Sissy the Helper

by Kris Shamloo

Copyright © 2020 Kris Shamloo

All rights reserved.

Arrival

David made eye contact with his driver through the rear-view mirror. His cab driver saw this as his cue to open a conversation.

“So think about this,” he said. “In the mirror, you can see the me that I see right now. That’s the me I know.” said the cab driver. “From my perspective, that is the real me,” added the cab driver.

“What do you mean?” asked David, a little annoyed the driver decided to make conversation.

“Before photography and selfies and whatever, you really only saw yourself in the mirror, that was the real you in your mind, no one else saw it though. They saw a different you. One of you was flipped in the mirror, and you saw one version, everyone else saw the other. Which one is real?”

The cab driver gestured with his right hand, his left glued to the steering wheel. He pointed at the mirrors of his car, tracing the lines that the light would bounce to and from his head.

David was even more annoyed with himself now that the driver had said something interesting. He squirmed in his seat from the shame of making blind assumptions about people. “Interesting, I suppose they had paintings though,” said David.

“Oh sure there were ways to see yourself the way others did - but c’mon for the most part most of those old-time people saw their reflections more than anything. How many folks could really get a portrait painting done of em?”

“So which one do you think is the real you? Does it even need to be one or the other?” asked David.

“Who could know that but God, there are little mysteries like that everywhere I think,” said the cab driver.

Please don’t get religious, thought David. He reread the text message from Marianne explaining the situation about Mike’s appendix being in open revolt against the rest of his body.

A new message came in: ‘Thanks again for getting a ride from the airport, Mike’s fine, will stay with him tonight at the hospital. My dad Bill will meet you at the house.’ David stared at his phone for a moment to reconsider how his plans for this week had changed. No more camping, he thought.

He stared out the window on the car ride in. The little New England town crowded around him; the way towns that were built before cars always did. It was equally cozy and shabby. Little restaurants and shops mixed in with chain coffee and cell phone stores. The car turned out of town into the suburbs.

He got out of the car and stood in front of a neat Victorian home. The sight of it was a curious thing. It looked pristine. There was fresh paint that wasn’t peeling. Wood that wasn’t warping. Yet something in his chest told David that if the wind whipped up those old timbers might not be so sturdy. An old shape with a new veneer.

He thanked his driver and headed towards the door. He knocked. The house was tucked in a little horseshoe shaped cluster of hills, making it feel more remote than it really was. A kind looking old man opened the door. “Hello, you must be David,” he said.

David nodded, “Yes sir, you’re Marianne’s father?” David extended his hand. The small man gripped it revealing surprising strength and vigor.

“Mmhmm, William, call me Bill.” Bill beckoned David in and shepherded him up the stairs.

“You’re upstairs - go to the right, you’re the last room on the right.” David nodded and headed up the stairs.

He plopped his bag on the clean but vaguely musty bed. The room was small and neat, with a little vanity near the door. The door across from his was shut. He felt the urge to open it. A bad habit he picked up from a childhood exploring empty buildings with his friends. He let himself take a step towards the shut door before gently pivoting back towards the stairs.

He walked into the living room expecting to find Bill. Bill wasn’t there. He tried the kitchen next, also empty. He meandered through the rest of the first floor exploring the big house and searching for Bill.

The house was empty.

David took another lap just to be sure, Bill was gone. On his third lap David took his time. He cracked open a few of the shut doors, he pried in a few of the cabinets, and took a peek in to some of the drawers.

David sat on one of the stools in the kitchen and checked his phone. A few minutes of slow internet later he decided it would be ok to have a snack. There were two loaves of bread on the counter, each missing a few slices. He wondered which bread would be the least popular - and therefore the best to munch on without permission.

A little motion in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked out the window at the little field behind the house. Something dark had moved in the trees that ringed the field. He didn’t get a good look. He stared in the direction, hoping the deer or whatever would reveal itself. He moved to the dining room to get a better view.

The sound of footsteps broke his gaze.

“Getting a lay of the land? Smart man,” said Bill appearing from nowhere.

David turned and nodded, “Yes sir I was going to have some toast, is that alright? I didn’t eat before the flight.”

Bill smiled, “Of course, but let me help, my first job was flipping burgers at the Corner Diner, I’ll getcha fed.”

That sounded perfect to David, he nestled onto the stool. “Please let me know if I can help, were you in the basement?”

“Yep, just taking care of a chore, lotta work to keep an old house running smoothly. Did Marianne tell you about Mike?”

“An appendix thing right?”

Bill nodded, “They took mine out about forty years ago, you?”

“I’ve still got mine.”

The First Night

David had flown in planning on going camping with Mike for a few days before their mutual friend Alan’s wedding on Saturday. Now his plan was to stay at Mike and Marianne’s New England home until the wedding. He curled up on the small comfy guest bed and fell fast asleep.

He dreamt of the house, walking endless laps around the first floor. From living room to kitchen, from kitchen to dining room, from dining room to the foyer. A slow motion marathon around the staircase. Always the feeling of inevitable disaster. Like a train about to hit something stuck on the tracks. A moment guaranteed to happen that nothing could change. That feeling swelled in his abdomen upon entry into a room. When it became too strong, he went to the next room and repeated. David’s dream self was sure it was his own appendix, and he’d touch his waist to feel if it was tender.

He heard a voice say, “Stay downstairs, it’s perfectly clean up there, stay here please, wouldn’t be proper…”

He woke up. He listened hard for the voice. Was is real or was it in his dream? He wasn’t sure. Was it Bill? It was just above a whisper, but not so far away. David lay awake for a few minutes listening to the silent house. He fell back asleep.

The sun slipped into his room. David sat up and checked his phone. Marianne had texted him that she’d be coming home for a while today and that Mike might also be able to come home that night or the next day.

He stepped into the cast iron bathtub and took a long luxurious shower. Steam fogged up the mirror. When David got out of the shower he wiped a thin slice of the mirror and gazed at his own reflection. He thought about the cab driver.

“Sleep alright?” asked Bill sitting at the kitchen table reading a book. David said that he did and headed to the electric kettle. “I’ll make you a pot of coffee,” said Bill.

“I’m not really a coffee person, how about tea?” replied David.

Bill squinted at David as if briefly stunned by the notion someone didn’t like coffee. “Ah, sure we’ve got tea; black or green? Milk and or sugar?” asked Bill. Bill looked through one of the upper cabinets for a moment before remembering the tea was in the lower cabinet. “Oh right, of course it’s down here,” he said to himself.

“Black with a little milk would be perfect,” said David.

David thanked Bill when the tea was ready. A muffled thud perked both of their attentions. Bill looked a little nervous, “I think something fell over in the basement, excuse me.” Bill headed towards the basement door as David watched with intrigue.

The door itself was paneled to match the walls. David hadn’t realized it was anything of interest at all. Bill pulled it open and headed down, closing the door behind him. The door handle was small and painted to blend in.

How did I miss that? Thought David to himself as he sipped his tea. He felt an incredible urge to follow Bill down there. He smirked realizing what to say. He stood and headed towards the door. There was a slight hint of extra wear near the entrance, he should have noticed it before. David felt the urge to explore and satisfy his curiosity.

He opened the door. The stairs didn’t go straight down, a few steps later they turned ninety degrees. “Hey Bill, need a hand down there sir?”

Bill almost hid the alarm from his voice, “Oh no quite alright, thank you for offering though.” Bill’s footsteps announced his return. David realized his mistake: he should have just gone down and said he wanted to help rather than give Bill a chance to deny him. He’s hiding something down there, thought David.

They each did their best to pretend there wasn’t any tension about the basement as they drank their morning beverages. Bill returned to his coffee and book. David his tea and phone.

Marianne

David sat on the second step of the stairs and donned his wool socks. He laced up his boots and thought about the secret in the basement. The air outside was chilly but he felt snug in his thick sweater and beanie. He walked towards the woods.

Camping with Mike was off the table. He figured a few long and ambling hikes through the woods behind the house would help satisfy his craving for a little more nature.

New England forests are thorny things. They’re old and dignified. Scenting the air to invite you in. Growing and shifting in the corner of your eye; reminding you that you are small and they are formidable. These trees will still be here when I’m gone, thought David.

The forest enveloped him. He marched carefully up the spur of the hill, hoping for a view of the town on the other side and a ridge-line trail to follow to the top. A patch of naked rock gave him a clear view of the old house a half mile away. He wondered if Bill had returned to the basement.

The here-and-there bits of exposed rock formed a passable trail to follow upwards towards the hilltop and the cluster of hills beyond it. Sometimes the clearings would face the town, other times the house. When in the woods David thought of the woods. When in view of the house he thought of the basement.

