"The Shadow Friend: A Terrifying Late-Night Encounter"

"Shadow Friend" (A Short Horror Story for Vocal Media)

It was around 2 AM. Shuvo lay in bed, staring at the spinning ceiling fan. Lately, a strange feeling had crept into his nights—an unsettling sensation that he was never truly alone.

At first, it was just a flicker in the corner of his eye, a shadow that seemed to move when he wasn’t looking. Then came the whispers—not words, just the soft sound of someone breathing in the darkness.

One evening, while fixing his hair in front of the mirror, he felt it behind him. A cold, heavy presence. His heart pounded. Slowly, he turned around—nothing. But when he glanced back at the mirror, his blood ran cold.

There, standing just behind his reflection, was a dark figure with hollow, staring eyes.

Shuvo stumbled back, gasping. But the moment he looked away, the shadow was gone.

Instead of fear, a strange sense of familiarity settled in. As nights passed, he stopped resisting. The shadow never harmed him; it only watched, listened. He even began talking to it before falling asleep.

Then, one day, his friend Arif asked, “Who do you talk to at night?”

Shuvo chuckled. “My shadow friend.”

A nervous silence followed. Then Arif whispered, “Shuvo… we were in your room last night. We saw you talking.”

Shuvo frowned. “So?”

Arif’s voice trembled. “You were talking to the wall. There was no shadow.”

Shuvo froze. Slowly, he turned to the mirror.

His reflection stood alone.

From the dark corner of the room, something unseen let out a quiet, chilling chuckle…

The End.