The Bitter Taste

Chapter 7

His mother twisted around to face Benji. A look of concern prominent against her fury filled eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked in horror.

Benji sighed, lowered his shoulders, and closed his eyes before answering, saying the same words again. "I saw Noah," he whispered, not even believing himself, he wasn't sure if his mother would even believe him.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"I saw Noah!" he shouted, opening his eyes to see the man staring at him with a smile—his irises black once more.

His mother turned toward the man, her eyes cross and her voice seething with rage. Even though he was smiling, it did not phase her. "Open the door," she demanded, pointing to the metal door.

"But miss, I—" he stumbled on his words, not able to get them out before he was interrupted by her once more.

"Open the damned door before I call the police!" she screamed, ferocity shaking her from within.

The man stepped forward and placed a large hand on the metal door. Before he typed in the sequence of numbers, he looked back at Benji and smiled that awful smile he saw everywhere.

His mother did not notice again, so the man carried on, typing the familiar numbers into the keypad. It beeped, and the door opened easily, showing wooden stairs waiting within.

"After you," he said, gesturing with a hand for them to enter before he did.

"You first," his mother hissed.

He nodded and began to proceed down the steps. Each creak mimicked a monster's growl, and it made Benji think of his previous nightmare. As they wandered down the first step, the man flicked on a switch, letting light cover the steps.

His throat tightened with every move, and so did the grip on his mother's hand. He was unsure of what they would find at the bottom of the stairs yet was excited to see exactly what the man spoke of this morning.

Though something itched. He was scared. Noah could be down here, also terrified and alone. He was worried he had really saw his brother.

Reaching the bottom of the steps, with one final creak, they stared at the emptied basement with a small shelf in the corner. The man walked over to the corner, and pulled two boxes down, throwing them to the floor with a thud.

"Excuse me, but I am getting settled. I took over the shop from the previous owner," he explained, leaning over to dig through one of the boxes. He held out a mixer and mold in the shape of a circle. "As you can see this is where I make the candy," he said, not taking his death-gripped stare off of Benji.

Benji's mother reacted, noticing his lingering gaze, and pulled Benji close to her. "If you go near my son again, I will call the police on you," she threatened, before they walked up the stairs, and into the shop once more.

Without a goodbye, Benji turned to see the man standing there, hands tucked behind his back, facing the glass door. His stance was uncomfortable, and to Benji, it looked like he could shift into a monster at any given moment.

Staring at the man, he noticed his smile was the same as Noah's when he saw him from behind the door and it made him afraid.

His mother pulled him through the opened door and knelt to his level, letting the door swing behind him. She lurched him forward with a pull of the wrist, and Benji flew, moving like a ragdoll.

"How dare you lie to me!" she hissed, her voice breaking. "I gave you the freedom to make friends, and out of all places you come here!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, tucking his head into himself.

"Do you even know what this place is?" she inquired, standing to yank Benji once more as they traveled down the street toward their worn-down home.

He tried to keep pace with her, but stumbled, his exposed toe making it difficult for him to walk quickly. He was certain he was going to fall, but focused on his movements, ready to catch himself at any given moment.

"No, Mama," he whispered, feeling more like a child more than before.

"This is the last place we went to before Noah disappeared!" she shouted, her voice echoing down the pavement, and into the neighbor's homes.

He saw his mother lose a part of herself. She crumbled to the sidewalk, her knees hitting it first with a thud. She released her grip on Benji and let her hand fall limp like she was defeated.

"I didn't know," he whispered, sorrow cloaked him as he stared at the mother he broke.

She sobbed for a moment, finally letting her feelings take over. She was emotionless for so long, holding onto a sadness she didn't know she had.

Standing, she collected herself and walked down the sidewalk, not saying a word to her son as they traveled across the street.

Benji followed, his footsteps small in comparison to hers. When they reached the end of their driveway, she turned toward him, her words once again cold. "You are not allowed over there Benjamin, and if I find out you were there, I can promise you there are going to be some big consequences."