My mother always warned me to avoid the shadow in my room, and I liked to think that I heeded her warning well. Whenever it danced along the white walls of my room, I simply turned away or left. Whatever it was gave me a feeling that made me so uncomfortable that I usually slept in the spare bedroom, granted it had quieted down a lot since my mother had been ripped away from my father and I. She was living in the Indianapolis Mental Institution, a few miles away from our small town of Franklin.

My father didn’t like to talk about Mother. If I mentioned her, he shook his head and mumbled under his breath before ushering me away. It was then that I usually took refuge in the winding trails in the woods behind our house. The scenery was beautiful and the quietness calmed my confused mind. But I believed I was more anxious to see him. 

Thomas was my neighbor. I had never seen much of him until after my mother was taken away. His family had visited afterwards to make sure my father and I were ok. They had never seemed to acknowledge him though. He was tall and lanky, usually dressed in a white button up shirt and black slacks. He had raven black hair and crystalline blue eyes. But he was mute and since he was, he never told me his name. So, I called him Thomas. I tried to make him speak, but he remained silent. He and I would walk along the trails of the woods as I ranted about the behavior of my father. Thomas kept his hands in his pockets and stared ahead, his lips held in a tight line. After it was over, we would break apart and returned to our houses. Somehow, Thomas was always there.

There was one night I remembered as though I relived it every day of my life. This was my first encounter with the shadows. It was a quiet night; a gentle breeze whispered to the trees outside and they relayed the messages through Morse code by tapping on my window. I was finally dozing off in my bed, when I heard the cackle of a male. I turned my head in the direction of the laughter, only to a shadow cast upon my wall. I pulled my blanket over my head, waiting for it to leave, only to have my blanket yanked away from me and tossed onto the floor. The shadow’s laughter grew, the sound of it drowning out my screams of fear. He knocked all of my porcelain knickknacks off of the shelves, tossed a few books at my head, the proceeded to knock over my bookshelf. I don’t know how I managed to get out of my room, but I did and ran as far as I could into the woods. “Thomas!!” I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow. I continued to run until I heard the trees rustle in the wind. From the shadows, Thomas emerged from the bushes, still clothed in his pajamas. I embraced him, and slowly began to ramble on about what had happened.  He grabbed my hand and pulled me to a lake that I didn’t even know existed. I suddenly grew tired and looked to Thomas, leaning my head on him. I closed my eyes, but I wasn’t asleep before I felt Thomas’s body jerk, as if something had scared him, I heard the male laughter from my room, and as my eyes closed, I heard the same voice as it said “Let’s hope you don’t escape.”

I remember when all of it happened, even now, as I kneel in front of my mother, my hair wet, droplets of water splattering onto my knees. She looks back at me, her eyes glossy as she repeats “I told you to stay away…”

“Who are you talking to?” The nurse asks, and Thomas lets out the laugh he did that night.