“SHADOWMAKER by Sarah Faith #MicroTerrors

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“Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids”™ 2023

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids, where it’s always the spooky season – full of chills, thrills, and spine-tingling spooks! Micro Terrors are family-friendly frights for those ages 8 and up. And while our stories are for younger ears, we are still talking about things that go bump in the night, and some children may not be able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended. Now… for tonight’s MICRO TERROR!!!!

SHADOWMAKER by Sarah Faith
Saturday, Jake was on the couch using his iPad and searched the web for spooky stories. A message popped up from Trent:
“Check out this creepypasta I found. It’s going to blow your mind.”
Funny, he thought.Trent said he wasn’t into creepy stuff anymore.
His best friend, Trent, spent his free time indulging in sports while Jake spent his free time scaring himself. Jake tapped the link and smiled to himself. Ah, creepypastas — those short, creepy stories we love to copy and paste across the internet.
“What are you reading?” Jake’s older sister, Emma, was reading over his shoulder.
“It’s called Nightmare Obsession,” Jake replied.
Emma whined. “I don’t know why you like this stuff. You’re such a weirdo.”
“I learned it from you.” They both laughed. Jake was in eighth grade and Emma was a sophomore in high school. Teasing each other was a way of life. “It’s fun to be scared, and some of them are actually true.”
Emma cackled in his ear. “Yeah, right! Sometimes I forget you’re only thirteen because you’re so tall.”
“Sometimes I try to forget I have a sister, but you keep reminding me.”
“Very funny. Enjoy your dumb story. I hope you have nightmares.” Emma ruffled his brown hair and went into the kitchen.
Jake went back to the story. It was about a kid his age who had recurring nightmares after he read a creepy story online. Each night, a mysterious shadow figure stalked him through a dark maze. The character was trapped in the dream, always on the run from something called Shadowmaker. It ended with the kid being trapped in the maze.
When he finished the story, Jake felt uneasy. He typed a message to Trent. “That story gave me the creeps. Now I feel weird. Thanks a lot, LOL.”
Jake had a hard time falling asleep. He thought that if he read the story again, it would help him. When sleep finally came, he was surrounded by dark walls. Where am I? He looked up. The sky was an eerie black. No moon. No stars. Not even a cloud.
A voice in his head shouted “Run!” Fear spread through every cell in his body. He ran through the dark maze like a lab rat. He was being chased. But who or what was chasing him? He looked over his shoulder and saw a massive shadow figure, darker than the walls and the sky. It had no face and no body. It twisted into a tunnel of darkness and reached for Jake.
“Jake Stinson: YOU ARE MINE.”
He awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat. He felt wrong. He was sure something otherworldly had touched him. It was three in the morning. Jake took out his iPad and read the story again. In fact, he spent the rest of the weekend in his room reading Nightmare Obsession over and over, only surviving on energy drinks.
Late Sunday night, exhaustion won. He was back in the nightmare maze. The voice once again told him to run. He wanted to say no. He wanted to be brave. The entity was deep and thick with darkness like the bottom of the ocean.
“Jake Stinson: YOU ARE MINE.”
Jake’s alarm went off. “Safe,” he whispered to himself.
Monday, Jake found Trent in the cafeteria. “Hey, man, where did you find that story? It’s so creepy.”
“What are you talking about?” Trent shoved a chicken tender into his mouth.
“That creepypasta you sent about the Shadowmaker.”
Trent frowned and swallowed his food. “Shadow what? That wasn’t me. My mom told me that if she caught me reading those creepy stories again, she’d send me to military school.”
“If you didn’t send it, who did?”
Trent shoveled tater tots into his mouth and shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“It gave me nightmares. I can’t stop thinking about it.” Jake saw a shadow cross Trent’s face and blinked it away.
Trent looked down at Jake’s tray of nachos and smiled. “You gonna eat those?”
Jake pushed his tray across the table. “I lost my appetite.”
