It Took James

"I bet It's not even real," Danyl Cronfeld said, as he patted Stewart Brice's hair. "Dustin’s just full of it."

"Shut up, Danyl! My brother told me he's seen It. He went into the house when he was our age." Dustin Hutchinson stood over the bench where Danyl and Stewart sat. His deep brown skin shone in the July heat. "He told me It steals kids. That's why we're doing this. No doubt, It stole James." Stewart let out a small squeak.

"Dustin, stop." Danyl stood up and stepped up to Dustin. The two boys were equal in lankiness and height. Danyl had brown hair that was long and curled, and pale skin that reddened from the sun. Dustin had black cornrows that touched his neck. "You better shut your mouth or I swear to God, I'll hurt you." Just as Dustin balled his fits up at Danyl, the city bus pulled up and a skinny, blonde boy grinned up at them. He was holding a brown, paper bag in one hand and a few magazines in the other.

"Whoa, whoa," he said. "It's not even noon yet and you two are trying to kill each other."

“It’s about time you got here Thomas." Dustin slapped hands with Thomas Foley. "Danyl and Stewart are being sensitive."

"Dustin's being a jerk," Danyl said. "He keeps trying to scare Stewart."

"Stewart's a big boy.He ain't scared of no story. Ain't that right, Stewie boy?" Dustin chuckled, as he sat beside Stewart and threw his arm around him. Stewart looked up at him. He wore big, black-rimmed glasses and had a large thick afro.

"I don't want to listen to this. We’re always talking about what might have happened to Jamie. I want to know, and have this be over," he whispered.

"It's okay, Stew," Thomas insisted, "James'll turn up, just like always. And if he doesn't, we'll find him. You don’t need to be sad. I brought soda, candy, and magazines. We can chill in the house. It'll make you feel better." Stewart got up from the bench, he wore jean overalls and a light blue t-shirt under them. He was much smaller than the other three boys, although he was only a year younger than them. Dustin grabbed his backpack from the ground. The four boys made their way through the backstreets of the busy city. People yelled and cussed as they came through shops. Police car sirens filled the air. Small signs on each electricity tower read:

MISSING

JAMES TALLEM

AGE: 12

LAST SEEN: 6/12/1994

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CALL THIS NUMBER: 391-555-5555

The four boys walked for ten minutes before they got to Witton Street.

"The house is this way," Dustin pointed. Danyl made an abrupt stop.

"This better be your idea of a sick joke, Dustin," Danyl sneered. The townhouses on the street were all abandoned and destroyed. Only two houses appeared like someone lived in them. They both stood across from each other.

"I told you It's house was here, too." Dustin shrugged and continued to walk.

Danyl pulled him back and barked, "You didn't say it was on the same street! That changes everything. Stewart can't handle this."

"Stewart isn't the one whining, Danyl. You’re more scared than him."

"Okay guys, calm down," Thomas intervened. "It's just a story,"

"I bet Dustin's lying," Danyl hissed. "That old man didn't leave you the key to jack-shit."

"Oh, yeah!" Dustin fished in his pocket and pulled out a key chain with one big, gold key and two small, gray ones. "I guess this opens jack-shit. If you don't want to do this, then don’t do it. We’ll find out what happened to James, with or without you."

Dustin marched down the street. The three boys followed him. They stopped at a brown house with a small garden in front. It was the only green on the street. The windows were heavy with tint and barred and the door had three large locks on it. Dustin walked up to the door and unlocked it. They walked into the house and at once the air conditioning felt good on their skin after being in the sun. It smelled of cigarettes and mothballs, and the furniture was a plain brown. A small cat sat on a large, dark brown sofa. It was unimpressed by the boys’ arrival. Thomas, Danyl, and Stewart plopped on the light brown living room sofa besides it.

Dustin stood in front of them. "All right, here are the rules." He took a crumbled piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Do not go upstairs, do not touch the thermostat, no guests, and do not go in the basement."

"Man, Dustin, I still don't get how you got this man to let you use his house," Thomas assessed. He opened his bag and handed out soda cans to each of his friends.

"Skills, my brother. Brains and skills."

"Yeah, right. You most likely lied your way in, the way you do for everything," Danyl harped. He got up to examine the room.

"I didn't lie. I only didn't tell him everything. Besides, he said he needed someone to feed his cat and water his plants. I did the thing any good neighbor does. I offered myself up to him."

"You live five blocks away. You’re not a neighbor."

"You can leave if you want."

