Story Four

Saige was never a fan of being left alone. For as long as she could remember she would be scared of being left by herself. If she was in her room she would yell out for her mom just to make sure she was there. Growing up, Saige would be stuck to her mother like glue walking to school, playing at the park and especially at the local grocery store. Anytime Saige and her mom were there she could feel eyes on her from the stock man. Her mom, being the friendly woman she is, knew everyone’s names at this local mart. The stock boy who always had wandering eyes for Saige was named Ezequiel. Saige remembers the reason why she started becoming scared of Ezequiel in the first place very well. She was seven years old and she was playing with her rainbow bouncy ball. She bounced it against one of the shelves and it rolled away from her. She stopped to make sure her mom was standing still in the aisle so she could go and retrieve it. It has rolled a little too far so she had to turn the corner just a little bit. When she did that…there was Ezequiel… standing there and staring at Saige. Ezequiel was a big man, and he was very tall. His left eye was made of glass and never moved, but Saige could feel it fixated right on her. “Do you want your ball back?” Ezequiel had asked the little frightened child. “Yes please.” Saige shakily answered. The large stock man bounced the ball six times before bringing it to his mouth and began to kiss and lick it slowly before swallowing it whole. “Well now you have to reach down into my tummy to get it.” Ezequiel had said in a very high pitched girly voice, as if he was mimicking Saige. The contrast from his appearance to his voice made him that much more menacing. Saige was frozen in fear until her mom called for her to come back. She ran as quick as she could and never told her mom about what happened.

All these years later, and Saige is now sixteen, she is still terrified of Ezequiel. He has only gotten more terrifying over the years. Saige still holds onto the cart with her mom while they grocery shop. While they are checking out everything at the register closest to the exit, Saige glances up from her phone all the way down at the other end of the store and sees him standing there. Ezequiel, as big, tall and scary as ever is staring right at Saige bouncing a rainbow bouncy ball. She felt her soul leave her body momentarily and the whole mart went still. She could no longer hear drawers with change being jingled or items being scanned…only the sound of the ball hitting the ground. Her mother had to push the cart into Saige’s ankles to get her to snap out of her trance.

Saige and her mom are eating dinner at the dining room table later that evening. Her mother has been so nervous to tell her about her weekend plans all week, but she finally musters up the strength to tell her timid daughter. “Saige…baby…I have a very important business meeting with the firm this weekend and I will be out of town until Sunday night.” Saige begins coughing on her spaghetti and immediately begins to freak out. “What am I supposed to do?! Stay here by myself?! You know I can’t do that Mom! We tried last time you had a business trip and I had to sleep at Gwen’s house. I kept hearing noises in the attic Mom please please don’t go.” Her mother, in a very comforting tone replies “Sweetie… that time you were thirteen. You are much older now! Besides why don’t you just stay at Gwen’s again?” Saige rolls her eyes and crosses her arms before she says “Gwen is in Chicago with her family for winter break. I do not have another friend to stay with. I can’t stay here alone, Mom, please.” A wave of empathy washes over her mother but she has no choice. Ever since Saige’s father passed away five years ago, she is the only source of income and needs to go on this trip. “Honey… I am sorry but you are a big girl now and it is just two nights. You have to be brave and I will call you every hour okay?” Saige begins to cry and goes to her room.

Friday night approaches and all of Saige’s mothers bags are at the front door, packed and ready to be put in the Uber outside. “Now baby…remember… you are going to be okay. I will call you when I get to the airport.” Saige gives her mom a huge hug before she leaves and the door closes behind her. Saige is officially alone for the first time in her life. It is around 10pm and she decides to put her book down that she was reading and watch some TV. She really needed the background noise…the silence was getting to her. As she puts the TV on, right before the screen turns from black to color, she briefly saw a reflection on the television of someone standing behind her. She gasps and quickly looks behind the couch and does not see anything. She tells herself she is just freaking out and texts her mom immediately. Her mom’s messages come up green and will not send. She must be in the sky now flying in the plane. Saige begins to hear the stairs creak and the terror sets in. She turns the TV down and the creaking stops. She waits and looks around before turning the TV back up, and she can faintly hear the creaking begin again. “It’s all in my head. It’s all in my head. It’s all in my head.” Saige keeps telling herself to stay calm and not have a breakdown home all alone. Before she knows it she does not hear the stairs anymore and she lets out a huge sigh of relief.

A few hours have now passed by and it is around two in the morning. Saige bundles up the chips she was eating and turns the TV off. She grabs her book and begins making her way upstairs. She reaches the third step before hearing a loud slam coming from up there. She screams but her body ran up the stairs anyway to investigate. It was as if her body moved while her brain did not have a second to think. She reaches the top of the steps and noticed her attic door string swinging. She thinks there is no way this is happening. Saige calls her mom she quickly answers. “Hi Sweetie! Is everything okay?” Saige trembles and stutters over her words from right below the attic door on the ceiling. “Mom… I think there is s-someone in the a-att-attic.” Saige’s mother, in her most maternal voice responds “Saige…I promise you no one is up there. All the doors were locked okay? You even said so yourself when you called me an hour ago.” Saige could not even think and barely heard what her mom was saying. She decided to take a deep breath and just tell her mom she loves her and is going to bed. It is probably nothing and she is freaking herself out.

Saige climbs into bed and reads two more chapters of her book before turning the night light on, putting the book on her side table and closing her eyes. The alarm clock by her bed goes from saying 3:17am to 4:02am as Saige jolts awake to another loud bang coming from the hallway. She realizes how dark it is in her room. Her night light is not on anymore and she can not see anything. She knows her door is not shut anymore because she notices the silhouette of it against her wall. She begins to shake in her bed and whimper in fear. She then completely tenses up because in that moment she realizes that she had never called her mom to tell her all the doors in the house were locked. She whips her head to the center of the room as she can hear a bouncy ball hit the floor six times at the end of her bed…