Intro: It is October and time for me to practice my hand at scary stories. Or at least more scary and unnatural than I normally write.
Nathan paused outside the room looking into all of the dark corners the light from his candle didn't reach. At home he'd enjoyed the dark, spending time outdoors staring up at the sky. His parents didn't like finding him sitting in the dark just staring at the shadows from a single candle flame. The dark here at the boarding school was different.
"Hello?"
Something answered.
"Come on, Nathan. You can't avoid me forever." The voice was soft and he took a step back.
The other children pushed past him, hurrying to their beds. The bell tolled and all of the boys climbed under their blankets until only Nathan stood at the door, his candle wavering with each breath. The headmaster's footsteps thudded down the hall.
"Boy, what are you still doing out of bed?"
He willed himself to step forward but the shadows danced and he turned to face the headmaster. The candle fell to the floor and sputtered out as the large man grabbed his arm. He didn't even protest as he was dragged down to the office. He took his shirt off rubbing his arms against the cold. As the headmaster removed his belt, Nathan bent over, gripping the back of a chair. Each blow across his back brought a cry to his lips.
"Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve."
Nathan sagged to his knees and sobbed.
"Off to your bed, boy. Tomorrow get in on time. Don't make it twelve. We would hate to have to call your parents about this."
He shook his head. Adoptive parents. His older brother never let him forget that they shared no blood. He was a charity case taken in because his parents had been guilted into it.
"Out."
He staggered back to his room and leaned against the wall. Bodies filled the beds and for a moment, Nathan watched a shadow steal from one to another.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are." This voice came from the shadow. No other sound came from the room.
He slid down against, the pain across his back warming him from the chill he felt. When he leaned back the pain flared up and he gasped.
"Found you," the voice said and the shadow moved closer. Nathan scrambled away on his hands. The shadow lunged and Nathan let out a small yell. He fell, his back slammed into the cold floor and he lost his breath. The shadow let out a howl or rage as it slammed against an invisible barrier.
"Nathan!" None of the boys heard the cry. Nathan rolled to his stomach and lay there all night, staring at the creature pacing in the dark room.
"Wake up, boy." The professor rapped his pointed against the desk and Nathan sat up rubbing his eyes. He leaned back against his chair and let out a cry as the pain engulfed him.
"You two, help him back to his room. He will stay there for the rest of the day. If he is too tired to stay awake in my class, he is too tired for food."
"No, please. I'm sorry. I'll stay awake. Please." Nathan leaned forward, his hands clasped before him on his desk.
Two boys supported him on either side and carried him from the room.
"No. Not the room. Please. Not the room."
They remained silent, but Nathan could see pity on their faces, or maybe it was scorn. For the past three weeks, Nathan had refused to enter the room. At first it was only five whips a night after two weeks the headmaster had been adding a stroke for every time he broke curfew. The boys who shared the room with him found him asleep on the floor in the hall in the morning. He pulled but they held him tight.
"No. No. No."
They shoved him through the open door. A shadow stood to the side the white teeth gleaming against the grey skin. The two boys remained in the hall, oblivious to the monster not three feet away.
"See you later," one said. They both turned and left.
Nathan remained fixed in place as the shadow shut the door.
"I found you," it said and moved closer.
"Leave me alone," Nathan backed up.
"I don't think you understand. I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to show you the way."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Nathan, Nathan. We never intended for you to be left alone for so long."
He fell back on his bed and let out a cry.
"Aren't you tired of this?" The shadow waved a hand taking in the surroundings and sat down on the bed near his feet. "Come with me. We were never meant for the light. We are creatures of darkness. Why do you think as the sun sets you feel more alive? Why do you stay indoors during the day, but at night you roam through the darkness without a care?"
His breath came in gasps and he shut his eyes. "No. It's not the same. The shadows here are different."
"Of course we are. We are restless. I have been trapped in this room for nearly a hundred years by a ward someone set up. Imagine my surprise when someone showed up who could release me."
The shadow placed a hand on his leg. The pain lacing his back dissipated with a pleasant chill.
"Close your eyes and relax."
Nathan leaned back closing his tired eyes. The voice drifted in his thoughts.
"We are of the shadows. We are the shadows. The shadows are in us. And now we begin our training. We are the bogeymen. We are the shivers they feel down their spines."
That night after the headmaster walked through the rooms and made sure all of the boys were in bed, Nathan slipped out into the shadows. He watched the headmaster climb into bed. And for the first time at school, he smiled.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are."
