Child's Play

It was thundering and raining hard outside my bedroom window while both my dads were out on one of their date nights.

My older brothers, Hector and Curtis, were suppose to be looking after me, but they went down the street to some big party instead. They insisted they would only be gone for a little while, and would even be back before I knew it, but it’s been four hours and I haven’t heard from them since. I’m 8 years old now and will be turning 9 in a month, so being home alone was nothing in my opinion. All I had to do was follow a few rules they left for me to keep myself from getting hurt:

The first rule was to always have a phone nearby encase of an emergency, like if I get hurt and fall down the stairs or something, I think. The second was to lock all the doors and windows so nobody can get in. Curtis took care of all that before he left. The third rule was to never answer the door to strangers. Papa added that rule not to long ago and even scolded me one time for getting the door for the mailman. I still don’t know why Mr. Johnny was considered a stranger though, we would see him almost every day.

Anyways, it was 11 o’clock at night and I still couldn’t seem to fall asleep, the rain constantly banging against the window as bolts of lightning lit up the room. Yesterday I watched a horror movie with Curtis that was much similar to the weather outside. In the film, a man and women hid from a horrible monster that wondered around a huge mansion they were trapped in. They both escaped, and the beast was killed, but it was still scary from the start, and it was a little difficult to forget. I’ve been warned never to watch scary stuff like that, but he told me that it was actually pretty cheesy and would be really funny to watch.

I should really stop believing everything my brothers say…

I remember clutching onto my favorite stuffed bunny Charlie and closing my eyes, hoping someone would come home soon. What was taking everyone so long anyways? Was the party even over yet? How long did those things usually last anyways? I hoped at least one of them isn’t flat out drunk again or asleep on some old couch like before. The last time something like that happened no one was aloud to leave the house for a few days without supervision.

Another loud crash of thunder came from outside and I quickly fled under the covers. This was getting stupid. Nine year old’s shouldn’t be scared by a little bit of thunder!

“Charlie.” I started, trying to sound brave for his sake. “Everything’s gonna be fine, I promise. When dad gets home he’ll turn the lights back on, and papa will read us a story. He’ll even make us a nice breakfast tomorrow for being really good.” Ever since the power went out Charlies been very scared, he came under the covers with me because he was to afraid to go downstairs and try to turn the lights back on himself. I don’t blame him though, he’s never been to fond of the dark.

After a while the grandfather clock in the hall finally chimed at midnight and nobody came through the door. I started to panic. I took a peek out from under the covers to try and listen for the sound of dad’s loud footsteps, but could only here the stupid rain. Charlie began to tremble and asked me why we were still by ourselves.

“I don’t know. Maybe the parties just lasting a little bit longer than it should. Besides, this isn’t the first time it’s happened. I’ll punish them for coming home late by telling dad they left us alone.” I slowly lifted the covers off and dangled my feet over the side of the bed. “I-I’ll go and turn the lights on myself.”

Charlie felt bad that I was going to do this alone and decided to come with me. It was his wish to turn the lights back on anyways, so it was kinda fair either way.

I carried him with me and flicked on the light switch. Nothing happened. I tired a few more times, but no progress was made from that either. Charlie suggested we try the bathroom light instead and quickly guided me through the dark hallway.

When we got there the outcome was the same, nothing happened, and the lightning just seemed to get worse. Another loud bang came from outside followed by a spark of light bursting through the window, startling the both of us. I hid in the bathtub and closed the curtain to keep us safe. Charlie held on tight to me and started to cry, another clap of thunder coming down. I’ve never been so tired…

Just as I thought about sleeping in the tub a soft and soothing voice echoed through out the small bathroom, it spoke out to us in such a kind and gentle tone. Charlie immediately stopped crying. “Hey now, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Come on out.” It told us.

I froze.

Who was that?

“If you want, I can help you turn the lights back on. There’s no need to do this alone.”

Charlie whispered and asked me who this was, I couldn’t think of an answer. My voice was dry and cracked as I spoke. “Who-” I pushed down the lump in my throat. “Who is this?”

The stranger behind the shower curtain continued, I could hear the smile in it’s voice. “Something is wrong with the small window upstairs in the attic. It’s unlocked and rain is leaking inside.”

I looked at Charlie who just stared at me. Unlocked? “My brother closed and locked all the windows before he left.”

“Is that so?” It questions, I flinched. “Then why is it open?”

“It can’t be open.” The words left my mouth in a whisper, I held on to Charlie tighter.

