The Shadows' Empress (Part 2)

Roland turned off the TV. He planned on watching the rest of the Olympic games that would be shown on the local news channel; however, he didn’t feel like watching thirty minutes or so of the news. Besides, none of the events he wanted to watch would be aired, and he was getting incredibly tired. Roland hadn’t actually done too much during the day aside from some assignments for school, which he had all day to do. His father allowed him to stay home from school thinking Roland’s nightmare that morning was caused by some issues his son refused to talk about. Maybe having the day off to destress would do him some good.

Whether it did or not was yet to be tested. Roland finished his assignments early that morning and spent most of the day drawing and watching highlights from the winter Olympics. Having so much time to himself made him more anxious than anything. All day, he could only think about the dream he’d had the night before. Or rather, his nightmare. As much as he wanted to forget about it, something about it seemed too real to ignore. So, he tried drawing the woman he dubbed the Shadows' Empress and wondered if there was a way to force himself to have the same dream again. Though, he didn’t count of it. Roland’s best friend, Connor, once mentioned that he could control what happened in his dreams—something he called lucid dreaming. That didn’t sound like what Roland was going for, so he didn’t bother trying to learn how to do it.

The teenager stared at the television, looking at the reflection of the kitchen behind the couch where he laid. For a second, he wondered where the light was coming from that caused the line of light that shone diagonally across the tv, before realizing that the light in the kitchen was on. He had forgotten to turn it off when he’d gone in to get s a root beer.

“Last one out, get the lights,” he said, quoting his science teacher from freshman year—the year before.

Roland stretched, extending across the couch, and stood up, walking toward the kitchen and turning off the light. He turned back around to head upstairs with the sudden feeling that he was being watched. He used to get the feeling often, despite there being no one watching him. Roland looked through all of the windows on the first floor. Seeing no one he turned his attention to the locks on the front and back doors, which were visible from his spot on the third step.

“Ugh…I should stop looking around,” Roland said to himself out loud. “There’s never anyone there.”

Walking past his younger siblings’ bedrooms, Roland took a moment to check on them. He did this often. Now that his mother wasn’t around to do the things she used to do for him, Roland took it upon himself to do them in her place. They were sleeping, which Roland found amazing with as much energy as they had just before their bedtime.

“Hey, Dad. I’m going to bed,” Roland said as he came to his father’s bedroom door. “Goodni—”

“Stop bothering my family. They’ve done nothing to you.” Roland heard Jacob say.

“Okay…I’ll just see you in the morning,” the confused teen muttered under his breath.

Roland continued to his room, shocked by what he’d heard. He wondered about who his father could have been talking to, but was too tired to let it concern him for too long. Instead, he stripped to his boxers, and got into bed. His mind immediately drifting back to the Shadows' Empress. This time, though, he only thought about how cool he thought her new title was.

‘There it is, again.’ He thought. ‘That feeling like someone’s stalking me.’

“Fuck it. Nobody’s ever there.” Roland rolled onto his left side, trying to think more about what his dad had said. But he couldn’t. He felt a strong presence behind him but was too sleepy to see who was behind him. And his eyelids seemed heavier than they were a few minutes ago.

Everything was completely dark, again. Roland looked around but couldn’t see anything. He began to panic. Something wasn’t right, and he could tell that whatever he’d gotten into, it was bad. He frantically began to walk in different directions, hoping whatever was going on would stop and he could wake up in his bed.

Roland stopped. ‘I’m asleep. I think…’

He began to pace in the darkness as he spoke to himself—his way of making sense of things. “I don’t remember going to bed, but that’s nothing new.”

Roland calmed down as he realized that he was in familiar territory, despite not being able to see where he was.

“In my nightmare last night…I fell into a hole at the end, and it closed up over me. Maybe I’m still there, and my nightmare’s just starting from this point.”

He chuckled to himself. “That’s actually kind of bad-ass! Bet you’ve never done this in your dreams, Connor!”

Suddenly, there was a feeling of wind blowing into Roland’s face, and the smell of salt water.

“You’re back. It’s nice to see you again so soon.”

Roland whirled around to see a small light illuminating a hole in the wall. And just inside it, the Shadows' Empress. Roland’s heart felt like it skipped a beat.

“I didn’t know you could stand in the light,” he said. “…Even though you were technically in the light when we first met…” He felt his cheeks burn as the blood rushed to them. ‘Blushing again? Hopefully, she can’t see it since I’m standing in the dark like a creeper.’

“If you don’t want to stay in this hole forever, I suggest you follow this tunnel to a much less…lonely place.” The Shadows' Empress spoke slowly, and calmly as she did before. With a hint of familiarity.

‘Who is she?’ Roland asked himself. ‘Why do I feel like I know her?’

