Shadow Cursed

Chapter 2: The Price of the Choice

The sounds around me got louder, there were tears and cheers. My head didn't hurt as much now. I slowly opened my eyes. My eye sight cleared up, and someone hugged me, I couldn't tell who. They released me and I looked around. My foster mother, sister, and Marissa's parents were here, along with a doctor and a few nurses.

"How long was I out for?" The decision I made wouldn't leave me alone.

My sister answered, "A few days, we weren't sure if you were ever gonna wake up."

I couldn't tell them what happened, they wouldn't believe it. Being dead, then brought back to life. I would have been sent to the mental hospital that second for believing I was dead.

I thought I heard a voice, it was quiet, and the room was loud. I listened for it again, and heard it faintly. I couldn't make out what it said, but it was speaking to me. It didn't repeat the message a third time. I would have thought I was going crazy myself. "Did someone say something?"

My sister responded, "Say what? We're just glad that you pulled through. You had us worried."

"Thanks..." I just sat there.

An hour later I watched Marissa's parents leave first after I told them I was sorry about what happened. They were still grieving, but it couldn't be avoided, Marissa was their only daughter they had. All they said was that she was in a better place now.

The night neared, then my mother and sister left last. My dad has supposedly died in an accident years ago when I was younger I was told. And my mother died also, but I never found out how. My foster mother must of been so worried I would of ended up with the same fate.

By 10 pm I was tired. I don't know if it was the effect of being alive again, or my energy being drained by everyone visiting me and glad I was okay. I justed wanted to sleep.

Falling asleep was the easy part, but staying asleep turned out to be harder. I heard voices, and every time I opened my eyes, no one was there. I thought I was gettomg paranoid. The thing that scared me the most was when I thought I saw a demon. A growling hissing sound woke up me around 1:50 am, I couldn't tell where it come from but I thought I saw a shadow move. It disappeared a second later.

Now I was scared, this was new. It must of been the cost of my choice, this had never happened before. Before the accident I was never paranoid, I never noticed shadows, or heard voices in my head. I wondered what else was in store for me.

Then the rain started coming down against the window, slowly I fell asleep to the rhythm of the raindrops. I slept the rest of the night to the morning.

After waking up, I looked out the window. It was still raining. The clock read 10:36 am, and the room was empty. Two days had passed since I made the choice that haunted me. I kept hearing voices during the night. Shadows also started appearing in my dreams. I was sure that this was not everything I signed up for.

Picking up my phone from the side table, I looked at it. I noticed a voice mail from my friend Marissa's phone last night. But she was dead so I didn't know how she called me, she had died and wasn't given a choice like I was. Entering my password I heard the message, it was silent, but with voices in the background. I understood what they were saying, something about watching my back, and I would be in danger. After listening to it the first time it disappeared, like the voicemail didn't exist. The warning probably had a meaning. Better not ignore this one. I don't want to have my funeral in a few days.

Someone walked into the room. I looked up, he had a dark suit and took a seat on the couch in the other side of the room. Silence passed. His hair was short and a dark brown kinda like mine. His eyes a deep dark brown. I ried to avoid eye contact if I could.

"Who are you?" I broke the silence. "What do you want from me?"

"We'll get to introductions later." He got up and walked to the side of my bed. "For now I'm just a visitor looking for you."

I thought about it, who did I know when I was living. Not my dad, he was long gone, my uncle lives on the other side of the country, my aunt died of cancer years ago, and I didn't meet the rest of my family. "I can't remember ever meeting you... Were you from dad's side of the family?"

"Close. You're still very new to this I see, no one has told you anything." He took a seat on the chair next to me. "I just want to know one thing Isabella. How is your head?"

"Are you dead? Like a ghost?" The words come out of my mouth stuttering. "But no, you are sitting on the chair not floating on it. You can't be a ghost. Are you a demon? If so stay away from me!"

"Good guess, but not exactly. And I am not a demon, I am on your side." He took a look at me. "I would expected you to be more scared, but you are handling this pretty well considering we haven't seen in years."

He seemed familiar, "Where have I seen you before?" Sometime told me he was part of my childhood. Maybe he was some kid's parent who came in on carreer day.

"Come with me. I want to show you something." I shook my head at him. "You are coming with me." He wouldn't take no for an answer.

A moment later I was somewhere else, I was standing in an empty hallway with the stranger. The air was cold, and I had a cloak on over the hospital gown.

"Where am I?" He didn't talk, he just turned around and walked down the hall. I panicked, and followed him. Passing many empty hallways I saw empty rooms and some rooms with people in them. The hallway ended with a door, he had already gone through it. Slowly turning the door handle I opened it and walked into the darkness blindly.