(Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash)
“I knew there was some shady shit going on!” Brady yelled. A weight had been lifted off his shoulders, knowing there had been something going on to explain what had been happening to our parents. Although I could honestly say I didn’t know what to make of this, or how this could help us figure out our parents’ uncontrollable shakes and zone-outs.
Ryanne shot him a dirty look at his cursing.
Brady shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, no one is here. Besides, it’s not like my parents have been able to do much parenting these past few weeks.”
I couldn’t argue with him on that. My parents seemed to have a while before the catatonic state would kick in, but I didn’t want to wait around for that to happen.
“So, what now?” I asked. The rows of computers and weird diorama did nothing to tell us how to fix this, just added more confusion.
Brady tapped his finger on his chin, a blank look on his face. “Well, they’re obviously watching us…”
“Duh, Sherlock.” Ryanne interrupted.
Brady’s head whipped over to Ryanne, a scowl on his face. We were growing tired of one another, sick of what felt like a never-ending mystery plaguing the streets of Stillard.
“Just let me finish what I was going to say,” Brady muttered under his breath. “So, we need to give them a taste of their own medicine.” He finished proudly.
Ryanne and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Brady sighed, throwing his hands in the air. “Isn’t it obvious? We need to watch them back!”
“What will that solve?” Ryanne asked.
“Maybe there is something they’re spraying in our parents’ bedroom vents at night, or maybe our parents are chipped or something that’s making them do this. Does anyone have a camera?”
“There’s an old Ring camera in the garage, maybe I can set it up in the corner of my parents’ room?”
“Yes! Do that, but tilt it up at the vents. I bet there’s some odd mist coming out of those vents.”
We all nodded in agreement with the plan. After using our shirts to wipe off any potential fingerprints we could’ve left, we headed up the long stairwell, huffing as we made it to the top. We ended up in the tiny backyard of the model home and lifted a small patch of grass to escape the underground lair. Brady kept commenting about how that couldn’t have been a coincidence and how we should check out the model home if this plan comes up with nothing.
But I hoped we’d get some answers before it came to that. I was tired of running around while my parents had no clue what was happening.
We parted ways soon after, and I rummaged through the garage to find the old Ring camera. I charged it up while my parents made dinner, and I scarfed the chicken and potatoes to set it up in their room while they cleaned up. There was a chair in the corner of their room that also served as their makeshift hamper, so I stashed it in the pile of dirty clothes. I took a step back, inspecting the placement to make sure they couldn’t see the camera, when my dad silently appeared at the doorframe.
“What are you doing up in here?” He asked, his head tilted as he stared at me.
I gulped, hoping I could pull out a lie that didn’t give me away. “I was um, I was…” I rambled, trying to come up with something that made sense while his gaze intensified. “I thought I heard a dripping noise, so I came in here to see if I could find it.”
Dad took a few steps inside the room, staring at every inch of the ceiling before redirecting his focus to me.
“Must be hearing things, bud.”
“Guess so.” I chuckled.
“Mom picked out a movie for us all to watch and is making some popcorn, wanna join?”
I nodded with a smile and shoved handfuls of popcorn in my mouth while we watched the movie. Two hours later, we headed to bed. Despite being exhausted from running around this afternoon, I tossed and turned most of the night before finally falling asleep in the early hours of the morning.
My heart raced when I finally woke up, curious if any mist had been caught on the camera. My parents were in the kitchen, so I tiptoed into their room and spotted my mother’s phone on the nightstand. I opened the Ring app to check the footage and scoured through the seven hours of it. There was no mist in the video, nothing. Disappointment filled me as I checked all the way until 4 a.m. Surely something would’ve happened by then, right? I contemplated putting the phone back, telling Ryanne and Brady that the theory was incorrect, until a flash of movement on the lower part of the screen caught my eye. While I had tilted the camera up to the vents, you could still see my parents’ heads. My parents were lying on their sides, facing one another as they slept soundly. I zoomed in, wondering what the movement was, and then my heart stopped. The flash of movement was… me?
My mouth went dry as I watched myself hover over them, putting something on the back of their necks. I don’t remember doing this. What if there was no mysterious mist? What if I am somehow causing their episodes?