Into the Shadows: The Coming Dark (c) Chapter One By Fiction Writer #13 Edited by Tajod (nosex, paranormal) "Mommy!" Little Beth's scream shattered the silence of the Johnson's home. Mary Johnson, confused by interrupted dreams and exhaustion, awoke and peered out into the darkened room. Unsure whether the scream was real or just a figment of her imagination, she listened intently. The warmth of her husband's sleeping form next to her drew her back under the covers for a snuggle. "All in my head..." she mumbled softly to herself, drifting back into her dream world. "Mommy! Mommy!" She woke with a start, realizing this time the scream was real. Her body ached from moving so many boxes out of the old house into the new one, the unfamiliar exercise taking its toll on her muscles. "Steve, wake up. Please go see what she wants now," Mary whispered, nudging his shoulder. Steve rolled over and stared through half lidded eyes at Mary. "She's calling for you, pumpkin." "I don't care; I'm too tired to move." Once again silence filled the night; the couple lay entwined under the heavy down filled comforter. It was a particularly cold November, even for upstate New York. "Daddy!" "Ha! That time she called for you, Steve." Steve responded by faking a snore. "Steve. Steve, knock it off! Come on, just go see what she wants," Mary pleaded while pushing on the totally slack man beside her. "Maybe she'll go back to sleep if we leave her alone." Steve rolled back, away from his wife's persistent prodding. "I wish she would sleep through one night, just one damn night." Mary gave up her small assault. "You know what the books said; the nightmares will fade away after a while. This is all new to her, new family, new city, new home. She's adjusting; you know what she went through." "That's just it, we don't know, we're just assuming that she was abused. They won't tell us anything. Only that she needs to feel safe, and then the nightmares will go away. It's been six months already, I just want to sleep through one night without being woken up, just one," Steve mumbled into his forearm. "You... you don't regret adopting her, do you?" Steve rolled again, facing his wife once more. "Of course not honey, she needs a family like ours. I'm just stressed out and tired." Steve leaned in and planted a kiss on his wife's lips. Mary snuggled in closer, surrounding his body with her own, sharing her warmth with him. She knew he was happy with their decision to adopt little Bethany. The smile on Steve's face when he held Beth spoke volumes of how truly happy he was to bring her into their household. She felt the same of course, but sometimes, sometimes the screams of terror that echoed through the halls at night made her wonder if the adoption agency made a mistake in choosing them to raise her. The agency came highly recommended. They had done their research, online and on the phone. The Helping Hands of Highland Adoption Center was perfectly respectable and trustworthy. So, how could they have mistaken Mary and Steve as being capable to raise Bethany? They must have made an error while going through the application process, slipped past the interviewer's keen awareness. Something went wrong somewhere, Mary was certain of that. There was no way it should have been that easy to bring home such a sweet and beautiful child like Bethany. She'd read all the horror stories that other adoptive parents had gone through. The delays, the fees, birth parents changing their minds, years of court battles and paper work. All to achieve something that Steve and Mary Johnson accomplished within a year of filling out the first application. It didn't feel right, something was amiss; to gain so much happiness with so little effort? No, something was definitely not right. Maybe, maybe she had gone through the pain of loss that these other parents had suffered. Just not in the same way they had. Two years after getting married, Mary and Steve had their first child, a bouncing baby boy they named Tommy. Three years later, cancer stole away her ability to have anymore children of her own. Those were the dark times for the Johnson's. Mary withdrew into a depression and almost never came back. Steve struggled to provide for his family and pay the mounting hospital bills that accrued during her treatments. But they survived, had come through it, and were a stronger family because of the experience. Life continued on. Steve got a promotion; Mary raised Tommy and started an online support group for cancer survivors. Then came the morning when Mary nervously asked Steve how he felt about adoption. She was surprised by his immediate enthusiasm, and fell in love with him all over again. "Mommy! Daddy!" The child's scream broke Mary out of her reverie. Steve lay motionless beside her, now snoring for real. With reluctance she willed herself to throw the covers aside. She didn't want Bethany to wake up Tommy, he was playing a hockey game tomorrow. 'When did he get to be so old?' she wondered, thinking about the now twelve year old sleeping upstairs in the attic room. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and plunged her toes into the soft pile of the carpet below. Wrapping her arms around her chest to stave off the chill, she made her way out into the darkened hallway. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Mommy! Mommy!" Tommy pressed the pillow harder against his ears. 