Collins, had removed all of the doors, throughout the house, once his sister Sarah had disappeared. When Sammy asked his why, his farther had said.

      "So I can get to you fasted if I need too!". 

     Sammy, recalled the night Sarah disappeared, he had heard soft crying right before she screamed. He heard his father run down the hall and crash into his sister's door, but it wouldn't open. He heard the panic in his father's voice as he screamed her name and then heard him kicking at the door. The house seemed to shift slightly and then the door gave way to his father's foot and the house seemed to fill with impenetrable silence, then the windows in Sarah's room shattered and he heard his father scream once more. Sammy knew at that moment, that the shadows must have taken her. After that night, he was careful not to stare at the shadows, he didn't want to be next. 

     The temperature seemed to rise after the shadow left the room, Sammy kicked off the covers and slowly climbed out of bed. His red footy pajamas allowed him to quietly walk towards the doorway and he peered down the hall. Sammy studied the shadows for a long time and he didn't feel a chill so he crept down the hall, avoiding all the creaky spots he had mapped out in his mind. He began following the shadows a few months after Sarah had disappeared, he couldn't help himself. They seemed to visit every night, he needed to find out what they wanted, they always seemed to be searching for something. As he headed deeper into darkness, he recalled the heated conversations his farther and Police Chief William Wilkins had had regarding the night Sarah vanished. 

     "Listen, James. What you are telling me makes no sense!" The chief said. "She just couldn't disappear, with outta trace!" The chief added. James shook his head and replied with: "She didn't disappear, Bill!" "Something took her!" James exclaimed with a raised voice. "She was in the air, in the middle of the room when I came though the door!" James continued. "The whole room was covered in ice and it had her!" 

     The Chief raised his hands in surrender. 

     "I know, I saw the remains of it melting away when I arrived." He continued. "If it weren't for the ice, I would of had you committed that very night!"

     The real reason the chief had not dragged him to the hospital and committed him for psychological evaluation, happened to be due to the FBI team that showed up ten minutes after he did. They completely took over the scene and not so politely asked him to leave. He had never been so angry in all his life, this was his town, and he had devoted his entire life to protecting the citizens of Thompson. Just because Idaho wasn't as metropolitan as New York and D.C., didn't give the feds the right to treat him like some backwater hick. 

    He continued his conversation with James. 

     

     "What did Agent Summers ask you after he made me leave?" James looked dumbfounded. "He didn't ask me anything!" James exclaimed. "They emptied the room, including the carpet." This shocked the Chief. 

     "The carpet?" He asked.

     James threw his hands up and suppressed the urge to shout, instead he clenched his jaw and hissed a very loud.

     "Yes!". 

     Sammy saw another shadow shutter at the end of the hall and it brought him back to what he was doing. He froze for a moment and then continued down the hall, making sure not to look at the shadow. He made it to the bathroom and turned on the light.

     His father, whom hadn't slept well since the night Sarah disappeared, called out to Sammy.

      "Sammy, are you okay? Sammy quickly answered, with a loud. "Yes, just need to use the bathroom!". 

     Sammy, used the curtain that his father had installed shortly after removing to door to give the illusion of privacy to those that used the room. The only closed area in the house, that wasn't quickly accessible, was Sarah's room. The FBI removed everything from the room and installed a large steel plate over the door and Windows. They obviously did not want anyone in the room or anything out.

     After Sammy used the rest room he slowly shuffled towards the kitchen with his arms stretched out away from his body. This allowed him to feel the chill that always happened before the shadows began moving. The hallway was warm and he didn't notice any thing as he entered the kitchen. He took a glass from the shelf and ran the water for a moment to get to the cooler water and that's when things started to get strange. The water suddenly became cold, colder than anytime before; then suddenly it froze solid and the pipes began to moan inside of the walls. At that same moment a large black spot began to fill the room. It was barley visible to the eye and if the moon hadn't been full, he would not of seen it. He stared at it, transfixed by the ink black core. Was that something moving in the center, he thought? Then near the refrigerator, the slight shadow created by the moonlight from the window grew bright white and a figure in leather armor stepped into the dark kitchen, with a sword nearly as long as the figure was tall. 

     Around the figures neck, there hung what looked like a black rock, and as he stepped towards the growing black spot in the middle of the kitchen, the swordsman dragged it across the edge of the blade and the sword burst into flames. The man brought the burning sword up into a fighting position, just as the largest shadow creature Sammy had ever seen, came through the black spot. The man charged and stabbed the shadow and it turned into a brilliant white light and then the spot was gone. The man nodded to Sammy and entered the white light coming from the refrigerators shadow and then he was gone. The air smelt burnt and whips of smoke hung in the air. Through out the house, the shadows all seemed to shutter in unison and then grew silently still. 

