Kids

I have to tell someone about it. I can't keep it in any longer. Maybe if I do, I can meet other people that might have experienced the same thing. My wife asked me not to do this, but I have to. It's been almost two years and we're away from all of the places its happened, but I won't disclose too much information about it so maybe I'll never have to meet them again. I know others have seen them, but I don't know if they've survived them. I just want to forget about all of this. No more fright or terror.

The Pasta
In the Spring of 2010 I was comfortably living in a suburban neighborhood. I had been teaching at a nearby middle school that I had gone to as a kid, and the suburbs were the closest housing options available. I don't usually prefer suburbs, but I found out that one of the tutors at the school was my middle school friend and crush Jade. She had been living in the same suburbs that I had been. I had made a few friends in the neighborhood but I was most excited about Jade. We both remembered each other and instantly began talking again when she told me that she lived only a block away from me and that I should come over sometime. I smiled and agreed, so we set a date for that following Saturday.

Against my hopes however, Jade was still in touch with her old girlfriend from middle school, Sandra. I always knew that Sandra liked me back in middle school (mostly because Jade told me about her confession) and I was slightly disappointed because I was still interested in Jade. Not that I didn't like Sandra, it's just that Jade and I had more in common. However, contrary to my initial outlook on that night, it went surprisingly well. We all played board games and caught up the whole night, and by the end of the night I had asked Jade out to dinner to which she accepted.

The following Tuesday Jade and I went out to a local Italian diner since one of the things we had in common was our liking to Italian meals. At dinner we shared some laughs, interesting and fun conversation, great food and even some hand-holding. At some point in that night the topic of Sandra was brought up. I had wondered why Jade would bring up Sandra at dinner, even now I don't remember how she was brought up, but Jade seemed concerned about her so I knew it was serious.

"Sandra's been telling me about these.. people. Kids, actually. Every day when we're on the phone at some point she tells me that they're 'watching her'. It's just two teenagers, but she seems awfully paranoid about them."

I responded with a light joke to brighten up the mood, but Jade seemed thoroughly concerned though she had been clearly putting this out of her mind. I comforted her and we both decided to get back into a good mood and just enjoy ourselves. At the end of the night I walked her back to her house and I confessed my middle school crush to her and she kissed me on the doorstep before saying goodnight. The following night I received a call from Jade. "Hey, sorry but I have a favor to ask you. My phone's going a little out of whack and I just barely managed to get in touch with you but can you call Sandra and let her know that I'll be at her house in about fifteen to twenty minutes?" I agreed, and I proceeded to call Sandra but before I got the chance Sandra started calling me! When I picked up the phone it was silent for a few moments before I let out few words.

"Hello, Sandra? You there?"

To my surprise, a teenage male voice answered. "Oh, she's not here." Strange. I never heard that Sandra had a kid. "We're using her phone. Are you looking for her?" We're? Two kids? The kid's voice sounded strange, almost devoid of emotion or tone. I stumbled over my words. "Y-Yeah, I'm looking for her. Where is she?" The kid's voice grew to an overly innocent tone. "I dunno, have YOU seen her?" I started to lose my patience a little bit. "No, I haven't seen her or I wouldn't be asking! Where is she, and why do you have her phone?" A sudden feeling of dread swept over me after I completed that statement.

The kid's voice turned to a serious and foreboding tone. "GET OFF OF THE PHONE." It startled me considerably, so I frantically hung up. I quickly tried calling Jade again to tell her not to go to Sandra's house and to call 911 there since I didn't know where it was, but then Jade's sentence hit my memory all too clearly. "My phone's going out of whack right now and I just barely managed to get in touch with you." I started pacing back and forth for the next few minutes before laying down to relax.

About a half an hour later, there was a ring at my doorbell. It was Jade, and she was asking if she could come in. I welcomed her inside but she seemed upset. "Sandra wasn't at her house. I don't know where she is. I tried using her house phone to call her but I got a message telling me her phone was out of service. I'm scared." I decided not tell her my experience with the kids tonight, as she was already frightened so I gave her a blanket and sat down on the couch with her, and we watched TV together for hours until we fell asleep together.

