She could only assume this was in response to the mess he’d made, but it nonetheless unsettled her.
She had never seen him like this before.
She brushed hair out of his face. “What’s going on, Terrence, huh? What’s the matter,” she asked. Now wondering if perhaps the boy’s behaviour was symptomatic of something else.
She’d had experience, had attended numerous courses, read and studied enough articles about childcare, to know that acting out was, more than often, a sign of something far more concerning.
Maybe, things weren’t so fantastic in the Stanton household, and this was taking its toll on the little boy.
“Terrence?” She prompted.
But he was busy looking past her towards the picture window and the curtains.
“Seriously?”
She followed his gaze to the oversized crimson curtains, that started above the picture window and fell to the carpet.
“That does it…” Amy moved to leave the bed, but Terrence grabbed her arm.
“Don’t go,” the boy whined.
“It’s going to be fine. I’m just going to show you that there’s nobody there.”
“He is…. He’s….he’s there….watching…. now.”
She pulled away from him and stood up.
Outside, a siren wailed in the distance, as the low rumble of city life pressed against the glass, like the thick fog that had descended on the city.
Amy, was surprised to find that she was actually approaching the window with caution. She didn’t even know why, since there was no way anybody could be hiding behind the curtains.
“There’s nobody here,” she said, quickly, turning back to the boy whose eyes could barely be seen above the covers, but were watching her, full of fear.
The overhead light flickered.
Amy looked up, pulled a face, and then turned back to the curtain.
Then, suddenly, in one big showy movement, she swiped back the fabric.
“Ta dah! See? Nobody here.”
She turned back to the little boy, whose eyes drifted over to the curtain on the opposite side of the window.
Amy took her cue and walked over.
Then, she grabbed the fabric and swiped; “Ta dah! See? Nobody here either.”
Whilst there, Amy felt the radiator; it was cold.
Great.
Something else to tell the Stantons. Along with the toaster that nearly caught fire, and the dead lights under the kitchen units.
It had been that way all evening, with one thing or another malfunctioning or packing up; it seemed as if the whole place were falling apart.
So much for luxury.
She turned to her charge and forced a smile, but the little boy said nothing. Instead, his eyes roved over to the walk-in wardrobe on the other side of the room.
Amy’s shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes. “Terrence, Really?”
But she knew she’d never get the boy down again, unless he was satisfied that there was no bogeyman in the closet either.
So, she picked her way around the mound of toys, marched up to the wardrobe, yanked the door open and drew in a sharp breath.
“You know, Terrence, if I could shrink myself I’d be borrowing your clothes all the time, look at this stuff”, she said with mock excitement.
The closet was a fifteen-foot narrow recess, with rows of hangers on either side, full of designer shirts, jeans, suits, and trousers. Below these, were metal stands, loaded with casual and formal footwear.
She reached up and pulled on the light chord, it clicked on, hissed and died once more, plunging the cavity back into semi-darkness.
“Oh come on,” Amy grumbled.
Then she turned to the little boy who was still huddled under the covers.
“There’s nobody in here,” She exclaimed, then added under her breath, “funny that.”
There was something in here that she needed. It was on the top shelf, at the far end of the closet.
She turned to Terrence and said, in an ominous tone, “I’ll be right back,” although judging by the look on the boy’s face, it probably wasn’t the best thing to say.
She chastened herself, then walked forward, feeling her way past the humanoid silhouettes of Terrence’s jackets, until she reached the other side.
There, she reached up until her fingers touched the folded blanket.
She turned to leave…
…the bedroom light flickered. She froze. Half expecting the light to die, and abandon her in the closet.
It was a prospect that she did not find appealing.
She hurried towards the light.
More flickering.
She emerged with a sigh of relief.
“Look what I found,” she said with a big smile, holding up a Thomas the Tank Engine blanket.
The boy’s favourite.
She actually managed to conjure a smile.
Yes!
She moved to capitalise on the moment, “So, what do you think then? Think your mum would be okay with me borrowing some of your clothes?”
The boy giggled, and she could see that his eyes had brightened.
“That’s silly, Amy.”
“Why is that silly?” She asked with mock seriousness, shoving the closest door shut.
“Because they’re my clothes.”
“So, don’t you think I’d look good in your jeans? I could wear them on one leg, what do you think?” she asked, walking up to him.
The boy giggled some more. “You’re silly, Amy.”
“And you’re just cute.”
He giggled again.
“Now, do you think you can go back to sleep for Amy? Because if mummy and daddy come home, and you aren’t, Amy’s going to be in a lot of trouble.”
The boy’s face darkened.
She reacted immediately by moving over to the pile and plucking a Buzz Lightyear doll from it.
Then, she walked back to the bed, fanned the blanket out over the little boy, and sat on the bed, next to him.
“So, I need to get on, but I’m going to leave Thomas and Buzz to stand guard while I clean up this mess. Would that be okay?”
