Mr. Daark (2)
(Part 2 of 15) There’s something under the bed, and it left you a sticky note.
2
A rapid knocking at the bedroom door woke Jax and Taylor from their peaceful or nonexistent dreams. It was clearly Jake’s knocking; his tiny fist made a softer sound than anyone else’s knock. Taylor’s motherly intuition was correct about how Mr. Jax’s comment could influence their son. Jake entered the bedroom, not yet understanding the need to wait for a response before entry. Taylor and Jax sat up with squinting eyes to meet Jake’s terror-stricken pupils.
“There’s a monster under my bed! Scary noises!” Jake grabbed the front bed rail, and he pushed and pulled on it, making it squeak. “Like this, like this!”
Taylor patted Jax twice on the back to signal that this was his mess to clean up, and she offered her sincerest hopes that Jake would believe whatever Jax told him. Jax swung his legs over the side of the bed, and the springs creaked in response to his weight.
“He’s under your bed too!” Jake exclaimed.
“Nope. Dad’s just heftier than he used to be,” Jax said.
Jax walked over to Jake and searched for his hand in the dark. The small hand felt like an ice cube within his own. They walked together hand in hand to investigate the monster under the bed, and when they arrived at the bedroom, Jax picked his son up and laid him down on the bed. He then crouched down to see in the poor lamp light if Mr. Austin Daark had decided to take time out of his busy schedule to give the Jax family a spook. But of course, there was no man under the twin bed. Only a crumpled-up sticky note took up residence with the dust bunnies under the bed. Jax took the note in his fist, so that Jake would not see it and stood up to tell Jake why the boogeyman does not exist.
“There’s nothing down there, Jake. I’ll bet while you were thinking about monsters, you moved, and the bed springs creaked.”
“But I heard him, daddy! He’s just hiding.”
Jax looked downward, dismayed that he would have to put more effort into his speech than simple logic.
“You know, when I was a kid,” Jax looked up again, “I thought there were monsters in my closet. So, my dad sat down with me on my bed.” Jax sat down on the bed, next to Jake. “He told me that if I said, ‘Rocks in the window, Rocks in my head, Rocks killed the monsters, Now they’re all dead.’ that there would be nothing there to scare me. He was right. But not because I said the words. There were never any monsters to scare me in the first place, so saying the words was just another layer of protection. Let’s say the words together and make sure there’s absolutely nothing in this room to scare you. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Together, they said, “Rocks in the window, Rocks in my head, Rocks killed the monsters, Now they’re all dead.”
“There are no monsters,” Jax said. “Right?”
“Right.”
Jax tucked his son into bed, said goodnight, turned off the lights, closed the door, and walked back to his own room. On the way there, Jax turned on the hallway light to read the sticky note. It said:
You know. I know. Let’s talk tomorrow in the elevator. -Austin Daark
There were many elevators, but Jax got the feeling that it wouldn’t matter which one. But the note and his fearful son made Jax sour. He wasn’t quite mad, but he didn’t like the idea of Mr. Daark having access into his private life. Everyone would be armed to the teeth if they knew how real the boogeyman was. Jax almost set out to kill the threat until he realized what little good that would do. Say Mr. Daark was just as killable as any man. Jax would go to jail for murder, and if not that, he would ruin a business deal and turn his coworkers against himself. They wouldn’t be sympathetic to his situation; they’d be angry about what it meant for their pay checks. Now, suppose Mr. Daark was immortal. Then there would be nothing to do at all.
Jax considered these things and began to feel powerless. Another man shouldn’t have the upper hand over him. At least with his superiors at work, their power was restricted appropriately to the workplace. So far, the harm and intrusion were minimal; Jax could let the offense go. The feeling of being powerless was a matter of pride. Jax didn’t think beyond his pride. His brain didn’t consider the dark places this power imbalance could go if it was left unchecked.
For now, he had the rest of tonight’s sleep to attend to, and a note to be rid of. Jax slipped the note into the front of his underwear. He could dispose of the note in the morning, knowing he might forget about it if he threw it away now. With this plan decided, Jax turned off the hallway light and made his way to bed. He almost expected Taylor to ask about his excursion, but Jax also knew her better than that. She was fast asleep, not caring for Jax yet again. Jax was too familiar to be due any late-night attention.
Should’ve had Jake sleep in our bed, Jax thought. Maybe she’d care then.
He then turned his thoughts to Austin Daark, but he was too sleepy to focus on the topic for very long before nodding off.