Jeffy, Dearest

Ch. 1

"Mommy...?" I called, running out of my room after hearing her scream my name. It was only a second ago, but it was so quiet now. It started smelling weird when I came down the steps, the staircase darker than the hall I just past through. I held teddy the cat closer. It started to smell when I finally reached the bottom. It was so black, I doubt I could see my hand in front of my face if I tried.

"Mommy!"  I screamed louder this time, not wanting to be alone in the dark any longer than I had to be. I wanted her to tuck me back in bed so I could go back asleep. Not being able to smell irritated me, and I hated my scratchy throat. I still felt sick from earlier. Maybe it was time for my breathing medicine again.

"T- iny Tina, I- I... Love you, r..." I heard her use my nick name. I wasn't tiny, it's just that I wasn't big as the other kids. She said I came too early, whatever that means.  And she also didn't finish her sentence. I cleared my throat, but only coughed a fee times before I managed to wheeze to a stop.

"Yes mommy?" I asked quietly, stepping a little more into the darkness. "You sound sick. Do want ramen? I can help make it for you," I said hopefully. She helped me with it earlier today so maybe it was my turn to do it. I was never allowed to help cook, but maybe since she's sick, she'd let me. I felt something shuffle to my left, and I automatically looked. But again, since it was so dark, I couldn't see anything but a faint outline. "There's a person here mommy. Did you let them in?" I ignored the person after I asked, stepping further into the middle of the room. My bare feet touched something wet on the carpet, and I automatically thought it was water. It made me thirsty thinking about it.

"I'll get a towel mommy," I said after a second and turned to go back upstairs to grab one from my bathroom, but the guy was there. "Sorry mister..." I said softly, trying to go around him, but he just laughed and pushed me further into the room. "That's not nice!" I told him loudly, glaring at him in the dark. He laughed a little again, pushing me further into the room. My feet hit something, and it kind of felt like my bean bags but still different.

"I know it's not nice. That's why I'm doing it." I saw him walk away, but I didn't move. Instead I chose to sit, knowing that I wouldn't be able to find my way out unless I went back upstairs or turn on the lights, but he didn't want me. So like a good girl, I sat on the wet carpet and waited. Only to know that mommy must thing that I had an accident if she found me there. I quickly got up, stumbling a little when I felt it on my hands. I whined a little and dropped my toy. I sneezed once before sniffling again. But then sneezed twice in a row, hurting my throat, but I ignored it.

"Ew, suyrup!" I turned around. "Mommy! He put suyrup on the floor! It's icky!" But there was no answer, and it irritated me.

"That's not suyrup." The man told me. "Go back to sleep..."

"No!" I screamed at him. I had woke up to mommy. "Mommy called me, mommy needs me." I made a mad face at the figure. "Who are you?" I asked him after a moment.

He was silent before repeating, "Go. To. Sleep."  I shook my head, looking blindly at my feet, and around, hating the fact I dropped my toy. I felt like crying, but I didn't really know why until the blinding light turned on.

It hurt my eyes and burned for a few seconds, which forced me to close my eyes. I whined again, rubbing my eyes. Before I opened them, I didn't know what the stuff on my feet and bum really was. I sniffled, not exactly liking that I started crying. But that didn't make me stop. Once I was able to see, I looked around the living room, but nothing looks out of place. Until I looked down. What I had kicked...

"Mommy, did you you fall?" I asked her, turning to face her, kneeling. "Paint isn't sticky, did you use colors in honey or suyrup?" I asked her. But she didn't answer. She wasn't moving. She wasn't talking. She wasn't smiling or looking at me or blinking. She wasn't holding me. She wasn't telling me she was okay, she wasn't sleeping, she wasn't... Wasn't breathing. "Mommy...?" I whined once before tying again. "Mommy? Mommy!" I pushed her, or tried to, but she was so much bigger. She was on her tummy, and so white. It made me dizzy..

It wasn't paint. The puddle around her was getting bigger. It was blood.

"I- I don't feel t-too good..." I told the man in the white hoody honestly, looking at him. He was pale too, but his mouth creeped me out.

"That's alright..." I felt throw up coming up my throat, but when I gagged, nothing came out. I looked back at mommy, which I knew would only make me sicker.  And I was right. My eyes shut tightly as what ever was in my tummy came back out. It was supposed to go in my mouth, and not out. It was really icky tasting, and that just made me cry harder, which only made it harder to breathe. I had to use both my hands to hold myself up, so I wasn't able to hold my long hair out of my face.

"I want mommy..." I sobbed when I was done throwing up. My mouth tasted bad, and I wanted mommy to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay. I wanted to brush my teeth to get the taste out of my mouth, I wanted a bath to get it out of my hair.

"You can be with 'Mommy' in a moment... But you have to do something for me first..." I looked at him after a second, and he held a knife in his hands. I shook my head, sobbing harder. And it only made breathing harder too.

"Mom... Mommy...!" I cried.

"..." He was silent as I cried, he didn't say anything else as my chest started hurting more and more. I screamed, not even caring if I woke up the neighbors, and stood up shakily. Still screaming, I charged at him, and he wasn't fast enough to move away as I jumped on him. I hit and kicked, punched and scratched, but it didn't seem to phase him, and that made me angrier and made me use more forced behind the blows.

I caught his eye, and that's when he threw me off him by grabbing the back of my shirt and tossed me off to the side. I hit my head on the wall that was close by with a thud that echoed in my head. I didn't bother moving when he sat up, using bad words under his breath as he dropped the knife, holding his face. I didn't notice I knocked him over. But then when the knife dropped? I hurried to my feet, which was a mistake because I got dizzy, but I still ran to the knife. I managed to get it first, but cut my hand on the blade of it, making me squeal from the pain.

"YOU go to sleep!" I screamed at him before plunging the knife into his side, jumping away when he lashed out. I tripped over his leg, and landed face first into my mommy's back with a small cry. I heard sirens come closer, but as soon as I looked up, something hit my head. I fell, dizzy and hurting, hearing him whispering over me. I heard him say something bad before roughly grabbing me. I yelled, but wasn't even aware of what when he threw me over his shoulder.

I cried for my mom the whole time, just waiting for her to get up and protect me.

"I'll keep you safe," I heard him say. But he was trying to hurt me, wasn't he? He hurt mom, and she was so badly hurt she didn't wake up. Why did he change so quickly?