The Key to Everything by Alex Kimmell Read Free Book Online

bottom of the stairs. 
    “Hey Jason.” You clap your hands. “Wake up, pal.” Following him down the hallway, you notice he is getting closer to the stairs.
    “What did he say?” Emily follows you into the hall.
    “I think he’s saying ‘seven.’”
    “What?”
    “I have no idea. But he won’t wake up.”
    “Seven, Daddy, seven.” Jason turns just before the stairs and begins backing into his room. Your heartbeat slows down a little in relief. 
    “At least he won’t fall down the stairs,” you say, as Emily runs past you into Jason’s room.
    “Jason.” She grabs his arms and shakes him hard. “Wake up, honey.”
    “Seven, Daddy, seven.” His eyes stare blankly, with black, unfocused pupils completely dilated.
    Jason sits down on his bed with his eyes stretched open. Stiff as a board, he lies back and pulls the covers up to his chin. Emily stands above him crying. Putting your arms around her from behind, you can feel her shaking. You can’t blame her. You’re scared out of your shit too. You don’t even bother trying to comfort her. 
    “I’m going to throw up.” Emily pulls away and runs to the bathroom.
    You head down the hall to help her and glance back at Jason. His head snaps hard to the right, and he stares directly into your eyes. 
    “Seven, Daddy, seven. SEVEN DADDY SEVEN.SEVEN SEVEN SEVNSEVENSEVENSEVENSEVEN…”
    You launch yourself at him, cradling him in your arms. “Jason. Wake up please. I’m right here.” You rock him back and forth. He feels cold. A stone.
    “SEVENSEVENSEVENSEVENSEVENSEVEN…”
    You don’t want to. The very idea of doing it brings a stabbing pain to your stomach. Your hand reaches out, swings through the air, and slaps him hard across the cheek. Immediate silence. Jason looks at you, stunned. He starts to sob, tears pouring down his face.
    “Why did you hit me, Daddy?” He pushes you and recoils into the headboard. “Why did you hit me?”
    Emily runs in the doorway and jumps over you to get to her child. “Shhhh, baby.” She reaches back to you with one hand and grabs your wrist. “You were having a really bad nightmare and Daddy was trying to help you.” She puts her hands on his face and looks right into his eyes. “Daddy and Mommy would never hurt you. You know that, right?”
    “But he hit me in the face. I was asleep and he hit me in the face.” Bursting into uncontrollable sobs, Jason buries his face into his mother’s embrace. Feeling fear and shame beyond words, you get up from the bed. Rubbing your hands on the top of your head, you pace around the room.
    “Fuck!” You slam your hand down on the top of the bookshelf, knocking the soccer-ball lamp and all of the books on the top shelf to the floor. “Just great.” You kneel down and start picking up the mess.
    Jason’s words are muffled by Emily’s arms. “That’s another quarter for the swear jar, Daddy.” First a moment of silence, and then the three of you start laughing. It starts quietly, and Jason looks from you to Emily and back again. When it lets loose, it’s breath-stealing, foot-stomping, rolling-around-on-the-bed, tension-relieving hysterics.
    You sit on the floor as tears roll from your eyes. Eventually you catch enough breath to say, “How about a dollar for this one, big guy?” Which just starts Jason and Emily laughing all over again. You stand up and resume putting the books back on the shelf. You leave 1,001 Fairy Tales for last, just like Jason would. 
    When you finally put it on the shelf, it doesn’t hit the back and stop. It keeps going into the wall. Through the wall like it wasn’t there anymore. You pull the book back out and grab the soccer-ball lamp. Aiming it down closer, you try to take a better look. You see a dark crack where the back of the bookshelf should be. You turn to make sure Emily and Jason aren’t watching, and slowly reach your hand into the darkness. It feels moist and scratches your fingers like brittle branches on a dead tree