Wherever I looked, there was a shadow lingering there.

I became so frightened that I made my bed into a fort and locked myself up in there all day, only going out for the necessaries and food.

Hal knew something was up, but he didn't comment on it and left me alone to do whatever I wanted as always. Honestly, if I didn't know he was my biological dad, I would have never guessed it.

Marmy came around a lot less now—Hal said he was working on a new book—so I was basically holed up in my bed/fort all day.

But even in there, I didn't feel safe.

I knew, just knew that there was something out there waiting for me. I knew it, I could feel it.

Everywhere I went, it lingered in the corners, and sometimes, I'd catch a glimpse of those dead, crimson eyes, or its long and thin black fingers trailing after each wall.

Brownie was my own companion, but he wasn't even real. God, I was so pathetic. I had nothing but my own illusions for comfort.

I was so fucking scared. So terrified I no longer dared to sleep and instead took power naps, jolting myself awake before I could become entrenched in a dream.

Needless to say, I became sleep-deprived and at three years old, that wasn't exactly a good thing.

I wasted away, staring at nothing, waiting for something to attack me.

Every small movement and sound was now accompanied by fear and suspicion. Even changing my bedroom into a Disney-themed one didn't help.

Somehow, the shadows were everywhere. And they were driving me mad.

I stayed like this for a month until Hal finally barged into my room to demand what was going on.

He dragged me to the park with me kicking and screaming bloody murder along the way, and forced me to stay there.

"You need to get out of the house." He scolded lightly, placing me on a bench and standing in front of me with his arms folded loosely. "Now, tell me what's going on."

I swallowed heavily and wished that Brownie were here so I could hug him while I talked.

(Hal didn't know I'd created a dog so I was forced to make Brownie disappear for a while.)

"I—" My voice cracked and I glanced at the ground, taking a deep breath.

"There's been something—" I looked up and froze with horror.

The shadowy thing was wrapping itself around Hal's back, its fingers curling over his neck and its empty, empty eyes staring right at me. Its mouth was a long, pale slit that stretched up to its forehead in a chilling smile.

"Guh—" I choked, my eyes going wider than I thought possible.

Oh my god.

Hal frowned. "What's wrong?"

How could he not notice the thing on his back?

My body was frozen with terror; my heart had practically stopped beating in my chest.

I had no idea what to do or what to say, but all of a sudden, Valya appeared right behind Hal and she gripped the shadow before slugging it right in its ugly face.

It disappeared in a hiss of smoke and I sagged with relief, giving Valya an immensely grateful look.

Hal touched my hand. "Schrödinger?"

I was pretty sure I heard someone snort.

I was about to introduce him to Valya but she had disappeared.

Why did she leave? I frowned but was reassured by the fact that someone else could see the shadow. Maybe Hal hadn't felt it on his back.

"It's nothing." I got to my feet and smiled brightly, feeling at ease, now that the shadow thing was gone. Hal looked surprised at my sudden mood change but shrugged nonchalantly.

"Okay. If you say so."

We walked around the park for a bit, and somehow, it was slightly comforting to have Hal at my side.

The sun was starting to set and it was getting cold, so Hal steered me in the direction of his house.

Interrupting the amiable silence, I tugged on Hal's hand. "Hal? Do you believe in monsters?"

His brow creased. "What brought this up?"

I tried to look as innocent as possible. "Nothing. Just wondering if you believe in things that may not exist."

"Schrödinger," he laughed, "everything exists. They may not exist in this world, but they can exist in another. Don't you know who you were named after?"

"Unfortunately." I grumbled, "You've only told me about him like a million times."

"It wasn't a million—I've only told it forty seven times."

I stared at him with disbelief. "You counted?"

"Yes, and I'm going to tell it again. This makes forty five. Schrödinger's equation has multiple interpretation on the different possible systems in the universe. We can make guesses for quantum mechanics with this. And do you know what this all means? That there are different worlds out there; different universes with different people and different lives. Could magic exist? Sure, maybe not in this world, but it could exist in another world. Or maybe magic already exists, but it lingers on a different dimension that humans simply can't reach. That's my job—to figure out the infinite possibilities there are, and to bring it down to a comprehensive level. So yes, I do believe in what doesn't exist. Because it may not exist here, but it definitely exists somewhere else."

