Slenderman & the Black Eyed Children pt3

Tasha woke with a start, cursed herself for falling asleep on the couch when she should be out looking.  At least Pete would be happy when he got home from work. He thought she was crazy for spending so much time wondering the streets looking for Sally. Although never did have and answer to her question about what on earth she should be doing while her baby daughter was out there needing her. He would be home in about half an hour, it is funny how he has had to work late more in the last few months than during the rest of his entire career.

She had to find something to occupy her for those endless minutes. She looked pensively at the gin bottle and pondered killing the empty gaping painful void at the pit of her stomach with G&T or two. She felt guilty and almost apologised, the nagging constant pain that had become her only constant companion since Sally had disappeared. It was like the pain was the last remaining part of her. If it went, would that mean that Sally would be gone too, never to return.

Maybe she could do another trip round to the park and still get back in time for Pete to return home. She might even be able to persuade Pete that she had been doing something other than looking for his daughter. She could also tackle the dishes that have been piled up all day. She was sure that Pete would appreciate not having to come home and clean up again.

She grabbed her rain coat and mobile and headed out the door.

She hurried down the street agitated and jumpy, the darkness seemed to engulf her making her feel even more alone that she did already. ‘Just me and you Voidoid’ she smirked to herself. Those bloody street lights on the blink again. If she could just get round the park again maybe something will be there, something small just to create another lead, something , anything to cling onto and make her feel less useless. As she turns the corner onto the open grass part of the park he heart gives out she sees a father talking to his two kids. The is one of the problems with searching around the park, she has to watch these families going about their lives. Laughing, smiling, playing, screaming, crying and arguing their way through play dates and coffee and time outs for mum. They don’t know how lucky they are. This guy? He really doesn’t know how lucky he is, but what are they doing out so late at night. Those kids should be tucked up in bed by now.

She watched in horror as dad ran straight at her, wild eyed and twisted face looking straight through her leaving the two children looking after him, their eyes dark with confusion, fear and sorrow as they watched him run away. They looked at her and she the felt Voidoid rising in her stomach with a force that she hadn’t experienced since the first day of Sally’s disappearance when the pain had been its rawest  and voidoid was just a baby. When he reached her she screamed at him like she was going to vomit voidoid into the atmosphere. How could he leave those children like that? how could he do such a thing?

He didn’t stop; he doesn’t even notice her, all he could see was black. The black of his soul, the black of their eyes and the black of the dog running between his feet. His legs got tangled as he ran and he flew into the darkness landing hard on the side of his face on the path.  Tasha continued to shout at him as he climbed back onto his feet and looked back at her, his eyes flicking from side to side. ‘Blood druggie parents’ she thinks to herself without the slightest sense of remorse for his fall, ‘can’t look after themselves let alone children, scum like that shouldn’t be allowed to breed. Not when decent parents like me……….’

She sniffed hard to pull back a tear and hurried over to see if the children were okay. As she turned she realised that the children were nowhere to be seen. Surely they couldn’t have got far in that space of time. She began to search frantically surely they couldn’t have got far in that time.

Where had they gone?

Pete would be getting home soon, and should really be there when he arrived. She needed to tell him how she was moving on and how she had found useful things to do with her day. All those things he thought he needed to hear. Her feet felt as heavy has her heart as she turned to walk back home in the cool still and dark night.

As she began the walk into the darkness she swore she saw a shadow move in the corner of her eyes. Surely a trick of the dark or her overactive imagination. There it was again. She turned and watched in amazement as two childlike shadows danced and played across the darkness of the  toilet block wall. Spinnning all the way around trying to see the children that were casting the shadows Voidoid began to grow, taking over her like Sally had once done. They must be here somewhere, they must be out in the open to enjoy such freedom of movement and to be casting those shadows they must be right behind her.  Standing mesmerised by the shadows as they moved round the toilet block and disappeared behind the trees. She followed the path of invisible movement across the trees and watched the shadows reappear in the darkest shadow of the trees.

This time they were joined by an unnaturally tall thin shadow with disproportionatly long arms and legs which seemed to trail off into nothing. The figure seemed to envelope the children in the grasp of his long thin arms as he squeezed them and the whole scene melted into nothing. Tasha watched the empty space in horror as the shadows became a confused memory in her mind.

Pete and Tasha sat and ate in silence, it was a long time since Tasha has listened to anything he had to say and it was a long time since he had anything useful to offer. She sipped her wine and wondered how many marriages fell apart after trauma like this. One partner flatly refusing to carry on as if nothing had happened while the other did their best to put one foot in front of the other and keep things ticking along. Both doing what they need to do to get through the ordeal and both struggling to make it through one day at a time. The trouble is that both strategies are diametrically opposed to each other, how can one do one without resenting the other for what they are doing.

The doorbell rang and they both looked up with a start confusion and apathy mirrored on each face. During the first few weeks after Sally’s disappearance the doorbell was constantly ringing. The police, people joining the search, friends bringing food and gifts and all kinds of other visitors were constantly traipsing through their hallway. The last few weeks has been so quiet that Pete and Tasha were shocked to whenever the bell rung due to their constant feeling of distance from the live they knew a few months ago felt they hardly recognised it. Tasha tutted and looked angrily at Pete who clearly wasn’t moving. She got up, wondered distractedly to the door and opened it. Two children  stood in front of her looking down at the floor and fidgeting anxiously. A split second after the older boy began to speak the girl started too creating an eerie echoing monotone that set Voidoid in motion once again.

“My sister is scared, can we use your phone to call our mum. She needs the toilet, can we come in? Will you help us?”

Tasha recognised the kids as the ones from the park earlier that evening. She smiled at them,  stepped out of the way and gestured for them to come in. They looked up at her staring through her eyes deep into her soul prodding and poking at the pain. Voidoid began to twist itself into ever expanding and ever contorting knots, straining and suffocating lie a boa around it’s prey. She felt nauseous and unsteady, icey cold sweat ran through every pore onto her dry scaled skin her body as the girl followed the boy and slowly brushed passed her.

She watched the girl who wondered absent mindedly up the hall towards the bathroom.

“It is down to the right.” Sally said instinctively

The girl stopped, turned and looked back at Tasha. Her eyes reconnecting with her soul and tugging, pulling her in, pleading with her to go. Tasha felt it. She took a step forward and held her hand out. Like taking hold of Sally’s hand at the traffic lights she thought. But this was different, this was more like…