Chapter 8
Jack reached over to his fire truck which lay on top of his bed. He always felt safer on his bed than on the floor. Their home was quiet, and not having his mom there, who would usually keep the house alive and cheerful, made today have a heavy, uneasy atmosphere. Jack felt clouded and completely surrounded by dark feelings this evening. Marc had told him to go to bed and he had done so, without any fuss. But that didn’t mean he had to sleep; there was no school at the moment.
He kept trying to block out the muffled sound of his parents’ arguments, but he couldn’t help hearing it. It permeated the entire house and his helpless mind. It filled the air with a profound atmosphere that Jack had never experienced before. It was approaching midnight before the bickering eventually stopped. He heard footsteps going past his room, so he quickly jumped off his bed and threw the door open. Who was he expecting to see?
“Are you okay, Mommy?” he called out to a dark hallway, all doors closed to his inquisitive eyes.
There was no one there. Dressed in his yellow spotted pajamas, he walked across to the staircase. It felt like such a long walk to him; everything seemed to be so distorted when there was no light. He gazed down the stairs as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness and saw that one light was still on, in the kitchen. He stepped carefully down the stairs and as he reached the bottom, turned to look into the living room. There was enough light from the kitchen to confirm that no one was in there. He went beneath the ornamental archway that led into the kitchen.
From the corner of his eye he noticed the phone that still lay on the floor where his dad had left it earlier. He could hear the dull sound of the dial tone and replaced the receiver.
“Mommy, are you okay?” he called out again, hoping she would be just around the corner, waiting to give him a big hug. What he missed most was how lovely she used to be, and how generous, kind and thoughtful she was to anyone she met. That was all before Marc had ruined everything; he had tainted the entire family with his selfish and devious nature.
Both Rachel and Marc knew in their minds what was really going on, more so Rachel. However, neither of them wanted to admit anything, and she thought it was easier to not ask questions and leave everything be, hoping in the back of her mind that things would resolve themselves, but how wrong she was. Things would eventually get worse… of course they would; who was she kidding?
Jack now faced the entrance to the kitchen. Rachel wasn’t there; no one was. That all too familiar disappointed, sickening feeling rushed through him, but he tried brushing it away with a simple deep breath. This was what his dad had taught him to do when he felt afraid.
The kitchen light had been left on and Jack saw that water was still running from the faucet. Why had that been left turned on? He climbed up on the work surface carefully, without slipping, and reached over to turn it off. Now that it had stopped, the house was quieter than ever. But just when he thought he was safe, he heard the footsteps again; he wasn’t imagining these. He froze; his little body would not physically move and he could feel his heart racing fiercely in his chest. The footsteps were shuffling, like they were trudging over thick carpet.
‘This could be Mom now!’
Rachel had always been the mom who protected him from his monsters, and he wanted her to protect him now, from this noise. He jumped down from the sink and ran straight through into the living room, where he stopped abruptly.
There stood a black creature, surrounded by its own shadow. It swayed from side to side in front of him, mocking him. It spoke not one word. This mystical being appeared to have no features that Jack could make out from where he stood; had no eyes to watch, or mouth to communicate.
“Mommy, help me!” He relied on his mom possibly too much, for he hadn’t any friends, apart from Bessie, who lived next door.
This being did not say anything, but yes… it did have eyes, or what looked to him like green lights that shone out, that peered soulfully down at him. The boy could hear this thing’s voice inside his mind. He didn’t want to listen to it but he had no option. He couldn’t make out what it was trying to tell him, but the creature was gradually drawing closer to where he stood. Jack could feel its icy aura as it floated nearer; it wasn’t a pleasant being, that was for sure. Jack’s bravery deserted him. He took a few steps back and fell into a corner of the room. There, crouching beside the leather sofa, he covered his eyes, he wanted it to go.
With his small hands clasped to his face, covering his eyes, the darkness and overpowering threatening feeling grew even more intense. He spread his fingers, peeping between them to see this creature still facing him. Its shiny, green eyes bored into him, as if trying to take away all life from within him. The black, whispering waves now completely covered him, floated over him. This thing was not here for mere taunting and fear, it was here for a purpose, but he did not know what that was. His body froze again, he felt cold and shivered, utterly tormented. He wanted to escape and look away, but he could not do either.
“Jack…”
It called out to him; the thing knew his name. But he heard his name being called from within his mind so it must all be in his head. None of it was real, it was just like something out of a comic book, like Tales of the Headless Creatures or Tales from Within a Box, that he often read. He would usually dream that he was a superhero, or someone he admired in one of his comics, which probably explained why he had such a vivid imagination.
This was stupid, he wouldn’t take any more of it. He was getting tired of constantly being scared, he had enough. Screwing up every ounce of courage, he stood up quickly, pushing through the creature. It was something of a struggle, but he did it and ran from the kitchen, straight up the stairs, to his room.
Before he went into his room, he knocked on Rachel’s door. He needed to see if she was in there and really just wanted a hug; that would make everything okay.
“What the hell...? What are you doing? Go back to bed, you little shit!”
He trembled with such sickening fear and felt too scared to stay on his own now. The words from her mouth had shocked him to the core. He didn’t know why his mother would talk to him like that, but, ignoring everything, he fled through his bedroom door and jumped on top of the bed quickly, before the monster could grab his feet. He pulled the bedsheets over his head and held them tightly, not wanting to open his eyes again to his twisted imagination.
* * * * * *
