The room was dark, save for the faint glow of a desk lamp casting long shadows over the walls. Detective Eleanor Hughes sat at the cluttered desk in the corner of the room, the faint hum of a fluorescent light above buzzing in the background. The file in front of her, thick with evidence and photographs, was just another piece in the labyrinth of disappearances that had plagued the city for months. But this one was different.
Carina’s name was on the front, and her story had haunted Eleanor since the moment the file landed on her desk.
She flipped open the diary again, the pages worn and creased, as if they had been read a thousand times. The words seemed to pull her in—simple, innocent words, written by a child who seemed to sense something deep, something terrifying, just beyond the edges of her understanding.
Eleanor’s finger traced the first entry:
April 18, 2008
I noticed it today. It’s been there for a while, but today I saw it clearer. A shadow in the corner of my room. It’s big, like a dark cloud, but it never moves. It doesn’t scare me though. Sometimes I hear it hum, like a soft lullaby, and it makes me feel sleepy. I don't tell Mommy because she'd be scared. But I think it's my friend. I think it wants to keep me safe.
The detective read the entry again. A shadow. A dark, shifting figure that grew with each passing day. As Eleanor read, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. The hum. The lullaby. It was almost too unsettling, too familiar. How many times had she heard this kind of thing before? Children had imaginary friends. They spoke of shadows in their rooms. But this? This felt like something else—something real.
She turned the page, her breath quickening as she read further.
May 5, 2008
The shadow is bigger now. I think it grows every day. It feels like it knows me, like it’s waiting for me to notice. When I wake up in the middle of the night, it's still there, just standing in the corner. It doesn't look like a person, more like... a shape. A shape that shifts, like a puddle of black ink spilling across the floor. But when it hums, it feels like it's talking to me. I think it likes the way I listen.
The hum—soft, familiar, almost like a whisper—echoed in Eleanor’s mind as she read. She was beginning to feel unsettled. This child, Carina, wasn’t just imagining things. There was something more to this shadow. Something she couldn’t understand, and worse—something that was becoming more than just a figment of a young girl’s imagination.
She flipped to the next entry, her pulse quickening.
June 22, 2008
It spoke to me tonight. It wasn’t words exactly, but a voice inside my head. I could hear the hum, but it was clearer. It said, "I’ll stay with you, forever." I don’t know why, but I’m not scared. It feels kind of nice. I think it’s because it knows all my secrets. I think it’s my secret friend. I don’t tell anyone because they might not understand.
Eleanor swallowed, the words chilling her to the bone. “I’ll stay with you, forever.” The hairs on her neck prickled as she read. She glanced around the room, half-expecting to see something lurking in the corner, just as Carina had described. A shadow. Waiting.
She quickly turned the page, pushing down the unsettling feeling that gnawed at her. There was more to this—there had to be.
August 17, 2008
It’s grown so much now. When I walk by it, I can feel it watching me. The hum is louder, deeper, like a song I’ve heard before, but I can’t remember where. Sometimes I feel like it's watching me while I sleep, like it’s right next to me, even though I can’t see it. It never touches me, but I can feel it. I think it loves me.
The words blurred for a moment as Eleanor’s mind raced. The shadow had been a comfort to Carina once—her friend, her protector. But now, it was something else entirely. It loves me. It was growing, becoming something darker, something far more dangerous than an innocent child’s imagination could conjure.
She kept reading.
October 10, 2008
I was up late last night, and I saw something strange. The shadow... it was stretching across the walls. It wasn't just in the corner anymore. It moved, very slowly, like it was following me. When I turned my back, it stopped, but I could still hear the hum, soft and quiet. It almost sounds like a whisper, like it’s telling me secrets I don’t understand. It’s growing, and I think it's learning me too. I don’t know if I like that. I think it might be waiting for something.
Eleanor felt the air grow heavier around her. The words seemed to resonate in the room, amplifying the eerie sensation she’d been feeling ever since she started reading. The shadow wasn’t just there anymore—it was growing, changing. And it wasn’t just watching anymore. It was waiting.
She flipped the page again, unable to stop herself now.
November 30, 2008
I’m starting to feel its presence more, even when I'm not in my room. Sometimes, when I’m outside or with my friends, I get this feeling that it’s there, watching me. It's never hurt me, but it's becoming bigger, almost like it has a life of its own. When I lay down to sleep, it hums louder, and I can’t close my eyes fast enough. Last night, I felt it close to my bed. I thought I saw a shape in the dark, but when I blinked, it was gone. I don’t think I can ever get rid of it now. It’s always there, always growing.
Carina’s words seemed to echo louder in the quiet of the room. The shadow was with her now—part of her, inseparable. Eleanor felt the hum rise in her chest, as though the very air was thick with it, pressing in from all sides.
She didn’t want to turn the page. But she had to.
December 18, 2008
I think I’m changing. The shadow has become part of me. The hum is louder now, like it's inside my head, not just in my room. I can hear it during the day. It follows me around, like a tune I can't forget. It keeps growing, but not in a bad way. I’m not scared anymore. It feels like it's... helping me, in a strange way. Sometimes I catch glimpses of it in mirrors, stretching with me, almost like it’s a part of me. I wonder if it has always been with me. I think it’s waiting for me to grow, too. I’m starting to feel like we’re the same.
We’re the same. The words sent a shiver down Eleanor’s spine. The shadow wasn’t just a presence anymore; it was something more, something that had infiltrated Carina’s very being. And now… it was part of her.
Eleanor turned the final page, her hands trembling.
January 10, 2009
It’s changed again. I don't know if I can even call it a shadow anymore. It’s not just dark anymore. It feels... more alive. I can see its shape now, clear and sharp. It’s tall, taller than me, and it’s always there when I wake up. The hum is more like a song now, and sometimes, I hear its voice again, though I still can’t understand the words. I think it’s time for me to listen more closely. I’m not sure if it’s a friend anymore. It feels like it's becoming something more. Maybe it’s waiting for me to grow up, to be just like it. I’m starting to think maybe I always was.
Eleanor closed the diary, her hands shaking. She had reached the end, but the unease only grew. The last words Carina had written felt like a terrible warning. The shadow had grown, become something far more than it ever should have been. And now it seemed to be waiting for Carina to become just like it.
Carina was gone. But Eleanor could still hear it—the faint hum, the whisper in the silence.
She stood, gripping the diary in her hands, her heart pounding. She needed answers. Carina’s disappearance wasn’t a mystery anymore—it was a warning.
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