“Why should I follow you?” he asked, not meaning to be defiant. Can you blame a boy with trust issues?

“If you wish to stay in the darkness you’re welcome to. But do mind the Nitris. They do not enjoy visitors in their caves.” The Shadows' Empress walked away through the tunnel until Roland could no longer see her.

“I’m not looking for a fight with some shit I’ve never heard of before.”

Roland walked to the opening of the cave and, before entering, took the candle held in a sconce on the left side of the opening. He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue walking.

“It’s only a dream,” he told himself. “Right?”

The Shadows' Empress (Part 1)

“What…am I looking at?” Roland stared up the decrepit stairs of the main entrance to the hotel at the dark creature. It stood there, almost inviting him to follow it. But the shadow-like opacity, and what looked like black wind flowing in thin streams around it kept his feet planted where they were. Taking an extra few seconds to look this creature over, he could make out a figure within the different shades of grey and black. At this point, Roland could see that those streams of black wind, and the smoke emanating from the ground around the thing’s feet took the shape of a dress. And atop her head sat an ornate headdress made of what seemed to be a goat skull with horns that formed a perfect spiral on either side, decorated with red jewels and silver chains.

            “You must come with me, Roland,” the creature said raising a hand out, palm up, as if expecting him to take her hand so they could walk in the long-abandoned hotel together.

            “I—I’m not supposed to go anywhere with strangers,” Roland stammered. Woman had such an alluring voice, but the teenager’s fear took precedence over all other senses.

            The woman made of shadows chuckled a bit, lowering her hand. Roland thought she might be laughing at him for sounding like a little kid with his “stranger danger” speech. That idea caused him to blush while wondering why he should care what she thought of him. ‘Who even is she?’

            “You can deny me all you want…” the woman slowly turned her back to Roland, bringing her hands together under the wide sleeves of her shadowy gown. “But you will one day return here, begging for me to show you what think you need to know. I have already seen it.”

            ‘Great. So, she can see the future,’ Roland strangely felt a longing for this woman that he had only just met and knew nothing about, and she hadn’t even left, yet. But she was leaving. Walking away slowly into the hotel that, only now, felt familiar in the way that only things worth reminiscing about can.

            “Have I been here before?” the boy asked himself, not thinking anyone would hear him.

            “You have,” the mass of shadows surrounding the woman shifted to one side, revealing part of the headdress as she spoke. “And when you are ready to come back, I will be here to welcome you.”

            One word flashed through Roland’s mind as he processed those words: Empress. Not knowing why, he felt that title definitely suited her. The Shadows’ Empress. Knowing this small detail that made him feel a little better about everything that was happening at the moment, despite the likely possibility that it only made sense to him. He didn’t care. Roland needed something to help him understand the situation before him, even though he didn’t actually know what that was.

            Roland stared up at the center tower of the hotel that boasted a magnificent clock face on it. He was hoping to tell what time it was; another piece of information that might make him feel better—or worse—but ultimately had no real value. However, the hand on the clock were moving at a steady pace. Backwards.

            “Maybe I’m stuck in a world where time doesn’t exist?” he said, hoping asking questions out loud that weren’t exactly directed at the Empress would more likely prompt her to give Roland answers than if he asked her directly. He didn’t hear anything. Roland looked back down toward the cracked stone path where she was standing. She was gone, and Roland never saw her leave. Roland walked up the few steps to the are where the path was flat, examining the walkway. Nothing but broken, grey bricks with weeds growing from underneath them, black like they had been burned by some kid with a magnifying glass trying to kill ants.

            “Wow. Most villains wait for their victims to ask for answers and tell them to figure everything out on their own before they leave.”

            The ground began to rumble and shake around him. The stones of the walkway began to crack even more as Roland watched. Then, suddenly, the ground under the bricks rose, pushing them apart, before swallowing everything in an ever-growing sink hole, dark with no bottom in sight. Roland tried to run. He had turned away from the hotel, from the hole in the ground, and started to run to the forest that was a great distance away.

The sink hole was opening wider, swallowing even more of the landscape; growing to fast for the frightened teen to outrun it. The ground under his feet fell away, causing his body to drop into the sink hole like the pennies he used to throw into the fountain at the mall when he was younger. ‘Where’s that good luck now?’ he thought as he stared up at the white sky that got smaller as his vision was eclipsed by the hole he had fallen into.

Eventually, everything was dark. The hole he had fallen into looked as if it had closed at the top. There was no sky. Not anymore. Just darkness, and a boy alone with his thoughts.

‘Your mother did her best bringing you into this world. I did my best raising you. The rest is up to you. Good luck, boy. You might need it someday.’

