Post by StoryGirl83 on Apr 21, 2010 18:12:15 GMT -5
Chapter Eighteen – Shadows
Aaron Lloyd and Reina Leann Lloyd
Thursday April 8, 2027
“Good night, Sweetheart,” a man said as he leaned into give the little girl in the bed a kiss.
“Daddy, the shadows,” the little girl protested even as she touched her lips to the proffered cheek.
“The shadows aren’t going to hurt you, Sweetie.” The man tucked the covers up against his daughter’s chin.
The girl pulled her hand out of the covers and flipped her hand upward. The light flipped on. “Daddy, something is there.” She looked at him with bright blue eyes. “I’m scared.”
He smiled at what he thought was a blatant attempt to stay up later. “I’ll check under the bed and in the closet. Okay?”
Her lip quivered and she nodded. “Okay.”
The man peeked his head under the bed and made a show of looking about the empty space there. Then, he walked over to the closet and pulled the door open. He looked inside, but saw nothing out of the ordinary amongst his daughter’s stuffed toys. He walked back to the bed and sat down. “Can you sleep now, Reina?”
Reina Leann Lloyd sniffed and nodded. “Okay, Daddy.”
Aaron Lloyd headed out of his daughter’s bedroom and closed the door almost closed behind him, leaving it open just enough to let the light in the hall act as a night light. He was halfway to the bedroom he had once shared with his wife when a childish scream nearly stopped his heart.
“Daddy!!!”
Aaron ran back to his daughter’s room as fast as he could. He didn’t both with the door knob, slamming the door open with a wave of his hand. The hall light flooded the room, but all Aaron saw was the empty bed and twisted covers. All he knew was that he’d failed to protect his daughter from something she’d seen in the shadows.
The End