KALEIDOSCOPE

BY: K.C. CALIGO

CHAPTER ONE

The new subdivision was further than Kyla had anticipated. Driving slowly now, she studied the numbers displayed on the broad houses. Many were still unfinished. She was grateful the new division was so quiet – there was no one behind her to get upset at her slow driving.

The tires of her dad’s old station wagon crunched to a stop on the caked snow curb as she realized she had found her destination. 1122 New Ryerson Ridge. She cut the engine, marveling at the sight. It was quite a bit larger than the Martin’s old house.

The air was crisp as she stepped out of the car, winter not quite wanting to give up yet, especially at night. Rubbing her hands together, she opened the back seat and retrieved the bag of items she always carried with her when she babysat. Besides her homework, it contained a few fun items for the kids, mostly board games and other items to keep them entertained before bedtime. She made especially sure to pack them tonight. Ryan was one of her favourite kids to babysit.

Hoisting the bag onto the shoulder, she used the key fob to lock the car doors and headed up the curved path to the house, boots crunching in the snow. There was no other sound.

The house displayed a wide wooden patio that wrapped almost the entirety of the front. Adjusting the bag, she climbed the steps that led to the patio and rang the doorbell. Within moments, a blurred figure shifted in front of the door, and with a rush of warm air, the figure materialized into Mrs. Martin, dressed to the nines, ushering her in from the cold. Kyla thanked her and dropped her bag on the ceramic floor of the foyer. It landed with a thud. Sheepishly she joked about brining too much stuff this time. Mrs. Martin just laughed.

Inside Kyla once again marvelled at the scope of the house.

“Gorgeous place Mrs. M. This is way bigger than the old place on Pinecrest.”

Mrs. Martin gave a slight polite laugh.

“Yes, we love it...well, Jim and I do, Ryan has had a bit of, well, let’s just call it a period of adjustment, shall we…but anyway, he is very excited that you are here.”

“Oh he remembers me, that’s good. I was afraid he wouldn’t. It’s been a while.”

“Oh he remembers you, don’t worry.” Mrs. Martin offered playfully as she showed Kyla the modern expansive kitchen. “He likes you a lot, he was glad we were able to get his favourite babysitter, his words.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet.”

“I’m afraid between looking for a new house and the move and everything we haven’t really had a chance to get out.” She gave Kyla a coy nod. “Now that everything is basically settled we are really in need of this night out.”

“Well, you look great.”

“Ah, thank you sweetie, as usual help yourself to whatever is around, we have lots of juice and lemonade and stuff like that in the fridge, and I think there are some chips in the pantry. Make yourself comfortable, I have to track down my husband, I swear it’s a myth that women take longer to get ready than men, he is probably changing his tie again.”

With that she shuffled off, her panty hoed clad feet sliding across the kitchen floor. Kyla just laughed and shook her head. She turned and headed to the table and selected one of the high bar stools and sat down. With nothing to do but wait, she kicked her dangling feet and looked around.

A few moments passed and when a shadow flashed in the corner of her eye and moved to the living room, she hopped off the bar stool, ready to greet her charge. She rounded the corner and entered the living room to find the room empty. She padded around to the front hall again and looked around, but Ryan wasn’t there. Creeping closer to the wide staircase she thought she could hear the typical sounds of Mrs. Martin getting Ryan ready for bed. She shrugged.

Spotting her bag on the floor in the foyer, she picked it up again and maneuvered it to the living room floor. Sitting on the floor she began riffling through the bag, setting aside some of her own personal items and making a pile of things she thought Ryan would be interested in.

A sudden cluster of noise flooded the stairs as all three of them came down, Mrs. Martin bustling around, lecturing her husband that they were going to be late. Mr. Martin simply nodded and uttered words of agreement. He stopped by the small hall mirror to check his tie once more. Then as if remembering, craned his head around and looked in on her.

“Hey there Kyla!” He bellowed with a huge smile.

Kyla just laughed as she stood, saying hi to Mr. Martin.

She glanced at the staircase.

