It was mostly quiet outside the two story brick suburban house on Pitney Street when Hannah put her three children to bed. The November air was chilled and the cicadas no longer added to the myriad of sounds surrounding her neighborhood- instead the void was filled with the rustle of leaves being torn from their limbs and tossed around onto roof tops and lawns. Her oldest two had gone to bed obediently, the two boys tired from a long day of homework and making trouble for the parents of the street- it had been their idea to build a catapult and launch baseballs into trash bags hung from windows with the other children. They had been scolded lightly- their mother Hannah resisting the urge to laugh at both the ingenuity and sheer stupidity of the idea.
It was Hannah's youngest who was giving her trouble tonight. Laurel, aged three and half, decisively did not want to sleep tonight and was hell bent on doing whatever she had to stop it. Her antics included smashing her peas into the kitchen chair, taking every one of her brothers' LEGOS and dumping them in her bed, and flushing her mothers' favorite lipstick down the toilet. Laurel was Hannah's pride and joy- independent and intelligent, but days like today she thought in the back of her head that she might should have invested in a better quality condom.
The final straw of the night was the girl deciding go to the toilet, fish her own fecal matter out of the bowl, smear it all over her arms and fling the rest without caution towards the aqua painted walls. Hannah, who had just sat down on the couch with a novelty mug half filled with wine and a dog eared book she had been trying to finish for a month, heard the giggling from the upstairs bathroom and the curious sound of water splashing. By the time she had reached the girl upstairs it was too late. The smiling fish décor on the wall stared back at her, orange stripes covered in brown streaks and a curly headed girl sitting smugly under. Hannah was not a mother who resorted to physical punishment often, however tonight was an exception. After a quick smack to the bottom and a stern talking to she handed the nearly four year old a bucket of soapy water and a rag, and the two of them began to clean the restroom.
As Hannah and Laurel scrubbed, the woman thought she heard a faint humming noise coming from down stairs. She paused- wondering what it came from. After a careful listening she found she no longer heard it and thought it to be a product of her exhausted mind- three children in a nearly single-parent household would do that. As she resumed wiping the shit off of the higher spaces her daughter could not reach, she heard it again. It was high pitched- and sounded louder-or perhaps closer. It was unfamiliar, and she couldn't place it among the appliances in the home.
"Laurel, do you hear that baby?", she asked the sniffling little girl. Laurel looked up at her, her brown eyes still red around the rims, displeased with the unexpected turn of events. "Hear what?", she replied, head cocked and thick eyebrows pushed together. "That noise sweetheart. Shhh.", Hannah said back, reaching for the rag her daughter was using to wipe in circular motions. It had stopped once again. Hannah shook hear head, and muttered to her self. She looked around and saw most of the work done and decided it was time for Laurel to take bath- her second one for the night. Hannah grabbed her phone and snapped a quick picture of her little girl still elbows deep in brown sludge and in deep scowl. She quickly sent it to the girl's father- while they were not on the best of terms right now, she knew he was stressed with his work and wanted to make him laugh. After shaking her head and sighing, she looked at the time- midnight already. Eleven minuets after, actually.
While her mother was running the water, Laurel decided to hop around the tiles on the floor chanting "One, two, He's gonna get you. Three, four, he'll come for more." Squatted on the floor, Hannah only heard the words in the background, none of the creepy rhyme registering far enough to take note as she messaged back and forth with her estranged husband.
"Five, six, break bones like sticks." It was then that Hannah's ears perked up and she snapped her head in the direction of her child to see her crouching down low, shoulders pulled up and head down and mouth open in a snarl. As the small girl jumped to the next tile, this time launching her outstreached hands upward, she contiued her morbid song "Seven, Eight, You better walk straight. Nine, Ten He'll come back again"
"Where did you learn THAT?" exclaimed Hannah, head pulled back in confusion. He daughter turned around, shook her head and giggled, leaving her with no reply but continuing to hop around, her little feet smacking the cold tiles. "Baby, did Michael or Randy teach you that? Are they making you play scary games?", Hannah asked again, moving closer to her little girl. As she waddled her way over to the bouncing child, she heard it again. The high pitched humming. It was louder- definitely closer. This time she heard it clearly- still low- but clear enough to hear by the door over the running water. Hannah stood up and turned off the water, perplexed. She still heard it. Was it the hot water heater, she asked herself. With the water now off, Laurel's head perked up, and her figiting stopped. She slowly walked back from the door to hide behind her mother.
