What Lurks In The Shadows

Find him

I'm running through the forest. I've lost all sense of direction; I don't know where I'm going, just that I have to get away. Away from them. The shadows. They wait in the corners, trying to grab me, brushing my legs with their damp icy grip. Everytime they touch me, I feel a shock of cold snaking up my spine. Their glowing yellow eyes seem to pierce into the very depths of my soul, and see all my darkest secrets.

The trees are crumbling to ash all around me, making it hard to see. The sky is gray, like smoke, and the sun and moon are hidden from sight. I hear my name whispered into the wind that's roaring through my ears... Zarra...Zarra...ZARRA! It screams. I whip frantically around, searching for the source of the voice. Then I see her. It, I should say, I stumble and nearly fall.

It can't be. She's dead. They found her decaying body in the lake. Lylac. My twin sister. My beautiful twin sister. She's still wearing the same clothing she went missing in, a tiffany blue tank top with a short white fitted skirt. My sister has the same long brown locks of hair as I, the same plush red lips and pale skin.

But her skin is now paler than mine. Unnaturally pale. And her eyes, those eyes... they are no longer the beautiful shimmering green eyes they once were, so full of life. They are scary. Dark. Red. Red as the blood pumping unnaturally fast through my veins.

I hear her whisper something. I can't quite understand at first, but then she turns to me and whispers it again.

"Find him!" Lylac lunges towards me, grabs me by the arms, and screams. I feel pure heat coarsing through my body, and I feel as if I might burn up at any second. Then it suddenly stops, and I feel cold, very cold. All I can see is a vast darkness. I am terrified.

I wake up with a jolt, gripping my blanket with a clammy yet steely grip. Afraid of what lurks in the shadows. I tell myself that it's over, that it was just a dream, and I'm almost starting to believe it. Almost, that is, until I hear it.

Click. Click. Screeeeech. Click. Click. Screeeeech. I look around my room, searching for the cause of the sound. On the window, I see scratch marks, and written in blood, 'find him.' I close my eyes and count to three, telling myself that it is just my imagination overreacting, and when I open my eyes it will be gone.

One. Two. Three. When I open my eyes, it's gone, but standing at the foot of my bed, is her. Lylac. She screams, and as she does so her eyes change from blood red to black, empty, souless pits. When she finishes screaming, she catches on fire, and burns bright for what seems like forever, before crumbling into a pile of ash.