'Why won't they just see what she wants?' he grumbled to himself. He loved his new room, it was so much bigger than his old one, but now he was directly above Beth's room. His new little sister had a habit of crying herself to sleep, some nights more vocally than others. Tonight seemed to be one of the worst so far. Just his luck, the big game was tomorrow, and Debbie Fergusson would be watching. He needed to get some sleep or else she would never see how well he played. He planned on asking her out after the game. "Daddy!" The noise echoed up the heating vent, accompanied by sobbing. He felt bad for her. He understood that she was having nightmares because of something bad that actually happened to her, not just the normal bad dreams that everyone had from time to time. Why wouldn't his parents just go to her, they had to hear her? They'd become slower and slower to react to her calls in the night. Months of interrupted sleep had taken its toll on all of them. There was a time when Tommy would have marched downstairs to complain about all the noise, but guilt overpowered that urge now. After all, it was Tommy who told his parents what he heard a while back. It was his fault that Beth now had to see that shrink three times a week, his fault that the crying was now louder, and lasted longer. Tommy wasn't jealous when his parents told him they were adopting another child, but he was disappointed that it wasn't a little brother that would be coming home. He could see how happy they were, and that made him happy. He remembered a time when all his mother did was cry, and his father was never home. He remembered them fighting about money, and a Christmas with old toys re-wrapped and given to him again. Those days were long gone though, and things had been getting better since. The first few weeks went by with no problems. Tommy adjusted to life with a shy nine-year-old sister fairly quickly. It helped that Bethany seemed elated to have an older brother, and followed him around enthralled by everything he said or did. She listened intently to his stories of hockey fights, and buzzer beating goals. She cheered for him during games, even when he wasn't making a play. She even wanted to watch the same TV shows he did, never missing an NHL game with him. To Tommy, she was the coolest little sister he could have hoped for. That is until last June. That's when everything started to change for the worst. His parents had just announced the move to the new house. It was close enough for Tom to continue going to the same school, and play for the same hockey team, but it meant moving to a new neighborhood far away from his best friend, Justin. After tossing and turning for a few hours, Tommy got up to walk to the bathroom down the hall. On the way he passed Bethany's room, her door decorated with large paper flowers and butterflies. She should have been asleep, but Tommy heard her talking. No louder than a whisper, but in the silence of 3am he could make out some of what she was saying. "No... I won't tell them. I promise. They're nice. No, don't hurt them, I promise I won't say anything. I know. Please. I didn't mean to last time. I know," she began crying softly, "I know. Please, it won't happen again. No, I don't want to. Please don't, stop it... I can't. Leave me alone... I won't let you hurt them like you did to Mommy and Daddy. I'm sorry, Yes. I will. I promise, just don't hurt them, they don't know. If you do I'll tell Tommy, he'll beat you up! He's strong and beats people up all the time in hockey!" Tommy took a step away from her door, hearing his name taking him by surprise. "No! No don't! I'm sorry, don't! Please don't, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I won't tell, I promise." Her sobbing continued for a few minutes more, and then faded into silence as she fell asleep. Tommy stood there, stunned by what he heard. He didn't know if he should knock and see if she was okay, or break down the door and save her. The only thing stopping him from rushing in was the fact that he didn't hear any other voices, only Bethany's. Maybe she had an imaginary friend? A mean imaginary friend who threatened to hurt her family? Tom retreated to his room, unsure of how to act. He decided to tell his parents about the strange one-sided conversation the next day. They would know what to do if anything needed to be done at all. The next day he waited for Bethany to leave for her piano lessons before he told his parents. They seemed very concerned, and explained that they knew very little about Bethany's life before she came to live with them. It sounded to them like she was hiding some kind of abuse, and was still too afraid to tell anyone about it. They thanked him for telling them, and assured him he'd done the right thing. In the days following it didn't seem like he had done the right thing. His parents took Bethany to a doctor who wanted her to keep coming back. Bethany was scared of her, and didn't want to go, but his parents said it would help her. At some point she realized that Tommy had been the one who told on her. She stopped cheering for him after that. No more hockey games, no more story time, she seemed to avoid him completely. His guilt continued to build as time passed. Every night since she first went to that doctor she cried herself to sleep. Then the nightmares came, the screaming waking Tommy from his own restless dreams. He betrayed her, and she hated him for it. Now, like some sick joke, his new bedroom directly above hers seemed to amplify her pain, and pour it directly into Tommy's heart. 'It's all my fault.' "Mommy! Daddy!" Tears stung Tom's eyes. 'She thought I was big and strong, that I would protect her. Instead I ratted her out to Mom and Dad.' Tom rolled on his back and stared blankly at the angled ceiling. He wanted to go to her, to tell her everything was okay, to tell her that her big brother would protect her from all the bad things. That he was sorry for telling on her, and he only did it because he wanted to help her. His body wouldn't move though, his guilt weighed too heavy upon his chest. He feared she would never forgive him; she would never call him her brother ever again. Turning his head he sought out the digital clock on his dresser. 'Huh, that's strange.' The green glow of the numbers was no where to be seen. 'The power must be off, that's why it's so cold in here,' he thought to himself, pulling the covers closer. "No Don't!" The sudden scream brought his attention back to his sister's plight. "Oh my God! Bethany, run!" Was that his Mom's voice? "Mommy, no! Don't hurt my Mommy!" There were some loud crashing noises, like furniture being overturned, then silence. "What the fuck was that?" Tommy leapt from the warmth of his bed, grabbed his hockey stick from the corner, and began to make his way slowly and quietly down the stairs. 