Despite her apparently being Ryan’s favourite babysitter, he sat quietly at the bottom of the stairs, decked out in pajamas, eyeing her cautiously with his big blue eyes. She walked over slowly and crouched down to meet his eye level.

“Hey big fella, pretty cool truck P.J.s”

He simply blinked in response.

“Now Ryan, honey, say hello to Kyla, you remember her don’t you. Don’t be shy. You two had fun last time, remember?”

Ryan nodded and offered and soft hi.

Kyla smiled at him, and in an instant his sullen expression melted into an impish smile in return. His wide set blue eyes sparkled.

As the Martin’s shrugged into their coats Mrs. Martin gave Kyla last minute instructions.

“So, the number for where we’ll be is on the fridge, and you have our cell numbers.”

Kyla nodded and tried to supress a laugh when Mr. Martin rolled his eyes and mimicked his wife.

Kyla assured Mrs. Martin they would be fine. She ruffled Ryan’s hair.

“We are going to have tonnes of fun, right?”

With a final hug goodnight from each parent, the Martin’s were out the door and they were on their own.

Kyla led Ryan into the living room and showed him the arrangement of items she brought. He sifted through them, gingerly placing them back in the exact spot he had initially found them before picking up another. Then nodding, he raised a game involving an inchworm.

“That one? Okay, sounds good.”

They sat together on the floor, moving their respective coloured inchworms around the board, crunching away on chips.

When the landline rang, Kyla sprang to her feet to get it, leaving Ryan absorbed in contemplating his next move. She grinned as she yelled over her shoulder.

“No cheating!”

Ryan giggled softly.

“Geez, that ringer is loud.” Kyla murmured to herself as she approached the red phone fastened to the kitchen wall.

“Hello, Martin Residence.”

Silence.

“Hello?”

A sharp crackle suddenly ripped in her ear.

Then stopped.

She held the phone away from her ear.

From the reach of her arm she could hear something.

Whispers.

Through static.

Slowly, she drew the phone back to her ear.

She strained to hear.

An inexplicable feeling washed over her.

Now that the phone was closer, she thought the whispers sounded more like croaks.

She shook her head – probably just a bad connection.

“Mr. Martin?” She tried, feeling unsteady.

For a moment she thought she heard the croaks through the static say her name, but she couldn’t be sure – it was fragmented.

Abruptly the line went dead.

She placed the phone back on the receiver.

She lingered for a brief moment, then shrugged and turned briskly on her socked feet and swept back into the living room where Ryan was waiting patiently.

“I have my next move all lined up.” He announced. Then eyeing the expression on her face “Who was that?”

Kyla crossed her feet and sat back down on the floor.

She shook her head and flashed him a quick smile.

“No one, well, I guess someone, not sure, the connection was bad. Anyway, it’s fine, I am sure if your parents want to get a hold of me, they can text me. I’ve got my phone right here.” She held up her cell phone for him to see.

Ryan nodded. His expression seemed strangely old for such a young child.

Kyla clapped her hands together.

“Now, where were we?”

Hovering over the colourful board, they continued to move their respective inchworms around the board for a few more turns. Kyla remarked that Ryan was winning which resulted in him springing to his feet to perform some kind of wiggle dance. Kyla laughed.

“Oh no! You are supposed to get less hyper before bed. You need to go sleep in like 20 minutes, no wait less. I promised your mother.”

Ryan plopped back down. For a moment they just giggled at one another. They locked eyes, his bright blue eyes sparkling.

Without warning there was nothing in front of her but blackness. The power fail was accompanied by a loud thud.

In the blanket of darkness she could hear him suck in a sharp gasp. She couldn’t prevent a brief “Oh” from escaping herself.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” She assured, leaning on her side and reaching for her phone. Her hand moved along the cool surface of the coffee table until she found it. She swiped the screen, bringing the glowing screen to life.

The living room look different in the darkness.

“See.” She held the light in between them.

Ryan sat perfectly still, focused on something behind her.

She craned around, seeing nothing but shadows shifting in the darkness.

She turned back to Ryan.

