Samantha King had always liked the moon. It was like a nightlight that was always on. She knew it was really, really, big, but it looked so small. It was big and shiny tonight – full – that’s what they called it, though she didn’t know full of what. A long time ago people thought the moon was made of cheese, and she liked that too. Just a big cheesy moon hanging in the sky. Sometimes it was so bright it was hard to see the stars.
The last few nights she’d been waking up in the middle of the night for some reason. The first night it happened she went to the window to count the stars, which always made her sleepy again, but got distracted by the moon. So for the last week that had been her ritual. Wake up, gander at the moon for a little while until she grew tired, and go back to bed. She wondered if she might be a werewolf.
It could also be the boy sneaking into her backyard every night.
At first Sam wasn’t sure it was a boy down there, but only a boy would be creeping around the woods in the middle of the night and going into other people’s backyards. Boys were creepers. They were also stupid, and loud, and gross. Sam didn’t like boys, and this one was the worst. He’d sneak into her backyard to play Pokémon Go, wearing a creepy mask even though Halloween wasn’t for another couple weeks. He’d stand there all night like a statue, playing. How long he would stay she didn’t know; he was always gone by morning.
Sam hadn’t told her mom about the boy. Or Joel, her mom’s boyfriend – no, fiancé now. They were getting married in a week, which was super exciting, and meant Sam had to be on her best behaviour. She and her mom had moved into Joel’s house at the beginning of summer. It was a nice house on the edge of town and on the edge of the woods, but it was quieter here than in the city, and honestly kind of boring. At least she still got to see her Dad in London sometimes.
Then Pokémon Go came out, and the house became a Pokéstop. People would come from all over to get free Poké stuff. Sometimes they’d stay for a while, and Joel would have to ask them to leave. But they always came back eventually.
All the kids in her second-grade class were jealous that she lived at a PokéStop, but in truth, Sam was jealous of them. Most of the other kids had cell phones, but Sam didn’t. Her mom wouldn’t get her one; said she didn’t need it (even though her dad said it would be okay). They’d gotten her an iPod Touch instead, which was cool, but it wasn’t the same. With the iPod Sam could only play Pokémon Go when she was using wifi – that meant playing at home or at restaurants like McDonalds. Sometimes Joel would let her use the wifi on his phone when they went for walks, but she wanted to be able to do it all on her own phone.
Sam wasn’t sure if she was jealous of the kid in her backyard – the PokéKid, as she’d decided to call him. Sure he could play the game and come and go as he pleased, but he was also a boy, and a creeper. First, he always wore the same clothes; baggy pants, a hoodie, and a weird mask over his face. Secondly, he came to the back, when everyone else came to the front of her house. The house only had woods at the back, which means the PokéKid lived on the other side of, or maybe even in the woods. Sam wouldn’t want to live in the woods; they were spooky, especially after dark. Which leads to point three: the PokéKid only came out at night. When all the other kids were in bed, he was out wandering in the woods playing Pokémon Go. Even on a school night. Did his parents let him go, or did he sneak out?
Actually, now that she thought about it, he wasn’t at the edge of her yard anymore; he was closer to the house. In fact, every night he’d been getting closer, unless it was just her imagination. She’d have to keep an eye on him. She’d be just like a guard dog – the best and cutest guard dog ever!
And that’s what Sam did. Before bed each night she’d check her window, confirming that the back yard was empty. Later she’d awaken for some reason, check again to find him standing there, phone in his hand, usually a few feet closer to the house than the previous night. It’s like she knew the Pokékid was there. She’d watch him for a few minutes, certain he couldn’t see her yet still feeling like she was being watched, then return to bed. Her mom had a habit of leaving the porch light on, which Sam was thankful for. It made keeping an eye on the PokéKid easier.
One night she opened her window and yelled at him, told him to go away. He didn’t react in any way. Sam was going to try again, but realised that it was late, and her mom and Joel were asleep. She didn’t want to wake them. She was supposed to be on her best behaviour, after all. But if the PokéKid kept getting closer…what did he want anyway? He didn’t have to be this close to the house to play the game. If he tried anything funny she’d have to let her mom know. He’d be in big trouble then.
