Chapter 4:

Elijah's heart stopped. He felt his face turn completely white, and chills ran down the back of his spine. The back of his neck burned from the fear and shock. Elijah couldn't talk or move. He stood there, staring at his mother who looked at him with a sad face. His eyes couldn't move away from hers he was so weak.

"Elijah?" his mom asked with a low voice. Elijah didn't reply.

"Honey sit down." she said looking at the chair in front of her. Elijah unknowingly complied, even though in his mind he was still standing there.

"I know this is hard to take in." his mom started, talking in a calm manner.

"How?" Elijah asked shakily, his voice rattling from the lump in his throat. His best friend was dead. The real world isn't some game where if you die you'll come back. Once you're gone, you're gone forever.

"From what his mom said, she went upstairs to wake him up for school and found him hanging from a noose." His mom looked at him with an even sadder look. Elijah knew she felt bad for him, but his world had flipped upside down.

"Noah wouldn't kill himself." Elijah pointed out. His voice was still shaky, but he knew that Noah wouldn't kill himself. He was always so happy.

"Well he did Elijah. I know you're in denial right now-" his mom started when Elijah cut her off.

"I know Noah mom. He was the happiest person I knew. You don't go from being super happy to suicidal in a day!" Elijah started to get mad.

Elijah had the sense that his mom was lying. He knew there was no possible way Noah would kill himself. Then, a thought came to Elijah's mind. "What if that thing killed him making it look like a suicide. Noah caught it trying to kill Liam, but didn't because Noah told his mom and they went outside before it could." Elijah thought to himself. That was the only thing that could kill Noah.

"I don't know Elijah! But I do know that he hung himself, and that is considered suicide. But if you're in denial, I'm not going to say anything." his mom said to Elijah who was still terrified and sad, yet angry. Angry at his mom for thinking his happy best friend would kill himself. She knew him well, and the fact she believed it was a suicide caused his blood to boil. "Unless she knows about that thing and won't tell me about it." Elijah theorized in his head.

"I'm not in denial. Noah didn't commit suicide. He was murdered, and I don't care if you don't believe me." Elijah said getting up from his seat.

"You're in denial!" His mom yelled to Elijah as he shakily walked up the stairs.

"Even if I was, I don't give a shit!" Elijah yelled back slamming his bedroom door behind him.

His chilled, sweaty back pressed against the hard wood door. Elijah slowly slid down the door into a sitting position. his head only a few inches away from his knees. His hot breath filled the now cold air. Elijah knew he wasn't crazy. He knew that his mom was connected in this somehow, but couldn't figure out what it was. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He concentrated on the small things his mom did after he woke up from a nightmare, or when someone died....like his dad. Then, he noticed something odd that his mom did. Little bits of memories showing this popped into his head.

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Elijah walked into the living room to find his mom sitting on the couch reading a book. Her eyes concentrated on the small words on the pages. Elijah tilted his head.

"Mom, can I talk to you?" Elijah asked his mom who slowly lifted her head from her book. She released a faint smile and set down the novel on the wooden coffee table in front of her. Elijah smiled and sat down next to his mom. "What's going on honey?" She asked the small 10 year old who was playing with his sleeves.

"Do you know what happened to make dad wreck the car?" he asked, looking into his mom's now less light eyes. She let out a small frown.

"Why do you want to know that?" she asked him, looking a little unsettled.

"Because I want to know why dad had to get in the accident." Elijah answered with a small voice. He looked down, leaving his slightly long hair fall in front of his small face.

"I'll tell you another time. I have to cook dinner." his mom said, evading Elijah's question. She quickly got up and left to go into the kitchen, leaving the younger Elijah quietly sitting on the soft couch.

A year went by since the younger Elijah asked why his dad got into the accident. He had never stopped being curious, he just knew his mom seemed a bit unsettled by the question. Elijah walked into his mom's room to find her lying on her bed watching a romance movie called 'Twilight'. She looked over to see Elijah standing in the doorway.

"Mom, I've got a question. And can you please answer it?" Elijah asked with desperation. His mom gave him a confused look.

"Okay....what's the question?" his mom asked, sitting up a little more on her grey blanketed bed. Elijah walked over and sat at on the bed towards the end.

