Dark Shadows (#1 of Dark Shadows Series) |Old Version|

Chapter 1: Voices In The Night

A stray tear rolled down Katherine Bakers pale cheek as she quietly grieved by her older sister's gravestone. The day was gray and dark and cold, but Katherine was use to the constant coldness.

It had been five years since her sister's murder. Five years of constant paranoia, nightmares, and socially detachment from the outside world. Most people would grieve and try to move on with their memories, but Katherine didn't.

Watching her bestest friend, her flesh and blood, be killed in front of her had shattered her, breaking any sense of safety for her as she awoke every night from her nightmare, thinking the man in the hoodie was there for her.

Katherine wiped away her stray tears as she laid the lilies–Namie's favorite flower–onto the damp earth on the grave. She silently read the words craved onto the headstone:

"Though you were taken off this earth too soon, the people you've impacted will carry on your memory. In loving memory of Namie Winter Bakers."

Katherine couldn't help but smile sadly as she touched the cold stone. Namie hated the cold; today was nothing what she represented.

Getting up from her knees, she wiped the mud from her jeans, and walked out of the cemetery with the cold sweeping through her skin.

Over the last five years, Katherine had slowly began to recluse herself from the town. With the constant paranoia and lack of sleep, she had shut the outside world–including her family–out and stayed in the safety of her childhood room.

She reached home, seeing that neither of her parents were home. Since Namie's death, both of the girl's parents had buried themselves in drink and work, ignoring their only daughter as they'd grieve for the daughter they praised.

Though she didn't want to admit it, a small part of Katherine had hoped that the spotlight that shined on Namie would shift to her. All she wanted was the comfort of her mother after a nightmare, and the smile that her father once wore.

Through their childhood, Katherine was jealous of her older sister. Though she felt terrible for such thoughts, the ten and eleven year old Katherine Bakers was jealous of her perfect sister. Now, all she wanted was to go back and not take her sister for granted.

She stepped into the dark and cold house, the silence greeting her with open arms.

Katherine knew her parents won't be back tonight; her father at the office and her mother drunk and in another man's bed. She was use to this, it has been going on since she was fourteen.

The gray day slowly turned into an inky black night. Katherine had sent the day doing assignments from her professors and playing her music through the speakers.

Normally, Katherine would try to stay awake during the night in fear of new nightmares waiting for her, but the visit to Namie's grave took a toll on her.

Shutting off all the lights minus a few lamps, Katherine trudged upstairs to her room.

The room Katherine and Namie shared was a spacious room with royal purple walls and white furniture. On the right side was Katherine's side with a small bed in the corner, posters of movies and bands she enjoyed, and clothing scattered on the floor.

Namie's side was always neat and cleared of any signs of a mess. With books on her selves in line, bed neatly made, and everything organized to Namie's expectations.

Because Namie was the older sister, they had a pale curtain to divide their room for the sake of Namie being a teenager and wanting her privacy.

In the dim overhead light, her side of the room looked ghostly with a thin layer of dust on the surface. It was frozen in time, stuck in the past, waiting for her to come back.

Katherine walked over to her side of the room and quickly changed to leggings and a stained shirt. Her long black hair was fizzy from the mist during her visit and tangled up in large knots. Brushing it through, she braided it into a simple side braid.

Everyone always said she and Namie looked almost identical. Apart from the age gap, they did share the same black hair, vivid blue eyes, and pale skin. While Namie had more of an athletic build, Katherine had little curves and was petite for her age. She looked like a child.

"Not done that road again," Katherine whispered to herself. She didn't want to think of the negatives of her sister, it always brought up harbored feelings from her childhood.

Climbing into her bed, she curled up into the covers, silent tears running down her face.

Just when she was about to close her eyes, she heard someone whisper to her, saying her name over and over. At first, she thought it was her imagination, but when she continued to hear it, dread had made itself a home in the pit of her stomach.

"W-Who's there," she called out, only to have darkness and silence answer back.

"Katherine..." The voice was chilling and haunting, but yet, it was smooth and husky like they had just got out of bed. It was obviously a man's voice, but none of which Katherine knew of. It wasn't her father, and she certainly didn't know a lot of boys her age.

She carefully got out of bed and went to the window that overlooked the front lawn, and as if history was repeating, she saw a hooded figure standing in the grass under the tree.

Fear coursed through Katherine's veins as her eyes locked on with the stranger's. Her hands suddenly felt clamy as her heart beat grew faster, beating violently in her chest.

Through the shadows, she saw the stranger smirk, and slowly walked out from under the tree. Unlike five years ago, he held no knife, he just stood motionless with a smirk on his face.

He reached into his front pocket and retrieved a cell phone. The shadows of the hood made sure that the light would not allow Katherine to see the face of her sister's murderer. The stranger typed into the phone and put it back into his pocket.

Suddenly, Katherine's phone buzzed on her nightstand, signaling that she had a message.

In all her life, Katherine had never felt such fear as she looked at her phone before turning her attention back to the lawn, only to see the man was gone.

She quickly got back into bed with her cell phone clutched tightly in her grasp. She didn't know whether to look at the message on there or pretend that all of this was a nightmare.

She knew that it was no coincidence that she recieved a text the same time that the man had sent a text to someone else. But her curiosity got the better of her.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Opening up her messages, she saw that she received a text from an unknown number. Clicking on the message, her blood ran cold in horror as she stared at the glowing message.

"It has been a long time, Katherine. I do hope you've enjoyed the last five years I've gifted to you. But now, it is your turn, my little kitten."