'Someone is in the house, they're in Bethany's room, and they're hurting Mom. I've got to help them,' thought Tommy, holding his weapon tightly as his heart raced. 'Where the fuck is Dad?' ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'So help me God, if I don't get any sleep tonight I'll fucking kill everyone I see tomorrow!' Steve Johnson was screaming in his head. The last few months had torn his sanity from him. He was tense and felt as though he would snap at any moment. Sleep, he needed to sleep. He wasn't really angry with his daughter, just frustrated. Six months with no improvement, in fact it seemed to be getting worse. Everything was just piling up in his head with no pressure release. For the past five nights in a row he had been the one to get up and calm Bethany down. Tonight he needed to sleep; Mary would have to take care of her. He felt guilty but he knew in his present condition he might accidentally snap in front of his already frightened little girl. Steve had been taking Bethany to her doctor appointments. She hated them, and he believed she'd started to hate him for bringing her to them. It was probably all in his head, but she seemed to be getting more and more distant. After every session the doctor would speak privately with Steve. In the beginning Bethany refused to speak with the psychologist, but she would draw pictures. Art therapy is what they called it. To Steve it seemed a waste of money. All of her drawings were of the same thing, her new happy family. It wasn't until last week that they began to use hypnosis with her. Once again Steve thought it was a load of crap, but the results were promising. While in the sleep-like trance Bethany began to open up about her life with her birth parents. What came out of that little girls mouth was enough to give Stephen King nightmares. Her drawings took on new disturbing twist as well. "Mommy! Daddy!" 'Oh god not again.' Steve lay completely still and faked snoring again, hopefully being a bit more believable. He could feel motion beside him as his wife stirred back to life. After a few moments pause the covers pulled back and she slid out of bed. 'Thank God!' Steve was elated. Soon his snores would be real. He waited until he was sure Mary had left the room before pulling her pillow over his head to block out any other noises. He opened his eyes to check that he hadn't been caught. Nope, he could see Mary walking down the dark hallway to Bethany's room. After fourteen years of marriage she still had a great ass. Sighing deeply, Steve closed his eyes once more. His mind wondered through the day's events, seeking a calming influence to let him drift off. In the half asleep, half awake ether he envisioned he was once again in the office of Dr. Sheila Lowery. She was spreading several of Bethany's new drawings out before him, blanketing her normally orderly desk. The images were drawn with a frantic hand, lines overlapping one another, colors mixing and forming new ones. It was obviously the work of a child, but the subject matter was far more adult. Some things seemed perfectly normal at first glance; closer inspection would reveal startling details. The happy family shown holding hands. Mother, Father, and Bethany each drawn with red-orange hair; obviously a depiction of her old family. Blink your eyes, squint, look past the happy faces. They were nude, the place they were in was dark, candles were burning all around, and Bethany's face was not smiling, she was afraid. The next drawing seemed as though it had been a mistake, the original drawing covered over in haste by a black crayon. Blink your eyes, squint, look past the smears of black wax. Bodies twisted in a sexual embrace, a child's body surrounded by a circle of red, strange designs all around. One design Steve recognized instantly, that of a pentagram. The final artistic creation was a little torn, as if Bethany hadn't wanted to hand it over to Dr. Lowery and a struggle had occurred. The image depicted little Bethany all alone in the dark. Blink your eyes, squint; see what she doesn't want you to see. The tears in her eyes, the lifeless bodies of her parents on the floor, completely scribbled over with what remained of her black crayon, and something else. He caught something even the over-paid doctor hadn't seen. What appeared to have been the random scribbles of crayon around her self-portrait were in fact two very large hands grasping Bethany around the waist from behind. The memory of that revelation was enough to shake Steve from sleep. Slowly he opened his eyes. He was staring down the dark hallway again, only this time instead of the retreating shape of his wife's lovely rear, he could see his twelve year old son Tommy running to Bethany's bedroom door. He had to be dreaming, it was too strange to be real. Tommy held his hockey stick like a samurai sword out in front of him. Suddenly he raised his foot and gave a great kick to Beth's door, bursting it open before charging in. 'What the hell is he doing?' Steve pulled the pillow from his head and immediately heard the sounds of struggle coming from down the hall. 'Did Tommy just go insane?' "Dad, help!!" Steve was out of bed and on the run before Tommy's cry for help ended. It was only about thirty feet to Beth's room but it felt as if the hallway had magically grown longer. By the time he reached the remains of the shattered doorway Steve was prepared to fight to the death to save his family, but he wasn't prepared for what he found... Continued in Chapter Two.... You can find more of my stories at: https://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Moments_In_My_Mind/www/Index.html Join my forum and I'll send you an email notification of when I update my stories: http://fw13.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi Read what I've been up to on my Blog: http://fictionwriter13.blogspot.com Feedback, Questions or Comments can be sent here: FictionWriter13@msn.comThe Coming Dark 01