He decided he needed to go down into the basement when he returned.

He summited the big hill a little after midday, having shed his hat and his thick sweater. He stuffed his warmer outer layer in his backpack, making it look like he was smuggling a pillow.

He sipped on some water, snacked on some nuts, and enjoyed the view.

His progress down was much quicker, he had a better lay of the land and more confidence from his successful venture to the top of the hill. Something odd caught his attention at one of the clearings. He could see the house, the field it sat in, and tree-line opposite from the hillside. A dark thing stood hidden in the trees - a few yards back from the field. David blinked at it, he couldn’t make out any details this far away. A shadowy smudge lurking.

He watched it for a few minutes before deciding to go on. His pace quickened. He was frustrated that the next two scant rocky clearings had no view of the house. Finally, he got another sight line on the house. The shadow was gone.

David made it to the last clearing before the base of the hill and he saw a car pulling up the drive, he guessed it was Marianne. He descended from the spur of the hill and saw the car had parked alongside Bill’s SUV.

Feeling a little like eavesdropping, David gently opened the front door and sat down on the steps. He heard a muffled discussion from the kitchen. “Dad it’ll be fine, just a few days. She won’t” said Marianne.

He couldn’t make out anything else from the conversation. He let the front door shut announcing his return.

Marianne walked towards the front door. “Oh David it’s so good to see you thanks for coming and I’m so sorry about this whole thing.”

David hugged her and said, “No worries, is Mike alright? It was sudden but it’s pretty routine right?”

Marianne nodded, “Yep he’s fine, surgery went fine, he’ll be recovering for at least a couple of weeks but he should be home tomorrow.”

“Dang, poor guy, glad he can get home that fast, he can’t be happy staying at the hospital. Can I go see him?”

Marianne smiled, “Yes! Please do, would you mind bringing him a few things too? I’m sure he’d be glad to see you.”

Mike

David took Bill’s SUV to the hospital. It smelled vaguely of tobacco, he wondered if Bill was nursing an “I’ve mostly quit” habit.

He went through the rigamarole of parking at the hospital and finding the right room. He knocked at what he hoped was the right door. There wasn’t an answer. He knocked again, louder this time. “Come in,” said a weary voice.

“Hey man, how we doing?” asked David.

“Hey dude, sorry I’m laid up like this, I’m alright.”

David smiled, “You look miserable, I brought you some things.” David held up the bag of essentials. Mike took the bag and set it on the edge of the bed.

“Thank you, lifesaver.”

“Your place is awesome by the way, it feels really secluded, beautiful house, have you hiked the hills behind it? Great views.”

“Yeah I’ve been up the nearest hill once, nice spot. We really lucked out I think, it’s a very interesting place overall,” answered Mike.

‘Interesting’ rang like a bell in David’s mind. What a strange word to say he thought. He didn’t feel it right to push Mike about it right now. He’d have to wait.

“You think they’ll let you out of here tonight?” asked David.

Mike shook his head no, “Nah, looks like it’s gonna be tomorrow, gonna be taking it slow for couple of weeks. I might miss the wedding.”

“All good, I brought my Nintendo so we can play games instead of hike,” said David cheerily.

Mike smiled at that, “Thanks man, that sounds good.”

They shot the breeze for another hour or so, David did his best to try to get his friend’s mind off of being laid up in a hospital bed.

Marianne arrived with food. She kissed her husband on the forehead and made a pouty face as if her displeasure at his condition ought to hasten his recovery. The three of them ate and talked.

“Oh honey, I found a few old things tucked away in the basement, a nice hand mirror; a pearl necklace that could be real; a silver thing I’m not sure what it is, maybe a brooch; and a few sewing awls - I think they’re still good,”  said Marianne.

“Still good? They don’t make things like they used to…” said Mike.

“I think that’s survivorship bias,” replied Marianne.

“Huh?” asked Mike.

“It’s when you only pay attention to what survived and ignore the huge percentage of stuff that didn’t make it. They probably made just as much junk back then too, only the good stuff survived because it was good stuff.”

“I think I heard about that with World War II bombers,” said David.

“Nerds,” mocked Mike.

“Marianne are you coming back to the house tonight?” asked David.

“Yes, I’m just going to stay here with him a little while longer,” she replied.

David nodded, said his goodbyes, and let the door shut behind him. He stood at the door hoping to hear a clue about whatever was going on in the basement. He couldn’t hear a thing.

The Second Night

David sat in bed scrolling through his phone until the house was quiet enough. He was going down for a snack. He rehearsed the excuse in his head, ‘Oh hey I was getting a snack and I heard something from the basement.’ That’d be enough to smooth any tensions if he was caught sneaking around, right?

The house and all in it curled up for a chilly night. He let the silence bathe the old New England home for a few minutes. David wiggled his toes in his thick socks excitedly and slinked out of bed.

He glided down the hallway. At the top of the stairs he curled his fingers around the wooden railing and eased his weight onto each step. The stairs softly groaned at his weight, some steps threatening to reveal him. He landed noiselessly on the first floor.

He stood in the kitchen in darkness. His politeness voiced one final concern about pushing the boundaries of his hosts. His curiosity voiced a louder rebuttal. He flicked on the kitchen light, pulled out a loaf of bread, and opened the basement door.

It was less important to be quiet now, if Bill or Marianne protested at his going down there they would be too late. He went down, one hand on the railing. He expected to feel the thin coating of dust on the steps and surfaces typical of a basement. There was no dust; everything was clean. There was a light musty smell in the air.

At the bottom of the stairs he turned on the light, but another one was already on. The basement was partially finished. He stood on an old rug on a hardwood floor that extended to his right. To his left was naked concrete and boxes and other odds and ends. He went to the right.

It was a bedroom. The bed was small, neat, unoccupied, and tucked cozily into the corner. Everything was folded and neatly stowed. David stood over the empty bed. He looked around the room again. “It’s just an extra room?” he wondered.

He scanned the rest of the basement again. Nothing leapt out at him as too unusual or out of place.

“Excuse me sir, who are you? Are you Mister David?” asked an ancient and squeaky voice. David froze for a half second as ice water raced through his spine. He turned towards the voice.

The shock doubled. Before him was a strange and upsetting little creature. It was human shaped but it couldn’t be human. Half his size, dark green and gray mottled skin, a distorted face with too much in some parts and not enough in others. It wore a delicate white nightgown with lace trim.

“Yes, I’m David, I... hello,” stammered David.

The little goblin nodded, “Yes, yes Mister William said you had arrived, I had hoped to meet our guest but they’ve explained to me it wouldn’t be proper. I hope this isn’t improper! Oh dear.”

David’s brain rattled. What the hell was going on. Was this real? Was it a dream? Was he meeting an alien? “Who are you?” he asked.

Sissy made a gentle curtsey, “Sissy, at your service Mister David.”

“Nice to meet you Sissy, you already know I’m David. So like, do you live here?”

“Oh of course sir, wouldn’t be much of a housekeeper if I didn’t. Was there anything you needed sir? I was just off to bed.”

David’s brain was operating at full capacity trying to process this real life polite little monster in front of him. To his surprise, something about her felt comforting. He finally managed to assemble some words for Sissy, “No, thank you, good night.” And he slowly walked up the steps, looking back at Sissy as he did. He got around the bend in the staircase and listened. He heard some gentle shuffling.

David made it back to his room. He didn’t sleep.

Who is Sissy?

At first light David went downstairs. He made himself tea and sat at the kitchen table quietly drinking it. He tried staring out the window, but his gaze would swivel over to the basement door. “What is going on here?” he said to himself.

Bill was down first. “Oh, good morning David.” Bill gave him a second look. “You alright?”

“Bill, who is Sissy?”

Bill froze, paused, and let out a sigh, “Ah yes, our curious little housekeeper, honestly we were hoping you wouldn’t even meet her since you and Mike were meant to be camping this week. Well there’s no sense in being coy. Let me just go check on her if you don’t mind, then we can talk. Oh and don’t text or tweet or whatever is on the phones now please.”

David laughed at Bill’s request, “Yes sir, no tweeting.”

Bill went down into the basement. David sipped his tea and mulled over Bill’s reaction. He seemed so calm, like it wasn’t really a big deal. Bill came up a few minutes later and made himself a coffee. He sat down at the kitchen table and looked at David.

“Let me give you the short version,” said Bill.

“Ok,” said David.

“About four months ago Marianne was on a walk in the woods, you know those close-up plant pictures she likes to take. Well she saw this girl dressed in white playing in the distance. Marianne went over to her and it was Sissy.”