Sammy darted back to his room without a sound, and hid under the covers.

Chapter two.

     Sammy ate quietly as his father poured himself a cup of coffee. The silence was broken by Sammy's father. 

     "Did you leave the water in the sink sometime this morning?" James, asked. 

     Sammy's eyes went wide as he stared at his bowl. He tried rushing the mouthful of food and swallowed as he tried breathing and spit milk and cereal all over the table. They both burst out laughing and the running water was soon forgotten. After breakfast, Sammy returned to his room and readied himself for school.

     James watched as Sammy boarded the bus and finished getting ready himself. He was bothered by the running water this morning, however he was sure he would of heard Sammy in the kitchen last night. So many strange things happen in this house. His desk lamp has been moved more times than he can count, his car keys disappear often and now running water? He shuddered at the thought of what might happen next. Sammy and Sarah's mother moved into his thoughts and he couldn't help to wonder where she was at the moment and wished he could contact her. He had only seen her a handful of times in the ten year he knew her and his mind drifted to the night they had met. 

     James and some friends where backpacking in Wyoming. after a few miles on the trail to their favorite lake, he stopped to rest and saw a strange glow at the base of a nearby tree. As he walked towards the glow, he tripped on an exposed root and fell. He awoke to a brilliant star filled sky and was laying next to a decayed old log and dew had settled on him and he was soaking wet. He was shocked that he wasn't cold. He felt warm, even though he knew the temperature was forecast to drop into the 30's, so he should be cold! His backpack was nearby and as he reached for his flashlight, the glow he had seen early returned. The glow grew brighter and the she stepped out from behind the tree directly in front of him. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was dressed in a green dress, the same color as the needles of the nearby pine trees. She had silky dark brown hair and it seemed to reflect the starlight. She slowly approached and he slowly stood on his shaky legs. He honestly wasn't sure what was causing the shakiness, was it the fall or was it her?

     The sound of a his desk lamp tipping over jarred him back to the present! "Dammit, not again!". He exclaimed as he headed toward his bedroom. With the black out curtains covering the window, the room was completely black. He flipped the switch expecting the light and nothing happened. He felt a chill on his neck and then his right arm and leg seemed to fall asleep. The tingling was pretty intense as he moved towards the bed. As he moved closer, it felt as if he was walking in a pool. The air in the room seemed to be heavy and pushing back against him. Before he reached the lamp he hear a familiar voice in his head and he stopped. He could make out what the voice was saying, but he suddenly felt the urge to leave the room. His head was swimming and the tingling was getting more intense. He turned and headed back towards the door and nearly made it to the hallway when everything went black.

Chapter three.

     Sammy sat quietly as the bus drove down the street towards his stop. School was boring as usual and luckily, everyone considered him weird and left him alone. Usually it was the quiet kids that were picked on in school, but the rumors about his sister's disappearance shook the town and it seemed even the bullies new something awful had happened and wanted no part of it. The unknown is a formidable opponent and some of those rumors allude to Sammy being responsible. This alone may be responsible for them leaving him alone. Sammy was fine with it, he had seen the shadows move at school for the first time when they rolled the TV cart into the room for a special news program. As the news anchor reported about the impending Challenger space shuttle launch. He saw the shadow move at the back of the room. It wandered around the other kids in the room and he was careful not to stare. He kept his head down and barley noticed the what was happening on the screen. Mrs. Swanson turned the TV and turned the light on after the program ended. Sammy was startled by the light and had been tracking the shadow as it moved between the desks. Sammy thought he heard a slight squeal as light filled the room and the shadow disappeared. That was nearly a mouth ago, and he had seen another, a week later in gym during the assembly. The lights weren't off very long, so the shadow didn't make it too far into the room before it disappeared in the light.

     The bus rolled to a stop and the other kids laughed when the bus driver called his name. Sammy, sprung form the seat and hurried off the bus. As he walked towards the house he noticed his dads old blue Chevy truck sitting in the same spot it was this morning. As Sammy opened the door, he saw his dad slowly getting up from the floor as he walked into the door. He could tell his dad had laid there all day because he saw the imprint of the carpet on his cheek. He dad stumbled to the kitchen table and sat down. Sammy sat his book bag down on the table and quietly spoke.

     "Dad, what happened?" "Why were you on the floor?".

     James studied Sammy for a moment and began shaking his head as he spoke. "I don't know son, I was in my room and as I was leaving the room I became dizzy and then I fell.". He continued. "It was the strangest thing, what time is it?" "Oh, you're back from school, I've been asleep all day!". 

     They sat quietly for a moment, and after a few minutes, James asked: "what should we have for dinner?". After a few rounds of "i don't know, what do you feel like?", they settled on grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. They ate in silence and decided to see