The trip to the wooded areas around their property was more than the couple hoped for. Gina, to their surprise, proved to be a competent enough teacher that Jean’s attention was focused to a degree that she rarely spoke to her parents. She listened carefully to her older sister and Gina always answered as best she could.
Matt thanked Emmy for her foresight. The stroll around their property, and even outside their property line, took longer than he forecasted. The snacks and the late lunch with the light meal Emmy had prepared took care of their hunger. The children were given freedom to go wherever they fancied, so long as they remained within sight.
The walk back to the house worked up everybody’s appetite. Matt could not stop himself from sneaking a taste from the dishes he and Emmy cooked. Gina and Jean were still at it, talking about insects and animals. There was still light out but as soon as the last dish was off the stove, the family devoured it. There were no leftovers.
The children headed upstairs after the meal. Matt helped Emmy clean up. When that was done, he made excuses about doing some more research, and about looking for other options to get the house sold without taking a huge hit.
He just wanted to be left alone. Contrary to the face he wore while they were trekking around the woods, Matt did not enjoy it one bit. It started when he took out his phone to take a picture and it persisted for most of the stroll. He had to check the pictures. Alone.
He thought it was a defect, a bug, a glitch. Matt did not think much of it at first, but the more pictures he took, the more obvious it became. In different lighting conditions, backgrounds, and composition it persisted. The Face Detect feature of his aging phone consistently framed its yellow outline over a blank space, regardless of who was in the picture. Even when he took a selfie.
The laptop was still outside. He did not want to go in yet, thinking he might need to connect to the internet. He waited for the pictures to sync then viewed them. Matt became increasingly relieved as he progressed through the pictures. As he had come to expect from his phone’s camera, there were blurring in most of the pictures but aside from that, there was nothing of note.
He was ready to go back in when he remembered something. Matt felt silly about the idea, drawing from, of all things, something he came to expect from watching police procedural shows, but he decided to try anyway.
He went online to find a way to enhance images. He almost gave up. Almost every link he clicked either was selling something, or too technical for him. He just wanted something quick, something that didn’t take a hundred steps to do and definitely something that did not cost a dime. Once again, forums saved him. Matt found one that that discussed a program that was free.
Once the program was downloaded and installed, he disconnected the phone, stuffed it in his pocket, took the laptop inside, placed it on the table and got a beer. Emmy, determined to not let the children out of her sight, was already with them upstairs.
It took him several minutes to get used to the interface and functions. Matt wasn’t looking for something complex, he only needed to play with the colors and do basic manipulation, emulating what he remembered from the shows he watched. As he tested his pictures and played around with the program’s functions, Matt became increasingly confident that he needed a new phone. Until he inverted the colors and adjusted the hues.
Matt tried one image after another, doing the same steps. He almost forgot about his beer, the rising feeling of dread taking over. The thought that it was coincidence during the first few pictures vanished as he tried it on more pictures.
Every time he applied the same adjustments, the contorted, weird, and leering faces appeared without exception. It did not matter if there was a person on the image or not. The faces appeared, as if mocking him.
Just as he remembered his beer, taking a sip and shaking his head, hair-raising screams erupted from upstairs.
~0~
“Mommy! Mommy!” Jean cried out, running as fast as she could, bursting inside her parent’s room. “She’s acting weird again!”
“What? Who?”
“Gina! She’s acting weird again!”
“What do you mean baby?” Emmy asked, curious.
“Just come quick. You have to see it mommy!” The child begged.
“Jean, baby, it’s getting late and you have to sleep soon. No more playing around. I’m sure your sister’s tired too.”
“Mommy! Gina’s asleep! She’s flying in her sleep!”
Emmy was dashing out of the room before another thought formed in her head. It wasn’t that long since she heard her daughters talking, it was not possible that Gina was already asleep. She felt sick in her stomach as her mind raced to understand just what Jean meant by Gina flying in her sleep.
Her wondering was answered as soon as she reached Gina’s room. The sight of her slumbering daughter, hovering over her bed greeted her. Emmy was instantly filled with terror as her mind wrestled with the impossible. She stood rooted for a time, watching her daughter sway.
Gina glided to and fro where she floated. It looked to Emmy as if she was being cradled. Her hands and feet dangled to the side. Emmy could only watch, silenced at the hypnotizing momentum that her unconscious daughter was swaying at.
“What’s Gina doing mommy?” The little asked, holding on to Emmy’s hand, fear evident in her voice.
“I’m not sure honey, I… uh, listen, I need you to go down and call get your dad, okay?”
“Mommy, I’m afraid.” Jean protested.
“Don’t be, baby. It’s quite alright, we’ll figure this out. I just need your daddy’s help.” She answered her daughter, fighting hard to keep her voice calm.
Jean took one step and froze. Emmy gripped Jeans hand tighter.
Gina’s hovering body started to turn. It made several complete turns in the empty air before slowing down. Gina’s body began to move forward, outside of the bed and completely stopped turning when her foot pointed at Emmy. It started to move towards mother and daughter. The bed creaked. Its surface sunk and rose as Gina’s body moved towards them.
Emmy’s and Jean’s screams reverberated throughout the entire house.