Almost afraid to ask someone again, Kenny asked Ashley. “Ashley, do you know who the tooth fairy is?”
“Nope!” Immediately after replying she spread her lips so that they were wide open and then proudly showcased her full set of teeth. There were no missing teeth. Unsure of what else to do Kenny smiled back at her and then went back to work on his drawing.
--
After some time the rest of his classmates began to show up. It wasn’t until it was a few minutes past eight that the majority of his class was there. The official class time didn’t begin until 8:15 so that in-between time was a type of recess, or free play. During that time Kenny had moved away from the coloring table and over to another corner of the room where a set of blocks was being constructed. He was building a tower with another classmate named Travis.
Kenny had the last block in hand to finish their tower. It was a smaller triangle piece that looked similar to a roof. Reaching as high as he could he carefully put it on the very top of the tower. When he let go of the block he fully expected the tower to come crashing down over top of them but it stayed put. The completed tower was taller than both of them and it was nearly as wide as one of their legs.
Kenny smiled and laughed at their accomplishment and so did Travis. As Travis laughed Kenny noticed that his left front tooth was gone. In its place was just a void. The thought of the tooth fairy rose to the front of his mind again. He remembered Kara’s look of fear and the crying and considered not asking Travis… but he had to know. He had to know what he was in store for tonight.
“Travis… do you know who the tooth fairy is?”
Travis’ laughing stopped entirely. He looked over at Kenny but said nothing. The color in his face faded to an almost pale white like that of the snow that sat outside. He said nothing. The silence between them lingered and then after who knows how long he walked away to the other side of the classroom without any more words between them.
After he had asked Travis and Kara about the tooth fairy Kenny decided he wasn’t going to ask anyone else about it. The two of them were obviously scared of something. They were scared of her. They were scared of the tooth fairy.
Chapter 3 - Afternoon
The rest of the morning flew by. When the noon hour hit Kenny was standing inside the main entrance along with all of the other kids. They were all looking out the glass doors and windows at the parking lot waiting for the school bus or their parents’ car to pull up. There was no sense in waiting outside in this weather unless you wanted to freeze. When their ride did show up it was a mad dash from the heated school building to the warmth of the car or bus.
Kenny was standing in the entrance along with all of the other students. The morning had passed much too fast for his liking. With each hour that was spent he came closer and closer to nighttime, to tooth fairy time. It was all he could think about. The look on Kara’s face kept popping into his head and each time he saw it he shivered. The look of fear, the look of horror. A look that should never be seen on someone their age.
They lived in a smaller town and most of the kindergarteners rode only one bus. When bus number three rolled up to the circle drive the entrance door was immediately pushed open by some anxious kids. The cold wind howled and blew into the room they were waiting in. It felt like a slap in the face.
After the first bus took off the children left waiting had mostly thinned out. Not a lot of parents picked up and dropped off kids these days. Most just rode the bus and the bus would take them to daycare for the rest of the day. Kenny was left along with the twins that he had seen earlier that morning. Kara was in the corner of the room sitting on a bench with her face pressed against the cold glass looking out at the snow. There were still flurries coming down from the previous night’s storm and as they came down Kara watched them fall. She had calmed down after a few minutes with Mrs. Reynolds but throughout the day something had been different about her.
He considered walking over to her and trying to talk to her again but something stopped him. He wasn’t sure if it was his own fear that he would learn something more about the tooth fairy or if he thought that she was still somewhat unstable from this morning.
A honking horn drew his attention away from Kara and made him look out at the drive. His mother’s SUV was pulled up centered in the top of the circle drive. Without saying another word to anyone he opened the door and walked over to his mother’s car. The wind stung his face over and over again as he walked.
--
Usually when he got home from kindergarten he would plop down in front of the television in their living room and watch his favorite cartoon show. As soon as they got in the door he tore off his jacket, mittens, and hat and threw them all to the floor as he ran into the living room. His sole focus was on his show. For a moment he had forgotten about the tooth fairy. He had forgotten about the look on Kara’s face and he had forgotten about Travis’ reaction. It went all to the wayside as he sat himself down on the couch and clicked on the television.
A moment later, at a much slower pace, his mother came into the house. She sighed when she saw the discarded coat and other things all piled up just outside the door like they were trash. She could even see the tracks of snow that he had brought in with him slowly melt across the floor until it abruptly stopped a few feet into the kitchen where his snow boots lay. Without saying a word to him she quietly gathered up his things and walked them over to the mudroom.
Kenny had hoped, no prayed, that his show would have distracted him… and it did to a point. The excitement of getting in the door and flipping it on had removed any thoughts of the tooth fairy but now, now, that he was staring at the television watching the antagonist make a mess of things his mind began to wander. It began to wander back to the thoughts of tonight. What would come tonight? Why was everyone so afraid? Even though the house was plenty warm with the wood stove keeping the room at a constant eighty degrees a shiver ran through his spine.
