The Shadow Man

She sat upright in her hospital bed, avoiding death once again, Alice attempted to take her own life that night with a handful of pills and a bottle of rum, she decided it was not her time and told her mother what she had done and was rushed to the hospital that night. The man of the shadows stood at the end of her bed; he has no face, but she could feel his cold empty stare upon her. Alice rang for the nurse but by the time she arrived, the man in the shadows was gone. The nurse annoyed for being taken away from her task tapped her foot at Alice's bedside checking her vitals and told her to go back to sleep. Alice laid her head back down determined it was effect from what she had done earlier that day, but deep down she know that was a lie.

Alice stared at the doorway of her room, seeing what she knows no one else did. The man in the shadows, he has followed her for decades and his appearance no longer scared her. That was a lie she like to tell herself, although she did not fear the man in the shadows, she feared what would happen after he would arrive. For years since his first arrival pain and suffering was promised before he would leave. She felt her heart speed up and the tightness in her chest, she stared at the doorway feeling the icy stare of the man who would shortly go away, with a warning of what was to come.

The next morning, she woke up with a start feeling off and wary. The snow fell lazily outside blanketing the streets with the fresh snow, the trees trembled in the wind and look decrypted with the gray overcast. Today was not a valuable time to leave her home. Groggy and sore from a poor sleep the night before Alice dragged herself out of bed and made her way to start the kettle for her morning tea. Her bare feet padded softly on the hardwood floors as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, the man in the shadows met her in the kitchen to remind her what she had seen the night before was not a bad dream. “Go away” she said sternly as she grabbed the tea from the cupboard. The kettle whistled, and she poured the steaming water into her cup. When she turned around, he was gone.

The day was uneventful, Alice worked on her novel, she cleaned her home and after she finished her laundry, she decided to have a hot bath. She ran the water and cracked the bathroom window open; the steam filled the room and fogged the mirrors. She melted into the water to ease the stiffness in her muscles from her day. Closing her eyes, she tried to forget about the man and what he would bring. Her cellphone rang on the side of the tub she thought it would be better to ignore it, but she answered it anyway. Her mother on the other line sobbed uncontrollably, by the time she calmed down she explained to Alice that her father had been in an accident and she needed to meet her at the hospital right away.

The man in the shadows comes and he leaves with pain and suffering behind him. This accident was without a doubt caused by him. Alice put on her clothes and rushed to her garage the drive to the hospital was an hour away into town. The snow that had been falling all day had finally stopped and roads were not icy, this was not surprising to Alice and she knew the man in the shadows made it so she could suffer once she saw her father.

When she arrived at the hospital she rushed to her father's bedside, he lay unmoving and his skin was paled. Tubes and cords connecting him to the monitors around while the soft beep from the machine promised that he was still alive. Her mom was slumped in the chair next to his bed fast asleep exhausted no doubt. Alice did not wish to disturb her mother's sleep, so she sat at the end of her father’s bed and placed her hand on his. She could feel the man in the shadows standing behind her, but she dares not look away from her father and give the man in the shadows the satisfaction. Tears silently fell down her cheek knowing that the man who raised her will not last throughout the night.

“No” She thought to herself, after all the tournament and loss she has had in her life she could not let her father be taken as well. When she turned around the man stood motionless “take me instead don’t take him away.” He left as fast as he came with no indication that he would oblige. The Doctor soon entered the room and Alice’s mother stirred and woke to hear that the doctor had to say. Her father had been in car accident and his truck had rolled off the highway, he may pull through although it was too early to tell. Alice's mother dismissed the doctor and her and Alice sat for hours next to her father sharing stories from their past.

There was no sign of change with Alice’s father, so she decided to go home until the next day. She kissed her parent's goodbye and made her way home. The roads remained clear the snow ceased to fall, when she arrived home, she collapsed in her bed exhausted from her evening. Sleep evaded her as she tossed and turned. She rolled over to find the man in the shadows laying inches from her face, Alice tried to scream but no sound came out.

Alice’s father survived his accident, he woke up the next day and the damage that was inflicted on him would have no lasting results. Her mother called Alice to give her the news, but she got was her voicemail. Neither her mother nor father knew that last night would be the last they would see of Alice alive. They did not know she lay lifeless in bed or the trade she had made with the man in the shadows.

The man and Alice stood in the doorway of Alice’s fathers' room, both invisible to her parents confused that Alice had missed their call. It was in death she learned that the reason why the man had followed her all this time, as she years before had escaped death when she had decided it was not her time, it was. Alice for decades lived on stolen time from the people she loved the most. Until she decided it was time to go the man stalked her waiting to make the trade. It was in death she realized it was her actions that lead to so much misery in her life. She said goodbye to her parents who were unknowing of her presence, before she turned away her father looked up but not at her, he stared at the man in the shadows.