Hidden Shadows

Prologue

I can feel my heart racing and screaming as I run down the dark corridor from what may very well be my impending destruction. I can hear the pounding footsteps echoing mine, getting closer and closer with each step. My eyes, struggling to see in the dark, are searching all around for a place I can hide. I start feeling along the cold, dusty walls, hoping to find a hallway to turn down or a crevice to hide in. Then I feel it. A warm, wet, sticky substance that I can picture in my head being dark red in color. Blood. I can feel a scream building up in my throat, but I know that if I release it, they will know where I am. I struggle to keep going, millions of questions running through my head. Whose blood was that? Are they dead? Then a thought, a blood curdling one, enters my mind. Mom and Dad sent all of the workers home on what they called a 'well deserved vacation'. The workers won't be back for another week. The blood belongs to one of my parents.

All of the sudden I can hear a strange hissing noise coming from the creature pursuing me. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help but turn my head and look behind me. "Oh my god!" I whisper in shock, the words heavy in my mouth. The thing, whatever it may be, is the most vile creature I have ever laid my eyes on. Suddenly my feet feel like bricks, keeping me glued to the ground, unable to move as I stare ahead in horror. The creature is black ink; pure darkness that seems to blend in with the shadows. Its tall, unproportionate body towers over me, causing me to lose my balance and fall backwards onto the ground. As I lay on my back, staring up at the creatures sharp teeth, I think to myself, So this is what it feels like to stare death in the face. I feel strangely calm, as if the whole world has stopped, and this is just a dream that will soon be a distant memory.

As I lay there, preparing myself for the end, I hear loud screaming coming from my mother. She distracts the creature while shouting, "GET OFF OF HER! BACK AWAY, DEMON!!" I take this chance to look at my mom. Her clothes are torn off of her lithe body and covered in blood. Her head is gashed open, making me wonder how she is still alive. Her eyes look crazed and she is wobbling unsteadily while pointing a large, silver cross towards the creature. My mind starts running everywhere. Seeing my mom bleeding to death in front of me, makes me realize in frantic waves that this situation is very much real. I almost died. I rush to my feet, trying to keep my sudden dizziness from making me fall.

I look towards my mom, not wanting to leave her, but at the same time knowing that if I don't leave now, we're both going to die. As if my mom knows about the war going on inside my head, she whispers, "Just go!". With one last glance at my moms beat up body, I turn around and race towards the kitchen. As I run away from her, I hear her shout I LOVE YOU! And then I hear her screaming as the creature tears her apart limb from limb. I can feel the tears streaming down my face in fast lines. Even though I want to die after losing my mom, my body is in survival mode and it keeps moving. I remember my parents telling me over and over again as a child, "If you're ever in danger and need to get out of the house and off of our land quickly, go into the kitchen and look inside the pantry. The floor of the pantry has a hidden latch on the side. Pull it and the floor will open up and reveal a hidden stair case. Follow the stairs down and use this pattern. Left, right, right, left right. Then go straight until you see a door at the very end. When you open the door, you will be in the woods. Turn to the left and run as fast as you can until you come across a cabin. Inside is all of the help you will need." My parents repeated those words so many times, that they were burned into my brain forever. So I did as they said. I went to the kitchen, found the hidden latch in the pantry, followed the patten. Left, right, right, left, right. Only when I got to the woods did I go against their orders. I ran for a while and then I turned around and stopped. I just stopped and stared at my house in the distance. I could see my house clearly. I could see the flames eating my house alive. I could see the smoke billowing out of the broken windows and the cracked roof. I could also see all of my money, childhood, and emotions burning away with my home and with my parents. My last thought before I ran to the cabin was, What now?

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