The Darkness Within

by Taylor Henderson

  “Wait a second to make sure there are no lights on in the house and that he doesn’t come back.”

  “Okay,” I replied, before rolling my bottom lip into my mouth and chewing on it. My gaze scanned over his house, checking every window for light. A few of the windows were still boarded up, which scared me even more. Everything was shrouded in the dark shadows that came with nightfall, making my task seem even more daunting than it had a few seconds ago.

  “What are you going to do if he comes back and you’re still in there?” She asked, making my blood run cold.

  I couldn’t even imagine what I would do if that happened, but I didn’t want her to know that. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Okay,” she said, stretching out the word. “I’d say you’re good to go over now. Call me as soon as you get back to your house. If you aren’t back in half an hour, I’m telling my dad to call it in,” Adrianna said. I could tell from her tone that she wasn’t messing around. Her dad wouldn’t be either. I could picture it now, him showing up in his squad car and lecturing me about trespassing on private property. Then my mom would kill me and Mr. Rodriguez would be forced to take her into custody. I shook those thoughts from my mind. Everything will be fine, I reassured myself.

  “I will, I promise. Talk to you soon.”

  Her voice came through the phone again. “Oh, and be careful, Claire. I can’t just pick out a new best friend from a best friend tree, you know.” She paused, letting her words sink in before she spoke again. “Also, make sure you take pictures of anything weird and put everything back exactly how you found it.”

  “I will, and I will. I have to go now,” I said, before hanging up, slipping my phone into my pocket along with an old gift card, and then rushing to grab my sneakers. I held them in my hands as I tiptoed into the hallway, descending the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. Luckily for me, the bathroom door was closed and the shower was running. I thought I was going to have to sneak out or give Mom some lame excuse about leaving something at Ade’s house. Once I got to the door, I slipped my shoes on, unclicked the latch, and ran out into the breezy night.

  The wind rustled the leaves in the trees, and every sound made me feel like my hearing was heightened. The night air was crisp, making the hair on the back of my neck and arms stand on end as I trudged into my backyard, planning to enter David’s house through the back door. The fence separating our yards was small, and I hopped it easily. Memories of a younger me standing at the fence, looking through the chain-links at runaway balls, flooded me. I had lost too many kickballs to this yard out of fear of jumping the fence to retrieve them. Now I was venturing over it for a much more intimidating task.

  The long grass in his backyard came up to my calves, and I was immensely happy I was wearing long jeans. Despite my lack of time, I walked slowly, taking in everything around me. I was scared, and still working up the courage to go inside. The urge to turn around and run back to my house was overwhelming strong, but before I knew it, I was standing at the back door.

  Reaching into my pocket, I pulled the gift card out and went to work sliding it into the doorjamb. It didn’t take long before a small pop sounded and the door creaked open, causing me to wince at the sound. I tried to be quiet, holding my breath as I pushed the door open further; just enough for me to get inside. I didn’t even bother closing the door back, hoping it would make my escape easier. Then I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned on the flashlight, lighting up the kitchen.

  I walked around slowly, gnawing on my lip as I ventured further. My flashlight guided my way, creating ominous shadows all around me. My first plan of action was to go into the basement and see what was really down there, but as I neared the door I began to chicken out. There was a lump in my throat the size of a golfball and I couldn’t swallow correctly. My hand shook as I reached forward to grab the cold, metal doorknob. With my hand resting on the knob, I took a deep breath. There’s no one in here, Claire. Don’t be such a scaredy-cat.

  I gripped the doorknob, twisting it slightly, only to see that it was locked. A sigh of relief escaped my parted lips as I let go and stepped away. I could look for the box labeled photography from the day Mom and I helped David move in instead, and if I still had time afterwards then I could try to find a way into the basement. Turning away, I walked into the living room and then made my way down the hall and into the first bedroom. The room was scarcely set up, only consisting of a large bed, a bedside table, and a huge wooden dresser. There was a pair of men’s jeans lying across the bed that made me aware that this was the room I was looking for—David’s bedroom.

  I was hell bent on finding the box of his photography. He had acted so strangely when I asked to see his work that I couldn’t shake the feeling something was off. Stepping into his room hesitantly, I walked slowly toward his bed. There were a few boxes on the ground near the door, but none of them were small enough to be the box I was searching for. My gaze went over everything before I crouched down to look under his bed. I had to take a deep breath before lifting up the dust ruffle because I feared that I would look under the bed and see David’s cold, emotionless eyes staring back at me. I shook the thought from my head and looked under, finding nothing but shoes and open space.

  When I stood back up on wobbly legs, I went to his bedside table. Pulling the top drawer open, I was excited to find the flat, rectangular box I was searching for sitting inside. I pulled it free of the drawer and placed it on top of the table, near the lamp that sat there. Sliding my finger inside, I opened the box, scrunching my face at what was inside—porn magazine after porn magazine. Gross, no wonder he was so jumpy when I asked to see his photography. I lifted up some of the magazines, making sure I wasn’t missing anything. I pulled out the first magazine, which featured a busty blonde on the cover, and jumped backward as something fell out of the pages and onto the ground. My heart jumped in my chest, trying to break through my rib cage. I let out a breathy laugh, feeling silly for being so tense and trying to calm my rapid heartbeat, before I reached down to pick up the picture that had fallen.

