Shadows

i wrote this for school when we had to do a story in the gothic genre. i like it =) lol

David pulled the bedclothes up to his chin. The eerie moaning continued, unperturbed by this small defiance. It’s just the wind in the chimney, he told himself, over and over. It’s nothing to worry about.

Footsteps started towards his door from the dark corridor outside it. Slow, steady, purposeful footsteps, edging ever closer to his lonely, dark room. David reached above his head and turned his gas lamp up, so that it lit the room with flickering orange, creating strange shadows that danced on the walls like a five-year olds nightmare.

The footsteps reached his door. There was a barely perceptible pause, then the door creaked open loudly. David shrieked as a dark shadow threw itself at him, passing through him as a gust of poisonous air. He sobbed once, just once, before he managed to get himself back under the rigid control that had lasted for so long.

He had been through this terror every night since he had moved into the castle two weeks ago. He refused to leave, refused to let the shadow get the better of him.

The lamp above his head blew out. Crazed laughter could be heard retreating from the room. The door slammed shut, the noise echoing piercingly down the corridor. The moaning started up again, coaxing him to run, run, run as far away as he could to get away from the constant terror, the constant horror. He ignored the temptation with a reasonable effort.

Sighing with some small relief, he slid further down in the bed, realising that at some point in the encounter he must have sat up.

There was a knocking at the front door.

David was so startled that he sat bolt upright again, battering his head on the lamp. Cursing, he sank back down into bed, assuming that the knocks were caused by the shadow. Then he heard a voice calling. He recognised it, it was Bill, the town’s police officer.

He stood up, his weight making the floorboards creak. Everything in this house creaked. He grabbed his candelabrum, lit it, and started down the long, lonely corridor.

David reached the front door and opened it, wincing at the screeching it made. Sure enough, Bill stood there, resplendent in a dressing gown and his police hat.

He asked David if he had heard a shriek, as one of the neighbours had. He replied, yes, it was me. I had a bad dream. Satisfied with this answer, Bill left. It was not in the nature of the people in this area to be suspicious of others, even newcomers.

Returning to his bedroom, David shut his door and locked it firmly. He put the brass key under his pillow, knowing that something so small as a locked door wouldn’t keep the shadow out.

Climbing back into bed, he blew out the candles and shut his eyes. It was dawn already, he was exhausted, so exhausted. He was asleep in seconds.  

Just a moment later, or so it seemed, he woke up. He stretched, knowing subconsciously that something was wrong. As he stretched, he reached under the pillow. The key was gone. Abruptly, he realised that as a key can unlock a door, so it can lock it.

David leapt out of bed and tried the door. It opened easily; creaking fit to wake the dead. He sighed with relief, then jumped backwards as an axe fell from the ceiling to the ground a meagre foot in front of where he had been standing. Swallowing a scream, he stood up from where he had fallen on the floor and examined the axe. It was razor sharp. The shadow hadn’t been merely trying to terrify him this time, this time it had tried to kill him. It must have had enough of fun and games, and was determined to either scare him out of the house, or kill him.

David squared his shoulders. There was no way he was going to leave now, after all the torment he had been through. Especially as this had been his grandmothers house, before she disappeared. The only way he was leaving this house was in a coffin.

There was a creak behind him. He turned around immediately; this was no time for dramatics. He looked around. Everything seemed fine. Then the floor collapsed.

Seizing the axe that was still attached to the ground in the corridor, David hung on tightly. How ironic, he thought, trying to distract himself so he wouldn’t run, screaming, away from the house forever. The object that had nearly murdered him was now possibly saving his life.

When the smashing stopped, David pulled himself to the ground in the corridor. Standing up, he turned around to survey the damage. He regretted it immediately.

In the gaping hole where the floor used to be, there were skeletons. Lots of them. Gagging, David could see at least fifteen, all of various ages. The most recent one still had something resembling clothing. In horror, David recognised the dress that he had given his grandmother for her birthday last year. His own grandmother’s skeleton was here, unceremoniously tossed aside like an unwanted doll.

As David stared at the skeletons in horrified despair, the shadow arose from the pit. As it rose, it said, ‘Now do you understand? This is the price of staying here. Staying, not living.’

