The Monsters of the Mind

Part 9

"I bet you can't catch me, Amy!"

I turned, seeing Jimmy racing down the hallways, a big smile on his lips, with Amy following close behind him. She reached out, trying to grab the back of his shirt but tripped over her feet and fell to the ground with a loud thud!

Jimmy skidded to a halt, turning around and coming back toward Amy, kneeling beside her, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Amy smiled, sitting up and looking at her knees. Both were scraped and one had a small cut - but nothing too serious it seemed. Jimmy helped her stand and dusted her off.

"I think you need to get that cleaned off. My room's down the corridor here, why don't we use the bathroom and get some warm water on it," he spoke, looking at it a bit closer.

Amy nodded, clearly understanding that it was important to get the cut cleaned up and bandaged. It seemed that the argument about Amy being locked in the basement had been forgotten, turning now into a friendship that would be mended over time. I couldn't help but smile in relief as I followed the two of them like I had done before,  watching and following as they disappeared around the corner and into one of the far end rooms - Room 223. Jimmy unlocked the door and pushed it open, leading Amy inside.

"My bathroom's here," he pointed to the room, "I think mum keeps some bandages in one of the drawers but the sink in there if you need one."

"Thanks, Jimmy," Amy closed the door behind her while Jimmy walked further into the room, perching on his messy bed.

Much like my room, the wallpaper was covered in the same chocolate and cream-colored stripes with the same little pink rose buds painted into the cream parts of the paper, glowing with the help of the scarlet colored carpeting - though it looked far too girly for a ten year old boy. In the main part of the room was another carved wooden bed with a high back headboard, a heavy wooden wardrobe, and a small bedside table with a lamp.

To make the room more of his own, Jimmy had covered the walls with cricket and football posters - some with popular players on them such as Ian Botham, George Best, and Kevin Keegan. Two or three small plush toys lined the side bedside table - each a bit worn from the years - and one large plush dog character sat on the bed surrounded by covers and sheets. There was also paper covering the floor in random places of the room - covered in drawings of people or animals.

Jimmy had picked up a few of the drawings and looked them over, something becoming a little unsettling. It was then that I noticed the switch again - his hair seemed to become crazed as did his eyes. His look of confusion suddenly became a look of wicked glee. His body from slumped tiredness switched over to become twitching with excitement.

When Amy came out of the bathroom, a bandage on her knee, she grinned at her friend, "Jimmy? You still want to play?"

"Sure!" the boy's voice had changed, a slight octave higher like before, and Amy didn't seem to notice, "I have a perfect idea. Why don't you go and grab your favorite toy and I'll grab mine and we can sit and play with them together?"

Amy clapped in excitement, "Alright. But, aren't we a little old for tea parties?"

"Who said anything about a tea party?" Jimmy chuckled wickedly.

Amy seemed a bit nervous but left anyway to retrieve her toy.

As she did so, I watched as Jimmy moved about the room, opening the doors to the wardrobe and pulling out a lighter and a small green bottle with the label "Turpentine" written on it. I could feel myself scratching the back of my head, wondering what in the world he would be doing with a bottle of lighter fluid and a lighter. Surely he wasn't going to set the girl's toy on fire, was he?