"Mama, make him turn it off. I don't like that song", Laurel's eyes were big and her mouth was pursed.
"What are you talking about baby?" Hannah asked, her heart beginning to thump a little harder.
"My friends. Whenever they visit, Mr. Big always plays that song before we play hide and seek. I don't like it. I don't like playing hide and seek with him. Can you get him to turn it off?"
"Your friends? Which friends Laurel? What big one?" Hannah was now worried. She wasn't sure if it was just childhood imaginations running wild, combined with an unexplained pipe rattling or if it was something else. Something...concerning.
Laurel sighed and latched on to her mother's leg. "My friends", she emphasized "Ronnie, and Maggie and the Mr. Big. You know, Ronnie and Maggie. They eat dinner with us Mama! Daddy played tea party with us before. You know. But not Mr. Big. I called him Peter cause I thought he was Peter Pan's shadow but he didn't like it and told me to call him something else but I couldn't 'memeber that so I jus called him Mr.Big." Laurel pushed out the words quickly, "Maggie and Ronnie will take turns but Mr. Big doesn't like to take turns. He only wants to play hide and seek. But it's not real hide and seek- not like when Michael or Randy play".
Hannah was now focused on her daughter intently. She no longer heard the humming, but glanced towards the open door and automatically looked for any moving shapes or shadows. There were none, but that didn't leave her any less unsettled. "What do you mean not like when your brother's play? Whats different? When do you play sweetheart?"
"We play at night mostly, it makes it more fun he said. But I don't think it's fun. But Ronnie and Maggie play too, so it's not so bad. Michael and Randy don't hide with me- but Maggie and Ronnie do! Here's the rules Mama! You gotta lay down real still till you hear the music. Then you close your eyes and POOF you're hiding! I always hide with Maggie and Ronnie, and we gotta wait till its safe to come out, then they help me walk back to bed. You gotta say the magic words the whole time, or he'll find you. If we make it back to the bed I win and he goes home. If he finds me, I gotta start over and he JUMPS out and goes AHGHHHH" , the little girl yelled, throwing her hands up in demonstration. Laurel contiuned "I don't like that, and neither does Maggie, she gets real scared. Sometimes we close our eyes cause we get scared and Ronnie has to help us cause he's big like Michael."
Hannah relaxed a bit- it must be dreams from her sleepwalking episodes. Ever since she could walk, Laurel had a few sleepwalking episodes a month- nothing too major as to cause concern, but still unnerving. She must have been waking up in the middle of them and trying to make sense of it all.
"Oh baby, it's just a dream. It's nothing to worry about. How about this- when you wake up, come to Mama's room and you can sleep with me for a little while if you're scared ok?"
"Ok, but if he finds me I have to play again, and what if he finds me in your room Mama? My bed is Base, not yours!", Laurel said with a skeptical look on her face. "Laurel, honey, you are always safe with me", Hannah said as she shook her head and bent down to hug her child.
Forty minuets and a warm bath later Laurel could hardly keep her eyes open or hear head up. Hannah picked her up and placed her in the small bed, narrowly missing a stray LEGO left over from earlier. As she bent down to kiss her daughter good night, she heard the humming once again. Her head snapped toward the open door and she rolled her eyes, irritated. Hannah wanted to know where on earth that noise was coming from. They had lived here for five years, and she had never heard it before. The boys had never mentioned it, and neither had her husband. Leaving her daugher in the room, she went to inspect the house.
