About five months ago, I found a young man probably no older than twenty in my backyard. He was just laid out on the ground, asleep, as if someone had place him there.
I ran to him immediately. “Hey! Are you alright?!”
I got down beside him and looked him over for any visible injuries but found none. I shook him, and he stirred, squinting his eyes.
He looked around before his gaze landed on me. I immediately froze; I felt like I was being stared down by a predator. The only way I can describe my fear is as instinctive- the primal reflex of fight or flight. I froze under the gaze and was barely able to say anything.
“H-hey, are you a-alright? You were laid out in m-my backyard,” I asked, stuttering over my words.
He blinked, and the deadly glint in his eyes disappeared. “Yes, I’m alright. Did you say that I’m in your backyard?”
“That’s right,” I responded, relieved. “Do you know how you got here?”
He sat up, “I-I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.”
“That’s alright, what about your name? Can you tell me your name?”
“…Charlie, I’m pretty sure my name is Charlie,” He hesitantly answered.
I smiled, “Okay Charlie, my name is Vanessa. Would you like me to take you to the hospital?”
“No, I’m fine,” Charlie said, shaking his head.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind taking you,” I asked, concerned.
He smiled, “I’m sure, but thank you Vanessa. Can you instead help me up?”
I nodded, grabbing his arm and supporting him as he stood up. He seemed to be a little uneasy on his feet, so I held onto him and led him into my house. I sat him down at my kitchen table and got him a glass of water.
“Thank you,” he said, taking the water from me.
“Charlie, do you remember anything from before you ended up here?”
He fell silent as he scrunched his face up, no doubt thinking. “I… I think I was hiking in the woods, but I honestly don’t know. I can’t really remember anything.”
I nodded, “I see, well Charlie, let’s go to the police. Someone who knows you might’ve filed a missing person’s report, and even if they didn’t, the police should have you in their database.”
He agreed and before long, we were on the road headed to the police station. Arriving at the station, I informed the police of the situation. After running a check they said there weren’t any missing persons reports for Charlie. They then ran a check for him through their databases, but they came up with nothing. Feeling stumped, they fingerprinted him in hopes that it was just a glitch in their system.
“Alright ma’am, it’ll take three to five business days to get his background check back. If you will, please sign your name here along with your phone number so we can call you when we get the results,” the officer said.
“Okay,” I responded as I signed the form.
After leaving the police station, I headed towards the store, earning a confused look from Charlie.
“You have no memory. I can’t just leave you on the street. You can stay with me until we get the results from your fingerprint background check,” I said.
“Thank you Vanessa. I appreciate your kindness.”
And so, I got some more food, snacks, and anything else Charlie would need.
Charlie and I waited day in and day out for a phone call, and finally on the fifth business day, I received a call from the police station.
“I’m sorry, but can you repeat that, officer?” I said, in disbelief of what I heard.
“Ma’am, I don’t know how that man ended up in your backyard or where he came from, but we had nothing on him when we ran a background check. In the eyes of the government, he is a ghost. A phantom that never existed. Now this could just be a bug in their system, but I suggest you be careful around him. We will try and fix this if it is just a bug and then get back to you. Till then, take care,” he said, crunching away on something. Did he not care about the situation I’m now in?
Charlie had just come in from a run and must’ve seen my confused face because his own face became that of worry.
“Vanessa, is something wrong?” I shook my head.
“According to the background check they ran, you don’t exist Charlie. They have nothing on you, not even a birth certificate.”
Shock marred his face, and he quickly sat down. “I must be confused; how can I not exist? I mean,” he scoffed, “I’m right here! Living, breathing, shouting!” His anger turned to worry. “What does this mean? Should I worry- am I going to jail or something?”
“Don’t worry too much, the officer said this could be a glitch in their system. He’ll get back with me at a later time if they do find anything, so try not to worry too much, alright?” I tried to assure him.
He sighed and gave me a small smile before heading off to his room that I had prepared for him just days prior.
I had told him not to worry, but weeks passed and we still heard nothing back. Charlie and I were both concerned. As my worries grew, time and time again I found myself coming back to that day we met. That look in his eyes when his gaze had fallen upon me still sends shivers down my spine.
About three months had passed, and Charlie and I had grown quite close. He had become a close friend of mine, someone I could talk to without concealment. It made it easy to talk about my worries and past when Charlie showed such an extreme interest. He’d always listen happily when I told him about some of the things I did as a teenager. He’d try to give me advice when I told him my fears or apprehensions, but it wasn’t until I mentioned my ex-husband that the murderous glint came back to his eyes.
Because of this, I never mentioned my ex-husband again, and Charlie continued on as normal. Things were great, and Charlie had even gotten a job at a fast-food restaurant as a way to help out around the house and to pay the bills as well. Everything was fine.
A few weeks ago, I had just gotten home from work and Charlie was already home as he had the day off. I came in, and he greeted me as usual. I went to get changed into some comfortable clothes. I had just come back into the living room when I heard loud banging on the door. This alerted Charlie, and he was about to get the door, but I reached the door before him.
I looked through the peek-hole and saw my ex-husband, Jim. With a sigh I opened the door and crossed my arms.
“What do you want, Jim? You know you can’t be here,” I said.
