Rain

Pt. Pt. Pt pt pt pt pt. The sound of raindrops on my roof was soothing and comforting, bringing the mystery and anticipation of  a possible thunderstorm this evening. It was beginning to get chilly, so I proceeded to light a fire in the hearth. I could hear the rain growing stronger, patter pattering on my front window. The fire took much tending to become large enough to be independent of my help. As I closed the grate of the fireplace, I heard thunder, strong and loud. It startled me into a standing position. Ba-doom kkkssh. I noticed that I was getting hungry, so I walked down my small hallway in towards my kitchen. On the cupboard was a big yellow sun taped to the wood, a creation of my 7 year old son wo was currently sleeping in the other room. Another round of lightning brought on more booming thunder. I shivered.


I heard the door behind me creak open, and saw the worried eyes of my only boy, Jeremy. 
"Did the thunder wake you up?" I asked. He just walked over to me and took my hand. 
"There's something in my room, Daddy..." He gave me another worried look. Probably just the usual case of monsters. 
"Just wait here, J. I'll take a look." 
I walked towards the open door of my son's blackened room. As I entered, my eyes slowly adjusted to the faint light, sometimes completely illuminated by the now more frequent lightning. The shadows seemed to gather in one corner of the room, seemingly more than usual. Something didn't feel right. I went to the wall to my right to turn on the lights when I heard an unfamiliar voice behind me. 
"Please, do not be alarmed"
I bolted around instantly.


The first thing I see is a dark silhouette against the light coming through the door from the kitchen. It was tall, maybe six feet. It’s voice sounded neither male or female. I couldn’t make out any more than that. 
   “What are you doing in my son’s room?!” I demanded. There was a pause, then, 
   “I am sorry if I have caused you any discomfort. I assure you that I mean no harm to you or to your child. I have simply come to deliver a message.” I was just about to speak when Jeremy came into the room.
   “Daaad?” He whispered. 
   “JJ, just go out there and wait for me, okay?” 
   “Why? What are you doing in here?” 
   Did he not see the large figure standing between me and him? I guess not. 
   “Just go, Jeremy. I’m taking care of your monsters.” 
   He walked out of the room, and I gave my attention back to the thing in front of me.
   “What sort of message? And promise me that you’ll leave soon.”
   “Of course, in good time” the thing said in a calm and strangely soothing voice, “I was sent here to inform you that we cannot afford to lose you in these dangerous circumstances, so just bear in mind that we are taking additional precautions to keep you alive. That is all.”
   I heard movement behind me. Turning around, I saw nothing, but when I went to look back at the thing, but I came to realize that it was gone. Both pacified and agitated, I crept back into the lit kitchen. I couldn’t see Jeremy, so I decided to check the other rooms. 
   “Jeremy?” I called out
   No response.
   I paused and tried again, this time with worry and a newfound fervor in my voice. After a third and fourth try, I was already in tears. Where had he gone? Had the thing took him? What was that thing even talking about?
   A better question, what was that thing?

-----

I found a note scrawled in black ink, messily written, obviously in a hurry. It read:


“I apologize. I did not take your son into account. It seems as though they got to him. Not to worry, though, for I will soon rectify the situation. Please forgive me for my lack of foresight.”


I put the note down, my hands shaking. I felt like this nightmare was a dream after all. Or, perhaps I wished so hard for this that I forced myself to believe it. I collapsed on my bed, too shaken to do anything. My mind was protesting, Your son, go after your son, goddamnit! But my body wouldn’t listen. It was agonizing. I felt trapped, caged in this weakened shell, unable to proceed with any sort of logical decision. There was only one thing left to do that both me and my body both hesitantly agreed on,


Sleeping.

------

Chapter 2


Looking back, it was a terrible decision. Who falls asleep just after their child had been kidnapped? Well, me, apparently. I had felt terrible. Like my insides were grinding against each other in futile complaint against my seriously mysterious lack of energy. I felt drained, and even after eating, my regular power would not return no matter what I tried to do. The only comfort I could find was the thought that somewhere, the silhouetted visitor was out there, looking for my boy. My boy. I feared for his life, for his innocence, every second of my inactivity. I lay on my bed, thoughts drifting, recollecting our time together, thinking of the disbelief threaded through last night’s happenings, remembering Joseph’s mother, Katrina. I thought of what she would do in a situation like this. Sadly, I couldn’t imagine it at all. It still didn’t seem fully set in reality, like it was drifting, suspended in what I like to say is time. I realized that this would be a good time to think of a plan, if I would ever get the strength to dress myself properly. Sometime today, I told myself. Soon.


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