“I just want you to put the razor down.”
Jeremy looked down at his father’s feet and pressed the razor harder against his own throat. “Don’t do it, Daddy.”
Mark retreated a step and held his hands out. “Okay, Jeremy. Okay, I’m backing up. Now just put the razor down. Can you do that for me?”
“Dad, I told you, this isn’t for me. It’s for you. He’s only going to hurt me if you don’t do what he says. Don’t you get it?”
“No!” Mark’s terror overwhelmed him. “I don’t get it, Jeremy. Please tell me what’s going on.”
Jeremy nodded, his cherub visage turned wicked by the blade he held to his own throat. “The Skeleton Man wants me to put you in the bathtub, and then we’re going to pour boiling water over you until we can peel your skin off.”
“What?” Mark’s question escaped as a whimpering whisper.
“And if you can stay awake, then we’ll pour the chemicals on you.” Jeremy grinned. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, Dad. And you want to know the best part?” He didn’t wait for an answer before continuing. “You’re going to let us do it. You know why?”
Mark didn’t know what to do other than comply with his son’s insanity. “Why?”
“Because if you don’t then I’ll slit my throat. You can either die like we want you to, or watch me kill myself. Daddy, I don’t want to die; I know how much it hurts. So you’re going to have to do what we tell you. Okay?”
The front door opened. Mark didn’t want to turn and look, fearing that if he took his eyes off Jeremy then his son might hurt himself. He hoped that his wife had come home, or that the 911 dispatcher had been able to track the location of the call and send police. Instead, he heard several light footsteps running through the house, followed by the happy chatter of children.
“My friends are here,” said Jeremy. “They’ll start boiling the water. Are you ready for your bath?”
“What the hell is going on?”
“My best guess,” said Jeremy as he glanced up. “God gave up on us.”
Mark thought about rushing his son to steal the razor from him, but Jeremy seemed to anticipate this and pressed it harder to his throat. The blade sliced the boy’s skin and Jeremy winced as blood coursed down the black handle.
Jeremy’s eyes welled with tears. “Please don’t kill me, Dad! I told you, I don’t want to die. All the Daddies hate their babies!”
“Put the razor down!”
“Don’t come any closer,” said Jeremy. Blood dripped off his knuckles. “This hurts! I’m scared.” It was as if it were someone else holding the knife to Jeremy’s throat.
“Okay! Okay!” Mark backed up a step.
Jeremy relaxed the blade, but the small cut continued to bleed as the boy cried. “You need to go get in the bathtub. Please? Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
“This is insane,” said Mark. “I don’t understand what’s going on. Why are you doing this?”
“Because it’s what The Skeleton Man wants.”
“Who the hell is The Skeleton Man?”
Pots and pans rattled as they were taken out of the cabinets downstairs. Mark could hear the children laugh as they filled them with water. He heard them trying to work the microwave as well.
“He’s the man in the mist,” said Jeremy. “He’s the one that keeps the children safe. He’s our only friend. Without him, we’d be as lost as you, and none of us want that.”
“Safe from what?” Mark was in the bathroom now, edging backward as his son stayed out of arm’s reach.
“All the ones that came with him. The ones that will poison you unless we stop it from happening. You’ll turn evil, like you did all the other times. We can’t let that happen. The Skeleton Man showed us what the Daddies do.”
“What other times?” The bathroom was small, with a porcelain tub that took up the opposite side. The toilet and sink sat between the tub and the door where Jeremy stood with the razor still pressed against his neck. Mark backed into the tub and staggered. He grabbed the plastic shower curtain to steady himself and two of the rings that held it up snapped loose. He fell to a seated position on the edge of the tub.
Jeremy shook his head as if he felt sorry for his father’s ignorance. “All the other times we tried to save you. You’re one of the dead ones. There’s no saving you, but you can still save me.”
Mark felt helpless. He was a big guy, over 220 pounds, and he worked out in the basement every night. His job kept him fit as well, and he prided himself on his physique. However, none of his strength could help him now. He often said that he loved his son more than life itself, but now he was being forced to prove it.
“You’ve lost your mind, Jeremy. Something’s wrong with you. Trust me, I’d never hurt you.” He started to stand back up and reach out to his son.
Jeremy reacted as if his father was threatening to strike him. His eyes grew wide and he moved back as he yelled. “You’re hurting me now! Can’t you see that? Look at my blood, Daddy! You’re killing me.”
“Stop it, Jeremy.” Mark cried out, but didn’t dare to move forward.
Jeremy dug the blade into his neck and cringed in pain as he shouted for mercy. “Daddy, don’t hurt me like this! Please don’t hurt me.”
“Okay, Jeremy, tell me what I have to do. Tell me what you want.”
“Get in the tub, Dad!”
Mark stepped into the bathtub with his arms outstretched as if to ensure Jeremy that he was being submissive. “Okay, I’m in. Now put the razor down.”
“Take your shirt off,” said Jeremy with the razor still pressed to his bleeding throat.
Mark did as he was told and tossed the shirt to the floor. A chill came over him as a waft of green fog trailed across the hallway behind Jeremy.
“You can’t expect me to just sit here and let this happen,” said Mark.
“If you don’t, then the Skeleton Man is going to make you watch me kill myself. Is that what you want?”
“I’m not going to let that happen,” said Mark. He got angrier the longer this went on.
Jeremy stepped back and leaned to the side as if listening to someone in the hall. Then he came back into the bathroom. “If you step out of the tub, or try to knock away the pots of water, then I’m going to kill myself. It’s important that you know that. You have to do as you’re told, Dad. Okay? Do you understand?”
“No, God damn it! No, I don’t understand, Jeremy. Why are you doing this? Please just put the razor down.”
“We’ve tried to let you live before, but The Skeleton Man was right about you,” said Jeremy. Blood ran down his arm and dripped from his elbow. “This is the only way we can save the children. It has to start with the Daddies dying.”
“Then why are you going to boil me? Why did you say that you’re going to strip my flesh and pour chemicals on me? Don’t you think this Skeleton Man is the evil one? Buddy, I’m your Dad, you’ve got to trust me.”
“No,” said Jeremy. “I’ve made that mistake before. There’s only one person that I trust now, and we’re going to do this the way he wants.”
A pair of cautious footsteps came from the hall. Mark heard water slosh over the side of a container and hit the floor as two children yelped in surprise.
“Be careful,” said one of the high pitched voices.
“I am, you be careful,” said the other.
Jeremy stepped into the hall so his friends could come in. Mark recognized the two boys that carried the water. They lived in the neighborhood, although he didn’t know their names. They wore oven mitts and carried a large Pyrex bowl filled with steaming water between them.