Hide & Seek

Chapter 8
Home Sweet Home

Chapter Description: John is home alone after school, but is the house as empty as it seems?

VIII

John looked forward to getting home, having a big glass of milk, and watching some cartoons. John skipped along the footpath a gold star sticker proudly worn on the chest of his aqua polo shirt. He passed littler kids being walked home by their mummies, little five year olds. John knew he wasn’t a little kid, he was a big boy who got to walk home all by himself. He had kept his silly floppy hat on even though the other kids had taken theirs off once they left school. He was already as red as a tomato from playing in the ozone depleted Kiwi sun, despite the generous amount of sunscreen he’d had on. He hoped Abbie would have some solution for his pain when he got home. Maybe she could slather on some lotion to calm the burn like his mummy used to.

After several minutes the crowd of kids in their identical aqua shirts, shorts and bare feet began to thin out until finally it was just him, alone on the street. His trepidation at being all alone began to grow. What if some dog got loose and bit him? He didn’t like being alone, he wanted a grown-up around to keep him safe, even though he was a big boy. John’s skipping turned into an all-out sprint as he hurried to get to the safety of home.

The air inside was sticky with humidity, but there was no blazing sun here, it was quite a relief for John. He headed straight for the kitchen and poured himself a cool, creamy glass of milk. He had hated the stuff since he was eight but now his rejuvenated taste buds found the liquid delicious. John downed the frothy goodness and smacked his lips. It was only then that he noticed he’d spilled a good amount of milk on the counter and dribbled some down the front of his school shirt. John giggled, Abbie would have to wash his shirt tonight, he was such a messy boy.

A strange thud startled John. He couldn’t tell where it came from, but it was definitely inside the house. Perhaps it was just the wind closing a window, or something falling over of its own accord. Nevertheless John’s blood pressure jumped. Suddenly every shadow looked sinister, every sound seemed magnified. He was a big boy, he told himself, he shouldn’t be afraid of silly noises. Right now though, the reality was he was a scared little boy and he wanted his mummy to scare away the monster in his closet.

Another sound echoed through the house, but this one was more distinguishable. It sounded like giggling and it came from upstairs. John stood at the bottom of the stairs and strained his ears. He heard nothing more. Cautiously, John ascended the stairs one at a time, glad that his bare feet made no sound on the carpeted steps. What could be lurking up there? Maybe Rowan and his daddy were home, or maybe Abbie was playing hide and seek. He usually liked that game, but right now he didn’t feel like playing. His big fear was that there was a burglar in the house just waiting to pounce.

John crept over to Rowan’s room and peaked through the door. There was no one there, the room was empty. He let out a sigh of relief, perhaps he was just being stupid and imagining it all. Just as John had decided he was letting his imagination run away with him he became aware of the sound of dripping water coming from the bathroom. He walked to the door and saw that it was open a crack. Pushing it wide open John was shocked to see that the room was all steamy, the mirrors fogged up and the tub was full to the crest with water and bubbles, dripping over the side and pooling on the tile floor. Yet nobody was here either.

John backed out of the bathroom unsure why someone would have left the tub that way. Then, hearing another giggle, he tip-toed down the hall to its source, Abbie’s room. Holding his breath, John turned the knob and stepped into his saviour’s room. And there she was. Abbie was sitting on the floor of her room right in front of him, smiling up at him with a mischievous grin. John was confused as to why she was home so early, he could sense that something was very wrong.

Abbie was sitting there with her legs splayed out in front of her and John could see that her feet were dirty, as though she’d been walking around barefoot. More disturbing though was the fact that her hair was now done up in pig-tails and she was wearing a powder blue top and a printed skirt that looked like something a little girl would wear. The top even had some silly embroidered elephant on it. She was gazing up at him with wide innocent eyes, and it was clear from the silly expression on her face that Abbie wasn’t playing with a full deck right now.

Seeing this adult woman, his caretaker, dressed like a little girl and acting like one made John remember something. He was an adult too! John looked down at himself, his milk-stained primary school shirt, grass-stained shorts and dirty toes and realised that he wasn’t acting like a big boy at all. What had happened to him? Once again he felt as though he was waking from a very vivid dream.