“Oh, but it is. That’s why I’m here to help. If you listen to me carefully, I assure you that you’ll be safe and out of this mess in no time. Can you trust me?”

“B-but I don’t even know who you are.”

It sighed. “Well, I don’t mind answering some of the questions you have, but I really should be the least of your concern. Right now, your in serious danger.”

“Danger? Why would we be-” I stopped as Charlie started to tremble again. He asked me if someone could have broken the window on purpose. The attic was on the third floor, and was pretty high up, so if someone were wanting to come in and break it it would be pretty difficult to do. Either way, if that were the case… “Is someone else in the house?” I asked bluntly, my voice shaken. The voice hummed in agreement.

“Not quite, he’s still trying to find a way in. You don’t want this really bad man to come in and find you, do you?”

I swallowed, my breathing started to grow heavy. “…Wha- The bad man?”

“He’s going to find the open window soon and when he does~.”

Another stroke of lightning flashed through the bathroom window, Charlie squeaked. “Ok-ok! What do I do?”

“First you need to get out of the tub. Don’t worry your fine for now.”

I hesitantly pulled back the curtain and squinted through the darkness, only moonlight reflecting off the mirror over the sink. I couldn’t find anyone in the bathroom. Charlie pleaded that we close it again and just stay here for the night, and to be honest, the idea really didn’t sound so bad. If I just locked the door and stayed quiet-

“There we go, was that so hard?” The voice said. I looked around again and still saw no one.

“Were are you?” I asked.

“Over here. Look in the mirror.”

My reflection surprised me as I got up to look; dark brown hair in knots and sticking out in every way possible while eyes red and swollen. I looked a little similar to that monster in the horror movie. Charlie cringed at the site.

“I-I don’t see anything.” I told him.

The voice chuckled. “Look closer.”

I took a step forward and leaned in, spotting the small scratch I received last week after falling on the pavement while playing hide and seek with my friend Mavis.

I jumped when my reflection instantly vanished and was replaced with a new tall, slender black figure staring back at me, it’s eyes glowing bright red. I gasped and took a step back, a scream held back by terror.

The figure apologized in it’s gentle tone. “I’m sorry to startle you like this, but we have no time to waste. Please do as I say and quickly move upstairs to lock the window, I’ll tell you then what to do next.” He looked like he was waiting for me to move and leave right away, but I hadn’t. He let out another sigh. “Miles…” he whispers, a warning.

“Who’s the bad man?” I ask. It couldn’t be my brother’s, so maybe it’s Peter, my next door neighbor? Wait…no, it can’t be him. He’s in a wheel chair and he’s super old. Maybe it’s Ms. Carol down the block? She’s strange and always keeps her house lights off, no one ever see’s her very often either. She never seemed very nice…

The figure shook his head slowly. “Look, we don’t know him. Now let’s hurry and lock the window.” He quickly disappeared in the blink of an eye before I could ask any more questions, my self-reflection back in place.

I jumped seeing that he somehow managed to open up the bathroom door, creaking as it slid across the floor. I held Charlie closer to me. I wanted to comfort him, but nothing I said would really do anything, I knew that as I subconsciously made my way to the exit with shaky hands.

I slipped out and into the hall without a sound and quietly shut the door behind me. Charlie started to cry again, begging me to go back to my room and hide under the covers like before where it was safer. He told me the bad man wouldn’t be able to get me in there as long as he couldn’t see us. My room was also close by as it was just down the hallway and no were near the attic, the basement, or even the front door; so he did have a good point. Maybe if I just-

“What are you doing?” The dark figured man asked. He was inside a small mirror mounted on the wall in the hallway, glaring down at me. I gasped.

“H-how did you get there so fast!?”

“Don’t go back to your room, that’s the very first place he’ll go if he gets in.”

My eyes widened. “What do you mean? I-is he after me?!”

The figure hesitated, grunting to himself in a deeper, more scary tone before giving a small nod. I bit my lip and looked around frantically. Where do I go?! Does he wanna hurt Charlie too!? What are we going to do?!

“Go to the attic, please. I already lowered the stairwell for you to climb up so now all you have to do is shut the window.”

“But,” I swallowed. “who is this man!?”

“Miles, listen! I’m trying to help you! If you keep arguing with me this game won’t end very well, for you and for Charlie. I’ll explain everything once this is all over so just-” A loud thud came from upstairs, the sound of shattered glass interrupting the figure’s speech. He looked up and cursed under his breath. “Damn, we’re too late.”

My throat went very dry.