As she stepped out of the doorway, she walked toward her boy's room wondering if it was a toy of theirs that had been left on, but she heard nothing coming from the room specifically, and the humming, while still audible, less so in this area. She walked back towards the restroom and stopped to listen- nothing specifically there either. Hannah trecked down stairs to the living room, the kitchen, laundry room and even her bedroom, but could not find a source for the humming sound. Some areas were definitely louder than others, but she could not for the life of her find an area where it was "loudest". Hannah walked slowly back up stairs to check on her children before calling it a night. She'd have the kid's father come back out and take a look tomorrow. As she neared Laurel's room, she heard her inhale quickly and call out "Mama?"
"Dammit!", Hannah thought to herself. "Yes baby?" She spoke aloud, her voice soft and comforting-and tired. "Mama will you sleep with me?"
Hannah sighed "Ok, Laurel. But just this once ok?". The girl's mother climbed on to the tiny bed with her, wrapping her arms around the child and brushing her hair with her fingers. Hannah noticed the humming noise had stopped, and began to gently sing a luluby for her daughter. Soon enough both of them were drifting off to sleep. As Hannah neared the edge of consciousness, she heard a sound in the room- a music like humming that was nearing them. The mother, however was far too tired and delirious to take much note and within moments her breathing was slow and steady.
When Hannah woke up, it was with a start. Her instincts instantly told her something was wrong. The weight that had been lying in her arms was gone. Hannah jumped up, feet on the floor and blankets flying. "Laurel?!", she shouted lowly, not wanting to wake the boys. Did she get up and start sleepwalking again? The room was dark, which Hannah found odd. She could no longer see the light from the kitchen, which she knew she had left on. "Laurel?!", Hannah half-yelled again.
Her eyes scanned the room intently, and it was then that she saw a dark shadow move ever so slightly outside the doorway. She walked over, cautiously, not wanting to wake her daughter. Except that by the time she reached the hall, she realized the shadow she saw was now further away, and was much too large to be her little girl- or even one of her boys. It was larger than any person could be and looming, almost hard to distinguish as a separate thing between the decor and book shelf it seemed to stand by, but clearly out of place to Hannah, who had years of experience traversing this house unlit. The girl was also no where in sight. Fed up, and a little spooked, Hannah stepped back into the door frame and fumbled with Laurel's light switch, only to find that it would not work. The switch went on and off, but no light came. Hannah's hands began to sweat as she tried the switch in the hall as well. It too would not turn on. Thinking that they might have lost power, Hannah marched over to the hall window and pulled the blinds up all the way, letting in the light from the stars and the waxing moon outside. Eyes trained on the large shadow, she then paced forward down the hall and called nervously, "Laurel?".
With still no answer and her motherly instincts at full alarm, she turned to the room of her boys and shoved the door open. Both Michael and Randy were sleeping in their bunks, a book hanging off the edge of the older boy's bed and covers half strewn along the younger's. "Laurel? Are you in here?" she asked to the hushed room. She waited a moment and asked again, walking in a bit and looking under the bottom bunk. Her son Michael lifted his head and groggily asked "Mom?"
"Michael, did Laurel come in here? She's not in her room, " Hannah inquired nervously, head turned and eyes fixed on the open door.
"Uh...no? I don't think so. If she did she'd probably be up top with Randy. She likes to steal his blanket.", the twelve year old replied, scratching his head and wondering if he should get up, and slightly annoyed at his little sister. Hannah glanced back up to the top bunk and saw no extra lump of devil inspired offspring, and that her son's prized blanket was still wrapped around his leg and foot. Hannah steadied her breath, and attempted to rationalize her thoughts, reminding herself to not get worked up over some out of place shadows and a black out.
"Michael, can you help me find your sister? The power went out and if she wakes up in the dark she might get scared", Hannah asked. She glanced down and her heart leapt with joy, remembering the wonderful amenities that modernity had to offer. Hannah reached down to grab her son's phone off the night stand for a flashlight, only to find it would not power on. Confused, she tried again. Thinking it was dead and her son forgot to charge it, she put it back down and searched her pockets for her own. "Here, use this. And make sure you charge your phone next time" she whispered as she handed it to him. Michael looked back at her confused. "I did? Randy must have knocked off the chord." He shrugged and tried attempted to access the device, only to find that it too, was suddenly dead.
