A Little Touch of Magic | The Callers #1

Chapter Four

'Ilaina!' she almost shouted, sucking in a breath as she doubled over. 'You'll never guess.'

'What? What is it?'

I was worried. Annie had asthma and it wasn't good for her to be so out of breath. I ran over to her and then led her back to her bed, sitting her down as she took deep breaths to calm down.

'He's back.'

She put her hand up to her chest and her breathing slowed back to normal. I scrunched up my nose.

'Who's back?' I asked.

'Who do you think?' she replied, gripping my shoulder. 'He's back!'

It took me a second to know who she was talking about, but then it dawned on me, like someone had flicked a switch in my brain. Mr Shadow.

Mr Shadow was a strange guy that always stood in the bushes at the edge of the long garden, just watching. It was the creepiest thing and I shivered as I thought about him hovering outside again. It had been several months since we'd seen him.

'I thought he'd finally gone for good,' I muttered.

'Doesn't look like it,' Annie replied. 'He was trying to coax little Pete to him.'

I was on my feet. 'What?' I almost shouted.

Without waiting on her reply, I rushed from the room, bounded down the stairs and rushed out to the back garden. Mr Shadow was standing in his spot between the bushes, crouched down with his hands outstretched. Pete was stepping towards him with no one keeping an eye on him. I stomped across the garden and put my hand on Pete's shoulder. He was only five, bless him, he didn't really know better.

'Go inside, Pete,' I said, turning him so he would walk back towards the home instead.

I didn't take my eyes off Mr Shadow until I heard the back door creak closed. I glanced back quickly to make sure that Pete had actually gone inside and by the time I turned around again, Mr Shadow was gone.

'Oh no you don't!' I said, running towards the bushes.

As I dashed through, my arms snagged against broken branches and thorns, breaking out into dozens of tiny scratches. I cried out but didn't stop. I needed to find Mr Shadow and tell him to leave us all alone. I had no idea what he wanted from us, but he wasn't going to get it.

Through the bushes was the edge of the forest that surrounded the home on most sides. Chunky trees, a layer of leaves and moss on the ground, random bushes of all shapes and sizes, made it difficult to see too far ahead of me. It was dark too, even in the middle of the afternoon; not much light could break through the canopy of leaves above.

Panting, I stumbled my way in the general direction of the path. I often played in the forest with Lucas and Annie, so it wasn't as scary to me as it was to some of the younger kids. Every shadow was a threat now, though, while I was chasing Mr Shadow. He could have been lurking anywhere and I was wary of him jumping out behind me.

'Stop trying to find me,' a hoarse voice echoed through the trees.

I whipped around, trying to place it. It sounded like it came from everywhere around me and I shivered as a cold wind whipped up, drifting through the trees with the voice.

'Go back to your home,' the voice continued. 'You don't belong with me.'

'None of the kids do,' I shouted, stomping a foot on the ground in defiance. I wasn't going to let him disappear without giving him a piece of my mind first. 'You leave everyone at the Home alone!'

There was silence for a moment, the wind disappeared and a hush fell over everything. Then he started laughing. It was a horrible noise; a cackle and a cough and a scream all mixed into one.

'Leave us alone!' I screamed, trying to drown him out.

'Oh, little one,' he said, his laughter stopping in an instant. 'That's not something I can do.'

***

Lying in my bed that night, I couldn't help but think about Mr Shadow and what he had said. I shouted until my throat ached but he didn't say anything else to me. He was simply gone, slipping through the trees as easily as a summer breeze. I tossed and turned and finally rolled onto my other side so I could look at Annie's sleeping form. She had an arm thrown over the edge and her mouth was open, her light snores barely making a sound.

I was scared. What if Mr Shadow came back and managed to get one of the kids to go away with him? Miss Haver never seemed to be around when he was; she was always busy doing something else and by the time one of us dragged her into the garden, he was gone.

Annie had been scared when we spoke about it earlier, but she wasn't the one having trouble sleeping. I wanted to slip out of the room, go to the cupboard so I could talk to my little friends, but I couldn't risk waking anyone. I was stuck, staring out across the bedroom and wondering if the way the shadows moved was normal.

It took me a moment to realise that it wasn't. Shadows didn't bob up and down in the dark corners where there was no light to cast them. I tried not to let on that I was awake, closing my eyes until I could just see and no more. I waited, watching to see if it moved again. I almost jumped when it did. There was someone in the corner of the room. Someone who shouldn't be there.

I tried not to let my breathing change as I watched it move out of the shadows to move between the beds. I tried not to scream as it paused at the foot of my bed. I tried not to cry as it stopped by my bedside.

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Hello! Thank you for reading this chapter of A Little Touch of Magic. I plan to update this story every Thursday so be sure to add it to your Reading List so you don't forget to check for updates! If you've enjoyed reading this story, please do take a moment to vote and comment and I'll make sure to respond to any comments received.

Thank you so much again for reading. I hope you have a lovely day :)

-Heather