Mr. Grey

Mr. Grey

By David Vorhees

"Mommy! Mommy, Help! Mommy!" She heard him scream as she frantically jumped from the bed and ran towards his room.

"Baby, what's wrong?" She said as she threw his bedroom door open. He was sitting straight up, all the color had ran out of his face and his hair was drenched with sweat. He was staring at her... no, he was staring past her into the dark corner behind the door. She turned slowly and saw nothing but a dark shadow. "What it is, baby? I don't see anything."

"The grey man." He said his voice trembling in fear.

"What man? There is nothing there." She said. She moved closer to him and saw red streaks loke scratches running down the side of his neck. She quickly sat down and tilted his head to see the marks better. His eyes never leaving that corner. "Who did this to you? Bradley! Who hurt you!?" She asked. "The grey man." Bradley repeated.

"Who?" She said. Then the lights went out and she heard a shuffling sound behind her. She turned and she saw him. His skin was pale and he wore a grey suit. Black holes sat where his eyes should have been. His mouth was a straight line. It started to smile as it moved towards her. Bradley and his mom screamed together.

Two months later

"I love this house." She said.

"It is a nice house and very affordable" the real estate agents said.

"I think me and my son will love it here." She said.

"Is it just the two of you?" The real estate agent asked.

"Yes, it is." She replied.

"Mommy." He said running up front yard to her.

"Speak of the devil." She said bending down to pick him up. He was only 5 but was starting to get a little too big for her to carry anymore. "Henry, this is Mr. Holland."

"Please call me Stan." Stan Holland said.

"Stan the real estate man, just like on T.V. huh mom?" Henry said. She hated it when he called her mom. She didn't know exactly when he started to call her mom, but she wanted to hold onto to mommy a little while longer.

"Just like on T.V." Stan said smiling. He liked her, honestly, he liked both of them a lot.

"Whose that mom?" Henry asked.

"I just told you silly. It's Sta..." She trailed off now realizing she was talking about the man standing next to him.

"No mom. The man in the window." He said pointing to the upstairs window of their new house. Both her and Stan, Stan the real estate man, looked up to the window. There was nothing there.

"I don't see anybody honey." She said.

"Well, he was there. Standing right there in the window, wearing a grey suit." Henry said pointing at the window again.

"Well, uh, maybe I should go check it out." Stan said holding up the keys. He walked to the front door and turned the know, making sure it was locked- it was. Then he unlocked the and went inside. He told her about the previous owner and how they had been murdered when she asked why the house was so cheap. She didn't seem to care; this was her first chance to own her own home and she was not going to pass it up. He checked all the windows and door, and checked every room and closet. Everything was locked and empty, there was no man in a grey suit. He said as much when he rejoined them.

"He probably saw a shadow, but never hurts to make sure." Stan said.

"Maybe," She said, "kids do have crazy good imaginations. At least I know this one does." They all laughed together.

"Well Mrs. Taylor," Stan started.

"Please call me Mary." She said smiling at him. She liked Stan and not because he was good looking, or because he seemed like a really nice guy, or even that he braved an empty house for her, or even because he didn't belittle Henry when Henry said he saw someone. It was all that and something else.

"Okay Mary it is." He said now smiling himself. "Before I go, would it be OK if I called you sometime, maybe took you out to dinner?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He wanted to ask her out, but he also knew it was extremely unprofessional.

"Yes." She replied her smile growing even bigger. "I think I would like that."

"Great." He said his smile now growing to match hers. "Uh hey, if you need any help moving, I am available this weekend and I do know some people."

"Thank you," She said, "I might just take you up on that. “

She watched as he got into his car and drove away.

They moved in over the weekend. Stan had called and offered to help but she refused him instead she got her father, brothers, and their wives to help. By Sunday she was all moved in and mostly unpacked. This was more to do with lack of owning very much than working hard. Henry had been in bed for about an hour when she poured herself a glass of wine. She took her glass and sat down on her couch exhausted when her phone rang. She looked at the front and in bright colors it read Stan the real estate man across the screen. She smiled and answered.

"Hey" she said.

Hey, you get all moved?" Stan asked.

"All moved and mostly unpacked." She stated proudly.

"Wow, I'm impressed." He said.

"Don't be, I don't have very much." She said laughing a little. He laughed a little as well, like most people do as they get to know someone they really like.