When his show was over he normally went up to his room to play with his Legos. He loved to build. He loved to create things. Last week he had created the Millennium Falcon. (With the help of his father of course.) The completed project sat proudly on his dresser next to a few of the others he had completed weeks prior. Today he wanted to play Legos, just like any other day, but as he climbed the stairs to his second story room the apprehension and the fear began to overwhelm him. With each step his legs felt heavy, almost like they weren’t his.
Eventually, he made it up the stairs and down the hallway. He stood there staring into his room unflinching. His gaze went into his room and over to his nightstand. There on the stand atop one of his books was that darn tooth. From here it looked like a small pebble or piece of gravel that you would find on the side of the road but he knew. He knew what it was, and he knew what it meant. It would be coming.
--
The rest of the afternoon and evening Kenny spent downstairs in the living room and kitchen with his mother. He had to stay away from his room and the tooth. His mother had asked him once or twice why he wasn’t playing up in his room today but he dodged her questions or just answered that he missed her. It seemed to satisfy her. He watched as she did the day’s laundry, the dishes, and cleaning. At times he even tried to help with some of the chores. He followed her around the house like a lost puppy.
When his father came home at just after five that evening his mother had already had dinner made and ready. Kenny helped her and when it was time to set the table he eagerly grabbed the plates and silverware and made the table as nice as he could. As they sat down at the table to enjoy the meal Kenny could feel the hours before bedtime shrinking and shrinking. Even though it was only just past five in the evening the sun had already gone down and only darkness remained outside of their house. She was lurking out there. She was lurking out there somewhere in the darkness.
--
Before he knew it bedtime had arrived. He took his bath, put on his pj’s, and went on to brush his teeth, an
d when he brushed he noticed the gap, the space where his tooth once was. As he stood there on the stepping stool in front of the bathroom mirror he opened his mouth as wide as he could and then used his fingers to pull his lips and cheek aside so that he could fully see where his tooth once had been. It was just a hole now. He reached his fingers all to the back of his mouth and touched it. It felt like nothing. When he pulled his fingers back they clipped his front tooth and it wiggled slightly. The wiggling startled him. Would he lose this one next? Would this tooth fairy have to come again?
He didn’t want to go into his room. He didn’t want to sleep. He didn’t want her to come, but there was no other choice. He was stuck. He had to go in there. It took all of his effort not to break down and cry as he walked into his room like a sailor sailing into a storm. The tooth was there waiting for him. Tonight was waiting for him. He wanted to be brave, to be a big boy. He didn’t want his parents to see him crying over a tooth but all he could think about was Kara’s reaction from this morning. Why was so she so scared?
With as much confidence as he could muster he walked in his room and then climbed into his bed. The sheets were cold, the whole room felt cold. A few minutes later his father came into the room and grabbed the book that was on his nightstand. As he did this he carefully picked up the tooth and brought it up to his face as if he was examining it.
“Are you ready for the tooth fairy tonight, Kenny?”
“…Yes”
“Good! Remember, you’ll get a surprise after she takes your tooth,” he said with a wink. He then walked around to the other side of the bed with the tooth in hand. “We’ve got to put this under your pillow so that the tooth fairy can find it. When you get up tomorrow morning don’t forget to check under there for your surprise.” He lifted Kenny’s pillow up and then gently placed the tooth underneath it.
With that his father grabbed the book that the tooth had been on and then took a seat at the foot of his bed while his mother stood outside in his doorway leaning against the door frame. His mother and father took turns reading to him every night and tonight it was his father’s turn. They were partway through a new series that Kenny had enjoyed right from the beginning. (It was about a mouse named Matthias.) Today as his father read to him Kenny found himself not able to concentrate. He was listening to the story but he was also watching the digital clock… he was watching the time. He knew that when the number nine showed up on the left hand side that it was bedtime. His father would stop reading, they would kiss him goodnight, and then he would be left alone to the darkness. He would be left alone with her. The tooth under his pillow felt like a boulder. He had no idea how he was going to sleep tonight.
Chapter 4 - Visitor
When the time came his parents tucked him in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As they left they shut the door and turned off the lights. Only the dim glow of his nightlight and the reflection of the snow through his window were left. He sat there unmoving staring into the darkness. He could feel his heart pounding his chest, in fact he felt that he could almost hear it.
He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t just sit here and wait for it to come. There had to be a way to stop it. He had to do something about it. Kenny sat upright in his bed and lifted the pillow up behind him. The tooth sat there on his sheet looking innocent enough. Without a moment’s hesitation he grabbed the tooth as fast as he could and then leaned over to his nightstand, pulled the drawer open, dropped the tooth in there, and then closed the drawer as fast as he could.
As soon as it was gone from behind his pillow and out of sight he breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she wouldn’t come tonight now after all. Maybe all it took was removing its prize from under his pillow. If there was no tooth than there was no reason for her to come.
He lay awake for a few minutes later lying in his bed staring at his ceiling. He felt better, he felt more at peace. There was a narrow but large crack in the plaster of his ceiling and as he stared at it his eyes began to shut until he succumbed to the night’s sleep.