The boy nodded and clutched Buzz to him as if his life depended on it.
Amy, tucked them both in with the blanket, brushed the hair from the little boy’s face as a reassuring sign of affection and said, “Sweet dreams.”
Then, she stood up and turned to face the mountain of toys in the middle of the room.
She needed to get this cleared, and fast.
29 Night Shift
A knock on the door startled Rachel, who was in the middle of reading a John Grisham novel.
“Who is it?” She called.
“It’s Tom,” came the muffled reply.
She smiled, and rushed over to unlock and open the door.
“Hello stranger,” she said with a smile.
“Hello,” came Tom’s perturbed reply. “Are you worried somebody’s going to break in and steal your notes or something?”
It took Rachel a second to register.
“Oh, the door. Well, the bloody thing kept opening earlier, and it was really starting to freak me out.”
“Opening?” Tom asked.
“Yeah. Must be some kind of draught or something, but I had to lock it to stop it from happening.”
Tom checked the latch. Tried opening and closing the door a couple of times, and it seemed to close without any problems.
He looked at her.
“I’m telling you, it kept opening earlier and was really starting to give me the creeps. Especially as the bloody thing creaks like something out of a haunted mansion. Yes, you’ll have noticed that I’m not a particular fan of the night shift, and that thing isn’t helping.”
Tom shook his head. “I don’t know what the hell’s goin’ on with this place. You can go weeks, maybe even months, without so much as a light bulb change, but the past week, it’s like the whole building’s fallin’ apart.”
<
br /> “Anyway,” Rachel said. “Shall we start again? Hello Tom, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” he said with a smile.
She ushered him into the room and pushed the door shut.
“I’m not interrupting anything am I?”
“You mean apart from the jury delivering their verdict?”
“Yeah.”
“No, nothing major.”
“You got the computer workin’ then,” he said, nodding at the glowing monitor.
“Yes, made sense seeing that the thing was just sitting here. Would you like a drink? Coffee or something?”
“A coffee would be great. Thanks.”
Rachel moved over to the coffee machine. “Sugar, Milk?”
“Lots of both please,” he said, sitting down.
“So, how come you’re all on your todd?” he asked.
“Well, Lilly and I have split up the shifts.”
“No, I meant how come fella ain’t with you? It being your first night, I thought he’d be here to keep you company.”
“Oh, well, he had other plans. Work or something. It’s actually quite good he isn’t here, as he’d only get in the way, and I’m just getting used to things as it is.”
She returned and placed a mug of coffee on the desk in front of her visitor, “Hope that’s okay.”
“Looks good,” he said, glancing at it. “Cheers.”
“So, this is a pleasant surprise,” she said, closing her book and returning to her seat.
“Meaning, what am I doing here at this time of night and why am I not at home in front of the telly?”
“Yes that too,” She smiled.
“Well, as I said, things have gone mental around here so I had some repairs to do. Light bulbs keep failing around the whole building. I’m wondering if something’s up with the wiring.”
Rachel put her hand up.
He looked at her and his shoulders slumped.
“You’re joking?”
Rachel shook her head.
“First thing I did tonight was switch on the overhead light. I thought I could bear it in here with just the desk lamp, but I changed my mind. Anyway, it’s out. Bloody thing gave me a heart attack.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Would you believe, I’m actually out of spare bulbs, but I’ll stop by tomorrow and get a new one in for you.”
Rachel drank from her own cup. “So, what other strange and unusual things have been happening?”
“Well, everything and anything. Even the water system doesn’t seem right. I’ve got showers in two of the apartments that will only run freezing cold water.”
“Mine works okay.”
“Count yourself lucky.”
There was a pause as Tom drank from his cup.
“So, did you fix them?”
“Well, I would have,” He said, scratching his head, “but I can’t find anything wrong. I’m going to have to call a plumber tomorrow.”
Another pause.
“Thanks for stopping by. It’s really sweet of you. It’s not like I don’t welcome the company. Between you and me, this office gives me the creeps. For one reason or another, it’s always so dark in here”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. The other girls did.”
“Ah yes, I’m glad you mentioned that.”
“Right… why’s that then?”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about a girl that used to work here. I was hoping you might be able to tell me a bit about her.”
“Sure. If I can. Who are we talking about?”
“Um, Keri Paxton.”
Tom looked at her for a long time and then drank from his cup.
Rachel noticed this. “What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Oh no you don’t. You know something. Spill it now,” she said with mock seriousness.
Click. Creak.
They both turned in unison, as the Night & Day door suddenly sprang off the latch, and slowly creaked wide open.
They looked at it, at each other, and then promptly burst out laughing.
“See?!” Rachel said. “I told you! Now imagine sitting here, minding your own business and that happening. The first time it did it, I nearly peed myself!”
