It was a quiet summer night and Danny Flynn was home alone. His sixteen-year-old brother, Johnny, was at sleep-away camp, while his parents were out that night to dinner. They had been planning their anniversary for weeks; it seemed to be the only topic of conversation all summer, and Danny was glad that it was finally here. His parents had left him in charge of the house. He was mature for an eleven-year-old and in the eyes of his parents, a good kid; they had no arguments against him being the man of the house for a few hours while they dined out. Danny knew the “home alone” rules: don't leave the house, don’t answer the phone, don’t answer the door, and keep the door locked.  The rules were simple enough for a good, normal child like him to follow. 

That being said, there was a someone else on the block that did not seem good or normal.  Earlier that day, Danny had been riding his bike around the neighborhood when he spotted an unfamiliar boy with pale skin and jet-black hair sticking out from under his raised hood.  He thought it very odd that someone would be walking around on a warm, June afternoon bundled up in a jacket…in South Florida.  The new kid stood on the sidewalk silently.  Danny instantly knew that he was trouble. But, the odd appearance and silent nature of the new kid intrigued Danny; and he instantly came to the conclusion that it was his job to keep his neighborhood safe.

Danny knew that it was against the “home alone” rules to leave the house, let alone wander the neighborhood at night.  But, in his mind, there were questions that needed answers and the only way to get those answers was to investigate.  Ignoring his parents' rules was about the worst thing that Danny had ever done.  Maybe it was the adrenaline rush of disobeying them or from venturing out into the dark moonless night, but being out alone felt good. Danny decided he wanted to look around.  But where would he start?  He had no idea where to find the new kid.  Danny scoured the neighborhood, walking up and down every block finding nothing unusual.  A warm breeze blew some of his light hair out of his face.  He bolted upright as the air around him suddenly went cold.  Danny heard a shuffle of feet and whipped his head around to find the new kid standing behind him. 

“Hello,” said Danny.  “You’re new around here, aren’t you?”  The boy remained silent as he emitted the chilling aura. 

Danny’s eyes were affixed to the dark, dead eyes of the strange new kid. Even though Danny felt very uncomfortable in the boy’s presence, he felt a sudden urge to invite him over.  Danny heard a disembodied voice in his head getting louder and louder pushing him to extend the invitation until he blurted out, “Would you maybe want to come over to my house?”  The boy nodded. Danny turned and started walking toward his home with the silent stranger in tow.

Danny opened the door to the house and walked in while the kid stood like a statue in front of the door.  Danny grew impatient, “Are you coming in or what?”

The words “You haven’t invited me in,” bounced around the inside of his head.

Danny was confused.  He was almost sure that the kid’s lips didn’t move, but then again, it was very dark.

Danny blinked, “Did you say something?”

And once again, there was silence. Did he hear the boy talk, or was it all in his mind?

“Here, let me turn a light on,” and Danny flipped the light switch.

Instantly, the bug zapper hanging near the front door screamed UV light.  The new kid screeched in pain!  Suddenly, Danny felt as if a spell had been lifted from him.  Realizing that he had almost let a stranger into the house, Danny quickly ran inside and slammed the door in the boy’s face.  Danny locked the door and peered out the peephole to see the kid rip the bug zapper from the porch and throw it into the street.  His face was twisted up in rage as he stared back at Danny though the peephole. Danny felt as if the boy was looking into his soul.

A short time later, Danny’s parents came home and sent their appearingly obedient son to bed, not noticing that the bug zapper was now absent.  His parents barely spoke a word to him, before sending him away. Danny climbed the stairs, entered his dark bedroom and slipped into bed. He tossed and turned, waiting for sleep to come. It was a big challenge, since he had a feeling his parents weren’t telling him something.  It turns out he was right.

Danny awoke the next morning and joined his father at the kitchen table for breakfast. His mother made him some cereal and set it onto the table. His father, sitting across from him, was loading up on his pot of coffee, while reading the paper.  Danny’s father then waved over Danny’s mother, his eyes widening. “Look at this.”  Danny got out of his seat and went over as well to see what was so interesting.  Peering over his father’s shoulder, the newspaper headline jumped off the page, “DISAPPEARANCE OF CHILDREN BAFFLE AUTHORITIES.”

