Sunnyville, for the most part, was a peaceful place to live. No one could explain the utterly ridiculous events that occurred around the Jackson family and, if they weren't a part of it, no one really cared.
It had been at least a month since anything unusual happened. Oliver sat on the living room couch, researching on his PC as his brother, Mike, sat on the floor watching television. Their uncle, Jonah, who they lived with, was upstairs getting ready for an outing that night. This had become a regular thing for him. Ever since the boys lost their parents in a plane crash seven years ago, the boys had become his responsibility. However he did a very poor job of handling it. Not to say he didn’t care about his nephews. He did but he was conservative about it. Besides he felt that the boys were old enough to look after themselves with Oliver clocking 14 recently and Mike soon to be 12.
Just then, the power in the house suddenly went off.
A long and somewhat overexerted yell was let out from upstairs. Jonah was clearly annoyed. Oliver grunted in anger as the PC powered off swiftly. Mike slammed his hands on the floor, releasing a series of yells and curses.
"Somebody should get the flashlights fast!" Jonah demanded from the top of the staircase.
Oliver hopped off the couch and to his feet.
He looked down at Mike who wasn't moving anytime soon. An angry look appeared on his face at his brother’s apparent laziness. Due to the dark, his glare had no affect on the twelve year old. Oliver sighed and made his way towards the kitchen. He bent down and opened a drawer, getting two flashlights out.
They only had two. He walked back into the living room and tossed Mike one. Unfortunately, Mike didn't know the flashlight was heading towards his face and with speed. He flew back onto the floor as the flashlight slammed into his nose.
"What the hell, Man?!” Mike groaned in pain as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Oliver shook his head and rolled his green eyes, not caring much of his brother's new found pain. He looked up the staircase for his uncle.
"For goodness sake, what is taking so long?! Has the flashlight developed wings and vanished? ." Jonah yelled from the top.
Oliver sighed and walked up the stairs, holding onto the railing. When he got to the top, he handed his uncle the flashlight.
“Took you long enough.” The older man mumbled.
‘You’re welcome.’ Oliver thought as a sarcastic look crossed his face. Again it was fruitless, as his uncle couldn’t see it.
Suddenly, a piercing scream was heard from the living room, startling the both of them.
“What the hell..” Jonah began.
Just then, the lights suddenly came back on, cutting him off. Oliver's eyes widened. Not at what was there but at what wasn't there. Or rather, who wasn’t there.
Mike was gone.
Jonah walked down the stairs with Oliver, uncertain as to what just happened. Oliver picked up the flashlight he had given his brother not too long ago.
"Where is your brother?" Jonah asked as he scanned the living room.
Oliver looked down at the flashlight then looked over at his uncle.
"I don't know." He replied, glancing around the room.
"He's probably just hiding. You know, trying to scare us? It’s definitely one of those stupid pranks of his." Jonah tried to remain calm but his voice became shaky.
"Mike! You better not be trying to scare us! I don’t have time for this!" He warned as his eyes darted around the living room.
Oliver said nothing as he tried to access the situation. He knew his brother was fond of playing childish and silly pranks at the detriment of people, particularly his uncle, but there was something about this that felt off. The way Mike had screamed, then the lights suddenly coming back on and finally Mike’s sudden disappearance. This didn’t feel right. Mike was in great peril
Oliver didn't wait for Jonah to come to terms with the fact that something really happened to Mike. He ran off and searched the entire house up and down for him. When there was no clear sign of his brother or even so much as a trail to where he had gone, Oliver decided to advance his search outside.
First, he checked the garage. It was rather dark inside. Oliver tried to turn on the lights but to no avail. He was getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach now. He ran his hand through his hair, squinted and moved around the garage, but there was still no sign of Mike. He sighed lowly to himself hoping his brother was just playing around but somehow knew that he wasn't. He knew something must have happened to him.
He turned to leave but was stopped by someone's presence.
"Hey, Oliver."
Oliver flinched momentarily, but his body loosened up however, when he realized it was only his neighbor, Rachel Carson. The blonde 14 year old stared at him as her blue eyes reflected inquisitiveness and concern.
"Is everything okay? You look tense." She tilted her head sideways.
"No, everything is not okay.” Oliver sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Mike's missing." .
"M..M..missing?" Rachel stuttered as her eyes went wide in shock.
Oliver nodded, walking out of the garage. Rachel followed closely behind him.
"What do you mean missing? Is he okay?" She asked.
Oliver glanced over at her.
"If he's missing, how would I know if he was okay?" He stated in irritation.
"Oh.” Rachel lowered her eyes to the ground. “So what are you going to do?"
Oliver stopped walking and turned to her.
"Find him." He replied, narrowing his eyes.
He went to walk away then paused as a thought crossed his mind.
"Rachel…"
Rachel who was now scared out of her mind looked up at him.
"Yeah?"
Oliver turned back over to her. "Did your house lose power today?"
“No.” She blinked and shook her head. “Why?"
Oliver's eyes narrowed then he walked away.
"Just wondering." He muttered
Rachel ran after him, "Wait! I want to help."
She caught up to him and walked beside him.
"This could get dangerous." He faced her with a glare. "You would just slow me down."
Olivia looked hurt but she didn't stop walking.