"Wow, thanks Hal; that was so enlightening." I said sarcastically.

But a part of me was relieved—I hadn't thought reincarnation to be possible. I mean, how could I possibly live here? I'd always been scared that the life I was living was fake, but maybe I was just in a different world.

Everything that was going on was supposed to be impossible, but it was real. This was my life now, and there was nothing I could change about it. This was a strange world, and I was living in it.

We reached the door of Hal's house and when I stepped inside, I glanced behind me on a whim.

There was a pitch black face right behind me, with empty eye sockets and a gaping mouth so wide it could swallow my whole head.

And it was right in front of my face.

I flinched violently but didn't shriek like I wanted to—I'd had these shadows stalking me for so long that I had to learn not to scream every time I saw them or I wouldn't even have enough vocal cords left to scream.

Quietly, I backed into the house and shut the door in its face. My heart pounded wildly and loudly, thumping in my ears as I followed Hal to his study, determined to stay calm.

That's right, act like nothing happened and maybe it'll go away.

Nothing had changed. The shadows were still here, and I had a feeling they would never go away.

And just like I was living in this world, I would have to learn to live with them.


I woke up from my latest dream where I'd been building a fancy castle only to be greeted by a grotesque, dark figure hanging from the top of my bed; its long hair dangling in messy strands and its upside down face leering in front of mine.

helLOoo it rasped, its mouth widening until a gaping hole covered its entire face.

My heart gave a jolt and contracted sharply, but I didn't give any outward reaction.

"Fuck off." I muttered, punching it so hard that it flew into the wall opposite me.

It disappeared in a puff of smoke and I sighed wearily. What a great way to start the morning.

I'd been living like this for the past two years—random shadows jumping out at me, lingering behind corners and stalking me wherever I went. I was five now, and honestly, not a lot could scare me anymore.

Clambering out of my bed, I dragged my legs to the bathroom where I got ready. I brushed my teeth with my eyes closed and when I dried my face and finally looked up, I was greeted with another ugly-ass shadow thing in the mirror.

"Oh, for fuck's sake." I growled, and walked out before it could reach its hand out. I couldn't exactly punch the mirror, so there was nothing to do but leave.

Brownie yipped at my heels, chasing off another shadow that had been following me.

(I'd pretended to find a dog outside and convinced Hal to let me keep him.)

After making breakfast, I gobbled everything up and headed off to Hal's library.

(I didn't make anything for him—that lazy asshole could make his own breakfast.)

Making my way through the maze of shelves that I knew too well at this point, I found the section for Greek and Latin books.

I pulled out the book I'd been working on yesterday, deciding to continue it.

I'd been really bored one day and had gone into Hal's library, looking for something to read when I discovered that I could actually read Greek and Latin. For some reason, Greek was a lot easier to read—I could barely read English for the life of me.

It was just another one of life's mysteries that I wasn't going to bother solving.

I sucked at reading English; all the words were jumbled up and the letters were rearranged into something barely readable.

It wasn't fun. So the only thing left I had to read were Greek books, and there weren't many of those in the public library.

One perk of living with Hal was that he was obsessed with having a ton of books about subjects he didn't even know. And he was in the wealthy part of the population, so he could pretty much buy whatever he wanted.

He actually had a whole shelf dedicated to books written in Ancient Greek, and I was halfway through all the books.

Before I settled down in the comfy armchair I'd made Hal get for me, a book with a shimmering gold spine caught my eye.

Carefully setting down the book I was holding, I climbed the ladder and reached for the one that had caught my attention.

Brushing away a shadow that was hovering near my shoulder, I pulled it out with a grunt, trying to balance its weight in my tiny hands. I was stuck teetering on the ladder, and finally decided to drop it on the ground.

It landed with a loud thunk and I winced, hoping that it was still in good condition. After climbing down, I hauled it onto the chair and cracked it open.

