Chapter 5

"There are messages on the phone from that guy. How could he even know Ricky? I'm with him all the time. I never saw anyone weird. There's no one. How can I protect Ricky from someone I don't know? His name is Patrick. What do I do? What can I do? The cops said they couldn't do anything. What should I do?"

Marty watched Mia pacing in his one-bedroom apartment. Ricky was sleeping on the bed, probably tired from all the crying.

He hadn't seen them for a while now. He wanted to hug Mia and tell her he would protect them, but he didn't dare. He fled his home because he couldn't cope with her and Ricky. He lost the right to make promises.

"Calm down. Nothing good will come out if you panic. We need to check with the school. Maybe it's someone there. You've never seen the guy; he must have come close to Ricky when you're not around. You're always with Ricky apart from school. So, call his teacher and ask. You have her number, right?"

Mia listened to her husband and called the school. After a brief discussion, neither the new teacher nor the old one knew who that Patrick guy was. Although they seemed exasperated, they promised to watch out for any information. Mia felt frustrated and scared.

"Mia, you should relax. You can't keep going like that."

"Like what? Like we aren't in danger? Like we know nothing about that danger."

"I'll take Ricky to the park. You stay here and try to relax."

There was a little park not far from the apartment. Marty took Ricky there. At this time of the day, the park was deserted as most kids were in schools. Marty didn't care about it, but Ricky had a death grip on his t-shirt and refused to let go.

"Come on, bud. Let's go to the swing, I'll push you."

Ricky followed him, saying nothing. He sat on the swing, his eyes darting all over the place. He felt they weren't alone.

Marty tried his best to liven up the atmosphere.

As they played, the sunny day disappeared. Dark clouds spread all over the sky. They brought a gloomy feeling to the already deserted place.

A sound behind him attracted Marty's attention. He turned around. He scanned the place for the origin of the sound. Ricky's cries brought his attention back to his son. He fell from the swing. His left knee was bloody.

"Ricky!" Marty picked him up from the ground and checked if he hurt anything else.

A loud noise behind him made him turn, yet nothing was found.

Marty felt fear. When he first came, the place didn't look as scary as it was now. The sun disappeared behind a dark cloud. Even though it was clearly early afternoon, it was as dark as nighttime.

"Let's go home," Marty told Ricky.

He held the child up as his knee still hurt. He intended to bring him home as fast as he could. He felt unsafe in this place.

Marty reached the end of the playground when something caught his feet and made him stumble. He lost his grip on Ricky. The little boy fell down hard on the asphalt.

Marty picked himself up. He raised his eyes, and what he saw sent shivers down his spine. He wanted to scream, but no sound could get out.

Standing over Ricky was a man wearing a suit. His outrageously long arms touched the ground. His hair was sticking out above his head. His smiling face was wrinkled like an aged man. It was hard to describe, but Marty knew no human had that kind of face or body.

"Patrick is lonely. Patrick wants a friend. Do you want to be my friend?" The lips of the creature had not moved.

He was still smiling, staring at Ricky. He reached out his hand like he wanted Ricky to take it. Ricky, hesitating but not finding anything weird about the creature, extended his hand.

"Ricky, No!" At the last moment, Mia's voice interrupted them.

Ricky retracted his hand and looked at his mother, shocked.

"Mom!" he yelled, disregarding the ferocious face the creature made as he looked at Mia.

"Come here, Ricky." Mia was scared to approach her son. She sensed that if she took another step, that man or creature would hurt them.

"Mom, Patrick." Ricky pointed at the person in front of him.

Marty and Mia were shocked. They always thought that Patrick was a pervert, but how were they supposed to protect their son against something that was a monster?