TITLE: Boy Invisible AUTHOR: Myriss EMAIL ADDRESS: myriss1013@yahoo.com DISTRIBUTION: Gossamer and Ephemeral Okay. Others: Okay but please let me know. And keep my name and header attached. RATINGS WARNING: PG-13 (Contents may be disturbing) CLASSIFICATION: Casefile (sorta but not quite) KEYWORDS: 3POV SPOILERS: Nothing really. SUMMARY: When people can't see you, they can't hurt you. THE DISCLAIMER: Any character you recognized from the TV. series belongs to 1013 and Fox. I am just borrowing them. FEEDBACK: Please. Send to myriss1013@yahoo.com AUTHOR NOTES* - The narrative is from a child's POV, but it's not written in a childish voice. If that bothers you, you may not want to read this. THANKS to Carole for beta-ing. Boy Invisible by Myriss (myriss1013@yahoo.com) ***** My Nanny Dee cried when they took me away from her and Papa Bell. She said that *she* wanted me back..that it had been a horrible mistake and that she should not suffer from making a teensy-eensie mistake when she was "young and stupid." "Apparently, the judge agrees," Nanny Dee told me, wiping her tears from her face with a shaky hand. "I thought you said I could stay with you and Papa Bell!" I said, not quite understanding. "Forever, you said!" "I know! I know, darling! The paperwork was almost all complete but that...that...*she* came out of nowhere and now the judge sees fit to send you away, honey," Momma Dee said. "But I want to stay with you and Papa Bell!" "I want you to stay, too, darlin'! I wish you could understand. Mebbe you're too young to understand darlin'. We fought it as long as we could...There's nothing else we can do. We can't keep you. The judge says so. We're just yer grandparents and that yer better off with *her*! And he's the Law...." ***** I don't remember her really. Maybe I chose to forget her. I don't know. All I remember was the pinches...Sharp, twisting pinches on my upper arms and legs. A soft voice that used to snarl into my ears, "...hate you... ruined my life...hate you...wished I never had you!... you're ugly...ugly....ugly.... She must be the ugliest monster in the world...to match the ugliness of those memories.... But she was so beautiful, standing there. She wore a flowery dress, with demure collar, and blond hair pinned up just so. She looked like something out of the TV shows. Standing next to her was a man; a tall, skinny man dressed in a tie and suit. She smiled to see me. Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe she wasn't the mean one that I remembered. "Timothy!" she cried and stooped down and grabbed me tight. Instead of her warmth enveloping me like Nanny Dee, her body felt stiff and cold. I could smell the cloying scent of perfume. She peppered my face with kisses. "Oh, Timmy," she said in a happy tone. "I am so happy to have you back! You're back where you belong! I love you!" And around me, I could see the flashes of light as the cameras went off around me and a voice asking, "Mrs. Miller, how do you feel to have your son back?" She set me down, and turn, looking demurely at the camera. "It's wonderful." She looked down at me and squeezed my hand so tightly that it hurt, and smiled at the man standing next to her. "Me and my husband Randy are quite looking forward to being a family!" **** The smile was the first thing to go once we were inside in my new home. Then the floral dress with the demure collar. The gentle hand that held my hand and waved goodbye to the smiling reporters became stinging slaps. *This* was the monster that I remembered.... **** Then one day when she wasn't home, I looked up to find her husband Randy--or "Daddy" as she insisted that I call him -- staring at me. He had a funny look on his face. Then he smiled. I scampered back. Smiles meant slaps now. "Come over here, kid," he said, his voice gentle and kind. I stared at him, unsure what to make of it. Usually he ignored me...as if I were invisible. He sat on the couch all the time, his hand wrapped around a can of beer, his eyes glued to the TV set. He didn't seem to notice me at all, not even when she rained blows against my body. He didn't seem to care... It was the first time he had shown signs that he was aware of my presence. "You want to have some fun?" he asked. "We can have some fun. Just don't tell your Mom. She's a mean old bitch..." Then he gestured with a finger.... "Come over, kid," he said. I creeped forward... Then he reached out and grabbed me. Then he touched me....... I squirmed.... Something wrong...His touch felt bad...not like Nanny Dee or Papa Bell, or even *her* when she hugged me when she wasn't too busy hitting me... "Relax, kid," he said. "We're going to have some fun...." His eyes were glassy. He was breathing hard. He was holding me too tight.... I began to panic. I began to twist in his hands. "Hold still!" I screamed. "Shut up! Shut up!" he yelled, his fingers bitting into my skin. I twisted and turned, screaming. I bit his hand hard. Randy yelped in pain and dropped me. "You little fucker!" I rolled to the ground and scampered away... ///Hide! Hide! Hide!