Ethan, hey Ethan, can you hear me? I’m scared.

The voice of a child called out to me from within a swirling cloud of dust. As hard as I pressed against the maelstrom, I could not reach inside. The pressure was just too strong.

“I’ll save you one day,” I promised the voice. “You have my word.”

Please. I don’t like this.

“I don’t like it either!” I reassured it, “I am getting closer every time I dream. I think I might break through any night now.”

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

“Sorry BUD, I have to wake up now. Stay strong while I'm away.”

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“Good morning Fluffy,” I gave my favorite stuffed animal a big fat hug and then clonked my alarm clock into submission. Fluffy was a Calico cat, and she was my favorite possession. You see, I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but I have always been afraid of the dark. When I was younger, I would wake my mom and dad up every night and ask them to check under my bed for monsters. I used to hear three distinct voices back then, but once my mom gave me Fluffy, I started to feel better. After that, I only heard one voice – and I had actually become friends with it. Its name was BUD, and it was very nice. Every night I got a little bit closer to rescuing it from that vortex.

Putting Fluffy down carefully, I popped out of my bed and cracked open my window. It was a bright and sunny day. The perfect weather for a jog around the neighborhood.

I slipped into my black athletic shorts, tossed on a t-shirt and flipped my bangs to the side. I had to admit, I looked pretty stylish for someone who just rolled out of bed.

“Morning mom,” I yelled on my way out the door. She nodded back. As always, she was deeply invested in her writing. She was writing some kind of a fictional memoir about an alien and her family. It all seemed pretty ridiculous to me, but it was popular stuff, my mom was ridiculously successful. I just wished that she would pay a little more attention to me. She had always acted a little distant and cold when I was in her presence, despite my best efforts to make her happy.

As I started my morning rounds in our suburban neighborhood, I reflected on all the changes that had happened to my family in recent years. My mom and dad had gotten a divorce. He had started to become a little unhinged and was getting himself wrapped up in strange conspiracy theories. Mom didn’t like that, and so she dumped him. During the summer after the divorce, I spent a couple of weeks at dad’s cabin in Northern Wisconsin, it was a creepy experience. He had invited some unsavory old man to stay there with us. They would spend whole days tinkering in the shed out back without saying a word to me. I hoped that he wasn’t plotting something crazy, but it was definitely a possibility.

Then there was my brother’s situation. All he did was stay inside and play video games. He was a 20-year old who didn’t seem to care about any of the normal things that a 20-year old was supposed to care about – jobs, romance, school, you know, that kind of stuff. I loved Chris, but I worried about him. If I am being honest, he wasn’t really all that good at video gaming either, so I doubted that he would ever become a professional gamer. Which meant he would probably become a total shut-in, which is not something that I wanted for him.

“Ethan,” a friendly face interrupted my jog.

“Hello Mrs. Myrtle.” I smiled and waved at our elderly neighbor. Her son was a Captain in the Air Force, and he and I often talked about military life. I was going to be shipping off to the Air Force Academy in only a couple of months, and I enjoyed getting an inside scoop on my new life from him.

“I hear that you have a big piano recital tonight. Is that true sweetie?”

“I sure do,” I gave her a big thumbs up while I jogged in place, “and I’m even going to be performing my own composition. Are you going to come?”

“I’m afraid that I’m going out of town to see my daughter, but it would be great if you could make a video of it for me.”

“Of course,” I waved at her and began to jog off, “I will put it on VHS.”

I was a little bit nervous about the recital, but I hoped it would go well. I had put so much time into my composition, and this would be my last performance before I graduated high school, so I really didn’t want to mess it up. Just thinking about it made me want to practice some more.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I darted back into our home, flung off my clothes and dove into the shower. The water was cold but refreshing. I had read somewhere that cold showers were supposed to stimulate brain activity, and they definitely seemed to help me concentrate. Although sometimes they gave me headaches.

OUCH. A sudden ice pick sensation poked me in the brain

Hello? Ethan?

What was that? I wondered to myself. Did someone just say hello to me? I clonked myself in the head a few times. I must have been going crazy.

Then, through the shower curtain, I saw a shadow enter the room. Who the hell is that? I thought but didn’t say a peep. Perhaps they hadn’t noticed me, it seemed unlikely, but you never know. I might be able to sneak up on them, I thought.

I heard the faucet turn on, followed by strange gurgling noises. Was this person the same one that had spoken a minute ago? There was only one way to find out. I would have to spring an attack.

I contemplated my options. I could sneak a peek at the person first and risk losing the advantage of surprise, or I could lunge right at them through the shower curtain. It was one of those curtains that is hung on hooks, so there was a risk that I might get entangled in it and hurt myself. Still, I knew that the voice I heard was not my mothers’ or brothers’, so it had to be an intruder. I had to protect my family. Okay Ethan…3…2…1…

“Rawrrr!” I jumped straight through the curtain and attacked the intruder.

“Ethan! What the heck man, you’re naked.” Chris covered his eyes as I plowed right into him.

I burst into laughter at his reaction. It served him right for barging into the bathroom while I was showering.

