Shadow.(Stephen Pearmine) A new short story. 

Ted Harper started the engine. The time was 9:08 pm. On the passenger seat was a Christmas present he'd bought minutes earlier for his son, Charlie. Because he'd been working so much, Ted hadn't had time to get it before today and was scared it would sell out. It was a week to Christmas; thankfully, the shop still had it. Even though Charlie was only 4, the boy the other day when he'd come to this shop with his dad had pointed at it on the shelf and said, "Daddy, daddy. Could I have that, please?"
  "We'll see, son. We'll see," was all he answered.
  How could he not get it for his son? He loved him so much.
  Ted drove the car out of the car park and onto the road. It was busy; being this close to Christmas, it wasn't surprising really. Traffic lights were ahead; he stopped at them, tapping the steering wheel while humming a tune that was on the radio. The lights changed, he pushed his foot down gently on the accelerator, and the vehicle moved slowly forward, keeping up with the car three metres ahead of him. Suddenly out of nowhere, a lorry lost control and drove into the side of his car and the one in front. Within seconds, he'd lost all consciousness.
  Two hours later he died in the hospital from his injuries.
.............

  That same night a woman heard her child screaming from his bedroom. She rushed to him.
Something had terrified him. All he kept saying, which made no sense, was about seeing a shadow standing at the end of the bed, staring at him while holding something in its right hand. 
  She comforted the boy until he went to sleep. She was concerned but also worried that her husband, who'd popped out earlier, had not yet come home. Where was he? She hadn't gone to bed yet because she was worried for him. She went back into the living room and poured herself a glass of red wine, waiting for him to return. The moment she sat down, the phone rang. She ran to it, hoping it would be him. After what the man had said to her from the other end, She fell to the floor sobbing.
...........
 
For the next week, the demonic shadow terrorised the boy and appeared at the end of his bed many times. The mother saw it twice while staying in his room and was at the end of her tether, not knowing what else to do. This is when she started drinking heavily.
.............

  24 years later.
  He left work worried. His wife was in the hospital giving birth any minute. Her father, Trevor, had driven her to the hospital. It was a month earlier than predicted. Charlie got into his car and started the engine. 
..............

  Within twenty minutes he'd arrived. He got out of the vehicle and rushed into the building wanting to be with his wife. Charlie knew what floor she was on. He got out of the lift and ran to her room. His heart raced with fear and excitement. At the door, he looked in. 
  His wife, Claire, peered up at him, relieved to see him.
"It's time," she said, looking exhausted.
  He proceeded with urgency to her, then held her hand.

  Three hours later she'd given birth to a beautiful baby boy.
..............

  The first few months with the baby were the same for every new parent. Charlie and his wife loved it for the most part. They had created a life. Yes, there were plenty of sleepless nights, but their son had brought them closer together in the most wonderful of ways.
...............

  A week before Christmas, while Charlie and Claire sat in the living room watching TV, from the baby monitor came a strange, unsettling sound of a man's voice, which was unfamiliar and deep. It was hard to hear what this person was saying as the monitor would crackle occasionally. 
  Who was this person, and why were they in their son's room? 
  To his knowledge, all the windows were closed. Charlie told his wife to stay where she was while he checked it out, expecting an intruder had broken in. He proceeded out of the room into the hallway that led to the bottom of the stairs; slowly he walked up them. At the top, Charlie carried on to his son's room; opening the door slowly, he looked in, expecting someone to be there. The room was empty. 
  Did he and his wife imagine it all?
  On the cabinet facing the cot where their son slept was a camera that was connected to his mobile phone. It was just for extra security in case something did happen when they weren't there. Also, if one of them was out of the house, they could check up on their son from time to time. Charlie, still in shock, kissed little Christopher on the forehead gently and then left the room.
  In the living room, both watched the footage from minutes ago of what had occurred. This is when they noticed with horror a shadow of some kind appeared on the right of the screen; it held something in its right hand, walking slowly to the cot. Whoever it was stared at the child; at times the camera would lose focus. Then in an instant, the shadow vanished.
  Charlie turned to Claire, freaked out, and said, "Tomorrow I need to visit my mother. This has happened before. Even though we haven't spoken for years, she used to tell me that when I was very young a demonic shadow used to visit my room and terrorise me. I can't remember this myself, but by the looks of it, whatever this thing is, it's back."
  "Oh my God," was all she replied, clearly shocked by the whole thing.
..................

  Charlie drove to his mother's house early that morning; it was 70 miles from where he lived. They hadn't seen each other for years. All he remembered from his childhood was her drinking heavily and being paranoid that a demon was after them. Even to this day, Charlie found it hard to believe, as to him it was ridiculous. In his teenage years, she was committed to an asylum for the next three years for her safety. He stayed with his grandparents until he was old enough to get by on his own. Since that period in his life, he'd only seen her five or six times over the years. But after last night, seeing the shadow himself, he realised she'd been telling the truth all along. Guilt ran through him.
..................

  Charlie knocked on her door. Seconds later someone was heard coming to the entrance and opening it. The moment she realised who it was, Karen began to sob. "It's so good to see you, son."
  The first thing he said was, "I believe you, Mum. I saw it for myself last night." Tears welled up in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Mum."
  They cuddled.
  Karen invited him in, relieved he finally believed her.
  Once they were sat down in the living room, she offered him a cup of tea. 
  "Thank you, that'd be lovely," he answered.
  Charlie took a sip of warm tea.
  He explained over the next thirty minutes what had occurred last night and how it had terrified him and his wife. Karen had only met her once.
  She looked at him sadly. "When your father died, the shadow appeared the same night. It was there every night for a week. Then one day it was gone. I missed my husband, your father, so much, and the grief was getting on top of me. I'm so sorry, Charlie, for not being there when you needed me the most."
  He'd been so angry with her for so long, until now. "Don't blame yourself, Mum. I know the truth now."
  Karen wiped her eyes with a tissue from her pocket. "I believed that shadow had something to do with your father's death. I hated it so much."
  Charlie needed to ask, "I don't want it doing the same to my son. How do we stop it?"
  Emotionally, she answered, "I honestly don't know."
  "Mum. Come back with me this afternoon; you haven't met little Christopher yet. We would love to have you, if you can, that is."
  A smile appeared on her sixty-something face. "I would love it."
..................