Oh, no…

“Wait, what? H-he’s here!? He’s in the house?!” Charlie tried to run back to my room but I refused to let him go, practically gluing him to my chest. What do I do now!?

The figure vanished again as the noise upstairs started to get louder. I started to call out for him to come back but was quickly silenced with the familiar sound of the attic stairwell slamming shut; he came back no later than when he had left.

“Alright, plan B.” He spoke calmly. I wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t help Charlie at all. He was much more terrified than I was, and if he had the strength not to cry, than I did to. I didn’t know what was going on or who this guy was, assuming he was a he at all, but being around someone was much better than no one at this point, and he was someone.

I think.

“I’ll do whatever you say.” I told him, Charlie was even surprised by my answer, he didn’t seem to fond of the mysterious man.

The figure smiled, or something close to it since I really couldn’t see his face. “Great. Let’s now go to the kitchen and try to find a sharp tool, one that’s big.”

“Y-you mean like a knife?”

The figure nodded. “Yes, exactly.” The noise in the attic came back as the bad man seemingly started to bang on the closed stairwell. I cringed in fear. “Let’s go now.”

He vanished once more as I quickly ran out of the hallway and through the living room, tripping once along the way before making it into the kitchen. I looked over on top of the mantle under a few cabinets and spotted the sharp cooking knife my dad refuses to let anyone touch. He used it constantly while making meals for us every day and really liked to keep it in a safe place where no one could find it. So why was it lying out here?

Charlie reminded me of the banging going on in the attic and asked me to hurry. I stood on my toes and grabbed the knife on it’s sharp end, fumbling it in my hands a little before quickly turning it around to grip the handle. Dad is never going to forgive me for this, but all that was on my mind now was to escape.

I looked at the tool and examined it, holding it up to hopefully see it better through the darkness. “What do I do with this?” I whispered, Charlie didn’t know how to answer that either.

“Take this and run as fast as you can down into the attic.” Spoke the figure. “Now, I know it’s dark down there and you have bad dreams about it, but again, you’re going to have to trust me on this if you don’t want to get hurt.”

The small reflection in the knife was cloaked in darkness. Neither the figures face or any other part of its body could be seen at all, but somehow it was inside it, and I wasn’t going to question him about that now.

I made a run for it again and dashed my way back down the hall into my parents room. I’ve been in here plenty of times, so finding a hiding spot would be very easy to accomplish. Maybe this place would be fine until someone got home.

“What are you doing now?” The figure spoke again through the sharp knife in my hand. I froze and looked into its reflection.

“I-I thought…I thought that maybe in here-”

“Miles, I honestly am trying to help you right now! The basement is much safer than in here, why aren’t you listening to me!?”

Charlie asked me to lock the door and get under the bed before the bad man came, the dark figure’s words meaning nothing to him.

I licked my dry lips. “But I don’t wanna go down there! It’s hard enough for me to see right now, so what makes it any different down in the basement!?”

“In the basement your father has a spare key to the shed outback, the shed you tried to break into with Mavis last week, with that you can go inside and lock yourself in until both your dad’s get home. It won’t be long now until they find you but we need you alive until then. Understand now?”

Charlie stared at me in disbelief.

“How do you know about my dad’s? How do you even know I tried to enter the shed last week?”

“Miles! Listen!” The voice shifted to the large mirror on my papa’s dresser, forcing me to turn around. Despite not having a face it wasn’t hard to figure how angry it felt. “He’s almost free from the attic so just-”

A loud bang came from down the hall silencing the both of us, everything instantly going quiet. Charlie looked over to the open doorway and slowly started to panic when a large pair of heavy footsteps echoed throughout the house. They weren’t my dad’s footsteps.

I could feel tears stain my eyes as I froze in fear, my heart beating loud enough for anyone to hear.

The figure in the mirror cursed under his breath before the door in front of me slammed shut and locked all of us in. The footsteps increased drastically and came closer towards me and Charlie. My body shook and I found it extremely hard to move, Charlies cry’s falling on deaf ears.

The closet door swung open and a dark pair of hands reached out from within, pulling me inside with a strong tug. Before I could scream it covered my mouth and a soft voice shushed me from the inside. I froze in terror.

“Just relax…” Spoke the figure, in its calm and soft tone, much different then he sounded a few seconds earlier. His hands tightened around my mouth as my breathing intensified. “Don’t. move.” he whispered again.

