“The Troublemaker”
Allison had a bad night on Saturday. She went to the Smith’s house to babysit their son, Jake, and daughter, Lisa. Jake is four years old. He gets into a lot of trouble. He started the night by pouring his glass of milk all over the floor during dinner.
“Clean that up,” Allison ordered.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Jake responded. He ran away from the dinner table. “I’m bored. I want to play a game,” Lisa whined.
“Jake, if you clean up your mess we can play a game,” Allison said.
“Okay,” Jake said. Allison gave him a handful of paper towels and he used them to clean up the milk. “I want to play hide-and-seek,” he said.
“Okay, I will be the seeker first,” Allison said. “You two have thirty seconds to hide!” Allison covered her eyes with her hands and counted slowly from one to thirty.
“Ready or not, here I come!” she called. Allison walked downstairs and peeked into the kitchen closet. Nobody was inside. She checked under the couches in the living room. She looked in the garage. Allison decided that nobody was hiding downstairs, so she walked upstairs and continued her search. She opened the door to Lisa’s bedroom and found her hiding under the bed.
“I found you!” she squealed. “Okay, now help me find Jake,” she told Lisa. Allison and Lisa searched all over the house. They could not find Jake.
“It has been twenty minutes and he is nowhere in sight,” Allison thought. “I wonder where he is.”
Another 30 minutes have been passed, Allison begins to worry. She didn't let Lisa see her worried expression to avoid panic and fear.
"Jake is really good at hiding!" Lisa yelled with jealousy. "Listen, Lisa, let's split up. Let's find Jake again. You'll be here on upstairs and I'll go downstairs." Allison said calmly. The young Lisa nod as agreement but before they got separated, a loud scratch echoing near their area, it seems like a sound of something sharp that scratching from the concrete floor and creates an annoying sound. Allison and Lisa hurriedly come to the source of sound hoping that it is Jake.
They end up in front of Jake's room. As their feet landed on a red carpet in a veneer of the brown door with spaceship stickers, the sounds stop. Allison and Lisa look annoyed because they got played again by little Jake. "Enough Jake, we got you!" Lisa shout as she wins against Jake.
"Hey, Lisa? Take Jake! I'm tired" Allison got confused when Lisa stays from her position, her head is almost touched the floor looking under Jake's bed.
"Lisa...?" Lisa slowly looked at Allison with horror.
"J-jake.. is not here.."
Allison felt cold and slowly bent her knee to glance what's under the bed.
It's darkness, never-ending darkness. The only visible in eyes is darkness, nothing else but only black although the room had open lights.
"I'm scared" Lisa hugs Allison with trembling shoulder and nearly cry. Allison and Lisa didn't leave the sight of darkness under the bed. They are afraid at the same time curious and wanted to see the creature who did the creepy sound.
They are sitting for almost a minutes when their attention got diverted to small thuds of footsteps running in their direction. Lisa's hug becomes tighter because of fear. The shadow of someone is visible from inside the room. It's just standing, then the doorknob makes a sound, an indication of opening.
A sweaty young boy appears at the door with one plate of cookies in his right hand and a cup of milk in his left hand. Lisa feels relieved as she saw her younger brother.
"Jake where have you been?!" Allison can't hold her frustration. Jake walks in together with the milk and cookies in his hand.
"You got hungry for hiding too long." Lisa said while smiling, happy to see her brother. "Did you made that milk by yourself?" Allison ask but Jake didn't give attention nor respond, he's just staring underneath his bed.
Allison finds Jake as weird. Their eyes didn't leave Jake and intensely looking and observing Jake's movements. Jake put the cookie and glass of milk on the floor. "You must be hungry Freedo". Lisa and Allison didn't understand Jake.
"That's enough kiddie, let's rest. The night is sinking and the moon is shining" Allison said joyfully to divert the creepiness. She let Jake sleep before she assists Lisa.
Tomorrow evening, Mr. And Mrs. Smith request Allison to babysit Lisa and Jake again.
While preparing dinner. Allison asks Jake.
"You're good at hiding, Jake. Where did you hide yesterday?".
"He hides inside the washing machine" Lisa answered instead of Jake. "Oh! That explains why is he sweaty." Allison said while laughing mesmerising their embarrassing situation from finding Jake. She gives the glass of milk to Jake but Jake pour the glass of milk on the floor. "Jake, again?!" Allison exclaimed. "Why did you always pour your milk? You're wasting milk, Jake!"
"I don't like milk! Freedo is the only one who loves milk!" Jake yelled back.
The night passed and the children sound asleep. Allison decided to check the children before she rest. She looks at peacefully sleeping Lisa with her barbie collection in her bed. Then next, she looks for Jake but before she opens the door, she heard Jake talking.
"I hate Allison, she wants me to drink milk, she's bad!" Then make a paused. "I love cookies, Thank you."
Allison opens the door. Her whole body looks cold paralysed and coldness creep her whole system as she sees the man sitting beside Jake. Holding a cookie with his long nails and a white milk that spills in his brown spiky face. His emerald eyes that staring at Allison. He is wearing a red long sleeve with a black hat. Allison runs fast as she could. She couldn't believe on what she saw.
A creepy man who also appears in her childhood days as an imaginary friend
is coming back as an imaginary friend of Jake.
-END-
