Jack

Chapter Three

My little sister Annie is hanging in my wardrobe, her lifeless head hanging to the side. I notice by her feet that the Jack in the box that was on my bed, is now on the floor beside her. Placing my hands on my head, I walk backwards away from the wardrobe. The light from my phone still highlights the horror in front. In my mind it feels as though I am screaming out but in reality, I am stuck in complete silence. Nothing of what has happened so far has alerted my parents, normally I can drop a pin and my dad would hear it.

"Keep it down" he would shout at me. Usually from downstairs in his study, wouldn't want to interrupt Monday night football.

Standing frozen to the spot, my eye lids are stuck open. Staring in complete horror at the lifeless body of my kid sister, how did this happen? My heart is trying to escape through my chest, the blood is rushing up to my head. I begin to get light headed, blinking several times to clear what vision I have. I can see the light trained on the wardrobe is shaking, my hands can hardly hold this phone for longer. Stumbling further back I collapse once again onto my head; my arms drop by my side limp. The light from my phone has now also dropped, a small beam highlights the Jack in the box. Like a creepy spot light, Jack sits there taking centre stage. I lower my head to stop me vomiting over myself, a lump in my throat is making it difficult. Lifting my head back up, I begin to take some long slow breathes. The emotion finally makes itself known; a snort is followed by uncontrollable sobbing. I am crying so hard, I run out of breath. I cut the crying only to take a hard-long breath, I am going to pass out otherwise.

Something else takes my attention, as I notice that the box has moved. It jolts me upright, like an instant shot of adrenaline. I instantly stop sobbing, sniffing any last snot into my nasal passage. In an attempt to clear my vision, I wipe my face, the sleeve of my t-shirt now wet. Through utter fear it is not just my hands shaking, my entire body is convulsing. In a mad dash I jump off of the bed and over to my bedroom light. The switch is right next to my bedroom door, I swipe at it to avoid getting caught. With my irrational fear that somehow the bogey man is waiting for me, my blood runs cold at the thought. The light beams on, illuminating everything in my room, especially the horror scene that is my wardrobe. The damn box has definitely moved, but how, it's a fricking toy. I spin around on the spot, hoping to find a clue, who could have done this. Finally turning the flash off on my phone, I attempt to call the police.

"You have got to be kidding me" I exclaim. I have no signal what so ever.

I put my phone back in my pocket, it has temporarily served its purpose. As I do so I hear footsteps, it sounds like they are running down the stairs. Pure curiosity pulls me out of my room, I collapse grabbing the bannister. It curls around the edge of the landing, and bends like a dog's leg. Leaning over the bannister I look at the bottom of the stairs, can't see a damn thing. The landing now carries the same chill as earlier, my breath visible in front of my nose. The hairs on my arms stand on end, a violent shiver rises up my spine.

"Mum, Dad........" I yell. My cries only find a hollow silence.

Where the hell are they, I don't remember them going out?

I am totally on my own in this damn mess

Wanting to just make sure the whole house is canvased; I walk around to the left towards my parents' room. I slowly shuffle down the carpeted landing, my feet moving inches at a time. I stop suddenly in the middle of the landing, about two thirds of the way down.

That damn tune again

"Jack in the box, Jack in the box, quiet and still"

"Will you come out, will you come out"

"Maybe I will....."

How is this getting around?

"Who are you, what do you want?" I scream. The words scratching my throat as they leave.