The lock door to the bedroom started to shake as the bad man tried to turn the handle, vigorous pounding soon followed afterwards. The thunder storm outside made the situation all the more terrifying. If I remembered correctly a scene like this happened before in that horror movie, and it didn’t end in a good way at all.

The bad man pounded against the door a few more times before I could finally hear it give in, a low chuckle filling the silent void around us. I looked down to pull Charlie to see if he was alright-

…Wait

I frantically looked around, the sudden absence of soft fur in my hands making me very nervous. Charlie! I probably dropped him when the mysterious voice pulled me in here! He was in Danger! I tried to squirm out of it’s grasp but it only tightened it’s grip. I tried to bite it, kick it, and even lick it’s hand but I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried. As if it were reading my mind I could hear a small voice ring through out my head saying, “Stop it! He’ll find you! Quiet down now!” but I didn’t listen, and continued to fight for my friend. I couldn’t let Charlie get hurt! He was my best friend!

The door knob to the closet started to jiggle followed by a low groan. I gasped as the door finally flew open, revealing a very thin and bearded man staring back at me. He smiled, a smile I will never forget. He had a lot of missing teeth, one gold tooth somewhere in the front as he glared at me with his monstrous gaze.

He chuckled and muttered something under his breath, something to do with “waiting” and being “cute”, but before he could even take a step into the closet the door instantly slammed shut, all the hands binding me in place disappearing as I unexpectedly hit the ground.

“I’m sorry.” Was the only thing the figure said to me before a scream of terror left the bad man’s mouth.

I could hear him try to escape, but something shattered and had him screaming on the other side of the room. I held my breath, listening closely to some glass shattering somewhere near by and the sound of something hard’snap. The bad man started to gag and even gurgle on what I was assuming to be water or some other liquid, another ‘snap’ and ‘pop’ echoing through out the room as he got louder and louder. I heard my dad’s favorite lamp shatter and my papa’s TV crash to the ground somewhere in between his rampage.

A very loud ‘bang’ rang through out the room followed by thunder when the bad man finally stopped screaming. I waited inside the closet for a minute or two, the only sound now being my constant breathing and sobbing. I tried to open the door, but it remained shut. I swallowed and wiped my eyes a little. “…Hello?” I called out quietly, almost a whisper. No answer. “Mister? A-are you still there? Is the bad man gone?”

“Stay inside.” The figure finally spoke up.

I held my breath. “Is Charlie ok?! Please tell me he’s alright! Did the bad man hurt him?”

It grew quiet again for a moment. “He’s fine…”

I let out a long sigh of relief, unknowingly letting go of one of the shoes left in the closet. I was about to ask if I could see him, but the sound of police sirens outside quickly cut me off. I smiled. The police were here! They came to get rid of the bad man for us! I could now see my dad’s again!

“…I’m going to let them in.” The figure said quietly before I felt a sudden emptiness in the dark closet once again.

The front door swung open and multiple footsteps could be heard coming down the hall, a women somewhere inside screaming something to someone as a man entered my dad’s bedroom. I heard him gasp and take a step back, screaming “Holy crap!” before calling out to the other officers near by. The women screamed and I heard her footsteps run outside as she said something into what I was assuming her walky-talky.

The door to the closet swung open and a bright light came from the officer looking down at me. He muttered a curse word to himself as he took a step back in surprise. He looked a lot nicer than the bad man did. “John, there’s a kid in here!” He said aloud, a much darker skinned man near by approaching him.

“Are you serious?” The darker man say’s in disbelief, also shining his own flashlight down on me. “Get him out of here, now!” He told the other cop. “And cover his eye’s, please! Damn, what the hell happened in here!?”

The other cop nodded and bent down to pick me up, covering my eye’s as ordered. “Alright buddy, let’s go.” He told me in a kind voice before carrying me out the door. I asked for Charlie, but he only responded with “everything was going to be alright, kid.”

He took his hand out of my face after we finally got outside and I spotted my papa speaking to officer’s near by, my dad right beside him. The officer who held me called out to the both of them and waved them over, my papa instantly bursting into tears and scooping me into his arms.

I looked over to my dad who let out a long sigh before saying something in German, asking me if I was alright, I only nodded in response. Another cop car pulled up and both of my brothers stepped out from the back seat, both screaming at one another until the officer inside told them to settle down. My dad turned around and glared at the both of them. I’ve never really seen him get angry, as he was a very calm and quiet man who spoke very few words, but this time he actually looked a lot scarier than I had ever seen him as he stormed over to my two brothers, screaming at them so loudly that even the officer in the car was taken by surprise. I wasn’t very sure but it sounded like he hit one of them, Curtis screaming over and over again about how sorry he was.