“Do you know where your parents keep things like flashlights and candles?”

Ryan was silent for a moment. Thinking. Then quietly he answered.

“I think Dad keeps some big flashlights in the basement.”

“Oh okay, cool, well, hang tight and…”

Ryan tugged on her pant leg.

“I’ll come too.”

“Oh honey, well, I don’t want you falling and getting hurt. I’ll just be a second.”

Her eyes had adjusted slightly. For the first time she realized something.

“Huh, that’s weird...” She moved to the window. She peeled the lace curtains back slightly. “It doesn’t seem like any other houses lost power. The other occupied houses all seem to have at least one light on.”

She turned back to Ryan.

“Okay, we will play a game. Lay down, close your eyes. See how high you can count until I get back. If it starts to get too high, then remember where you ended and start from the beginning, and we’ll add up the numbers together. When I get back you can tell me exactly how long it takes me to get the flashlight. I promise, you’ll see how quick it will be. I have to take my cell with me so I can see okay, but if you lay down and close your eyes you won’t notice how dark it is.”

Obediently he laid down, folding his arms over his chest. She waited until she could hear him counting softly out loud before she moved to the edge of the kitchen. Finding the door to the basement she opened it, the door offering an obnoxious groan. She used the light of her phone to guide her phone to guide her down the wooden steps.

She maneuvered carefully, taking each stair at a time, bracing herself against the railing. Reaching the bottom she swept her cell around the room.

In the dim light of her phone she could see the details of the room, albeit poorly. It appeared to be a normal family rec room, although still mostly unfinished. A sofa and T.V. occupied one area, another a fridge, deep freeze and washer and dryer in one corner. Panning her phone all the way to the left she saw what looked to be a small workshop area. She moved toward it.

“This has to be where they keep the flashlights….” she muttered to herself. The sound of her own voice was little comfort, but it was something.

She sifted through a few drawers until she finally landed upon not one but two industrial flashlights. She clicked one on. The light flooded the basement allowing her to see much better. Tucking the other flashlight under her arm, she turned to head back upstairs, but suddenly halted.

A shuffle.

Her breath caught in her throat.

“Ryan? I thought I told you to stay upstairs.”

No response.

She swept the flashlight around the room, reminding herself to breathe. Her search revealed nothing.

“Ohhh, if there a mouse or a bat or something down here...” She cringed in the darkness thinking about it.

Unsatisfied with the results she swept the flashlight around again, leaving no corner unturned. Holding her breath, she moved to the TV area. Her stomach twisted, but she had to know. Had to be certain that whatever made that shuffle sound wasn’t something more than a mouse.

What would she do if there was an intruder?

All she knew was that she had to rule it out. Had to be sure that she and Ryan were safe.

Arriving at the edge of the sofa she pivoted and shone the light at the front of the sofa. She breathed a sigh of relief. No one was squatting at the foot of the sofa.

But then it happened again.

From behind.

A brief but clear shuffle.

She felt frozen.

She didn’t know what to do.

Hesitantly she craned her neck around, not wanting to turn around.

“Hello...” She urged from her throat, the sound of her voice dying instantly in the small basement.

Nothing.

She paused in place, not sure what to do, when a sudden blaring sound brought her out of her trance.

She yelped.

It was her phone.

She squinted at the call display.

A series of letter and symbols displayed where the numbers should be.

Swallowing hard she whipped the phone open.

“Hello?”

A male whisper followed by a croak through wavering static emitted through the phone.

Firmly she cut it off, snapping her phone shut.

She took one more thorough look around, shining the flashlight in as many nooks and crannies as quickly as she could. Satisfied that no human was lurking in the basement she turned and rushed back up the stairs, trying not to drop anything.

Reaching the top she shut the door.

She took a brief moment to compose herself, not wanting to freak Ryan out, then moved back to the living room. He was singing to himself. Row Row Row your boat. Realizing she was back he opened his eyes and propped himself up on one elbow.

“I lost count.”

Kyla forced a laugh.

“That’s okay. Look, I found not one but two big flashlights. We can make the most of this, we can tell scary stories in the dark. But not too scary, just silly ones. Kid friendly ones.”

