Chapter 8 – Descent: The Third Step

I as dreaming…There were voices…It was a woman’s voice, but I didn’t recognize it. It was smooth and silky…

“What’s wrong little boy?”

“Are you scared?”

“Aww…poor baby…”

“Come over here…”

“Come…let me look at you…”

“Oooh…does that feel better?”

“Come on…just like how I showed you…”

Suddenly, my father’s voice intruded…

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Nelson! Get your ass over here!”

“You! What are you doing to my son?”

I suddenly snapped awake out of my dream. The details were already starting to fade, but I still remembered the silky softness of the woman’s voice. It contrasted sharply to my father’s gruff and angry tone.

I shook my head vigorously. What was that all about? Who was that woman? The only person I had ever associated with in my youth for any length of time was my nanny, but I didn’t remember very much about her. I have vague images of dark hair and that’s about it.

I looked around the master bedroom. It had been about three weeks since I proposed to Cassie. I had managed to explain the wounds from the whip as an accident with a falling vase. I had felt guilty at lying, but Cassie believed it. During the last three weeks, she had actually spent several nights at my house. Now that the cat was out of the bag, things were moving along much smoother than they had before. I had met her parents, and I had been introduced to the rest of her family. I even got to spend Christmas with her and her extended family. It was quite a new experience for me, having so many people around. Normally, I would have felt extremely uncomfortable, but Cassie had managed to settle my nerves and had taken my uneasiness away. God I loved that woman!

We had agreed on a long engagement to help us ease into our new relationship. She had been burned before in the past and that made her cautious. I was fine with that. One side of me was impatient, and craved her company. However, there was still that lingering side of me that was a little scared of the whole thing. I was confident though, that we would be able to resolve all of our issues together.

The only issue that I didn’t think we could resolve together was Kumiko. I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew what I had to do, but I couldn’t seem to take that final step and actually throw Kumiko away. Maybe it was the residual feelings I had for her. Maybe she was actually possessed or something. That last thought made me shiver. Could it be? Did I even believe that that kind of stuff?

Kumiko was safely tied up in the basement. Since that night, I had never once found Kumiko in my bed again. I had, however, had the eerie feeling whenever I was alone in the house, that I was not entirely alone. It wasn’t anything I could put my finger on. There would be furtive movements out of the corner of my eye, or the hairs on the back of my neck would suddenly stand on attention as if someone or something was glaring at my unprotected back.

Maybe I should just sell the house? Unfortunately, Cassie seemed to love the house. I guess I never really thought about it, but it really was a very large house, ideal for raising a family in.

No, whatever was plaguing me, I would have to fix it myself, hopefully before Cassie moved in!

I looked at the clock display. It read 6:33am. It was a Monday morning and I had the week off. Cassie and the rest of the team had flown to Iowa to meet with the client and to present the final product. I was supposed to go but had come down with flu-like symptoms over the weekend. Cassie had offered to cancel the trip, but I knew how important it was and had persuaded her that I would be fine. There really wasn’t much to do at the office so I had decided to take a well deserved break.

There didn’t seem much point to go back to sleep so I brushed my teeth and went downstairs to get some breakfast. The house was quiet and still rather dim, so I turned on the overhead lights as I went along. As I passed by the basement door though, I thought I heard something. I paused and listened…

It sounded like crying…

What the hell?

“Nelson…”

I spun around in a circle. Who said that? There was no one behind me.

“Nelson…”

I shook my head and slapped my palms against my face. Has someone called my name? Had Cassie canceled her trip after all?

I ran to the front door and opened it. There was no one there. I ran to the back patio door and turned on the outside light. There was no one there. Maybe in the backyard? I went into the backyard and scanned it. There was no one. The bathhouse’s door was locked as well. Maybe I was just imagining it?

I went back into the house and started making some coffee. Coffee. That was what I needed!

“Nelson…help me…”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end. It was that voice again. The voice sounded smooth and silky…a chill suddenly ran down my spine. It was the voice from my dream! Was I dreaming still?

I pinched myself on my arm. Ouch! Definitely not a dream.

“Please Nelson…help me…”

There was no doubt about it. The voice was coming from the basement. I felt an unreasonable fear grip me. NO! I can’t go down there! Some force seemed to have taken control of my body though. As if on its own accord, my body walked over to the basement door and unbolted it. The door creaked on its hinged as it swung open.

The darkness in the basement was thick, but my eyes quickly adjusted it. I tried flicking on the switch but the light wasn’t working. At the bottom of the stairs, I thought I could see something…it was a body!