My papa refused to let go of me and continued to cry. “Baby, your safe now! I promise!” he would say over and over again in between sobs.

I turned my head to face him. His hair, all tidy and ready to go before he left the house, was now mangled and much similar to mine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so sad before, it was almost painful to look it.

After a few minutes of being held and cried over, he finally loosened his grip so the female officer could ask me a few questions; he refused to put me down. I told her about the bad man and what he looked like, I even told her what he said before he took him away. I don’t know what that thing did, but it sure did scare him off, hopefully for good.

She pulled my papa aside after convincing him to put me down and told him something that had him gagging and bending over, glancing over at me a few times and giving a weary smile as if to calm himself down.

After what seemed like ages we were all pulled aside somewhere away from the house as a family and told by my dad that we would all be staying with Mavis’ mom’s place for a few days. I didn’t really understand why but we all agreed, maybe papa was to scared to sleep in his room after what happened.

Curtis and Hector were much nicer to me when we got there, offering me water if I needed any and even letting me play a few games on their phones, which was probably a mistake seeing that I “accidentally” sent a few text messages to some of their friends. Papa let me sleep with him and daddy for the night in a guest room just across the hall from Mavis’ room. Her and her mom lived in a house much bigger than ours, so it made sense that we all were offered our own separate rooms.

The next morning Mavis and I were in her playroom playing with a few toy’s she recently got for her birthday. I really didn’t care for Barbie, but there really wasn’t much else to do, and it beat playing dress up.

“So, what actually happened?” She asked me, combing the hair of one of her many dolls.

I told her, “A bad man broke into my house last night and tried to hurt me and Charlie.”

She put the doll down and picked up another one, a male looking one. Was it’s name? Glen? Ken? “Did he look like this?” She asked me.

“No, he was a lot uglier. He had missing teeth and his pant’s were half way down. He was really gross.”

She playfully stuck out her tongue. “Ew, that is gross. Where is Charlie by the way?”

“He’s back at the house, but he’s alright, he’s with the guy who helped catch the bad man.”

“Oh yeah?” She looked at me curiously. “Who?”

“I don’t know, but he helped me out. He was all black and misty so I don’t really know what he looked like. He had red eyes though, big ones to.”

Mavis let out a small gasp and leaned closer to me. “Did he hide in mirrors?”

I smiled. “Something like that, I guess. How did you know?”

“He also helped me out when a nasty dog snuck into our house a few months ago, he even came by one time when my mom past out again from drinking to much.”

Seeing how happy she was, I actually felt a little more at ease. It made me feel better to know I didn’t just make him up or something. “Do you know his name?”

Mavis giggled. “I call him Noir, it’s french for black. You know, since he’s covered in black smoke and all, but besides that he really doesn’t have a name.”

“Do you at least know were he came from? Were he lives? I have to thank him for helping me and Charlie.”

“Actually, he lives with Ms. Carol, the scary lady. He told me she called him to protect us and a lot of other people around the block.” Suddenly she covered her mouth and gasped. “Oh no, I wasn’t suppose to say that! You can’t tell anyone I told you alright!? It’s a secret!”

I paused. “A secret? Why?”

“Because Ms. Carol keeps dangerous items in her house to keep him around, that’s why she doesn’t let anyone inside. If people found out they would take her and Noir away.” She scooted closer to me and lowered her voice. “Please promise me you’ll keep it a secret?”

I thought about it for a moment before giving a careless shrug. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

Mavis smiled. “Thank you.” She looked over my shoulder’s and up into the mirror behind me. “He say’s he’ll promise to keep the secret Noir, so you don’t have to take him away, ok?”

I instantly turned around to see ‘Noir’ staring down at me with his dark, red eyes, only now though did they not look so friendly. He leaned forward and hung half of himself out of the fancy glass, growing close enough for me to feel the cool, misty air projecting from him. He looked at me carefully and spoke to me in a deep voice, a voice a lot less kind. “Are you sure?” He asked, and my heart stopped for a moment.

I don’t know why, but I felt very afraid. It was a feeling now very familiar to me. I swallowed and leaned away from him. “…I’m sure.” I told him, my voice slightly shaken once more.

He remained still for a moment, never taking his eyes off of me once before giving the both of us a very thin, crusty smile, something I really would’ve never thought possible. Something I never wanted to see again.

“Good.”

Credit: Ruby