Shadows

Story Info
The worst that could happen was about to begin.
2.6k words
2.5
14.8k
00
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here

PROLOGUE

Tom Berk was a responsible young man of age 29. He worked as a real-estate agent. Once every 2 weeks he would travel into the mountains to check up on old man Bill James, who was the owner of the real-estate company. Because of tom's favorable reputation, he was assigned to the visitations. He was well into the 9th month of this task and gaining credit to his company.

Due to the long drive to the isolated estate in the mountains, Tom would leave in the morning and usually get to the estate at night fall. Then over seeing the old man, Tom the next morning ventured back to the city.

For some reason old man James always appeared to be sad or depressed, there was a feeling of much sorrow when they talked. But how could this man be unhappy?, He had a wealthy business and 3 lively children to stay with him up in the mountains, they were Luke, Gary and Mary. They kids grew very fond of Tom over the months and were looking forward to his next visit. Usually Tom would stay the night because by the time he got there it was at least past 11pm and he dare not drive back on the unlit mountain roads.

1

This was now his 10th trip. It was in the middle of January and Tom was driving to the house once again. The snow flaked down. He wouldn't reach the estate well after 10pm. Tom was cold and lonely, but at the same time he was filled with pride just thinking, Tom Berk was assigned such a task from the big boss himself. He watched the road ahead as the lights danced off the trees and through the light snow. A rumble sounded, it was thunder. Lightening lit up the mountain sky. Every time Tom drove to the house in the dark, he feared the possibility of braking down out there in the middle of no where in the dark. So he always packed a flashlight and enough share of batteries. Hearing the thunder once more, Tom speeded up.

Driving along the mountain roads where it seemed that the trees on both sides were moving in on him. The snow became thick and it got much colder as he drove higher into the mountains. His fears were subsided by the soft music playing on the radio. It was a Neil diamond tune. Turning the heater up, a news bulletin broke in and warned of the on coming snow storm. As he got further into the mountains his radio lost frequency and the music was replaced by an annoying hiss. It wasn't long now, he was about there and the snow was really pilling up. Tom switched off the radio and put the windshield wipers on.

By 12pm, he saw the house lamp lights breaking through the snow and deep wooded forests. Tom slowed down when reaching the gates. He noticed the lights in the house weren't on. The car was parked in the courtyard. He got out and stood in the lamp lights, looking around. He went to the door and knocked, he waited and no one came. At first he just thought Jim was out with the kids and snow had delayed them. Tom walked around the side of the house to the garage. To his surprise Jim's jeep was still there. No one did leave tonight. Then he thought maybe Jim just forgot he was coming up and went to bed, but Jim spoke to Tom before he left.

Snow was flying fast, Tom was barely able to see his car which was about 8 feet away. something was wrong. He this time pounded and kicked at the doors. The snow shot like needles into his face. The wind alone nearly blew him on his ass. The yelled and tried the door knob, it was locked. Tom could no longer take the storm's wicked punishment. He ran across the courtyard to his car for cover. Once inside, he started the engine and turned on the heater. The long drive and storm took it's toll on him. Before long Tom fell asleep in the back seat.

Tom dreamed of being in the bank and people were crowding him. It was a party atmosphere. He quickly noticed his girl friend Melissa and old man James was laughing. It made Tom actually laugh to see Jim laughing. Looking around the crowd, he saw Luke, Gary and Mary chasing a headless chicken. Blood squirted on Luke's face and he laughed. Gary began to dismember the chicken as Mary began to get naked. What the hell was going on?!

The crowd faded away like water spilling onto a oil painting. All that remained was Jim. Together they walked to the vault. Money was over loading the place. Jim gave Tom a handful of money. All at once the lights shut off. Darkness, his familiar friend and foe. It became too quiet and a scrapping sound echoed off the wall. It was like metal scrapping metal and it got louder and louder with each ear splitting scream.

He awoke again in reality laying in the back seat. Immediately he got up and looked out the window, praying to catch a light in the house, but instead he found snow piled 4 inches outside. The snow had let up but hadn't stopped. Tom grabbed a flashlight and bundled up to brave the bitter cold. It was now 3:00 in the morning.