Danyl shot Dustin a sharp look and rejoined the others on the sofa. Thomas opened one of his magazines and pulled out lined papers filled with notes.

"Sorry for the secretiveness, guys," he joked, while he rearranged his notes. "Hiding them in sports magazines was the only way for my nosey sister not to find them."

Thomas laid five pages full of notes with "FINDING JAMES" written at the top. Beside the notes was a picture of a young, black boy with a grin on his face. His hair was messy and his teeth were wide and gapped.

"Is this it?" Stewart asked, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Is this it?" Dustin yelled. "This packet has five back-to-back pages of James's every movement the day he disappeared. Four weeks of non-stop questioning druggies and pushers!"

"Dustin, cool it!" Thomas shushed. "He was just asking."

“I'm just worked up. It's right across the street." Dustin peered out the window. He stared out the plain house on the other side of the street. It wasn't as well-kept as this house. It had boarded windows, and its lawn was a mess. "My brother says It only comes out at night."

"I can't believe we're wasting valuable time with this tall tale. We should still be looking for James," Danyl groaned. "We don't even know It is."

"It doesn't matter what It is. It might be a dog or a bear or even a monster," Thomas snapped. "It doesn't matter. If It got James, we need to investigate."

"But there's no proof It's even real."

"Look at the facts, Danny," Dustin sighed. He shoved the last page of notes in Danyl's face. "Everyone who saw James last saw him on this street. After that, he disappeared without a trace. It’s the same thing that happened to Michael Nate, eight years ago. Who knows how many kids that thing has taken? It may still have James."

Danyl fell silent. Stewart fixed his glasses on his nose.

"Well, I want to see if It took him. Maybe It still has him. Maybe he's okay."

The legend of the house that sat across the street had been around for many years. It was said that a beast lived in the basement. People had heard screams before, but they never discovered anything.

"Julia Moore, age 72. She has lived alone in that house for ten years since her husband died," Dustin read aloud from one of the note pages. "She doesn’t leave her house and has no friends or family, except for her son that takes her to church on Sunday mornings."

"So what's your big plan to break-in?" Danyl asked.

"We sneak in the side door. My brother taught me how to pick a lock. We go to the basement and search for It," Dustin answered, while he took a swing of his soda.

"That's such a stupid plan! We have no backup. What if there’s an actual beast? It’ll kill us, too. Or what if we see Jamie's mangled up body? Stewart can't handle that!" Stewart had been staring at the picture of James.

"I can handle it," he spoke. "Jamie always looked out for me. Now, it's my turn to do the same. No adults will believe us unless we see for ourselves."

"We should at least tell James's mom. She has to care, too," Danyl pleaded.

"You know damn well his mom didn't even notice he was missing," Thomas howled. He slammed his soda can. "We're doing this tonight, okay? Dustin said it best. You can leave if you want."

The boys talked over the plan for hours, drafting and planning their movements. The sun set by 8:20 and Witton Street was pitch black, and the streetlights burnt out. The once empty street was now buzzing with people.

"There are more people here than I thought there'd be," Thomas worried, as they changed into black clothing.

"Don't worry yourself with them," Dustin replied, while he sorted his lock picking kit. "They're just addicts searching for a fix. They won't bother with us. And if they did, they won’t find anyone to believe them."

The four boys set out for the house across the street, each of them clutching a flashlight. The house was creepier now. They saw the weeds growing out of the side of it and the cracks in the driveway that led up to the side door. Once at the door, Dustin picked the lock. He fiddled with it for a while.

"This isn't the same as the ones we have in my house," he said.

"Of course not. You live in a different neighborhood," Thomas mumbled. More worry had filled his voice.

"You said you could do this, Dustin," Danyl panicked. He checked over his shoulder every minute.

"I can do this. I need time to play with it." Dustin jiggled the handle harder and, with a swift twist, it popped open. For a moment, the boys stared into the dark house. Dustin flashed his light and took the first step.

"Wait," Danyl halted.

"What!" Dustin replied, shining his light on Danyl's face.

"Does everyone know the plan?"

"We went over it 100 times. Yes, we know it."

"I only want to make sure."

"You're not even a part of the plan. You're just the look-out."

"Guys!" Thomas shushed. "This isn’t the time for you two to be fighting. Now shut up and let's get this done." Thomas, Stewart, and Dustin stepped into the house while Danyl stayed behind. The home was similar in design to the house across the street. Its side door lead into the clean and simple kitchen.

"The basement door should be off the living room," Dustin murmured. They crept through the door. Thomas stopped short at the handle.