David had never heard the shadow speak before. Its voice was surprising. It was soft and silky, seducing him to listen, to obey. He managed to utter one word through a dry throat. ‘Why?’

The shadow laughed. ‘Why? Because they dared to invade my home, they dared to build a house here.’ It shuddered. ‘They infected this place with…humanity. It made me weak, made me crave something. Then a woman came to live here. She contaminated this place even more, decorating the house, placing things in it that reeked of humanity. After I put up with it for years, I’d had enough. I killed the woman, and discovered what I had craved for so long: I had craved to destroy, to kill. Since then, I’ve protected this place from humanity.’

David was shaking with anger and – although he hated to admit it – fear. ‘You-you killed all those innocent people, just because you didn’t like humanity?! You selfish, thoughtless little--!’

The shadow seemed to grow even larger. ‘Don’t you dare to presume things that you know nothing about, human! Up until now, I have been merely toying with you. Leave, or join your beloved grandmother under the floor! You have until tomorrow to submit, or you die. ’

The shadow appeared to dissolve into the air, leaving behind the destruction it had caused. David sank to the floor, shaking even more violently as he realised just how close he had come to being killed. There was only one thing he could do now: go to the police and convince them of the shadow’s existence.

Picking himself up, he walked over to the policeman’s, Bill’s, house. Knocking on the door, he brushed himself off, hoping his terror wasn’t too obvious. Bill answered.

‘Bill, mind if I come in?’ David asked, trying to disguise the fear in his voice with a cough.

‘Sure,’ he replied. Walking into the lounge room, David sat down on the couch, and refused Bill’s offer of refreshments. Sitting down next to him, Bill asked him, ‘Well, what is it then, David?’

David told Bill the whole story. At the end of it, Bill just sat completely still on the lounge with a sceptical look on his wide face.

‘If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you there and show you the floor, and what’s underneath it,’ David offered eventually. Bill accepted, and they walked back to the house.

Letting himself in the front door, David led Bill to his bedroom. Opening the door, he gasped. The floor was completely repaired. It looked exactly as it had the night before. It even had the creaking boards in the same places. ‘I-I swear that what I told you was true! I’m not crazy! You’ve got to believe me, Bill! Please!’

Bill looked at him with a pitying look on his face. ‘I’m sorry, David, but the people in town have been concerned about your well-being ever since you moved in here. This is the final straw. I’m having you moved to the Mental Hospital. Immediately.’

‘No, Bill! Please! You can’t leave it here, to kill more people! Please, Bill!’ David continued pleading as Bill dragged him out of the house, and called for an ambulance to take David to the Hospital.

It arrived, and the doctors sedated David and put him on a bed in the ambulance. It drove off to the Hospital, carrying its passenger obligingly.

The shadow looked after it with…not with happiness. The shadow hadn’t experienced happiness since the house had been built. Since then, the closest it’d gotten was content, content with the knowledge that its home was safe. Content with the fact that it could still play its games.

For now.

Reviews

[solitudespeaker2]

awesome story although i would of liked it to be extended :)

[Katie.]

I need to write a gothic story based on the wasp factory by Iain Banks, if you've read it.. i have no inspiration what so ever. I don't get how you can write such an amazing story, this is good, especially for a school assignment. Well done :)

[Marlena]

Interesting, maybe you can expand on it a bit, go in to the history of the house. Good job :)

[Rhan F. Sydney]

Wonderful, especially for a schoolastic assignment. Thank you for the entry.

[Katarina Bondinell]

I think you probably blew your instructor(s) away. This was the perfect balance of length, intruige, and aventure for a class assignment. Kudos!
I really enjoyed reading it, thanks for antering something that wasn't totally half-assed. =)

[Lynx]

Awesome write, although I really think the whole 'haunted house' idea is quite... well, cliche. I love the flow of the writing, the descriptions albeit a bit of simplicity.

[thecoolone52]

thanks for entering my contest nice work

[Elana Juli Royson]

Intresting concept. I find that I write the best when I am in school. It's wierd that it happens that way. Other than a few spelling and gramatical errors, it's good. Keep writing.