As Tom was opening the car door, he found that it was stuck. He thought it was just ice. The door was opened. Tom found that the door was scrapped and mangled from the outside. Something tried to get in the car while he slept. Maybe something was watching him at this very minute from the dark woods. Tom began to shake, what if they had a gun pointing at him? Tom jumped back into the car and attempted to start the engine. The car just would not shift into gear. The below zero temperature must have gotten to the engine. Before Tom got out, he looked around at his surroundings. Everything looked considerably safe. The woods freaked him out. He wouldn't let his paranoia get the best of him this time. Since he was only a business man he lacked the protection of a gun. He had a can of mace with him. Fuck that candy ass can of mace, he wanted a gun damn it! Tom felt like a complete fool for not taking Melissa's advice and taking a gun with him. Melissa too had a fear of Tom breaking down on the road, so she suggested he take a gun. Tom had to put it behind and concentrate on the real situation at hand.

Using his flashlight as some what of a weapon, he stepped out of the car cautiously. He crept to the front of the car to the engine.

Before opening the hood, Tom smelled an awful stench, so vile, so nauseating, Tom choked down the vomit rising in his throat. Tom covered his nose and mouth with his coat sleeve. He opened the hood and the most putrid, grotesque sight struck him like a train smashing through a brick wall. He lost footing and fell back into the thick snow. For a minute or two he just laid in the snow gaining the strength he needed to look back under again. Finally he got it up and peered into the engine where 3 heads where sitting logged into the hot chrome. He knew the faces well, it was Luke, Gary and Mary, the children. Gary's head was burnt to a crisp, Luke's hair was scorched off and Mary was in good condition except for her left eyeball which was dangling out of it's socket.

Tom snapped and ran to the house, nearly breaking his neck on the iced over pavement. When he got to the door he pounded and pounded till his fists started to bleed. Then out of the cold air came a loud crack of laughter. Tom sprang around, inspected the thick forests and saw nothing. The windows were locked down tight but he took his flashlight and busted the glass to pieces.

The house was dark and had a attic like smell. Tom yelled. "Jim! Jesus Christ Jim! where the hell are you?!"

There was no answer. A loud thud echoed through the house. It made Tom jump. something was upstairs. Tom wasn't stupid enough to say "Jey. A scary noise, I guess I'll go investigate. Maybe if I get lucky I can get KILLED!!!" No, Tom was a smart man. He said "Fuck that with a bag of chips" And Tom ran to the kitchen. Tom knew that in the kitchen there was a rather big butcher knife. If he was going to be safe, he needed to check the whole house. The phone of course was dead and power was shut off. Tom just needed to turn it back on. Old man James insisted that when the house was built that a power generator be placed in the basement. Somewhere in the house was a radio communicator. Guns were kept on the 2nd floor because Jim was talented hunter as well as a great business man.

In the main hall Tom could hear glass from the window breaking. Someone was coming through the window. Tom was still in the kitchen, keeping total silence. 2 of them. Could have guns. Footsteps now. Coming through the living room. He crawled to the basement door which was on the far right of the kitchen. The steps creaked a little, so he had to hurry. The basement was way too dark to see with the naked eye. Should he use his flashlight? would the intruder see the light from the kitchen above? Tom felt his way through the narrow hall to the generator. His nightmare came true, he tripped on a box of Christmas ornaments. Glass fell with ear shattering breaks. He landed on some glass. A sharp pain pierced his side then came a sticky wetness. He was cut. It hurt so bad but he wouldn't scream, he dare not scream. Tom ground his teeth to keep back the yelp and blast of curses. The cut was bad, Tom could tell by how fast his leg became wet with blood. He felt down to see if the glass was out. No. A large spike like shard of glass. His eyes began to tear up. The pain! Someone was coming down the stairs. Creaking.

