The Boy

The Welch Creek was almost invisible in the darkness of midnight, even when one stood within feet of it. The sky was cloudy, and there was no moonlight to shimmer on the waters, but the creek could be heard rushing over the rocks and pebbles.

Bailey Mackenzie stood at the edge of the creek, wishing she had not come in the first place. Cold October weather had set in, and she had tucked her auburn hair under a beanie and into the thick jacket she wore. Shoving her gloved hands into the pockets, she glanced at her companion for this midnight adventure. She might have been comforted at having company if she were not becoming more and more convinced that Kendra Peck was unstable.

Kendra prowled near the creek. Her boots crunched the gravelly banks, and her large gray eyes peered at the creek. She hurried to Bailey's side, though Bailey could only see the silhouette of curls that framed her face.

"I'm telling you, I saw him here," she whispered, though there was no one around to overhear them. "I know I saw him."

Bailey nodded, then remembered she probably couldn't see her response, so she said, "That must have been a shock."

"Yes, yes," replied Kendra earnestly. "I-I couldn't believe it. I don't think he's dead. I think he must have been - he was hurt in the water, and then didn't know what to do, so he picked himself up and - and he's been wandering around all by himself. He's only eight years old and doesn't know what to do." Her tone became calmer, a little embarrassed. "I know you must think I'm crazy, but . . . thanks for coming."

"Losing a student is a terrible thing," said Bailey kindly, "even if you've only been teaching him for a couple of months. But, Kendra, I think he drowned. I don't know what could have happened to his body - "

"But that's just it," exclaimed Kendra. "This creek is shallow. How could his body have floated downstream?"

"I don't know," admitted Bailey. "But if he were alive, wouldn't he have gone to the school? It's right behind us."

She glanced at the school across the grass, its playground faintly visible from where they stood. But the entire school property was fenced in to prevent accidents like Keelan Williams' from happening again.

"He would've come to us first thing, I think," added Bailey.

"Unless he had a concussion from hitting his head on the rocks."

Bailey sighed. She realized that Kendra would not accept her student's death, in which case there was nothing they could do but go home.

"We need to be up early for classes tomorrow," Bailey reminded her. "Teaching is pretty rough when we don't sleep, right?"

Kendra stared at the creek. "I know it's late," she murmured, "but I could've sworn I'd seen him earlier today during recess. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I just had to come out here."

"I understand. But there's nothing to see here."

Kendra looked at her and said, "Do me a favor, will you? Before we leave, just let me shine my flashlight on the water. It'll make me feel better, and then I promise we can leave. Don't tell anyone about this," she added. "I don't want the parents to hear about what I'm doing."

Bailey agreed. "I won't. Go ahead and look."

She followed Kendra closer to the water as she took out her cell phone and turned on the flashlight. Both of them studied the water, and for a few seconds, they saw nothing except the creek glittering under the light. Then Bailey saw it first, movement on the opposite bank.

Bailey quickly whipped out her own cell phone and shone her flashlight in the direction of the movement. It was a boy. In fact, she was sure that it was Keelan Williams. Kendra must have been shocked at first, but now she screamed, "It's him, it's him!"

Bailey was almost joyful, but then the boy waded into the water towards them, and her joy faded into the worst panic she had ever experienced in her life. There was something wrong with the boy, though she could not tell what it was right away. Then she saw that his eye sockets were black, empty. She also saw that his skin was absolutely white, as if he were bloodless. Now she screamed herself, but it was a wordless scream.

"Come to me, come to me," cried Kendra, apparently oblivious to the real condition of Keelan Williams. "Come - "

"He's - He's - " gasped Bailey.

Kendra began to back away, her face horrified. "No. No. No. No, no, no, no - " She dropped her phone.

But Bailey, recovering from the initial shock, refused to believe that the boy coming closer to them, even as they walked backwards away from him, was anything but a real boy. "Who are you?" she yelled. "How dare you scare us like that?"

"He's come for me," whispered Kendra. "He's come for me."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Bailey, turning her face away from the slow-moving figure.

"I raped him."

Bailey swung her flashlight full on Kendra's face, and Kendra winced at the bright light. "You . . . did . . . what?" she said, her voice low and unable to fully believe what she heard.

"But I won't let you ruin my life," Kendra shrieked suddenly. "I'll make sure you stay dead!"

Kendra launched herself at the child, and they hit the ground, their arms and legs tangled together. She hit and punched the child's face, but whatever she did, it seemed ineffective. He continued moving, not hurting her, but not hurt himself either. Finally, Kendra wrenched herself away from him, panting and glaring at him.

Then, Kendra grabbed the child's hair and pulled him along with her down to the creek.

"What are you doing?" shouted Bailey, following them. "Let go of that child!"

But she knew, somehow, that if anything bad happened, it would happen to her colleague and not to the boy. Kendra shoved the boy's head into the water long enough to drown him, but when she pulled his head up, he was drenched but clearly mobile. He reached out and touched her cheek. Kendra flung herself back, shaking.

"Get away from me!" she screamed. "Get away!"

But the boy moved towards her, his hand out, trying to touch her again. Kendra stepped back, but too quickly, and the next thing that Bailey knew, she had slipped on the bank and crashed into the creek. She did not move.

The boy bent over her body, but his back was to Bailey. She could not see what he was doing, but at one point, he turned around to look at her, if empty sockets could be said to look. He was chewing, and blood dribbled from his mouth.

Bailey ran.