Night #2
The Dark Figure
My eyes seemed to scream in pain as I heard my father saying loudly, “I wish somebody would get up to help me with all the work around here. It’s bad enough that the grass can’t get cut until that damn mower gets replaced”. Jack could almost feel his father’s eyes burning into his back. He turned on the hard floor and with a loud sigh he rose to a loud “oh my god look who is finally waking up”. “Yeah I’m up,” getting out of bed was harder the second time. He grudgingly walked over as his mother handed him a piece of buttered toast. “Why don’t you get a little cleaned up and then you can help your dad with the stairs”. He was too tired to respond so he just nodded softly as he began to fix himself up in the bathroom
After an hour he finally entered the foyer with a soft, “Alright where do you want me to start?” His father was hammering boards into the frame of the stairs, he paused at my comment. Wiping his sweating brow he said, “Actually I would like you to work on fixing up that barn out there”. Giving a large gulp his mind began to play the rerun. A dark figure hung from the branch his lifeless body swinging so casually in the breeze. “The . . . the . . . barn” his father looked confused, “yeah the barn out there in the front yard”! “Front yard,” I repeated again, “Jesus Christ Jack what’s your problem”? I heard Brandon laughing in the kitchen, “What do you want me to do exactly”? “Figure it out Jack and stop making excuses,” “the front . . .” Jack repeated again. His father returned to building the stairs leaving Jack to fix the crumbling barn. The corn waved in the breeze as he gazed around the front yard. The sun was bright in the cloudless sky maybe it was a nightmare? “Yeah,” he seemed to say aloud, a really strange and bizarre nightmare that did not make any sense to him at the time. Laughing slightly he took a deep breath and said, “Nothing in this place made sense”.
Moving the boards out of the barn was hard work as some of the rotting boards fell apart in his hand. This was starting out to be the worst summer he could possibly remember. Everything was quiet, and everything seemed different out here. As the hours passed not a single car drove by their house. Nobody jogging or any animal broke my strenuous work. The funny thing was that crows liked to hang around my new house all day. They stretched out over our shabby roof as more circled over head. Using his hand as a shield I cursed the circling crows as a soft whisper ran with the wind “Jack”. My hand seemed to drop as the very world seemed to grow silent. “Jack,” came the soft whisper again, I turned around and saw through the field of corn a dark figure moving through it. “Hello,” he called as the figure disappeared deeper into the corn. “Hello,” he called again but the figure had disappeared deeper into the corn. A loud crash came from the house, which almost made me trip over my own feet.
Out of the tower window flew what looked like a person. The person crashed over the awning and fell face first into the dirt. “Oh my god,” I yelled as I began to run towards the body. As I approached I slowed down as the mystery person was not recognizable. I stared down at a golden blond girl who almost took my breath away. Unable to talk I simple fumbled over my words as I had no idea what to say. The window that the woman had crashed through lay unbroken, “what the hell is going . . . ?” Jack let out a little scream as the woman opened her eyes. Her head rose “are you alright,” he asked but the girl seemed to take no notice of him. Her eyes were wide with terror, they were bloodshot and she looked as if she had not slept in a week. Her golden blond hair seemed to have lost its shine as the days of sleeplessness seemed to be taking effect on her. “Mom, dad you have got to . . .” but when the front door slammed open a man that Jack did not recognize appeared. He had an unshaven face with green eyes, his scrawny body framed in the doorway his face contorted into a murderous glance. His hands gripped a baseball bat as he began to move towards the girl. She turned towards the advancing man, “what the hell is going on”? The woman trembled as she began to crawl backwards her voice trembled “please don’t hurt me . . . why are you doing this to me? The man continued to advance “please leave me alone” she cried.
Utterly bewildered by the event Jack had no idea what was going on. The man was nearing her “Look I have no clue what’s going on but,” “why are you doing this to me . . . why are you haunting me”? Jack watched the advancing man, “she told you to stay . . .” rushing up to the man Jack tried to tackle him. His body flew through the man as if he was made of nothing more than air. Falling into the warm dirt Jack glanced back up and watched the man raise the bat high in the air. The girl was now running towards the barn the man close on her heels. “What the hell is going . . . ahh”!