Ryan sat up. She handed him one flashlight and showed him how to turn it on, which he said he already knew how to do.

“We can hold them like this, and tell spooky stories.” She brought the flashlight underneath her chin and shone the light upwards, the light extending from her face out to the ceiling.

“You want me go first?”

Ryan nodded.

Kyla settled into her position and thought for a moment. Then conjuring an urban legend from memory about a ghost lady in a car she lowered her voice and began. She was careful to omit any adult parts and tried to tone down the level of scary.

“That story was sad in the end.” Ryan exclaimed.

“Yeah it kind of was huh, sorry. I guess I am not that good at telling scary stories.”

Ryan shook his head.

“No it was good. I like how the ghost lady was really nice in the end.”

Kyla smiled to herself. She had twisted the story slightly to end that way.

“Okay kiddo, now it’s your turn.” He said leaning in. “Want to give it a try?”

Ryan glanced around, contemplating. He appeared to be focusing on something.

“What is it Ryan?”

Ryan leaned in and motioned for her to bring her face closer to his level. She obliged.

He paused for another moment and told her to shush. He seemed to be listening for something. For a brief moment Kyla’s mind flashed back to the mouse or whatever was in the basement.

She suppressed a shudder.

Seemingly deciding it was okay to proceed, Ryan took a deep breath and started, she had to shuffle even closer to him to hear him speak, his soft voice barely above a whisper.

“I want to tell you something, it’s not a scary story, more like a scary secret.”

Kyla’s expression changed.

“Okay...” What was he about to tell her? Was she ready to hear what he had to say? She wasn’t expecting this.

“I want to tell you about Jaro.”

“Jaro?”

He nodded. His young face solemn.

“Who is Jaro?”

Ryan thought on this, his eyes darting.

“Jaro is a man that I see sometimes. He is like an imaginary friend, but he’s real. Even though my parents say he isn’t.”

“Ryan….”

“Yes?”

“Why are we whispering?”

“Because I am afraid he will hear us.”

CHAPTER TWO

Kyla had no idea what to say. Ryan’s ominous words made her feel like ice was racing down her spine. She wished the power would come back on. She glanced once more towards the window and the neighborhood that still had lights. Ryan followed her gaze.

“Jaro did that.”

She turned back to face him.

“Jaro did what?” She said humoring him.

“Made the power go off. He likes to do stuff like that.”

“Jaro is responsible for turning the power off? Does he do stuff like that a lot?”

Ryan nodded.

Kyla had the sudden urge to look behind her but resisted. She had never really been in this kind of territory. She didn’t know how to react to one of her charges saying these kinds of things. She felt torn. She didn’t want to encourage it – but she didn’t want to totally shut him down either. She positioned her questions carefully.

“Can your parents see Jaro?”

Ryan shook his head.

“They say I made him up. They say he is just a nightmare.”

“Would Jaro ever hurt you?”

Ryan reflected for a moment, then lightly shook his head. However, when he responded he was still whispering.

“I don’t think so.”

“But you don’t think he is very nice?”

“He likes to do things – mean things.”

“Like turning the lights out.”

Ryan nodded.

“And he can do more than that. That’s just him having fun.”

“What other kind of stuff can he do?”

Ryan paused.

“He plays tricks on my Mom and Dad, but they don’t know it’s him. They think they can never find their keys, but Jaro hides them. Sometimes they even fight over things that Jaro did. But he can do more too. He can play with electronic things. Like phones.”

Her whole body froze.

Like showing weird symbols on a screen and croaking through static? She tried to play it cool for Ryan’s sake. She wasn’t sure it was working. Clearing her throat, she continued.

“What does he look like? Is he a kid like you? Do you two ever play together?”

Ryan shook his head.

“No he is big. He’s taller than my Dad. I know because sometimes he stands behind him, even though my Dad doesn’t realize. He wears all black, and the black sweater he wears has a hood. It mostly hides his face but sometimes he looks right at me. He has the face of a clown with messy make-up on, but I don’t think it is really make-up, just his face.”

