Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows

By Bob Koches

How to start this story? Because it is about evil…and how many of you have faced evil? I don’t mean the normal, every day type of bad things that happen to everyone, but the evil that raises the hair on the back of your neck, and makes you turn around when no one is there; evil that is so dark and black that you are afraid without knowing why. This is that kind of story, and it happened to me.

It began when I was dating a witch, albeit a white witch, but still a witch. She had an apartment on the Portland park blocks, near Portland State University, where she was a student. It was on a night, much like tonight, that I visited her, when she informed me that the apartment was haunted. I said, “Oh, OK…fine!” and thought, “If you believe in that kind of thing.”

Then came those fleeting moments as we sat around in her apartment. You know the kind. A feeling; a wondering. Was that a shadow that just passed? Nah, it couldn’t be. That kind of moment; one of doubt; one of illusion. But as the evening wore on, the shadow moved more and more until it didn’t become a question of doubt, but a certainty.

And then it happened. As I was walking through the apartment, down the corridor, I had that feeling. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I had a feeling of panic, anxiety, and felt that something evil was lurking behind me. I turned and there was, not a shadow, but a darkness, an emptiness, something so black that it was evil incarnate. I shuddered. It was as if I was facing something demonic. As it approached me I could feel that it wanted to suck all the good out of me and leave me empty and in despair. I turned and ran out the front door, shaking and shuddering.

Was it true? Did it really happen? It is hard to tell. I know, though, that I had seen the face of evil. Don’t believe me? Well then be forewarned. Someday you too may get that feeling and see a fleeting shadow. I hope you never have to face the dark emptiness of that evil spirit.