The Psychological Mystery of Thomas King

Chapter Forty-Seven: It Drowns

Thomas

I stagger through the door of my house when I get back. My wife and daughters are all downstairs, doing a puzzle on the coffee table in the living room.

"Daddy!" Savannah exclaims, running towards me. She jumps on me and I pick her up. January comes running as well, but she just hugs me.

"You're back?" Sienna asks, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah." I say. I try to keep my voice as calm and normal as possible. "What are you guys doing?"

"Wur doing a jigshaw puzzle!" Savannah exclaims.

"A jigshaw puzzle?" I ask, chuckling as I mimic her. My heart slowly begins to beat normally.

"Mhm." January answers, nodding.

"Are you okay?" My wife asks me. I can feel the sweat on my brow. I force myself to stay calm.

"Yeah." I lie. "I'm fine."

*******

"Tell me what happened." She says. I had put the girls to sleep an hour ago and I've been pacing around our bedroom. Sienna sits cross legged on the bed. I run my hands through my hair.

"I talked to Dr. Stone." I say.

"Dr. Stone?" She asks. I forgot that she doesn't know who that is.

"Dr. Owens." I answer. "His real last name is Dr. Stone."

"Oh." She says.

"He told me that he and his daughter, Jane, started the experiment because he wanted to 'explore' the human mind by giving people gifts." I continue. "He used his daughter for power." I'm talking so quickly and so softly, hysterical and traumatized by what happened hours ago.

"Why tell you all that?" She keeps asking question. "Did he threaten you and say you couldn't tell anyone?" I don't answer her. She leans forward. "Did he do something to you?"

"He tried to kill me." I say, my voice barely a whisper.

"What?" She asks.

"He tried to kill me." I repeat, a little bit louder.

"How did you get away?" She asks. She's standing now.

"I don't know." I say, rubbing my temple. "It all happened so fast."

"We need to leave, now." She says, going to the closet and taking out a duffel bag. "This is all getting too dangerous." I gently grab her wrist. 

"We need to think about this." I say. "How do you think they found out where we live? They must have a way to track us."

"We can figure that out after we get out of here." She says. We suddenly hear a scream coming from the girls room. The lights go out in the house, making it pitch black. We exchange a fearful look and race out of our bedroom to their room. I throw open the door. January comes running to Sienna, crying, while Savannah is staring at the dark wall, in shock. I rush over to her and shake her.

"Savannah? What's going on?" I ask her. She points to the wall. I hear sharp cracking noises coming from it. I slowly turn my head to look in that direction, nervous. I can make out a tall shadow against the blue plaster.

A tall and slender body came out from within the shadows. It had two abnormally large hands with razor sharp claws. Its four legs resembled the legs of a spider. Its bones cracked as it moved.

My body froze.

My heart seemed to stop.

There were no eyes.

Only dark pits where they should've been.

That's the monster on the wall.

The same one from my dream.

"Helllloooo dear childdd." It said in its raspy voice. It steps away from the wall and the bright moonlight illuminates it. January screams. Savannah buries her head in my chest, shaking.

"What is that?!" Sienna screams.

"What is that thing?!" Hailey yelled.

I shall kill the strangers who know this place.

The strangers....

Realization crossed my mind in the midst of all the fear.

A new overwhelming fear washes over me, like a cold salty wave.

"Run." I whisper.

*******

Thankfully Sienna hears me and we both carry our kids out of their room. I close the door, even though I know it won't stop the Keeper. Sure enough, the creature breaks open the door. Dust rains down on us, and I shield my family from broken pieces of wood that pelts down on our heads.

Savannah and January are bawling, my wife hugging them tight. The monster comes down the stairs. I try standing up ready to somehow fight against the monster, but I suddenly find myself flying across the room, slamming into a wall.

"Thomas!" Sienna screams. The Keeper screeches. My vision swims as I slowly lift my head up, the back of it wet and sticky from blood, my body covered with cuts and bruises.

As my vision clears, I see someone from the outside window of the backdoor. When I regain my sight back, I see that the mysterious figure is an 18 year old boy standing out in the cold night, staring at me. His brown hair is ruffled by the wind and his brown eyes send shivers down my spine when I realize who he is.

He's me.

I suddenly have an idea. A crazy one, but it might work. Whatever he has planned, I'm going to trust him. I slowly stand up.

"Sienna, get the kids out of here!" I manage to yell, my voice weak. Pieces of the wall come crashing down and I have to yell over the sound. "Get to Liam's house!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Sienna yells. The Keeper knocks the dining table towards my wife's and the girl's direction. They dodge it, crouching near the sofa in the living room.

"Just go!" I yell again. "I'll be fine!" Sienna gives me one last look and runs out of the house, the girls screaming after me. Ignoring their cries, I race towards the backdoor, the creature following me. When I'm outside, my younger self starts running away, into the woods that lead to Autumnwood Lake.

"I hope you know what you're doing." I mutter to myself and chase after him.

*******

I trip and stumble over leaves, rocks and sticks, chasing after myself. I laugh at the thought. I'm chasing after my younger self. Hmm. Interesting. But I don't have long to dwell on this thought.

The monster is bounding after me, screeching. I wince from the sound of it and run faster, my body aching.

After a few minutes, I finally reach the lake. I'm about to run around it, when a hand grabs me and pulls me behind a tree. I come face to face with my 18-year-old self.

He shakes his head.

"No." He says, nodding his head towards the lake. "Watch." I turn to see the Keeper coming towards the lake. It cocks its head in a curious manner. It stops, looking around. It creeps towards the water, reeling back as if it's burnt. It shakes its head. But then it starts going towards the water again, sometimes staggering back, as if it can't control itself.

Eventually after a few minutes it's in the lake. The water starts sizzling and the creature screams from pain. It goes underneath the surface, thrashing in the water. After a few seconds, there's silence.

It drowned.

It's dead.

I stare at the sight in astonishment. That's how it can be killed. Its weakness is water. I look behind me to see if my younger self is still there, but all I see is white ash, that's being carried by the wind.

He's gone.

I stand up, wiping my hands on my jeans and in a trance-like state, I walk out of the woods and to my best friend's house.