A shiver let loose and crawled its way along Kyla’s spine. A moment elapsed before she reminded herself that her young charge clearly had one intense overactive imagination, as disturbing as it might be.

“Why can’t your parents see him?”

Ryan gave a slight shrug.

“I think a lot of adults can’t see him. Or they don’t want to or something. He comes from somewhere else.”

“And he hangs around a lot?”

“Yup. He usually just watches them. One time I got up to get a drink of water and he was standing over my parent’s bed when they were sleeping. When he heard me in the doorway he turned and looked at me. He looked mean that night so I ran and hid under the covers. I don’t think my parents woke up.”

“Does he talk to you?”

“He does but I don’t know what he says. When he talks it sounds…weird.”

Like croaks? She thought.

“I only call him Jaro because one time I asked him his name and that’s what I think he said. But it might be something else.”

“And your parents don’t like you talking about him? Because they can’t see him?”

“They think I made him up. I stopped talking about him because I know they don’t think he is real, but he is real and he’s always here.”

Kyla looked around playfully.

“Well, is he here now?”

“He isn’t here in this room right now. But he is somewhere in this house. And he’ll be back.”

“Well, when he comes back will I be able to see him?”

Ryan stared at her with his large eyes, still shimmering blue in the darkness. No hint of mischief revealed themselves in them.

“No.”

“Why not? Am I not cool enough?”

“You haven’t seen him yet.”

CHAPTER THREE

She began to speak when she realized what Ryan meant.

“You mean Jaro has been walking around where I could see him since I’ve been here.”

Ryan nodded.

“So I am like all the adults that can’t see him.”

“I guess so.”

“Do you think he will play a trick on me?”

“He already did.” He said, waving his arm around the room.

“Oh, right, the power. Well, maybe Jaro can be nice and turn the power back on.” Kyla said grinning.

A thud bellowed from somewhere in the basement, followed by the revival of lights.

Kyla was speechless.

“Oh, wooow, Thanks Jaro.”

“Don’t make fun of him.” Ryan warned. “He doesn’t like that.”

Kyla threw her hands up in surrender.

“Not making fun of Jaro, I would never do that. Okay little man, I think now that the power is back on, it’s time to get you tucked into bed. I have already let you stay up past when your mother wanted you asleep on account of the power.” She ruffled his head. “And perhaps more for me than for you. So, thank you for keeping me company, but I want to prove I am a good babysitter so I can sit for you again sometime, okay?”

Ryan nodded, though he seemed reluctant to be going to bed.

Kyla walked with Ryan through the living room to the foyer that led to the stairs. For a brief moment Ryan glanced towards the open area near the front door, then quickly turned in towards Kyla, clinging to her pant leg. Kyla followed his glance – there was nothing there. Gently she ruffled his head and smiled down at him, neither of them speaking. Slightly reassured he smiled back at her.

Reaching the first stair of the landing, an odd sensation tugged at Kyla’s core. She paused for a beat, for no apparent reason she could think of. Ryan simply trudged along ahead. She stared for a moment at the empty foyer. The house was eerily quiet. She turned back to follow Ryan, but as she did, she stopped.

Or something stopped her.

Something from the corner of her eye.

A flash.

Movement.

She squinted, glanced in every direction.

There was nothing there. Perhaps a car drove by and the light reflected in the mirror –

That was it. The mirror.

That’s where she had seen the movement.

Shaking her head, she turned and climbed the stairs two at time after Ryan, who was way ahead of her now.

She moved quickly up the stairs, not looking back at the landing.

Hello there! If anyone has been reading this story and is enjoying it, first of all - thanks!

Quick update, I have been considering making this story into a series of YouTube videos and putting it up on one of my channels instead of continuing here.

If you are here and you have a preference, and you feel like reaching out to let me know, please feel free. If you would like me to keep going on this site, then I will do so. If you think a YT video instead would be cool, I will do that and provide the link on this site.

Not sure if anyone will reach out, but it would be cool if someone does!

Cheers! :)