"I wanted to call and check on you, see how averting was going and I was wondering if you want to go to dinner with me Friday?" He said a little tentatively. He knew she had pretty much already said yes but that didn't stop him from being a little nervous. After all she could have changed her mind.

"Sure, sounds great." She said. She couldn't believe her luck. She had found this nice, affordable, little home for her and her son and now a nice guy was asking her out. She wasn't sure she could be happier than she was at this moment She hadn't been this happy since her and Chuck had started dating. That hat turned out bad, real bad, but she had a good feeling about Stan. "I will call my brother tomorrow to see if he can watch Henry."

"No, don't, bring him." Stan said. "Maybe we can get pizza or something. Besides, I want to get to you, both of you." Stan said a little sheepishly.

"OK. Pizza, we like pizza." She said and then she heard it. It sounded like someone was crying above her head.

"OK, great pizza on Friday then." Stan said.

"Yeah, Friday." She said listening to the sound now and not really paying attention to the phone. "Hey Stan, I got to go. I think Henry is crying."

"OH, ok. Yeah, well, let me know what's going on?" Stan said. She hung up the phone without saying goodbye and headed upstairs. She hoped Stam would understand and forgive for cutting him off like that, she felt he would. He seemed genuinely concerned for Henry. She decided then she really liked Stan and would shoot him an apology text later.

The sound got louder as she neared Henry’s door. When she opened it, she saw he was sitting up in bed crying. "Henry, you ok?" She asked standing in the doorway.

"The grey man, mommy." She liked it when he called her mommy but not when he said it like this.

"The grey man? You mean then you thought you saw the other day?" She asked. Henry nodded his head crying and no speaking. She also noticed he was looking at the corner behind the door. She flipped the lights with on and the overhead light flicked on to life. She looked behind the door but saw nothing. “Honey, you probably just had a bad dream." She said, he never took his eyes off that corner, even with the light on. "Would you like to come sleep with mommy tonight?" She asked. He nodded his head. "OK, get your pillow and let's go." Henry grabbed his and ran out of his room and into hers jumping on her bed. "Do you want to tell me about your dream?" She said walking into her room after him. He shook his head no. "Well ok. Look I have to run downstairs real quick." She said and he snapped his head around and looked at her for the first time since she entered his room. His eyes were filled with terror. "You know what that can wait, why don't we just go to bed." She as she crawled into bed next to him. When she got laid down, he wrapped his arms around her tightly. 5 minutes later they were both fast asleep.

The next they had woken up late, it was after 10. School hadn't started yet and she had taken the week off work to move and get settled. She went downstairs and saw her phone was at 3% battery and that there were a couple of calls and a text from Stan. He really was worried; this made her smile again. She shot him a text apologizing for the cut off, and not responding sooner. She told him that Henry had a nightmare and that they had both fallen asleep. She was used to apologizing. She had apologized to Chuck a lot over the years they were together. That didn't seem to matter, it didn't stop him from hitting her. She never meant those apologies, just said them. But this time she meant every word, she genuinely felt bad for last night. He texted back saying it was OK, all was good and that he couldn't wait till Friday.

It raided all day that day and Henry mostly played in his room. She thought was a good thing. She was hoping his nightmare stemmed from just being in a new place. The more he was in it, the quicker it wouldn't be new. That night they had McDonald's, Henry's favorite, and watched some new animated family movie on Netflix. After the movie Henry took a shower, brushed his teeth, and went to bed.

About an hour later She heard Henry crying again this time. She darted upstairs and opened his door. He was sitting straight up, crying, and again looking towards the corner behind the door. "Another nightmare buddy?" She asked. Henry shook his head no. "Then what?" She said.

"The Grey man." Henry said terrified. She walked into his room and sat on the edge of his bed. "Honey, that was just a nightmare." She started to say when Henry then locked eyes with her, shook his head again, and looked back toward the corner. She turned her head and saw him.

He was tall with Pale skin, hollow blackened eyes, and a straight line for a mouth. Her blood ran cold and she wanted to scream but she had lost her breath. Eyes grew wide as he/it came closer. She put and arm on Henry to try to protect him and shot the other hand out in front of her, palm up as to say stop right there. The Grey man smiled; the thin line of his mouth began to form sharp points. He grabbed her arm. His skin was cold and hard like ice over cold steel. He pulled her towards him and bit her where her arm joins her shoulder. Her arm came off in one snap of his jaws. This time she did scream and so did Henry behind her. The Grey man grabbed her by her hair and forced her head back, he leaned in and in a low gravely voice he said, "The call me Mr. Grey." He then leaned in closer as if to kiss her, opened his mouth and bit down ripping the bottom part of her jaw off. She fell over, struggling to breath, drowning on her own blood. Mr. Grey leaned his head back and made a sound as if he were in in ecstasy.