Danny read the article on the topic over his father's shoulder, which discussed the possibility of evil cults and ways to protect one’s child. He thought that it was scary that he or his friends could suddenly disappear anytime. Danny’s mind flashed back to the night before and felt a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach. He realized that the new kid was going to be sticking around for awhile. 

The next day, Danny’s father was at work. His wife decided to run a few errands, and Danny had wanted to come along, riding shotgun. So, they both got into the car and left.

Once they were both at the dry cleaner’s, it was already evening. Danny’s mother said she was going to be quick to make it home for dinner. She told Danny to stay in the car and that she would be right back. She left the window rolled down for Danny and locked the car. She then walked into the dry cleaner’s to pick up her fresh shirts.

Danny was waiting patiently for his mother to come back, hoping she took awhile since he did not have much of an appetite for dinner, yet. As Danny was sitting in the front seat, he heard a knocking sound coming from the other side of the car. He turned his head to see a pale hand tapping on the window and dark eyes staring back at him. Immediately, Danny jumped in his seat and gasped.

“W-what are you doing here?” he asked.

Danny got no answer in return, only a tiny voice floating in his head saying, “Let me in there with you.”

Danny turned away from the strange boy, closing his eyes. He wasn’t really there; it was just in his head. He then slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the car’s rearview mirror to see the boy, who was supposed to be outside, sitting right behind him.

Danny screamed and looked away, fighting the urge to look back and fall under the boy’s spell again. All he could think of is deadly eyes staring at him, watching his every move.

And then he woke up to see his mother driving the car, next to him.

Danny hadn’t been eating much the last few days. He sat at the dining table, playing with his food. He didn’t feel well and could not make himself eat, and every time he tried he would begin to feel sick. Danny gave up on trying to eat and excused himself from the table. His mother asked, “Are you feeling alright? Let me see.”  She lifted a delicate hand to his forehead, “No fever.”

“I’m not sick, Mom, I’m just feeling really tired.”

“Maybe, you should lie down for a while,” his mother replied.

Danny slowly walked up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom.  He heard a weird noise that stopped him in his tracks.  It was an eerie vibrating sound that seemed to be coming from somewhere in the hall. The sound stopped as quickly as it had started. Danny was too exhausted to investigate and wanted nothing more than to be in his warm bed. Without bothering to change into his pajamas, he dove into the covers. He was close to falling asleep when a bright light burst through his window. He instantly sat up, and looked out the window where he saw two white lights floating on the other side of the glass. The lights changed to an intense red and then slowly turned black. Then, they were gone. Danny’s brain instantly thought back to the new kid’s mysteriously vacant eyes. He shook his head and convinced himself that he was imagining things. Probably just hallucinating because he was ill. He pulled the sheets over his head and prayed that sleep would come quickly.

Danny was not hallucinating. As he slept, the dark eyes blinked. The bedroom window opened, and the eyes entered the room along with a pair of pale arms and legs. The new boy quietly approached Danny’s bed and stood over the good kid, examining him as he slept. He looked at the picture frame on the nightstand.  It contained a picture of Danny, his brother, and his parents. The new kid's lips twitched upwards, curving into a smirk. He turned back to Danny and his expression vanished altogether. He touched Danny’s head, closed his dead eyes, and faded away into the shadows of the room. The picture frame fell off the nightstand and cracked when it hit the floor. Danny moaned in his sleep, his eyes rapidly moving beneath the lids. He began to have  a nightmare, unaware one had already occurred in his bedroom.

The next morning, Danny woke with a headache and a sore neck. He attributed that to sleeping in a weird position, once he noticed that his body was twisted in his sheets. He glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand, only to see that the picture frame was no longer next to the small clock. Danny glanced downwards and saw  the picture frame lying there, broken on the floor. There was a long crack on it, separating him from the rest of his family in the photo. Danny stared at the frame for a bit, trying to remember if he accidentally knocked it off the shelf in his sleep. His head and neck were too sore to give this thought any more consideration.  Danny gingerly got out of bed and rubbed his neck trying to get the cricks out as he walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth. 

He opened the medicine cabinet, grabbed his toothbrush, and loaded the paste onto it. He then looked at the bathroom mirror. Danny screamed as the toothbrush fell to the floor.

He stared into the deep dark abysses that were now his eyes.