The next night Sam awoke to a heavy rain storm. She liked the sound of the rain, and especially liked it when the lightning lit up the entire sky. She watched out the window as a brief flash of daylight flickered before returning to the pitch black night.
Wait, it was all dark. The moon was covered by the clouds, and the backyard wasn’t lit up. Her mom must have forgotten to turn on the porch light. Sam watched nervously, waiting for the next bolt of lightning. When it hit, she didn’t see the PokéKid anywhere. Perhaps he hadn’t come tonight, maybe because of the rain? Maybe he was grounded for being a creeper?
No. Like a good guard dog, Sam woke up; she sensed his presence. Just because she couldn’t see him didn’t mean he wasn’t there. He was hiding, taking advantage of the darkness. She decided to go investigate.
Opening her bedroom door quietly, Sam snuck down the stairs and through the kitchen to the back door. She found the light switches and turned flicked one. The hallway light came on. She flicked it off and tried the other one – and yelped in surprise.
The PokéKid was standing there at the back door, peeking in through the window.
Sam stumbled backwards and tripped over the edge of the hallway carpet, never taking her eyes off the boy. Up close, his mask was even weirder. It looked like it was made wood. But not normal wood; it like the outside of a tree. What did they call it? Bark. That was it. It was long, going above his head so she couldn’t see his hair, and down, tucked into his hoodie, so all she could see was the mask. But weirdest of all was that it had no holes, not for the eyes or nose or mouth. How could he see or breathe? It had to be a trick or something. Whatever it was she didn’t like it.
“Go away,” Sam said, but it came out as nothing more than a whisper. She stood up and repeated, louder this time, “Go away!” It was possible the PokéKid didn’t hear her, since he didn’t move, but if she spoke any louder and she’d risk waking everyone up. She briefly considered doing just that before deciding to give this one more chance.
Taking a deep breath, Sam unlocked the back door and opened it. The sound of the rain and thunder invaded the house, accompanied by the menace and stench of the Pokékid. He was sopping wet, smelled like wet fungus, and his shoes and the bottom of his pant legs were caked with mud. His phone, still held in front of him like an offering, must have died after getting wet from the rain because it wasn’t even turned on. That’s what you get for playing for playing Pokémon Go in the rain. As she said: boys were stupid.
“Go away!” she said again, pointing back towards the woods. Though she sounded tough and brave, her bravado was a mask. Inside she was scared, worried that she might be in over her head. Not being able to see the boy’s face was unnerving. He just stood there like a statue, completely ignoring her.
Sam was about to issue the command again and add something about calling the police this time, when a sudden gust of wind took her by surprise. She covered her eyes and took a step backwards, and when she looked again the doorstep was empty. With a mixture of fear and relief, she glanced around outside. The Pokékid was nowhere to be seen.
Assuming he’d finally heeded her warning, Sam closed and locked the door. Then, as she turned to go back to the stairs, she stepped in something cold and slimy. She looked down to see a small puddle of mud in the shape of a footprint, the first in a trail that led down the hall and turned left into the kitchen.
The Pokékid was in her house.
Sam swallowed hard, yet a lump remained in the back of her throat. In the blink of an eye he’d gotten passed her, like a ninja. This was not good. It was time to wake up her mom.
Meaning to head for the stairs, Sam instead began to follow the footprints. They passed through the kitchen and on into the dinning room, and stopped at the long dinner table. Curious, Sam walked around the table, eventually finding the tracks again, continuing from the other end of the table, as if the Pokékid has jumped the whole thing. It was impossible, especially without making a sound.
Continuing on to the adjacent living room, Sam found the trail once again stopped abruptly at the wall. There was nowhere to go from here, nothing to jump over or walk around. Had the Pokékid walked right through the wall? Or had he simply vanished? On the other side of the wall was Joel’s office, so Sam rushed around the corner to investigate further. As she suspected, the footsteps continued on the other side. Now she was really freaked out; this boy could walk through walls.