Shadow Man (Part 5)

‘Holy shit! Why don’t you just go home and leave my brother alone?’ Jesse stared at his Uncle as the large man stood and walked over to the stairs. Certain steps creaked, as they were made of wood, so he could keep tabs on Uncle Nick’s progress toward Izzy’s room.

Normally, Jesse was rather good at bullshitting—coming up with excuses was often an easy thing for him. But at that moment, the paralyzing shock he felt was keeping him from thinking about anything.

As they say, anything that can go badly will. Jesse saw a small black object in his peripheral vision, and instinctively turned to look at it. He followed what looked like a small cat making a beeline to the kitchen, disappearing beyond the door frame. Immediately after, the hulking shadow figure that had been causing Jesse so much stress since he left the hospital took a wobbling step into the living room, moving its’ head from left to right and back again as if surveying the room. Jesse wanted to scream but was a bit more concerned that everyone else seemed so calm. ‘How do you not see that?’ Jesse yelled inside his own mind.

Minzy began to cry snapping Jesse out of his trance. ‘Babies really can see things adults can’t,’ he thought. ‘Fuck off, shadow man. I’m busy.’

“Hey, Dad? Can I talk to you about something?” Jesse asked.

“Sure, bud! What’s going on?”

Jesse did his best to appear shy. “Um…In private?”

Jesse’s parents gave each other a look as if to say “Oh, shit…”

“You boys go and discuss your ‘man’ problems, while Isabella and I catch up some more,” Jesse’s mom said, shooing father and son away.

Jesse grabbed his father’s hand and led him upstairs to the teenager’s bedroom but left the door open so any noises from Izzy’s room could be heard.

“What’s up?” Jesse’s dad asked as he sat down on his son’s bed.

“Well, it’s about Izzy. He wanted to ask you, but he was embarrassed, so he asked me. But I don’t actually know what to do in this situation, so I was planning on asking you later when everyone went home, but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen anytime soon,” Jesse spat the words out quickly, while pacing back and forth. He had never taking acting classes, so Jesse only hoped he was coming off and awkward, or nervous.

“Now, you boys know that you can come to me with whatever problems you’re having.”

“I know…” Jesse mumbled looking at the floor. ‘Please don’t look at the desk lamp’ he thought. Honestly, his second biggest concern was getting in trouble for breaking it. ‘Focus, Jesse…’

“What if, hypothetically…”

“A hypothetical situation that you’ve already told me was about Izzy?”

Jesse’s eyes darted around the room for a second realizing what he said and thinking about what to say next. “Yeah. Okay, so there’s this guy that…kinda creeps him out. Has been for a long time. But there’s no way to get away from him. And…nobody would believe us if we told them what he used to—”

“Is it Nick?” Jesse’s father wore a stern, borderline angry face.

For the second time in less than twenty minutes Jesse was stunned into silence. He wasn’t sure if he made it obvious or not, but now that he had the chance to confess something that had been bothering him since he was in elementary school he couldn’t bring himself to say it. But, in this case, Jesse’s silence spoke volumes.

Jesse’s dad got up from the bed and stomped down the hallway. Seconds later, there was a bang when he kicked in youngest son’s door open to see Izzy in bed, wiping something from his lower lip, and Uncle Nick standing over his nephew.

“Get the fuck out of my house,” Jesse’s father spoke quietly, seething. He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he never liked Nick, and finally had a reason to kick him out.

“What—” Nick started to speak, but the tone in which his brother-in-law spoke and the look on his face let him know he didn’t want to accidentally escalate things. After all, Nick was one of the few people to see his brother-in-law angry. He might as well be the grim reaper.

“Okay, man. Just making sure Izzy was alright,” Nick said raising his hands as a sign that he meant no harm. “I’m leaving, alright?”

Jesse’s father followed Nick to the front door, slamming in Nick’s face when he tried to say goodbye. Meanwhile, Jesse thought he should have a talk with his little brother.

“You alright?” Jesse asked.

“I’m fine.” Izzy definitely didn’t sound fine. He turned away from his brother, pulling the comforter up over his head. Jesse walked over and sat down on the bed next to his brother and put his hand on Izzy’s shoulder above the cocoon of blankets that Izzy wrapped himself with. A muffled sound came from the inside of the cocoon. “I don’t wanna talk about it. Not yet.”

“I gotcha, bro. But you know Dad’s gonna want to talk about…everything, now.”

“I know.”

“I’ll tell him you’re not up to talk about it just yet. But if you do wanna talk, I’m here for you.”

“Okay.”

Jesse walked towards the door of his brother’s room, but Izzy stopped him before he could leave. “Thanks, bro…”

“No problem, Izzy.”

Upon closing the bedroom door, Jesse looked down the hallway toward the top of the stairs to see the Shadow Man standing there quietly.

“I was wondering where you went.”