The silence in the living room made it even eerier. Once they were inside and no further attacks happened, the children started asking questions. Emmy almost lashed at the children. To Jean especially, whose questions kept coming. It had grown silent after that.
To him, the only consolation to find after what happened was that none of the children saw the figure. That’s what he concluded after listening to their questions. Only him and his wife.
Matt pitied the children. If he was having a hard time making sense of anything, the children would definitely be lost. He did not fault Emmy for almost losing it with Jean. He understood. The children’s incessant questions, after their initial terror, was also understandable. Now, everyone was silent. Instead of finding comfort in each other’s presence, each one was forced to deal with it in their own way.
Jean played in the mess. She found scattered debris and used them as props for her make believe show. Gina got tired of sitting down on the slashed up sofa and lay down. She fell asleep shortly after. Emmy sat in a couch facing the door. Matt sat on the bottom of the stairs and kept an eye on his family.
The sounds outside were magnified in their silence. Matt remembered the call he received just after noon. Cain was coming. Looking at his watch, Matt was could not believe how long they’ve been sitting in silence. He got up and approached Emmy.
“Babe, I think we should prepare something to eat. It’s two already.”
Emmy did not move.
“Babe? Our guests will be here soon.”
“Sorry, I was just… thinking.” Emmy replied.
“I’m expecting there will be a lot of talking once they’re here. Better have something, if we still have something. Come, I’ll help you prepare.”
Emmy got up reluctantly and followed him to the kitchen. They still had sliced bread in the fridge. He took it out together with an assortment of spreads. Emmy went to brew a pot of coffee. Matt noticed that Emmy didn’t even mind that the pot had a crack in it. As he went to see about getting plates, he wondered if they should clean up a little.
Better for him to see it.
As he was putting spread on the second piece of bread, the sound of gravel crunching caught his ears. He looked out the front window and caught sight of a black car.
“Please take care of these babe, I’m going out to meet our guests.”
“Okay.” Emmy weakly replied.
Matt made it to the porch when the car parked a small distance away from their destroyed truck. He raised a hand up and approached. A man about the same age as him exited from the passenger side.
“Mr. Millar?” The man asked.
“That’s me.”
“I’m Cain and this is Jon, the friend I told you about. He will be helping me, if that’s okay.”
“Any kind of help is welcome right about now.” Matt answered.
Jon exited the vehicle and headed for the trunk. Cain removed his bag from the backseat. Matt saw several hard cases in the back. Rounding the car, Matt saw that there were even larger suitcases in the truck.
“Let me help you with those.” He offered.
“Thanks.” Jon replied.
“Sorry Matt, but may I?” Cain asked, gesturing to Matt’s truck.
Matt nodded to him as he removed a large case from the trunk and placed it on the ground.
“What happened to that? I mean, told me but, wow!” Jon exclaimed.
“I’m guessing there will be time for it later. But it is as he told you.” Matt answered.
~0~
Cain noticed that Matt could not hold eye contact. He thought about it in the frame of what Matt claimed was happening in their house and could only sympathize. It was not easy failing at the only thing one was supposed to do, whatever the reason was.
As his eyes swept the property, Cain could not help but thing how he would have loved to live in a place like it. Natural tree cover, modest house, river in the back, Cain found that it appealed to him. The house was indeed new, the white paint had not even begun to show greying. The fresh scent was a nice touch, something he attributed to the flowing river on the other side of the house.
He noted a curious feeling as he approached the truck.
It was immediately obvious to him that Matt’s truck had been hoisted up, as he described, then released to fall on its own weight. Several deep tire tracks lay close to each other. The truck’s glass panes seemed to have cracked from the bottom. The truck itself leaned, like its suspension was broken. Cain’s eyebrows furrowed as he rounded the area around the truck. There were no other tracks, human, machine, or otherwise.
Hmmm, he thought, as the feeling in him got stronger.
