It was 14:00 by the time Braylan was done with the dishes and everything. An hour was still left for Jane to return. Braylan wasn't able to shake two things out of his mind. When they had entered the attic, Braylan had felt the Presence of something very strongly. He wasn't able to distinguish if that Presence was evil or not. Then just as he was about to turn and leave, he had seen an old car cover stand up. It was like a very tall man had taken it to cover himself. A human was hiding in it. But then it just dropped off and there was nothing behind it. He knew it was real and not his imagination as he caught a glimpse of a tall man behind Jayden. He saw him for 3 seconds before it disappeared. He was terrified to see something in their house once again. He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. Then when they were in the living room, he saw the joystick moving like someone has picked it and then kept it back after seeing it. He had somehow managed not to scream after seeing this. When Jayden had forced him to eat lunch, he ate it despite being full. He was so terrified and didn't do anything that would make Jayden leave him alone, even if it was for a fre minutes. He didn't want Jayden to leave him alone at all. He had a feeling that if he left Jayden alone, then someone/something might attack him. He was also unable to shake the man he saw in the attic, out of his mind. He was a tall man, about 7 feet, he had short, messy black hair, brownish-white skin, a pointed nose, and pink lips. He could have been a living man but his eyes were not of a living man. They were hollow, sad, and empty. He wanted to forget the existence of that man, but it kept coming back to him. Or what if he was a living man. There were so many people who had sad and hollow eyes. Now, with paranormal things, he had to worry about a living tall dude who could easily rip his limbs and yank them out of the window.
"What is taking so long? Why is mom not home yet? " Jayden asked in a frustrated voice.
"I don't know! I hope she is back soon." He replied. He could see his own misery and terror reflected on Jayden's face. The boys sighed and continued doing nothing except waiting for Jane to return. Someone sniggered and the boys looked around and then their eyes met. The eyes were reflecting each of their feelings. Terror, surprise and shock.
"I really hope mom is back soon! " Brayaln said looking directly into his brother eyes.
"Yeah me too! " Jayden said. Braylan wanted to shout I am scared but he didn't. He wanted to have some dignity and courage in him. He sighed loudly and there was a key in the main door.
"Mom's here! " The boys exclaimed happily. The key clicked, the lock opened, the hande opened and the door opened wide. But no one except wind entered the house.
"Maybe she is taking stuff out of tthe trunk. We should go and help her. " Braylan suggested and Jayden agreed. They walked out only to find that there was no car or Jane outside. They turned back to enter the house only to find the door locked.
"Do you have keys. " Jayden asked trying to keep fear out of his voice and Braylan shoke his head.
"Hey.... " Jayden used a word he would never even dare to speak in front of the adults, making Braylan turn and see him with a mixed look if shock and admiration. "Open the door! " He said, knocking the door. "I don't want the whole neighborhood knowing about our problem. " He whispered to Braylan bit before Braylan could say something, he heard a long and hysteric laugh. Suddenly Braylan saw the living room of their house. The same tall man was standing there, laughing. Then he abruptly stopped laughing and Braylan saw the front door once again. He turned to see Jayden. He was pale and sweaty. What had happened a second ago? Was he seeing things no one could see? He was about to tell Jayden when a car pulled behind them. The boys turned around to see who it was. It was Jane. She was finally home. She looked astonished to see the boys outside the house.
"What are you doing here? " She asked them, pulling her keys out of her purse and unlocking the door.
"Can we go inside first? " Braylan asked and Jane didn't ask anything. They entered the house, sat in the living room and Jane asked them once again. Braylan started explaining everything. The furniture, footsteps, sniggers, opening of the door, shuttting of the door, laughter and her return. He skipped the part about a tall man he had seen a couple of times that day. He did mention the joystick moving in its own. Jane was shocked.
"I... I don't know what to say. I am so sorry you guys had t.. " The footsteps were thundering in the living room and Jane didn't complete her sentence. She was looking all around to see what was happening.
"We are hearing these since morning. " Jayden said. They were scared. The sound stopped abruptly and there was a silence so strong that it had it's own sound. All of them were afraid to speak or move. Braylan felt like if he moved or made a sound, the whole house might fall on their heads. He was still trying to recover from the shock of hearing unseen footsteps when the living room started smelling like rotten tomatoes. He had smelled the rotten tomatoes once, when he was a kid. He wanted to do some experiment so he had sneaked a tomato from the fridge and kept it hidden in his room. For two weeks it was hidden in his room and it stank uo the whole room. His mom had discover the tomato which was almost black and thrown it away. She had scolded him for doing something this stupid. The smell had hungvin the room for a week and the air freshenerd had no effect on the stink. But this smell was worse. It was like a thousand rotten tomatoes were left in the living room to stink it up. He gagged on the smell and aw suddenly as it spread, the smell was gone too. They were creeped out.
"What should we do? " Braylan asked his mother.
"Let your father come back, then we will discuss. You boys stick together and don't go anywhere near the attic. I will just go upstairs to change." She said and walked away briskly.
Braylan wasn't even thinking of going anywhere alone. He laid down on the couch itself. Jayden did the same thing.
"Hey Jayden, switch on the TV. " He asked his his brother who switched it on. He wanted his mind to be distracted. If he only thought about the paranormal stuff, he would surely go mad. They were watching a cartoon. Jane joined them shortly. All three of them sat in the living room, watching cartoon until the TV switched off followed by a cold, spine-chilling laugh.