My God! Had Cassie come over and fallen down the stairs!

Shit!

I started down the stairs. Each step creaked and groaned as it took my weight. When I was halfway down though, the darkness parted and I could see that the only thing at the bottom of the stairs was an old rug…

What’s going on?

I paused and looked harder. Definitely not a body. Whew! I almost went back upstairs but new sound caught my attention. It went creak…creak…creak…

Goosebumps shivered all over my body. The creaking sounds were coming from the centre of the basement.

I went all the way down the stairs and looked in the direction of the sounds. In the centre of the basement, a figure was hanging from one of the ceiling beams. It was swaying back and forth. Creak…creak…creak…

Though I was still somewhat spooked, I felt a little bit relieved. It was only Kumiko!

“Nelson…please…”

What the fuck?!

I walked over to the swinging body with fear gripping my guts. What the hell was I afraid of? She’s just a doll! There was a light bulb close to the centre of the basement. I pulled the string attached to it and the light came on. The sudden harsh while light made me squint but the expression on Kumiko’s face made almost made my heart freeze.

She was pleading with me!

“I am sorry…”

Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were wide. Her lips hadn’t moved, but as irrational as it sounded, I just knew that the voice had come from Kumiko.

I shook my head. NO! It can’t be! She’s just a doll! I squeezed my eyes shut for several seconds and then opened them up. Kumiko was still looking at me with that same pleading expression.

Damn it!

I pulled over a stool and stepped on it. I untied Kumiko and gently let her back down to the ground. Then I completely removed all the ropes and stood her back onto her stand.

Her mouth had closed and her eyes weren’t nearly so wide anymore. The beauty of her face was marred by two gaping wounds on her cheeks. Was I just imagining all of this?

I suppressed a shiver and virtually ran back up the stairs. When I got to the top, I belatedly remembered that I had forgotten to turn off the light downstairs. I almost went back down...almost. I just couldn’t do it! I shut the door and bolted it.

No!

This can’t be real! She can’t be real! It took am almost supreme force of will, but I managed to unbolt the door. It’s all irrational. It had to be.

Despite all my self assurances though, I couldn’t bring myself to do more than unbolt the door. I had to get out of the house!

I grabbed my jacket and went into the garage. Both my X5 and Cassie’s Z4 were there. I got into my X5 and pressed the button to open the garage door. When the door was open all the way, I pulled out of the garage, closed the door, and then accelerated quickly away from my house.

---

It was late when I finally returned to my house. I had spent the day cruising around the city but eventually, my exhaustion had forced me to come home. There was an unknown car in my driveway.

I pulled up beside it and a man with a slight build got out of the car. It was Chad Fong! What the heck did he want?

Chad looked a bit haggard. It had been several months since he had been fired. I had not heard from him in that time but I assumed that he had found another job.

“Hi Chad,” I said hesitantly. I didn’t offer him my hand.

He smiled a little smugly as he said, “Hello yourself Nelson.”

“What can I do for you?”

He chuckled a bit and said, “Actually it’s what I can do for you…or rather what I can do to you!”

“What’re you talking about?” Could it be? Maybe Chad was the one who was breaking into my house and moving Kumiko around?

“Maybe we should go into your house to talk about this.”

“Maybe we should just stay right here!” I was starting to get a little pissed off.

Chad didn’t look fazed. “Have it your way.” He pulled a large thick envelope from his car and brandished it like a weapon. “I know things Nelson. I’ve been busy and now I know things. Things about you that you had thought you had hidden away. If you don’t start paying me some of the money that you got when you stole my job, I’m going to go public with this. Then you can kiss your happy life away.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I demanded. I was confused. I thought Chad was going to say something about Kumiko but this was entirely different.

“This!” cried Chad triumphantly. “I’m talking about this! You thought you were so clever! You thought you had buried your past! But it’s not buried! It’s there for anyone who’s willing to spend a bunch of time and money to find!”

The winter air was starting to make me shiver. I started walking towards the house. I was getting tired of this conversation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Go away Chad. You’re disturbed.”

“Ha! That’s what you think! You’re the one who’s disturbed Nelson! You’re a real sicko, you know that?” Chad followed me up. “I know all about you now. You and your little friend!”

That brought me up short. What little friend?

Chad laughed triumphantly. He thrust the envelope at me. “Think it over Nelson. I want a hundred grand up front for keeping my mouth shut. After you pay that, we’ll talk expenses!”

