I drummed my fingernails on the counter. I glanced at the clock and sighed. It was only five o'clock. Javon wouldn't be home for another two hours.

I looked at my phone that lay on the side, screen blank. I ran my tongue over my teeth and decided to check how Drakon was doing with his math homework. I turned off the lights of the kitchen and headed towards the living room.

The living room had to be the biggest room of the house. Upon entering, there was a long comfy brown couch, a matching love seat, and the big red chair. It was placed in a way that it formed a rectangle in the middle of the living room with light brown circle tables on the ends of the long couch. In front of it was the un-used fireplace and above that was a flat screen TV. To the left were the windows with the black and white patterned curtains pulled slightly to one side. To the right was a bookcase filled with books, movies, CDs, records, and a couple of photographs.

I spotted Drakon lying on his stomach in front of the fireplace, tapping his pencil to the side of his head. I climbed over the couch and rolled over until I was right next to him, shoulder to shoulder.

"How's it going?" I asked in a sign-song voice.

Drakon dropped his head on top of his textbook, groaning loud. "I hate math."

I mimicked his movements and groaned just as loud. "Me, too."

He raised his head and thumped the pencil lightly on my head. "I'm serious, mom. I hate math."

I turned to the side and opened one eye. "I'm serious, too. In fourth grade, I was about to be held back because of my sucky math grades. My mama sent me to tutoring."

Drakon scrunched up his nose in distaste. "Ugh, tutoring. That's a waste of time, mom."

"Not really. It saved my butt. Maybe we should sign you up for tutoring." I suggested.

Drakon groaned again. "I don't wanna go."

"Do you want to understand it or not?"

"Not."

"Drakon, I'm being serious."

Drakon glanced at his notebook and textbook. He chewed on his lip and flipped the page over and then back. "I guess we could...try."

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "Tomorrow afterschool, I'll ask your teacher."

Drakon nodded and I leaned over to get a good look at what he exactly he had trouble with. I started reading the multiplication word problem when the phone started ringing.

"That must be your papa." I said, pushing myself up and entering the kitchen.

Without turning on the light or checking the caller ID, I picked up the phone. "Hey, honey. Are you on your way?"

I was answered with panting. I paled and quickly hung up the phone. I ripped the cable off and backed away. The panic started to swell up, my palms sweating, the hair on the back of my neck rising, my heart pounding hard against my ribcage.

I grabbed my phone I left on the counter and dialed Javon. I chewed on my fingernail as I waited to hear his voice, but all I got was his voicemail. I let out a small cry and was about to dial again when I heard Drakon scream.

I jerked my head upright and dropped my phone. I ran to the living room just as Drakon ran out of the living room. We bumped into each other and I fell backwards with Drakon on top.

He looked up, his eyes wide. "Mom!"

My eyes trailed behind him and I spotted Javon standing by the doorway of the living room, caught off guard with his suitcase and sweater dropped by the front door.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in. I rubbed the side of my head and forced a smile. Drakon climbed off, the corners of lips tugged down.

"Mom, are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost." Drakon asked, pulling my hand up.

Javon leaned forward, grabbing my other hand. They both pulled me up to my feet and I swayed slightly. Javon wrapped his arm around my waist and Drakon held my hand. Javon kissed the side of my head without saying anything and Drakon's forehead wrinkled in confusion and worry.

"I'm tired." I answered Drakon without him asking. I reached forward and weakly ruffled his hair.

Drakon glanced at his dad and then back at me. "Let's take you to bed, mom."

I nodded and let the boys led me to the bedroom. Drakon walked ahead of us, opening the door.

It was a simple bedroom with a king sized bedroom in the middle, two nightstands on either side with a lamp and books. To the right was a small closet that only held the shoes and winter clothing. There was my dresser with a mirror and beside that was a small trash can. To the left was another dresser for Javon and a desk with a computer.

Drakon went forward and started pulling the black and white flowered pattern cover off, knocking some pillows over. He hopped off the bed and nodded. Javon gently sat on the edge of the bed, pulling me along with him. I forced a smile to Drakon.

"There are some leftovers in the fridge. Do you want me to heat—" I started to say when Javon's grip tightened on my hip and I inwardly cringed.

"I'll do it, honey. You just get some rest. You need it." Javon added and slowly moved his hand away.

Drakon smiled and followed silently after his dad. I rubbed my hip and frowned at the doorway where they disappeared. Javon never held me like that. Did he do it as a warning that he meant he was serious?

I wasn't sure and decided not to think about it further. I lay down on the bed, rubbing my face and muffling a groan. Drakon's scream scared me half to death. I was almost expecting the shadow man to be standing over him or had him dangling in front of the shadow man like meat on a hook.

An un-pleasurable shiver ran through my back and I propped myself up on my elbows, glancing at every inch of the room. I lifted my feet off the edge of the bed and curled them up. I covered myself with the blanket, not caring that I was basically taking up the bed.

I hugged my knees and sighed. There were no windows here, but I felt like someone was looking at me from the outside. Goosebumps prickled my skin and I went rigid.

The room suddenly grew darker as the lights dimmed and then started to flicker. I started breathing hard as I sat up. I pushed myself against the wall, bringing the covers up to my nose. My lips felt glued together and the temperature dropped so low, I was able to see my breath coming out in clouds.

I started to pant, my eyes wide and darting at everything that appeared to move. The shadows grew with every flicker and the wall seemed to close me in. The door got smaller in width until suddenly there was no door. Then, just like that, the lights went off and I whimpered.

"Turn on the lights." I whispered to no one in particular.

Nothing, but silence answered me.

"J-Javon? Drakon?" I called out and then repeated it louder when I got no respond.

