Family Comes First

Chapter 44

- A m a r a  R u s s o -

"We should really do something fun." the shadow suggested as it floated around me, legs disappearing into black smoke.

"Like what?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"I don't know." the shadow shrugged, purple eyes blinking at me innocently. "What do you want to do?"

"Throw knives?" I suggested, grabbing the knife I hid expertly in my drawer back out into the open.

"No." The shadow shook its head. "That's boring. We should do something more fun."

"Well what do you want to do?" I questioned, flinging the knife back into my drawers as I slammed it closed.

"Let's explore the house." the shadow said at last.

"But I don't want to meet with them." I scrunched my nose up in disgust, hoping that the shadow will understand.

"Well you won't meet them." it shrugged back. "It's three in the morning. None of them are awake right now, are they?"

"Hmm," I hummed, thinking hard. There was a deep fog clouding my mind at the moment, and it took a few moments for their words to fully register into my head. "You're right. All of them are asleep."

"Exactly," The shadow clapped its hands in an excited manner. "So let's go! I wanna go outside! I haven't been outside in years. Want to come with me?"

Without waiting for an answer, the shadow started floating away, black smoke trailing behind it as it travelled through my wall and into the corridors.

"Wait!" I shouted, untangling the sheets from my legs as I stumbled after it.

My hair was a mess, and my legs were shaky as I staggered out of my room, searching for my friend.

"Shadow?" I called out, my voice echoing around the walls. "Where are you?"

"Here!"

I swivelled my head to see shadow, waving at me from the staircase. I limped towards it, my ankle still not fully healed as of yet.

"Why did you leave me?" I pouted, giving it big, round innocent eyes.

"Sorry," it replied, trying its best to look cute with its eerie eyes. "I didn't mean to. I was just so excited! Come on!"

I raced after her, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain it gave my ankle when I put pressure on it. They could wait. Shadow couldn't, and I can see that perfectly clear with the way it flowed down the stairs.

Sadly, I wasn't a ghost and couldn't do that. So, I had to take the stairs one tedious step at a time. Annoying, right?

When I finally reached the first floor to get to the backyard, the shadow was already waiting for me, tapping its hand on its wrist impatiently because it couldn't tap its feet - it didn't have feet anyways.

"You were so slow." she whisper-yelled, her eyes boring into my head. 

"Sorry," I shrugged, not at all scared. Shadow would never hurt me. I was sure of it. 

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she urged, trying to push me towards the backyard. 

It didn't work out as her hands literally flew through me. That's sad.

"Let's go." shadow said, not upset with the fact that she couldn't touch me as I followed her into the Russo's backyard, making sure that my steps and movements were silent.