Cain recognized it and immediately noted how strange it was. He felt tired. He was not physically tired. He just felt tired. He kept an eye on Jon and Matt as he approached, checking if there was any indication that they felt the same.
“There more?” Cain asked Jon.
“Yeah, just two more hard cases in the trunk.”
He went to get them and kept his focus on that feeling of tiredness. It felt like a blanket to him. Cain did not remember feeling it until he got out of the car. He watched as Matt and Jon bring the cases on the porch inside the house.
How long has this been like this?
“Honey, this is Cain, the man I told you about. And this is his friend Jon.” Matt said, introducing them.
Cain managed to exchange pleasantries despite his attention being somewhere else. He managed a smile too, when he spotted the little girl playing on the other side of the sofa where an older girl slept.
The state of the house alone, from what he saw so far, was enough to sound alarms in his head. He noted the interrupted effort to clean up. The occupants didn’t bother to finish cleaning up. Something broken or cracked or shattered could be found, wherever his eyes handed.
More than that, it was the owners. Even their forced smiles could not cover the fact that they both had very tired eyes. Cain was familiar with the look. He was familiar with the failed attempts to appear attentive as well, especially in the case of the wife. Their thankful words did not bear any weight. He could not feel it. They were tired. Too tired.
Is this where it’s coming from?
“Coffee Mr. Delamain? Mr. Purdy?” Emmy asked.
“Please, just Cain and Jon.” He replied. “I’d be happy to, but is it alright if we looked around first?” He added, eyeing the couple.
“Sure, go ahead.” Matt answered.
Cain went to the living room first, greeted the little child and surveyed the damage. The way the TV broke did not escape his curiosity. He went to the back where a small section for reading was and noted the scattered books and dents on the wooden table. The gashes on all couches and sofas appeared random to him. Overturned furniture greeted his eyes wherever he looked.
Having already had a glimpse of the kitchen, Cain motioned for Jon to follow him upstairs. The feeling of tiredness intensified as he ascended.
“What’s on your mind?” Jon asked as soon as they reached the top of the stairs.
“That this is pretty elaborate if it’s a prank?”
“I stopped thinking it was a prank when I saw them. I mean Jesus! Have you seen their bruises? Even the sleeping girl has them.”
“Except for suddenly feeling tired, I don’t feel anything else though.” Cain commented as they looked inside the master’s bedroom.
“I don’t feel anything.” Jon added. “Then again, I’m not like you.”
“Hmmm.”
Cain’s attention was pulled by a cold feeling as they walked towards the next room. He looked at his companion to see if he felt it too.
“So, what do you think man? Are we setting up?”
“Yes. In fact, I’ll need you to set your equipment up once we go back downstairs.”
“You seen something? Feel something already?”
“Tell me that doesn’t look the least bit curious to you.” Cain said, pointing inside the next room, not bothering to answer the question.
“That’s… he told you about this?”
“No. He told me everything I have seen so far except this.”
“Can you blame him? I mean, if it was me, I wouldn’t be mentioning this. I’d be mentioning all the damage if I needed help. Your kind of help.”
“Perhaps.”
The cold feeling heightened as they reached the last room. He checked on Jon again. If he felt anything, it did not show. Jon’s attention was focused on the damage.
“Let’s go back down and get things started.” Cain said, turning.
Emmy handed them a cup each as they went back to the kitchen. Cain noted a heaviness in the air. It was not there minutes ago. Now, it eclipsed the feeling of tiredness. His eyes searched the faces of his hosts and Jon. None of them felt it. He noted how both Matt and Emmy stood on the other side, eyes darting frequently to the living room where their daughters were. The cup dropped from his hand.
The heaviness he was feeling quickly intensified. It was almost oppressive. He saw the couple’s faces go blank, then was replaced by a horrified expression, with Matt grabbing Emmy’s arm. They were looking behind him. At something above his head. Jon’s gaze followed.
As he wheeled around to see what it was about, he heard a voice.
“No!”
It was the little girl, screaming. He saw Jon crumple to the floor before his vision dimmed.