What Lurks In The Shadows

Party Pooper

I cough. “Amy?” I confirm. The name sounds familiar, like someone I should know.

“Well that’s what I said, isn’t it?” Amy replies sassily.

“So, Amy, how did you die?”

“Hmmm… that’s an excellent question. Care to guess?” She smirks.

“Did you drown?” I ask. It was the first thing that had popped into my head.

“Nope. Actually, on second thought, don’t guess. I’m not having this conversation with you.”

“Why? I will understand. My sister died recently and I could see her too.”

“NO. No. You don’t! You do not understand what it’s like, to always be on guard, always watching for them. The darkness. They are waiting for a weak moment, so they can pounce and swallow me whole. And then I’ll become like them.” Amy sounds wise beyond her years, filled with fear but courage.

“Who? Wait- do you mean the shadows? I’ve seen them too. Maybe you can help me. My sister, she-”

“Go away.” She looks angry.

“But you must help me!”

“I said, GO. AWAY. Would you like me to spell it out for you?” I am starting to get scared by this cute little sweetheart.

“Please, she said-” The little girl starts screaming. It is a loud, high pitched squeal that chills me to the bone. So I run away. Away from her. I can’t stand the screaming.

What feels like forever but is later, I sit down on the curb. My ears are still ringing. After a few deep breaths, I am able to clear my head enough to remember the party. Standing up, I look around and realize that I am lost. I check my phone, only to find that it is dead. Angrily, impulsively, I throw it at the concrete. It shatters against the pavement, and I yell a long string of cuss words at the top of my lungs. In the house behind me a light on the top floor flicks on and I book it down the pavement. I run for a few minutes just because it feels good, and when I stop, I am overtaken by the fear that I am now even more lost. Then I check the nearest street sign to find out that I am on Westland Avenue. The panic in my chest dies down. I somehow accidentally ran to my old best friend’s street. We drifted apart years ago, but now I am so glad for her friendship because I know how to get to the party from here.

I walk down the street for a little while, take the third left, and I keep walking until I hear the music pumping out of Jay’s house. I take a deep breath, wondering how my life got so suckish, and walk in. I barely have time to register what is going on when someone slaps me on the back.

“Hey! You made it!” Jay yells.

“What, were you waiting for me? That’s not weird at all. You shouldn’t have wasted your time. I almost didn’t come.” I try to act nonchalant about coming, as if I had better things to do and I only came because he kept bugging me. Jay opens his mouth to reply, but is cut of by a loud, “Haaaaaay! Zarra, you made it!” Something-or rather, someone jumps onto my back, causing me to almost lose my balance and fall over. I catch myself at the last second.