Horror - Short Stories

Why not to get yourself a second shadow

I have had two shadows for as long as I can remember - my own shaded double and another. A foreign soul that does not heed me. Instead, it retraces my footsteps, an unknown figure with a front-view seat to every personal moment in my life - the joyful and fond memories I store close to my heart, the rare times when I become distraught enough to be tender and weak, and the deep, dark secrets I hold close to my chest. It followed me through the shining light of day and the shrouded darkness that is night. Having itself as a being above the laws of the universe.

"Leo! Honestly, I swear pigs would be fluttering the day you are not late for school." My mother sighed, bringing up her hands to rub her forehead as she interrupted my racing thoughts, bringing them to a sudden stop. Blinking my bleary eyes rapidly, I squinted from my place on my bed, attempting to peer at my mother. She was standing on the threshold of my room, hands on her hips. With a roll of her eyes, she strode towards me, seized my blanket and bunched it in her hands. Then, she ripped it off my body with a strong tug, brutally leeching the warmth and leaving me to the tender mercies of the chilly air circulating through the room.

Lillian Davis was a worn woman, wrinkles crinkling her skin. She held a sort of weary air - like she had already faced anything and everything life had thrown at her and still came out kicking. My father had passed away just a few months prior and my mother was still recovering from that heavy blow. Ezra Davis had died due to lung disease - an entirely anti-climatic end to the energetic adventurer.

"Mum!" I whined, shaking off any remaining thoughts concerning my buried father. I am already morbid enough.

"Don't you dare 'mum' me, young man." Lillian snapped, pointing her index finger towards me in warning. "This is the fourth time you are late. This week."

"Sorry, I know-" I cowered, casting my gaze down to my feet as if they are the most exciting object here. I never did realise how intricate my shoes are.

"No, you do not know." My irritated mother stressed, glaring at her squirming son. I sheepishly rubbed my neck, accidentally knocking over a family photo placed on my bedside table.

"Um..." I trailed off, unsure whether commenting on this would just further aggravate my aggravated mother. My mother merely sighed, looking just done with me before crouching down to pick up the frame. Lifting the object with two fingers, she dangled the image in front of me, raising an eyebrow.

The picture was taken at the moment of my birth, the pastel image of my mother and father leaning on each other, each cradling a baby in their arms. Across the joyful memory ran a spiderweb of hairline cracks, its reaches stretching from one end to another.

Turning the picture to examine it herself, my mum froze and rose slightly shaking fingers to trace the outlines of the people in the frame, blissfully ignorant smiles curving their lips. Unshed tears quietly rose from behind her eyes, an old would still not fully scabbed over.

"We were going to name him Levi, you know? Knew he was going to grow up a heartbreaker." Mum whispered, fingers painfully digging into the broken glass of the wooden frame. Her voice was broken, mind still lost in painfully happy memories.

"My twin? The one who died at childbirth?" I blurted without thinking, my curious mind betraying me once more. Once I realized what I said, I winced. Curiosity aside, I should have phrased that sentence better.

"Sorry." I weakly added, biting my bottom lip nervously. My mother just let in a breath and nodded, letting a small smile form.

"It's alright, love." She reassured, squeezing my hand.

"Still, that does not mean that you are off the hook." She continued, narrowing her eyes. I giggled before making a swift grab for my bag and took off, quickly hefting the bag over my shoulder. From the corner of my gaze, I could catch the sight of my mother waving her fist towards me and although her lips were pursed, a mischievous shine twinkled from her deep blue eyes.