Chapter 8 Bad Things by. The Phantoms
Will
As our taxi drove through the streets of San Francisco, I was struck by how unprepared I was for the upcoming visit.
I had essentially invited myself along for this trip. I knew a bit about Joey’s disappearance, but truthfully not much. All Jackie had mentioned was the drawing in the closet.
This was unlike me.
Yes, I was known to jump into the unknown without hesitation, but I was always ready. Always prepared.
Something about Jackie was making me impulsive.
I was doing things, saying things, I never would have before.
The longer I was around her the faster my armor that I had built around myself was cracking.
I knew if I stuck around she had the power to break through, and for the first time in decades, I no longer thought that was a bad thing.
Our car pulled to a stop in front of a Victorian house. We both got out of the car and stood on the street. The front yard was overgrown and in need of a good mowing, but other than the few cosmetic updates it needed, the house was beautiful. It was two stories tall and painted a lively blue color.
It looked inviting, happy even.
“You ready?” I stated as I looked at Jackie who stood by my side.
She took a breath and steeled her shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
Together we made our way to the front steps. This moment felt monumental. The calm before the storm. It was something I had never experienced, but I knew something was coming. Just as I was going to tell Jackie we should turn around, she rang the doorbell.
A small blonde girl whipped open the door and stared right at me. “If you’re here to be mean to my mom or brother, go away.”
I was shell shocked. I had never met this child yet she was giving me a stern talking to.
“Hi, I’m Will. Is your mom home?”
“Not for you.”
Jackie stifled a laugh and came into the view of the girl. “Hi Nancy, do you remember me?”
“Jackie!” The little girl ran to Jackie and wrapped her small arms around Jackie’s legs. “What are you doing here? Are you here to play with me?”
“Nancy! You aren’t supposed to answer the door to strangers!” A woman in her late twenties yelled as she came into view of the door.
Janice, I assumed, had dark circles under her eyes.
It was obvious she was exhausted and most likely overworked.
One of the few bits of knowledge I did have was that she was a single mom to her two kids.
That was already exhausting, add her son's disappearance and the harassment they have been receiving, I was impressed she was standing. “Hi, Jackie. I’m assuming you’re Dr. William Bly? ”
“That’s me, you can call me Will,” I responded as I shook her hand.
She led us into her home. It looked well lived in, but homey. An older kitchen with dishes still in the sink, the smell of mac and cheese lingered in the air, and the radio was playing a Wham! song. The walls were lined with pictures.
Dozens of Nancy, many of Janice, others with whom I assumed were grandparents. However, there was none of Joey. Despite the lack of pictures of the young boy I was here to meet, the home felt happy. Not like a place where a young boy had vanished just eight months prior.
Jackie was making small talk with Janice, and the young mother visibly became more relaxed in her presence. This was just another reason Jackie was incredible at her job. People trusted her and wanted to be around her, for good reason.
I continued observing the room around me when Joey came into view. He was sullen compared to his sister Nancy. His glasses, a size too big, sat on the rim of his nose as he looked up to me and met my eyes. “Who are you?”
I squatted down to meet at his level. “My name is Will. Are you Joey?”
“Yes. What do you want?” Joey asked, almost skeptical of me.
I knew I had to treat the young boy carefully. “I’m here to talk to you, if that’s okay.”
He took a second as he looked at me. With a slight nod, he turned and walked away.
I took that as my cue to follow him. I was led up the stairs and into what must have been his bedroom.
There was a small bed across the back wall with a nightstand and a closet door directly across from the bed.
There were glow-in-the-dark stars hung on the ceiling. “I always wanted these as a kid.”
I returned my attention to Joey, who was sitting crossed legged on his bed. “This is where I was when everyone says I disappeared.”
I was taken back by the sudden change in topic. Joey was nothing like other young boys his age. His eyes bore the shadows of what he experienced. His wording also caught my attention. It wasn’t where he thinks he was when he disappeared, it was where everyone else tells him.
I sat myself next to him on the small bed as I began my questions. “Do you remember what happened that day?”
“Yes.”
Wait, what?
“I thought you didn’t know what happened while you were gone?” I asked.
He shrugged a response. “I do remember the day it happened. No one believes me.”
I was able to begin to see the true child next to me. He wasn’t emotionless or sullen, he was scared.
Terrified.
“I will. I promise.”
Slowly the young boy looked me in the eyes, as if trying to see if he could tell if I was lying.
He must have come to his conclusion because he continued, “I didn’t get stolen.
I was here, then the closet opened and our friend came in to play.
He always comes during play time. We were playing in the closet with him, and then I blinked and I wasn’t here anymore. I was gone.”
His friend? I know this wasn’t written in any police report, or communicated to me. This would have been the first suspect if it was documented somewhere.
“Your friend? Who’s your friend?” I asked Joey, trying to keep my tone neutral. I needed him to keep talking to me.
“I don’t know his name. Nancy calls him Toby. Don’t know why,” Joey mused as he stood and walked to the closet. “He doesn't come to play anymore.”
I watched as Joey opened his closet door and my breath immediately stopped. In the back of the closet was the sigil. It was nearly four feet tall and was blood red. Joey began tracing the symbol in front of him. It also sounded like he was… whispering?
“I tried painting over it, but it won’t go away. I can’t think too hard about it.” I jumped at the intrusion of Nancy’s voice and turned to see her in the doorway. “Is he telling you about his friend?”
“Yeah mom, he said he would believe me,” Joey stated defensively.
Janice sighed as she looked at me with disappointment in her gaze, and then back to her son. “Can you give us a moment, Joey?”