Strangely enough, it wasn't much of a typical book. It seemed to be a list of…spells.

I scanned the pages, looking through the different spells and their explanations. Each of the spells were strangely formatted, some with long lines and some with short lines. Some were just a jumble of words that somehow made sense when I read them in my head.

It shouldn't have made sense, but it made sense anyway.

I snorted. This would actually be useful if magic were real. I lugged the book to Hal's office.

"Hal? Where did you get this book?"

There was no reply for a few minutes and I waited patiently, used to Hal's annoying habits by now.

"Hm?" He asked, finally turning around.

I sighed. "I said, where did you get this book?"

He frowned, looking contemplative as he took the book from me. "I don't remember buying this book."

"It was in your library." I deadpanned, "Is the old age finally getting to you?"

"Perhaps it is." He mused. "I really don't remember buying this. It looks very interesting, though. Where did you find it?"

"In the Ancient Greek section."

He gave the book back to me. "Well, have fun reading it. Maybe it was meant to be."

I rolled my eyes. It still amused me how unruffled Hal could be in the face of the most absurd things—he hadn't even batted an eye at my ability to read Ancient Greek—but he could say the weirdest things.

"Um, no. I don't think this was meant to be but I'll take it. It won't hurt to read it, I guess."

I have nothing better to do with my time, anyway.

I spent the rest of the morning reading it before I ate lunch and headed out to the park.

It had taken a while for me to bump into Valya at the park again, but after we met, she'd started showing up a lot more and we' become good friends.

I still thought it was strange that she was okay with being friends with a toddler and didn't have any friends her age, but whatever. Everyone had their own quirks and I wasn't going to judge her.

When I arrived, she was already on our usual bench waiting for me.

"Hey Brownie!" She cooed, and Brownie jumped into her arms.

"Wow, am I invisible or something?" I drawled, plopping next to her on the bench.

She rolled her eyes. "Hi, Vin." She greeted in an exaggerated tone.

I pulled the book from my bag. "Look what I found in Hal's library."

Her eyes widened as she glanced at the cover and she let go of Brownie.

The reason why I'd shown it to her was because we had a shared ability of reading Ancient Greek, and I was hoping she would know something about its mysterious appearance. Valya tended to know a lot of things.

"It was in his library?"

"Yeah, it just somehow appeared and I found it today."

Valya crossed her arms. "Hmm." Brownie bounced on her lap and jumped onto the book I was holding.

"Brownie, don't mess up the cover." I scolded, gently placing him onto the space next to me.

Valya opened her mouth to say something but a shadow chose that moment to appear, swinging between us with a twisted neck.

I inhaled sharply before roughly swatting it away.

"That still happens?" Valya asked softly, her eyes sad.

I sighed, annoyed. "Yeah, every day. I wish they'd just stop but I don't know how to get rid of them. At least they don't come in groups."

Valya placed an arm around my shoulders and ruffled my short hair.

Valya was pretty much the only person I let touch me—with the occasional exception of Marmy—and she was the only person I trusted. In fact, she was the only friend that I had in this shitty world.

As sad as it sounded, she was one of my anchors now, and I was just glad that I had someone to talk to. She always understood what I was going through, and that just helped immensely. Having someone to be there for me was something that was keeping me grounded.

Suddenly, I heard a shout, and a ball came hurtling at us.

The soccer ball rammed straight through Valya.

Wait, what?

I took a double take and stared.

The ball had just gone through Valya.

What the fuck.

The boy who'd kicked it came running towards me. "Sorry about that!"

What. My brain was still having trouble processing what had just happened.

"Uh." I said intelligently.

Valya gave me a guilty expression.

"Uh." I said.

The boy picked up his ball and gave me a funny look before running back to his game.

"Vin, I can explain." Started Valya unhappily.

"Uh." I said.

Literally nothing made sense in my life.


A/N: Please excuse my inaccuracies with quantum mechanics—I tried to read up on it before I wrote this, but I had trouble understanding a lot of it. (I literally spent hours reading Wikipedia and I still don't understand anything.)

Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited and thanks for reading; feel free to leave any comments!