Still laughing, he got back into his car and drove off. What the hell was he talking about?

I let myself into my house and sat down on the couch in the living room. I opened the envelope and the first thing I saw was an admittance form of some sort. The name of the form was Nelson Doskins, aged 8 and the hospital in question was the Children’s Care Hospital.

When the hell was I ever in a hospital? I flipped through the next few pages. They showed more admittance forms and such. Then, I got to page filled with notes. I scanned through them; my body grew colder with every line.

Nelson is a very disturbed boy.

Nelson is insistent of the existence of his imaginary friend.

Nelson’s parents have complained that things get moved around the house but when questioned, Nelson claims innocence.

Here in the centre, we have observed nothing of the sort, even though we have observed Nelson talking to someone who isn’t there.

Nelson’s parents claim that this behavior started last year after his nanny was dismissed.

Nelson refuses disclose the name of his imaginary friend, but our cameras have recorded him calling his friend Kumiko.

My heart thundered in my chest. I kept staring at that last line. Kumiko. The web site that I bought Kumiko from didn’t have names for the dolls that they sold. Where had I come up with the name then? Was it from my subconscious? Why couldn’t I remember any of this?

I skipped ahead. I stopped on another page. It was a photocopy of an arrest warrant. The name on it was William Doskins. There was another one for Marie Doskins. The charge for both was manslaughter.

What?! My parents killed someone?

Then, I came upon yet another arrest warrant. The name on the warrant was Tadayoshi, Kumiko.

Kumiko!

Again!

This time, the charge was sexual abuse of a minor. What minor?

Like a great explosion, memories suddenly started flooding back into my mind. I saw Kumiko – the nanny – and she was kissing and hugging me. I remembered her sweet scent, and her beautiful Asian face. Most of all, I remembered her eyes. She had blue eyes. It was a heritage from her American mother. She loved me. And I loved her. But our love and relationship had not been a normal one.

My parents had come home early from one of their frequent trips. They had found Kumiko and me engaging in…activities. There had been a fight, and my father had thrown Kumiko out of the house and then called the police.

I had thrown a tantrum and my parents had locked me in the basement and turned off the lights. I don’t know how long I had been down there, but the darkness and the solitude had been broken by voices.

“What the hell are you doing here! We have a restraining order against you!”

“Where is he? Where is Nelson?”

“Don’t you come near our son again you bitch!”

“You don’t love him! I do. I must see him. Where is he?”

“Get out! I’ve called the police!”

“No! I must see him!”

I had looked up as the basement door opened. I saw Kumiko framed in the doorway. She started to come down and then seemingly tripped. She tumbled down the hard wooden stairs and landed heavily at the bottom of the stairs.

Kumiko had died in the basement!

I set the papers down on the coffee table. Now I knew. Now I understood.

I closed my eyes as more memories flooded my mind. Memories of happier times. Memories of a flesh and blood Kumiko. Memories that had been buried deep until now.

I went down into the basement. Kumiko the doll was waiting for me expectantly. I caressed her face tenderly and frowned at the gaping wounds in her face. In her shipping box, I found a silicone repair kit and carefully applied the glue to the insides of the cuts. After I was done, the wounds were closed and only under close scrutiny could I see the thin lines of her scars.

I picked up Kumiko and took her upstairs. I didn’t have a specific destination in mind. I just wanted to get Kumiko out of the basement. I felt that she had suffered enough. In the end, I brought Kumiko back to the attic.

My mind was swirling with thoughts and images. There were still things that I wasn’t sure about. Was Kumiko the doll real? Was she possessed? How had she moved around if she weren’t? I decided that it didn’t matter. Kumiko the doll had helped me unlock the memories of Kumiko the nanny. If for nothing else, then at least for that, Kumiko the doll deserved to be treated better than the way I had been treating her the past several weeks.

There was some old furniture in the attic. I arranged these around to give the attic a semblance of a real room. There was even an old futon and I placed it in the centre of the attic. I even found an old rocking chair and I placed that by the attic window. Then I sat Kumiko down by the window so that she could look outside. I drew the sheer blinds down so that Kumiko could have a little privacy and so that she wouldn’t be visible from the outside.

When I was all done, I kissed Kumiko tenderly and left the attic. I knew I had to deal with Chad somehow. I don’t know how Cassie would react if she found out about all of this. With Chad blackmailing me though, I knew that it was only a matter of time before she found out. I had to find some way to tell her myself.