This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Braven025 on 2024-11-21 19:42:32+00:00.
Day Three
I know people might be getting impatient to know what happened. I thought about skipping to the present, but there’s so much that happened in the next couple of days, I’d be doing you a disservice not to explain it all. This story needs to get out there. It needs to be told. So this doesn’t happen to you or the people you love.
So your life isn’t destroyed like mine was.
I woke up the next morning with a renewed sense of purpose. I was going to figure out who or what this kid was and why he had inserted himself into our lives. It was Sunday, and Dylan would be home all day, so I could leave the boy and tell them I was going to look for Gus without arousing suspicion.
Our town was small, but quirky. The business district had a maze of different shops lining the streets where you could find artisan soap right next to an ammo shop, right next to a bakery. After breakfast, I hopped in the car and sped toward a specific store, one where I thought maybe I could find some help. It was pretty unassuming from the outside—a tall Victorian-style door set into a brick façade. Above the door, there was a sign: Deadwick’s Emporium
I’d only been in there once before. It wasn’t really my thing—full of tarot card decks, crystals, herbs for potion-making, and other ethereal items. It was dark inside as I swung open the door. The walls and ceiling were painted black, with sparkling strings of golden lights nestled between tree branches that stretched above me. The smell of patchouli washed over me. Candles burned on the service counter, and a woman with a gentle smile greeted me.
“Can I help you find something?” she asked.
I swallowed, hoping what I was about to say didn’t warrant a call to the police. “Do you believe in demons?”
The woman glanced at her coworker at the back of the store, then back at me. “I believe there are things out there that mean to do us harm.” She paused. “Are you okay?”
Tears sprung to my eyes. I shook my head. “No. I need help. This was the only place I could think of to come.”
The woman stepped from behind the counter and motioned for me to follow her. She murmured something to her coworker, who moved to the front of the store, then led me through a door at the back of the store. The small room we stepped into was surprisingly bright compared to the rest of the place. There was a pair of red velvet armchairs, a coffee station, and a table.
“My name is Autumn,” the woman said, motioning to one of the chairs.
“I’m Alyssa,” I said, sinking onto it.
“Can I get you some coffee or tea?”
I nodded miserably. “Yes, please. Tea would be nice.”
Autumn set about heating water and pouring it into two mugs. She plopped a tea bag into each of them, set one in front of me, then settled in the chair across from me.
“Okay, Alyssa, what’s going on?”
Grasping the warm mug in my hands, I let it all spill out. The boy that appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be our lost son. His soulless dark eyes and wide smile, the way he spoke and committed acts of violence without remorse. I told her how everyone in my life remembered him, but me. I even told her about the pictures, at the risk of completely outing myself as mentally unstable.
Autumn listened intently, her eyebrows rising and then furrowing down over her dark eyes as I talked. She took a deep breath when I finished and sat back in her chair. “That’s quite a story.”
“I know I must sound crazy,” I sputtered. “But I don’t think the boy is HUMAN. He’s…he’s some kind of demon or something. I know you have books here, is there anything in them that might help me?”
Autumn’s eyes met mine. “Yes, I’m sure of it. But I don’t need a book to tell me what you’re dealing with.”
I sucked in a breath. She believed me. She wasn’t looking at me like I was nuts. In fact, she looked scared for me. “What is it?”
“I’ll be right back,” she said, setting her mug down. She walked out into the main store and returned a moment later with a heavy book, bound in black leather. She set it down on the table in front of me and flipped through the pages, stopping on a page that was titled, ‘Black-Eyed Children.’
A shudder ripped through me. “Black-eyed children?”
“Everything…well almost everything…fits. The boy asking your permission to come in, his dark eyes, his lack of human feelings.”
Fuck. “Wh-what are they?”
“Demons, of a sort,” Autumn said. “They’re from modern folklore, like an urban legend, but there’s always some truth to urban legends. These demons appear on a person’s doorstep and ask to come in. Once they gain access, both to your home and your mind, they wreak havoc.”
I sucked in a breath. “Your mind??”
Autumn nodded. “They do have the ability to exert influence over a person’s mind. Generally, the weak or vulnerable fall prey to their influence.”
“How do I get rid of it?”