“She had no idea who she was or where she came from, she definitely talks like something out of a nineteenth century novel though. Marianne brought her home, we all met her, marveled at her, basically interrogated her - not in a KGB way mind you.”

“Anyway she had no place to go, said she was a ‘quick and deft hand at housework’ - her words mind you. So we sort of just… let her stay and she’s been buzzing about politely cleaning and making herself tea and the like.”

David blinked. He waited for more. “So who is she? What is she?”

Bill shrugged, “No idea, she can’t remember a thing.”

Sissy came up the stairs and greeted them, “Good morning gentlemen, can I make you some tea or bring you some other refreshment?”

Both Bill and David politely declined. David stared.

“Oh and Mister William, sir?” said Sissy beckoning him over. Bill got up and bent down to Sissy’s level. David heard her ask something about “it being proper.”

Bill assured her, “No, no it’s all quite proper now - no trouble.”

Sissy made herself some tea. She could reach the counter but there was a small step stool tucked away that she pulled out to help her get to a more comfortable height. She made her tea, placed it on a saucer on a little tray and left the kitchen.

“Have you told anyone about her?” asked David.

“You’re the first really. We think one of the delivery persons might have seen her.”

David sat quietly thinking about all this. “You know something is up with this right?”

Bill sighed and nodded, “Yes, I suppose.”

Marianne came downstairs. They said their good mornings and Bill continued to look at his daughter. “What’s up Dad?” she asked. Bill leaned towards David and said, “He’s met Sissy, I told him how you found her.”

Marianne’s eyes went wide. “Oh David I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, we thought it would be for the best since she’s so… unique. Since you were coming for camping it didn’t seem difficult to keep it a secret but obviously now with Mike…”

David nodded, “I’m not upset at all, I get it. It’s just a weird situation right?” Sissy walked back into the kitchen with her tea tray and the conversation stopped cold. She moved the step stool to the sink to wash up her things.

“All done Mister William?” she asked pointing at his empty mug of coffee.

“I am, thank you,” he replied. The little goblinesque lady in her white dress and cream white apron whisked the mug away to the sink and began washing up.

“Shall I make you some eggs and toast Missus Marianne?” Marianne answered, “Ye- actually I’ll handle it myself today.” Marianne grabbed some eggs from the lower shelf in the fridge and popped two slices of bread into the toaster oven.

There was a little too much tension in the room for David to stomach. “Sissy have you ever tried coffee?”

“Yes Mister David. I’ve tried some on Mister William’s recommendation and I find it too strong a flavor for my liking,” answered Sissy.

“Ah so you’re more of a tea person? How do you take it?”

“With a splash of milk and sugar sir.”

“Is that how your mother took it too?”

Sissy stopped rinsing the last tea mug to think about that question. “Can’t right remember my mother sir,” she said dreamily.

“Your father? Or any of your family?” probed David.

She finished rinsing the mug and put it on the drying rack. “No sir, sad to say I can’t. Must have had one I suppose? How sad is that, family is so important you know.”

David absorbed every word she said, a little corner of his heart had decided he must figure out what in the world her story was. “I’m sorry for bringing up a sad subject - do you like music? Do you know any songs?”

“Was never too talented in the musical arts sir, but of course I think Maple Leaf Rag is just too fun.”

“Oh interesting I’ve never heard of that, I wonder if I could find it for us.” David searched for the song on his phone and found a cover of it. He turned up the volume on his phone and played it for the kitchen.

Marianne watched nervously. Bill seemed to be lost in the happy piano. Sissy listened carefully. She grinned from ear to ear.

“What a thing to have music come from something that small!” marveled Sissy. The tune seemed to please her. David thought this line of investigation was the way to go for now, but he was worried about pushing Sissy (or the rest of the household) too far too fast. The song wrapped up and David changed the subject from Sissy to Mike. “So is Mike coming home today?”

Marianne’s face showed her relief, “Yes I’m going to get him in about two hours or so, Sissy could you bring some extra linen and a pillow for Mike? He’s going to be mostly on the couch for a few days while he recovers.”

“Yes, Missus Marianne.” Sissy went off to take care of the linens and any other morning chores.

David turned to Marianne and said, “Please don’t worry Marianne, I think this Sissy thing should stay private in your household. I cannot imagine any sort of public attention being good for her - or y’all, at all. But this isn’t normal.”

Bill chimed in, “Now David I think it’s fine if you use that little trick you just did there to learn more about our Sissy, but she’s a sweet thing and I don’t want you to rock the boat too hard on this.”

David made a placating face, “I will be gentle and if I learn anything I will share it with you all. How does Mike feel about it?”

Marianne shrugged, “He was like you at first, now he’s happy for the help - it’s a big house and Sissy is just incredibly helpful with it. Except for the windows, funnily enough. She won’t touch the glass.”

David looked around and gestured at the old but pristine home, “She really is.”

Marianne left to finish her morning routine before getting Mike. Bill did whatever Bill did. Now that she was allowed to work again Sissy flittered through the house tidying up things.

David positioned himself in the sitting room so he could watch Sissy go by. None of it sat right with him. Why were they so accommodating? He wondered. He mulled it over. He had three more days with them to figure it out. Sissy’s appearance was otherworldly. If you looked at her, right at her, she was downright horrific. Something in his brain would always let his gaze drift away from her. As if some aura around her wanted you to only see her in the corner of your eye. Don’t mind me, just the housekeeper coming through.

He surreptitiously snapped a few photos of her with his phone. Even pictures of her seemed to have the same effect, his eyes would drift away from her, towards a smudge on the screen or towards some other innocuous detail in the image.

This strange aura made it difficult to keep track of her. She’d enter one way and wipe down some dust. David’s gaze would wander away from her and so too his mind. Then she’d be gone. The feeling of her was what concerned him the most, she was absolutely neutral. Something so alien should warrant an extreme response. But Sissy felt neutral, she felt like sturdy furniture, just a part of the house. She wasn’t scary, she just was the housekeeper. Maybe every old New England home gets a housekeeping monster and no one bothered to tell him.

David knew Mike well, he knew how incredibly skeptical he was about anything and everything. If Mike could be lulled into a false comfort then David was surely at risk too. He opened his phone and stared at it before checking his notifications. I can’t let myself get complacent, he thought. Sissy walked by, how could I?

The Designated Couch

Marianne led Mike towards the living room couch - which was now neatly covered in extra bedding. Sissy brought him a tray with tea and snacks on it. Mike looked knowingly at David. “Marianne told me you found out on the way home. Honestly, I’m glad. She is such a big help, especially while I’m kinda outta commission.”

David and Mike settled in with some video games while Sissy resumed her chores. She made occasional trips into the living room to check up on Mike. David visited the kitchen for a snack and then repositioned himself close to Mike in the chair adjacent to the couch. “So what do you know about her?”

Mike looked at him, “Who? Oh Sissy?”

“Yeah man.”

Mike had a blank expression “Huh, you know it’s funny, now that I think about it. I was kinda like you, I spent the first few days obsessed with figuring out her deal. I’ve sort of just... decided she is a part of the house now.”

“That is precisely my concern dude, she is not normal. My gut feeling is that she is safe. I assume you agree seeing as she has been here for months. But. There is something to this, something abnormal, and I can’t help but wonder why it seems so easy to overlook that.”

The words washed over Mike like a cold wave. His eyes widened and he looked back at David. He started to sit up but the motion aggravated his shoulder and abdomen. The pain tempered his fervor as quickly as David had been able to conjure it. “Pull on the thread for us, find out what you can,” said Mike.

David nodded, determined to get to the bottom of it. They turned back to the video game. By the time they were finished David’s quest had already slipped his mind.

Marianne, Bill, and David had decided to eat dinner in the living room with Mike. “Drink that whole glass of water,” said Marianne to her husband. Mike was reluctant to invest in more mildly taxing bathroom visits but he obeyed.

Sissy brought in a tray of drinks for them and then tended to Mike. David ignored her as if her presence were completely normal. In the corner of his eye he thought he saw a shadowy figure in the window. He turned towards the window to get a better look but nothing was there. He stood and went to the window. He saw his pale reflection in the glass.

The mystery of that moment had snapped him out of the forgetful spell. He needed a way to remind himself that something unusual was going on. He pulled out his phone and set a timer for fifteen minutes and labeled it ‘Sissy’. “Hey Sissy,” he said.

“Yes, Mister David?” she answered.

“Where did you grow up?”

“Oh right here in town sir.”

“What town?” he asked.

“This one sir,” she said.

“What’s the name of it?” pressed David.

Sissy paused for a moment, “I cannot remember sir.” David leaned down towards her and smiled, “Oh not to worry, we all forget things. How about siblings, have you got any brothers or sisters? I’ve got an older brother, he’s a big pain.”

