Tommy meets Danny in part 1 here
There was no chance I’d be getting any sleep after my revelation, so instead I began to devise a plan. My first thought had been to call the police, but what would I even say? Yes officer, I think the ghost of the missing boy who lived here before is hurting my son. Oh, and also, I think his body might be in the lake because that’s what he told my son while he dripped filthy lake water all over his room. They’d think I was crazy. Or worse even, involved in whatever had happened to Danny.
I’d debated instead on an anonymous tip, but I was worried it would somehow come back to me. We lived in a world full of cameras and few payphones. With all other options expended, I decided that after Tommy woke up, I’d drive a town over to buy a burner with cash. But there was something I needed to do first. I needed to go down to the lake. I needed to see where Danny lived.
As light streamed through the curtains, I prepared myself to go. I tucked Tommy in and kissed his forehead. I was hesitant to leave him alone, but we spend our entire lives learning that Boogeymen only come out at night. And in any case, I couldn’t imagine taking him with me. He’d been through enough and the lake was just a few hundred feet from the back door.
Heart thudding, I set out towards the lake. As I got closer, hints of the smell that had soured Tommy’s room wafted in the breeze. Now with the water only a foot in front of me, I could see what appeared to be oil slicks across the gently lapping waves. My brain began to scream inside before the thought had even fully formed; I had a sudden compulsion to touch the water. I took a step forward and started to lean in and reach out. I was so entranced, I hadn’t realized it wasn’t just my brain screaming.
A strong hand roughly grabbed my shoulder as a woman’s voice barked, “Hey! You got something wrong with your ears or something!”
I jumped back and fumbled for words. In front of me stood an older woman in a worn muumuu dress, curlers still tightly rolled in her hair. “No, sorry, I guess I was just… I don’t know. Sorry. I’m new here, we bought the house around a week ago. I’m Myra. You’re one of the neighbors?” Even without having managed to dip my fingers into the lake, they still somehow felt dirty. Sheepishly, I wiped them against my jeans.
“Well I didn’t jump out of the lake, I can assure you that.” The old woman huffed. “My name is Susan, I’m the house to the left. And don’t put your hands or any other part of your body for that matter in that lake. It’s contaminated. Nobody’s mentioned that to you yet?” Her flabby arms shook in agreement with the pointed finger she’d been waving in my direction. As warmth spread up my cheeks, her demeaner seemed to calm. “Sorry for scolding. I’ve been hollering since I saw you heading that way but I guess maybe you’ve had a lot on your mind.”
Maybe it was paranoia on my part, but her word choice seemed odd and for a second I would have sworn I saw understanding in her eyes. “Yeah. Plenty on my mind,” I agreed. “Have you lived here long? Did you know the family here before me? The Sanders’ I believe?”
Susan’s stony eyes searched my face for a few moments before responding, “It’s rude to keep an old woman out with rollers still in her hair. Tell me Myra, do you have children?”
“I do. A son. Tommy. He’s 10,” The hairs on my neck rose as I spoke. Talking about my son so close to where Danny claimed was his resting place seemed wrong. Like something beneath the water was listening. Smiling with sharp teeth. As if in silent agreement, Susan’s eyes shifted towards the lake.
“I knew the Sanders’ family. It’s a shame what happened. The first time I spoke to Jenny, she was standing right here where you were today. Has her son Danny come to visit your son yet?” Susan questioned casually.
My mouth dried and my stomach turned. I nodded as tears burnt behind my eyes. “Danny says he sleeps in the lake. I think he’s coming for my son.” I couldn’t keep it in anymore, I started sobbing. I spilled the entire happenings from start to finish. It was the first time I’d said it out loud and it sounded just as crazy as it had in my head.
Susan nodded gently, knowingly, and placed her hand on my shoulder softly this time. “Something absolutely is coming for your son. But it isn’t Danny. Well, not exactly anyway. The lake isn’t just contaminated. There’s been something nasty in there since I was a girl and a long time before that too. The house I live in now was my childhood home. We grew up hearing stories about that abomination,” she paused briefly to spit towards the lake, “and how hungry it is. I’m sure Danny’s body probably is at the bottom of that lake somewhere and that’s where it’ll stay. It isn’t flesh and bones it’s hungry for. This is a small town and the police chief is a local. I babysat him while he was still in diapers in fact. He knows better than to drag that lake. Better to just call the kids missing and have the families leave to be honest. They had another child too, the Sanders’, a little girl. At least they got to leave with one. Others weren’t as lucky. No chance you could send the boy with his father or a relative? Or maybe move?”
