I Dream Of Shadows

'Run you idiot,' thought Emmy. 'Don't stop, don't stop! Oh, she stopped.' Emmy loved scary movies. They didn't frighten her; she just liked the ideas people had on what the living dead were. The un-named girl on the television was being torn apart by an ugly rotting corpse. 'Zombies In The Garden – Don't Fall In Love' was the film she was watching, and it was really cheesy. She got it from her local library, and it was about a girl and a group of her friends who try to resurrect a few people, and end up with some zombies attacking her house. She and her friends have to send them back to sleep before sunrise, or they'll haunt the world forever. Unfortunately, she falls for one of them. They are surprisingly cunning, and pretend to become nice. Just as they begin to trust them, they turn against them, breaking the girl's heart, and taking over England. Emmy smiled as the credits scrolled up the small black screen. 'Zombies,' she thought. 'Yeah right.' And she turned the light on.

Snow fell fast outside, so she put another log in the wood burner, and texted her best friend.
'Hey Roy! Lots of snow. Just watched Zombies in the Garden. Total rubbish. Wanna come round watch one with me?' Roy replied almost immediately.
'K seen that its poo c u in 5 mins luv u.' Emmy cooked up some popcorn on top of the wood burner while she was waiting, and was just sharing it into two bowls when he arrived. He only lived down the hill with his parents, and within walking distance, so he was there quite fast.
"Yo Emmy," he called, inviting himself in.
"In the sitting room," she called back, and he came in leaving snowy footprints, and fell onto the sofa, making it creek dangerously. He took off his coat, and kissed Emmy's cheek as she leant down to put one of the bowls of popcorn on his lap. She sat down beside him with her own bowl. 'Ghosts Don't Exist' started playing, and for the first ten minutes of it, they were just laughing at the names of the actors, and the quality of the acting. This one was about a man who falls in love with a girl from his dreams, then meets her in real life, only to find that she is a ghost. In the end, he brings her back to life with his love for her, and they get married. Roy was in tears by the end and it was almost midnight, so Emmy turned the television off and they set up camp in her bedroom. Roy finally fell asleep at 1:00am after winning the game of best and scariest ghost story. When he began to snore, Emmy smiled and climbed out of her sleeping bag. "Don't wake up," she told him, and left the room.

At 4:30am, Roy woke up with a gasp. He'd had a nightmare, and was scared to go back to sleep. He didn't want to wake up Emmy, so he just rolled over to face her.
"Emmy," he whispered when he realised she wasn't there. "Emmy!" He sprung up, and raced out the room. 'She's been eaten by zombies,' he screamed in his head. 'She's been kidnapped by ghosts, bitten by a vampire, scratched by a werewolf, cursed by a witch!' Suddenly, a loud bang emanated from the kitchen, so it was there he ran first.

"Emmy," he called softly, but there was no reply. Pocking his head round the door, he noticed half a dozen eggs on the table, and a few of the cupboard doors were open. Otherwise, nothing. He went to the sitting room next. The door was open, so he went straight in. He tiptoed slowly into the centre of the room, before calling Emmy's name again. When nobody answered, he turned to go, only to find the door closed, and a dark figure blocking his path. It was all a silhouette, apart from its blood chilling, illuminated eyes. He was dumbstruck, planted to the ground in fear. The shadow moved closer, growling in a threatening manner. His breath came loud and shallow as it stroked a soft hand across his cheek. He could tell it's hand was bare, but it seemed to have hairs on it's palm. Vampire? No, it couldn't be. Or could it? "What have you done with Emmy," he asked his voice shaking and barely audible. The shadows black eyes sparkled as it laughed a cold, gravely laugh, and stepped away from him.
"Nothing. Amanda is fine." It's voice was that of a female, and as chilling – grating - as it's laugh. It or she spun round, whipping him across the face with long, slick hair, and walking towards the door. Roy could only just hear her chuckling to herself, making him immediately wish he hadn't heard, for it sent horrid shivers up and down his spine. "Go," she whispered, and Roy's feet left the room without even informing his brain that they were going to.