Henry seeing Mr. Grey look up, he jumped off his bed and ran for his door. He ran across the hall into his mother's room, shit the door and locked. He jumped up on her bed and saw her phone on the stand next to the bed. When he grabbed it, the screen lit up. In a small white block on the screen was a message-

Missed call.

Stan, The real estate man Call back.

Henry smashed his finger on the call back button and it began to ring.

“They, I was trying to call..." Stan began.

"Mommy's hurt Stan." Henry said crying but it came out more like mobbing herb stab.

"HENRY!" What's going on, is your mom ok?!" Stan asked.

"She's hurt bad Stan, he hurt her real bad." Henry said. This time Stan heard a loud knock coming from the other end of the phone.

"Who hurt her Henry?" Stan asked his blood pumping so fast he could feel his heart about to burst out of his chest.

"Mr. Grey, the grey man." Henry cried as another loud bang came through the phone.

The grey man, wasn't that what Henry said he saw the other day in the upstairs window. Chills ran through his body. "Henry, where are you?" Stan asked.

"In Mommy's room." Henry answered.

"Is the door locked Henry." Stan asked. He knew the master bedroom door had a lock on it, he also knew it wasn't strong lock.

"Yes." Henry said. "Good. Stay there." Stan said, "I am calling 911 and I am coming over." With that he heard a loud crash, his stomach drop as if he was on a roller coaster. One of those kind that just drop you, like the Power Tower in Cedar Point. Then he heard Henry scream, a blood curdling scream. A scream a human boy of around 5 years old should not be able to make, should never have to make. "HENRY! HENRY, ARE YOU OK?!" Stan shouted into the phone. Then Heard a low growl and the phone went dead. Stan charged into the house screaming their names, "MARY! HENRY!" no one answered. He knew no one would, but he couldn't stop himself. He darted up the stairs taking 2 steps at a time, it felt like it took forever. When he got to the top of the stairs. He looked into Henry's bedroom and saw Mary lying on Henry's bed. She was lying there, unmoving. He stepped into the room and turned on the overhead light. He jersey back, turned his head and gagged. He thought for a minute the spaghetti he had eaten for supper was going to come back up but he was able to keep it down. He forced himself to look again and this time to step towards her bloody corpse. He looked and saw her right arm was missing, he looked around and saw it on floor between the bed and the wall. He then looked up her body and got to her face. My God, he thought, her face, her beautiful face. This is all my fault. He covered his mouth with his hand, closed his eyes and began to cry. HENRY! he thought, the thought came through with such force it almost knocked him backwards. He turned and left the room, stopping to turn off the light and take one last look. Then he turned and saw the master bedroom door across the hall diagonal to the room where she lay. He saw the door know was still in the latch bit the majority of the door was blasted inward towards the room. He stepped through the door and saw nothing. Pieces of the door were scattered everywhere but there was no Henry, no blood. Nothing to suggest what happened to the little boy.

He could hear sirens coming, but they were still a good distance away. He had called 911 before he left his house but he was able to beat them here.

He looked around but found no trace of the boy then he heard it, a low growl coming from behind him, his skin ran cold as he turned to face Me. Grey.

"Jesus!" He said stumbling backward away from the menacing creature. "You're, you're not real."

"Stan." Mr. Grey said, "I am Mr. Grey, you remember." Stan did, but he didn’t want. He remembered the night his own mother was killed. That night cam flooding back to him. He had blocked it out so even when the previous owners had died, he never connected it. Now he knew everything. He knew why he was drawn to this house, why it became available he made sure to be the one who acquired the listing. It wasn't hard, it was a tiny 2 bedroom, 1 bath, but it was more than that. It was home. It was his childhood home. It was the same house where he watched Mr. Grey, the Grey Man, devour his own mother.

"I've never forgot you Stan." Mr. Grey said. "I have returned for you. Stan now saw Henry, he had been half eaten, his chest tore open. The look of terror and pain still in his eyes. Stan screamed, he screamed for rush if the unlocked memories, he screamed because he knew he was the reason Mary and Henry were dead, he screamed because he knew there was no escape for him this time, he screamed as Mr. Grey move toward, he screamed until he died.