7
The sky tore open, and the horrors spilled out,
turning Earth into a living hell. My family
stood frozen, the stench of urine filling the
air. All three had wet themselves.
A cruel smile twisted my lips. I wanted them
dead, right there, right then. But that was too
easy. And I had more important things to do.
I helped the villagers get to safety, then
headed to the old oak. A terrifying figure
stood beneath it. But I felt no fear. I walked
towards him, and there he was, the face
etched in my memory.
<
Daniel Walker, my first love.
His eyes, crimson with bloodlust, softened as
he saw me. He pulled me close, his lips
brushing my neck. I held up the oak twig.
“Daniel,” I whispered, my voice trembling.
The bloodlust receded, replaced by a flicker
of recognition.
“My… wife?” he rasped.
Tears streamed down my face, splashing onto
his hand. He stared at me, bewildered.
“Ashley?”
I nodded frantically. “It’s me. It’s Ashley.
Daniel, my high school sweetheart, had died
saving me. An orphan, he’d always loved
reading under the old oak, so I’d buried him
there. Somehow, whether through the tree’s
strange energy or some other unknown force,
he’d become the Shadow King.
I kissed him, a sob escaping my lips. “Daniel,
wake up.”
The red in his eyes vanished completely.
“Daniel,” I said urgently, taking his hand,
“these horrors… they’ll destroy humanity. We
have to do something.”
He nodded gravely. “I can command them to
leave humans alone. But it won’t last. They’re
driven by their nature. Unless…”
<
He paused. “Unless they inhabit the paper
dolls. Give them bodies. That might restore
their minds.”
The day my family betrayed me, I’d seen a
horror stumble into a pile of paper dolls
outside a funeral home. The red in its eyes
faded, and it cried out, “I remember!”
That’s why I’d ordered so many. It was a
gamble, but the only one I had.
I grinned and raised my hand, summoning the
million paper dolls. They filled the sky, a
breathtaking spectacle.
Daniel smiled. “This… this might just work.”
He raised his arm, his voice booming with
authority. “I, the Shadow King, command you!
<
His voice echoed across the world. The
horrors converged on us, a terrifying swarm.
The paper dolls‘ painted eyes flickered, and
the horrors flowed into them.
People across the globe watched in stunned
silence. Livestreams popped up everywhere.
The world’s attention was on us.
The process took hours. Finally, every horror
had a paper body. Government officials
arrived, wanting answers.
Daniel and I exchanged a look.
“We’ll cooperate fully,” I said.
“Of course,” Daniel added. “We’re
Americans.”
<
I left Daniel to deal with the officials and
drove to Willow Creek. My family was hiding
in the old farmhouse cellar. I placed a horror
Daniel had given me at the cellar door. It
slipped through the cracks.
Screams echoed from below. I placed another
horror at the door, silencing the cries. Then, I
calmly returned to Daniel.
Over the next few days, we worked with the
government to relocate the now–sentient
horrors to designated areas. As the last group
prepared to move, we returned to Willow
Creek.
Daniel kicked open the cellar door. The
stench of blood and decay was overwhelming.
My family lay in pieces, barely recognizable.
<
Three hearts, untouched, lay on the floor, as
if even the horrors found them too foul to
consume.
I turned away, a cold smile on my face. Daniel
gestured, and the entire farmhouse crumbled
into dust.
I summoned my last two paper dolls. The two
horrors that had… dealt with my family…
entered the dolls, their minds restored. We
took them to the final relocation point, and
the crisis was over.
Every horror had regained its sentience and
was now integrated into society, thanks to
the government’s careful planning. Except for
three people from Willow Creek, no one else
had been harmed. Humans and horrors
worked together, rebuilding the world, making
く
it better than before.
The paper doll industry boomed, fueled by the
birth of horror children. Nancy and her
husband became industry tycoons, with
Ethan, the matchmaker’s nephew, as their
partner.
Mrs. Henderson retired, claiming she’d
overseen enough ghost marriages to last a
lifetime. She’d made a lot of matches, but
few had resulted in such… unusual blessings.
With the world safe, Daniel and I embarked on
–
a world tour our “anni–moon,” as Daniel
called it. I rolled my eyes. A honeymoon that
would last for years.
He was the Shadow King, and I was his
queen. Our actions during the apocalypse had
granted us a strange sort of immortality. So,
perhaps, “anni–moon” was fitting.
Epilogue
Ten years later, in the world–renowned Horror
Memorial Museum, a guide stood before two
statues.
“These two,” she announced, “saved the
world. They are American heroes!”
A little girl asked, “What do we call them?”
The guide smiled. “They are known
throughout the world as the King and Queen
of Shadows.”
The End.
