The shadows are after me. I don't know why, but ever since I was a child, they've tried to kill me. Strange incidents follow me like a disease; in fifth grade, the bus crashed- in sixth, a gunman came to our school. They say I'm simply unlucky, but I know better; the shadows mocked me while their owners tried to console me. I suppose it's been a good life, even with the hounding I've endured. Still, things have never been as bad as they are now.
It all started on a Saturday. My friend and I were walking around in the woods; for what, I can't remember right now. We continued on a well-beaten trail until we reached a rest stop, where we each bought a drink. We alternated talking and drinking until a stranger wearing heavy winter clothes came to the stop and sat down next to us. Ignoring him, we continued talking until the man pulled out an odd candle.
"What's that?" asked my friend, pointing to the lumpy blob.
The man simply shuddered for a bit, then mumbled something. We asked him to repeat this, when he loudly shouted.
"THIS IS MY SWAMP!" the man called out before running into the woods. His shadow laughed silently before following him. I'll never forget that shadow; it looked nothing like the man. It was a lot larger, for one thing, and it had strange ears growing out of the sides of its head. They weren't normal ears; rather, they looked like antennae. My friend and I quickly left the rest stop and went our separate ways.
Come Monday morning, we met again at the bus stop. My friend looked terrified, like he'd seen a ghost. Come to think of it, he might have; it's nothing compared to what I've put up with. I asked him what was wrong. "It's nothing," was his reply. He didn't say a word the rest of the trip to school.
When we reached the school, I looked into the woods next to it for some reason or another and gasped. The man from the rest stop was there, looking directly at us! I notified a teacher, but he laughed at me and told me to stop dreaming. Even after directly showing him the man, he didn't notice him. It was just like I was the only one that could see him. He was there during lunch, staring at the building until I left. Even after school, he was still in the forest, staring at me with unwavering eyes. I ran, my friend close behind. He could see the man, too. We met up at my house after school to plan out our next move.
"It looks like we're the only ones that can see the man," my friend said.
"Yeah, but no one will believe us if we tell them about it. I already tried that."
"But then what do we do? The man's not going to stop hounding me. He's been doing it all weekend!"
I deliberated for a moment, then finally responded. "We take the fight to him."
We grabbed some weapons (namely golf clubs) and flashlights, then walked to the forest that night. Peering into the darkness, it seemed a lot more disturbing than it did in the day. It seemed ominous, but it was too late to back down now. We entered the forest, switching on our flashlights along the way. We continued until we reached the rest stop. There was nothing there. I felt a sharp pain, then I blacked out.
I woke up some time later. Looking around, I was still at the rest stop. However, my friend was gone, and some suspicious tracks led into the woods. I called out his name, then grabbed my golf club and ran after the tracks. I eventually found my way to a small, run-down cabin in the woods. It would seem harmless enough to the average person, but I'm not average; I noticed immediately that no shadows came from the derelict building. Steeling myself, I opened the door.
A horrible waft of air awaited me as the door creaked open, but the sight was even worse; there were bloodstains, both old and new, spattered on the wall. Rotting intestines lined the ceiling like deranged Christmas decorations. However, the worst of all was my friend, strapped down to a gurney and screaming. The man was there, holding a scalpel and an axe. He turned to look at me before simply saying, "It's all ogre now."
I shouted once, then charged the man with my club. He knocked it out of my hands easily, then threw me into the wall. He then walked over, grabbed my hand and cuffed it to the gurney. The shadow rubbed his hands together with glee as the man walked over to the gurney.
"You're a monster!" I shouted, trying to break free of the manacles.
"I'M AN OGRE!" the man shouted back, tearing my friend's shirt off. He grabbed his scalpel and slowly began lacing incisions on my friend's stomach. Ignoring my friend's wails, the man began slowly taking pieces of skin off of his belly. Pulling his intestines out slowly caused my friend to start crying pitifully. I redoubled my efforts to escape, eventually loosening the chains. By that time, however, the crying had stopped for good.
The man appeared in my field of vision, blood running down his mouth. My friend's intestines adorned his shoulders, and his face was carelessly thrown on his shoulder. I knew from his face that I was about to be next. With one last pull, I broke free of the bonds and ran. The only thing I could hear was the man's last words: "It's worcestershire!"
I eventually made it to town again, where I went to my house and tried to sleep. In the morning, I thought it was a dream until the end of school; my friend never showed up. That's when I went to the police station, and that's how I'm here speaking to you.
-Police recording of Mr. Arnold Evan Smith, 14th of April. Police were dispatched and the building was located, along with the other child's body. Dental records placed the body to a young Robert Potter, age 15. The man mentioned in the report has not been found, and the town of Minden, Louisiana has been placed on high alert. Police operative Hale Senex has been dispatched to locate and detain this person. Arnold Smith has been placed under constant supervision in a nearby hospital.