[ TT ] Strange things are happening in the shade and shadows , but ca n't be explained . At least , not until you notice something strange about the shadows themselves ...

_They move under the wallpaper._ 
 
 Wax dripped off the candle, setting large balls of shadow falling from ceiling to floor. The quill ink was black. The bindings of the journal was black. The scribbling was black. Even the wallpaper was black, except when it was not, and it was just a gaudy yellow. Sometimes black spots streaked across the wallpaper, darting from window to door, then leaving out into the hallway. Sometimes I would see them run. Sometimes for me, sometimes not. 
 
 I lifted my quill off the paper. Black dripped from quill to page, bleeding through the caramel. I set it aside and let it dry. Large grey gradients filled the walls. When I shifted the candle the shadows moved. To my right was a hand breathing underneath the wallpaper, slowly reaching towards a small dagger and pulling it back and forth in a stabbing action. When I set the candle down it stopped moving. 
 
 My breath was held. I reached slowly for the wooden stick I kept underneath my desk. My doctor told me I was hysterical and needed rest. I kept the stick hidden in case he found it. I closed my journal and ink bottle and replaced it into the small corner of the room where it could not be found. I lifted the stick and carefully poked the wallpaper. 
 
 The shadows bled instantly. Large streaks of black radiated from where wood contacted paper. I darted back, shaking, the stick clattering onto the floor. A large black mass brooded over me as I ducked under my covers. 
 
 `` What is going on?'' The door burst open with the glow of a small night candle. Shadows flooded through the door like claws stretching across the wallpaper. `` What are you doing? Is that a quill on your desk?'' 
 
 I shook my head. He repeated himself, louder. I shook my head, harder, then stumbled back as the shape of a large bear paw emerged from the wallpaper and swiped at my hand. My back was against the stinging wallpaper. A new hand reached out from the wallpaper, and another, the weight of a black mass pinning my arms and neck until I could barely breathe. 
 
 _They move under the wallpaper, _ I muttered under my breathe. _Under the wallpaper... _