Joey nodded as he left the room. Slowly Janice walked and sat next to me. We were like that for at least a minute as we stared at the sigil within the closet. “His friend isn’t real, he’s imaginary.”
I turned to Janice, who looked even more exhausted than before. “Why do you say that?”
“Toby, the friend, has been around for years and has been in different houses with us as well,” she responded, still staring ahead. “Just a figment of Joey’s imagination that Nancy named.”
I nodded, not knowing how to respond. I didn’t like how dismissive she was of Joey and his beliefs, but I wasn’t his parent, it wasn’t my place.
“I can see you judging me, Will.”
I guess in a way, I was.
I sighed. “I shouldn’t be. I don’t have your responsibilities.”
“It was easier when Carter, my ex-husband, was around. I didn’t have to do it all on my own.” Finally she turned and looked at me. “He left over a year ago and we haven’t seen him since. Even when the divorce papers were delivered.”
“Why did he leave?” I asked before thinking. I had no right to ask that, but shockingly, instead of telling me off about my intrusive question, she answered.
Janice looked back at the wall as she responded, “It sounds crazy. Completely crazy, but he believed something was wrong with Joey and him. I could never figure out what. I would ask and ask and he never told me. He always said he was protecting me and Nancy. Then boom, one day he is gone along with every picture I had taken of Joey.”
That explained his absence in the pictures on the walls, but it was odd.
Why would Carter take them with him? What did he think was wrong with him?
He abandoned his family due to fear something was wrong with his son and then six months later his son went missing.
The answers felt important and maybe even necessary to understanding what was happening here.
However, these answers could only come from Carter Reagers himself.
I took her hand in hopes of finding a way to comfort her. She was bearing the weight of the world, completely on her own. Janice and I continued to sit in silence as I contemplated how I could find Joey’s father.
We were interrupted as Jackie entered. “I distracted the kids with a book, I hope that’s okay.”
Janice turned to her in response. “Of course. I’m sorry I left you with both of them, but thank you for the break. I needed it.”
Jackie looked like she was about to respond when she saw the open closet doors and the sigil. “Oh my god,” she muttered. I watched as she approached and began outlining it just as Joey did. She seemed entranced by the drawing. “This is more strange than I was expecting.”
Both Janice and I nodded our heads in response. Jackie turned to face Janice. “Are you okay if I take some pictures of this?”
Janice waved her question off as she stood and exited. “Of course. I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”
Jackie took the camera that had been with her since we arrived and began taking pictures of the painted closet.
It was incredible to watch her work. Her focus on her tasks was awe-inspiring.
Even as she took pictures, she was methodical in her actions and movement, ensuring she got all of the angles she was hoping for.
“Apparently Janice tried to paint over it,” I stated, accidentally startling her from her work. She turned to look at me, almost sheepishly.
“She told me that too while you were talking with Joey. I think it’s the type of paint. It won’t adhere to whatever was used to draw the sigil.” Jackie looked down as she continued. “You and Janice did seem to get along well.”
Confused by her statement, I responded carefully, “We were just talking about what happened. She seemed exhausted. I thought it would be best to give her a minute to breathe instead of asking her any more questions.”
Jackie nodded to herself at my response as she turned and faced the closet once again. There was something about the sigil that completely sucked the life and joy out of the room. It was all you could focus on and see.
Wanting to make it go away, I stood and abruptly shut the closet doors in front of Jackie.
Obviously perplexed, Jackie looked up at me. “You good, Will?”
I was suddenly very aware of just how close I was to her. In my haste to close the doors, I had stopped less than a foot in front of Jackie. She smelled like vanilla. I couldn’t tell if it was her shampoo or perfume. For some reason I really wanted to know.
If I really wanted to, I could lean down and I would be able to kiss her without….
“Will?” Jackie snapped me out of my daydream that began bordering on dangerous territories.
“Sorry, yeah, I am okay. I promise.” Okay, we are back to stuttering teenager, no longer suave doctor. Great. “The sigil just freaked me out. I can’t explain it, but it makes me anxious. Did you get the pictures you needed?”
Jackie chuckled as she patted my chest, the motion warming my body. “Yeah, I mostly wanted pictures. Did you ask Joey everything you wanted?”
I nodded in response and grabbed her hand. “Let’s head out, I think we have interrupted their day enough.”
We said our goodbyes to the little family and made our way outside to the waiting car. During the entire time, I held onto Jackie’s hand, refusing to let go.
Did I need to have her connected to me? No.
But I preferred it, and she didn’t fight me on it either.
There was an unspoken attraction between us. We knew it wouldn't go anywhere because of Fai. She was Fai’s family and I was the most hated person in his life.
I never knew where the hatred came from. It was nearly immediate from the moment he met me. Sarah and I had been friends for a couple of years when she introduced me to Fai, her new boyfriend. He was cordial and kind for a time. However, suddenly a switched flip. He became standoffish towards me.
At one time he gave Sarah an ultimatum, me or him. She promptly yelled at him for being ridiculous, and when he realized he was fighting a losing battle he gave up on trying to get rid of me. However, the hatred remained. I could never figure out what had caused it and it didn’t bother me.
Until now. The hatred he held towards me meant I couldn’t even entertain the idea of Jackie and I being anything more. I looked at her as she sat in the car next to me.
She was radiant.
She was almost able to breathe light into me.
Maybe I was using Fai as an excuse as well. It was easier to say that he was the reason for my lack of action in regards to my interest in Jackie.
A part of me knew it was fear. Fear she would peel back the layers of myself and break down the wall I had built around my true self. Around the darkness that lived in my soul.
A darkness that could destroy her.