The One You Shouldn't Let In [9/9]
Jay Meets the Puppet Master Controlling Kids — But It’s No Dream
Continues from here. Series list here
Running in bare feet was painful! Jay took a route over as many front lawns as possible, the grass was kinder to his feet. Behind him, Danny’s footfall heavy and his breathing laboured, but he didn’t dare ease up. There were street lights to guide him for now, but soon he planned to turn down a path he knew was unlit and stony, and his advantage might be lost.
He gritted his teeth and dashed right. J often chose this route for its shade, when walking his dog on hot days. Tonight couldn’t be more different. He was assaulted by stinging nettles and sharp brambles, the latter tearing at his clothes as he thundered past.
He was blind for a few moments, until his sight adjusted to the dark. Luckily he knew the route well, and it was straight for 200 metres. Hot on his heels, he heard Danny grunting and swearing under his breath.
His pursuer’s footsteps faltered and seemed to stumble, but J kept running, even as sharp pain dug in. He bit back a yelp as his feet were cut by shards of glass and rough stones. He ignored that and kept going, pushing himself on, even when a stitch crumpled the side of his stomach. His lungs burned and felt wrapped in bands of steel.
The adrenaline which flooded his system was making him feel springy and shaky, in tandem with the urge to clutch his waist and throw up.
‘Can’t wimp out now!’ His inner voice screamed. He had to keep going.
When the path forked, J took the track which led to the lake. He flung up his arms, protecting his face from collision with low branches, and continued to blunder onward. He needed to get to the far bank of the lake before he dared turn and confront the danger that Danny presented.
From the crashing behind him, and that itch between his shoulder blades, J knew that Danny was still pursuing him, but not managing to stay on the path. In a desperate attempt to gain an advantage, J hurdled the stream, landing deep in a clump of nettles. Cursing fluently, he struggled to drag himself up the bank and around the edge of the lake.
The water was still and calm, looking like a black mirror. It was intermittently lit by the moon each time it emerged from the scudding clouds.
Panting hard, and still gripped with fear, J stood hunched, but facing Danny’s approach. He tried bending at the waist to alleviate the vice-like stitch he’d earned from running full-tilt. When Danny reached the bank of the lake, he didn’t stop, instead he waded knee-deep in the reedy water.
He glared at J with menace, but our hero kept his head low. He was watching Danny via his reflection, to avoid looking at him directly.
“You’re gonna regret your interfering kid!” Danny loaded his voice with fury. “You haven’t a clue what you’re dealing with.”
Presumably to intimidate, Danny pushed the hood back from his face. His skin was eerily pale in the moonlight. Although he wasn’t in clown make-up, J wondered if he used eye-liner, because of how his eyes seemed to dominate his face.
“You won’t get the better of me,” Danny raged. “I can’t stop now, I have much to do, and my power is growing.” He glowered at J, his focus never wavering. “Those brats were weak and ineffectual; they’ll hardly be missed. But using their power, I can achieve much more.”
Even looking at Danny via his reflection, J felt the compulstion. He was unable to tear his gaze away. Being around the older boy, he got an uncomfortable feeling, like his free-will was draining. J was required to keep looking at him, staring deep in Danny’s dark, unblinking eyes.
J’s body began to relax, as if the threat was gone and he could drop his guard. He could still hear Danny talking, but his words no longer made sense. A buzzing sound built in J’s head, simultaneously making him feel heavy and tired.
It seemed there was no reason to be standing by the lake. It would be so much nicer to sit down, perhaps even lie down, because he was very, very tired. His eyelids yearned to droop closed, they were weighted with lead, yet something about the buzzing kept him focused on the eyes in the pale boy’s face, even as he viewed them upside down, on the lake’s surface.
Suddenly the moon slipped behind the clouds. In the darkness that followed, Danny’s reflection disappeared, like the flick of a switch. This broke the hypnotic eye-contact and, as if he’d been plunged into icy water, J gasped a surprised breath. He snapped out of Danny’s induced trance. Unfortunately, unlike Perseus in the legend, watching his enemy via a reflection had offered no protection. J had been moments away from becoming Danny’s latest zombie child.
However, Danny was still chanting his mystical charm and using his trance-inducing stare. He’ was so absorbed, he failed to notice that his intended victim had shaken his influence. Continuing to recite and stare, he moved his feet forwards in the still lake. When he stumbled, it was his undoing. He shifted his point of focus as he struggled to regain his balance. He continued his mesmerising routine, but— when the moon pulled free of the clouds — Danny was staring at his reflection in the lake.
His droning speech continued, and his eyes remained unblinking. J had the presence of mind to block his ears, while turning his head to the side. Now he was only aware of Danny’s movements in peripheral vision.
With Danny’s words muted, J was no longer lulled into a trance, as he had been before.