I stared with disbelief. This was too much too fast. “There’s nowhere else for Tommy to go and even if there was, I’d never abandon my son. That’s insane. And we can’t move. We put everything we had to get into this house. What the hell is in this lake?” Susan didn’t flinch at all as my voice rose. This was a conversation she’d no doubt had before.
“An abandoned child is better than a dead child Myra. But children have survived living near the lake. I made it and so did most of my siblings. As for what’s in the lake, we’ll both need to sit down for that. It’s a long story and my knees hurt. It’s rude to have an old lady stand so long. I have some things to get together first. I’m not sure how much it’ll help, but it won’t hurt. It’s been a long time since I’ve dealt with that thing. It prefers children and there hasn’t been a child in my house since I was one. I tried to warn the Sanders about the lake too but outsiders just don’t understand. I’ll meet you at your house before sundown. Don’t let anyone in aside from me, enjoy the day with your son, and stay the hell away from the lake. And have some dinner ready. I can’t think on an empty stomach and anyhow not feeding a guest would be rude.”
With that, Susan sighed and turned back towards her own house, leaving me next to the lake alone. For someone so concerned with what was and wasn’t rude, she didn’t seem to mind being rude herself. I was desperate for help though and besides being less than forthcoming about what exactly was after my son, she seemed to know something. And maybe, hopefully, she seemed willing to help. I swiftly walked back up to my house with the tickle of eyes watching me between my shoulder blades.
Tommy’s eyes were just fluttering open as I stepped back into my room to check on him. We spent our morning eating breakfast in bed and watching movies. The afternoon was spent on video games and hide and seek through the house. This was what the new house was supposed to be for us. A new life away from the big city and poverty. One where I could watch my son grow up. I wanted to make this house like a womb and seal us away from the insanity that had invaded our dream. Over the sounds of Tommy’s giggling, the light rapping on the door was nearly drowned out.
As I headed to the door, the light rapping turned to a knock and then a pound. Susan, I assumed, was impatient. I unlocked the deadbolt and reached to unlock the knob when my hand froze. I could hear Susan’s warning from this morning in my head, “Don’t let anyone in aside from me.” Did that mean I should expect someone else to knock? I brought my eye to the peephole, but it appeared to have been painted over. Frustration swept over me for not thinking to check such an important detail before being in a position to need it.
I tried to keep my voice steady but failed. “Who is it?”
The pounding finally stopped. “Hi! Um, it’s Sara! Can Tommy come out and play? Please?” A small voice tinkled from the other side of the door.
I turned to Tommy, who had hidden himself behind me, keeping one of my legs in a death grip. “Do you know a Sara from school?” I whispered. Tommy, white as a sheet, shook his head violently. The pounding at the door began again.
“I don’t think right now is a good time Sara,” the banging again stopped. “You’ll have to go now. Tommy isn’t feeling well.” My chest hurt from holding in a sob, but I couldn’t let Tommy know how afraid I was. I had to be strong for him.
“Aww but me and Danny wanted to play with him! We love making friends. We’ll see you both real soon though! Tell Susie I said hi, would ya? Tell her I’ll see her real soon too!” I pulled the curtains back in time to see a small girl with two blond plaits bouncing as she skipped around the corner and towards the back of the house. Tommy cried out as I ran towards the back window, but I had to know for sure she was heading where I thought she was.
I pulled back the curtains just in time to see her skip through the back half of my yard, her knee length pink dress floating behind her. As she reached the edge of the lake, she turned around and started to wave. At first, I blinked furiously as the small girl stretched taller, positive the light coming off the lake was messing with my eyes. Then I kept my eyes open until they burned. The girl’s hair was becoming darker, longer; her dress melting in with her skin until I wasn’t even sure I was looking at a person anymore. And then all at once she melted like inky black oil into the lake.
Tommy and I didn’t laugh or play anymore after that. We sat on the couch quietly, his head in my lap, while we waited for Susan to arrive.