There were a few times He had tried to face the shadows, and each time the attempt had backfired.
Most resulted in him shouting at the shadows. “I’m not afraid of you!” but all that did was make things worse; the shadows would suddenly surge against him and he would run away crying. But there was one time that stood out against the rest…
It had been a bad week at school. He was in 7th grade at the time, and all the kids had been going on about their latest escapade of breaking into the school after hours. Many of the kids had succeeded in doing so, but him? There was no way in hell he was going to do it. And when he told everyone else they just laughed at him.
“Aww, is the pansy-boy afraid of getting into trouble?”
“Ha! I bet he thinks there’s a ghost haunting the classrooms at night, so he won’t go near!”
At the end of the week, Jason had got so fed up that he decided he would do it. Not only to prove to everyone he wasn’t a pansy (and to get them to shut up), but to prove it to himself. There was nothing in the shadows. He wasn’t going to get eaten. He would be absolutely fine. He’d even take a flashlight with him just in case!
Oh, how wrong he was…
Getting into the school had been a synch; the fence around the school was easy enough to climb over, even for him (it still didn’t stop him from falling onto his a** though). The teachers had also been pretty laxed with locking up some of the classrooms, so he knew he would be able to sneak into some of the classrooms easily enough…well, he hoped so. But no sooner had he picked himself up from his fall from the fence had he realized that there were no lights inside the school grounds. Already he felt panic well up inside him.
No…I must stay calm…I have to prove everyone wrong! There’s nothing to be afraid of, the shadows can’t hurt me... He was quick to take out his flashlight, the beam cutting through the darkness and lighting his way inside. Not wanting to take his time Jason ran towards one of the classrooms, trying not to focus on the encroaching darkness behind him or the voices that whispered his name with an evil hiss. He could feel something was just behind him, and ran even faster not even pausing to check if there was something there. He only stopped when his hands clasped the cold metal of the door frame, and tugged on it desperately.
The door refused to open.
In a panic, he whizzed around with his torch in hand, scanning the area for any sign of danger, but could find nothing. Yet the air felt heavy with energy, and he knew that just beyond the torchlight the shadows were writhing.
Okay..I can’t get into a classroom…doesn’t matter...I’ve proven myself, I’ll just go home Jason reasoned, already walking back the way he came. His mind went over the possibilities of how he would convince the others he had got this far. It didn’t matter he hadn’t actually gone in the classroom. It didn’t!
A soft cackle was heard in the distance.
“Who’s there?!” He shouted without thinking, already looking for signs of the perpetrator, but again could not see a thing.
Another laugh was heard, but this time it was closer…much closer…
Jason had about three seconds to turn around, before he heard a pair of footsteps behind him, and felt the breath of something large along his back.
He screamed, his mind forgetting all sense and reason, and sprinted towards the exit. In his haste to get away he tripped, falling flat onto the ground and watching in slow motion as his torch smashed against the ground, breaking and sending him into complete darkness.
~~~~~~~~
Eta V shook his head sadly at the memory. He couldn't remember much else about the incident, apart the sounds of manic laughing and the feeling of being smothered. He knew he had continued to scream and cry as if he was being attacked, and wondered what would have happened had the security guard not found him a few minutes later. The next day he was taken to the principal’s office, and put on a week’s worth of detention for breaking into the school grounds. His was lucky though; apparently he would have copped worse, had the security guard not told the principle that he had found Jason. “Unconscious on the floor, deathly pale and covered in sweat.” He had also heard the boy’s cries of terror, although he could not for the life of him figure out what had happened.
The incident was quickly forgotten about by all but Jason, who was still waking up in pure fright years later, thinking he was being smothered by shadows again.
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