The Shadows Will Never Hurt You

The new silence in the room was unbearable to the young girl. She couldn’t have been older than eight years old. She wore a wrinkled white dress with a lavender sash around her middle. The girl’s hair, which had once been styled into perfect ringlets, had become loose. A look of discomfort was clearly displayed on her face as she waited.

She had just been leaving the party room to find the restroom at the hotel, when the dark, looming halls gotten the better of her. The dark wood of the old building had towered over her, frightening her. The purpose of leaving the reception was forgotten and she took off running.

Every turn she made got her farther away from the liveliness of where she had come. With her adrenaline pumping, she realized she was lost. The creaking floorboards beneath her caused her to jump with every step and every small sound made her heart feel as if it could beat out of her chest.

She kept running until she fell down on to the cool, wood floor. The small noises continued, scratching at her ears and running chills down her back. She crawled to a corner and set her head in her hands, crying. She didn’t know how long she sat in the overwhelming darkness with no detectable changes in the room until she felt a presence.

She lifted her head and gaped at the boy that stood before her. He wore ragged clothes that seemed to glow in the little light that reached the room. He looked to be not much older than her and his skin was oddly grey. His eyes were blank, but for a moment, something flashed in them, before returning to a vacant stare.

The girl got over her initial shock and stood up to greet him, hoping he could help her. The boy just shook his head and walked away, however, before he even left the room, he disappeared, as if dissolving into the air.

With the strange departure of the boy, she was left to herself and the noises that were beginning to consume her. She decided to get up again and try to find her way out. Once again running through the halls, she came upon a room with a cold draft coming from it. Curious, she entered the room.

As the temperature decreased, the small noises vanished. She looked around the room and took in the broken and rotted out furniture, the old fashioned photos on the wall, and the only window she had seen in a while. She sat down in a chair that was not quite as deteriorated and waited. She wasn’t sure what for, but it felt like something was going to happen.

She was fiddling with the hem on her dress when a shadow fell upon the chair in which she sat. Swallowing, she looked up, but saw no one, just the shadow. Another shadow fell upon her back and she leapt out of the chair and spun around. No one was there either.

She ran to the doorway where she had entered the strange room, only to find it blocked by the two shadowy figures. They advanced upon her and she backed up until she found herself pinned against the wall on the other side of the room. She had two choices: cower before the shadows, or charge through them. She chose the latter.

Mustering up all of her strength, she ran towards them, and surprisingly, through them. As she passed through them, a black veil clouded her vision and she felt as if she was floating. She expected to hit the floor on the other side, but never did. Instead, she gracefully landed with her feet barely touching the ground.

The shadows swirled about above the little girl’s head, where they eventually disappeared through the ceiling. The girl’s mouth was slightly ajar as she processed what she had witnessed. She looked down to see that her hands had dulled in color, yet her white dress glowed in the moonlight that was coming from the window.

She lay down on the floor and stared up, waiting for someone to find her. The silence had resumed since the shadows had left, and it was eating away at her. She stayed in the stillness of the room not for long before someone came in and lay down next to her.

She looked over to see the ragged, grey boy from earlier. His glowing clothes and vacant eyes caused realization to come upon her. She was the same as him now. She had been changed. And just like he had waited for her, they lay waiting. Waiting for the next victim of the shadows.