"Are you guys sure about this?" he asked. Stewart gulped hard.

"You don't have to do this, Stewie," Dustin hushed. "Me and Thomas will be fine going alone." Even without their flashlights, they could tell Stewart's face was pale and covered in sweat.

"I'm fine. I can do this," Stewart's whispered. With that, Thomas nodded and turned the doorknob. They crept down the steps, careful not to creak them too much. At the base of the steps, they shone their lights into the deep basement. The room was full of dozens of boxes and bins.

"I bet It's in a box," Dustin voiced.

"Not likely," Thomas fumed, with an eye roll. "None of these boxes could fit us, much less It! This was a big waste of time. Your brother is always messing with you! When will you learn?"

"He wouldn't lie about this. Not about James," Dustin pleaded. "When I told him that James was missing, he told me It could have took him. He wouldn't lead me on like that."

"Yes, he would! Your brother is mean to you and he lies all the time. I bet he'll laugh his ass off when you tell about this whole plan," Thomas roared.

"Be quiet," Stewart shushed. A door shut from upstairs and the boys heard shifting footsteps in their direction.

"Shit!" Dustin groaned. "Someone's coming. Hide." Swift footsteps came down the steps. The three boys crouched down and held their breath. A bright light shone in the basement.

“Guys? Guys, where are you?” Danyl murmured with panic.

Dustin, Thomas, and Stewart sprang out of hiding.

“Geez, Danyl! You almost gave us all a heart attack,” Thomas quavered, his heart was pumping so hard he could hear it in his head.

“Someone pulled into the driveway,” Danyl panted. “We need to get out of here now.” Following Danyl’s lead, the boys sprinted up the stairs, and ran toward the front door. Right as they opened the door to creep out, a man stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room. For a moment, they all stood frozen.

“What are you doing in here?” the man’s deep voice boomed.

“Run!” Thomas screamed, and the boys bolted out the front door.

“Stop right now!” the man yelled out to the boys. Wobbling his large body, he rushed after them. The boys leaped down the street and ran straight into the house. Locking the door behind them. As Dustin clicked the last lock, the man reached the door. He pounded down, screaming, “You better let me in now and give up whatever you stole or I’ll hurt you.”

“What are we going to do?” Danyl asked, as he gasped for air. The man pounded the door with violence.

“We could go out the side door,” Thomas suggested.

“No, he’ll see us. It leads right into the driveway,” Dustin replied.

“I’ll break this damn door down if I have to,” the voice from outside roared. The boys were helpless. They stood looking at each other.

“There might be a backdoor in the basement,” Stewart blurted. He could barely speak between his breaths.

“What do you mean?” Dustin asked.

“When we were in the basement of the other house, I saw a glass door was off the side. That had to have been a backdoor.”

“Are you sure?” Thomas questioned. He choked on his own breath and looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Yes.” Stewart was firm with his response.

“But what if this house doesn’t have one?” Danyl cried out.

“The layouts are the same. It’s the best chance we have,” Dustin replied. They all ran over to the basement door. There was a large combination lock on it.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Danyl exasperated. Dustin grabbed an award off the mantel next to the door. He rammed the award onto the lock, each blow was harder than the last. He’s blows followed the beat of the man’s pounds. After a full minute of smashing the lock cracked. With one final blow, it clanked hard onto the floor. Danyl ripped the door open, and the boys rushed down the steps. Danyl came to a halt at the bottom of the steps. The basement was like a dungeon, cold and dark. There were only shackles and a tripod in the room. The walls had pictures of children on them. Most of them were crying. All of them were naked. Stewart let out an ear-splitting scream.

“What’s wrong, Stewart?” Thomas asked.

Stewart pointed at a section of the basement. It had pictures of young, black boy with wide and gapped teeth. He did not have a grin.

Soon, police cars filled the neighborhood. Each boy had to explain the story many times to many people. The man who lived in that house had been doing what he’d been doing for years. He hadn't let anyone in his house before, but that weekend he needed to collect will money from a relative that died. He never said why he let Dustin have his keys. As the years went on, the story died down, but people always remembered the boys who found the basement. Thomas’s family moved soon after. His mother didn’t think it was best for him to stay. Dustin’s brother didn’t laugh when he found out what happened. Stewart’s mom sent him to live with his Grandma. She couldn’t take the attention their family got. Most of it was from child services. Danyl didn’t make past six months after it happened. James’s body got buried at a local church. There are always flowers for him.