Life continued on for a little while, and Jade and I had began a relationship together. Things were going well and Jade had recently moved in with me, and we were both settling down together. It was in the Fall of 2010 that that all changed. Someone had gone missing again. No one that I knew personally, but it was worrying both Jade and I. She started to drive herself crazy with the possibilities of Sandra's disappearance again. And then, one day they were there. I had been settling in my house after a long day at work and Jade needed to stay longer to tutor to which I took the opportunity to look up places to dine at for a special surprise I had planned for Jade.

I was looking for nearby dining near our house on the computer when I suddenly felt as if I was being watched. One of the window curtains of the house was slid off to the side a little, just enough so that I could see the figures of two teenagers standing on my lawn, looking right at me. One had long, brown hair and the other was wearing a hoodie over his face. I noticed something strange about the kid that had his face revealed, though. His eyes were pitch black. No iris, just black pupils.

I quickly closed the curtain in shock when I remembered that Jade would be coming home any minute. I panicked and tried calling her but I heard her already parking in the driveway. I rushed out the front door as she was suspiciously eying the teenagers. We tried to ignore them together but before we went inside the house, we heard one of the kid's voices, almost devoid of emotion or tone. "Mister, Miss? Can we use your phone?" Then the other spoke. "I'm thirsty, can you let me inside for a glass of water?" I instantly recognized the first voice before pushing Jade and I both inside and locking the front door. After we were both inside, I locked both the doorknob and deadbolt. Almost immediately afterward, there was a loud knocking at the door.

"Sir, let us in! We only want your phone and water! We're not going to hurt you!" After more silence, the boy who speaks most often began to get more and more agitated. He started to plead before getting angry, and we were left to wonder: why couldn't anyone else seemingly hear this? The boy's voice deepened, and eventually turned into a frantic and horrifying howling of sorts. We kept hearing it as he banged against our door for about half a minute before silence. Jade was terrified and I was a mix of both shocked and terrified. Why was the boy, or whatever it was, so angry? Maybe because everyone turns them down? But, Sandra.. they got Sandra. I can't ever let them in.

The following days were similar, and the we could still sometimes spot the kids across the street or in the road, though they were never directly staring at us, which was a little comforting. After a few days, I finally told Jade my experience. She seemed thoroughly angry with me for not telling her about it, but after a few days it subsided. Our lives slowly moved on, and we eventually quit our jobs at the school and moved to another state to stay with Jade's little sister Mary. Mary was a bright young blonde girl that had just turned 19 and was living with her boyfriend. However, she was going through some problems with him and Jade wanted to be there for her, so we planned to stay about a week before finding our own house in the area.

Mary greeted us at the door on that first day, smiling and welcoming us. She and Jade hugged, and Jade had proceeded to introduce her to myself and vice-versa. "Ohhh, so you have a boyfriend now?" She playfully whispered to Jade. "You better be careful, or some other girl is gonna snatch him up! He is kinda cute after all." After we had sat down inside, Mary explained her situation to us and the things she had been going through recently. Nothing too serious, but I could see why Jade wanted to be there for her in this time. We decided not to tell her about our recent issues, in light of being looked at like we were crazy. All three of us got close in those few days, and every morning since the first day, Mary had insisted to make breakfast for us. We went to restaurants, a theater, and we even went hiking the third day we were there! It was really the most fun I had experienced in a long time, and I had been looking forward to the rest of our days there.

On the fourth day we were there, Mary was getting ready to go to relationship counseling, so Jade and I were encouraging her. The plan was for her to be there for an hour, and after that time we'd call her and check on her. If anything went wrong, we'd rush over and help in any way possible. After she headed out, Jade and I relaxed. "I hope everything will go alright." I said. "She's my sister, she'll be fine!" Jade smiled before settling down next to me. Jade and I ate lunch and watched TV for the next hour before we decided to call her.

I picked up the phone and put it on speaker so that we could both talk to Mary. To my surprise, when the other end picked up a familiar voice spoke. "Hey mister, hey miss? My friend's still thirsty."