Shadows

4

Spring was Darcy's favourite season. And who doesn't like swings? It was a bright sunny day and Darcy was out in the yard enjoying the beautiful weather as she moved with the swing going up and then swinging back. Two months had passed since her birthday, and now it was the month of April. Her sisters were not at home. She was having a holiday and was alone with her mother, who was busy doing her chores.

She kept on swinging, humming to a random music. The smile on her face was priceless. It was almost 12 at the noon when she heard someone call her name. She looked around as she slowed down her pace, but found no one. The swing came to a halt, she was sure she heard a female voice call her name and for an instance she had thought it was Sara, one of her childhood friends.

She felt strange, something didn't felt quite right. She got down from the swing and ran inside to find her mother. She was scared. She ran to the kitchen but her mother wasn't there, there was a strange feeling building up in her gut, her heart was pounding loud against her chest. She felt as if she was being watched by someone, like someone was following her. She started running upstairs to her bedroom to find her mother. Fear was evident on her face. "Mom!" She called. There was no answer. Tears welled up in her eyes. She opened the door to her bedroom and it was empty.

"Mom?" She said. She was on the verge of bursting into tears when she stopped. Her expression went blank. She slowly walked inside the bedroom and sat down on the bed. The fear was gone, everything was eerily silent all at once. Her mother came running to the room.

"Darcy!" She said, her voice was laced with immense worry, "what's wrong?"

Darcy just stared at the distance. Her mother came towards her and sat beside her and followed her gaze. She was staring into space outside the bedroom door.

"Darcy?" Her mother called, "Honey what's wrong?" She asked again looking at her. Darcy looked at her mother and flashed a smile, "Nothing Mommy, everything's fine."

The worry on Mrs Stevenson's face washed off, her frown was replaced by a sweet smile. She cupped Darcy's face and planted a kiss on her forehead. Darcy soon went to sleep and Mrs Stevenson headed back to the kitchen.

She was chopping the vegetables when she felt a sudden presence around her. As if someone was standing behind her watching her constantly. She knew Darcy was still upstairs in their room for she didn't hear any footsteps running down the stairs as she always did whenever Darcy used the stairs. Her heartbeat was a bit unsteady. She hesitantly turned around and gasped when she found Darcy standing at the doorway. She exhaled deeply, "Darcy, you scared me" she let out a low chuckle as her heart steadied.

She walked towards her and crouched down in front of her, "Sweetheart, what are you doing here? Do you need anything?" She asked taking her small hands into hers. Darcy didn't utter a single word. A worried expression flickered in Mrs Stevenson's eyes. Something didn't felt right, by then she had realized it that Darcy was unusually quiet that day and she grew more worried about Darcy.

She placed the back of her hand on Darcy's forehead but found her temperature to be okay. "Are you not feeling well dear?" She asked again.
Darcy looked pale, there was definitely something wrong with her.

The doorbell rang catching Mrs Stevenson's attention. She looked at Darcy and ran her hand on her hair and got up and headed towards the door. She opened the door and Megan walked in. Both of the exchanged a smile before Megan walked in.

"Hey sweetie" Megan said as she ruffled Darcy's hair on her way to her bedroom. Mrs. Stevenson couldn't help but smile at the girls. She then walked back to the kitchen.

Soon Rose and Liza were home too and they had their lunch. Darcy however refused to eat but after insisting Mrs Stevenson was successful in feeding her a few spoons of porridge.

It was late night and Megan was in the kitchen preparing the dinner. Mrs Stevenson was busy with Darcy, who has been acting weird the whole day. She was not willing to eat anything and just refused to talk to anyone. Both the parents were worried about her.

Megan was standing alone in the kitchen, she was almost done with the dinner when she heard a whisper from behind her. She immediately turned around but there was no one. She exhaled deeply getting back to work. But she could feel someone standing behind her, and then suddenly she felt someone's breath on the back of her neck. She stopped and turned around almost immediately. Breathing heavily she looked around there was no one. She quickly finished her work and left the kitchen. She wanted to tell her parents about it but she was afraid they won't believe her.

But little did she knew that her one negligence and things might go out of their hands.

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Am I late? I probably am😅
I hope it's not bad. Since I don't know every detail its hard to write it. Please bear with me.