Lay Me Down to Sleep

Chapter 8

Kim wakes up to the sound of crying and screaming. His first instinct is to hide under the covers, because the crying and screaming doesn’t sound familiar at all. So more likely than not, it’s a ghost. And if that’s the case, then Kim does NOT want to be around it.

But even more than that, he doesn’t want Chay around it either. He doesn’t want Chay to face a ghost alone, especially after all he went through and did for him in the forest. So Kim needs to get over his suddenly prominent fear of ghosts and protect him, even though Chay is currently bigger and stronger than he is. It isn’t about that with ghosts anyway. It’s about determination and bravery, Kim thinks. Kim can probably handle that. He has Ping now, and Ping always had special powers. He protects Kim and brings him good luck, he brings misfortune to anyone he doesn’t like, and he knows how to spy on his enemies. He also may be a ninja. Kim had been trying to figure out if that was a good power for Ping right before Pa took him. And when Ping disappeared, Kim kept telling himself that he was on a special mission.

So now that Ping is back, Kim will have help. They’ll protect Chay together. 

So Kim forces his eyes open, holds Ping tight, and sits up on the bed, only to see the other side of the bed empty and a ghost toddler crying in the corner of the room in a long, navy blue shirt. 

Kim HATES ghost kids! They’re so creepy. 

But where is Chay? What did this demon do to Chay?

Kim pushes past all of his anxiety and dread and pushes the covers down. If the demon ghost ate Chay, there would probably be bloodstains. And if there are? Kim will destroy the demon, then kill himself. But when Kim looks at the sheets, there are no bloodstains. All that’s there are Chay’s pajama pants and boxers. 

What did it do?

Kim feels his face twist with rage as he gets to his feet, runs across the bed, and jumps on the floor before running over to the ghost with Ping.

“What did you do to Chay?!” he yells, getting straight to the point. If the ghost doesn’t tell him right away, he’ll tell Ping to make the ghost’s afterlife miserable. 

But when the ghost lifts his head from his knees and looks at Kim with tear-filled eyes, he realizes this isn’t a ghost at all. 

“...Chay?” Kim asks hesitantly, but as soon as the name is out of his mouth, he knows this is Chay. Those are Chay’s eyes. That is Chay’s face. 

And soon enough, the demonic ghost toddler confirms he is Chay when he lets out a wail, nods his head, and throws himself on the ground. 

“...Uh,” Kim starts, then takes a step forward, “...Okay.”

Kim doesn’t do well around crying people. He had preferred it when he thought Chay was a demonic ghost toddler he had to defeat. But this is someone he cares about, someone he loves, as scary as that is to think . And now, Chay is terrified and in the same situation Kim is in. 

He needs to get past his aversion of offering emotional comfort when tears are involved. He can do this.