Tony Walker

He shuddered at such visions, feeling both anger and grief, but his friend promised him life beyond death and the ability to change his shape at will whenever he pleased.

to kill the boy and his family those who according to his friend the cloaked man also desired would be to strike a blow against him and grant matthew the immortality he desired so too other families lay in wait whom matthew must reach first to starve the cloaked man of his conquest such was the price of immortality

and defeating that which had taken his mother many years ago the night before his fourteenth birthday the moon was now full in the sky and he saw the familiar shape hanging like a bat it barely moved an inch he closed his eyes as the cloaked man now revealed himself again

Matthew felt a desperate urge for it to go away, to leave him be, but he knew somehow this wouldn't happen.

Instead, his friends Henrietta, then Henry, and Martin gathered on either side of the cloaked man, who beckoned them together like a family.

He shivered, the figures melding into the black form whose eyes seemed to glow red.

He felt sucked into a dreamscape, only the cloaked man now visible on a distant rise against the horizon, a bleak sky beyond, seen through a thin sliver of light as all else was black.

The cloaked man then began to contort in shape and became myriad figures all at once, first becoming his friends one by one, each changing rapidly as he awoke to find his face changing in the moonlight.

He felt a great cry surging through his body as the faces began to merge into one before the shadow outside let out a great cry and all went dark again.

He awoke to see only blackness as a solitary light hung above his bed.

It seemed suspended as he heard wings moving in the dark, scraping sounds, before the scene grew light again and all returned to normal.

The winged thing was gone, the moon now full.

he felt a smile creeping over his face and went to the mirror he was indeed still his regular self but caught a faint glimpse of henrietta flash over his face before he returned to normal again he felt he might still be dreaming again and went back to bed wherein he fell into a deep and peaceful sleep awaking the following day the birthday celebrations were exquisite

and he felt such joy as he had never felt before.

His father handed him a gift, a specially bound book of photos from a trip he'd remembered fondly, which they'd taken to the Swiss Alps, complete with handwritten notes detailing their excursions and little affirmations of love and hope by his father.

He was also gifted a box of chocolates, and Henrietta, Henry and Martin came round for games and fun, being his closest of friends.

As they celebrated, the sun shone brightly, and for the first time in a long time he felt a sense of peace as never before, and joined in with his friends as they chased each other round the garden, and he blew out the candles of a cake fit for a king.

Matthew smiled that night, sleeping well as he waited for the next full moon to arrive.

The cloaked man in his dreams did not reappear, and the winged thing was gone.

He awoke the night of the full moon, as was his custom, and saw no trace of his friend.