His hazel eyes flash with fear as his back finds itself pushed up against the cold wall behind him. He opens his mouth to scream for help but instead a strangled sob leaves his mouth as he sees the figure gliding closer to him. The only thing visible of the creature in front of the scared boy is their bright red eyes. His dark hair sticks to his forehead as his body sweats from fear.

"Daniel," a cold, death-filled voice fills the room.

"Who-Who are you?" Eleven-year-old Daniel questions, his voice full of fear as he trembles at the sight of the shadowy figure with red eyes.

"It doesn't matter what my name is, after all, I am just a shadow," the voice replies.

"Are-Are yo-you going to-to ki-kill me?" Daniel stutters, the feeling of icy coldness creeping closer as the shadow moves towards the boy.

"Why would I kill you when I have no reason to?" The shadow questions, stopping just a few feet away from the trembling boy.

"Peo-People k-kill for n-no rea-reason," Daniel replies.

"But I'm not a person, Daniel," the shadow counters, the boy's name being twisted to make it sound more breathy.

"Wha-What are you?" Daniel stutters, fear rising throughout his body, into every cell in his body.

"Nothing, after all, I am just a figure of your imagination," the voice says, but with each word it sounds like it's getting quieter and softer.

The shadowy figure rushes forwards, erupting a fearful and frightened scream from Daniel. He collapses to the ground and a sob rips through his throat.

Daniel jerks up, his eyes wide as he looks around, fear written in the hazel orbs. His breathing is heavy from the nightmare. What was that? Daniel thinks, his breathing evening out as he takes in deep breaths. Daniel jumps in his bed as his alarm goes off to get to school.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Daniel, shaking, dismisses the alarm. Getting out of the warm bed, Daniel gets ready for the school day

Daniel walks into his medium grey house after a long, boring day of school. The house is a two-story house with a basement, a kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, one on each floor, with a couple of storage rooms. His parents sleep on the second floor, where there is a guest room for their relatives. Daniel sleeps in the basement. His room is olive green with dark grey floors. It was what was left of the paint. Daniel couldn't say his room is big, but it isn't cramped. It holds his bed, a dresser, a desk, and a chair, with a closet.

Daniel drops his backpack onto the floor in his room and sighs. All day long he's been pondering about that nightmare he had. Does it mean anything? Or is it really just an awful dream? Daniel sighs in frustration and falls onto his bed. His eyes unknowingly sliding shut as sleep takes over him.

"Daniel," the familiar cold voice whispers throughout the aphotic space.

Daniel attempts to ignore the Shadow by viewing the area around him. The room is pitch black, besides the faint light coming from above. Looking up, Daniel realizes it's from a solid, blood-red moon.

"Daniel!" The Shadows voice hisses, irritation in its voice.

Daniel sharply turns around to come face to, well, face(?) with the Shadows red eyes. The hazel-eyed boy lets out a shriek and jumps back and away from the Shadow, just for it to float forwards. Taking a good look at it, Daniel notices the Shadow has an obsidian-colored cloak around it, covering itself up. But it's lighter than the room they're in. There's a smokey haze around the Shadow that just makes him want to cry or crawl away or simply die right there. The ends of the cloak are ripped and shredded, but it hovers off the ground. The long pieces of the cloak will often brush against the ground, sending arctic blue across the ground in ripples. The ripples, Daniel notices, make him feel sad, like in a deep depressive state as they pass by him. Vanishing as they fade away.

Daniel wails as a long, cold finger traces his jawline and down his neck, a line of blood following behind the finger.

"Don't make me do this again, I distate to see my victims looking. Or feeling, content in this world," The Shadows icy voice speaks.

"Why me?! Why did you have to choose me?!" Daniel bawls frantically.

"Oh Daniel, you choose me," The Shadow says.

The Shadow starts screaming at a high-pitched frequency, making Daniel cry out and clutch his ears with his hands, trying to block out the horrendous sound.

Daniel jolts up, similarly to what he did earlier, his hands still clutching his ears.

"Daniel? Shut it!" His mother's voice shouts.

"Sorry, mother!" Daniel apologizes, his hands folding in his lap.

Four years later, 15-year-old Daniel finds himself dreading the nights, the nightmares that terrorize them, and The Shadow that still looms in them. Lately, The Shadow has been getting more anxious about something Daniel knows not, but he will, only time will time.

"Daniel," The Shadow hisses demandingly.

"Y-Yes?" Daniel stutters in response, he never got comfortable with The Shadow.

"I need you to kill your mother," The Shadow begins, "fail? You shall die. Succeed? You shall live immortally."

Daniel freezes and dread clouds his features. Does he have what it takes to kill his mother? The person that birthed him. The person that kept him alive. The same one who doesn't care about him. The same one that only acknowledges him when he does something wrong. The same one who wished to have a daughter instead of a son. Yes, he does have what it takes. At least, to stay alive.

