A Visit from a Dark Imposter

The trees of the forest holler an eerie whistle as the sharp, brisk wind cuts through everything in its path. A crow lands on a nearby branch overlooking the small clearing carved out by fate. It caws at the fifteen year old boy standing in the center holding a kendama. The handle drips a strange black liquid. The ball is imbedded deep in the eye cavity of some poor soul as the string dangles down its face. Its skin black like burned meat in places where there was still flesh. In other places bare bones coated with black ash and dirt. The fifteen year old boy pants heavily as he stands over the body that was once full of inhuman life. Its hair the wispy blonde as it always has been, but the rest of it is wrong. Hiro could see through its lies, and he put an end to it once and for all.

He is out of breath, but he did it.

He destroyed it.

He looks down at the body.

He didn’t destroy him. He destroyed it.

Right?

---

“C’mon, Hiro! Let it go! It’s just a dumb toy!” A young boy about ten years old with baby blue eyes, wispy blonde hair and wearing a plain white shirt with blue jean shorts tugs at an older boy’s sleeve. The young boy’s voice trembles in both fear and desperation. It’s the look in the older boy’s eyes that scares him.

The older boy, Hiro, stands as tall as a tenth grade teenager can. His body in the middle of deciding if it wants to be long and lanky, or short and stocky. His arms and legs want to be tall, but his torso is stuck in his chubby kid years. Hiro’s head, however, had the face of man already. It’s because of his eyes. That’s what other adults would tell Hiro. His eyes hate the world it gazes upon.

Anyone’s eyes would look like Hiro’s eyes if they saw what he did. A mushroom shaped cloud that brings death and fire to an entire city. But Hiro’s mom made sure that she brought him to a place where they could start a new life. A better life.

A survivor. That’s what Hiro calls himself.

His mom isn’t a survivor because she doesn’t hate like he does. She is a refugee. She even married a man with the same white skin that decimated his city. He even gave her the life she always dreamed of in exchange for accepting his son into her family. His name was Jimmy and he was five years younger than Hiro. Hiro was told to always watch over Jimmy, and so he did for the next five years. But Hiro never let himself love this false younger brother. The only thing he loved is the kendama his dad gave him before he left Japan.

And now Jimmy has lost his kendama. Apparently, Jimmy was playing with it near the forest and when he left it unattended a crow came and snatched it up. Probably mistaking the toy for a common tree branch.

Hiro could hear Jimmy’s pleas from inside the house. He came out to see what the problem was and immediately knew what was lost.

Hiro and Jimmy stand near the edge of the forest. Jimmy still tugs at Hiro’s sleeve, begging him not to chase after the crow, but Hiro continues to stare out into the black shadows of the forest. The crow, as if beckoning Hiro, caws three times.

“I’m going after it! You can stay here and continue to cry like a baby or you can help fix your mess! What’s it gonna be Jimmy?!” Hiro’s words are coarse and harsh. Especially the way he says Jimmy. A seething disdain is unmistakable.

“But dad said…” Jimmy begins.

“He is not my dad! He is your dad!” Hiro spits.

Jimmy lowers his head in shame. It’s not the first time he has made this mistake.

“Sorry. MY dad said ‘Don’t let your brother out of sight today and stay out of the forest. Kids have been going missing.’” Jimmy finishes and can tell he has made another mistake. The worst mistake he can make while talking to Hiro.

“You are not my brother! So what YOUR dad said doesn’t apply to me! Can’t look after a brother I don’t have.” Hiro pulls his arm away from Jimmy’s weak grip. Jimmy’s eyes begin to shimmer with tears.

Hiro looks back at Jimmy. He has grown on him over the past couple years when his whining lessened and he became more of a person and less an annoying kid. They have even shared a laugh or two playing with Hiro’s kendama as Hiro told Jimmy stories about growing up in Japan. But that doesn’t change the fact that this stupid kid lost the one thing he loved, and he can’t let that go. He will get his kendama back, even if he has to leave Jimmy alone.

Jimmy is ten now. He has to be able to look out for himself. Hiro had no choice, so maybe now is Jimmy’s moment to become a man.

Hiro turns back towards the forest and says “There comes a time when you just have to man up and face your fears, Jimmy. It’s just a forest. Nothing but trees and animals. I’m not afraid so I’m going.”

But Hiro is afraid. And yet he runs into the forest and hears Jimmy’s small but quick footsteps attempting to catch up to him.