"What on earth?" Hannah said aloud. She shook her head as dread slowly filled her gut. Her son stood up and they turned toward the door just in time to see a tall shadow sweep past part of it down stairs. Hannah could not confuse it for Laurel this time. She thew back her hand at her son and stopped him in his tracks.
"Mom", Michael said, eyes wide and breath held, as Hannah reached over to grab his hockey stick. Her hands shook. "Stay behind me. Do not leave this room, do you hear me?" She said forcefully. Something was wrong. She had heard no footsteps as the shadow had moved, and as she stepped into the hall once again, she noticed a chill in the air. As she passed the hall window, she saw that the blinds had been dropped and closed. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.
"Mom, what's going on?" Micheal called. Hannah slowly walked down the stairs, legs shaking, looking for any sign of her daughter. "Laurel?" she called out once again. As she descended, she noticed that the power was indeed off, the only light coming from the slits in the window. It was through that light that she noticed the small shape huddled under the couch end table. Except, upon closer inspection, it wasn't one shape. There were three. Three small shadows huddled under, and around, the end table. Hannah couldn't believe her eyes. She blinked. "Laurel?" she whisper-yelled again. One of the masses shifted and she saw her daughter's face peak out slightly, and then quickly back under, hands clasped tightly around her knees. It was then that Hannah noticed the enormous human-like dark mass move in the kitchen.
Hannah was afraid. Afraid for herself, and afraid for her children. It was out of that fear that her hand moved unconsciously, with a mind of its own. The hockey stick in one hand, she took her free hand to grab at the nearest object suitable for throwing she could find. The object in question happened to be a metal award placard from her job. "Employee of the Year" went sailing through the air into the corner and smashing against the wall, missing the shadowy figure by inches. Her daughter yelped in surprise and a loud smack could be heard where she hit her head on the table. Hannah snapped her head toward the sound as she ran down the rest of the stairs, only to turn back and see that the shadow was gone. It had moved while she looked at her daughter.
"Mom?!" Hannah heard footsteps running towards the stairs as Micheal called out, worried. She snaked around and yelled at him "GET BACK IN YOUR ROOM NOW". Her eyes reached around as she heard her daughter cry out again-only to find her gone.
Laurel was no longer under the end table. In sheer seconds she had vanished, along with the two other shadows beside her. Hannah, no longer concerned with waking anyone, yelled out "LAUREL? LAUREL?". She swung her stick around trying to ward off whatever shadowy creature may have been sneaking up on her. She stopped and could hear the faint crying of a child. Her child. Hannah ran toward the sound quickly while hearing her eldest son yell out in surprise.
"AH! JESUS! MOM! LAUREL." Michael screamed out from upstairs. Her daughter could be heard from above, crying louder now, trying to muster out words that made no sense.
Hannah reached the top of the stairs to see her older son holding Laurel and shaking, a puddle around his feet. "MOM. She just-she just- she came out of NOWHERE MOM. LIKE. LIKE A GHOST."
The little girl was terrified, half holding on to her brother, half trying to drag him towards her room. "We gotta gooo. Please. Say the magic words Michael. Say them. Say them!" Laurel cried, tears running down her face. Before Hannah or Michael could react to anything, the little girl let out a scream- eyes opened fully and mouth stretched. Hannah felt a rush of cold behind her as she swung around. Something dark moved back into the wall along the stairs, sliding out of view, and Hannah lunged forward as she yelled out. While her mother was attacking the air, Laurel yanked herself from her brother's arms and sprinted towards her bedroom. Her brother took off after her and found her mid jump into her bed, blanket swinging quickly over her eyes. It was then that he heard her saying the chant her mother had asked her about earlier. "One, two, he's gonna get you", she hiccuped. "Three, Four, He'll come for more", she said mid-cry. The little girl held the blanket over her, shaking and reciting her rhyme like a prayer.
Just as his mother came running in, hair wild and eyes large, looking for her son and daughter, the lights illuminated the bedroom, blinding them both. Hannah ran to the bed, just in time to see three sets of shadows sliding under her daughter's bed.