He was consumed with the story. During sixth period, Jake asked for a bathroom pass. He grabbed his phone from his locker and hid in the bathroom. He typed in a search for the author. Anonymous? Great… The bell rang but Jake stayed in the bathroom and read.
His phone buzzed. It was Trent. “Mr. Graves just marked you absent. Where are you?”
He ignored Trent and typed into the search bar : “Is Shadowmaker real?”
Shadowmaker is a malevolent entity made entirely of darkness. It preys on fear. It is a master of illusion that overpowers and disorients his victims. It has the ability to enter the dreams of anyone who thinks about him. It loves to confuse and deceive.
Jake typed in another search: How do you get rid of Shadowmaker? A link popped up for “The List”.
“The List?” Jake mumbled to himself, tapping the link. The dismissal bell rang. “Oh no!” Jake put away his phone and hurried out of the bathroom. He knew his parents would get a message that he’d skipped class. This was important, though. He needed to know more about Shadowmaker. His survival depended on it.
Jake went home and locked himself in his room. Maybe if he read Nightmare Obsession enough times it wouldn’t scare him anymore, but the nightmares grew worse. When he so much as blinked, the twisted form of Shadowmaker appeared. He saw it in every corner of his room. He spent the entire night trolling the internet in search of the truth about Shadowmaker.
Tuesday morning, Emma banged on his door. “Mom said to hurry up or you’ll miss the bus!”
“Uhm, I’m sick.”
Emma groaned. “Whatever.”
There was no way Jake was going to school. He told his mom he had a stomach ache, but he knew she didn’t believe him. “I don’t have time for this. If you’re faking it, I’ll find out. Stay in bed.”
As soon as she shut the door, he took out his iPad and continued his research. “How to outrun Shadowmaker”. His search returned one link.
1. Shadowmaker is a creature of darkness and fear. Use a magic spell to invoke light.
That one made him laugh. I’m not a wizard, Jake thought.
2. Open a portal to another realm and banish the Shadowmaker.
I’m not a mad scientist, either, he thought. This isn’t helping.
3. You can defeat Shadowmaker by saying his real name.
He had searched the web for days but no one knew Shadowmaker’s real name.
4. Shadowmaker feeds on fear; turn around and confront Shadowmaker.
Fear.
If he could figure out why he was afraid of Shadowmaker, maybe he could win. Jake fell asleep after re-reading the story countless times. He was back in the dark maze. The walls wobbled as though they were made of liquid. The inky substance broke through and morphed into tentacles that swatted at him.
He heard the now familiar yell “Run!” He ran until he reached a dead end. He turned and faced Shadowmaker. “I’m not afraid of you!” But this was a lie. Jake was terrified. When the cold tentacles touched his skin, he awoke. He picked up his iPad and read the final entry on “The List.”
5. Tired of running? Give in to Shadowmaker and end the nightmare.
Jake copied and pasted the entire story to Trent and added, “I wish I’d never read this. It’s messing up my whole life.”
Trent replied immediately: “Go to sleep. You’re obsessed.”
A week later, Trent stared at the words on his computer screen and fought off sleep. He blinked a few times and nodded off at his desk. Instantly, he was back in the maze. The voice in his head ordered him to run but Trent stood his ground. He faced the swirling black mass.
“Trent Wexler: YOU ARE MINE.” “You don’t scare me anymore!”
The tentacles screamed and hissed like a thousand snakes. Cold, black tentacles circled his body and squeezed. Trent fell to the ground. He struggled to breathe but he knew he had to say it.
“I know your real name. Jake Stinson: YOU ARE THE SHADOWMAKER!”
Walls of water crashed over his body and pulled him into their depths. Trent awoke to a soft knocking at his door.
“Trent, time to get dressed,” his mother said. “Jake’s funeral starts in an hour.”

Thank you for listening to Micro Terrors!!! Join us each Saturday for another scary story! For more fun, visit our website at MicroTerrors.com where we also have spooky games you can print out and play — like wicked word searches, mysterious mazes, and more! MicroTerrors.com is also where you can find us on your favorite social media and even send in your own scary story for us to tell! Plus, you’ll learn more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young and old! I hope you’ll join me again soon for Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids!