"NO! NO! LET ME GO!"
You thought you were shouting but all that came out of your cracked & bloody lips were tormented gargles; formless, null sounds that were as pointless as your rampant struggling against the dripping black hands that held you down. At least you thought you were struggling, of course you couldn't be quite sure. You ordered your arms to flail & your legs to kick, but your eyes were covered in a sickly liquid; the only way to tell if you were moving was to see, after all.
"MOMMY! MOMMY, HELP!"
A distorted laugh that reminded you of the woman you called for echoed back & you knew this time you had succeeded in forming words, though they had fallen on apathetic ears. She heard you, she just didn't care.
"DADDY? DADDY, WILL YOU HELP ME, PLEASE!"
You didn't know again if your lips had even moved; no response was made to confirm the sounds you attempted to create. You told yourself he hadn't heard you. You told yourself your mouth just didn't work & daddy didn't know you were in trouble. That was an easier truth to swallow.
"Theo …. THEO!"
The black hand holding your eyes closed slid away. You didn't know where it went but from the corner of your vision, you saw it slink down your neck. You didn't care about that, nor the other grasping, heavy hands pinning you to the floor anymore. You saw your brother now, in the distance. He was waving at you. You couldn't see very well with the black gunk still caked in your eyes, but you think he's smiling.
"THEO! HELP ME! WHERE'S MOMMY? WHERE'S DADDY?"
To answer your question, they appeared at his sides, walking towards him. They smile at you too, you can see their bright eyes & the corners of their lips curled. Their hands fall & grip your brother's – you're sure they'll start walking towards you now, together, & come save you, so you struggle harder. Miraculously, you sever a hand free; your head turns to stare at it, to make sure it's there before you start to aggressively wave it.
"HELP! HURRY! PLEASE!"
You don't know what the black hands have planned for you, but you don't want to see. While you were looking at your hand, your parents had begun to turn away.
What you could make of their faces were now distorted; as they glanced down at your brother, who stubbornly refused to follow them, you saw deformed pixels. You saw something like that once, you dimly recall. On the television you had watched with your brother after school; as you had attempted to change the channel, the screen filled with a mess of blurry colors.
"Those are pixels!"
Theo had informed you.
"I learned that at school! The same thing happened to the TV in the classroom & Teacher said the wiring wasn't right for that channel & that's why all we saw were pixels!"
Those same pixels now filled your parent's faces; swarming, coagulating, eating away at their flesh until they were no longer recognizable. You couldn't scream anymore as you realized they were leaving; all you could do was watch.
"Come, Theo."
Your mother said in such a kind tone, your throat constricted.
"But … Wim …"
Your brother pointed at you; you, the broken child, the defective one, the one soon to be lost to whatever these demonic hands had in store for you.
"He'll be fine, sweetie."
Your father answered this time; his deep voice was calm & reassuring. Why had you never heard him speak that way before?
Your brother looked up with wide eyes that seemed to beg your father of something – you didn't know what the exchange meant but soon your brother raised his hand once more & gave you a final wave.
"Bye bye, Wim."
Your brother called to you before letting his arm drop as he turned around. Suddenly, the arms pulled you down further. You couldn't feel how tightly they ripped at your skin or how disgusting the whirling liquid was. You fought to keep your head above them, wanting to see your brother as he turned away.
"Theo …"
You fought harder.
"The…o…"
From the corner of your eye, you saw a hand reach to cover your vision once more.
"Good … bye…"
"Wim? Wim? Are you awake?"
Your head jolted up as a piercing breath stabbed through your lungs. You blinked; once, twice, before realizing what you looked at now was a door. Your door. You knew it was your door because scratches, the same width as your nails, lined the wood.
"I guess you're asleep…"
That was your brother's voice.
"Th…eo?"
You didn't know why you felt the need to ask, but even as you did, you fell forward & crawled as fast as you could towards the door, eager to see your brother.
"Ah! You're awake!"
Your brother was smiling, you could hear it in his tone. You knew that tone better than anything else. You wanted to smile, too. You figured you were, you had to be.
"Mhmm! Can you come inside for a bit?"
Your little hands pressed against the wood of the door separating you from your brother; your raw knees held you up against it.
"Mmmm …."
Your brother hummed with uncertainty, & you didn't know it, but he glanced behind himself.
"Mommy doesn't know I'm here…"
You knew that meant that he didn't have the key to open the door.
"B-but! I … can sit here with you for a while!"
Were you still smiling? You wanted to. You couldn't swallow so you assumed your throat was tight & breathing seemed a bit more difficult than usual so you knew your chest was heavy, but you wanted to smile anyway. Because your brother was there; right there, on the other side of the door. He was sitting with you & you wanted to smile about it.
You fell back on your legs, your hands shook against the wooden door. You watched them. You didn't know what it meant.
"Thank you, Theo."
Your voice was quiet; you didn't want it to be. You didn't know why it was. It shook, just like your hands. You didn't want it to. You wanted to sound happy. But you couldn't.
"Th … ank y .. ou…"
Your chin dipped towards your chest & you watched as water fell from your face to the floor. What did it mean?