B00N1384BU EBOK

by Unknown

  In the waiting room of Judah’s office, his mother asked him if he wanted to play with any toys.

  “No,” he said.

  “Are you sure? They have that cool iPad, remember?”

  “I’m fine.”

  His mom dropped the question. He was glad she did. He just wanted to watch the room.

  Eventually, his mother sighed and said, “William…can I ask you something?”

  He looked up at his mom. Her eyes were red again. “What do you want to ask?”

  “Look, honey…I know things have been hard lately. Christmas wasn’t that good. We don’t get to take you out much anymore. And your dad…he’s just stressed. You know? That’s why he is the way he is sometimes. Stress. You remember what that is, don’t you?”

  Will nodded. “It makes Dad scared.”

  “Yes. Exactly. And when he’s scared he gets mad sometimes. You know that.”

  Will looked away from his mom. He wanted to cry but he didn’t know why.

  “People get mad—it’s normal—anyway, I just want you to know that Dad loves us. Ok?”

  The boy closed his eyes as tight as they would go. Stars sparkled behind his eyelids. They distracted him.

  “William?” a different voice asked from across the room. “Dr. Mayfield can see you now.”

  His mother tapped his shoulder to get up. He opened his eyes, stood, and followed the nice woman.

  ***

  “William, my man!” Judah asked. “How are you doing?”

  The room was large. Windows lined the walls from floor to ceiling. A large couch was on one side of the wall, a small chair just right in front of it. On the farthest wall from the door there was a mini-fridge on a table.

  Hearing his voice instantly made Will feel better. It made him feel safe. He smiled. “Hi.”

  “Please sit, sit. You want something to drink?”

  “Coke?”

  “Nah, I don’t have any Coke. I have some lemonade and water.”

  Will scrunched his face. “Water…”

  “Don’t give me that look. It’s good for you.” Judah grabbed a bottle from his mini fridge and tossed it next to him. It bounced on the couch. He then sat down in his chair and smiled at William.

  “So,” Judah said, “how are you doing today?”

  “Good.”

  “Just good? What’s going on? Any new girlfriends?”

  William giggled. “No.”

  “Ok. Have you written anymore stories?”

  “No.”

  “No? Why not?”

  “I’ve been tired. Just don’t want to.”

  “Oh, I see, I see. Why are you so tired?”

  Will thought for a moment, but then a question came to him. “Why do people need to sleep?”

  “You’re asking me?” Judah said, shocked. “What makes you think I know?”

  “You’re smart.”

  “Ha. You should talk to my wife…why do you think we sleep?”

  “I don’t know.” Will shrugged. “It’s stupid.”

  “Why is it stupid?”

  He shrugged again but stayed silent.

  Judah adjusted in his seat. “To be honest, Will, I don’t think anyone knows for sure why we do. It’s one of the great mysteries of our time.”

  The kid’s ears perked up at that. “Like my shadows?” he asked.

  Judah nodded slowly. “Yes, like your shadows…is that why you haven’t been sleeping? Because of the shadows?”

  A moment passed and then he said, “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Judah said. “Did they try to hurt you?”

  He shook his head.

  “What did they do?”

  “Nothing. They just moved.”

  “Well that’s good, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “William, did your parents fight last night?”

  His eyes grew a bit more wide. “Yes. Not as bad. Mom says it’s Dad’s stress.”

  “That may be…have they been fighting a lot?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Did you tell them about the shadows moving last night?”

  “I told Mom. She made them stop.”

  “Where was your dad?”

  Will eyed Judah.

  “He didn’t come in?”

  “For a second, but he left.”

  “Hm…Have you been seeing the shadows more lately, or less?”

  The boy shrugged.

  “William, you can tell me, you know that, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Have they been moving more?”

  “I…I don’t know.” He started to cry at that. He hated to cry in front of Judah. It meant that he would have to take more pills. Judah said they were good for him, Dad took them too, but he just didn’t like them. They made him feel tired.

  He hid his face in his hands.

  “It’s ok,” Judah said. “Take a drink of water.”

  ***

  After his mom picked up his prescription and his ice cream, they headed home.

  William felt better. He always did after speaking to Judah. Judah never said that what he saw was bad or questioned if the shadows really moved or not. Dad did, but not him. He just listened. He thought Will was cool.

  Walking in the house, Will sniffed the air.

  “Is Dad smoking again?” he asked.

  His mother didn’t answer. Instead, she looked around the house, leaving him alone in the living room. After a moment, he heard her ask Dad what he was doing.

  Cigarette smoke made Will nervous. Dad only smoked in the house when he was stressed.

  I didn’t do anything, the boy thought to himself. Why is Dad stressed? I didn’t do anything. I was gone all morning.

  “Will?” his mother called out to him. “William, could you go to your room, honey? Watch some TV.”

  He did as he was told, not looking down the hallway where his parent’s room was. He didn’t want to see Dad stressed.

  Will sat on his bed but didn’t turn on the TV. Not yet. His body didn’t want to move. He felt sick. He tried to forget about it, to think of Judah, or his toys…but he was scared. He wanted to cry.