“The hell I can’t! Why haven’t you been responding to my text messages and calls?! If we talked about this, I’m sure you’d change your mind!” He yelled in a pleading manner.
I rolled my eyes at his act, “It’s too late Jim, I finalized the divorce papers a few days ago. You know I have a restraining order against you so if you don’t leave I will call the police.”
By this point Charlie had come into Jim’s view which caused Jim to fly into a fury.
“IS THIS THE REASON YOU DIVORCED ME?! SO YOU COULD PLAY IT UP WITH SOME OTHER GUY?!” He yelled.
I stepped back a bit and started shaking. “No, I divorced you because you are an abusive asshole! Now leave before I call the cops!”
“Oh, so you want to call the cops now, do you?” He said, laughing a bit. “Fine, I’ll give you a reason to call them.”
He raised his fist and went to swing, and in an instant, he was sliced into multiple pieces. I stood there shaking, soaked in his blood. I was frozen, unable to move, but slowly looked down at what used to be my ex-husband. Now he resembled that of chopped up beef. I felt my stomach begin to churn before I vomited what I had eaten for lunch.
What happened to him?! What could’ve done this?! It was then that I felt something was wrong as Charlie hadn’t said anything or moved. I slowly turned to see Charlie standing there, with an emotionless look on his face. I looked into his eyes and no longer saw a human. No, I saw something worse, something more evil than anything I had ever seen.
I focused my eyes on Charlie’s hands which were drenched in blood. He continued to stare at the bloody mess on my front porch. I made the mistake of gasping and his inhuman eyes were now turned to me. Just like before, he blinked, and that evil hatred was gone.
“Vanessa, are you alright?” he asked, coming towards me.
I threw my hands up. “D-don’t come n-near me!”
He stopped short and simply stared at me with a look of concern on his face. “V-Vanessa, I don’t understand. Why are you scared? Why won’t you let me come near you?”
I could only place my head in my hands as I tried to process what happened. Charlie clearly had something to do with what happened to Jim, but how? I didn’t even see him move but yet his hands are drenched in blood.
“C-Charlie, what d-did you do?” I asked, my voice quivering. I could feel my knees trying to give out from beneath me, and I had to lean against the door to hold myself up.
He looked confused for a moment before responding, “Ah, you mean that. Well he was going to hit you so I prevented him from doing so.”
How could he answer so nonchalantly as if he didn’t just kill someone?! “No Charlie, you k-killed him!” I said, and I immediately clamped my mouth shut in fear I’d be next.
“I don’t understand, I thought you’d be happy with him dead. Was I wrong for what I did?” He asked almost with a face of innocence.
How could he ask something like that?! It’s like he has no understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong!
“What t-the hell are you?! Just h-how did you slice him into p-pieces?!” I asked, completely overtaken by fear.
He cocked his head to the side, “What do you mean? I’m Charlie, did you already forget? And as for him, well it’s not hard to slice a human up as if you are cutting tofu.”
I needed to call the police! I went to move towards my phone but slipped on a piece of flesh. I was about to fall but Charlie caught me immediately.
“It’s alright now Vanessa,” He said, stroking my head, “Jim can’t hurt you anymore. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
He didn’t say it, but I knew what he meant. He might not kill me, but if I called the cops, he’d kill them in front of me just like what he did to Jim. I nodded as tears fell from my eyes. I needed to keep him happy, so I let him continue to hug me. My body shook from both fear and disgust.
“C-Charlie, I can’t have that on m-my front p-porch. Can… can you c-clean it u-up?” I asked.
“Of course Vanessa, just leave it to me. I’ll make sure there isn’t a trace of blood or flesh left,” he replied happily.
I nodded. “I n-need to get cleaned u-up so I’m g-going to get a shower.”
Before I could leave Charlie grabbed me by the wrist, “You won’t leave me, will you?
“O-of course not. I’m n-not going to l-leave you. I’m j-just a little f-frightened from what h-happened,” I answered.
He said nothing more but let go of my wrist. I must’ve stayed in the shower for an hour, crying while I cleaned the blood from my skin and hair. I couldn’t stop trembling and dreaded having to go back out and see that thing. The water had turned cold, and I finally got out, getting changed into some clothes.
I walked back out into the living room and Charlie was sitting on the couch watching TV. I looked to the front door, and it looked as if nothing had ever happened.
“Charlie, did y-you take care of i-it?” I asked, making sure I didn’t imagine everything that happened.
He looked at me and smiled. “Of course, I cleaned Jim up and threw his pieces into the woods.” I felt relief that I wasn’t crazy and imagined everything, but I felt even more scared by how he answered. I merely nodded and walked to the kitchen.
As I said, that was a few weeks ago, and I’ve been trying to ensure that I don’t do anything that Charlie would dislike. He has continued on with life as if nothing had happened. He goes to work like normal, speaks with me like normal, and goes to see friends like normal. It would almost make anyone think that they imagined it, but I know I didn’t because a few days later there was a missing persons report for Jim.
I honestly don’t know what I should do. I am sharing the same roof with something that could easily kill me. Not to mention he goes with me when I go see my family or friends whenever he has the free time to do so. I try to act like everything is normal, but I’m afraid that Charlie might kill them if they make him angry. That is why I am taking the risk and posting this here. Could someone, anyone, tell me what Charlie is and how I can get away from him? Please, help me, I’m begging you!