Chasing Shadows

-Chapter Two-

I'll bet you twenty bucks you don't know how absolutely terrifying it is to watch your mother pull darkness out of a shadow.

I know what you're thinking. 

Oh, darkness! It's not that bad!

No.

Obviously, you have no idea what this actually looked like, so I guess I'll have to describe it to you. 

It was pure black. If you looked at it straight on for too long, it would make your eyes go crazy. It's worse than the darkness you see when you close your eyes. It was literally sucking the light out of the room.

And it vaguely took the form of a human. No facial features, barely any fingers, and no toes. But there was a definite head, arms, legs, and a torso.

I felt like the thing was looking straight at me. I've never been more disturbed in my entire life. I was completely petrified. 

My mom threw the thing back into the shadow. I let out a little squeak as the light in the room was abruptly restored. 

"What...was...that?" I somehow managed to choke out. My dad looked at me. His eyes were cold. There wasn't even the slightest trace of fear in them. "That, my dear, was a shadow. A real shadow."

I stared at him, confused. "But...shadows are just...aren't they just caused by things blocking the light?"

My dad shook his head. "That's what the world wants you to believe. See, paranormal things would scare people, so the government keeps it quiet. Of course, they don't know very much about it to begin with."

"So...what does it mean?"

My mom sat down next to me on the couch, wiping her hand on her jeans like she had just touched something slimy. "Shadows...real shadows, are almost like people, Avery. They can think, breathe, and see. They also eat, but they don't eat regular food. 

"Shadows feed off of negative emotions. Sadness, anger, stress, fear, spite, and greed are just a few of them. Now, it seems as though the longer the world goes on, the more apparent these emotions are becoming...which means, in the simplest terms, the shadows get bigger."

I stared at her, my eyes wide. "But...does that mean every time I cry--" "Yes, you help a shadow grow." My mother cut me off. 

"So...does that mean I'm not allowed to be sad?" 

My mom smiled a little bit. "No, Avery. Positive emotions combat negative emotions. So, in the end, being sad every once in a while won't make them grow. Because you are a generally happy person." She paused. "I guess there's a better way to phrase the situation."

My dad spoke, his voice gruff. "My parents explained it to me differently. They said that the shadows grow depending on how much of the population is made up of very negative people...or just really bad people. Terrorists, murderers, people with anxiety or depression. You can't really blame someone with anxiety or depression though...they can't help it. People who are driven by spite, envy, and greed...those are the ones you can blame. The shadows grow, and they make it worse for all of us."

I swallowed. "Doesn't that mean we should be overrun already?"

Both of my parents smiled. "There are reasons that the sun still shines everyday." My mom said. "There are still good people in the world, there are still positive people in the world. The media doesn't really let you believe that...but they're out there..." 

"And," my dad added, "there are people out there fighting the shadows." 

I raised my eyebrows. "That seems a little sketchy."