Her claws are still digging into my skin. Pinching me. Holding me firmly to the ground. She was supposed to be there for me, looking out for me, helping me. She was supposed to be my best friend.
How could they do this? Take the necklace away from me. I hate all of them. I hate the man and the woman looking at me with concerned faces, I hate the boy who holds a rope in the doorway, I hate the red-haired girl crying in the corner, I hate everyone, but I especially hate this girl who claims to know what I want. I hate her tangled black hair. I hate her fierce brown eyes. I hate her strength. I hate everything about her.
“Vanessa, get a hold of yourself, you're losing it!” This sudden solid thought comes into my mind. For a second everything is back to normal, and I want to run and embrace my parents, and Jason, and Skylar, but then all of a sudden this clarity fades, and then they are just those horrible people again.
They are working against me, they don't want me to me happy; they don't want me to have that precious necklace that I desire so much... They are my enemy.
Now I kick and scream and jab and claw and fight as hard as I can to get this girl off of me. I slash at her face and she screams out in pain and anger. A drop of blood falls from the cut on her face, and she looks at me with stern eyes.
“VANESSA STOP IT!” She screams at me, “LOOK ME IN THE EYE, AND TELL ME YOU'RE GONNA STOP.”
Flashes of memories come with her words. Walking the halls of Grace Academy, seeing her stop me and making me look her in the eye as she makes me do now. I think back to that conversation, and what it was about.
She had wanted to protect me, I think. She is on my side, I just have to snap out of... My mind suddenly feels foggy and my head throbs. No, I hate this girl, and I'm going to beat her once and for all. I'll kill her, and the adults, and the boy with the rope and the red-haired girl, and—
“Nooo!!!” I scream out in pure horror. Tears pour from my eyes as everyone starts to stare at me and I just lay there mumbling, “No, No, No...” My throat aching with the force of talking. How could these thoughts even come to me? Is this evil really taking over my mind? I know it is, and this thought scares me to death. How could I easily wish death upon the ones I love most? Death. I'm fighting something far bigger than me, and I have to find a way to conquer it. I have to force myself to remember everything. I focus as hard as I can. I think of the memories over the years of how my parents have always been there for me, and I realize that I love them; they are on my side. I think of Jason and how he has always been a good little brother, and I again tell myself that I love him more than anything. I think of Annie, sitting with me in the shed, how desperate and afraid she was, how she had needed me. Needed me to be the strong one. I think of how she loves me, but more importantly that I need her. My mind comes to Mr. Marsh and how he had chosen not to leave me behind—if he didn't care about me, he wouldn't have sacrificed that much.
The memories now flood my mind, millions of them all at once, of everyone gathered here, memories of the care and love they have shown to me. The evil that has contaminated my mind threatens to take these memories from me, but I hold on tight. I'm too determined to lose everything now, I have to keep my focus on what's real and what's true. The memories keep coming, but the most important ones to me are the ones of Skylar. Our first sleepover. The little jokes we would tell on the way to class. The movies we saw together. The times she stood up for me. The way she believed in me through anything. The way she was my best friend. The tears come pouring out of my eyes as all these memories fill my mind, and I look up into my best friend's eyes who has still not given up on me. Skylar looks at me, and as if she recognizes my changed composure, smiles back at me. We start to laugh and are about to hug when we hear a scream at the doorway.
For the first time in a while I remember Jason. He had been holding onto the rope tied to Mr. Marsh's waist. Now I look up and see my innocent little brother being dragged out the door, disappearing into the atmosphere. He was touched by the shadow man, that's why he has vanished.
“JASON NO!” I scream. All the yelling I've been doing continues to rip at my throat until I start to cry again. The tears only burn the cuts on my face; the pain makes me cry more. I don't even think I can remember that a shower even exists anymore.
My relatives had been holding onto Jason, but the shadow man must be overpowering them because he still has not passed back over the threshold of our house. I hear the sound of a grunt outside, and Annie starts to scream.
“DADDY NO!” She starts to make a run towards the door, but is held back by one of my aunts.
This has gone to far. This was my fight from the beginning, but now I have put Mr. Marsh in danger, as well as my little brother and possibly Annie. Suddenly, I become enraged. I think of the shadow man and what he has taken from me: my health, my sanity, and now my friends and family. He has crossed the line. He has broken promises, he has lied to me, he has constantly broken me down time and again. I won't stand for this any longer.
“Skylar, help me outside,” I say confidently. She looks at me with doubt, probably unsure if I am completely sane yet or not. (I don't really blame her though, I'm not completely sure myself.)
“Nessie, I can't let you go out there again,” She says earnestly and doubtfully.
“Skylar, you have got to trust me...for them...” These last words linger in the air until finally she starts to help me up and begins to walk me towards the door. As soon as I step outside, my world becomes dark again. My ankle starts to hurt worse than ever. I grunt and feel my body sag, feel it giving way, giving up...
A firm hand grasps my arm and then hauls me somewhat upright. I'm sure that I have vanished from Skylar's vision, but I still hold her hand for strength. “Let's get this over with,” she mutters.
Now I can see Mr. Marsh lying in the middle of our yard, hurt badly. I see Jason at the bottom of the porch steps, clinging to them so he won't be pulled further. I hear the shadow man cackling over Mr. Marsh, and I hear a chain jingling in the wind. He is about to put the necklace on him, and I can't let that happen.
“STOP!” I yell. The cackling stops. I hear an annoyed sigh, and then the irritable voice of the shadow man is heard in the darkness.
“Nezzzzie, zuprized to zeez youz inz your rightz mindzsss...” he says, sounding annoyed at being interrupted.
“I won't let you do this,” I say, ignoring his greeting, “you're done messing with us.” I swallow nervously—it feels as though half my mind has slipped away.
“Mezzing withz youz? I'mz juzt doingz buiznezz...”
“We are all sick of your lies, and your broken promises.”
“Whatzz promize didz I breakz?” He is starting to sound angry.
“You promised Annie you would never bother her again, but you hurt her afterwards, we saw her in the cave.”
“Froms whatz I recalz I promized herz a zafez pazzage intoz thez houze, whichz I didz. Itz waz herz miztake shez come back outz...”
I ponder this in my mind and think back to that moment. He's right; that was the promise, but I'm not ready to let him off the hook, so I fire back the one question that has been bothering me since the minute I found out about the necklace.
“Why have you been toying with us? You say once you put that necklace on someone else, they become the shadow man right? You have had so many chances. When I was lying broken by the cave, when you found me and Mr. Marsh in the clearing, heck, the two months Annie was out here before me, that you said the necklace first came off! Why not then? Why all the games? Why not just force it on and get your freedom sooner? Unless...something's keeping you from putting it on? And what might that be Mr. Shadow Man?” I say this last line with sheer confidence and a mocking tone.
The shadow man has grown silent. Only a still growl lingers in the atmosphere as he whispers the next words as slowly as possible, “Oh Nezzie, youz trulyz haz noz ideaz whatz youz havez juzt gotz yourzelf intoz...”
YOU ARE READING
The Endless Night
Action"...never walk out alone..." Rumors have haunted the property around the little cottage for years. Vanessa Görtz and her family have just moved in and her parents are taking these rumors seriously. Vanessa decides to take matters into her own hands...