I lowered the cover down and reached towards the lamp on the nightstand. I twisted the little knob and light illuminated the right side of the room—my side, where the closet was wide open and two white dots and two rows of pearly white teeth pulled to a Cheshire cat smile.

I screamed and turned around, intending to get far away as possible from that-that thing. I jumped off the bed, almost losing my footing with the covers tangling my legs. I ran to Javon's dresser and looked around for a weapon to use.

I only found a pair of sliver sharp scissors and I backed up in the corner, my knuckles turning white as I held on the scissors for dear life. My heart raced in my chest and the front of my shirt was drenched in sweat. My back was tightly pressed against the wall and the shadow man was still in the closet, his head titled to the side.

"Javon!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Javon, help me!"

In a blur of black, the shadow man was on the ceiling, his eyes and chilling smile still facing towards me even though he was crawling on all fours, chest facing the ceiling. Bone crunching and popping rang in the air as he advanced towards me.

I sobbed and shook as his body slowly started to blend in with the darkness of the left side of the room. I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. I bowed my head down and gasped.

I suddenly was back on the bed, the covers wrapped around my waist. I was sitting up, panting and sweaty. The room was dark, but I was able to make out some things, like the furniture and door.

Someone shifted beside me and gripped the covers as my heart lunged to my throat. Javon was fast asleep, his naked back faced towards me.

I let out a breath of relief and forced a hushed laughed. "It was only a dream." I whispered to myself, running my hands through my damp hair.

I kicked the covers off and made my way towards Drakon's room. His was towards the end of the opposite hallway. At first I disagreed with his choice of room, but he claimed it held the best view of the street and he didn't felt comfortable with the view of the woods.

"It looks like it casts scary shadows at night." He told me, eyeing the room in distaste.

I paused and glanced down the hall. That was my old bedroom.

My feet started towards my old bedroom as if it had suddenly its own mind. I pushed the door open and turned the lights on. It was empty save for my old white dresser, an old desk and the metal bedframe. I walked inside and leaned on the dresser.

This had been my room for as long as I remembered. I grew up here and though I didn't spend most of my time here, I knew I had a few good memories of this room. I looked down, spotting the last drawer of the right side. I kneeled down and pulled it open, squeaking as it did so.

I chewed on my lip as the Edgar Allan Poe book stared back at me.

It was one of the few things I left behind when I moved to the city. When I came home the night I first encountered Tristian, I tucked it away in that drawer and never took it out. I barely spared a glance it when I was packing.

I was never much of a reader and I didn't know why Tristian allowed me to keep it when I told him that. If anything, he deserved something for saving me from that wolf and the shadow man. I didn't know what made that thing disappear, but when I looked up, Tristian was there. Was it safe to assume that maybe he saved me a second time?

I sat down on my knees and wiped the dust away from the cover. This book deserved to be treated right, not tucked away in a dusty room.

I encircled it in my arms and left the room. I went downstairs and to the living room. I went straight to the bookcase and spotted an empty slot all the way on the top. I tucked it between a dictionary and one of Drakon's old science textbooks he forgot to return to his old school.

I patted the spine, letting my finger run along its smooth edge. I took a step back and breathed in deeply, letting it go through my lips.

"I didn't take the type to enjoy Mr. Poe's work." Tristian's words repeated.

Of course I didn't enjoy Poe's work. I had trouble focusing and I couldn't read more than a chapter until the words started to blend together and my eyelids felt heavy with sleep.

It just wasn't my thing.

But that didn't meant it wasn't Tristian's thing.

I stood up straight and nodded to myself. While I still felt uneasy around Tristian, and I could probably speak for both us, it was time I repaid him.

Since I came home that night eleven years ago, I avoided the woods. I tried not to glance at it and changed my curtains to black and kept them closed.

"What happened in there, Varia? Did you saw the monster?" Jenna asked me during lunch, sliding her lunch tray next to me.

Mal came seconds later with Tyler in tow. They sat across from me and Tyler scowled as he tried to rip open his ketchup for his burnt chicken nuggets.

"Leave the kid alone, Jen. She's scared."

Jenna frowned. "Why don't you let her talk?"

I shrank in my seat, my fork poking at the weird rounded meatballs. I hated it when they talked about me as if I wasn't here. I parted my lips and then snapped them shut when Mal scoffed rudely at a comment Tyler had said.

Jenna narrowed her eyes and looked at me. "What's wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?"

I kept my eyes averted and I saw Tyler get up, taking his tray along with him. "Come on, Varia. Let's eat somewhere where we won't see painted whores."

I timidly lifted my tray and trailed behind him to the other side of the cafeteria, ignoring Jenna's glare and Mal's narrowed eyes. We stopped next to the exit and Tyler sighed, forcing a smile.

"Are you really going to eat that?" He asked, gesturing towards my lunch.

I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. "No. Are you?"

"Nah. It's burned."

Tyler and I threw our lunch away and put the trays on a nearby table. We walked out of the cafeteria and walked aimlessly on the empty hallways.

"Ignore Jenna and Mal. They're stupid." Tyler said after a moment of silence.

"I know..." I said awkwardly.

"Are... Are you okay? Y'know, like... after what happened... in the woods. Are you okay?"

I swallowed hard and forced a stiff nod. "I'm okay. I just got spooked and ran. I must've tripped and passed out." I lied.

Tyler nodded. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know. I just felt like saying it."

I lowered my eyes to my beaten up sneakers. It took a moment to finally push it to the tip of my tongue. "Thanks by the way."

"For?"

"I don't know. For defending me?" I stated, but it came sounding more like a question.

Tyler chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer until I smashed against him. "Anytime, kiddo. Anytime."

I brought myself out of the memory and sighed. I glanced at the clock that hung on the wall. "Three in the morning..." I said to myself, yawning and finally decided to head back to bed. Tomorrow I had some shopping to do.