Sissy nodded enthusiastically, “Oh yes sir! I’ve got a big family, I’ve got a... well I definitely know it’s a big family.”

“Big families can be fun, what have we got for dessert?” he asked. Sissy trot off to the kitchen to bring back a tray of sweets. David made a note in his phone and tapped: doesn’t seem bothered by her own amnesia (maybe she’s lying).

The rest of the group seemed to pay little attention to the exchange. Instead they had some light commentary on which TV show to watch next.

The Timer

They settled on a show, David had heard of it but had never seen it. It was one of Mike and Marianne’s favorites. Seemingly one they bonded over when they were first dating. His mind wandered. Sissy took a few empty cups and plates back into the kitchen.

David recognized one of the actors, “Ah I know him from that robot movie.”

“Yeah this show really launched his career,” said Mike.

Marianne came over to David’s chair with her phone out to show him a photo. They were wearing the outfits of two of the main characters from the show. “Mike and I dressed up as these two for Halloween a few years ago.”

David’s phone started to buzz.

He wondered what it was vibrating for. He scooped it up and stared at the screen. The timer had finished, it was labeled ‘Sissy’. He had forgotten. Sissy walked right through the room two minutes ago to clean up some things. He had forgotten, how on earth had he forgotten.

David stared at his phone in disbelief while it buzzed over and over, prodding him to stop the timer. “You know it’s strange, I felt so determined to figure out what Sissy is when I first met her. She is this absolutely fantastic creature - like something out of a dream or a movie. Begging to be learned about.”

The other three looked at him curiously.

“Now I don’t. Fifteen minutes ago I set a timer to remind myself to keep studying her. I forgot, I forgot in fifteen minutes y’all. Did you all feel the same way? Did you feel that fire to figure out what the heck her story is? Can you even remember?”

They now looked uncomfortable. “David are you feeling alright?” asked Bill.

“Yessir I am, weren’t you curious when you first met her?”

“Sure I suppose, she’s so helpful and polite it just sort of…” answered Bill his voice trailing off into a blank expression. They all knew it. David could see it for a moment in their faces. The look was already fading, the pull of normalcy was gently turning their heads towards the television.

“Hey Sissy!” shouted David.

In a moment she was there. “Yes, Mister David?” she asked, ready to help.

“Could you do me a favor and just sit here for a moment,” David pat the empty chair next to him.

“Oh I wouldn’t want to intrude on the family’s time sir.”

“Please, just for a minute, they don’t mind, honestly,” said David.

“David…” said Mike.

Sissy sat on the edge of the chair, her legs too short to touch the ground. Even now the three of them looked at David, not her. “Ok, have a look, count to ten if you need to, but take your time and really look, and then tell me that at first you weren’t one million percent curious.”

“I was… I really was, but now…” said Marianne faintly.

“Ok. Mike, Bill? Same for you two right?”

Mike grimly nodded.

“Yes, me too.” added Bill.

“Sissy, I was wondering if you had seen anything strange in the forest lately?” asked David.

Sissy looked at him and shook her head, “No, Mister David can’t say I have. Though I tend to stay in the house, so much to be done you know.”

“Just checking, thank you for sitting with us, that will be all. You make an excellent cup of tea by the way, could you make me another one?”

David reset the timer on his phone for another fifteen minutes. “I have to figure this out, I’m worried something is seriously wrong. We all wanted to know, all four of us. Then all four of us forgot. You’re already forgetting now aren’t you?”

The silence was broken by a scene change in the TV show. Mike looked tired and lost in thought. “Man that surgery really took it out of me,” he commented.

“Surgery is tough on the body,” replied Bill.

David looked at the other two men, they had forgotten. Only a minute later and they forgot. Marianne was still with him though. She looked at David and said, “I’d like to know more, it’s nice having her here, she’s so helpful. But maybe you’re right…”

David added to the note in his phone: Something about her makes people forget how alien she is. Keep your timer running as a reminder. Take extra precautions for sleep, make sure you remember when you wake up.

Gathering Data

David followed Sissy around for the next hour, he set the timer to buzz more frequently - he found his mind wandering while she washed a dish or checked Mike’s couch linens. There was always something for her to do. Was the house somehow giving her sufficient work? Was she the cause? Was she inefficient (intentionally or otherwise)?

The note in David’s phone had grown substantially. The repetition of his timer seemed to help him remember. It was a weak feeling, like knowing ‘you should get around to that thing eventually’. A lofty vague intellectual todo, begging to slip out of the mind. Not a sticky emotional one.

He followed Sissy back into the living room where she cleaned up the last of the dessert plates and lingering cups. Mike and Bill had fallen asleep. Marianne held the remote and was watching a show with sleepy eyes. A shadow stood in the window near Mike. There were no features, there was no motion, just an inky presence. It evaporated as soon as David’s gazed swiveled towards it. Unlike Sissy, he felt fear and anxiety from the shadow.

He added to the top of the Sissy note: shadowy figure is concerning, no longer believe it’s just a trick of the eye, is it related to Sissy?

He got pulled into the show Marianne was watching. It was a beautiful cinematic fantasy show he had been meaning to see. “Everyone says this is great,” he commented.

“Yeah it is great, you should check it out if you’re into fantasy,” said Marianne. “It’s my third watch through,” she added.

His timer buzzed - snapping him out of the distraction. He didn’t know where Sissy was.

She yawned and then he did in reply. He was surprised how tired he felt. David decided there was little else to learn from watching Sissy clean house. “Time for bed I think,” he said reluctantly.

Marianne nodded, “Yeah I’d better wake Dad.”

“Mike too?” Asked David, now thinking of the shadowy figure at the window. Would he be safer on the second floor? Would he be safer next to Marianne? Was he even in danger?

“I think we should leave him,” said Marianne. David didn’t want to argue the point, shadowy figures in the corner of your eye weren’t solid enough threats to share with the group.

He opened his phone and set an alarm for two in the morning and another for his actual wakeup time. He gave each alarm a label. The first he wrote: Check Mike, what does Sissy do when we are asleep? The second he wrote: Investigate Sissy, MUST reread your notes. He was terrified of entirely forgetting about his little Sissy investigation.

The Third Night

David’s alarm dragged him awake at that unholy time. He was confused as to why he would torture himself like this. The glaring screen was a little too harsh to read fully. One word caught his attention: Sissy.

Sissy? The sweet little housekeeper? Whatever. He shut off the alarm.

The faintest voice in the back of his head was saying something, it was explaining he should check on his friend. He looked again at the alarm he had just dismissed and sat up. He needed to check Mike and to check Sissy. He wondered why he needed to check the housekeeper, she wasn’t recovering from surgery.

His phone listed the next alarm, it was set to go off hours from now. It mentioned the note he had written. Oh right I took some notes about Sissy. He opened the note and reread it. Lightning shot through his nerves, it all flooded back to him, how could he have forgotten so easily? He set a timer. Is she making me forget?

David crept downstairs as he did the night before. His socked feet silent on the hardwood steps. He went to see Mike first.

The shadowy figure was back. Black as coal and now distinctly humanoid. It stood in the window nearest Mike. David couldn’t see its face but he felt as if its eyes were fixed on Mike. Before it would dissolve as soon as he looked at it. Now it had more persistence. To David’s relief his gaze still had the power to make it vanish; the shadowy figure slowly melted away.

He opened his note and tapped: why does the Shadow Man want Mike?

David checked Mike, he was sleeping soundly. He felt he should have pressed Marianne earlier to wake Mike up and move him upstairs.

His timer buzzed. Sissy! He set it for five minutes - he’d go see what Sissy was doing and then he’d come back and watch over Mike.

As gently as he could he twisted the little basement doorknob. He pulled the door open slowly - stopping when the hinges started to groan. The door was just open wide enough for him to shimmy through. He stepped down into the darkness.

Each step was a deliberation.

A sudden jolt terrified David. A half a moment later he realized it was his phone timer vibrating in his pocket. Maybe he was taking this too slowly, he thought. He reset the timer.

He reached the basement and crept to into her room. There she was. Asleep, in her bed. Wearing a nightgown. Hyperventilating. If it weren’t for the frantic inhalations he would have thought she were sleeping peacefully. He stepped closer.

Something about her skin wasn’t right. Well nothing about Sissy was right, he thought. What he saw shook him. This was different; nothing would convince him now that he wasn’t in the realm of the supernatural.

Her skin rippled and vibrated like a bowl of water set on a music speaker. A small face, or part of a small face, would manifest somewhere on her skin - push from within as if trying to escape, and then fade away. A few seconds later it would reappear in a different spot. The face was in agony.

