The Medium Kid

Chapter 35

Koda knew if he moved, his old desk chair would creak under his heavyweight. His legs wanted to run, but his eyes didn't budge from the figure in the corner of his room. The atmosphere felt so heavy and almost opaque like he couldn't see anything else. He felt so uncomfortable, the familiar prick of tears approached. The figure was both getting closer and feeling further away. Koda was both terrified and entranced. He should have been yelling and protecting Alfie and his home from the person standing in his room, but Koda wasn't sure if it was a person.

There was a sense of a connection, one coming from deep within. Yet, the situation was so alienated that Koda wouldn't allow the connection to get stronger. Whoever was standing in the corner of the room had some form of authority over Koda, a leadership, dominance.

The first tear fell from Koda's eyes. It was as cold as ice and streamed down his cheek, dripping onto his trembling hands.

The past three weeks caught up to him like pressure popping in his head. From the moment Alfie approached him in their art class, Koda felt like he had been living someone else's life. He believed what he believed, and that was all. Then Alfie threw around the topic of ghosts and Koda very quickly adopted the idea too. Maybe he was desperate to have another close connection with his mother and Alfie promised him that, so he took it. Maybe Koda's grieving opened his mind, or maybe Koda had not been in the right frame of mind for weeks.

Despite his weak doubts, the figure in the corner of his room was real enough to force tears from his eyes. The goosebumps on his skin were so prominent that his clothes felt uncomfortable. Koda didn't know what to do, but he could hear approaching footsteps and for the first time in years, he wanted his father.

Morlen knocked on Koda's door, harder than intended because he knew Alfie was asleep. Koda jumped, but his eyes didn't blink and the figure continued staring with a featureless face.

Morlen stood outside the door for a moment, oddly hyped about the gym and wanted to ask Koda if he had the appropriate equipment. He waited ten seconds and his son didn't reply, so he knocked again.

Still, no reply. Morlen should have just turned away and sent his son a text, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. He felt uneasy like there was a presence leaning over him, prickling the hairs on the back of his neck. Morlen felt the exact way when Koda had come home in a mood weeks ago, and the many flowers that Enya bought died in front of his eyes. Something was wrong.

Morlen ignored the fact that he shouldn't enter his son's room without an answer and yanked open the door. His son was sitting at his desk and through a single glance, everything seemed normal. The more Morlen looked, the more he noticed the sinister signs. Tears glinted against the moonlight on his son's face as he stared into the corner of the room, pale and trembling. Morlen followed his gaze and almost stumbled into the door frame with shock. Someone was standing there, or something.

Without a moment to waste, Morlen acted on instinct and picked up the guitar by the door and switched on the light. He leapt forwards and raised the instrument, ready to protect his family, but the corner of the room was empty. Nothing was there but a tall lamp, not even remotely close to resembling the figure he had seen.

"Dad," Koda whispered and Morlen- with the wooden guitar still in the air- turned around. Koda was fused into place, paralysed with fear. He was terrified with tears streaming down his face. His eyes were red around the edges and as wide as ten pence coins. "You saw it too?"

The last time Morlen had seen his child so petrified was when a huge storm caused a tree to fall onto their bungalow, and it tore down part of the house. Koda and Enya were metres away from getting squished by an overgrown conifer.