You're cuddled up in bed reading a book. The hour is late, and sleep begins to settle over you. You place a bookmark on the page you are at and decide to watch a little TV before you go to sleep.
"Hello I am Steven Colbert and this, is the Colbert Report!" You hear the chanting and applaud of many happy viewers as Steven smiles and waves at everyone. "Alright tonight I'll be talking to Morgan Freeman, about his new-" just then the picture cuts out, and is replaced by nothing more than static.
"Stupid Cable Company..." you say to yourself. You decide to turn the TV off now, and rest your head into your pillow for a good night sleep.
Your eyes open sluggishly, as your sleep is later interrupted by a noise ringing throughout your room. You look around sleepishly and find that your TV is on, static echoing in your room.
"I thought I turned that off..." you say to yourself. You reach for the remote and turn the TV off again. As you go to rest your head on your pillow, you hear a loud smash echo from the hallway. "What was that?" you ask yourself, feeling a little alarmed. You quietly get out of bed, and head for your door. You tip-toe into the hallway, trying to find the source of the noise. "It sounded like it came from the kitchen..." you say to yourself, as you turn the corner in the hallway and walk carefully into the kitchen. You notice a shattered dish on the ground, and you feel a bit of fear well up inside you. Your eyes quickly begin scanning the room, trying to spot something out of place in the dark, when suddenly something leaps out of the shadows. You let out a surprised scream and jump back, as a mouse scurries out of the kitchen. "Rotten vermin!" you shout angrily at the mouse.
You decide to go get a trap from the basement before heading back to bed. As you walk to the door you mutter to yourself "Rotten pest! I can't wait to get rid of you". Just then, you hear a faint whisper in your ear "I was going to say the same about you..." You quickly turn around, your heart skipping a beat, but see nothing but the dark hallway behind you. You shake your head, and leave it to your imagination; after all, you had just been scared half to death by a mouse.
You make your way down the stairs carefully and go to the corner where you keep the boxes. You find one labeled "Pest Control" and pull it off the shelf and look inside. "What...what is this?" you ask yourself, as you find nothing more than a large rope in the box. "This isn't going to help me catch a mouse!" you say to yourself as you put the box back on the shelf. As you turn to leave, you hear the voice whisper into your ear again, sounding more threatening this time, "That rope is perfect for removing large pests..."
You look around frantically, and shout into the dark "WHO IS THERE!?!" but you hear no reply. You begin to shake a little from fear, but decide that all you need is to go back to sleep. You quickly make your way back up the stairs, and lock the basement door behind yourself. You begin walking down the hallway, your shadow stretching along the ground, when suddenly you begin to feel dizzy. You lean against the wall for support when you hear the whisper, once again in your ears.
"You won't escape me pest!" You look around, terrified and furious now.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" you shout.
Suddenly, your shadow begins stretching further and further along the floor, reaching up the wall and to the ceiling. At first, you believe this to be nothing more than a trick of the light, but you soon realize you are wrong. Your shadow begins manifesting itself into a physical form.
Your shadow turns to face you and smiles as it speaks, "Hello...pest". Your immediate instinct is to run, but your legs, they refuse to move. Your shadow now slowly walks over to you, an arm outstretched as it reaches for you. You want to push it away, but you cannot gather the strength to lift your arms. Your shadow has you paralyzed on the spot, unable to do any more than watch. As your shadow approaches you, it begins to gently stroke your cheek with its hand and whispers to you once more, "Shh...Do not be afraid darling...I promise this won't hurt".
You feel your body grow colder and colder, and watch in horror as your shadow begins taking on a form fit for a monster.
Eyes glowing yellow, teeth sharp as knives and black tendrils sprouting from its back! It begins to snarl and growl, as a grotesque nightmarish smile spreads across its face. Your body begins feeling numb, and you look in horror as the tendrils begin to wrap slowly around you.
Try as you might to fight back, your body refuses to do anything. You are helpless as you feel yourself being wrapped up by pure darkness. You look into the eyes of the monster before you, and try to scream, but now, even your voice fails you. As you feel yourself being pulled closer and closer towards your beast shadow, your eyes grow heavy. As they close, you can hear your heart beat rapidly. "Is this it?" You wonder. "I can't move...I'm going to die...this is how it is all going to end..."
As you feel yourself drift away, you shoot your eyes open and leap from your bed, screaming at the top of your lungs, tears streaming down your face. You look around your room, terrified. You try to find the monster, but soon realize it isn't there. You look out your window and see the early hours of morning. More confused than scared now, you go to sit on your bed, trying to figure out what had happened. You turn on the TV, and are greeted by morning cartoons. "A dream...no...A nightmare" you tell yourself, as you bury your face in your hands, trying to hold back another wave of tears.
After sitting in bed for what feels like hours, you decide it would be best to move on, and start your daily routine. You go to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of coffee. As you turn the corner in the hallway, you feel your heart stop, and quickly cast your gaze to the floor. Your eyes survey every inch of the kitchen, and you let out a sigh of relief when you realize that the broken dish from the night before is gone. "It was just a nightmare..." You tell yourself as you get water for the coffee maker. As you go to the cupboard to get a bag of coffee beans, you realize there is a small blue box, with a red ribbon, sitting in the hallway. "A present?" you ask yourself. "Where did this come from? How did it get here?" You question, as you carefully approach the box. You notice a small card on the box, and read it slowly...
"If we allow the shadows within ourselves to manifest, we will be consumed by darkness. However, as long as there is light, the shadows will run and hide.