David stared, horrified.

He felt lightheaded. He felt revulsion. He wanted to puke and he wanted to pass out. He stumbled towards the stairs. He went back up to the kitchen. He didn’t want to be near whatever Sissy was. He made his way upstairs. Was Mike alright? He needed to wake someone up. What was happening? Sissy didn’t belong here.

Wake Up

“Hey buddy,” said Mike. David rolled over towards his friend’s voice. His body jolted from the sensation of falling. He caught himself on the lip of the couch.

“Hey,” answered David confused.

“I thought you went to bed upstairs?” asked Mike.

David looked around, the pale light from the windows told him it was dawn. He thought about it for a moment, his dream had left him feeling upset. He couldn’t remember what it was about. “Yeah I thought I did… weird.”

“You’re up?” asked David looking at Mike standing over him.

“Yeah, feeling good,” he said smiling.

“That’s great,” marveled David.

David’s phone was dead. “Let me go plug this in.” He went upstairs. He was sure he had gone to sleep upstairs. Didn’t he come down last night? Why did he come down? For a drink of water? To check on Mike? Maybe both. His bed was made. Sissy must have made it, he thought.

Sissy? Strange little thing. The thought of her made him reflexively look at the dead black screen of his phone. He was trying to learn more about her wasn’t he? He wasn’t sure. He plugged in the phone and went back downstairs.

Sissy was making tea. She offered David a cup and he gladly accepted. He stared at her, this odd little creature serving as housekeeper. “Sissy can you sew?” asked David idly.

“Of course I can Mister David, need me to patch something up for you?”

Why did he ask her that? Why did he care? “Huh, no, I’m all set. I was just curious, how did you learn, did your mother teach you?”

“Oh yes, I must have learned from Mom…” her squeaky voice trailing on that last word.

“Must have? You can’t remember?” asked David.

“No sir, I have a lot of trouble remembering.”

“Me too, I can’t even remember how I got to the couch last night,” laughed David.

“Beg your pardon but were you drinking sir?”

David shook his head and joked, “Nope, saving myself for the wedding.”

Sissy furrowed her brow, “Don’t quite take your meaning sir?”

“There’s a wedding this weekend, that’s partly why I came to visit. I don’t drink much, I’ll probably have a couple at the wedding though.”

Sissy finished her little cup of tea, washed up, and continued her never ending quest for tidiness - starting with the sheets on Mike’s couch.

Mike swirled his coffee. “It’s funny I had the feeling of being watched last night. It’s weird how you can just know something is up, even if your eyes are shut and you’re mostly sleeping.”

David’s mind lingered on Mike’s comment. There was something to that. Something he had wanted to say in response. The words weren’t there, he tried to summon them, to find where he had left them in his mind but he couldn’t. “Mike you know how much I like to stand over people and watch them sleep, menacingly,” joked David. “I’m surprised how zonked out I was, I guess I was more tired than I realized.”

Mike shrugged and turned to Sissy. “Sissy, I’m supposed to try to walk around some today so instead of bringing me things please place them on the kitchen island and I’ll force myself to come and get them.”

“Oh it’ll be hard for me not to try an help Mister Micheal but I’ll do my best to follow doctor’s orders.”

Bill and Marianne came down and joined them. They said their good mornings and mused about the day. Sissy brought over some fruit and cereal and they munched.

“Marianne are you working today?” asked Mike.

“I had planned on taking the rest of the week off to help with you. However, between Dad, David, and Sissy I think you might be well accounted for - mind if I head in?”

“Not at all, I’m sure Bill and Sissy can undo whatever damage David causes,” answered Mike.

“Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds,” joked David. The four finished breakfast. Bill stayed at the table reading a book. Mike let out a gentle groan as he slowly stood and returned to his couch.

“Take the long way,” suggested Marianne. Mike made a face but agreed, he walked in the opposite direction of the living room. “Have a good day at work,” he said.

Marianne went back upstairs to finish getting ready. “Gonna take a short walk outside,” said David. He laced up his shoes and grabbed his coat to keep out what was left of the morning chill.

The little voice in his head reminded him that he was forgetting something. He pat checked his pockets, he was missing his phone. For a moment he thought about going back in the house to grab it, but he figured a little no-phone time wouldn’t hurt.

The long grass was still dewy and wet his ankles. He got to the far end of the clearing and saw Marianne’s car drive off.

A short while later he was back at the house, wiping his shoes on the mat. He heard a commotion coming from the living room. “Mike, Mike talk to me.”

The Shadow

David rushed into the living room to find Mike sat upright on the couch. His hands clenching the cushions in a white-knuckle grip. Bill was trying to get him to say something. “Can you hear me? Say something, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?” asked Bill.

“What happened?” asked David.

“I don’t know I just came into the room and he was like this, bolt upright, staring at the wall, non-responsive.”

“Sissy!” called David.

Mike sat motionless and unblinking. His eyes were wet and red, thin streams of tears traced down his cheeks. His fingers curled tight around the edge of the couch.

Sissy came in “How can I help?” she asked.

“Sissy help us with Mike,” said David.

“Oh Mister Micheal! You look dreadful!” David and Bill stood back. Sissy placed a hand on Mike’s arm, “Mister Micheal? Should we lie down?”

The effect was immediate. Mike’s grip relaxed. He blinked his red eyes and looked around the room dazed. He looked at Sissy and asked for water.

“Mike, are you alright?” asked Bill.

Mike looked dizzy and exhausted. “I uh, I’m not sure.”

“Should we call Marianne?” asked David.

Bill grimaced at the thought, “I’d prefer to avoid that, she’s been stressed by this whole surgery business…” Sissy returned with a glass of water that Mike quietly sipped.

“Do you know what was going on?” asked David.

“I just had the most intense nightmare I’ve ever experienced. I couldn’t move, I was just absolutely frozen. There was a thing…” Mike’s voice trailed off with unease.

David and Mike sat together quietly for bit watching TV. Mike had mostly calmed down and was swiping through his phone. “Oh right my phone is upstairs,” said David.

He went to go get it. He unplugged his phone from the charger and watched it turn back on. He reflexively swiped through his notifications. After checking a few text messages he opened his notes. He saw all the notes and images he had taken of Sissy. The memory of seeing her sleeping exploded in his mind.

“What is going on?” asked David out loud. He stared at his phone in disbelief. How could have have forgotten all that so quickly? In a panic he ran towards the door to go tell Mike about Sissy and the Shadow Man. He stumbled into the little vanity next to the door, knocking the mirror on it over. He picked it back up, frowning at having cracked it. A sliver of glass pricked his thumb. He ran downstairs. “Mike!” he called.

“What’s that?” asked Mike quizzically.

“Your waking nightmare, you said there was a thing?”

“Yes…”

“A Shadow Man?” asked David, terrified.

Mike’s gasped at David’s words. His eyes welled up. “Dude, what did you just say?”

“A shadow thing, a figure made of shadow?” said David.

Mike turned even paler and nodded. David sat next to Mike and showed him his notes. “Sissy, it’s Sissy and this Shadow Man thing - they’re related, somehow she makes us all forget, we keep forgetting, let me ask you this: do you think she’s human?”

“No,” answered Mike coldly.

“Isn’t it odd we’re so comfortable with an alien or a monster or a whatever just living with you?”

Bill and Sissy came in with a tray of snacks.

“Get her out of here!” shouted David.

“What are you talking about?” asked Bill.

“She’s a part of this, something is wrong with her! We are in some supernatural scenario here and she is a part of it, get her away from Mike.”

“She wouldn’t hurt anyone! She just calmed him down from the fit he was having!” asserted Bill.

“We don’t know that, she could have been behind it, just get her out, I need to talk to Mike without her in the room.”

Sissy look dismayed. “I only wish to help Mister David,” she pleaded.

“Help me by staying away from my friend!” shouted David.

She left the room dejected. Bill followed her and said, “Why would you say that?”

David pulled out his phone, “Look there is something weird going on with memory so maybe I just need to record everything.” He started a recording. “Something about Sissy makes you forget she’s not human. And something about that made me forget the Shadow Man I’ve been seeing since I came here! I saw it once when I arrived, another time during a short hike up the hill, and again last night just outside the window next to your couch. It was watching you dude, staring at you, I could tell.”

Mike swallowed the lump in his throat, “So that feeling, those dreams I was having, there’s something to that? In my dream just now, it was there, this thing - this shadow figure staring at me.”

“What happened with the shadow figure, did it say anything?”

