Words in italic are German. They are generally easy to interpret but any that need a translation will be translated in brackets. Whole sentences will just be translated completely in english without their German translation.
Kasey was excited when the man said he'd let him go home. While he loved his Oma (grandma) and Opa (grandpa), he missed his mama and papa more. He was only five, so he had no idea that people could be bad. He just took the man's hand and walked with him. They'd gotten into a car and he remembered feeling sick. The car reeked of cigarettes and musk which made him queasy, and the heat of the day was fouling his mood.
"Herr (mister/sir), are we there?" He kicked his legs around, the loose seatbelt barely keeping him on his seat.
"We're almost there. Be a good kid and stay still." The man replied from the front seat, glancing at the rear view mirror.
The boy huffed, looking around to try and distract his mind from the sick feeling in his gut. The warmth was lulling him to sleep but it started getting too warm for him to sleep and was only making him more travel sick. He squirmed around in his seatbelt, kicking the seat in front of him.
"Good evening, goodnight, Covered with roses, Adorned with thorns
Slip under the covers, Tomorrow, if it is God's will, Will you wake again
Tomorrow, if it is God's will, Will you wake again." He sang the song taught to him by his mother under his breath, feeling tired and thirsty. The bile was crawling up his throat and his cheeks were getting warm. He could feel his fingertips tingle with a new coolness and hear the small familiar cackling of electricity.
"Good evening, goodnight, Watched over by angels. In a dream they show you, the Christ-child's tree, Sleep blessed and sweetly, Look for paradise in your dream. Sleep blessed and sweetly, Look for paradise in your dream. Good evening." He yawned to push back the sickness, feeling sleep creeping up on him. "Good evening-"
It was just too hard. The car jolted and everything spilled out of his stomach, emptied onto the seat beside him. Even when the man was screaming at him to stop, he couldn't stop. He was scared, angry and poorly. The car skidded to a halt and he could hear the door open and slam shut from the driver's seat as his 'dad's friend' yanked him out of the car. When the cool breeze hit him, the nausea left and he stood there with his head down, body trembling from the force of his previous actions.
The man seemed frustrated too, he was tearing at his hair, gagging as he opened the door to clean the mess up and cursing in all the languages he knew. He seemed to know a lot.
All Kasey understood, however, was angry yelling. He was in trouble. He'd only ever been yelled at like this by his big sister when he'd taken ahold of her precious music box gifted by her boyfriend at the time and dropped it by accident, breaking the ballerina's head and arm off. His face went hot with shame and he started sniffling, glaring at the floor as his years fell. The man stopped cursing to look back at the crying child and recomposed himself.
"Angsthase (fear bunny/coward). Why are you crying? I was just upset because this car is new. I won't hurt you." The man softly coaxed, petting his hair. His smirk signified that he was amused by the boy's awareness rather than angry so he tried to pull himself together and stop crying, taking deep breaths.
"I-I... I'm not a coward!" He managed through his sniffles. The man laughed.
"Sure thing, kinder (toddler/child). Come on, lets get back in. I'll keep the windows open." He assured. The boy nodded and hauled himself back into the car which now reeked more than ever but the cool breeze whipping at his face kept the smells at bay. With the exhaustion of having thrown up and cried all at once, he fell asleep in minutes and didn't wake up until it was dark.
It was really dark. Even when he opened his eyes, he was confused because he couldn't see a thing. It must be bed time, he thought, Opa would tell him off if he got out of bed now. But the bed wasn't springy and soft. It smelled funny here too. It smelt like burning and wet paint. He stayed still in bed, eyes wide open, hoping the monsters lurking in the dark wouldn't get to him as he struggled to keep quiet under the thin blanket.
I want mama, I want mama, I want mama.
Mama will make it go away, But mama wasn't here, so he'd have to find Oma. The bed creaked when he rolled over to his side,making him freeze. Did they hear him?
His breathing got heavier under the blankets, making it feel hot and damp. A sound came from the other end of the room making him sweat. He froze completely. Was it his imagination or was it real? If he were in England, he could go to Mickey. She could scare all the monsters away when she put her face paint on. She would look like a clown, with red lips and red cheeks and black lines around her eyes. He would always say she looked great because papa told him to but she looked funny and he always had to pretend he was laughing at the TV.
Mickey told him that her face paint gives her confidence. He wanted confidence too. He wanted to be as confident as Mickey so he pulled together all his courage with the blanket wrapped around his body like a sheild. He felt in his pocket for his lucky charm and found it. His lucky charm would be his face paint. He sat up on the edge of his bed and jumped.
The floor was cold and smooth. It was nothing like the warm itchy carpet in Opa and oma's house. He slowly reached out his hands to feel for the walls but tripped over something. He felt around and tried to stand up but something stopped him.
Something was holding onto his ankle.
The realisation trickled into his mind slowly and he began to scream at the top of his lungs. "OMA! OMA! OPA!" He screamed and wailed. "MAMA!" His voice trailed into incoherent words as he wailed, kicking and shouting trying to get away from what was holding his leg. The cool feeling returned and shots of energy began climbing up his walls in short streaks like lightning, making him panic.
The lights switched on and all of a sudden, he was blinded by a yellow light. It startled his screams to a halt. He looked at the door, his lower lip trembling as he began to whine again.
The Herr rushed over to check him, a worried expression on his face.
"What happened?" The man cooed, brushing his silvery blonde hair out of the boy's tear filled eyes. "It's alright, I'm here."
"Monster- it... It grabbed my leg and... And... And it wouldn't-" he turned around to look at his ankle only to find a metal link attached to the bed.
"Huh?"
"Oh, that. It's a little protective device but it won't work if you leave the bed. It makes sure that bad guys can't hurt you, like the monsters. Even though you saw the monsters, they didn't hurt you right? It's because of that." The man said sweetly. Kasey nodded slowly, hiccuping.
"Gute junge. (Good boy)." The man said as he helped the little boy back to bed. "What was that song you were singing earlier? Guten abend..(good evening)...?"
"Good evening, goodnight, Watched over by angels. In a dream they show you, the Christ-child's tree, Sleep blessed and sweetly, Look for paradise in your dream. Sleep blessed and sweetly, Look for paradise in your dream. Good evening!" He recited the lines like he did in front of his mama, knowing he'd usually earn a clap and good words, but as he spoke the last word, he could feel his eyelids drooping again.
"Gute nacht (good night)."