  I gripped the small, square polaroid, bringing it closer to my face to get a better look at it. What I saw made my stomach clench. I was surprised I didn’t lose my dinner right on his bedroom floor. My palms began to sweat as my eyes focused on the picture. It was a girl’s face. Her eyes were swollen shut and her face was badly bruised. Despite how horrific the girl looked, the most terrifying part was the number two sloppily carved into the center of her forehead.

  Hurriedly, I placed the magazine on the bed and began flipping through the pages. The first page featured another horrifying picture of a girl’s face. Her eyes were open wide, frozen in fear, and her tongue looked like it was swollen in her mouth. Bile rose in my throat. She had a large number one sliced into her pale forehead. Each page went on like that, ending on the number six. The girl on page six had long, blonde hair hanging over her shoulders, which was matted with blood, and large green eyes. Her small lips were twisted in agony as if she was holding back a scream. My body began to tremble in fear when I realized I had seen this girl before.

  The girl in the picture, with a deeply cut number six on her forehead, was the same girl from the school picture David had shown my mom and me of his daughter. I was also willing to bet that she was the same girl I’d seen that night trying to get away from David.

  Goosebumps rose along every inch of my skin. I didn’t know what was going on, but I did know that I needed to get the hell out of here before David came home and I became the next girl in his book. My blood rushed in my ears as I snapped photos of each girl’s picture before putting everything back as I found it. I didn’t hesitate for a second as I ran from his house, not stopping until I was back inside the safety of my own home with the door locked behind me. I collapsed on the ground near the door, hugging my legs to my chest and willing myself not to cry. Never in my life had I been more afraid than I was at this very moment.

  Chapter E
leven

  Missing

  “Knock, knock,” Adrianna said in a singsong voice as she pushed the door to my room open and entered. She had a huge smile stretched across her face as she dropped her backpack on the ground near my desk chair and walked over to sit on the edge of my bed. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her pink stripe was so faded now that it looked bleached blonde. At the sight of my face, Adrianna paused, staring me down. “What’s wrong?” She asked, knowing instantly something wasn’t right. She could read me like a book.

  I was leaned back against my headboard, hugging my knees to my chest, and trying to think of anything other than the pictures on my phone.

  Adrianna scooted closer, placing her hand on my knee. “Hey, Claire, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

  I raised my eyes to meet her gaze. She looked concerned. Her plucked eyebrows where furrowed and the corners of her mouth were turned downward. Last night, after I got back to my house, I called to tell her that I was home safe and then I hung up, got dressed for bed, and went to sleep in my mom’s room with her. This morning I woke up complaining that I didn’t feel well, so Mom called me out of school to let me rest for the day. Adrianna had texted asking where I was, but my only response was asking if she would bring me the homework from class today. I had been sitting in bed like this all day long, consumed by my thoughts and the growing fear of the man living next door.

  I finally found my voice. “I found something last night.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  “It’s bad, Ade,” I mumbled, standing from my bed. I crossed the room, grabbing my phone from on top of my dresser. I had wanted it as far away from me as possible. I walked back over to Adrianna as I opened up my photos to the first picture. Once I was standing in front of her, I shoved the phone into her hands, feeling dirty for just holding it.

  Adrianna tilted her head down and stared at the image on the screen. Her mouth twisted in disgust. I flicked my finger against the screen, going through the other five photos. Adrianna’s face paled.

  “I told you it was bad,” I said, staring at the horror on her usually chipper face.

  “Bad? This isn’t bad, Claire, this is repulsive.” She shook the phone in her fist as she asked, “Where did you find these?”

  I took a seat next to her, avoiding her eyes as I answered. “In a drawer in his bedside table. They were stuck into a porn magazine.” I flicked my eyes over to her.

  She gagged, scrunching her face up. “Ew, he’s a pervert. No, worse. He’s psychotic.” She handed my phone back to me. “You were right, Claire.”

  Her words caused me to shift uncomfortably. Normally I would do a backflip at hearing those words, but this time I just hung my head in shame. I was going to be sick. “I didn’t want to be right.”

  Adrianna turned toward me and patted my thigh in an attempt at comforting me. It didn’t work. I didn’t think anything could make me feel better right now. “I know, babe.”

  We sat in silence for a while, me with my head down and clutching my cell phone, and Adrianna with a thoughtful expression on her tan face. After a few minutes, Adrianna spoke again.

  “We have to do something about this. We have to call the police.”

  My eyebrows leapt to the top of my forehead as my eyes widened. “And say what? That I broke into my neighbor’s house, snooped around, and found his collection of sadistic photographs?” I stood up quickly, turning to pace around the room. Adrianna’s brown eyes followed me as I walked back and forth in front of her.

