Reflections of Stars

Shadow

She was running.
Running through the dark.
Up ahead she could see the faint shape of the person she was following.
She knew not who they were or where they were going.
But she knew she had to follow.
One foot in front of the other, step by step through the dark.
The inky black swirled around them like a suffocating ocean, but ahead the figure burned with pale ghostly light.

Suddenly, the being stopped.
A little way behind, Nyx stopped also.
Then, it turned to her, it's bright face both beautiful and terrible as it reached out its pale arms towards her, a high pitched, painful wail echoing from all around.
Nyx shrieked, raising a hand to defend her face.
"Dark or light. Your choice. Stuck between. Both together, tear apart."

Nyx awoke with a jolt.

There was something there. Something in the dark of her room.
She could feel it.
It radiated energy, scalding her veins with its aura. Her senses buzzed, adrenaline pounding through her body.

It didn't move, not an inch. The shadow just watched, waiting.

Nyx didn't move, not an inch. She just watched, waiting

And then came the baby cry.
The reaction was instant.
Nyx's head snapped to the door, freeing them from whatever spell had frozen them so.

The shadow crossed the room in a few strides and disappeared out the window in the same moment Nyx hurled herself out of bed towards the door.

She raced across the landing to Abby's room, wrenching open the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"
She scooped up the child, rocking her in her arms. Holding Abby close, Nyx found the comforting feel of the baby helped settle her thoughts a little, allowing her to think rationally.
What was the thing in her room?
What did it want?
How had it foiled her 'foolproof' trap?