The Shadow Beneath

Start writing...The first time Erin saw the shadow, it was just a flicker in the corner of her eye. She had been sitting in her small apartment, scrolling mindlessly through her phone, when she caught a glimpse of something dark moving near the edge of the hallway. She turned her head sharply, but the space was empty.
"You're imagining things," she muttered to herself, shaking off the unease creeping up her spine.
The next time, it was more deliberate. She was brushing her teeth late at night, the harsh fluorescent bathroom light buzzing above her. As she leaned over to spit, her reflection caught her eye. For a split second, it wasn't her face staring back. It was something else. Dark. Hollow.
Her heart leapt into her throat, and she stumbled backward, clutching the edge of the sink. When she dared to look again, her reflection was normal—messy hair, tired eyes, toothpaste smeared at the corner of her mouth.
The third time, it spoke.
Erin was lying in bed, her room shrouded in the pale blue glow of her bedside lamp. She had been unable to sleep for weeks now, the sense of being watched gnawing at her whenever the lights went out. She had tried everything—melatonin, meditation, even sleeping with the TV on. Nothing worked.
This night, however, was different. As she lay there, staring at the ceiling, she heard it—a low, raspy whisper.
"Erin…"
Her breath hitched. She sat up, clutching the blankets to her chest, her eyes scanning the room.
"Who's there?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
The whisper came again, this time from the corner of the room where the light from the lamp didn't quite reach.
"Why do you run?"
Her blood turned to ice. She could see it now—a faint shape darker than the shadows around it, tall and unmoving. She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand, the screen illuminating her shaking hands as she turned on the flashlight.
The light cut through the darkness, but the corner was empty.
The whispers didn't stop after that night. They grew louder, closer, until it felt as though they were brushing against her ear.
"Don't leave me…"
"Stay in the dark…"
"I see you…"
Erin stopped sleeping altogether. She covered her mirrors, left every light in her apartment on, and stayed up for days at a time. But the shadow didn't care about the light; it lingered, watching, waiting.
One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon and her apartment was bathed in a deep orange glow, Erin decided she had had enough. She couldn't live like this anymore. She would face it—whatever it was.
She stood in the middle of her living room, armed with a flashlight in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other. Her breathing was shallow, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might burst.
"Show yourself!" she screamed into the emptiness.
For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then, slowly, the lights in her apartment began to flicker. One by one, they went out, plunging her into darkness.
"Erin…"
The voice was everywhere now, surrounding her, suffocating her. She turned on the flashlight, but the beam flickered and died, the batteries inexplicably drained.
"Why do you fight it?"
The shadow was there, looming in front of her. It had form now—a humanoid shape with elongated limbs and a face that was nothing but a void.
"I don't want this!" Erin cried, backing away.
"But I do," it said, its voice a guttural growl. "You let me in. You fed me with your fear, and now I will never leave."
She felt it then, the cold tendrils of its presence wrapping around her, seeping into her skin. Her vision blurred, her body growing heavy as the shadow consumed her.
When the lights returned, the apartment was empty. The neighbors, having heard her screams, called the police, but they found no sign of her.
The only clue was a single phrase scrawled on the bathroom mirror, written in black, tar-like substance:
"She is with me now."
Months later, the apartment was rented to a new tenant. A young man named Jason, eager to start fresh in the city. On his first night, as he unpacked his belongings, he caught a glimpse of something dark moving in the hallway.
And then he heard it—a faint, rasping whisper.
"Jason…"