  “Well, not those exact words, but maybe a rendition of them.” She fixed me with an unwavering stare. She was serious and I knew she wasn’t going to back down from this plan of action. “Claire, don’t be selfish. You getting into trouble for breaking and entering David’s house is miniscule in comparison to the big picture. He hurt these girls!”

  I stopped pacing. Fixing her with a hard stare, I said, “We don’t know that for sure. We can’t just jump to that conclusion. He could just be some pervert who gets off on watching girl’s suffer. That doesn’t mean he’s the one who did it.” Even as I said the words out loud, I didn’t believe them myself. I didn’t know for sure whether David had hurt the girls in the photos, but if he had, then he deserved to go down for it. One thing was for sure; I wanted him to stay as far away from my mom as possible.

  Adrianna shook her head at my statement. “You have to do the right thing, Claire, and the right thing would be to call the police.” She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at me. The accusatory expression on her face made guilt bubble up inside of me.

  Sighing, I threw my hands up into the air. “Fine, you’re right. I can’t worry about myself in a situation like this.”

  Adrianna smirked, obviously pleased that I was seeing things her way, and handed me my phone. “Put it on speaker,” she ordered as I began dialing 911.

  It rang once, before a monotone, woman’s voice answered. “911, what’s your emergency?”

  “Uh, hi,” I began slowly, staring at Adrianna with wide eyes. I should’ve thought this through more. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. While I was having my internal panic attack, Adrianna snatched the phone from me and began speaking.

  “Hello. I’m a concerned neighbor who would like to report a possible crime,” Adrianna stated coolly, holding the phone in front of her face.

  There was the sound of nails clicking on a keyboard as the woman said, “Okay, what’s your location? I’ll transfer you to your local police department.”

  Adrianna gave her my address and after a moment we heard the phone dialing and another woman answered the phone.

  “Clifton Heights police department, how may I help you?”

  “Um, hi. I’m a concerned neighbor who would like to report a possible crime,” Adrianna repeated.

  “Okay, what is your first and last name?” the lady questioned.

  My eyes widened as Adrianna answered her with, “Claire Anderson.” Her flickered to me, taking in my horrified expression before she waved it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

  “What is the phone number you are calling from, in case we get disconnected?”

  Adrianna recited my cell phone number from memory. They continued to go back and forth, the dispatcher collecting details about our location before asking what the nature of the crime was.

  “I have a neighbor who recently moved into the house next door and I’ve witnessed a few odd occurrences.”

  “Odd occurrences, such as?” questioned the officer.

  Adrianna bit her lip, thinking for a second before she said, “Well, I was helping him move into his house and I saw a box that had some disturbing photos inside of it.”

  “What were the nature of these photos, ma’am?”

  “They were headshots of battered girl’s faces.” Adrianna shivered noticeably after speaking.

  I walked over and joined her on the bed, wondering how the dispatcher was going to respond.

  “Were these girl’s minor’s? Was there any nudity in the photos?” she questioned, not even sounding shocked. Her tone remained flat.

  Adrianna shook her head as she said, “The age’s of the girls is unclear, but it’s possible that they are young adults. There was no nudity in any of them.”

  The officer sighed. “Well then, I’m sorry, Miss Anderson, but there really isn’t anything we can do. It’s not a crime to have photos of that nature in your home. We can’t do anything unless we have evidence that a crime was or is about to be committed.”

  Adrianna’s expression dropped. “Okay, thank you for your time.”

  Before they disconnected the call, I yelled, “Wait,” and grabbed the phone from Adrianna’s hand. “Are you still there?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m still on the line.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought it would be necessary to mention that one night I saw David, my neighbor, dragging a struggling girl into his house.”

  The lin
e was silent for a moment, and I heard more typing. “Can you describe the situation you saw?”

  I nodded despite knowing she couldn’t see me. I replayed the events of that night in my head and told her everything, from waking up to the scream to seeing him pulling her inside. When I finished, I was breathless. I hadn’t realized how quickly I was speaking.

  Afterwards, the woman asked for David’s address. “Thank you for the information. An officer will be there to investigate the scene soon. It’s a high priority call, so there will be lights and sirens. Don’t be alarmed.”

  “Are they going to search his house?” Adrianna asked. Her eyes were wide with fright.

  “It depends on what the officer sees and hears that will determine their next course of action. If nothing is found, then they cannot proceed, but if evidence that a crime has been committed is present then they will take action.” There was more tapping as she typed. “Thank you for your call, Miss Anderson. An officer will be there soon.”

  “Thank you,” I replied before disconnecting the call.

  “Wow,” Adrianna sighed. “I can’t believe an officer is coming to investigate his house.”

  “I know,” I murmured. Suddenly, a thought hit me. If David was home he would find out I called the police on him. I knew the officer wouldn’t disclose who had called him in, but David wouldn’t suspect anyone but me. I jumped to my feet; hurrying over to my window to check and make sure that David wasn’t home. To my relief, his car was gone. I just hoped it stayed gone.