He could also disappear, apparently, since the trail of muddy prints led away from the wall and to the middle of the room, where they ended. Sam looked all around but found no sign of where they picked up – if they did at all. As she’d followed them the footsteps had grown smaller and fainter with each step, getting harder to see. Perhaps this was where they finally faded away, and she couldn’t track him anymore. That meant he could be anywhere in the house.
A sudden thump on the floor from upstairs forced her attention upwards, where she saw the continuation of the footsteps on the ceiling, heading out of the office. Sam felt tears stinging her eyes; this was too much! It couldn’t be happening. First walking through walls, and now walking on the ceiling? She pinched herself, hoping it was all a bad dream, but she didn’t wake.
But someone else in the house did; a scream broke the silence. It belonged to her mom. Sam bolting out of the room and headed for the stairs, noticing that the footsteps on the ceiling travelled in the same direction. She hesitated at the bottom, unsure of what she’d find up at the top. The Pokékid, sure, but what else? What was he doing? What could she do if her mom was in trouble? Joel was up there and he would protect her, right? But it didn’t sound like anything was going on up there. It was all quiet now. Shouldn’t there be voices yelling or stuff breaking or…something? Reluctantly, Sam climbed the steps, the pit of dread in her stomach bottomless. Their bedroom was at the end of the hallway. The door, which was usually kept closed, was now open, and the light was on.
“Mom?” Sam called out as she crept slowly down the hall, and was met with silence. “Dad?” she cried again, forgetting in her fear to call Joel by his name. She was answered by a sudden gust of wind meeting her halfway to the door. It made a low, ominous howl as it blew down the hallway, accompanied by the sound of rain.
When Sam finally peeked her head into the bedroom, she found it empty. Her mom and Joel must have been there because the bed was a mess. The window was also open, making the room slightly chilly. Sam went to close it, taking a good look outside in the process. With back light now on it was easy to see outside, and she saw the Pokékid standing at the edge of the backyard, for the first time facing away from the house, as if he was leaving. She was about to call out for him to stop, to stay right where he was, but as usual, he was as still as a statue, so the demand seemed kind of pointless.
Sam closed the window and ran as quick as she could down to the back door to confront him. But the Pokékid was gone. She wasn’t about to go out after him, not while it was pouring out, and certainly not if he was going back into the woods. She’d wait for her mom or Joel to go with her. Only…where were they?
Searching every room, every closet, even the creepy basement, Sam spent the next half hour looking for them. They hadn’t gone with the Pokékid; she’d seen him leave the house by himself, so they had to be somewhere. She peeked under the beds, opened all the cupboards, combed every inch of the house, growing more desperate with every growing minute. She called their names, pleaded for them to come out of hiding, unable to hold back the tears. But she was alone.
Scared that she’d never see them again, Sam picked up the home phone and dialled 9-1-1. But she swore, if she ever saw the Pokékid again, she’d let him have it.
—
Two missing after home invasion in quiet suburb of Belmont Thursday morning, Oct. 23. London police responded to a 9-1-1 call made from a residence on Dufferin St. at 3:44AM from seven year old Samantha King. She reported a strange boy in her house, followed by the disappearance of her mother, Chelsea King, and Joel Teeon, her mother’s fiancé (both pictured below). It is unknown at this time if the two incidents are related, as the boy was reportedly seen leaving the house alone, dressed in a gray hoodie and blue jeans, and wearing a mask made possibly from tree bark.
Authorities suspect this is connected to a rash of disappearances around the London area, including Cybil Basaur, Artie Kuno, Isabelle Sprout, Mark Anine, and Doug Drio.
Chelsea King is described as a slender brunette, blue eyes, approx 5’5”, while Joel Teeon is 5’9” with a medium build, brown eyes, dark brown hair and a full beard. Tragically, the couple were to be wed the following Saturday, Oct. 25.
Samantha will be left in the care of her father, Ramsey King, until further notice. Until then, police are urging anyone with any information about the whereabouts of the missing couple, or the mysterious young man, to come forward.
Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or on the website at http://www.londoncrimestoppers.com and tipsters are eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.
The Chris Effect 