Terror in the Shadows Vol 5

by Scare Street

  She decided Mrs. Mabry was hopped up on something or was simply losing her mind because her husband had left her.

  Natalie’s next words made Donna’s blood turn cold for a moment. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

  It wasn’t the question itself that bothered her. It was the amused tone to Natalie’s voice when she said it. If there was something in the house, if Natalie really had brought something into the house with her, Donna was putting herself in a great deal of danger.

  Donna shook her head, dismissing the thought. That was just ridiculous.

  She forced herself to stand up. She was determined to get the downstairs door open, whether it was stuck or not. She walked to the door of the closet and rested her hand on the knob.

  “Do you have anything in here?” She was about to turn the knob when Natalie spoke loudly and firmly.

  “There’s nothing of mine in there.”

  Her voice was so quick and stern, Donna let go of the handle immediately. She turned to look at the little girl. Natalie smiled at her.

  “There really isn’t,” she said, her voice much softer.

  Donna felt apprehension slide through her. She turned away from the closet.

  “All right, dear.”

  They walked out of the room together, Donna letting the little girl go in front of her.

  Donna stopped at the door to Mrs. Mabry’s room. The woman was still sitting on the bed. Natalie passed right by without looking in. She started down the stairs, which had reverted to their usual form, letting the luggage trunk bounce on every step. Donna watched her until she couldn’t see her anymore.

  She pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m taking her out, Mrs. Mabry.”

  The woman’s head snapped to her, her eyes wide. “You’re taking her now?” she asked in a frantic voice.

  Donna nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Mrs. Mabry began to weep. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you,” she said through her sobs. She covered her face with her thin hands and continued to cry.

  Donna blinked rapidly and sighed, shaking her head. She turned away and went to the top of the stairs, hesitating before going down. The sight of the stairs flattening flashed through her mind.

  She put her foot on the top step. It was solid, as it should have been. She took another step down.

  Deciding it was all in her mind because of the house’s creepy atmosphere, she continued confidently to the bottom, where Natalie was waiting for her, looking up at her curiously.

  “Are you ready, dear?” Donna asked.

  Natalie nodded with a smile.

  The door opened without hesitation. The sun outside was warm and bright, making Donna feel a lot better inside. As soon as she stepped out on the porch, she felt refreshed, as if she had just stepped out of a small, dark closet.

  She drove the little girl to her house, using her cell phone, which was now working, to call Angelica and tell her that the foster home hadn’t worked out for Natalie and that she was taking her to her own house for the night.

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Angelica’s voice was apprehensive. “She’s got a lot of problems, according to prior reports. I know we’re supposed to help these kids all we can, but I don’t know about that one.”

  “I have to do what I can. No one else cares about this child.” Donna said the words but did not continue with what was in her mind. The foster mother had been truly terrified. Her talk of monsters didn’t make sense to Donna. She chalked off the stairs incident to the fear she’d felt upon entering the place. That could be the only reason. She had hallucinated the whole ordeal.

  That had to be it. Everything else about the home had been normal, other than the state of the foster mother.

  “Well, you need to be careful here, Donna. Watch her like a hawk. Call first thing tomorrow to get her into a new home. You really shouldn’t be taking her home with you, you know. I should call Norman.”

  Donna felt a bit of resentment slide through her at the mention of her supervisor.

  “I just called to let you know about the status, Ang. If you feel like you need to call Norman, you go ahead and do that. But I’m gonna take her back to my place, give her some food, let her watch some TV and get a good night’s rest. That foster mother was distraught over her husband leaving and…”

  “Her husband left? That disqualifies her from our program. Maybe that’s why she was upset. She wanted the money she gets from watching the girl.”

  Donna shook her head. Her friend was not going to be supportive of the situation. That was obvious.

  “I know,” was all she could say.

  “Do you know how long ago the husband left? Or why he left? God forbid the child was exposed to abuse.”

  “I don’t think that was it.”

  “Well, did she tell you?”

  Donna was fairly certain both foster parents were afraid of Natalie. That was why David had left his wife. But she wasn’t going to tell Angelica that. She would make more of it than it warranted.

  She glanced over at the little girl, sitting calmly in the passenger seat. Natalie glanced up at her and smiled. She smiled back.

  “No,” she said. “She didn’t say.”

  “Well, did it look like an abusive situation?”

  Donna was tired of talking on the phone. “I have to get off here, Ang. I’m driving. I’ll call you later.”

  “See that you do.” Donna could tell Angelica didn’t like being dismissed. “I care, Donna. I just want you to be safe.”

  “I know. Talk to you later.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  “Bye.” Donna hung up. She looked over at Natalie again before returning her eyes to the road. How could anyone think she was dangerous? She looked innocent and sweet.