"I-I'll do it," Daniel stammers, slight fear in his voice with an edge of confidence.

"Of course you would, do it before we meet again," The Shadow informs, removing itself with a giant puff of smoke.

Daniel creeps along the dimly lit hallways of his house, kitchen knife in his gloved hand, making sure his fingerprints don't get onto the knife, only his mother's. He could back out now. Back out and die instead of his mother. At that thought, Daniel continues until he reaches her room, opening it slightly, an annoying creek echoing through the house. Daniel freezes, fear and worry etching into his pours. Making sure she's asleep, Daniel sighs in relief. He hovers over her, knife pointed at her, ready to take her life.

"Daniel-" Daniel's mother starts in a hiss.

That was the last word she said. Her son's name in a bitter tone. Like it would ever change from it, Daniel thought sourly. He lays in bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking over what he did. How will he get away? He could always play that innocent child, Daniel chuckles at the thought. Slowly, sleep takes over. Or shouldn't it be The Shadow takes over?

"You did it, Daniel," The Shadow says, his back turned from the 15-year-old.

"Y-Yes I did, sh-she de-deserved it for-for what she di-did to me," Daniel stutters.

"I'm surprised, mothers and their children have special bonds, hard to break," The Shadow kudos.

"My mo-mother a-and I were-weren't like th-that," Daniel replies, sadness in his voice.

"I could see indeed. And now I must thank you," The Shadow says to the boy.

"Why-Why would you th-thank me?" Daniel questions.

"To complete the ritual for me to fully take over your life," The Shadow says, making fear rise in Daniel.

"Wh-What do yo-you mean? You-You can't t-take over my-my life, your-you're just a sh-shadow!" Daniel stutters, fear flashing in his hazel eyes and anxiousness taking over his body.

"I mean, you can never wake up from this, Daniel. I'll always be with you," The Shadow replies, his body growing until the only thing not covered is Daniel.

Daniel keeps his mouth shut as The Shadow tries to invade the other's mouth, trying to reach his soul. The boy gasps as his mouth is ripped open and the dark shadow invades his mouth. He feels himself start to fade, fading into helplessness.

Daniel jerks up, his body pale and drenched in sweat. His eyes keep flickering from their normal hazel color to bright red, back to hazel again. The Shadow tries to take over Daniel, trying to corrupt his soul.

Daniel fights back against the unknown force. All he knows is that nothing will be getting into his soul. Not now. Not ever. Daniel lets out a painful scream as the pain increases, making him finally let loose his restraints, letting The Shadow take over freely. Daniel's eyes flash a bright red, his skin starts turning from a chocolate brown to a milky white. His eyes start to lose that once happiness from their eyes, leaving a shell of a boy.

'Thanks, Daniel. I can now take over your body. Take over your nerves and inch by inch take over your soul,' The Shadow says into the boy's mind.

"H-How are you doing this? I-I'm in the re-real world. Are-Arent I?" Daniel stutters out loud.

'I can talk in your head now that you've completed the ritual that fully bonds me to you,' The Shadow replies.

"Will you be able to take over my-my body?" Daniel asks, fear on his face.

Daniel feels movement inside him and suddenly, he feels like he's being ripped away from his body. He feels numbness in his body, like he can't move anything, but he can still see through his eyes, but it's like looking through someone else's.

"Yes I can, "The Shadow's voice echoes through the room.

'W-What are go-going to do?' Daniel asks, fear in his voice as he talks to The Shadow in his head.

Daniel lets out a scream as he feels pressure start to build in his head, tears start prickling his eyes.

"Thanks, Daniel, for letting me free," The Shadow smirks, finally able to do so.

Daniel watches as he moves through the house until he's out of it. Fresh air quickly fills Daniel's lungs as he moves across the street.

Daniel screams mentally as he watches his body take a knife. He tries to regain control back over his body. Trying to hinder the probable events. Trying anything, to no avail. He heads upstairs and watches in horror as his body walks into the room, a woman and a man sleeping in bed is what was found.

"Hope you have a nice life," The Shadow grins murderously.

Those people's screams haunt Daniel awake, as The Shadow still haunts him at night. It's been a week and The Shadow has killed 17 people. Daniel knows what he needs to do but doesn't want to accept it. His mother was taken away and he now stays with his neighbor, Mss. Peterson.

Daniel creeps to the kitchen, hoping hell be able to do this in time. Daniel quickly grabs the knife and does the one thing he never thought he would do.

He stabbed himself.

'Nooo!' The Shadow screams in his head.

Daniel falls back, blackness dancing around the edges of his eyesight. He wants to say he felt like he was losing himself but he wasn't.

'Thanks, again. Now, I don't have to worry about your soul getting in the way,' The Shadow's cruel voice was the last thing that Daniel Hendrix heard as he drifted off into eternal darkness.