From the corner of his eye, he observed the hypnotist creeping forwards, the lake water was soaking further up his legs. J tensed. Did this fool plan to reach him by wading through the water? Without knowing how deep the lake was, it seemed an extreme plan.
J blinked and rubbed his eyes, finding it hard to observe without looking directly. He un- blocked one ear, noting that Danny’s chanting was in a less commanding tone than previously.
‘Is it my imagination? He sounds almost sleepy.”
The older boy continued to wade forward. Shockingly, he was thigh-deep in the water and moved robotically, seemingly in a trance. When J risked a direct look, what he saw amazed him. Danny’s gaze had locked onto the eyes of his reflection. His lips were moving, reciting whatever chant he used to put vulnerable children under his influence. Now it seemed he was hypnotising himself.
J’s eyes widened in horror watching Danny fold at the waist; his upper torso came forward, until his face almost touched the water.
Shocked at the older boy’s limp posture, J called out. “Stop! Don’t!” But Danny appeared not to hear.
Smoothly, calmly, as if it was the most obvious thing to do, Danny sank his face into the water. At that moment, the sky went dark. Once again, the moon was obscured by thick clouds.
Regardless of the reduced visibility, J stumbled forward to help. His legs sank. He realised the water was bond-achingly cold. He strode forward with big, slow steps, feeling the drag and suck of the lake mud around his feet and ankles. He couldn’t see a thing, the moon being veiled by a blanket of cloud, but he headed for the spot in which Danny had disappeared.
J searched, fanning his hands below the surface, feeling the tickle of water weeds, but found no arms or legs to grab onto. The lake was silent: no sound of splashing as the other boy struggled, or swam to shore, and this filled him with dread. How much time had passed? When the moon finally broke through, he could see more clearly. There was no trace of Danny.
He waded around, with numb legs. Perhaps he’d been mistaken where Danny had sunk into the water, but he found nothing. The older boy had disappeared. As he scanned the lake’s surface for ripples, or bubbles, the bleak feeling escalated. There was nothing to be seen. Apart from the ripples he was making, the lake was smooth as glass, and just as silent.
‘Silent as the grave,’ the ghoulish phrase popped into his head.
The electronic alarm blurted, jolting J awake. His limbs felt stiff and cold and, when he swung his legs out of bed, they were badly scratched and scraped. His feet were worse, cut-up and sore, and his toenails were rimed with mud. He needed to grab a shower before his Mum saw the state of them.
But first, there was something he had to check. He tiptoed along the landing and poked his head round his sister’s door. His heart lurched with relief to see Lulu sitting on their mother’s lap, small arms wrapped around her neck, talking softly. Mum looked up and, wearing a huge smile.
“Lulu would like boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast.” she told him.
He was grinning as he backed out of the room. He called the food order downstairs to his dad, despite the lump that appeared in his throat. The next minute Dad was thundering up the stairs, to join Mum and Lulu in the bedroom. J smiled as he hobbled to the bathroom for a shower. Joy was a bubble lodged in his chest.
Sunday rolled around, sunny and mild. J was clipping the lead onto the dog’s collar, for a leisurely romp in the fields, when Lulu dashed into the hall. She skidded to a halt by the rack of outdoor shoes and coats.
“Can I come?” she asked. She looked at J with pleading eyes, already sliding her toes into pink glittery boots.
“OK,” said J.
Everyone was spoiling Lulu this week. It was an immense relief to have her back to being her normal, cheeky self.
“I hold the treats J,” she told her brother firmly, reaching up for a bone-patterned tin. The dog’s tail wagged harder: cupboard love.
He smiled to himself, adding bags to his pockets, and a tennis ball, before they set off. The dog was excited and fairly dragged him along the paths towards the field. Lulu had to walk double time, but she kept up a stream of little girl chatter. J listened: An answer wasn’t required very often.
They came to the fork in the path which led to the lake, their dog pulled towards it, loving nothing better than to sniff and paddle around the edge of the water.
J approached the lake with trepidation, because it was the last place he’d encountered Danny, even though it was in a dream. But his dreams had a foot in reality, because nothing had been seen of the boy since. Headlines about his disappearance were splashed across the local paper.
J felt guilty for any part he’d played in Danny’s disappearance, but he was inwardly glad that the danger he’d presented was removed. Not only had his sister recovered, but Alex had seen Laurie, and J had seen Katie Thompson around school. She was back to her bright, perky, pre-hypnotised self.
The dog strained to be let off, clearly wanting scamper about, but J couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling. Then Lulu sneaked her small hand into his.
“I don’t like this place,” she said. She sidled up close.
“Nor me Lulu,” he replied. He whistled and the dog turned. “Let’s take this crazy hound to the common, shall we?”
Lulu nodded and held out a treat, which the dog vacuumed from her fingers with enthusiasm. J cast one last, searching glance at the surface of the lake, hiding a dark secret below its surface, then he and Lulu walked away.
The end … probably