I’m so excited to share that I have officially published my first book on Amazon!
It’s a poetry book titled “Almost Four Months, Just a Day Off.”
More details about the book can be found through the link down below:
Almost Four Months, Just a Day Off https://a.co/d/18L8Vhi
Hardcover copies are currently the only versions I have available at the moment!
Be sure to follow me on my Instagram @isaiah.warfield and my TikTok @isaiah.warfield for more updates/information
The orange sun is shining bright in a dark world,
It’s strange to see such a thing,
Where is the moon?
Why is the orange sun front and center right now?
The heat is becoming unbearable,
There’s no reason for it to feel like summer,
I need the coolness of the night,
The soft touch of the moon,
The sun has no business in this dark world.
Why must it torment me now?
I’ve suffered too much,
I’m sweating too much,
I’m losing too much,
This world is too much for me.
I find myself in an unfamiliar city,
I ran to the city,
But maybe I should’ve just settled for the small house,
Maybe the four yellow walls could’ve protected me more,
Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered,
Maybe my fate is already sealed,
Maybe there’s just no way to avoid death itself.
I can’t run anymore,
I’m staggering and trying to stay on my feet,
But it’s impossible,
I fall down in front of an interesting building,
It’s a black cathedral,
It’s so familiar to me,
Yet unfamiliar in this dark world.
The orange sun continues to beat down on me,
While the night does nothing to stop the beating,
I’m powerless to do anything,
I’m ready for death to take me now,
The black cathedral’s bells begin to toll.
My time in this world will come to an end soon,
I just need her to seal my fate.
I hear her footsteps coming towards me,
She’s ready to end this horrific dream,
Maybe I can wake up to a better reality,
Or maybe another nightmare is in store for me,
But I’m glad I know that this is a dream,
That I struggle to escape from,
I hope this is the end,
I hope the loop of this dream is over,
I can’t take the terror and horror anymore,
I just want to wake up from this dream,
I need her to free me from this dream,
Once and for all,
Everything turns black.
I find myself lost in a forest,
I’m wearing some red sunglasses,
It’s weird seeing such a red world,
I think about taking off the red sunglasses,
But I stop myself for some reason,
And look around my environment,
But I quickly hear a storm is brewing,
It makes sense,
Light is nowhere in sight,
Thunder is getting ready to rumble loud and proud,
Letting its voice be heard,
My heart starts beating faster,
Because I’m in such a dark world,
And I can only see red around me.
Why am I wearing these red sunglasses?
Why am I lost in a forest?
I need to get out of here,
And I need to remember why I’m here.
I start wandering through the forest,
I’m walking for what feels like hours
And I’m trying to find something,
But I don’t even know what I’m searching for,
I’m lost and afraid,
The night begins to blanket the forest,
Total darkness is all around me,
But all I see is a red world.
Rain starts falling from the sky,
I need find shelter as soon as possible,
Something tells me it’s dangerous to be in this forest,
An evil is lurking in this forest,
Waiting to devour me,
Waiting to take me out,
Waiting for me in this dark world.
All of sudden,
Salvation is in front of me,
I find myself in front of a small house,
I see no door,
It looks like it only has one room,
But it has a small window,
Maybe I can get through the small window,
Maybe this is an opportunity to save myself,
And hide myself from this dark forest.
At least until the morning comes along.
Before I can do anything,
Someone comes behind me,
And stabs me on my right side,
It hurts so much,
I turn around to see who stabbed,
My heart drops when I see it’s her.
She’s the dark figure I was running away from,
She’s the reason I’m here now,
I’m struggling to move,
And she takes the red sunglasses off of me,
And stabs me again on my right side.
She smiles in delight of my pain,
And I immediately start running away from her,
But she’s not chasing me,
She’s watching me run away in fear,
She’s watching me lose so much blood,
She’s watching me die.
I put some distance between me and her,
And I get closer to the small house,
But then I notice there’s a whole city behind the house
Maybe I should keep running,
Instead of running to the small house,
But I don’t think I can make it to the city,
It’s getting harder to run and breathe,
And I just need a place to rest,
In this dark forest.