  By 7 pm Karen was unpacked and staying in the spare room next to his. Christopher was now downstairs sleeping in his cot in the living room, where they could keep an eye on him. They talked all evening. 
  The baby didn't cry once until the baby monitor started to make a strange noise followed by a deep voice, similar to last night. 
  Claire comforted the boy. 
  The words the spirit said were hard to make out. 
  Charlie noticed his mother looked terrified as she put a hand up to her mouth. He turned his phone on and went to the camera app; on the screen was the ghostly shadow, standing close to where the cot had been. Within seconds it had disappeared. A chill was felt. Charlie peered at his watch. The time was 9:13 pm. It was the same time as last night when the thing had appeared.
The child had stopped crying; Claire held the baby in her arms, looking distressed. "We need to end this now."
..................

The next day Charlie went to the local church to seek advice on how to get rid of it. At first, the priest seemed shocked, but the more the man listened, he said, "I'm afraid exorcisms are very rare, except in very extreme cases where the entity poses a threat to others. If there's one bit of advice I could give you. I have a number here; she's very good. She's by the name of Mary; she specialises in these sorts of hauntings. Please ring her; she might be able to help."
  He handed Charlie the card.
..................

 The moment Charlie got home, he rang the number. A woman answered; she was very softly spoken. He explained everything to her, and she seemed more than happy to help for a price. He agreed.
..................

  The next day she arrived mid-afternoon. Straightaway she went to their son's room upstairs. The woman stayed there for some time while they all stayed nervously downstairs in the living room.
  She joined them after a while and sat down.
  Charlie needed to know what she'd found out and asked, "Do you know who it is? What do they want with our son?"
  The woman answered after a few seconds, deep in thought. "I felt a presence in the room, but it wasn't as strong as I would've liked. But you said on the phone that the ghost, entity, appears around ten past nine in the evening. I will try and make proper contact with it tonight at this time. I'm unsure how this will go, but it's worth a shot. Are you okay with this?"
  Karen then said, "I'm not sure if this helps, but my husband, Charlie's dad, died close to this time in a tragic accident 28 years ago."
  The woman looked surprised by this. "Thank you for that information. There might be a connection with this. I'll leave now and come back later, nearer to the time. Is that okay with everyone?"
  "Yes, that's fine. I just hope you can get to the bottom of it," Charlie replied, needing an end to this once and for all.
..................

  By 8 pm there was a knock from the entrance. Charlie opened it, and the psychic stood there with a determined look on her face.
  As she entered, the woman said confidently, "Now let's get to the bottom of this mystery." 
  "Let's hope we can," replied Charlie, not sharing the same optimism.
  Halfway up the stairs, the woman turned to Charlie and his mother. "I need you two to come with me if you don't mind."
  Both followed the lady up the stairs. At the top, all three went to the son's room. 
  The psychic turned to them and said, "You need to listen to me, okay? I'm going to enter the room now. If I can trap the spirit in the room, I might need you to join me. I don't know what to expect at the moment. One thing I do know is that for some reason this entity is connected to both of you in some way. The birth of your child might have something to do with that as well. Wish me luck."
  The woman entered the room, closing the door. 
  "I'm so scared," said Karen, trembling.
  Charlie took hold of her hand; she peered up at him. "Tonight this will end for the both of us, Mum. There's nothing to be scared of. Now it's a waiting game."

  Downstairs the baby was in the cot, sound asleep. Claire watched what was going on in the room using her mobile phone. She'd already seen the psychic enter and was now standing where the cot would've been. The woman had closed her eyes and was chanting something. Suddenly the baby woke up, crying. From the right side of the screen, it came into view. The sight of this monstrous being petrified Claire so much that she nearly dropped the phone. "Please be okay, my darling husband," she muttered, terrified of what might happen next.

  Charlie heard the psychic inside the room talking to herself. He still had hold of his mum's hand. She shook with fear. The psychic's voice heightened as she asked the spirit why it was there. A deep voice answered back, but it was difficult to hear its exact words. She asked it again if it was ready to leave this realm. From outside a chill was felt suddenly. 
  Without warning, the door opened from inside. The woman ushered them in. "My suspicions were correct after all. Please don't be scared. You have nothing to fear."
  Charlie and his mum proceeded into the room, and then they saw something that took their breaths away. The menacing shadow had gone, and a man stood at the back of the room, a soft light radiating off him. He smiled at them warmly. In his right hand was a present. Charlie recognised him instantly. He'd seen him in old photographs from years ago. It was his father.
  "Is that you, Dad?" he said emotionally.
  Karen sobbed, not believing what she was witnessing with her own eyes. It was Ted, the love of her life.
  The man came closer. The chill was now gone, replaced by warmth. He handed the present to his son. "I'm so sorry I couldn't have been there for you, my beloved Charlie. I've missed you so much. I've wanted to give this to you for so long. It's time for me to leave now, son."
  Like a miracle, Charlie held the present in his hands. He looked up at his father. "I love you, Dad."
  Ted nodded to the both of them. "And I love you too."
  From behind the spirit, a tunnel of light appeared. He walked into it.
  Moments later, the light and the spirit had gone.

The End.
  
 

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