Mike shook his head, “No, it just sat there across from me, it didn’t have a face but I know it was staring straight at me. I think - I think it knows I’m hurt from the surgery. It thinks I’m weak.”

“Has anything like this happened before? When you first moved in here was there anything strange that you noticed? It might be hard to remember.”

Mike shrugged. “I don’t think so but I’m not sure now, all these old houses have histories but when we bought it I don’t remember anything special about it.”

David looked at Mike, “Do you know anything else about Sissy? Do you remember I made this big speech last night about trying to uncover her secrets?”

“Yeah, I remember now that you mention it, that’s so strange, that’s messed up man. She’s so nice though? How could it be her?”

David shook his head, “You might not say that if you saw the horror show trying to push its way out of her skin last night. I saw it last night while she was asleep, it was crazy. Maybe she’s just caught up in it too, or maybe she’s working with the Shadow Man, we don’t know anything, I’m tempted just to ask her but frankly I think she’s a time bomb.”

Mike let the word bomb float in the air for a moment before replying. “Ok, we need to get Marianne to help. We should pair up, the memory thing… The memory thing really scares me. I can feel it, that feeling that she’s just the housekeeper man. That’s wrong! How could I have just let her into my house?”

David put a hand on Mike’s unhurt shoulder, “This is some otherworldly bullshit that we are in right now, how on earth could you have known, this defies everything we know about how the world works, it’s new and we have to just try our best.”

“Pair up,” said Mike.

“Agreed, I’ve been setting a timer on my phone to remind me that this isn’t normal and to keep checking my notes - it seems to help.”

Mike pulled out his own phone and set a timer. David stopped the recording and sent it to Mike. “Replay that when your timer rings, see if it jogs your memory. I think the more you do it the easier it is to remember.”

Bill returned to the room with a mug of coffee.

“Remember what?” asked Bill.

“Bill do you remember what was going on about fifteen minutes ago?” asked David.

“Sure I do I was- oh my gosh! Mike how are you feeling? Are you ok?”

“I’m alright for now,” he answered “Bill, maybe you ought to listen to this.” He handed his father-in-law his phone with the recording on it. Bill played back the conversation.

David reviewed his notes and photographs as Bill got caught up. He swiped through the photos he had taken of Sissy. His eyes wanted to drift away but he forced them to look. Some of the images of her seemed damaged, smudges and out of focus portions obscured parts of some of the photographs. Sissy was always in sharp focus but sometimes the background elements seemed to fade away. He wasn’t sure what it meant.

David held up his phone with a photo of Sissy. He showed the image to Bill and Mike. “I need to talk to Sissy, I feel I need to apologize for yelling at her, but I want you guys to think about her for a moment. Look at the photo, remind yourself that she’s not human, and then tell me if you think she’s dangerous or not.”

Mike shook his head, “She’s not. Maybe her world is dangerous, and the Shadow Man is from there, but my heart says she’s here to do what she says, she’s here to help.”

“Her world? Interesting. Bill what about you?”

Bill stared at the photo. His head was slowly turning away, as if Sissy’s forgetful aura still had a little power even through a photo. But his eyes stayed fixed on her image. “No, Mike is right, she’s otherworldly, but she’s good. I’ve probably spent the most time with her, she’s good.”

“Ok, I’ll be right back, I need to find her and apologize. Maybe she can help us figure this out. In the meantime, here’s the note I’ve been keeping on my phone. That’s everything I know about her and the Shadow Man.”

As David walked out of the living room a drop of blood fell from his thumb and onto the floor.

Apologies

“Sissy?” called David. She didn’t come when he called. He looked around the first floor but couldn’t find her. He found her upstairs. She looked glum and recoiled at his approach. David knelt down to her level. “Sissy I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier, I was really upset because I was worried about my friend. I shouldn’t have done that.”

She seemed surprised at the apology, “Oh, well, I suppose we all get upset sometimes.”

“Sissy I was worried about Mike because he’s my friend and I care about him. Do you care about him too?”

“Of course I care about Mister Michael.”

“And Bill and Marianne?” added David.

“Yes sir the whole family, and their guests of course.”

“Do you want any of them to come to harm? Would you help anyone harm them?”

Sissy looked mortified, “I would never betray them like that!”

David nodded, “I believe you. I think there is something bad in the house. I think it’s trying to hurt Mike. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“I don’t sir.”

“It’s a person, a person made of shadow, I saw it last night. Mike saw it during his fit earlier today. I want to stop it but I’m not sure how. Can you help me figure it out?” asked David.

“I will help however I can of course sir, but I wouldn’t know where to begin with something like that!”

He was ready to ask her about her appearance. He was ready to find out if she knew what she looked like - that she was not human. Bill’s screaming interrupted him.

Blood

“David!” shouted Bill.

David shot up and sprinted down the stairs. “What is it?” asked David as he entered the room. Bill was pinned against the wall by one arm of the Shadow Man. The other arm was sinking its long dark fingers into someone curled in pain on the floor, it was Mike.

Mike lay frozen in a small pool of blood. The Shadow Man had cut Mike in the abdomen. David screamed and dove at the Shadow Man. He passed through the body without effect and crashed into the coffee table.

Bill wheezed as the shadow figure tightened its choke hold. David scrambled back to his feet and went to Bill. David grabbed for the shadowy arm pinning Bill - it dissolved at his touch, freeing Bill.

“Mike!” wheezed Bill as he pointed to his son-in-law.

David turned to his friend, only a trailing wisp of the Shadow Man remained - it had siphoned itself inside Mike’s body through the fresh wound. David knelt next to Mike and grabbed his hand, “Mike? Mike? Can you hear me? It went inside you, I don’t know what that means, you gotta fight it, you can fight it!”

David’s timer buzzed. “Sissy! Sissy please help!” shouted David.

Mike fidgeted but remained unresponsive. Sissy came downstairs, “What’s the matter Mister David?”

David looked at her and pleaded, “Please help Mike, please make it stop.”

“Oh Mister Micheal, you look unwell again,” said Sissy as she knelt beside him and began dabbing up the blood with a small cloth she had in her apron.

“Bill, call Marianne,” instructed David.

“Right, what was that thing? Is that what you two were talking about on the recording?”

David nodded grimly, “Yes, that was the Shadow Man. I think it’s inside Mike now.”

Mike laughed, “It’s not inside me, it is me.” Mike looked at Sissy and hissed, “Ah time has not treated you kindly. Get away from me, I’ll deal with you later.” Sissy leapt back. Mike sat up. David also recoiled from his friend.

“Who am I talking to?” asked David.

“Your dear friend Mike of course.”

“How did we become friends?” asked David.

Mike grinned, “Well aren’t you clever.”

“Let my friend go,” said David meekly.

Mike smiled and shook his head no. “I’ve waited for a chance to get inside. I thought it’d be the old man, but this one was weakened, ha! What a pleasant surprise.”

“Whatever you are, you aren’t staying in there.”

Mike sat on the couch and clutched his seeping wound. “Whatever I am? Interesting. But how will you get me to leave? I like it in here, it’s a little damaged but in time it will heal nicely.” Mike pointed at David’s cut thumb, “Thanks for the snack, it helped me more than I would have guessed. Come to think of it there’s so much blood inside here… Maybe… I was like you; but maybe I can be something new…”

David was now furious. He got face to face with Mike. “I don’t know what you are, I don’t know what Sissy is, but I know I’m not going to stop until I’ve figured it out and I’ve gotten my friend back.”

Mike slapped David hard across the face and laughed. David raised a fist to punch him back but hesitated. “Bill, get us some rope please.”

Prisoner

The possessed Mike resisted as much as his exhausted body would allow. “Stay still,” ordered David.

“Or else what?” snarled Mike. David pushed his hand into the cut in Mike’s abdomen. Mike howled in pain and slumped into the chair.

A bruise started to appear on Bill’s neck. Bill finished tying the ropes and asked “Well, now what? Do we call a priest?”

David shrugged, “I have no idea, but if that shadow thing can go in, then it can come out.”

“Sissy,” said David.

“Yes, Mister David?,” answered Sissy.

David knelt down and grabbed her shoulders. “Sissy this is it, this is when I need your help, I need you to try to remember and try to answer my questions. Sissy, do you know who is sitting in that chair? Do you know what you are?”

“I don’t understand Mister David, that’s Mister Micheal. I’m Sissy.”

“No, who is really in the chair? Something took over Mike’s body, something shadowy, something bad, it sounded like it knew you. Do you know who it was? Do you know what it was?”

“I don’t know,” she said.

“What about you Sissy, Sissy you’re not human, look at yourself, what are you? Who are you? What’s your real name?”