I make it to the small house,
And rush towards the small window,
It’s the only way for me to enter the house,
I look inside the house through the window,
And I see for yellow walls,
And nothing else,
I turn back around,
And see her slowly coming my way
I have to break the window,
I have to get inside for safety,
I start banging on the window,
Trying desperately to break the glass,
I’m trying not to think about the blood,
Trickling down my body,
But I can’t stop banging the window,
I have to break the glass,
This is my only opportunity to find salvation.
She’s getting closer and closer to me,
And I’m so close to breaking the glass,
I can already feel my body ready to give up,
But I still muster up the strength to keep going,
And break the glass,
I jump into the open window,
And fall to the ground,
So glad to see four yellow walls around me,
Surrounding me,
Protecting me from her and the dark forest,
Everything turns black.
We walked back to her place,
I was nervous being with her,
For the first time.
I didn’t know what to expect,
Or if I wanted to find out.
I was drifting further away from shore,
And going into deeper, stranger tides.
Could I survive such unfamiliar territories?
We finally made it back to her place,
Tears started falling from her face,
I quickly embraced her and asked what’s wrong.
She told me today’s her last day here,
She was feeling alone,
She was depressed,
She was looking to escape this world.
She was struggling here and needs to leave.
I couldn’t believe she was feeling this way,
She was always so positive and vibrant,
How could I not see she was hurting?
I was only thinking of myself,
Just enjoying the view,
What could I do to make things right?
How could I show her she’s a rare gem?
How could I show her she’s a beauty in this world?
How could I show her she’s like the ocean?
As we’re walking together,
I noticed that her hand was inching closer to mine,
But then she pulled it away.
Did she want us to be closer?
Did she long for us close the gap between us?
I wondered if maybe we should be closer,
Maybe there was something more I needed to explore
I’m drawn to her,
I was curious about her,
I wanted to know more about her,
And explore areas I had never been before,
But I was resisting her at the same time.
I was afraid.
I was afraid of the depths I knew nothing about.
I was worried about how deep I could end up,
I didn’t know if I could swim in such dangerous territories,
I was worried it would lead to me ultimately drowning.
Where I’m at now with her is good,
It’s comfortable and safe,
And it doesn’t need to change.
I’m okay with staying on the shore,
There’s no need to venture out more,
But things would soon change.
She would change the tides,
And change everything between us forever.
I remember walking home alone,
When someone suddenly appeared next to me,
I turned and saw who it was,
It was her,
I was excited and happy to see her.
I was in awe of her beauty that day,
She wore a light blue dress,
And I remember the dress complementing her caramel skin so well,
It was a little windy that day,
And her long, luscious black hair was straight,
And it had a smooth, rhythmic flow because of the wind,
It was calming to look at it.
She looked into my eyes with her hazel eyes,
And I was nervous because her eyes were like the sun to me,
Staring too much could rock my world
And practically blind me,
But I couldn’t help it.
I was always mesmerized by her eyes,
They just always put me in a spell.
She smiled at me,
And asked if it was okay if she was walking with me.
I assured her that she was fine,
I always loved walking with her,
There was just something relaxing about having her by my side.
It was like I was on vacation,
And I didn’t have a care in the world.
She somehow made me forget about struggle of getting through a tiring day,
She would briefly take me to a world of paradise.
Jaden and Marvin have been living in Jeremy’s house for a few weeks now. Jeremy lives in the house as well, but they never see him at all. In fact, they’ve never seen him before. If anything, they mostly see his shadow lurking and creaking through the hallways at night in the house. This was Jeremy’s request to Jaden and Marvin. Jeremy wanted them to be in their rooms from 12:00 am – 3:00 am, so that he could roam the house freely at night. Marvin did not care about the request, but it was strange to Jaden. Plus, there was something strangely familiar about Jeremy to Jaden. He just couldn’t figure it out.
It’s close to midnight, and Jaden and Marvin are playing Mortal Kombat together in Marvin’s room. Jaden still has not forgotten about the fact that Marvin nearly choked him out to be in this house. He desperately wants to get far away from Marvin, but he fears that he’s trapped. However, Jaden is doing his best to keep things normal and casual with Marvin. Jaden does not want to anger Marvin again.
