Lurking Shadows (standard:horror, 1180 words)
Author: J. F. Naples	Added: Sep 24 2002	Views/Reads: 3573/2319	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Do you think that you sleep alone at night?

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

the bathroom to switch out the bad nightlight for the good one. If 
Kayla would wake in the middle of the night, she wouldn't feel alone in 
the darkness. 

Slipping quietly out of his bed, Tommy tiptoed across his room, and
opened his door slowly as to not awake the hinges.  When it was open 
enough to steal a glimpse into the hall, he stopped.  Looking through 
the opening, he first saw down the hall.  No rooms, just the landing 
and the stairs that went down into the living room. 

Sticking his head out through the opening, he could see all the doors
that went to the various rooms in the upstairs.  The one across the 
hall was the bathroom, next to that the linen closet.  Then following 
down, his parent's room and across from them, Kayla's room, and that 
was when Tommy felt as if he lost all his breath. 

Darker than the shadows, something stood outside Kayla's room. Taller
than his mother, and bigger than his father, the shadow quietly slipped 
into Kayla's room.  Feeling his paralysis break, Tommy slipped out of 
his room, and up the hall he crept.  Tommy meant to go to his parent's 
room, but he found himself moving instead toward Kayla's.  Without the 
floor announcing his passage, he found himself at her threshold. 

Even though darkness enveloped the whole house and its surrounding
property, the light that glowed in Kayla's room looked cold, 
threatening.  The light was wrapped around her. 

Once more, Tommy was held where he stood, not able to move, just able to
breathe.  He watched as the shadow reached down to Kayla, and touched 
her cheek.  She cooed sleepily, and Tommy could see that her eyes 
opened wide, as if she was about to scream. 

“Please Kayla,” Tommy pleaded.  “Scream.  Please scream.” 

Then Kayla's expression changed from fear to happy.  Raising her little
chubby arms to the entity, she quietly laughed.  The shadow lowered its 
cloaked head to hers. 

Tommy watched in disbelief at what he was seeing.  Unable to do anything
but watch, he saw the nightmare unfold before him. 

The eerie light that glowed in the room brightened.  Particles of light
slipped from Kayla's mouth and nose, to a steady stream it lifted.  As 
if connected by an umbilical of life, Kayla and the shadow shared.  
Yawning widely, Kayla's light dimmed, then went out.  The umbilical 
ceased and the shadow rose to its full height and turned towards Tommy. 


Shadow upon shadow, the hooded face stared at Tommy.  Its orange eyes
glared in amusement.  Tommy felt the coldness it cast.  Then in less 
then a second, the shadow slipped fleetingly out of the room, by Tommy, 
down the hall and out of sight.  Tommy felt the scream release from his 
body. 

“I know you're out there,” Tommy said unto the shadows.  “And this time
I'm ready for you.” 

But Tommy never thought of his open bedroom window. 


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