Sissy was stunned, “Not human? My name, sir? It’s Sissy…”

“Your real name, your family name, who are you, what happened to you? Sissy do you know what you look like?”

“What I look like sir?” asked a tearful Sissy.

“That’s right, Sissy you don’t look like us, you don’t look human, you look very different.”

“I don’t understand,” cried Sissy.

“Then let me show you,” said David. David lead her to the bathroom and lifted her up to the mirror. She squirmed in front of the mirror, trying to wriggle free of David’s embrace. “Look, Sissy!” commanded David. She looked. Sissy didn’t see herself a strange creature, she saw herself as human. David saw it too, he saw her for real. In his world he held Sissy, in the mirror he held a teenage girl.

“Sissy, oh my, Sissy I’m so sorry.” In the mirror she was human. Her neck was black and blue and she had jagged scratches across her face.

Sissy stared and said nothing. “Sissy, listen to me, I’ve seen this face before, when you were sleeping, it’s you?”

“Yes it’s me,” she whimpered.

“Your name? Do you remember your real name?”

“It’s not Sissy?”

“No, that’s just our nickname for you. In the mirror it’s you, in the mirror I see a teenage girl with brown hair. Something scratched your face. But in the world, in my arms right now, I see something different.”

“Bill! Come here,” shouted David.

“I shouldn’t leave Mike,” he shouted back.

“Double check the ropes and then come here, just for a moment, you need to see this, it won’t take long.” Bill hurried into the bathroom. He frowned at the scene of David clutching and lifting Sissy in front of the mirror. “Look in the mirror Bill, what do you see?”

“Oh my word. Sissy, Sissy! That’s you! You’re a young lady!”

“Ok - back to Mike,” said David. David set Sissy back down. Sissy stood tip-toe and stared into the mirror, quietly weeping, touching her face where the scratch was. David and Bill returned to the living room.

Marianne stormed through the front door, “What’s going on? Is Mike okay?” She demanded.

David shook his head no, “He isn’t, he’s been possessed.”

Marianne ignored the second half of the sentence, “Why did you call me? Why didn’t you take him straight to the hospital?”

“He’s possessed Marianne,” said Bill flatly. “I saw it happen, some shadow or smoke demon, go see for yourself.”

Marianne looked at them as if they were high, “Dad, what? Just - what?” David beckoned her to enter the living room where Mike was tied up.

“Fair warning Marianne, he’s tied up and he is definitely possessed.”

“You two have gone insane!” said Marianne walking into the living room. “Mike?” asked Marianne.

“Hey babe,” answered Mike groggily.

“What’s going on? Why are you tied up? Oh my god you’re bleeding.”

“No time… there was a fight, be careful. Is Bill ok?”

“Dad’s fin- Dad your neck!” said Marianne darting her concerned gaze from her husband to her father.

Bill reflexively stroked his bruised neck and said, “I’m telling you Marianne, there was a huge Shadow Man in here, he crawled his way inside Mike after he nearly choked me to death!”

“I’m untying my husband and taking him to the hospital,” growled Marianne.

“Wait, it’s not safe, Marianne I know this sounds insane but Bill and I both saw it, there is straight up supernatural junk going down right now and we need to figure it out before we can take Mike back to the hospital.”

“Honey, look at my neck, we were attacked, Mike was attacked, then whatever it was took over Mike.”

“Fine, whatever, he had a fit, something weird happened. Don’t care right now - he’s hurt and he’s going to the hospital. Stay away from me.” Marianne started to untie her husband.

Mike grabbed her sleeve and told her, “No.”

Mike sounded utterly exhausted, each word separated by a jagged breath. “Leave me here tied. He’s real, he’s coming back.”

Marianne went pale. The strain finally got to her and she started to cry. “Mike, honey, what are you saying? You’re hurt, what happened to you?”

“Bad thing, so angry.” Mike tried to eek out another word but he passed out from the strain.

“Marianne we are going to figure this out right now,” said David. “Come with me, I want you to see something - I think it’s related.”

“Where’s Sissy? Sissy!” Called David.

She didn’t appear when called. “She’s involved somehow, I don’t know how, but - the mirror - we saw, Bill and I saw her in the mirror.”

“The mirror?” Asked Marianne.

“Yes, it showed the real her! Before she was cursed or whatever made her into what she is now. She was human, a teenage girl - brown hair, had a big scratch on her face.” David turned to Bill to get him to corroborate. Bill nodded firmly and confirmed David’s story.

“Marianne, you found her first, do you remember? Do you remember what you saw?” asked Bill. Seeing Sissy’s real face seemed to have shocked Bill and David out of her amnesic spell.

Marianne strained at her foggy memory, “Maybe? I’m not sure, maybe.”

“We need to find her, I think she’s the only one who can help us with Mike. I think they know each other.”

“I’ll stay with Mike, you and Dad go look for her.”

“Ok - Bill let’s keep it simple and go bottom up together?” Bill nodded. And the two set off to search the house for Sissy. It didn’t take long for them to come back to the living room empty handed.

David shook his head, “Marianne, I think we need you. She’s not in the house. I think she might be in the woods. Maybe where you first saw her? Bill or I can stay here with Mike and the other can go with you.”

“The thing, the thing that’s inside him came back, it talked to me, it’s awful. We have to get it out,” said Marianne.

David knelt next to her and tightened the ropes binding Mike, “I don’t know what the hell took control of him but I believe we can get it out. It only got Mike because he was weak from the surgery. I think it’s going to make its move soon - I think it’s going to do it tonight. We’ve got a couple of hours before it’s dark I think if we can find Sissy she can help us, and maybe we can help her too.”

Marianne agreed to go with David into the woods.

The Woods

“It was this way,” said Marianne leading the way into the trees. David followed along behind her as he reviewed the notes on his phone and explained everything he knew. “David, why didn’t you tell us any of this?”

“I tried last night, do you remember me saying how there was something wrong with Sissy and trying to explain how she makes you forget?”

Marianne hesitated before finally answering, “Yeah… I, yeah, wow that was yesterday wasn’t it?”

“Honestly, I think that’s the reason any of this happened at all, something about Sissy - malicious or not - makes you just forget she’s this horrific little goblin thing.”

“Why? How does that even make sense?”

David shrugged, “I don’t think any of this makes sense.”

They reached a clearing. Marianne stopped walking. She looked around, straining her memory. She sighed, “I’m sure it’s nearby but I have no idea where to go from here, it was like a dream, it’s there but every time I try to remember it it vanishes.”

David looked around, “But you think it was somewhere in this area?”

“Yes,” answered Marianne.

“Well, this is a kind of crossroads, there’s a couple of paths - let’s start checking where they go.”

After checking the first path they returned to the crossroads. Marianne dug her heel into the dirt marking that path as checked. They checked the next two paths and again returned without Sissy. The sun sent its final beams of light through the trees.

“Glad I brought this,” sighed David waving a flashlight. He sounded defeated, they had been searching the woods for hours for Sissy - growing more and more concerned that they desperately needed to return to the house. Marianne called her dad just to be safe, he answered and reported that nothing had changed.

They made their way down the next path to check. David flicked on the light and swept it across the woods in front of him. The forest tightened around them, choking the air and the light. Marianne stepped closely behind.

Quiet blanketed them. The birds didn’t sing. The bugs didn’t chirp. Even the crunching leaves and rustling pine needles seemed to dampen their usual noisy protests. “You feel that,” whispered David.

“Yes,” answered Marianne sounding terrified. An unnatural darkness fell as they went deeper into the woods. The beam of the flashlight barely made it more than an arms length now before being swallowed by the black fog.

The tight woods opened to a small clearing. There was a creature sobbing in the center. It was Sissy.

“Oh my god,” said Marianne. She held David back, urging him to stop, “I can feel… I know, I think I know what happened to her, it happened to me too, I know this feeling. Stay here.”

Marianne crept forward towards Sissy. “Sissy, Sissy - hey, it’s me it’s Marianne, I can feel what you’re feeling, I know what he did to you.”

Sissy’s weeping eased at the sound of Marianne’s voice. Marianne stopped a little more than an arms length away. “Sissy, can I come sit next to you? I think I know what happened to you because it happened to me too - a long time ago. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to - we can just sit together. Can I sit?”

Sissy sat up, she looked wretched. “You can sit Missus Marianne,” she croaked.

“Sissy, the Shadow Man, whoever he was, what he did you to - it happened to me too. Not by him of course but by another bad man. I know how you felt, how terrible it can be, how powerless and shamed you can feel. How badly you want to forget. You don’t have to feel that way, it’s not your fault.”

“He took everything from me,” cried Sissy.