  BANG.

  Something hit the wall.

  When grownups walked through the house you could hear the floor rumble a little. His parents had told him it was because their house was higher than normal houses. Remembering this, he wondered if the sound had been something else. Maybe they dropped something heavy.

  But then the screams started. Will leaned over to put his face into his pillow, but the screams still came. Sometimes it helped. He pushed his face harder into the soft fabric. Nothing.

  BANG.

  Why was there so much noise?

  I need to watch TV, he thought. I need to.

  He grabbed the remote and turned it on.

  BANG.

  There wasn’t anything on. When he was sick he always watched movies because cartoons were over in the daytime.

  Glancing around the room he looked for a movie. He didn’t have one. He had been a good boy and put up the movies like Dad wanted him to. It helped him not be stressed.

  But he needed one. How could he watch TV if there was nothing to watch? They were all in the living room.

  He sat still for a moment, unsure of what to do. They were still screaming—his dad was—but not as loud.

  He started to shake. The shakes didn’t come often. Only when he couldn’t think clearly. It happened at school.

  BANG.

  He needed a movie. He would go get it.

  He walked to the door and froze. It was silent on the other side now. No noise. No screaming. Nothing. He still needed a movie. Just in case.

  Opening the door, he stepped into the hallway slowly and looked to his parent’s door. It was closed still. They were silent. He walked into the living room.

  Eyeing the rack where the movies were, Will looked for his favorite. Toy Story. But it wasn’t there. He looked over the mov
ies again. It wasn’t there. But it had to be. He had put it RIGHT THERE.

  It was then that his dad came into the room. Will’s heart jumped into his chest. He stood and put his hands behind his back.

  His father looked calm. Sleepy, almost. His skin was red.

  “I thought Mom told you to go to your room?” Dad asked.

  “She—she did. But I needed a movie.”

  His dad looked at the movies. “Which one were you looking for?”

  “Toy Story.”

  After another glance at the rack, his dad moved over to the DVD player and hit a button. When the disk came out, he gave it to William. “Here you go.”

  For a moment Will was happy that he found his movie. He had forgotten that he watched it in the living room the other day. But there was a strange feeling in his stomach too. Something…

  It made him feel sick.

  “What do you say?” Dad asked him.

  “Thank you.”

  “Thank you…what?”

  “Sir.”

  He nodded. “Now go watch your movie.”

  In the hallway, the boy saw that his parent’s room was still closed.

  “Where’s mom?” he asked looking back at his dad.

  He twitched a little. He had already put another cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Exhaling, he said, “Mom was tired. She’s taking a nap.”

  “Oh,” Will said, unsure. He looked back to the door. “Ok.”

  ***

  For the rest of the day Will watched movies. When the sun started to set, he turned on cartoons. His dad stayed outside in their backyard working in his shop.

  When it was dark, Will’s dad came back into the house with a black trash bag and went to his room.

  Will was at the door when he came out of the room with the bag full and heavy.

  “Is Mom awake yet?” he asked. “I’m hungry.”

  His dad held his finger to his mouth. “Shh. You don’t want to wake her.”

  “Why is she so tired?”

  “She hasn’t been sleeping so well lately. I gave her a sleeping pill so she could get as much rest as she needs.”

  Following his dad back into the living room, he asked, “Can you make dinner? I’m so hungry.”

  His dad froze in the room for a moment, the bag over his shoulder. And then over his other shoulder, he said, “I’ll come back in a minute and make us both something to eat. How does that sound?”

  Will smiled a little. “That sounds good.”

  But as the night went on, and William grew more tired, his father never came back into the house. William fell asleep on the couch.

  Until the shadows woke him up.

  ***

  BANG.

  The sound of something crashing made him jump up. All of the lights were still on in the house. The TV was making a long beeping sound.

  He looked around the room, confused. But as his eyes focused, he noticed that the walls weren’t the same in places. The shadows were moving again.

  The boy started to cry.

  “Mom…Mommy…please…Mom?”

  He looked around hoping she would come to him. When she didn’t he screamed, “MOM! MOM! PLEASE! THE SHADOWS ARE MOVING AGAIN! MOM!”

  He choked on his spit as he yelled and backed away from the shadows. Tears wet his face.

  “MOM PLEASE HELP ME PLEASE!”

  The shadows started to grow, bigger and bigger. And then…he heard it. A voice. It sounded strange.

  “Mom?” he asked hopeful. “Mom? Are you there?”

  The lights in the room flickered.

  Will asked again, “Mom, where are you? The shadows are moving.”

  A light went out. Two. Three. A large shadow grew on the wall closest to him.

  Will couldn’t think. He couldn’t move. He held his knees close to him. He cried harder.

  William.

  “Mom?”

  William. Look at me.

  Will kept his head down into his knees. He shook his head.

  LOOK AT ME!

  The force of the voice vibrated his teeth. The boy looked up out of fear. And then he saw it…something, looking back. He couldn’t breathe.

  William, we don’t have much time.

  He couldn’t speak.