"Wake up Roy." He almost screamed in shock, sitting up so fast it dizzied him, and he banged heads with Emmy. She gasped, surprised at his sudden move. He wrapped his arms round his trembling body, trying to block out the cold. He couldn't remember going back upstairs, or going to sleep. He could only remember that shadow engulfed girl. Emmy tucked her long white hair behind her unusually pointed ears, and her silver eyes glimmered in the morning sunlight as it spilt onto her face through the window. "Get up lazy. It's half past ten, and I've made you some toast."
"Where were you last night," he asked suddenly. She looked quite surprised and cocked her head slightly in confusion.
"In bed," she shrugged, helping him up. "Now get changed and stop shivering. I've got the fire going and the snow's melted." Roy stared at Emmy. Was it a dream? She didn't know anything about it, so it must have been. He followed her down the stairs and sat beside her at the table. She looked worried, and he noticed she wasn't acting right, glancing at him a lot and finding it hard to swallow her toast.
"Emmy, is your name short for Amanda?" Emmy looked startled and cornered. She shook her head a little bit too hard.
"No, I'm called Emmy." Roy nodded, then shook his head in confusion. He didn't understand any of this at all.
"I woke up in the middle of the night," he told her, but she just smiled.
"Maybe you should stop watching so many horror films." He glared at her. How could she be so carefree about this? She saw his expression, and stopped grinning.
"You weren't there," he continued angrily, "so I came down here to look for you. There was someone here, but she wasn't human. She was a shadow thing." She looked even more worried now, but he carried on talking. Once he'd gone up to when he left the room, she stopped him.
"It sounds like a weird dream to me," she said.
"I didn't know I was going to walk. My feet just started moving. I don't even remember going back upstairs. You really scared me, Emmy." His dark blue eyes shone in concern as she leant back in her chair and put down what was left of her toast.
"It still sounds like a dream," she sighed. He fingered his toast gingerly, and pushed his brown fringe out of his eyes.
"Maybe you were possessed and just don't remember."
"Roy Smith! That is 99% impossible," she cried. "I would never, you hear, never get possessed!" He shrank back into his chair, snuffling tearfully. "Sorry," sighed Emmy, finishing her toast and putting away her breakfast board.
"I'll stay over again. Tonight, I'll get a photograph," he informed her. She rolled her eyes.
"If you must."

"No," screamed the shadow, hiding her face, and turning away. Roy's hands froze and his fingers were unable to press the button to take the photograph.
"Please," he whispered.
"Take a photograph, and your precious Amanda will be gone forever!"
"She's called Emmy," he scowled, going to take a picture again, and finding himself still unable. The shadow looked up, and her eyes glinted silver. "Emmy," gasped Roy. Emmy's eyes were silver as well. His camera fell to the floor as he walked towards the shadow, and found that she became more and more visible the closer he got. Within only a few steps, she had turned completely white, and he was damned if she was alive. "Emmy," he cried as her hair shone white, her eyes silver and her skin, grey.
"Get away," shouted the Emmy-shadow. He backed up a few paces, and she turned black again. "Get out. Get away. I don't want to hurt you." Roy ran from the room as fast as was possible, and the next thing he knew, he was lying in his sleeping bag, camera in hand, and light streaming through the curtains. Emmy was nowhere to be seen.

'Run you idiot,' thought Emmy. 'I've got to run. Why don't I run fast enough?'
"Emmy Lacy Roberta White! Get here this instant." Emmy sighed.
"I'm in the sitting room," she called, putting the play station on pause. Roy came in, holding the camera. She flicked her ponytail over her shoulder and put down the game controller. "What's wrong? Didn't get a picture?" He glared at her.
"What are you playing?"
"Save The Poltergeist," she told him, holding up the case. "Save The Poltergeist… Three." He rolled his eyes, sitting down and passing her the camera. He'd only got one picture. In it, then the door was half open and a black shadow hand curled round it. Emmy stared, open-mouthed. "W-what," she stuttered in total disbelief.
"I got close enough to see her face. She was completely white and looked like you." Emmy could only stare at him in shock. "Are you called Amanda," he asked again. She was silent. She just nodded. Roy pressed play on the play controller, and a zombie bit the cartoon player from behind. 'Game Over' dripped in blood down the screen as Emmy's eyes watered. "What are you," asked Roy and she sank back, trying to disappear into the sofa.
"I'm… I'm nothing," she sighed.
"What?"
"You would call me a zombie because I'm a walking, talking corpse. But then again, we all are in some ways."
"What?" repeated Roy.
"I was… killed. By accident. My killer tried to resurrect me and I came back as this. I can't die, I just age really slowly. At night, I'm what I became. In the day, I'm what I used to be. I was Amanda, but I'm Emmy now. I didn't lie. I just hid. Please don't hate me?"
"I'm more scared than cross," replied Roy, pausing the play station that had started a new game. "You won't eat me will you?" Emmy grinned at him, sharp teeth glinting in the light.
"Of course not," she giggled. "I'm a vegetarian." Roy frowned.
"Last time I checked, you were a vegan, and before that a piscitarian. Now you're a veggie." Emmy just grinned all the more.
"My weakness," she said, "is that I crave cheesy omelette." Roy nodded, and then frowned again.
"Really?" Emmy laughed again, sounding more like the Emmy-Shadow than the Amanda he now knew she was.
"I won't hurt you," she assured him. "But now you know Amanda, Emmy must go. You can move out of your parent's house and have this one if you want. Goodbye." Roy rose his eyebrows in surprise.
"You're leaving?"
"I have to. No one can know." Roy leant back, closing his eyes to try and concentrate more. He could feel Emmy standing up.
"Will I ever see you again," he asked. There was no reply. "Emmy?" But she had gone.