A Beckoning of Shadows

UNDER THE ASSAULT of a raging thunderstorm, wind lashing with uncontrollable fury, rain battering the earth with unrelenting punishment, he made his way protected from the vengeful elements by his car.
He lit a cigarette and watched the smoke swirl around him and vanish in the gathering darkness. The storm snuffed the last rays of the setting sun as if the world was once again plunged into a primordial abyss.
It came in an instant taking him by surprise, day became night without warning, streets flooded without remorse, wind howled without restraint. Andrew smelled a charge in the air, seeping through the car vents, filling his senses with something electrical, something alive.
He passed it all off, choosing to push on and reach his destination without so much as a thought about his safety or that of anyone else foolish enough to be out in the night with him.
The road was barely a sliver before him for the darkness swallowed it whole. He was sure it was still there but how could he really be sure? The car seemed to hover over the road as it rocked side to side in the pockets of wind.
Finally light cut through the darkness as lightning joined the attacking storm, slithering through the black sky and illuminating the menacing clouds that suffocated it. The flashes of light aided Andrew in his perception of the road and he noticed that he was about to miss his turn.
He hit his brake and jerked the wheel. The car roared in protest and slid across the road but he was adept enough to keep it from exiting the route, nailing his turn without a scratch. He raced down the winding road, thick woods cropping up on both sides, freakish trees reaching for him with clawed arms.
He looked up, crushed his cigarette out and took notice of the house flickering in and out of the flashing lightning. Relief filled him as his brow relaxed and his shoulders slacked. The road became dirt as gallons of mud oozed around his car’s tires, attempting to consume them.
Andrew pulled the car into the nearly non-existent driveway and stopped. He jumped from the car, pulling two suitcases with him. He was drenched within seconds but refused to acknowledge it as he made his way onto the front porch. The ancient, weathered wood groaned beneath his steps as he searched his coat pockets for his keys.
The door creaked open and rattled as if it would fall off its hinges at any moment. Andrew listened to the raindrops as they rolled off his clothes and pattered the floor. The place looked just as he remembered it. After all this time the house remained unchanged, immovable, a fortress of defense. Nothing could find him here. Here he could become invisible, untraceable, incognito.
Memories flooded him. Even in the darkness scenes of happy, warm times unfolded before him but were dashed as the thunder rocked the house, the roof thumping and lightning illuminating the windows.
He threw himself up the old staircase to his left, stumbling along the way, bracing against the dust-covered banister with its ornate carvings. Entering the first bedroom on the second floor, he dropped the suitcases by his feet and stared at the room.
He didn’t bother to turn on the light…they were most likely out from the storm anyway but he could recall every inch of the room by memory. The dresser in the corner with the loose drawer knobs, the matching nightstands with matching lamps, curtains that hung way too long for the windows, the enormous but damn comfortable bed against the back wall.
The bed called to him, he could see it almost glowing as the lightning reached through the windows tickling its blankets and sheets. Andrew drew closer to it, peeling his coat from his drenched body, his legs heavy and cramped and his head swimming as if overloaded with medication.
He finally succumbed and discovered pure heaven once again; the bed seemed to embrace him with strong, warm arms, cradling him as he had been a long time ago. Within moments he was asleep, his journey seemingly at its end. His body craved the comfort this place provided, he was in dire need of sleep and his system finally calmed itself down as he drifted into dreamland.
He would find no solace here however.
A chill caressed his body, waking him in the dead of night. He stirred and looked up watching the shadows shimmer across the bedroom walls. The storm still raged outside and the lightning made the shadows dance and take shape…odd shapes, deformed, horrific. It was then that he heard the whisper…
“Andrew,” the shadows seem to whisper. He rubbed his eyes, still sluggish, still caught between reality and the land of sleep. He glanced around the room noticing the shadows all around him. They were different somehow, unlike anything he’d ever seen.
They were denser than the darkness, growing larger, gaining substance, seemingly alive. Shape and form, human yet not human, animal and alien, they stirred and took over the room, closing in on him and calling for him.
“Andrew… Andrew hear me and rise.”