Abbie, meanwhile, had grown impatient waiting for John to say something. “Gueff what?” she demanded suddenly.

John, trying to summon all his brain power to fix the situation, ignored her question. “Abbie, what’s going on here. What’s happened to you?”

But Abbie just pouted and demanded more aggressively, “I said, gueff what!”

Seeing he was getting nowhere, John gave in. “What?”

Abbie flashed him a brilliant smile and announced, “I gots a seekwet!”

John didn’t get it. She clearly hadn’t shrunk, she was still twenty years old physically. What had happened to her mind?

Abbie was pouting again, looking very much like a bossy little girl despite her current size. “You gotta gueff!” she insisted.

“Guess what?”

“What da seekwet is, silly,” she giggled.

“Abbie, this is no time for games! Please, try to focus. What happened to you, when did you start acting like you were a little girl?” he pleaded, knowing how ridiculous he must look, a little boy telling a grown woman to act mature.

Abbie just shook her head playfully, crossing her arms and yelling, “Nuh, uh. You gotta pway or I’ll scweam!”

John shuddered. It was bad enough when a real little girl played this routine, he didn’t want to see what a full grown woman’s lungs were capable of. He decided he’d better distract her. “Abbie, you remember who I am right?”

“Uh huh, course I do. You’re Johnny. You an’ me ?scaped fwom da nursery.”

“So you remember that there are bad people after us, right?”

Abbie nodded solemnly.

“So don’t you remember being a big girl?”

Abbie looked indignant. “But I is a big girl. I ?scaped fwom da nursery silly an’ next year I gets to go to p’imary school with all the big kids. I made my own bubble bath an all.”

John groaned, he was feeling increasingly frustrated with Abbie. He had no idea what had happened to make her this way. Meanwhile Abbie was still proving to John that she was a big girl, raising one of her dirty feet and pointing to it. “Lookit’ I didn’ even sit in da pushchair, your mummy let me walk.”

At the word ?mummy’ Abbie grabbed all John’s attention. “Who did you say let you walk?”

Abbie gasped and covered her mouth, giggling at her mistake. “Oopsie, it was s’possed to be a seekwit.”

John kneeled and grabbed Abbie’s hand, pulling it away from her mouth. “This is important Abbie. Where is Valerie now?”

Abbie seemed surprised by his seriousness and roughness, shrinking away and mumbling, “I ?unno.”

John let go of her hand and instead patted her knee. “It’s okay Abbie. Listen, we need to get out of here now. I think we need to go to the police, there’s no other choice now. Can you come with me to the police station?” he asked.

Abbie simply pouted, so John tried enticing her, telling her, “You can walk there. No pushchair for Abbie.”

In her current mental state Abbie nodded cheerfully at that suggestion. “Okay then, let’s get going,” John announced rising to his feet again.

But Abbie didn’t budge. Scowling up at John she whined, “I wan’ my fairy wings.”

“You’re what?”

“My fairy wings. Dey’s in da baffwoom. Your mummy said I could wear dem after my baff. I wan’ ?em now!”

John sighed in resignation. “Okay, I’ll get them, but then you’ll be a good girl and come with me right?”

Abbie nodded vigorously, “I’m a good girl,” she agreed.

“Okay then, wait here,” John instructed, leaving her to play with the assorted dolls on the floor at her lap. He cringed as she stuck the closest one into her mouth, chewing on it absently. God that was a sorrowful sight, a grown woman reduced to that. At least he had his mind now and with a little luck Abbie would have her mind back soon too.

John slipped back into the steamy bathroom, padding over the wet tiles looking for the wings. Sure enough there they were, laying across the toilet next to what looked like a stuffed elephant discarded on the floor. There was no time to investigate any further, his only goal now was getting Abbie and himself out of this house, it was his turn to play saviour.

As he picked up the wings he heard the most disquieting of sounds, it was the sound of footsteps, but not the slapping of Abbie’s bare feet. It was the clicking of shoes on the tiled bathroom floor. John stood bolt upright, his hair standing on end as he heard the words he most feared.

“Hello Johnny.”