Marianne gently put an arm around Sissy. “No! No, he didn’t. You’re so helpful Sissy, you’re diligent and hardworking and you never complain, you really helped make our house a home while you’ve been with us. He didn’t take anything away from you, he only burned his own soul.”

Sissy looked up at Marianne, “I just… I just wanted to help people. That’s how he got me here, he said he needed my help, and then…”

“Sissy, that same person, well it’s a demonic thing now, is back. We really need you to help us. If you can help us maybe we can help you too for a change.”

“I don’t want to go back there, he’s there, I hate him,” she protested.

“Of course you do, but you won’t be alone. I’ll be there, my dad will be there, David will be there. He’s hurting Mike, can you help us stop him from hurting more people?”

Sissy looked up and asked, “Together?”

“Together,” assured Marianne.

The Fourth Night

The sun had gone and there was no moon to remind them of its light and warmth. Only the light of their flashlight and their phones lit their way out of the woods. All three felt uncertain about what they would face in the house. They quickened their pace.

A warning rang in David’s heart, he knew they had been gone too long. “Marianne, can you call your dad and tell him we’re coming back?”

She looked back at David with a worried look, “I’ve been trying…”

A few minutes later the thick trees eased and they could see the glow of the house. They stood in front of the back door. Fear gripped David as he gripped the doorknob. Sissy squeezed Marianne’s hand tightly with both of her little hands.

Bill was on the kitchen floor in a pool of his own blood. Mike was bent over lapping up the blood like a dog.

“Dad! Get away from him!” shrieked Marianne.

David and Marianne ran forward and shoved Mike back, his head slamming into the wall. David punched him in the head and again in the abdomen. Mike howled in pain and then laughed, “Ahhh welcome home welcome home; I was worried I’d have to transcend alone.”

“Marianne, check your dad, I’ll make sure he stays put.”

Marianne moved to check Bill, “He’s breathing, oh my god there’s so much blood. I have to stop the bleeding. Sissy bring me the first-aid kit.” Sissy clung behind Marianne, she whimpered in terror.

“Sissy, please help, please help my dad,” pleaded Marianne. Sissy clutched at Marianne for another second before releasing her grip and sprinting away for the medical supplies.

“It’s a really bad cut David, be careful he might have a knife.”

Mike laughed. “Oh you’re far too late; while you were gone I ate.”

Mike, still slumped against the wall, pulled a knife from behind his back and gently dangled it between his two fingers before tossing it towards David, “Catch it if you can, mystery solver man.” He laughed a bloody grimace.

The knife nicked David’s pants and clattered on the tile of the kitchen.

Sissy returned and handed Marianne the kit. “David come here, put some pressure here,” she ordered. David did as she said, looking away from Mike only when he needed to see where to put his hands on Bill’s wound. Marianne tore through the kit, found a suitable tourniquet and applied it to her father. “Put this under his feet, we need to elevate his legs, I’ll call an ambulance.”

Mike sat and watched, amused. “Why bother with a call; when no one can help at all?”

Shadowy tendrils grew out of Mike’s skull and spine. They crawled up the wall behind him outlining a figure.

“What are you?” asked David.

“I’m back thanks to Sissy; she must have missed me.”

The shadows climbing up the wall behind Mike began to take physical shape.

“Who are you?” asked David.

“Now I’m more than my name; your world will never be the same.”

The figure of shadow and smoke materialized. The Shadow Man stepped into the kitchen from the wall. His features resolved into focus. A twisted humanoid shape, its ash gray skin was covered in disease that cracked and oozed pale liquid. Its eyes were small dim and always moving. It bore a vicious grin from ear to ear.

The Shadow Man stood over the now unconscious Mike. David held the kitchen knife between him and the others. “What the hell are you?”

The Shadow Man knelt and dipped his fingers in some of the blood. He smelt his bloody finger tips and let out a satisfying sigh. He licked the blood clean and then turned to David, “Sweet treat.”

He took a step towards David. David gripped the knife tighter and thrust it in his direction, “Stay away.”

“No no no fresh blood is best; let’s put your little knife to the test.”

David slashed at the Shadow Man. The kitchen knife cut through his left forearm but did nothing to slow him down. With his right hand the Shadow Man smashed David’s head - knocking him into the table. David crumpled on the floor next to Bill, dazed.

“Just a drop of your blood let me crawl; now I’m going to take it all.”

Marianne screamed. Sissy screamed. The Shadow Man laughed as he picked David up. “I insist that you don’t resist.” He buried his wide jaw into David’s neck and bit down. The pain jolted David fully conscious and he screamed in agony as the Shadow Man drank his blood.

The monster released its bite, still gripping David tight with his arms. It stared and smiled at David. “Oh how you tried; oh how you spied; and now oh how you died.”

David felt his doom approaching. He was going to go down fighting, even if it was a meaningless kick. He used every ounce of his remaining will to steel himself. His timer buzzed. For a moment he forgot about his final kick, he forgot about staring death in the face and wondered how his timer got reset in the commotion. He realized fighting wouldn’t save him now, he needed help. “Sissy,” he said. “Sissy, help me.”

Sissy raised her head from her hands and looked up at the horrible scene in front of her. “Help?” She whimpered.

David’s brain swirled at the impossibility of a tiny little cursed imp tackling this gray monstrosity that was about to end his life. He wheezed out a laugh at the idea. “Yes, help me stop him.”

Sissy mustered up her courage, stood up from behind Marianne, and stepped forward towards the Shadow Man. The Shadow Man turned towards her and laughed, “I killed you before; I’ll kill you some more.”

“Go away!” ordered Sissy. Sissy marched towards the enemy. The Shadow Man laughed at her and kicked her hard, sending her flying across the kitchen. She clattered into the cabinets and scrambled back on her feet. “Go away Mister Hooker!”

The words cut through Hooker like a knife. He screeched, “Be silent or I’ll be violent!”

Marianne caught on immediately, “His name! Let him go Mister Hooker! Sissy what’s his full name?”

“Brooker T. Hooker,” answered Sissy. The full name shocked the monstrous man, he released David and staggered backwards. “Piss off Brooker T. Hooker,” gasped David as he clutched his bleeding neck.

David’s world started going cloudy, “Your true name is Brooker T. Hooker. Go away. Thank you Sissy, thank you for remembering.”

“His true name? His true self! I know what we need!” exclaimed Marianne. She sped away from the kitchen and dashed up the stairs.

“Go away Brooker T. Hooker!” Yelled Sissy. Brooker backed into the wall next to Mike, “Stop it; just drop it!”

Marianne was back with a hand mirror.

Mike woke up confused but added his own, “Go away,” to Sissy’s chant.

Brooker was frozen against the wall, the tips of his limbs fading back into shadowy tendrils. Marianne grabbed his huge hideous head and shoved the mirror in front of his blood stained face. In it she saw him as a human, as he once was. “Woman no; I won’t go!” he shrieked as he saw his true self reflected.

“Get the hell out of my house Brooker T. Hooker,” she growled. His body shattered into smoky glass. The kitchen went silent. David and Mike watched from the floor. Marianne held the hand mirror as the smoky glass slowly floated towards it.

“Oh, I’ve remembered. My name is Anne,” said Sissy as her body melted into white flower petals. The glass and the petals swirled in the air, funneling into the hand mirror. The mirror shook itself free from Marianne’s grip and levitated in the center of the room as more and more of the glass and petals were sucked into it.

The air cleared as the last of the petals vanished. The mirror clattered on the bloody kitchen floor.

Marianne rushed back to her father. Mike groggily crawled towards David. David clutched the dripping bite wound in his neck. “Can I see the mirror?” asked David pointing with his free hand.

Mike grabbed the mirror and handed it to David. He looked in the mirror, he saw his own bloody reflection in it. “Anne, can you hear me?” called David. The teenage girl came into view behind his reflected face, as if she were standing over his shoulder. “Are you alright?” asked David.

“I’m here David. I’m so sorry for what happened. It was so long ago, I was a housekeeper here. After he did what he did to me… all I wanted to do was forget, more than anything I wanted to forget. For weeks I thought of nothing but my work. Then he came back and tried it again - but I fought back. He killed me but I had cut him with a knife and he died shortly after. It wasn’t right; we weren’t at peace. Now I need to rest. Goodbye, David, tell the others I said goodbye and thank them for letting me in their home.”

“Anne, good luck in there, wherever you are.” David set the mirror down. His vision dimmed. He looked at Mike and smiled through the growing tunnel vision and said, “Hey man, welcome back.”

“Hey dude,” answered Mike.

David’s eyelids felt impossibly heavy as his vision faded to black.

The End.

See more of Kris’s work at krisshamloo.com

1. Chapter 1