Jimmy calls out “Wait, Hiro! I’m coming too! Wait!”

But Hiro doesn’t wait for Jimmy as the trees of the forest slowly engulf him in darkness.

---

Hiro runs and runs through the dark twisted trees. Following the taunting caws of the crow, Hiro find himself in a small clearing.

The clearing is perfectly circular with a small boulder in the center covered gross brown moss. The trees grow in an odd way so that their canopy still covers the sky except for one tiny hole that shines a grey light down on the boulder.

On the boulder Hiro sees the crow. Its talons clutching his kendama. The crow caws at Hiro and stares into his eyes. Hiro stares back. He swears that this crows eyes have the same eyes as him. Hateful eyes. But what did he do to this crow to make it hate him?

The crow is as still as a shadow and so is Hiro. He doesn’t want to scare it and take off with his kendama. Finally, Hiro takes the first bold step towards the crow. It tilts its head in curiosity and snaps its beak.

“That’s it. Nice and easy. Good bird. Give me my kendama back.” Hiro takes one step at a time. With each step the light shining from above gets a little smaller and smaller until the grey glimmer of light is completely snuffed out just as Hiro reaches out for his kendama.

Hiro’s night vision struggles to adjust. He rapidly blinks as the blackness of the forest assaults his eyes. The darkness is so dense he can’t tell the difference between his eyes being open or closed.

Then a chilling voice freezes Hiro in place.

“H…H…i…ro.” A gravelly high-pitched voice scraps against Hiro’s ear drums like fingernails on a chalk board. Hiro wants to run but the second he heard this voice his limbs stiffened up. He tries to will his legs to move, but a mixture of fear and desperation has gripped them tightly in an agonizing knot.

Hiro can feel the familiar wooden handle at the edge of his fingertips. Just a couple more centimeters and he can grab it then hopefully run away from whatever is here with him in the darkness.

“You…can’t…run…from…me…Dad…said…so.” Each word that leaves this things mouth is labored. Like their voice is being controlled by something else. But that voice is a lot clearer and Hiro can recognize it. Its Jimmy’s voice.

The heavy darkness weighs on Hiro’s voice as he barely manages to squeak out “Jimmy?”

“Why…don’t…you…want…to…play…with…me?” The cadence of Jimmy’s voice is growing faster. Whatever is controlling Jimmy is getting stronger.

“Jimmy!! Whatever you are, let him go!” Hiro finds his courage again as he shouts back at the oppressive darkness.

“Why…don’t…you…love me?” Jimmy’s real voice became recognizable for a moment. Hiro knows that he is still trying to fight his enslaver.

“That’s it Jimmy! Fight it! Whatever this thing is, it isn’t as strong as us if we fight it together!” Hiro’s strength returns to him as he can feel the knots in his legs untwist. He can move again. He immediately takes a step towards his kendama and grasps the handle.

The instant Hiro is holding his kendama he hears an ear piercing shriek that fills him with horror and dread.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Hiro cover’s his ears. He can feel the beating of his eardrums until they nearly burst. Hot, wet blood oozes down Hiro’s ears.

“You…don’t…love me! You…don’t…love our family!” Hiro can barely tell the puppet master’s voice from Jimmy’s now. Is this Jimmy talking to him? The real Jimmy?

“No, Jimmy! Don’t let it win! Fight back!” Hiro’s voice wails in the darkness as he desperately tries to reach his brother.

“You don’t love me! You can’t even say it!” The gravelly voice and Jimmy’s voice are indistinguishable now. Perfectly in sync with each other. No one voice stronger than the other. Their goal now shared.

“I DON’T LOVE ANYTHING!!” Hiro wails at the darkness his hands clenched in tight fists. He can feel his own blood trickle down his palms. Are his eyes wide open or shut? Not even Hiro can tell.

“You love that stupid toy more than me!” Jimmy’s voice again. The other voice is weaker.

A glimmer of light shines from above. The dark canopy parting for this single moment. In that instant Hiro can see what’s in front of him. Like a grotesque flash from a Polaroid camera Hiro sees his kendama on the ground, but he also sees something that makes him gag on the spot. Standing barely five feet away a creature about Jimmy’s height. A living nightmare. Not a innocent boy, but a horrific, twisted, dark imitation of one. Its flesh, where it still has flesh, scorched by fire and radiation. Its mouth agape with unhinged jaw, the bone exposed on the left side. Its eyes hollow holes where the eyeballs were disintegrated by heat and agony, and its hair the same wispy blonde.

