Chapter 7: Not a Nightmare (Part 3)

“What’s in your room?” She inquired as he pushed open his door.

Jason shut the door behind her, “You can’t tell anyone about this, especially my father.”

He was about to push the bed aside when he remembered the blade he’d hidden beneath it. A wave of paranoia hit him; what if she saw it and wanted it? Irrational thoughts flooded his mind. She might steal it, and use it herself. Then it’d be hers; he didn’t want it to be hers because it was his. He knelt and slid the sword further under the bed so the weapon wouldn’t be visible when he moved it.

Jason pushed the bed away from the wall, revealing the hole leading to the secret room, “I found this a few days ago. It’s where I got the book from.”

Gretta’s eyes widened as she ducked into the hole, “Wow. This is amazing!”

Jason was going to stay outside, not wanting to go inside and deal with that voice. Something in him told him that whatever happened last night was because of this room. Thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.

“You coming?” Gretta poked her head out.

Jason opened his mouth to say no but stopped. If he said no, then she’d be in that room alone. What if that thing came for her? He remembered the sadness on Willies face as he talked about Maria, and how he’d never gotten a chance. Slowly a new kind of fear seeped into his mind; the fear of loss. Never seeing Gretta again, never seeing her happy face as they walked together, never having Ice cream again. Confusion filled him as he nodded.

He ducked into the room and flicked on his flashlight, “Nothing was in this room when I got here except the bed, chair and table. I found the book in that room over there.”

Gretta made her way to the open room, slowly pushing the door open and stepping inside, “Was this door closed?”

“Yeah,” Jason scuffed his foot on the floor, knocking up a cloud of dust, “I think that’s what the book meant.”

“Are you sure?” Gretta walked to the shelf and stared at the jars full of black liquid; the glow that was once there still gone, “It seems kind of stupid to put the warning inside the room.”

Jason shined the flashlight on the ceiling, revealing the words scratched into the wood. Gretta’s green eyes widened when she saw it, “Why did you open the door then?”

“I didn’t see it until the door had already been open.”

Gretta frowned, “If that released the key, then why hasn’t anything happened?”

Jason had been too caught up with everything else that he didn’t stop to think why nothing had happened yet. The journal had stated that if the door was opened that all would be lost, and yet nothing happened. At least, the world hadn’t ended. At that moment Jason realized that a lot had changed about him since he’d found the room; he started having nightmares, hearing and seeing things that couldn’t be explained. Then there was Gretta.

As much as he denied it, having her around made him feel a bit happier about being in this place; this room, this house, this city. The flashlight played off the gold of her blonde hair as she reached to grab one of the jars off the top shelf. Had her hair always been this magnificent and had he just ignored it until now? For the first time he noticed how her clothes hugged her body; her blouse wrinkling at her back as she stretched to the shelf, causing the front to press against her stomach and chest. Jason was surprised at the well-proportioned body that went unnoticed till now.

“Jason?”

Before he’d realized it she’d gotten the Jar and noticed his stares. He blushed, lucky that the darkness of the room hid that from her, “You’re right nothing has happened. It’s weird.”

Suddenly the jar in her hand exploded with light. The glow that had disappeared came back, brighter than ever. The entire room was flooded with light so bright that Jason has to squint and cover his eyes with his hand.

“Ahh . . .” Gretta’s voice sounded distant and muffled, “What’s going on?”

“No.” Shrill voices echoed throughout the room, “No, please don’t. We’re sorry.”

Jason tried to see what was going on but the bright green light enveloped everything, “Gretta! Are you okay?”

“Our evil ways are long since gone, please don’t e-” Glass shattered and then the light faded. Gretta stood looking down at the pieces of broken glass on the floor in shock. She was breathing heavily; her face filled with a deep look of worry and fear.

“I . . . I dropped it.” She glanced at the other jars resting on the shelf, “We should get out of here.”

“What was that?” Jason looked at the glass on black goop on the floor.

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t friendly.” She made her way to the hole, “Come on. This place gives me the creeps.”

