The Shadow

The Kingdom of Demacia stood quiet against the cricking sound from the crickets accompanied by the loud ring of the tower bell indicating that the hour of peril had come.

The death of the previous king and the accession of the new king had brought new rules that echoed fears of doubt and apprehension among the people which no one dared disobey.

Tales of the new rule spoken in hushed tones accompanied the people in their sleep like shadows. Only when the morning came were there to be seen bright and happy faces.

Once more, unfortunately, the night had come again as the loud ring of the tower bell resounded, a ring away from the final warning before whispers of shadows echoed in hushed tones again.

As the hour hand of the clock struck the hour of 6 in the evening, so did the voices of the people quieten, the crickets taking over from where they stopped as no one dared remain outside their homes.

As the evening wore on, so did the darkness enveloping the kingdom, the grey sky hovering like a thick blanket over them.

In one of the villages among the other towns and villages was a house with a flickering candle in one of its rooms.

The candle burnt slowly as it illuminated the room while the gentle heaves of breath coming from the lady who lay on the bed gently echoed as the peaceful serenade of the crickets continued, the glow from the candle adding to the warmth and peaceful feeling in the room.

The second hand of the clock continued to tick away as hours passed in silence and so did the burning candlelight sizzle away.

At the last flicker of light from the candle caused darkness to take over. The room which had been warm from the glow of the candlelight drastically changed as the cold air now slipped into the room from the open windows.

A wave of breeze from outside against the window caused it to shut with a loud thud that seemed to take with it the last warmth which was felt some minutes ago in the room.

A few minutes passed in silence when the window creaked wearily followed by gentle steps on the cold wooden floor. The lady stirred in her sleep, her brows furrowed as her face squeezed into a small frown causing the footsteps to halt.

The sound of the footstep which had stopped earlier resumed, causing the girl to move on the bed once more.

"No, please, not again tonight," She muffled in her sleep, her fingers squeezing at the thin sheets covering her frail-looking body. "No, no, please stop!" This time her voice came out a little louder.

"Stop what?" A voice suddenly whispered in the darkness of the room.

At the sound of the voice, the room became still. Even the breeze thrashing against the window stopped as though it could feel the gloom that now enveloped the room. The only sound that could be heard was the loud beating of the lady's heart.

'It was here again,' She told herself, straining her ears trying to listen to the movement in her room. Her chest rose and fell in an attempt to breathe as fear clouded her senses. She knew what that was and what it meant. Her hands beside her stilled from thugging the sheets afraid to make the slightest movement.

The voice like a whisper came again, this time on another side of the room, effortlessly floating across the room like a shadow. "You refuse to answer my question yet again." There was an unnerving edge at the end of the voice's words. Though it sounded calm, it was far from what it appeared to be. There was a note of impatience and withheld anger in the tone of the voice.

The lady's eyes drastically moved in all directions in search of where the voice came from. She could feel its presence but at the same time couldn't see the owner of the voice.

Suddenly, the space beside her on the bed dipped low, heightening the fear that crawled into her heart. "Not again oh no—" She whispered in her heart, her lips quivering. She could barely make the slightest movement knowing what was now on the bed with her. This one was one of its ways of tormenting her.

"Not again?" The voice sneered, sinisterly disclosing it could hear what she thought. The voice's whisper rose goosebumps of fear and its presence beside her on the bed was like a fearful caress to her soul.

The voice continued to speak, "You refuse to acknowledge me each time, yet again, you plead." What started as a gentle whisper turned into an eerie murmur that cut through the sharp intake of breaths from the girl. Her skin tingled with fear when she felt the light touch on her arm that traveled towards her neck only stopping when its touch got to her open chest which her thin night dress didn't cover.

"The sound of your heartbeat is sweeter than the serenade from the finest of music. If only you could let me have it." The voice said. One could hear the longing from its tone as though it was bitterly smiling.

"I will never give you my heart!" The girl spat, not knowing where the brave words came from as she tried to mask the fear in her.

"And that—" The voice held a low echo as it spoke, its voice appeared angry as it reached for the girl's neck again, this time holding it in a tight grip. "—brings closer a day when you shall beg me to take your heart."

"Please, s-spare me! Don't kill me p—please," She let out a strangled cry, tears brimming in her eyes as her legs stretched on the bed shook from the voice's grip and the intense fear that enveloped her. Am I going to die tonight?!

"I wish I could spare you. But the beating of your heart reminds me I shouldn't let go of it," said the voice, exhaling in frustration and withheld anger. "At least not now, but then, the day I shall take your heart in my hands draws closer than your birth month. Until then, my pretty Opheliaaaa." It whispered, deliberately dragging her name as its voice left an unnerving echo.