--
Sometime in the middle of the night, he was awoken. At first he wasn’t sure what had woke him. His eyes were still groggy and his mind was in a fog. It didn’t take him long though to figure out what had awoken him. He was awoken by something under his pillow. It was squirming and writhing under his pillow. As his head rested on the pillow he could feel whatever it was moving back and forth like it was looking for something. His eyes grew wide with the realization of what was happening. It was here. The tooth fairy was here.
Almost as soon as he thought that he became aware of a presence in the room. It wasn’t just under his pillow but it was looming over him. It was standing just to the side of his bed. Kenny always slept with his back facing the outside of the bed. He could feel it’s presence behind him, next to his back. If he adjusted, even slightly, his back would rub up against it.
He could feel its heat as well. He could feel the heat even through his pillow. Whatever this thing was it was hot. It reminded him of when he would sit too close to the wood stove. The heat was all encompassing and it surrounded him. He could not escape it. Even in the cold of the night in the dead of January he was sweating. He was sweating from this thing that stood next to him. He wanted to sit up and run out of the room. He wanted to run as far away as he could, but something in him told him he had to be still. Don’t turn around. If he stayed asleep maybe it would leave. He could hear it’s breathing now. It came in short rapid rhythmic bursts. At times there was nothing and then the breathing would start up again in quick secession. It sounded like a dog who had overworked itself.
The writhing and wriggling continued under his pillow. It reminded Kenny of the worms that came out during the rain and how they would squirm their way across the sidewalk except this worm was on his bed and it was looking for something.
Then, with no warning or indication, all movement stopped. Kenny could still feel the lump, or arm, beneath his pillow but it had stopped moving entirely. It sat there like a log. It couldn’t find what it was looking for. It couldn’t find his tooth. Would it know to look in his drawer? What would it do next? Would it go away? He laid there in bed unmoving. He was unsure of what to do. His heart felt like it had jumped in his throat. Every beat he could feel throughout his body. Time seemed to slow down.
Then, like a large spider crawling out of its crypt, Kenny saw a hand slowly walk out from under his pillow. At least, he thought it was a hand. The hand was only a few inches away from his face and even though the light was dim he could still make out the details of the cryptic thing in front of him. The fingers, hand, and wrist were all black. It wasn’t the type of black that you would see on an African’s skin though, no this was different. It reminded Kenny of the time that his mother had left a baked potato in the oven for way too long. It had set the smoke alarms off and when his mother pulled the poor potato out of the oven it was completely black and charred. Flakes of the potato’s skin were peeling off. The ones that you picked up would disintegrate in your hand in seconds. This hand in front of him, or whatever it was, reminded him of that potato. The skin was in flakes and chunks like that of a Birch tree’s bark. If he was so inclined he could have reached up with his hand and peeled off small sections of it. There were no fingernails either, instead the ashen skin of the fingers and hands just extended out to where the nails would have been. They ended in short rounded stumps.
The warmth was still there as well. However now that it was revealed from under his pillow it was even stronger. His face felt hot and sweat began to form on his brow and trickle down his face and onto the bed. The hand was still searching, still looking for his tooth. It used its fingers to walk around the bed like a spider would do with its web. It walked back and forth across his pillow, across his sheet. Kenny felt frozen, frozen in fear. He wanted to scream. He wanted to scream out for his mommy, but he was paralyzed.
He wasn’t sure where it came from, but somehow his strength and courage came back to h
im. He only had one chance and he was going to scream as loud as he could. He had to get his parent’s attention. He had to get this thing away from him. He opened his mouth to scream.
Almost as if it sensed an opening the hand that was a few inches away from his face leaped across the sheet of the bed and landed less than an inch from his face. Chunks of flaky skin fell off it as it soared through the air towards his open mouth. Kenny tried to close his mouth as fast as he could but one of the thing’s fingers found a way inside. The taste of ash and soot filled his mouth but there was another taste as well. It was a coppery metallic taste that you got from sucking on a penny.
The lone finger in his mouth waggled back and forth as if it was signaling the others to come in. The nailess stub at the end of the finger had a squishy soft like texture to it as it moved back and forth exploring his mouth. Kenny closed his mouth around the finger trying to prevent the others from coming in. He considered biting down on the finger that sat in his mouth. Maybe he could bite it off? But, what good would it do? If he did that who knew what would happen next. Maybe the thing that stood behind him would turn him around so that he could see it in all of its horror. Maybe it would open its mouth as wide as it could and devour him whole like a snake swallowing an egg. Fear clenched him from all over. The sensations of goose bumps were all over his body. The rapid secession of its breathing started up again and as it did Kenny felt his bladder release. The warm sensation of pee filling his underwear, pants, and sheets came to him but he ignored it. It didn’t matter. What mattered was this burnt finger in his mouth. It was making him gag. It was making him sick. He had to get it out.
Close Your Eyes: A Horror Story Collection Page 2