"What made dad crash the car?" Elijah asked his mother again. And like before, his mom gave him a frown.

"You keep asking this." she said to Elijah with a soft and sad tone.

"That's because I want to know." Elijah replied. His eyes widened with curiosity, his eyes fixed on his mom's.

"It's getting late Elijah. You should probably go to bed." she said to him while looking at the time.

"But you need to answer my question." Elijah complained.

"I will another time." she said to him getting up and pulling him off the bed. Elijah complied, but was still curious to ask his mom the question he had been pushing to the back of his mind for two years.

"You said that a year ago!" Elijah pointed out. His little mouth pouting at his mom.

"Bed Elijah." she said to him pointing to his bedroom. Elijah sighed and nodded. Heading towards his bedroom, his question still unanswered.

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Elijah opened his eyes, knowing that something had to have happened that his mom didn't want him knowing about. How his dad crashed the car. Elijah was even more eager than the years before to know what happened. He had a reason to know. Elijah felt determined, and quickly got up from his seated position and opened his creaky door. He swiftly walked down the stairs and into the dining room. His mom sat in a chair facing away from Elijah. He saw her body jolting up and down every few seconds. Her soft hands in her face.

"Mom I need answers." Elijah said to his mom from behind. He was standing up straight, representing his determination. His mom wiped her eyes with her sweater sleeve. She turned around to face Elijah. Her face littered with red blotches and her eyes bloodshot red.

"I already told you all I know about Noah." she said while sniffling.

"This isn't about Noah. This is about the question I've been asking you over and over, yet you evade it anyway possible." Elijah said looking at his sobbing mother in the eye. She widened her eyes, completely aware of what he's talking about.

"Why do you want to know so badly? Is it because of those nightmares? We can get medicine that'll help-" his mom started, when Elijah interrupted.

"No. This is because I want to know. He's my dad, and he died in a car crash for what? It could've been a deer for all I know. Or it could've been someone else. I don't know. But I need to." Elijah said, looking deeply into his breaking mother's eyes. His mom sighed.

"Okay. I'll tell you." his mom said wiping more tears from her eyes.

"We were driving home from a date. It was late at night, and your dad wanted to take a new detour he found. It was a dirt road and it was in the woods. He then thought he saw something in the woods, but I told him it was probably just an animal. Then when you dad was drinking some soda, this.......thing was in the middle of the road. I told him to stop the car, but he swerved and he ran off the side and flipped the car. I was unconscious for a little while, but then I woke up. Your dad wasn't in the car, but that thing was......tearing him apart. My phone was in my bag which was underneath me so I called 911. When the police got there, that thing was gone. But I could never forget it......ripping his body like a cat and a scratching post." Elijah's mom gave up talking and began to ball her eyes out.

"Was the thing black, and slightly see-through. It's head completely to the side with no eyelids, just big white pupils surrounded by black. It's body deformed, looking like it was ran over at some point?" Elijah asked his mom, who was pale and shaking in fear.

"....yes." his mom said shakily. Elijah walked over and hugged his mother.

For years, the two of them had acted as if everything was okay in their lives, and have treated life as normal as possible. But both were too blinded to see how they were both dying inside, breaking from all the pain and fear that had been haunting them. His mom cried into Elijah's shoulder, as he sat sat on his knees so his mom could reach him from the chair. Elijah forced himself to stay strong for his mom. He understood why she didn't say anything. That creature was behind what tore his family and life apart. He wanted revenge. But for right now, comforting his mother was all he wanted to do.

After a few minutes, his mom got up and left to get go to bed early. Elijah was left with all the shocking facts that the day had given him. The beginning of the day was the best, but towards the end, it was the worst. He heated up some frozen pizza, then went upstairs to his room to do his homework.

The day ended, and Elijah was getting prepared for bed. He went to his mom's room to say goodnight, to find her already fast asleep in her bed. Elijah gave a faint smile, and walked across the carpeted floor and into his room. He closed the wooden door and slowly walked to his bed. He laid down on his back, facing the dark ceiling. "I will take my revenge on you. You will not go unpunished. You killed my dad. You killed Noah. You fucked up my life. Now I'm going to fuck up yours." Elijah said to himself as he closed his eyes, forcing his broken self to sleep.