Shadow Man

Chapter Three- Day Two: Tuesday

"Chapter name"

It was now 3:03 AM and Lilly was still staring at her hallway. She thought she had seen someone standing there when her alarm went off. Why did her alarm go off though? It was four hours away from the set time. Still laying in bed with the blankets pulled high up on her face, she saw it again. This time it was right next to her. She shifted her eyes to the right and looked at her closet. Except she couldn't look at her closet... there was something blocking her view. Then she heard the noise from the kitchen, the ticking from Edgars watch. As every second flew by Lilly kept wondering why he was in her room. Suddenly she felt a cold veil of air go across her body. Her eyes shifted back to the door, to neutralize her thoughts. Lilly started to shiver as the cold gust moved down her body, soon in enveloped her. Now her body was freezing cold. She was too terrified to move to try and keep warm. Shivering uncontrollably she shifted her eyes back to the right. This time though, she could actually see her closet. For a second she felt relief, that meant no more monster. But as soon as she felt relief, she felt terrified again. She remembered that he could go anywhere by just disappearing. So where was he? She shifted her eyes to the left, he wasn't there. She looked back at her hallway, nothing there either. Finally she looked above her, there was also nothing. "Thank god," Lilly thought when nothing was above her.

Lilly sat up, thinking he was gone, and wrapped an extra blanket around her shoulders. "Wait... if he's gone then why am I still cold?" Lilly got more quiet than she already was, by holding her breath. Now the room was mute. It only stayed this way for about a minute. Lilly was breathing again, but besides that she heard a muffled sound. It was coming from underneath her bed. Lilly decided that she should just look, because it's probably a nightmare anyway. Lilly laid on her stomach facing the left of her bed. She inched her body forward until her hips were resting on the edge of the bed. She creeped the skirt of the bed up, and what she saw she would never forget. Glowing grey eyes stared back at her. 

All she could see from the light was a wide brimmed hat. In his hands she saw multiple of her clothing, decorative items from her side table, and other things she might've lost or misplaced. He cuddled the items tighter and hissed him her face. Lilly widened her eyes and screamed. The thing lunged at Lilly and mashed her in the head flying her backwards into her wall. Lilly smacked the back of her head so hard she immediately got a headache. She tried to stay awake so she could observe him longer. His very tall black figure stood to it's full size. He still had all of the items in his hands when he turned around. "Greedy little bastard..." Lilly said leaning up against her wall, eyes barely open from the impact. He quickly turned around and screamed at her, the sound was so piercing Lilly gave up on trying to stay conscious.

Lilly woke up to the blaring sound of her alarm. She quickly sat up on the floor and rubbed her aching head. She pressed the 'off' button on the alarm clock, and everything fell silent. She removed the covers from around her body and stood up. Lilly walked out of her bedroom with a massive headache. She walked past her mother's door which was propped open. Lilly walked into the kitchen and found a glass of orange juice, an apple, and a note. Lilly picked up the note and opened it. The note read:

"Lilliana,

Edgar and I left early this morning. Sorry if I startled you, we just needed to be at work early for a meeting. This was a last minute thing, or else you would've known before now. I poured you some O.J. and Edgar thought you'd like an apple. I didn't want to make you anything hot, because it would've been cold when you woke up. I'm sorry if you're mad about me and Edgar. I just want to let you know that I have strong feelings for this man, and he will never replace your father. I love you so much honey... Have a great day at school, and don't miss the bus!

~Mother"

Lilliana closed the note and placed it on the next to the apple. Lilly walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, looking for something better than an apple. There was nothing in the refrigerator that seemed better than an apple, so she was stuck with it. She walked back to the table and picked up the apple and turned it around to take her first bite. When she turned it around she saw a word carved into the side. The word 'Greed' was browning in the apple's side. She looked at the apple closely. It had been carved with a butter knife probably hours before she woke up.She placed the apple down on the table and picked up her orange juice. She saw something moving when she picked it up. Suddenly something jumped out at her face, landing on the floor in front of her. Lilly stumbled backwards and screamed, dropping the glass of orange juice. On the floor by her feet was a frog croaking in fear. Lilly looked at the frog and started to dry heave. "Why was the thing in my orange juice?!" Lilly thought in panic.

Once she stopped dry heaving, she cautiously walked over to her back door and opened it. She went to the pantry and got the broom. She carefully pushed the frog outside, being careful to not harm the delicate animal. It might've just scared her half to death, but she isn't a bad person. It was that moment when Lilly decided she wasn't going to school that day. She had gone through too much that morning to try to comprehend school. She went into her living room and picked up her home phone. "I can't think of one other person at school, or anywhere, that still has a landline..." Lilly thought as she dialed her mother's work phone. A couple of rings later he mother answered. "Hey mom," Lilly said when her mother said hello, "I was wondering if I could stay home from school today."

"Why do you need to stay home Lilliana? Aren't you feeling better? You seemed like it last night." Her mother replied in a whispering voice so she wouldn't disturb her coworkers.

"I don't feel better mom... if anything I feel worse."

"I don't know what to tell you Lilliana, you have to go to school today. No buts about it."
"Mom please," Lilly tried.

"No Lilly. I will not let you stay home. You have to go to school." Her mother raised her voice from a low whisper to a moderate hiss.

"Fine!" Lilly raised her voice too, and before her mother could say bye, she hung up. Angrily she dialed her school's phone number. "Hello?" Lilly said in a calmer voice trying to sound like her mother.

"Hello there! This is Minnetonka High School, what can I help you with?" The polite receptionist named Shannon said.

"I am calling on behalf of Lilliana White, I'm her mother." Lilly nervously shuddered a little when she said mother. They might catch her.

"Okay Mrs. White, what can I do you for?" Shannon said in a strong Minnesota accent.

"I just wanted to inform you that she won't be coming in today, she seems to still be sick from yesterday."

"Okay Mrs. White, I'll let her teachers know right away. Thank you for calling."
"No problem! Have a great day."

"Buh-bye now!" Shannon said cheerfully, then hung up.

"Take that mom." Lilly thought as she put to phone back onto it's stand. Now she just needed to figure out how to get to the library.