Slushy footsteps began to come down the hall. Tom listened as he was still trying to recover from his accident. No light, his cover. As long as Tom stayed still, he was safe. He was on the urge of passing out. The dizziness took hold of him. Light headed feeling. Throbbing pain. His consciousness drifted away. Before he went under he saw two red eyes coming towards him.

There was no telling how long Tom was out. 2 hours maybe the whole night. Outside the mountain air was still and frosty. The snow storm was over and the ground was covered with snow and thick ice patches. The house was still. The winter winds blew through the broken window making an eerie howl. The storm shutters beat like mad against the side of the house. Below the window there was a big glass horse. A blast of arctic wind shot through the opening and tipped the horse over. It shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Below in the basement, Tom was awakened by the crash. His leg was stiff and hurt like hell. How long was he out? Where was he? Was he alone? Why wasn't he dead? He got to his feet as fast as he could without falling on his ass. He didn't even attempt to look for the flashlight or knife. He manage to get to the stairs. No one was down there after all. Wobbling and limping, he made it back to the kitchen. A wicked draft blew through the house. Tom felt it's cold sting against his open wound. The bleeding stopped now. The pain was almost unbearable. In the kitchen cabinet, there were pain killers Jim kept for his arthritis. He took 2 of them with some milk that was left in the warm refrigerator. Then he remembered the generator. "Shit!" Tom said out loud.

He decided not to go back down again, instead he walked to the main hall to seal off the place. When he got there the door was wide open and snow was already piled in. More wind shot through the door. He hobbled to the staircase and climbed with haste as fast a he could. When he was about 10th step he looked back and saw the figure with red eyes standing at the foot of the staircase. It started to follow Tom with a taunting pace. It always stayed at least 8 steps behind him. It was playing some sort of a game with him. If it wanted him dead, why not in the basement as he was unconscious? Why didn't it lunge at him on the stairs? Tom got to the floor level and took off to the old man's room where the guns were kept. Not looking back he slammed shut the door to Jim's room. He backed away from the door.

He walked into something, he turned around and saw Jim hanging off a rope from the ceiling. It looked like the old man hung himself. He screamed. Then he quickly gained control and smashed open the glass case containing the colt 45. Tom wasn't experienced with guns but he knew how they worked. Then at that very second as Tom began to load up, the door split wide open and in stepped the figure. Every second counted. The figure made no sign of fear, just looking dead on at Tom with it's red eyes glowing. Jim's hanging body was the only thing separating the two. Tom opened fire. Blasting away through the dead body and through the figure. The bullets had no effect. The figure sprang to the ceiling like a spider. for a moment it crawled around and then came down on Tom from above. The figure back handed Tom clear out the window. It all happened too fast. Before Tom knew it he was on his back, had falling 2 stories.

From the ground, laying on his back he saw the figure in the window. It jumped down the 2 stories to the courtyard where Tom laid. Even in the light the figure had no features, it was completely black, it was a shadow. It finally spoke. "It's time for you to go back" It said.

Tom could only stare. The shadow picked up Tom in his arms and flew with him over the house and woods. The creature was not human, not alive. The wind passed through it. After a while they both arrived at a deserted road. A car was coming up the road. A deer ran out in front of it and the car swerved off the road and into a tree. The shadow placed Tom on the ground and flew off through the woods. Tom quickly got to his feet and ran to the car. He ripped the door open and looked inside. It was him! He was looking at himself. He back way from the car and tripped in the snow. From within the woods a laugh sounded.

"No escaping the angel of death, no escaping pain, you belong to me"

THE END

Written By Phil Stevens 1999

Please rate this story
The author would appreciate your feedback.
Share this Story

Similar Stories

Younger Woman Seeks Mature Friend She hooks up with him after all the teasing.in Mature
Life Less Lived Ch. 01 Daniel's new job, Marina loses hers. Who has most to lose?in Novels and Novellas
Wendy Ch. 01 Meeting Wendy.in Novels and Novellas
Blizzard He saves her, then they save each other.in Romance
Bridge Group Ch. 01 Young friend becomes a hunk.in Loving Wives
More Stories