Whatever this thing is it can’t be him. It can’t be Jimmy. And now that Hiro believes this there is nothing stopping him from doing what he needs to do to be free from this dark creature.

Another flash of light. Hiro can get to the kendama in one quick movement and then use it to kill this monstrous imposter. On the next flash he will go for it. He just needs to survive a few more seconds.

“Hiro! Hiro! Hiro! Doesn’t love anything! Doesn’t love anything! Lies! Lies! Lies! All lies!” Jimmy’s voice and the imposter’s voice maliciously mock Hiro.

“Hiro loves home! His stupid, dumb, ruined home! Lost to fire and ash! Fire and Ash! And a big BOOM! And now he still doesn’t love us! Doesn’t love us! Doesn’t love anything!” Hiro can hear its feet stomp on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. This thing may sound like Jimmy, but its not Jimmy. Jimmy would never mock Hiro for his past. Jimmy is the one person who treated Hiro with admiration. Not pity. Not false cheer. Not unfiltered discontent. Not hate. Admiration from a younger brother. This thing, this dark imposter, isn’t his younger brother. It’s mocking fueling the rage that has been boiling deep down in Hiro all these years later. A rage that can only be quelled by one thing once ignited. Violence.

Finally, a flash of light lingers for a couple extra seconds. Hiro leaps into action. His rage blinds him to everything else. Heart pumping pure adrenaline into his tight, taught burning muscles making him stronger than he ever has been. Strong enough to use a simple kendama toy as a weapon. His love for it transformed by his touch motivated by rage. It no longer brings him the same nostalgic comfort. It only makes him angry. Angry that this is all he has left! His home gone and the world celebrated! How could they celebrate such abhorrent violence!? This place, its people, this thing. They all have one thing in common. They hate Hiro, and Hiro hates them!

With the kendama transformed into a hammer in Hiro’s mind, he lunges at the dark imposter. His strong young healthy body collides with its small, brittle death defied body. It shrieks again. He raises the kendama above its head and its wispy blonde hair sprawls on the ground. Hiro hesitates as the dark imposter uses a perfect imitation of Jimmy’s voice.

“HAHA! HIRO CAN’T DO IT! CAN’T DO IT! CAN’T DESTROY THE ONE THING HE USED TO LOVE! USED TO LOVE! CAN’T LOVE! CAN’T LOVE ANYMORE!” It’s mocking tone degenerates into a low demonic cackle.

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UUUUP!” Hiro’s brings the kendama down on this things face. The ball still attached to the handle. One. Two. Three. Four times the kendama smashes into this things face. Hiro can feel its acidic, sticky, lukewarm blood coat his hand, face and kendama.

“YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER!” Hiro screams defiantly as he brings the kendama down one last time with all his might.

Squelch!

Hiro can feel the ball sink deep into the dark imposter’s eye socket as the body shivers for a moment. Then lays motionless.

He stands back up and pulls at the kendama now stuck in this things head. He tugs at it until the handle snaps off leaving the ball behind.

The trees of the forest holler an eerie whistle as the sharp, brisk wind cuts through everything in its path. A crow lands on a nearby branch overlooking the small clearing carved out by fate. It caws at Hiro standing in the center holding a kendama. The handle drips a strange black liquid. The ball is imbedded deep in the eye cavity of it as the string dangles down its face. Its skin black like burned meat in places where there was still flesh. In other places bare bones coated with black ash and dirt. Hiro pants heavily as he stands over the body that was once full of inhuman life. Its hair the wispy blonde as it always has been, but the rest of it is wrong. Hiro could see through its lies, and he put an end to it once and for all.

He is out of breath, but he did it.

He destroyed it.

He looks down at the body.

He didn’t destroy him. He destroyed it.

Right?

“Hiro?! Hiro!? Where are you? It’s dark and scary in here! Are you okay? I heard you screaming.” Jimmy’s innocent voice caresses Hiro’s ears like sweet music despite his voice shaking with fear.

Hiro drops the handle of the kendama ruined by rage and violence. He runs towards Jimmy’s voice.

“I’m right here Jimmy and I’m okay. Your big brother is okay”

A light flashes in the distance. Hiro takes off towards it with a rekindled heart, leaving the shattered kendama in the darkness where it belongs.