I yanked a towel off the wall and covered myself. “You can open your eyes now.” I sniggered.

“You jerk.” He gave me a gentle shove. “I don’t want to see that.”

“We used to take baths together when we were little,” I tied my towel in a knot and joined him at the double sink, "so it's not anything you haven't seen before."

“Still.”

“Well you shouldn’t interrupt my shower then, and you especially shouldn’t go making weird robot noises like that, I thought you were an intruder.”

“What are you talking about?” He asked me as we both brushed our teeth.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I spat into the sink and gave him a playful fist bump on the way out, “see you tonight.”

“Tonight? What’s tonight?” He asked as I was on my way out the door.

“Figure it out.” I snapped back at him. If he couldn’t figure it out on his own, then mom would do it for him. There was no way that she would allow him to miss my piano recital. Or, maybe my practicing would jar his memory, assuming that he didn’t have his stupid gaming headphones on like he always did.

And so, I practiced, for a couple of hours or more. I felt like I nailed it. It was a masterwork. My composition about the frontiers of space was going to be a roaring success, I could just feel it.

With my confidence overflowing I kissed my mom goodbye and boarded the express bus to downtown Milwaukee. I would get there, get dressed, and prepare myself mentally for my big performance. Hopefully, my dad would be there too to cheer me on. As I got ready to go up on stage, I peeked out through the curtains, looking for him. Every time I looked, I got more and more depressed. How could he miss such an important event in my life? Didn’t he care?

I wished that Fluffy was with me. I needed something to hug – or someone. My own dad had ignored me and shirked that responsibility. That asshole.

Holding out some desperate hope that my dad was arriving late to the venue, I ran outside into the warm evening air. Perhaps I would catch him on his way in. I looked all around but couldn’t find him. Instead, I saw a gaggle of people, huddling around who else but my mom, the famous author.

I worked my way into the crowd, looking around for my brother, the only other man who could cheer me up in place of my father. I spotted him at the back of the pack, talking with one of his gaming friends. He was wearing one of my old clip-on ties, but despite that, he still looked surprisingly mature. Much better than the ragtag guy who sat at home all day playing video games.

I ran up and gave him a slap on the back, catching him off guard.

“Ethan!” My brother waved his friend off, “Why are you outside? Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

“Have you seen my dad?” I hoped against all odds that he had.

“Not yet, but I’m sure he’s around.”

“Well, if you see him, let me know.” I tried to act okay about it, but I am pretty sure that Chris saw right through me. Even though we were only half-brothers, we were really close. We both knew when the other was feeling glum. It was part of our connection.

“Wait!” Chris grabbed me and turned me towards him. “Your bow tie is crooked.” He knelt down and pretended to fix my bow tie, but I saw through his deception, and I had no intention of stopping his next move. Chris pulled me in close to him and gave me a big hug, the type that I had wanted my father to give me. Thank God for my father in absentia, I thought.

“You’re embarrassing me,” I pushed him back.

“Good luck buddy,” he said, as he fully released me from his grasp and walked into the auditorium.

I couldn’t imagine what I would do if something happened to Chris. My brother really was a genuinely nice and caring guy, and I was certain that he could turn his life around if he really applied himself. Maybe he would get inspired by my music and take up the piano himself – I could dream at least.

With reinvigorated confidence, I made my way backstage and prepared myself. My big moment was almost here, I was set to headline the 3rd and final group of advanced students, and I was ready. All I had to do was wait for my turn.

The 1st year students went first, and boy were they bad. Some of them were so off-key that it wasn’t even funny. I had been like them once, but I had gotten better at the piano through practice and dedication. Perhaps some of them would also get better in time.

Next came the sophomore and junior students. They were much improved. One girl, Judy Harris, a well-known klutz, tripped on stage and almost landed face-first on the piano. I felt really bad for her. That had to be super embarrassing. But I was proud of her for recovering, and actually playing pretty well too. I’m not sure if I could have overcome such a thing.

“Okay, Ethan, you’re up next.” The recital director tapped me on the shoulder.

Confidence, Ethan. You need to be confident. I stood up and walked carefully out onto the stage. The recital hall was packed to the brim with people. My mother and brother sat in the front row, but my dad was still nowhere to be seen. Oh well.

I bowed before the audience and then approached the piano. With a deep breath, I sat down and checked to make sure the keys were in tune. Then I positioned my hands in just the right positions. The auditorium was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

I dropped my fingers down onto the keys and began my composition. But something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

“Ethan!” I heard my dad shouting loudly at me from the audience, Time for you to die, you alien shit." I turned to see what was going on, while still plugging away at the keys using muscle memory.

Chris? Why is Chris running towards me?

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Blood exploded through my brother’s upper chest as the shots hit him one after another. His body limply collapsed on top of me as the next round of gunfire rang out in the hall. I felt bullets splash against his body as he protected me from certain death. There was no time to react. I sat there, covered in my brother's blood, completely helpless and weak.

That’s when I heard them, those two evil voices that had haunted my dreams so many years ago. They were cackling in unison as my brother bled out on top of me. One male, and one female. Both incredibly evil.