They’ve been playing Mortal Kombat for a few hours now, and they’re on their last match of the night. Marvin is using Sub Zero, while Jaden is using Lui Kang. While they’re playing, Jaden hears the floor creak outside of Marvin’s room. Jaden takes a quick look, but he sees nothing but a person’s shadow on the hardwood floor. Jaden thought to himself that it had to be Jeremy’s shadow. It’s not midnight yet, so Jaden wonders why Jeremy is outside his room at this hour.
Before he can think about it any further, there’s a loud yell from Marvin as he ends up beating Jaden the third round in Mortal Kombat.
“Let’s go! I am the greatest of all time! No one can stop me,” Marvin yells.
“Be quiet, I just got a little distracted,” Jaden says.
“Whatever man, all I do is win, win, win, no matter what. Now, if you want to get that work again, I got you.”
Jaden laughs, but there’s something strangely familiar about the back-and-forth between him and Marvin. All of a sudden, Jaden receives a text message. He’s worried about looking at the message because his mom was recently admitted to a hospital. She doesn’t have very long to live. Jaden starts tearing up because he wishes that he was with his mom and sister.
Marvin quickly gets up and embraces Jaden. Jaden shakes his head and explains, “It’s just hard being here and not at home, especially with my mom being sick and everything. It’s only getting worse for her, and —
Jaden suddenly stops and realizes there’s something weird and strange going on. He feels like he’s said that before. Jaden starts sobbing in Marvin’s arms.
Marvin whispers, “I got you, bro. You’re my best friend, and I’m always going to be there for you. You gotta push through the pain and hurt, alright bro?”
Marvin’s words are strangely familiar and eerie to Jaden. He doesn’t know why. Jaden looks at his phone and sees that it’s a text from Maria.
The text reads, “Hey, I miss you. I was wondering if you wanted to come over and you know.”
Jaden drops his phone, and he’s starting to freak out and shaking. Marvin doesn’t understand what’s going on. Marvin quickly picks up Jaden’s phone and sees that he got a text from Maria.
Marvin smiles and says, “Bro, Maria is trying to get a piece of you.”
“What do you mean?” Jaden says without even thinking. He quickly puts his hand on his mouth and can’t believe the words that he spoke.
Marvin lets out a big sigh and responds, “Jaden, my clueless friend, she’s trying to get with you and smash tonight.”
This is sounding all too crazy and familiar to Jaden. He doesn’t understand or know what’s going on right now. Then, Jaden adds, “Well, I’m not trying to see her bro. She’s getting married in a month.”
“Ok, and? She’s trying to have a little fun with you before she’s committed to someone the rest of her life. She’s entitled to a little fun. Plus, you’ve been boyfriend #2 for two years and now you’re trying to dip on her? Know your role bro,” Marvin says.
“I never wanted this role in the first place. This is annoying! I want something more than just fun and sex. It’s just been pointless and meaningless.”
“You’re just tripping, bro. Why did you start this in the first place, then?”
“I never wanted to start this situation in the first place. It just happened, and I thought she would break up with her boyfriend and be with me. It just never happened, and I’ve been a fool this entire time. I’ve been trusting and believing the wrong people.”
After Jaden said those words, there’s an awkward silence between Jaden and Marvin. Before Jaden can say anything, Marvin admits that he’s hungry and needs something to eat. Jaden’s heart starts beating faster, and he once again hears the floor creak again outside of Marvin’s room. Jaden looks and sees the shadow outside of Marvin’s room not moving at all.
Before Jaden can say anything, Marvin says, “You know, this might sound crazy but maybe we should go to the Purple Eyes diner and —
Jaden interrupts, “Marvin, do you not know what’s going on right now? We’re reliving that night at Purple Eyes!”
“What are you talking about, Jaden?”
“Marvin, doesn’t tonight seem a little too familiar and coincidental to you? We’re playing Mortal Kombat, we were talking about my mom, Maria sent me a text and you were about to convince me to come with you to Purple Eyes. We did all that before going to Purple Eyes.”
Marvin gasps and realizes that they are reliving that night in their own way. It’s not completely a copy of that night, but it’s pretty close. Marvin catches his breath and whispers, “Alright, this is a little freaky and weird. Ok this is no problem, all we have to do is not go to Purple Eyes and we’re good, right?”
