Nightfall Mysteries

The real shadow

The next day, Nathan was working in his shop when Nina arrived, calling out to him.

"What are you doing here?" Nathan asked.

"Come with me. I want to take you to a place I think you'll find interesting," Nina replied.

"What place?" Nathan questioned.

"Just come on," Nina insisted.

Nathan informed his colleague that he was leaving, and then he and Nina headed into the forest. They walked until they reached an old, eerie house.

"Do you know this place?" Nina asked.

"No. What is this place?" Nathan replied, looking around.

"Have you ever heard of Veloria, the witch?" Nina inquired.

"No," Nathan responded.

"Are you really from Silverbrook?" Nina teased, she is very famous witch in this Town as they approached the house.

They stepped inside, the place was unsettling. They made their way to a room that was like a witch's storage room, filled with odd items: jars of feathers and bones, secretive little boxes with add symbols , and peculiar sticks. The room was also lined with books, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

Veloria greeted them and offered them seats. Nina seemed excited, while Nathan was noticeably uneasy.

"Thank you for meeting with me, sister,"you said you had another appointment. Nina said.

"It's not a big deal," Veloria replied casually. "Now, let's get to business. What are you trying to find?" she asked Nathan.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Veloria opened it, revealing Richee and Adam. Nathan was shocked to see them there; he hadn't expected they knew about this place either. Richee seemed just as surprised.

"Nathan, how do you know her?" Richee asked, a bit startled.

"I don't know her. How do you know her?" Nathan countered.

"We're friends," Richee answered quickly.

Richee and velori are friends from their childhood. Richee already made appointment with her but he didn't expect Nathan there.

"Okay, Veloria, I'll come back when you're free," Richee said.

"No, wait. We're almost done here," Veloria said, inviting them inside. "I think you both have the same problem, is that right?"

Nathan was confused. Richee hadn't mentioned anything like this before to Nathan.

Richee asked Veloria for a private word, so they stepped aside to talk.

"What's going on with you?" Veloria asked.

"You know about the Dark Monster, right?" Richee whispered.

"Yes?" Veloria replied, her expression darkening.

"I think it's free and trying to open the gate fully," Richee explained.

"What?" Veloria exclaimed, shocked.

"Yes, and I think the shadow is Nathan..." Richee confessed.

"What? Really? But he seems so normal," Veloria said, puzzled.

"He is, but I believe he's from that family," Richee continued.

"But how can you accuse him of this?" Veloria asked.

"When we were performing the ritual to rid Adam of the shadow, he and I were in the mushroom circle so the shadow couldn't possess us. But Nathan wasn't in the circle; he was the one who cut through it. He wanted the shadow to be free," Richee explained.

"What does Adam think about this?" Veloria asked.

"Adam told me all this this morning. I don't know how he figured it out. And what about the girl?" Richee asked.

"She lives in the woods. A great girl, really helpful," Veloria said.

"Shall we go inside?" Richee suggested.

"Remember, get her out of here," Richee urged Veloria.

"Why?" Veloria asked, confused.

"I don't want her involved in this," Richee explained.

They returned inside, and Veloria asked Nina to fetch a book she had given her the day before.

"Can you go get the book?" Veloria asked Nina.

Nina couldn't refuse, so she asked Nathan to accompany her. As they went to retrieve the book, Nathan began to feel uneasy and started asking Nina questions about the book.

"It's about a tree. Veloria's mother wrote it, and I wanted to know more about it, so I asked Veloria, and she gave me the book yesterday," Nina explained. "She wanted to see you, which is why I brought you to her."

Why she wants to see me? Nathan asked confusion.

I don't know, when I said your name to her, I thought you and her know eachother nina replied.

Okay,"Did you read the book?" Nathan asked.

"No," Nina replied.

Meanwhile, inside, Richee and Veloria were preparing a ritual. They drew a large circle, placed sigils around it, and added various items like cat, crow, and rabbit skulls to the circle. Finally, they finished setting up the ritual.

They made Adam to sit outside.

Nathan and Nina returned with the book, and Veloria asked Nina to fetch a root from henbane.

"Nina, you go alone. Nathan has another task," Veloria said.

Nina left, and Veloria and Richee asked Nathan to step into the center of the circle.

"Why? What are you doing? Why did you send them away?" Nathan questioned, growing more anxious.

"It's for our own good. Just do as we say this one time," Richee explained.

Nathan, still confused, stepped into the circle. They placed Adam's blood in a bowl and then Nathan's blood as well. Veloria began chanting spells. Nathan stood there, but soon he started screaming. Hearing his screams, Adam rushed into the room and saw Nathan in distress.

"What are you doing to him?" Adam demanded, anger and panic in his voice.

Nathan was frozen and shivering uncontrollably. Adam tried to intervene but was blocked by Veloria's power, forcing him out of the circle.

"What have you done to him?" Adam shouted, desperate and furious.

Just then, Nina returned and saw Nathan's state. She saw Adam struggling to reach him and rushed to Veloria, pleading with her to stop.

"Leave him alone!" Nina cried, but Veloria ignored her, focused on the ritual.

In a frenzy, Nina began breaking things in the room, trying to disrupt the circle. But Veloria managed to complete the ritual just before Nina could break through.

Suddenly, Nathan's body froze completely and shattered into pieces of ice. Nina and Adam fell to the floor in shock, staring at what was left of Nathan.

"Why? Why did you kill him?" Nina asked Veloria, her voice trembling with grief.

Adam, still in shock, looked on helplessly.

Richee approached Adam. "You said it yourself, he was the shadow. We sent him back to his world."

"What? You said you were going to tell him about all this and cure him. Why did you send him there? Bring him back!" Adam demanded.

"We can't," Richee replied coldly.

"Why are you doing this to him?" Adam shouted, devastated.

"He was the shadow," Richee insisted.

"No, he wasn't!" Nina and Adam cried out in unison, still defending Nathan.