Jack had let out a horrified scream as he was spun on the spot to face his father. Sweat glistened on his bald head as his glasses hung askew off his oily nose. “What are you doing out here I thought I told you to clean up the barn”? “I was just taking a break, and . . .” he trailed off as his father pointed towards the barn. “You haven’t even touched the barn,” “yes I . . .” Jack froze again when his eyes rested upon the collapsed barn. All the wood that he had hauled from the middle had been returned to its original spot. “I told you Jack you are going to help me with this house. Your mother wanted this house and we can’t even have a hospitable environment to live in”. “But dad I swear I,” “no dad nothing, you are going to stay out here all night if you have to”. “But,” his father’s face turned red “I don’t want to hear it Jack get over there”! Grumbling loudly he stormed back over to the barn and began repeating the work he had previously done hours ago.
His father remained true to his word and disappointed in Jack’s progress his father made him stay out until the sun was dark in the sky. After several complaints about the difficulties of night work his father’s solution was a small porch light that provided no more light than the moon. Swearing slightly as his father returned to the house, Jack continued to grumble with every drag of the broken boards. Hope that his mother would relieve him of the work did not come even when the house lights were being turned off. The moon was high, the only sound coming from the humming of the useless light. “Forget this,” Jack moaned dropping a particularly heavy board in its place. Every muscle throbbed with pain, his feet hurt and pleaded with every step that he took. Pop, the light had gone out and Jack had almost forgotten how dark it got out here in the middle of nowhere. “Dad’s going to kill me,” muttered Jack however he prayed that it wouldn’t return.
“Jack,” came the soft whisper that he had heard the previous night. Dropping the light, he froze in his spot. He had heard it but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to believe it. A dark figure stood in the road. It was hard to make out who or even what it was. However it had to be person because it was standing on two legs. Long hair seemed draped down around the person covering most of their face, “hello”?! The figure just stood and stared at him, Jack began to walk towards the figure, “who the hell are you”? The figure turned and began to walk down the road, beginning to run down his driveway. “What a stupid idea,” he said running faster, “Why are doing this Jack”?
By the time Jack had reached the road the figure had disappeared. “Hello,” he called out into the night. However the night remained as silent as ever. “Jack,” came the whisper again, the dark figure stared from deep within one of the acres of corn. It sunk deeper into the corn, “no,” he said freezing in his spot. He began to shake his head, “nope, I am not doing it”. Jack gave the mysterious figure another curious look but it was long gone. Retreating back to the house, Jack felt chills all over his body. The dirt crunched under his feet as he returned to his new home. The house was quiet his mother and father were sleeping in there corner as Jack locked the door. He had to move extra quiet as to not wake Brandon. The second floor lay abandoned as the staircase Jack’s father had been working on all day began to take from as the once broken frame now looked repaired and almost new looking.
Walking into the living room, which for the second night was to be their bedroom until the staircase would be finished. Tip-toeing as he entered the living room, he hoped for a peaceful night to recharge his “battery”. Every step seemed to take a mile as he slumped towards his pile of blankets. He froze as his eyes widened, he turned to the large window to discover the dark figure in the middle of the street. A long set of hair draped around her head as she just stared at the house. She turned slowly again and disappeared behind the corn his heart was thumping hard in his chest. Closing his eyes he breathed several times and opened his eyes wide when he heard the floor boards give a soft groan. Slowly spinning, afraid of what he might see his mouth dropped open in shock.
An old man with a sagging face advanced towards him. He had on a white robe almost something you would have seen in a hospital. He gave a soft groan with an eerie intake of breath. He moved in slow motion as a white corpse like hand outstretched towards him. “Mom . . .” his voice squeaked, his mouth had become filled with cotton balls. The old man’s mouth opened wide as he gave a deep moan. His feet dragged on the floor as he advanced closer. “Dad,” but his voice had become useless. Jack moved back towards his bed at the edge of the wall. The old man was a couple feet away, soon he was a foot away. His face became clear in the night, a man with more wrinkles than face. His mouth stretched wider encompassing half of his face. “No,” he said softly as he retreated another step. He wobbled on the spot as his foot had become tangled in the blanket. His fingers were inches from Jack’s face. He lost his balance and fell backwards. His head slammed against the wall and everything went dark.
(To Be Continued)