Chapter 9: The Truth in the Shadows
We barely made it back to my house before the thing found us again.
The moment I shut the door, the shadows moved.
It was there.
Standing at the edge of my vision.
Watching.
Waiting.
And this time, I wasn't running.
I turned to Zoey. "We end this. Now."
She nodded, her jaw set.
The thing stepped forward, its voice slithering into my mind.
"She was never meant to return."
I clenched my fists.
"Why?" I demanded. "What are you?"
It tilted its head, as if considering the question. Then, it whispered—
"Guilt."
The word hit me like a punch to the gut. But as it said that the figure changed it's limbs became normal, shrinking in its size. My eyes whined in fear as I looked at it standing in front of me, the monster was no longer a monster but myself or what it used to be. It was me two years ago.
Everything around me warped.
The walls melted. The floor twisted. And suddenly—
I was alone. But the feeling of guilt grew bigger as I felt like I was drowning.
No Zoey. No shadows.
Just me.
And the weight of everything I had been running from.