Jason couldn’t agree more as he turned to follow her. This room had gotten him in too much trouble already, and being inside made him feel like he was being watched. Before he slipped back into his room he turned to take one last glance. A small light shined from the middle of broken jar, its light flickering as if trying to stop from going out.

“It’s going to eat Papa.” A shrill voice echoed, “Don’t let it eat Papa.”

Then the light faded away, leaving blackness.

Chapter 7: Not a Nightmare (Part 2)

His arm swung in an arc smacking into the creatures face, “JASON! CALM DOWN JASON!”

“I WON’T LET YOU KILL ME!” Jason swung a few more times, missing because his eyes were still shut.

“JASON! JASON, IT’S ME!” It was his father’s voice.

Jason opened his eyes to see his father and immediately the tears came. Jason father grabbed him tight, “You’re okay. Calm down.”

Jason tried to explain between sobs but the results were a garbled mess, “TV . . . was dark . . . turned on . . .” and then his explanation degraded into sobs again.

It took his father almost a half hour to calm Jason down enough so he could explain. The entire time Jason wouldn’t leave his father’s arms, finding them to be a sanctuary from whatever lurked in the house. Despite how angry he’d been at his father earlier, he knew that he’d always be safe with his dad around; No matter what monsters attacked.

“Jason, tell me what happened alright?” Jason’s father was still holding him close. Jason nodded and his father released his hold a bit.

Jason slowly recounted the events; waking up in a weird place, the TV turning on suddenly then off again, and finally the man. Around that point he started crying again, remembering how scary the man had looked. Jason’s father listened closely as he did his best to describe what seen. When he was finished his father gave him a tight hug.

“It’s okay; it sounds like you just had a nightmare. You must have snuck down for some TV and fallen asleep.” Jason’s dad brushed back Jason’s hair.

“It wasn’t a nightmare! It really happened! He was right there.” Jason pushed his father back to point at the place the thing had been standing.

“Okay, okay. Want me to look around?” He smiled a comforting smile.

Jason nodded instinctively, but as his father stood to take a look around Jason knew that whatever it was that had been there with him wouldn’t be found. Not because it was his imagination; he could still smell the faint odor of its breath which told him it had been real. Whatever the man was it had been there seconds before his father picked him up. His father would have been entering the living room as the creature had spoken. It should have been seen, but wasn’t. Besides, his father wasn’t going to believe him anyway.

He remembered what Dart had said, “. . . people just look the other way. I’ve tried to talk to the police but they just ignore it.”

Was this what he’d been talking about? Did everyone in this place find another reason for the unusual things that happen in this town? Jason stared at the static on the television while he waited for his dad to return. So many things had happened to him while he was here and it just made him want to leave more; to go back to Florida and forget about this horrible place.

Jason’s father returned in less than fifteen minutes, “There’s nothing here. You’re safe.”

Jason was quiet as his father sat down next him, “Jason, you’ve been through a lot today. I’m sure it was just a nightmare; let’s get you back to sleep.”

It took Jason another hour to get back to sleep, and was only able to if his father was awake to keep watch. With some persuading his father agreed, and Jason was able to sleep until morning.

Jason woke up feeling great; full of energy and zest. The nightmare that had plagued him the last few days didn’t come during the few hours that he slept. He slipped on his clothes and made his way downstairs two steps at a time. His father was sitting eating some eggs when Jason sat down in the kitchen.

“You alright? You had quite a nightmare last night.” Jason’s father stabbed at the yolk of his eggs.

Jason decided that it was best to continue claiming it was real, even though deep down he knew it was, “Yeah, it was scary.”

Jason’s father stared at him for a few moments, “Well, at least it was taken care of. You slept pretty well the res-” A knock on the door interrupted his sentence, “Who could that be?”

Jason took a bite of his toast as his father went to answer the door. The kitchen wasn’t far from the living room so Jason could hear pretty clearly what was going on.

He heard the door open and his father greet the visitor, “Oh, hello.”

“Hi. Is Jason around? I figured we could walk to the school together.” Jason nearly choked on his food when he realized the voice belonged to. Panic rose in his chest; Was he wearing his clothes right? Did he have food sticking to his face from eating? What was she doing here? Jason hurriedly wiped his face as his father returned to the kitchen followed by Gretta.