Before Jaden can say anything, Marvin gets a random text message from Jeremy. It reads, “Come to the living room.”
Marvin shows the message to Jaden, and Jaden quickly looks back at Marvin’s open door and finds the shadow no longer there.
“Hey man, I don’t think you should go to the living room. I think we need to stick together and get out of here.” Jaden pleads.
“What are you talking about, bro? We’re gonna be fine as long as we don’t go to Purple Eyes. Plus, Jeremy is our landlord, so we really can’t ignore him,” Marvin explains.
“I don’t know man, he seems kinda shady and weird too tonight. I kinda saw his shadow in the hallway, and why is he now trying to see us?”
“It is a little strange, but I think we’re okay. You’re more than welcome to come with me, I’m going to see him real quick and be right back.”
Jaden tries to stop Marvin, but he’s quick to maneuver Jaden and get out of his room. Jaden is scared and worried about his friend. He thinks about getting up and following Marvin, but for some reason he’s struggling to move.
All of a sudden, Jaden hears a shriek sounding like Marvin and something heavy tumbling down the stairs. Jaden’s heart is beating faster and faster now.
Then, he hears Marvin yelling and begging for Jaden to help him. Jaden rushes out of Marvin’s room and goes to the steps. He sees his best friend’s body at the bottom of the stairs. Before Jaden can do anything, he’s pushed down the steps by someone. Jaden tumbles down the hardwood steps and ends up on top of Marvin.
Jaden’s body is hurting and aching, and he cannot move or do anything. His vision has been compromised. Everything is a blur now. He’s scared and shocked. Marvin pushes Jaden off of him, and Jaden can kinda see Marvin trying to crawl away. Jaden listens as he hears someone walking down the stairs. He turns his head towards the steps and sees a black figure coming down the steps. The black figure is a blur to Jaden, and the figure mostly looks like a shadow. Jaden is assuming the shadow is Jeremy.
The shadow goes over to Marvin first. Jaden cannot move or do anything. All he can do is watch and listen. He watches and listens to Marvin begging to have his life spared. Jaden listens to the constant and consistent stabbing taking place, the stabbing is loud, true and unbearable for some odd reason. Jaden listens to the cries his best friend is making. Jaden hears the laughter from the shadow for this is simply a fun, sick, thrilling game the shadow never wants to stop playing.
This was all too familiar and crazy to Jaden. The stabbing comes to an abrupt stop. Jaden looks over and sees his best friend with multiple stab wounds in a pool of his own blood. Jaden watches the shadow figure get up and look at him. Then, he whispers, “You’re next.”
Jaden instantly recognizes the voice. It’s his classmate’s voice from the night at Purple Eyes a few years ago. He’s alive, Jaden thought to himself.
“How are you still alive? You’re Jeremy, right?” Jaden weakly asks.
There is no response from the shadow that is quite familiar to Jaden. The familiar shadow walks over to Jaden and gets on top of him. Jaden can see the butcher knife in his hand, and it looks like the familiar shadow is going to stab him.
Jaden starts crying and realizes that he’s about to die. Then, Jaden whispers, “I’m so sorry.”
Jaden starts whispering more things, but the familiar shadow cannot understand the unclear, desperate whispers. The familiar shadow chooses to ignore the whispers. The familiar shadow kneels down to Jaden’s face and whispers in his ear, “So beautiful.”
Jaden is shocked by this familiar statement, and he continues to whisper. The familiar shadow gets off of him and stands up. It’s as if the shadow figure is waiting for something to happen. Then, Jaden realizes what he must do. Jaden reaches and begs for help, but he’s kicked in the face by the familiar shadow. The blurry figure gets on top of Jaden again, and Jaden understands and knows his life will be taken away from him. Still, Jaden whispers and whispers while he’s being stabbed repeatedly by the familiar shadow.
I haven’t been hearing your voice or whispers lately.
Have you left or escaped me?
I crawl and check my closet every single day,
And every single day I see your lifeless body.
You have not gone anywhere.
You’re still in my closet.
Why then can I not hear your voice or whispers in my closet?
Why is it just another quiet night?
Why do I constantly think about the blood on the wall?
I have so many questions,
But no one can answer them for me.
Maybe I shouldn’t be thinking about such questions,
I don’t have the time to do such a thing.
