Children of Darkness by Courtney Shockey

soon as I get in touch with her parents, I will explain everything. There has to be a way to get rid of the evil children haunting us both, permanently.
    “Come on. Let’s get out of here and go see the new Hobbit movie. I know how much you love Tolkien,” Coby says into my hair.
    “That would be nice,” I reply. I stroke his face then go grab my purse.
    He scans me up and down with a half-smile lighting his face. “Maybe you should change into something more…uh, more.”
    I look down and see my cotton sleeping shorts peeking out from under my oversized t-shirt. Oops. “That’s probably a good idea. I'll be right back, unless you want to help me pick something out…”
    His grin could’ve split his face as he follows me to my room.

 

     
    An hour later, Coby is looking up movie times while I change. I don my favorite jeans and a soft green V-neck shirt as I step into my wedge sandals.
    “All right. Come on, nerd.” He is just as excited as I am to see this movie, he just hides it well.
    In his car, I sing along to my favorite RITTZ song on our way to the theater. He laughs when I can’t keep up with the lyrics, but fails just as bad as I did. He always knows what to say or do to make me smile.
    We pull up to the theater and race to the ticket booth. I won, by the way. I pay before he knows what is going on and snatch the tickets. We get popcorn, candy and drinks at the concession stand and I pop a gummy in my mouth.
    “Mm mm, watermelon flavor,” I say with a full mouth. They always make my teeth stick together, but I can taste them for hours after they are gone. My dentist doesn’t approve, but I don’t care.
    He grins and shakes his head at me. “I’ll never understand why you like those nasty things so much.”
    I shrug and we find a seat in the darkening theater. As we sit down and settle in, I look around. There is another couple a few rows in front of us and some teenagers in the back row. I snicker and point over my shoulder at them.
    “I know where their attention will be when the lights go out,” I whisper to Coby.
    He chuckles and kisses my head. The previews come on and we talk about which ones we want to see. I am not a fan of scary movies, for obvious reasons, but we agree on romantic comedies and action.
    The movie starts and we quiet. The teens in the back would giggle from time to time and I'd look around the theater for the sound. My stomach drops to my toes and my heart pounds away until I see them playing around. I start feeling like a creep looking at them messing around, but I can’t help the panic that rises within me at the similar noise. After the ninth time, the fear lessens and I grow accustomed to it.
    A goblin pops up on screen and I hear a scream. It cuts through my ears all the way down to my toes and I suck in a breath. Coby places his hand over mine and pries my death grip from the arm of the chair. I wait but nothing else happens so I relax a little. I hate being so jumpy.
    About halfway through the movie, I hear someone running up and down the stairs at the end of our row. I turn quickly, but no one is there. Grabbing Coby’s arm, I focus on the movie and try to ignore the sounds. He turns and rubs my hair, gently planting a kiss on the top of my head. I smile and rub my cheek along his arm like a cat.
    A short time later, I hear the footsteps again, this time accompanied by giggling. I look back at the teenagers, but they are enraptured by the movie. Sweat breaks out over my skin and my hands feel clammy. I wipe my brow and shake my hands.
    “Are you okay, Janet?” he whispers to me.
    “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little warm in here,” I say.
    His brows knit together for a moment before he answers. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can leave. It’s no problem.”
    A dragon appears on the screen and blows fire everywhere, cutting out all sound in the theater. I laugh and squeeze his arm, reassuring him that I am fine. He kisses my cheek and continues watching the