  >Do you want to know where your mom is?

  “You know where she is?” he asked.

  The shadow grew onto the ceiling until it was completely over him.

  You have to turn off the lights before I can show you.

  ***

  With every click of the light switches, Will felt more scared. He wanted to see his mom. He wanted her to make the shadows go away. But to do that he had to listen to them. His stomach rolled into knots.

  At the final switch, Will froze.

  Turn it off, William.

  He eyed the room. The darkness throbbed. It breathed. The boy wiped his eyes.

  You have to turn off the lights so I can show you where your mom is.

  “She’s sleeping…in her room. Dad said so.”

  If you turn off the lights I can show you the truth.

  William took a breath. Two. Three.

  Click.

  YESSSSSS…

  The room vibrated. No light came through the windows. It was impossibly dark.

  William didn’t move. He watched, but he didn’t make one step. Until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

  Come with me.

  The hand pulled him gently. He followed. He didn’t want to.

  The house was too dark to see anything. Not the pictures on the walls, not the doors in the hallway. Not even the floor.

  When Will got the courage to reach out with his hands he touched a door. Feeling his way down he felt a cold doorknob. He tried to open it but it was locked. Tears stung at his eyes again.

  “It’s locked,” he said.

  A small click echoed in the darkness.

  Try again.

  He did as he was told and turned the knob. It rotated fully this time. The door swung open by itself.

  Inside his parent’s room, the lights were still on. Dimly, but it was enough.

  Blood lined the walls. The edges of the smear marks still dripped a little. The mattress of the bed had been flipped over and now rested against the dresser. The TV was on the floor and broken.

  “Mom? Mom are you in here? Dad said—” Will took a step into the room but the hand on his shoulder held him still.

  “Mom,” he said again. “Mommy?”

  Will…

  “Mom!”

  William. She isn’t here.

  “Where is she then?” His voice rose in hysteria. “Where did she go?”

  The hand pulled him back into the shadows and the door slammed in his face.

  Outside.

  ***

  The hand guided him through the darkened house until they reached the backdoor.

  Do you see your father’s workshop out there?

  William nodded. The one window of the small room was lit from the inside. He could hear his dad’s electric saw.

  She is in there with him.

  “When did she go out there? I didn’t see her leave the house.”

  When you go to her, don’t let your dad see. You don’t want to make him stressed, do you?

  The boy remembered what it was like when his dad got stressed. He touched his cheek without thinking about it.

  With a small nudge from the shadow, Will stepped out into the backyard and walked slowly to the workshop. He crouched down a little as he walked.

  Why would Mom be outside? he thought. If she was tired she should be asleep.

  Reaching the small window, he stepped on a stack of cinderblocks and peaked in.

  Inside was dusty from years of sawed wood. Saws and axes and hammers lined the walls. In the corner, he saw the black trash bag that his dad had taken outside before. It was empty now.

  And then as the electric saw came to life again, he saw his mom. For a moment, his heart fluttered in
excitement. His eyes were vivid with love.

  But he saw that…that it wasn’t…that it wasn’t attached to her body.

  The head fell to the side as the saw vibrated the floor.

  His dad was holding her headless body, guiding her into the sharp blades. Blood splattered onto his chest and face, it dripped onto the floor and covered the wood chips. Her bones cracked as her body split in two…

  Will looked away, but then wanting to call out to his father and help his mom, looked back. It was in this second look that he realized that her body hadn’t just been split in two. It had been split over and over again. Small bits of her rested in a bucket. A toe had fallen next to her head.

  William leaned over and vomited off to the side.

  His head was airy. Confused. The backyard seemed to spin.

  Why is this happening? he thought. Why is Dad doing this to Mom?

  Because he hates her.

  But why? I don’t understand.

  Do you want him to pay? Do you want him to hurt like he’s hurting your mom?

  Will shook his head. I want my mom. I want her to hold me. To make you go away.

  I can never go away. I’m always here. I’m always here to show you the truth…now that you let me in.

  He shook his head again. He clawed at his hair. I hurt, I hurt, he thought. I can’t think and I hurt. I want my mom.

  You can’t have her back. She’s dead.

  No. No! She’s here. She can’t be dead.

  She’s dead, William. I’m sorry, but she is.

  The boy fell to the ground and cried into the grass.

  Silence, except for the saw churning away at his mother, surrounded him. And then she spoke again.

  Will…do you want the hurt to go away?

  He didn’t say anything.

  Do you want the pain to stop?

  Feeling sick again, he nodded.

  I can help.

  How? Do you have medicine?

  Medicine can’t help this hurt. You have to hurt him back. You have to make him feel like you do. You have to make him hurt just like you hurt.

  It was then that something clicked. Will stopped crying as bad. He stood and looked at the workshop.

  Make him hurt like me?

  Yes. It’s the only way to make you feel better, Will.

  One step. Two. Three. Four. He was at the door now. He wiped the few tears that still came.

  He opened the door and walked into the workshop.

  ***

  His dad didn’t hear the door open. He didn’t see Will come in behind him.