If Jason could have gotten over the shock, he would have easily been able to guess what Gretta was wearing. The white of the kitchen walls outshined by the pure white of her blouse as she turned into the kitchen. How she looked the other day wearing jeans paled in comparison to how she looked today wearing a light blue skirt. Her hair bounced as she looked at him and smiled.

“Would you like something to eat?” Jason’s dad headed over to the counter.

Gretta shook her head, “No thank you, I have had plenty to eat,” She turned to Jason, “Hi Jason.”

“What are you doing here?” Jason asked bluntly.

Jason’s dad turned and looked at him, “What kind of greeting is that Jason? Be nice.”

Gretta giggled a bit and Jason found it much cuter than he wanted to admit. Jason’s father watched a few moments and then went back to washing dishes.

“I wanted to tell you about what I found in the library . . . about the thing.” She spoke low so that his dad wouldn’t hear over the running water, “But first I have a question, did you find anything else along with it?”

Suddenly Jason remembered that he hadn’t told her about the room; even after she displayed the capability to lie under pressure and helped him escape a serious grounding. He glanced at the clock that sat over the door to the living room. They had an hour before they had to leave for school.

“I have something to show you.” Jason stood and scraped his food into the trash, “It was good Dad. We’re going to go and hang in my room till it’s time to leave.”

Jason’s father looked at him a smirk forming, “Alright, should I let you know when it’s getting close?”

Jason nodded and made his way to his room. Gretta followed, silent with a confused look on her face.

Chapter 7: Not a Nightmare (Part 1)

Jason was jolted awake by the sound of the television turning on. The darkness of the living room surprised him, not just because it was supposed to be the morning but also because he had fallen asleep in his room. He’d never sleep walked before and the idea that he had been moving about unconsciously, accented a lack of control that left him disturbed.

His thoughts settled upon what Dart had said earlier that evening about Kingston being a place where strange and dangerous things happen. He felt a shiver slide up his spine as he wondered what sat just outside the reach of the television light; what could be sitting in the darkness watching him. A glance at the clock atop the television told him that it was just after one in the morning, nearly five hours before he was supposed to be awake for school; five hours before the light of the sun filled the room, wiping away the darkness.

“Kyle Finch was found murdered today in his home on Patroon Lane. Police searching his home found evidence connecting him to the Ice Cream Killings, including photos of the victims in captivity. As of now it has not been announced whether or not Kyle was the perpetrator but detectives on the scene have stated that given the amount of evidence they found it’s unlikely that it would be anyone else.” A female newscast’s voice made him jump. No noise had been coming from the television before, as though the sound had been muted.

Jason had heard about the Ice Cream Killings not three days after he’d moved here. It was his father’s first big case; one that left Jason with the house to himself much of the time. The series of murders got their names from the way the bodies were found; propped up with a melting ice cream cone in their hand. Kyle Finch’s name had been brought up by his father more than once during phone calls with his co-workers. They didn’t think Kyle was responsible, but Jason’s father disagreed and would argue for hours. Those conversations often ended with a few cuss words toward whoever was on the other end.

“A woman was also found on the scene. She was nearly catatonic and when the police arrived she was in such a state that she attacked the first officer she saw. Luckily she was subdued and is now in Benedictine Hospital pending a psychiatric evaluation.” She adjusted her papers and then the scene cut away to a police officer who Jason recognized as Owen, his father’s deputy.

The young officer ran his hand through his blonde hair, “I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean, I’ve heard of people mustering up inhuman amounts of strength in dire circumstances but for her to be able to do that to her captor . . .” Owen looked like he was about to be sick.

“Wait, are you saying that this woman attacked Kyle in self-defense?” A voice from behind the camera asked incredulously.

Owen rubbed his blue eyes, “We aren’t sure,” behind Owen several officers walked past holding large black garbage bags in each hand, “I . . . I really shouldn’t be telling you this, the interview is over.”

Owen walked away from the reporter and then the television cut back to the newscasters.

