The Courage To Go On

Home Alone

A few months later, it was Kevin's 6th birthday. They threw a little party for him, cake and everything. Then T.S. and Rose decided to get a big gift for Kevin, but they needed to leave the house for a few hours to get to the gift and a few more to get back. They decided to wait until it was Kevin's bed time to do so. Once they left, Kevin got up from his bed and called out to Shade, who manifested physically soon after. They had the whole house to themselves, from the upstairs to the basement. They were really excited to play, and they did for about what seemed to be an hour. Shade thought it was the perfect opportunity to show off a little to Kevin, doing some tricks and taking on all kinds of forms. From a little mouse to a large gator to even Kevin's appearance.

"How can you do all this?" asked Kevin.

"I guess it's just how being a shadow works. You can be anything!" said Shade boldly.

"I can even let you use some of these abilities," said Shade.

"Lemme try, lemme try! Please, please, please!" cried Kevin.

"Sure thing!" replied Shade.

Shade then shrunk down back into Kevin's shadow, but suddenly Kevin had the same eyes that Shade had, but with the colors swapped, resembling T.S' right eye colors. Shade could talk to Kevin through his mind, so they showed Kevin how to use their abilities.

Then, the lights from the backyard turned on. Kevin noticed this and played it off like it was nothing, but Shade became uneasy and separated from Kevin's body. That's when Kevin realized that the lights could only be turned on by motion outside. This worried Kevin, so he decided to get to the kitchen window by standing on the counter to look at the backyard. No one could be seen.

"That's creepy.." Kevin said as he got down from the counter.

"Kevin, I don't like this-" Shade said worryingly.

"I hope it isn't a monster.."

Suddenly, he heard someone or something tapping on the window. He turned around to see a hooded man with an old looking clown mask on. Kevin screamed as he ran to his bedroom, scared as ever. Shade tried to comfort and protect Kevin from whoever that man was. There was then knocking from the kitchen door. The man was trying to get inside. As the man knocked, he also tried to turn the doorknob. It was locked. Shade swiftly slithered towards the door as a shadow and went outside to hopefully scare away the man, but they were gone. They came back to Kevin to comfort him some more.

"The person's gone now, Kevin. I believe they left."

"Who was that?! Why were they here?!" Kevin started to cry. He wasn't this scared in a long time.

"Calm down Kevin, I'll protect you!"

"But what if they come back?!"

"Then we'll be prepared for them."

Kevin calmed down a little and nodded. For the next hour, they started to check if each door and window was locked. Then, they started to set up traps everywhere. They wanted to be a little creative on this part, but they needed more supplies. They checked the basement and the attic, hopefully finding things they could use. What they found was things like wires and ropes, building tools and paint, and even weapons such as swords and axes, etc. The two used what they had to turn the whole house into a world of tricks and mischief. Tripwire traps, slippery leftover cake floors and steps, rigged doorknobs that lead to buckets of paint or even a hammer falling on whoever fell for the trap, and even the old "bucket on top of a slightly open door" trick. Then they got into position just incase the person came back. The man did come back, but with two more men with him in an old looking van.

Each man had a mask on them which was a different design for each of them. There was the clowned masked guy from earlier, a lion masked man, and a sun-moon shaped masked man. As the three walked to the front porch, the lion masked man tried the doorknob of the front door, which was surprisingly unlocked.

"Dumbass left the door unlocked," said the lion masked before opening the door quickly.

He was then met with a smack in the face by a hammer that swung over as soon as the door was opened, knocking the man over. The other two checked on the man, he was out cold. Shade saw this within the shadows and tried not to laugh.

"What the fuck..?" said the sun-moon masked man.

"Pffft- This kid thinks he's in a Home Alone movie." said the clown masked man as he laughed.

The two men now knew what they were dealing with. They entered the property cautiously. The clown masked nearly fell over because of the caked floors, but kept his composer. The clown masked man looked around and triggering any traps without risk. The sun-moon masked man tried to open one of the bedroom doors, nearly getting struck by a sword that was placed behind that door. Shade realized that they were smart enough to not fall for anything now, so they appeared behind the man and pushed him over before disappearing in the shadows. The sun-moon masked was baffled.

"Hey, what was that for, Josh?" said the sun-moon masked as he got up to walk over to the clown masked man.

"What do you mean?" Josh replied.

"Why'd you push me over, idiot?!" said the sun-moon masked.

"I didn't do jack-shit, Michael!" said Josh.

"Then who pushed me?!" said Michael back.

This stirred an argument between the two, a perfect opportunity to try Plan B: fight them head on. The lights had suddenly turned off, now allowing Shade to freely roam around the house. This made the two men panic a little. Then Shade grabbed onto the legs of the two men, not willing to let them go.

"AY- WHAT'S GOING ON-?" yelled Josh as he struggled to get out of Shade's grasp. He was then interrupted by Kevin running in and smacking them with a bat. Shade watched in glee as he held on to them, having a smile that had a white glow underneath the two men. Michael broke free and kicked Kevin away, landing against the wall. Shade didn't take this lightly and focused on him, wrapping around him like a snake and pulling him into the shadows. Michael screamed as he was dragged across the floor, though Josh came in to help by grabbing his hand. He also tried to grab onto Shade to get them off Michael, but his hand went right through it. Shade can't be touched while they can touch anything. Michael was completely pulled into the dark abyss of Shade's void. Josh would soon join him as Shade was right behind him, taking on the form of the giant lizard. He pounced on the man and began growling at him. Josh was terrified and screamed in terror as he was being mauled mercilessly by Shade.

Then, the sound of a car pulling over on the front porch could be heard. T.S. and Rose returned, with a rather large toy set in the car. T.S, however, heard the screaming from inside the home. He told Rose to stay put in the car and ran inside. He turned on the lights and saw the absolute mess the house was. A traumatized Michael paralyzed in fear and a bloody and bruised Josh, knocked unconscious. Shade cowered in what seemed like pain because of the lights, and disappeared right before T.S' eyes, hiding in Kevin's shadow. Speaking of Kevin, he was also knocked out. T.S. ran over to Kevin, checking on him to make sure he's fine, and then on the two men. He then realized that these two men were from the organization that was supposed to be destroyed. He thought to himself, "How are these guys apart of the organization?! Their leader is dead, and the candidates as the new leader were dead as well! How could it still be active?!"

That was a topic for a later time though. T.S. knew he couldn't stay here anymore. They know where the family is and could send more men to harm his family. He knew that he is not ever safe anymore. If they could track him in a hidden area, they could track them anywhere. He looked at Kevin, piecing the puzzle together and realizing that Shade is Kevin's ability, seeing how he could sense Shade's energy being the same as Kevin's.

Although, seeing Shade maul that poor man to near death made T.S fear Kevin's ability, knowing that Kevin may not have control over it.. All this was too much for T.S. to control, and he needed help.

He knew where to get that help though, and where the family could hopefully hide from the corrupt organization.

End of Kevin's Story...