The shadows started whispering again. They told the tale of a sick man who had the power to kill and spread his disease. The women he touched had become infected and now they will give birth to other sick children. He dreamed of making the whole world in his image and to place himself on the throne of this corrupted new world.

She listened to them, but was not afraid, she was more scared of the stories her mother told her that involved ogres and dragons than of diseased men. She had never been sick in her life so she couldn't understand.

But, the stories were just the beginning. She started dreaming of them, of falling into an abyss of darkness, of shadows coming alive and devouring the light. But, still she was not afraid. For some reason this blackness comforted her, it wasn't as warm as her mother's hug, it was as if she had a friend. This strange coldness that followed her everywhere she went.

At first she couldn't make out the words they were saying, just a rhythm of several voices. But then when she finally listened clearly she heard them: "he's coming for you."

Days had past and the whispers became louder and more frequent. Dread voices some brittle as old parchment some sharp as a banshees cry. She wondered if they only follow her or if other people hear them as well. After she had told her mother about them, they advised her not to do that again, but instead to listen to them. To the strange incorporeal murmurs that grew louder when she was in her room, the one with the blocked windows.

One night the whispers told her to try to put out the only candle in the room. She got up, but they the stopped her and said she had to try to do it from where she was standing. The little girl frowned, but started blowing hard. The small gust of her breath only made the flame flutter. She heard them laugh. It was the first time they had done something mean. But she heard them whispering again, telling her to reach out with her arm and point it at the flame. They told her to imagine how the flame will be extinguished by the shadows.

Slowly this little girl stretched her arm and waited, but nothing happened. She heard them laugh again.

"Shut up." She barely said and pointed her finger at the flame. This time she felt a coldness sweeping from her fingers, like a soft wind escaping her grasp and the candle went out. The entire room went dark. Dark like she had never seen it before. Her mother always left a few candles lit, or the door ajar for a little light to come in, but this time the blackness was complete. But, again she was not afraid, for, even though she couldn't see, she knew where everything in the room was and she knew she wasn't alone.

"Well done." She had never heard them so loud before and this time there weren't several voices, there was only one. As if all the other voices had been concentrated into one.

Then the darkness screamed. All the murmurs cried at the same time, some uttering profanities, some laughing at her. But all of them frightened her. She screamed as well, but she couldn't hear her voice over the others', she wondered if she had screamed at all, or if her dreams of falling into the abyss had turned into nightmares and become real.

The door burst open and as soon as the light invaded the room the voices cried in despair and then went dead. Her mother rushed to her and held her close.

"It's okay darling, I'm here. I'm here. It's okay." Her daughter was crying so she hugged her tightly. The poor woman was trying to chase away the demons that haunted her daughter, not knowing that she would be the one who will let the real demon hurt her.

The little girl was sobbing in her mother's shoulder and she knew she had done something bad. She opened the door for the darkness to invade her body and her mind. The shadows whispered again and she heard them even over her mother's voice.

"He's coming for you."

"And she's going to abandon you."