Shadows in the Dark

by Hunter England

  Nick

  Every once in awhile, a child is born... special. That child isn’t like any other person. When they discover what they can do, it’s up to them to figure whether they will use it for the people... or for themselves.

  Sadly, I haven’t chosen yet. If I help the people, I’d be helping the people that haven’t had faith in me. The people that haven’t treated me like a person. But if I use my power for myself, I’d drown in my own power, letting it feed on my heart and my mind.

  As I sat there in my awful motel room, I stared at the wall. Everyday, I do this. I don’t leave my room. I don’t open the blinds. I just sit there and think. What I can do isn’t the least bit normal. What I can do hurts people. A lot of people.

  What’s my story? That’s hard to explain. Everything I’ve been through would make the strongest of man fall down to their knees. What I’ve been through would haunt the mind of any person. But I pulled through. Sadly... I don’t think I can last any longer.

  At times, I just feel like walking out there and killing everyone. I feel like I should just make them all suffer. Our world is too busy basking in its “glory” that it doesn’t realize that it’s a horrible place. I’m afraid of sticking my head out of the door. Even before this all happened, I was afraid. I was afraid to just see people because everyone is unpredictable. Anything can happen. Trust me... I learned that the hard way.

  Let’s begin my story with this.

  It was a nice, cold Saturday afternoon. I was sitting on my couch, watching TV with my little sister, Anna. My parents were out at the store and they wanted me to watch her. This was the first time they trusted me enough to babysit my sister.

  Anna didn’t pay any attention to me. She only cared about the talking sponge on my TV. I didn’t bother asking her if she wanted to do something else. As long as she was distracted, I was cool with it.

  A fire sat under the TV, crackling silently under the noise of the cartoon. I could hear the sounds of cars passing by in the street outside.

  “Nick?” Anna said. I looked over at her, seeing she had gotten up from the couch.

  “Yeah?”

  “Can we do something else? I’ve seen this episode before.” A small smile had appeared on her little seven-year-old face. I smiled back at her.

  “Sure. What do you want to do?” I sat up and stretched, reaching my hands for the ceiling. Anna turned and walked into her room. I stood and waited for her, listening to her search for something in her room. She came back out with a board game. Simple enough.

  She sat it on the coffee table and pulled out the board and game pieces. I knelt down on the other side of the table and watched her set the game up.

  “Since when did you like ‘Monopoly’?” I asked with a laugh. She set the board game box down on the floor and sat down.

  “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Nick,” she replied with a smile. For thirty minutes, I laughed and talked with my little sister, which is something I haven’t done in a while. I learned things about her that I would’ve never thought of. Like how she’s actually really smart. Or how she has so many friends. I was having a lot of fun with her. But that ended very quickly.

  All of a sudden, my front door busted open, slamming the door handle into the wall. My parents walked in and stopped at the coffee table. Easily, I read the anger in their eyes. My dad grabbed the board and threw it off of the table.

  “What the hell?” I exclaimed as I stood up. Dad got his face into mine and jammed his finger into my chest.

  “Who the hell do you think you are? We are your parents! I don’t understand why you go around doing these... horrible things!” Mom grabbed Anna and took her into her room.

  “What did I do?” I asked, pushing him away from me.

  “What did you do? What didn’t you do? Did you not think we’d find out eventually? Do you think we’re stupid?” Dad picked up a couch pillow and threw it at me, hitting me in the face.

  I could feel my heart racing and my pulse rising.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Ditching school for months! Doing drugs! Stealing from stores! I don’t know how you kept this from us for so long. But, my God! How can you live with yourself?” Dad picked up another pillow and threw it.

  “Easy, Dad. I handle it how you do. I pretend it doesn’t happen. You act like nothing’s wrong with this family, yet you come home every night, drunk as hell! I hear the things you say to Mom. I hear the things you say about Anna and I. I know who you are!” The veins in my neck popped out and my face was turning red. “You don’t care about this family! You were never there for me! So I found a hobby! Like father, like son.”

  The fire under the TV flickered.

  “You don’t know me!” Dad yelled.

  “It’s ‘cause you’re never there!”

  The fire flickered again. Worse this time.

  “Get out of my house! Just get the hell out!” He flipped over the coffee table, tipping over everything that was on it.

  “Your house? I’ve been putting more effort to help this family more than you have!”

  The fire grew larger, seeping out of the fireplace.

  “How dare you talk to me-”

  “HOW DARE YOU? You’re a poor excuse for a person! You’re pathetic! I’m embarrassed to call you my father!”

  The room grew hotter as the fire grew larger and larger.

  “How about you do this family a favor and do what you should’ve done years ago!” I grabbed the flower vase that was on the floor and smacked him in the head, sending him to the floor. “GET THE HELL OUT!”

  That’s when it all happened. The fire bursted out of the fireplace and surrounded the whole living room. I fell to my knees and looked around, terrified. The fire covered my whole house, melting everything I loved. But I wasn’t getting burned.

  The fire spread everywhere. In the kitchen. In the bathroom. Every room in this house was swallowed in flames.

  Even Anna’s.

  A sudden drowsiness filled me and I fell to the floor. At that moment, I thought I was dying. Sadly… I wasn’t. I passed out, falling into a sea of darkness. I don’t know how long I was there, but when I woke up, I awoke in what used to be my home.

  What I saw was what made me snap. What I saw was what made me run away and never turn back. What I saw made me realize that I was a monster.

  Everything that had meaning to me was burned to ashes. My room. Every last family picture. My family. My Dad’s body was burnt to a crisp. All that was left were his bones. Same goes for my mother. Same goes... for Anna.

  I never tried to go back to my old life. What lied in my old life is only betrayal. Betrayal to my family.

  Now you know why I must be where I am at this moment. All I do is hurt the things I love. I am a monster. I am hell with legs. I am a walking flamethrower.

  So now I must choose whether to use my awful power for the greater good... or for myself. Save the people that would deny me as a person? Or kill the people that see me as a monster? But no matter what, I will do what I do for what I did. I will do it all... for Anna.

  …..