“In other news, the bodies of the three girls found in a shed behind James Watson Bailey Middle School were determined to have been killed two days after their abduction. They’d been held in the shed during that time and were repeatedly beaten while the others wat-”

Suddenly the television went black. Jason quickly looked around but in the inky blackness of the night he wasn’t able to see much. A few shadows stood out that could be other pieces of furniture or they could be something else. In the blackness the shadows distorted and moved; as though breathing or shifting in place. The effect was so subtle that Jason couldn’t tell whether it was his mind making them look like they were moving or the shadows were alive and watching.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” Jason’s voice echoed into the obscurity of the night.

He was staring towards where he knew the stairs to be and tried his best to see them through the murky dark. As his eyes adjusted the stairs came into view, but so did something else. A large blob of black was standing in the doorway between the living room and the hallway containing the stairs.  The blob sat there swaying from side to side.

Jason was frozen in place, barely able to breathe. Had that thing taken him from his room and put him here? Why was it just standing there watching him? What was it going to do now? Jason fought to push aside the terror but it was too strong. He couldn’t move, couldn’t yell for his father; he only could stand and watch as whatever was standing there watched him.

It was still too dark for him to make out anything but a dark blob, and his eyes had stopped adjusting to the gloom.

“If you don’t fix it they will come.” The voice was raspy, old and barely audible. It was full of malice and hearing it gave Jason the shivers.

“This is your fault. It’s after you, and so are they. Your fault. Yours.” The voice got louder, yet somehow was still barely able to be heard. Jason took a step back, his leg hitting the coffee table.

“If it gets to you then it will end quickly . . .” The black blob shifted forward a small bit allowing Jason to make out some small details.

It looked like an old man. He wore what looked to be a pirate hat and a vest. His socks went nearly up to his knee’s before the frilly bottom of his pants covered them. Jason would have found him rather funny if the man wasn’t standing only a few feet away in the darkness of the hallway.

Though he couldn’t speak, Jason’s mind was screaming for his father; hoping that somehow his mental cry might be heard and his father would come running to the rescue. Jason knew that it would never happen; He knew that his father was sleeping deeply, and no matter how much Jason thought, it wouldn’t change the situation he was in. The hopelessness just made him scream louder.

“So quickly, but so painful.” The man sounded sad.

Jason tried to think of a way to escape but his fear kept telling him not to move; to just hope it goes away.

“But if they get you,” the man paused, “You’ll end up like me!” The voice that was barely able to be heard suddenly became a wail as the television behind him switched on again shedding light on the man. Deformities that emphasized how inhuman this man really was became prominently visible in the grey light of the television static.

The man’s face was grotesque; his lips drawn back revealing a row of tiny yellow rotted teeth in a smile too big to naturally fit. His empty eye sockets stared at Jason, dark abysmal holes where the eyes should have been. Thin tangles of hair hung down like wet mop strands, sticking to his abnormally small teeth and distorted features. The man’s left arm hung abnormally low and the skin had been peeled away revealing the raw muscle beneath. His right arm was twisted in such an impossible way that it could only work if it had been bent completely back in the opposite of the normal direction; the fingers on that hand were contorted and bent at unusual angles. His clothes were in tatters and beneath them open wounds were visible; dripping what could only be blood though the color was lost in the low light. He stood hunched over, his left arm resting on the floor and his right arm twitching constantly.

The shock and fear filled Jason as the man moved closer quickly. Jason stumbled backwards falling over the coffee table while trying to escape from terrifying creature. As Jason flew back his voice returned in a scream that could only be described as bloodcurdling. The man leapt over the couch as Jason hit the floor.

“DAD! DAD HELP!” Jason screamed at the top of his lungs as the creature leaned down close.

Jason knew it was the end; this thing was going to do something horrible to him before his dad could get there. Jason squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain. He felt none, only the foul smelling breath of the horrible man next to his ear.

“Do not let her go alone. She won’t tell you when she does Jason.” The man whispered and then the breathing moved away, “Watch out for her.”

Strong arms lifted Jason off the floor, and that’s when Jason decided he’d had enough, “NO! I won’t let you eat me!”