The Pied Piper

PREFACE

[No Person's POV]

All this has happened before, and it will all happen again...but this time it happened in California. Particularly on a quiet street where a few small houses resided.

In the late hours of the night, when no one dared to be awake, a figure zipped through the skies chasing a dark cloud he knew as his shadow.

The figure gained speed, yet had no luck in catching the darkness he so badly wanted.

He turned the corner, and barely caught a glimpse of the shadow disappearing into a backyard.

The boy groaned and rolled his eyes, then reluctantly followed the shadow. He was no longer there.

"I know you're still here." called out the now visibly recognizable boy.

He took his time walking closer to the house to rest his hands on the glass sliding door in front of him.

He wiped away condensation and peered inside the filmy door.

He saw a simple kitchen with granite countertops, wooden cupboards, and a simple rounded wooden table.

He looked harder trying to see behind the counters, and when he could he saw the all-white eyes peering into his own.

"I found you." whispered the boy with success. An ever-growing smirk appeared on his lips.

"Now to get you." He sighed. He then shut his eyes and exhaled largely.

The boy then phased into the wall and appeared on the other side of the door inside the house.

The boy smiled to himself, and took a step closer to the shadow that he could now see was in the living room.

"Don't try to get away now. I'll just get you again." warned the boy.

He took another step towards the living room, but then a door down the hall to the left of him swung open.

"Shit." Whispered the boy.

He levitated himself until his back was pressed to the ceiling. Just in time before a girl stumbled in her sleep to another set of doors just next to the kitchen.

She knocked twice, and waited for an answer as she rubbed the sleep out from her eyes.

No answer came from behind the door. She knocked again.

"Mom? Mom wake up." She said.

The door slowly opened, and a woman's tired face appeared behind it.

"Elizabeth? Why are you awake?" She asked groggily.

The girl walked to the kitchen with her mom following behind. She flipped the switch illuminating the entire kitchen making the boy on the ceiling worry.

"Mom, I can't sleep. It's this place. I-It gives me the creeps." She said shaking her head.

The boy on the ceiling watched all this quietly with wonder until a floorboard creaked in the living room making everyone snap their heads in that direction.

The boy watched the shadow phase into the floorboards, spreading all amongst the house. Meaning now he could be anywhere on the entire property.

"See!" said the girl facing the living room.

The boy didn't worry about the girl seeing the shadow. He knew that she could not see him in the darkness, and that she was only referring to the creaking noise.

Her mom giggled tiredly. "Hun, you have to give this place a chance. In order for things to get better, you need to believe they will get better." She said as she wrapped an arm around her daughter and kissed her cheek. The room stayed silent.

The girl sighed. "I know. It's just, I-I'm not sure if I can do that anymore."

"What? Giving this place a chance?" questioned the mom.

The girl shook her head slowly. "No, that's not what I mean." she said.

"Then what do you mean Elizabeth?" asked her mom.

"I can't..." she trailed off.

Her mom exhaled impatiently. "You can't...you can't what?"

The daughter sighed again closing her eyes. "Believe." she answered. "I can't believe."

Her mom looked shocked for a second at her daughter's reply. She then shook her head and put on a smile.

"That'll change baby. I promise. Now go back to bed, it's not a first night's sleep at a house if you don't get any sleep." she joked.

She then patted her daughters back and walked back to her room shutting the door.

The daughter remained a bit longer. She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head.

"Elizabeth Waters. You are brave, you are fearless. You can live here, and you can start over." she self-encouraged.

She took a deep breath and then walked back to her room forgetting to shut off the lights.

After a few moments passed the boy slowly lowered himself back to the ground.

He smiled evilly and placed his palm to the floor.

"I know you're still here, and I will find you. I know what you're planning, and it won't work. But while we're here, why don't we...have some fun." the boy said to the ground with a mischievous grin.

A low snicker sounded through the halls signaling the shadow's agreement.

"She doesn't think she can believe eh? Well we'll give her something to believe in..." started the boy.

"A happy ending?" suggested a raspy inhuman voice from the walls.

The boy shook his head in response. "No. We'll make her believe in us." He answered devilishly.

He then stood up swiftly from the ground and walked to the light switch flicking the lights off.

He strided confidently down the hall to the girl's room with a slow pace. With every step he slowly phased into the floorboards just like the shadow.

Poor girl didn't know she not only lived with her mom, but now also a demon and it's twisted keeper.