" No, I won’t.” She said. “If anything happens, I can scream real loud or run for help. And I'll try not to talk too much."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Am I supposed to believe that last sentence?” He said. Rachel was one of his very few friends in his circle and he was able to tolerate her to her extent. However, the one attribute he disliked was her talkativeness. She could run her mouth for an hour non-stop. Oliver wondered why she wanted to become a zoologist. If anything, she was better suited to work as a host for a talk show. Her talents would definitely be needed there.
“I won’t talk too much.” She asserted with a smile. "Let's just pretend this is hide and seek."
Oliver rolled his eyes and looked ahead. As much as he disliked any childish games, maybe he could go with it. Maybe pretending it was a game could be beneficial. It would keep his fear in check and keep him level headed. He nodded, finding himself agreeing with her.
Hide and seek it is then.
The duo spent a while looking for Mike. They spoke to all the residents . No one heard from nor saw Mike that night. Rachel was starting to get worried as was Josh. But he kept his head cool trying to think everything through, rationally.
"Are you sure you checked the house well?" Rachel asked.
Oliver eyed her. "What are you implying?"
She shrugged.
"Maybe hide and seek just isn't your thing, Oliver. Let me give it a try." She smiled a bit.
"I don't see the harm in it." He shrugged.
Her smile widened as he sighed and brought her back to his house. When they got to the house, Jonah wasn't home.
Oliver tensed up for a moment then cooled down, remembering that his uncle had gone out for the night. He grunted at the thought of his uncle’s selfishness and slammed the door behind them, causing Rachel to jump up.
Oliver mumbled and walked further into the house.
"Okay, so where did you last see him?" Rachel asked.
Oliver walked over to the exact spot where Mike had been standing the last time he saw him. He explained exactly what happened earlier that day with impeccable detail. Rachel rubbed her chin during the entire story. When Oliver was done, she began looking around. She searched obvious areas then she looked in places that were beyond odd. She opened the refrigerator door and looked inside. She walked into the bathroom and checked the shower.
Oliver raised his eyebrows then shook his head.
"Rachel, what are you doing? Why would Mike be in any of those places?" His annoyed tone stopped her from looking any further.
She turned to him and folded her arms.
"Sometimes you have to think outside the box, Oliver." She quipped,
"I do think outside the box." He retorted.
"No you don't or you would have looked in the fridge!"
Oliver snorted in annoyance and walked back into the living room.
"This is ridiculous." He muttered.
Rachel followed him and put her hand on his shoulder. His jade eyes shot up and glanced to the side at her.
"Don't worry. we'll find him." She smiled at him.
He made to reply when, from across the street, the lights in Rachel's house caught his attention.
“Hold on just a moment.” He raised an index finger.
He walked over to the window and stared intently at her house. Rachel walked over to him as well to see what suddenly caught his eye. When she looked over, her eyes grew large from the sight.
The lights in just her room were flickering on and off. Oliver's once shocked eyes dulled down into that of a sharp glare. He darted out of the house and ran to Rachel's house.
“Oliver!” Rachel called after him and followed.
However, he was quicker than she was. He opened the gate and kicked down the front door startling Rachel's mother, who was cooking dinner in the kitchen.
"Oliver?!" Mrs Carson cried out, putting a hand to her chest to steady her breathing.
Oliver did not respond. He looked upstairs as Rachel finally made it to the house. She looked over at him as made his way up the stairs.
"Rachel! What's going on?! What is all this?" Her mother demanded, folding her arms.
"I..I don't know, Mum." Rachel replied as she followed after Oliver. "We're …well.. searching"
Mrs Carson looked over at her now broken door.
"Does this search call for breaking doors as well?" She asked in an upset tone.
However, she got no answer as her daughter had disappeared out of sight. Mumbling in frustration, she picked up the door and placed it by the side of the entrance. This was her husband’s problem now.
Upstairs, Oliver grabbed the door knob to Rachel's room.
"W..wait." She said hesitantly.
Oliver looked over at her,
"Stay out here." His stern voice was enough to give her chills.
Oliver turned his attention back to the door and stared at it intently. In every single horror movie known to man, when someone opened a door, something was always behind it. And that something was always bad.
Rachel watched as he took a deep breath, stretched his hands towards the door and slowly opened it. Once the door was fully opened, the lights went completely off. Rachel gasped: A sound that nearly caused Oliver to jump, but he didn't. He glanced around the room, walking inside. He reached over and flicked the light switch on and to his surprise, it worked. However, the room lit up to reveal something disturbing. Rachel's eyes widened as did Oliver's.
Hanging from the ceiling fan with a black shoe lace wrapped around her small neck was Rachel’s childhood old doll, Tanya. She spun around slowly. The beads which made up her eyes were gauged out. Thumb-tacked to her body was a note.
Rachel's eyes watered as she was about to let out a loud scream, but Oliver flashed her a quick glare. She covered her own mouth and released the muffled screech into her small hands. Oliver looked back over at the doll. He walked over to it with caution.
Rachel put her hand out.
"Be careful, Oliver." Her voice cracked.
Oliver stopped below the hanging doll. He untied it and let it drop into his arms, pulling the note off it's body. Rachel stepped into the room and walked over to Oliver, much like a scared puppy. She stayed close to his back, peering over his shoulder and at her doll. Oliver handed the injured doll over before reading the note out loud:
"Your brother stepped on a serpent’s tail.
Whose life would you replace for his?"