I’m dying right now,
And I have no interest in surviving.
There’s just no point in living anymore,
Now that you two are gone.
My vision is slowly blurring,
Breathing has become such a tedious exercise.
My blood is rapidly leaving my body,
Never to return to me.
The pain in my arms is everlasting,
Death is now here for me,
Waiting patiently to take me away from this dark, cruel place.
Tonight is the night that I die,
But before I let death take me away,
I need to see you one last time.
I need to make sure you suffered.
I need to ensure my revenge is complete.
I need to believe you’re gone for good.
For one last time,
I crawl over to my closet,
And open the door.
I see your lifeless body,
And I see his soulless body as well.
I weakly push him out the way and embrace you.
I can’t hold on to you very long.
I don’t feel anything from you anymore,
You’re no longer in this world.
You’re gone for good,
And now I can finally die.
And end this terrible nightmare.
Suddenly, I can’t feel anything.
Darkness is all around me,
I’m no longer trying to breathe,
I no longer have control over my body.
Death has me in its hold.
But most importantly,
There are no more voices.
Just silence.
A few years have passed since the events that took place at the Purple Eyes Diner. Jaden and Marvin swore to never speak of that night ever again. They both graduated from college, and they were living in an apartment together after graduation. The lease on their apartment is up next week, and they’re trying to decide if they want a new lease or move somewhere else together. However, Marvin proposes an interesting opportunity to Jaden.
“Hey bro, someone reached out to me about us renting two rooms in this really nice house in the city. You have to look at these pictures,” Marvin explains to Jaden.
Marvin attempts to show Jaden the pictures, but he’s not in the mood to see them. Marvin asks Jaden what’s wrong with him. Jaden explains that he’s thinking about moving back home with his mom and sister.
Jaden explains, “I don’t know man, I feel like I should be back home now. Everything has been on my sister to take care of our mom, and I need to help out in some way.”
Jaden starts to tear up, and Marvin is quick to embrace him. He whispers to Jaden, “I get it man, you want to be back with your mom and sister. They could use you right now, but your mom and sister want you to live your life. They want you to be happy and free.”
“I don’t know if that’s true, man. I just talked to my sister a couple of days ago, and she’s the one that asked if I was thinking about coming home. She wasn’t telling me to come home, but it felt like she was kind of hoping that I would come home.”
“Jaden, you don’t know—
“Marvin, my sister has taken care of our mom for years! She needs a break and deserves a life too. It’s selfish of me to just live on my own, I have to help in some way or help even more now than ever! I have to go home!”
Jaden pushes Marvin off him, but Marvin is quick to embrace him again and Jaden struggles to get out of his embrace. Then, Marvin says, “I’m sorry, bro. You’re right, maybe it is best for you to go home and help your mother. Maybe that’s what’s best for you. I just want to show you this house, and I just want you to think about how happy and free you’ll be living in this place. Just for a moment.”
Jaden sighs and reluctantly allows Marvin to show him pictures of the house. Marvin gets his phone out and shows Jaden the beautiful home in the city. The kitchen is perfect, the living room is spacious and there’s a huge backyard. Jaden is stunned that it’s a remarkable house, and the bedrooms are spacious and have their own bathroom. Jaden can’t believe the house, and Marvin says the best part is the rent. Jaden asks how much the rent is, and Marvin says that it’s only $500 for the both of them. Plus, they do not have to worry about paying for utilities or a deposit.
Jaden is shocked and excited, but he is somewhat skeptical. The deal and offer sounds too good to be true for Jaden. He asks how Marvin came across this house, and Marvin explains that he was emailed about it by the homeowner. Jaden is confused, and Marvin shows Jaden the email. It read that there were two rooms available at the homeowner’s house that the homeowner was looking to rent out. The email was sent by someone with the name Jeremy.
Jaden thinks the email is strange, then Marvin says, “Before you say anything, I emailed him back saying that we were interested in the rooms and got to Facetime with him.”
“You Facetimed the guy? What was he like?” Jaden questions.
“He was kinda quiet and didn’t say much, but he was cool for the most part.”
“Did you see his face? And did you ask him why he was renting out the rooms?”