They both left their chairs on route to inspect the door, but Rachel halted when the bell on the computer demanded her attention.
BONG: Ringing Apartment 10 / Stanton Residence, Answer? YES/NO
Rachel pulled her headset on.
BONG: Ringing Apartment 10 / Stanton Residence, Answer? YES/NO
“Good evening, Stanton residence…..”
There was a loud hiss, then a crackling sound as if the wires were being connected then disconnected.
“Hello? Stanton residence?” Rachel asked as she watched Tom noisily fiddle with the door handle.
There was an ear-piercingly loud shriek of static that made Rachel cry out, and yank the headphones from her head.
“Are you okay?” Tom called from across the room.
“Ow, I think so. That was loud,” she said holding her ear and cringing.
Eventually, she turned back to the screen. The call had disconnected, but what Rachel read in the transcript box made her skin crawl.
RACHEL:> Good evening Stanton residence
UNKNOWN:> f e a r m e
RACHEL:> Hello, Stanton residence
UNKNOWN:> f e a r m e
Call ends. Save? YES/NO
30 Unspeakable
The shrill of the telephone jolted Amy awake, to a room in complete darkness.
She had fallen asleep in front of the TV, but it, along with both lamps, were now extinguished, and the room was a graveyard of silhouettes.
As the fuzziness of stasis cleared from her mind, she realised that the persistent ringing was not the house phone, but her mobile device.
She hastily hunted for it.
Eventually, it was the blue glow and a picture of her friend, with her tongue sticking out, that enabled her to home in on the device that, at the same time, was telling her that it was 22:03.
She snatched it up from the floor and answered, somewhat testily, “Hello.”
“Hey, what happened to you? I thought you were going to ring me back.”
“Oh yeah,” she groaned, rubbing the sleep from her face. “Sorry. Terry had a bit of a moment, and I had to clear up after him.”
“Is he asleep now?”
“Um, yeah.”
She swung her legs down from the couch and yelped, as she stubbed her toe on something.
“Ouch! What the hell…”
“…Are you alright?”
“No! I’m not alright. I’ve just stubbed my toe on something, and these poxy lights have gone out again…”
She was angry; her toe really hurt, she couldn’t see a thing, her friend kept asking questions and, no matter how many times she told Terry not to leave his toys lying around because his mum didn’t like it, he still did it…
… “To infinity and beyond!”
The sound of the toy startled her.
Buzz?
Her heart skipped a beat, although she had no idea why.
“Terry?”
“Hello? What’s going on?” came her friend’s tinny voice.
“Terry?” Amy called out to nowhere in particular, as she scanned the shadows.
It was still fairly dark in the room, but there was enough light spilling in through the windows to see that Terrence wasn’t anywhere nearby.
She flicked the lamp switch on and off a few times.
Nothing.
“Terry?”
Silence but for the tinny voice of her friend on the other end of the phone.
“Terry?”
The sudden shrill of the house’s cordless phone startled her, and she reached down to the coffee-table to silence it.
“Stanton residence,” she said, now completed creeped out and irritate
d.
Static.
“Hello?”
Screeching static!
She snatched the receiver from her ear, waiting a few seconds and then gingerly listened once more.
The static stopped, replaced by a continuous clicking sound, as if someone was messing with the cables.
Then, the line went dead.
“Hello?”
There was nobody there.
And that is when she heard it, echoing in from the hallway; somebody was at the front door, pushing and pulling at it, as if trying to wrench it open.
The sound drove a dagger of fear into Amy’s heart, as a piercing scream drilled through her eardrums.
She jumped to her feet.
Then, an image slowly appeared on the TV, revealing a girl, dressed in her underwear, running down a rain drenched street while being pursued by a flying bat-like creature.
In that same moment, the two lamps sprang to life, as did the lights in the hallway, and the general hum of various household appliances.
Amy sighed with relief when she watched Leticia and her husband walk in from the hallway, babbling about a faulty card reader.
Leticia noticed the look on Amy’s face and immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Amy blurted.
“Then, why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
“I haven’t, it’s just that…”
“…is Terrence okay?”
“He’s fine. We had a moment earlier…” Amy realised she was still holding Buzz in her hand and paused.
Leticia didn’t wait for her to continue. She’d already left the room.
Darren Stanton, on the other hand, looked at her and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes, I'm okay. It’s just we’ve had some really strange goings on tonight,” Amy laughed, nervously.
“What kind of strange?”
Amy’s reply was interceded by Leticia Aaron-Stanton’s blood-curdling screams.
Darren raced down the hall, but froze in the doorway of his son’s bedroom when he took in a scene so ghastly, so incomprehensible, that it froze the blood in his limbs, and his ability to use them.
Amy crashed into Darren’s back.
Then, when she looked over his shoulder into the room beyond, she instinctively threw her hands to her mouth to suppress the scream that had already been strangled in her throat.
Unspeakable Page 21