  They arrived at her house a few minutes later. Donna pulled into the drive and parked the car in the garage. She took off her seatbelt and turned to Natalie.

  “Now, this is just going to be for tonight, all right? Tomorrow, we’ll try to find you another foster home. Somewhere you will feel safe. How does that sound?”

  Natalie just smiled at Donna, without responding.

  “Are you okay, Natalie? I can take you to the shelter now, if you want. You can wait there for the next family to come and get you.”

  Natalie continued to smile. She didn’t say a word. Donna stared back at her. She was beginning to feel a little uneasy. She probably should take the little girl to the shelter.

  Ridiculous, she chided herself. She was just a little girl. What harm could she really do?

  “Can you say something, Natalie? I’d like to know how you feel about this.”

  The way the little girl stared at her made her stomach churn painfully.

  “Can you say something, please?”

  “There won’t be time,” Natalie responded in a sweet voice.

  “I don’t know what you mean, Natalie. We have plenty of time to find you a new home tomorrow, and you can relax here tonight. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

  Natalie giggled, never taking her eyes away from Donna. “I like you. You’re nice. But we don’t have time. I wish we did. But they won’t let it happen.”

  Donna turned away from the girl and stared through the front window. Her heart was beating rapidly. “Who’s they, Natalie?” she asked, apprehensively.

  “The monsters, of course.”

  Chills covered Donna’s body. She moved her eyes back to the little girl. Natalie was still smiling, but now, Donna didn’t see sweetness and innocence. Her breathing sped up.

  “Natalie, there’s no such thing as monsters.”

  Again, Natalie giggled. To Donna, it sounded like the evilest sound she’d ever heard.

  “Yes, there are,” she responded in a sing-song voice.

  Donna shook her head. “No, dear. It’s just in your imagination. They can’t get out. They can’t make you do anything or say anything, and they can’t hurt you.”

  �
�I’m sorry, Ms. Barnhart. They want to show you you’re wrong.”

  Donna’s heart hammered in her chest. Her eyes widened. The little girl sitting in front of her no longer looked sweet. She looked like she might be one of the monsters she was talking about.

  “I’ll show you.” Natalie flipped through her coloring book to some pages in the back. She turned one around and showed it to Donna. Fear split through the woman when she looked at the crude drawing. The monster in the drawing was dark blue, almost black. Its hair stood up on its head, its eyes narrow and drawn back. It was baring its teeth, long and razor sharp.

  “Is this one of the monsters you’re talking about, Natalie?”

  The little girl nodded. “Yes, I have four of them. I made them up. And they came to life.”

  Natalie pulled three more pages from the book and handed them to Donna.

  Donna shook her head, leafing through the drawings. They were scary enough, but they were still just drawings. Could Mrs. Mabry really have thought these drawings were real? Surely, two grown adults wouldn’t believe the made-up stories of a little girl.

  “Did you show these to Mr. and Mrs. Mabry?” she asked.

  Natalie nodded.

  “And they believed they were real?”

  Natalie giggled. “Of course, they didn’t. Not until they saw them.”

  Donna swallowed, turning her eyes back to the child. “Natalie… did Mr. Mabry leave Mrs. Mabry?”

  Natalie shook her head, the smile still plastered to her face.

  “Did your monsters get him?”

  Natalie nodded this time, her expression never changing.

  Donna didn’t know what to say. “How… why…”

  “You’ll believe, too, Ms. Barnhart. And I’m really sorry.”

  Fear swam through Donna. She handed the pictures back to Natalie. “I think it’s best we go ahead to the shelter now.”

  “We can’t.”

  The two words sent Donna into a panic. Her eyes darted to the child. “Why not?” She could barely get the words out.

  “Because they’re already here. I told you they wouldn’t give us any time to relax. They don’t want me with anyone else. They want me to be with them. They don’t want you to take me to another foster home.”

  “Well, they’re not going to stop me.” Donna reached forward and turned the key in the ignition. It made no sound. She couldn’t help whimpering a bit. She tried again. And again.

  Natalie tapped her on the arm. She looked down at the girl. Natalie pointed behind her through the window of the driver-side door.

  Donna didn’t want to turn around. She closed her eyes, prayed, and tried the car again.

  “You can’t start the car, Ms. Barnhart,” Natalie said, quietly, sending a fresh chill through Donna’s body.

  Donna turned her head back toward the front and closed her eyes. She whimpered, hearing the piercing sound of something sharp scraping down the window behind her. She wasn’t going to look. She didn’t want to see it.

  Mrs. Mabry was right.

  Natalie brought the monsters with her.

  * * *

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