“Geez, so many questions. Yeah, I kinda saw his face. He was just talking about how he just wanted to make some extra bucks.”
“Wait, what do you mean you ‘kinda saw his face,’ Marvin?”
“He just had on a hoodie, and he had the hood over his face. It was just kinda hard to see his face.”
Jaden sighs and says, “Bro, do you realize how sketchy and weird that sounds? I don’t know about all that, but if you want to live there then you go ahead. I’m going back home.”
“Here’s the thing, I kinda need you in order to live there.”
“What do you mean?”
“The rent is only $500, if you’re also going to be there. If you’re not, then it’s going to be $2,000 for me to rent a room, and I can’t pay that at all.”
Before Jaden can say anything, Marvin begs him to consider living in the house. Jaden refuses and says, “No, I just have a bad feeling about that place. Plus, I just told you that I want to go home. And how can you come up with that agreement without talking to me at all? I’m sorry bro, but you’re on your own.”
Jaden tries to walk away, but Marvin stops him. Then, he has this menacing, strange look on his face. Marvin coldly says, “Did you forget what I did for you that night? Did you forget how I saved your life? I didn’t leave you on your own, but now you’re trying to leave and abandon me?”
Jaden tries to assure Marvin that he’s not abandoning him, but Marvin pushes Jaden to the ground and continues, “You were almost going to have us killed that night. You owe me for what I did for you that night. You owe me your life.”
Jaden doesn’t know what to say, but Marvin quickly adds, “Or if you feel like you don’t owe me anything, then maybe I should cut ties with you and tell the cops you were the one that murdered that kid that night, while I watched in horror.”
Jaden shakes his head and can’t believe what he’s hearing from his best friend and roommate. It doesn’t make any sense to him. Marvin then gets on top of Jaden and starts choking him. Jaden is struggling to breathe and get out of the chokehold Marvin has him in.
Then Marvin whispers, “I could talk about how I was whispering and whispering like crazy that night. How I was begging for you to stop the stabbing and killing, but you just wouldn’t listen. You just kept going and going, and you never wanted to stop and think. You were just so sick and twisted that night at Purple Eyes.”
Jaden begs for him to stop and Marvin lets go of Jaden. He gets off of Jaden and says, “Great, I’ll let Jeremy know that we’ll be moving in next week.”
This is the end of part four of “A Familiar Shadow.”
Be sure to like, share and comment your thoughts on this short story.
The final part of this short story series will be posted next Thursday
I’ve been hearing whispers in my closet lately,
I especially hear them late at night.
The whispers are so loud and apparent,
It’s hard to really get any sleep.
I just listen to the whispers all night long,
Since it’s impossible to ignore them.
I moved you both in my closet
Because I realized that I can’t leave you both just lying around,
Bloody and dead on the floor.
You both needed to be put somewhere safe,
I was thinking about burying you both,
But I’ve lost too much blood,
And I’m close to dying I think,
I don’t have the strength or energy to bury you both,
So putting you both in my closet was the best that I could do.
I was surprised that you were alive for so long,
While he just died right away.
I never really liked him,
And I honestly enjoyed killing and stabbing him multiple times,
But I’ll admit that it was hard killing you.
I cried when I was stabbing you,
And I just couldn’t kill you right away like I did to him.
I had to keep you alive
And give you a fighting chance.
I remember you struggling to breathe,
And trying your best to crawl and move around,
In your pool of blood,
But there was nothing more you could do,
Your body was useless thanks to me.
For a few days,
You were barely able to move,
I watched as you coughed up blood,
And struggled to breathe.
It looked like you were just in so much pain,
And there was nothing you could do to save your own life,
Instead you were just whispering.
You were whispering a lot,
When you were dying,
And I never knew what you were whispering.
Maybe they were whispers of regret,
Maybe they were whispers of hatred for me,
Maybe they were whispers of a dream,
There could have been so many things you whispered,
But I’ll never know,
And I’ll never be able to escape your whispers
Because they will always be in my closet.
This is the end of “Whispers in My Closet,” the third poem of the Night Terrors poetry series.
Be sure to like, share and comment your thoughts on “Whispers in My Closet.”
“No More Voices” will be the next poem of the Night Terror series that will be posted next Saturday.
The Warfield Zone 