“It’s very hard to get rid of black-eyed children once you invite them in,” Autumn said grimly. “They insert themselves fully into your life—even if deep down you know they don’t belong there—the stronger urge to let them stay pushes that feeling down, burying it.”
“Why isn’t it affecting me?” I asked.
“That’s the curious thing,” Autum said, frowning. “I think…I think he doesn’t NEED you, necessarily.”
“Because of Dylan,” I said.
“He needed permission from both of you to enter the home, but once he got in, he only needs one of you to allow him to stay,” Autumn said.
“Oh my God.”
“I DO think he’s affecting you to some degree though,” Autumn said. “I’d wager a guess that those pictures you saw on your bookshelf weren’t actually there. The bedroom—still just a guest room. And the phone call with your mother? Imagined. Like an illusion. You’re stronger than Dylan, but it’s only going to be a matter of time before you start questioning yourself and forget why you were concerned about the boy in the first place. The only hope you have is to get Dylan to realize what’s going on too, and for both of you to revoke your invitation.”
I nodded. “Okay. Okay.”
“It’s not going to be easy with him fully under the child’s influence,” Autumn warned. “And it will surely be dangerous for you. You might be better off leaving…”
My eyes widened. “Leave Dylan behind! How could I do that?”
“If you value your life, I’d consider it,” Autumn said. “But if you’re not willing to do that, I have some things that might help.”
She stood and I followed her into the main store. In the back corner, there were glass jars filled with herbs and other items I didn’t recognize. “What’s all this?”
“Herbs for potion-making,” Autumn said. “I’m going to make a potion of protection. That’s for you. And a potion for clarity. That’s for your husband.”
She grabbed a Ziploc bag and began dumping carefully measured spoonfuls of herbs into it, then labeled it “P” for protection. Autumn filled a second baggie and labeled it “C” for clarity. She handed them to me.
I dropped them in my purse. “Thanks.”
“You’re to make a tea out of those. A tablespoon steeped in a mug of hot water should do it,” Autumn said. “For your husband, you might want to do two.”
Next, she moved to a table and rummaged around a box of crystals. She emerged with a rough black stone, shiny in places, dull in others.
“What’s that?”
“One of the most powerful crystals for protection,” Autumn answered. “Keep it on you at all times.”
I slipped the crystal into my pocket. “Thanks.”
“Good luck, Alyssa,” she said, walking me to the door. “And, Alyssa? If all else fails…get yourself out.”
My mind drifted to the bags of herbs in my purse as I drove home. When I got there, Dylan was in a mood. He didn’t even glance at me when I walked in.
“Where’s the boy?” I asked.
“What the fuck, Alyssa? ‘The boy?’ He has a name, you know,” he said. “He’s our SON. And he’s in his room. He’s all tired out from the game of soccer we played in the backyard.”
“Soccer?” I asked. “We don’t even own a soccer ball.”
“We do so!” Dylan snapped. “We kicked it around, just this morning. It’s sitting right there next to the front door. You’re really something else!”
I turned toward the door, my hand slipping into my pocket and running over the rough edges of the protection stone. The only thing beside the door was a pile of shoes. I didn’t think they played soccer at all. I thought the boy made Dylan THINK they played soccer. Another way of manipulating him into thinking he was just a normal kid. Things were escalating. I needed to get Dylan to drink the tea Autumn gave me. Maybe then I could convince him of what was going on.
“Hey, I’m going to make myself some tea, do you want some?”
“No, I don’t want any tea. Jesus.”
My cheeks burned. If he wasn’t going to have any, I was at least going to make some for myself. I’d have to try harder to get his into him, but it was probably not the best time for that. He was grumpy and angry at me and was taking everything I said as a personal attack.
While the water boiled in the kettle, I pulled a mug from the cupboard and the baggie marked “P” from my purse. I turned to fill up my tea ball with it, and found the boy standing directly behind me.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Tea,” I said, pushing past him.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying, it’s tea,” I said. I measured a spoonful of herbs into my tea ball and dropped it into my mug. The boy watched me the entire time. His gaze made my skin crawl. When the kettle started to shriek, I poured the steaming water into ...
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1gwoa6d/four_days_ago_my_missing_son_returnedonly_i_dont/