MicroHorror

The kids call him The Shadow. He’s a little black rabbit that belongs to the neighbors two doors down. They call him The Shadow because you can’t see him in the dark. He comes over into my yard most every day. I guess my lawn tastes best. My new wife feeds him carrots and cereal. Her kids pet him and play with him. He’s very tame, and friendly to everyone in the neighborhood. Except me. He thumps his foot in warning and runs when he sees me. They say it’s because I’m too loud, or move too fast, or smell funny, but I know the real reason.

It’s because The Shadow knows.

I’d been sure that there were no witnesses that night. I’d taken every precaution. But perhaps a small, silent visitor, one that can’t be seen in the dark, knew what happened the night my last family disappeared. Knew where they were buried under the tool shed. Knew that it was almost time for the next sacrifice.

It was a silly idea, of course. A rabbit understanding and remembering what it saw. All he knew was that he was afraid of me. Even if he had any memory of that night, he had neither the intelligence nor the ability to stop me. At least that’s what I thought before he started digging under the tool shed.

Now I realized The Shadow was more than a rabbit. He was an enemy of the gods, an agent of demons sent to stop the sacrifice. Sent to reveal me to the unbelieving masses and destroy my work. Too long had I underestimated the skulking thing. It was time to act. It was time for expiation.

I waited by the shed in the dead of night, the sacrificial axe in hand. It would be sacrilege to use it on a mere animal, but I knew The Shadow to be a demon. My latest family dozed in a drugged sleep. They would be waiting for me when I was done with this.

I didn’t see him coming but, as usual, he thumped when he saw me. I was able to follow the sound and pick out a darker patch in the gloom. He was under the fence before I even raised the axe, but I was prepared. One kick took out a section of fence which I had weakened earlier. The Shadow thumped his foot again and I swung at a patch of darkness. A blast of cold water nearly knocked me over. I’d hit a black plastic sprinkler head. I howled in rage, charging across the yard to the next fence. I hadn’t weakened this one and I chopped it wildly with the axe. Lights came on in houses nearby, but I no longer cared. The Shadow was back in his own yard now, slipping through a cat door into his house. The glass back door shattered with one blow. The beast’s owners were already up, looking bewildered and sleepy. Obviously hypnotized by the demon masquerading as a rabbit.

“Where is he!” I screamed, brandishing the axe, “Spy! Demon! Enemy! Where is the beast!”

I never did see what hit me. Pain bloomed across the back of my head, and colors bloomed in my eyes. Broken bits of ceramic, like shards of bone, rained around me as I crumpled to the floor. As I lay there, my consciousness swimming, I saw him. Before me on the floor, The Shadow glared at me in disapproval.

I was handcuffed by the time I awoke, being dragged into a police car. Neighbors had gathered in their yards, daring to judge me while standing ignorant in their pajamas. As if there own gods demanded no sacrifice. As I was driven away I noticed a darker spot within the shadows of the lawn. An ink blot on black paper. He knows what he’s accomplished. The Shadow knows.