/// I crawled underneath my bed, my heart pounding fiercely. I could hear him moving around in the house, screaming and pounding on the walls. "Where are you, you little brat!" Footsteps coming closer. "You're going to be sorry after I finish with you, you little prick!" He was in the room... I could hear him... My eyes shut tight... ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// I could hear him by the bed. "I know that you're hiding under that bed, you little prick!" he snarled. He pounded on the bed above me. I could feel the the bottom of the bed touch the top of my head as it bounced up and down. "You better just come out or you'll be sorry if I have to crawl under and get you...." ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// "I don't know why the hell that bitch even got you back! She didn't want you back, you know! Your fucking grandparents left the money to you! YOU! It pissed her off like shit to find that out...especially all we did to get the money in the first fucking place only to find they left it all to a fucking little bastard like you!...." ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// "...so come out, you little prick! I'll teach you from running away from me!" ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// I heard the bedcovers being pulled out of the way. My eyes popped open. He was staring right at me. Right at me.... ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// I froze, my blood heart stopped. He scowled and pulled away. The bedcovers fell back down. "Where the fuck are you, boy?" ***** "What do you mean you don't where the hell he went? He's just a fucking little kid!" she asked shrilly. He shrugged and changed the channel on the TV station. "He took off somewhere." "Where?" "How in the hell should I know?" he asked, shrugging carelessly. "What happened?" she demanded. He shrugged and took a sip of his beer. She caught sight of the bandage around his hand where I bit him. "What the fuck happened, Randy?" He shrugged. "He's a fucking brat! Good riddance!" "He can't just disappear like that..." she started. "Oh, fuck this!" Randy snapped. "It's not like you wanted him around in the first fucking place!" Her face turned hard and ugly. "They're going to ask questions." "They're not going to fucking ask any damn questions," he snarled back. "The fucking reporters have long stopped bugging us about him. And it's not like we need him now. We got the fucking money!" There was a long pause. "What do you wanna do?" she asked. "We can go somewhere else. Who's to know that he isn't with us when we leave?" Randy asked. She started to say something, stopped and shrugged. "Yeah, who's to know." ***** There was a new family in the house almost as soon as *she* and Randy left. They seemed very nice. They had a little girl named Shannon. At night when they slept, I would steal food to eat. I didn't want to. Nanny Dee and Papa Bell said stealing was a bad thing and I felt very bad, but I was hungry. And I tried to help out. At night I would sweep their kitchen floor or fix up Shannon's toys so they were nice and neat. I tried to do my part to help out. But one day, I caught Shannon staring at me. Staring at me as if she could see me. My heart began to pound. I could hardly breath.... ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// Puzzlement creased between her brow. She popped her thumb into her mouth and frowned. Her mother looked down at her and nudged her gently. "What's wrong, honey?" she asked.. Shannon pulled out her thumb from her mouth. "There was a little boy standing there, looking at me." Her mother looked over at my direction. She smiled. "I don't see any little boy," she said. Shannon frowned. "He's gone now. But he was there." "What's his name? Is he your invisible friend?" Shannon popped her thumb back into her mouth and shook her head solemnly. "I don't know his name. He's just a little boy." ***** A little while later *they* came. Shannon's mom let them into the house. The man was tall with dark hair. He was kinda skinny in a way, but not as skinny as Randy. The lady with him was short, like Nanny Dee was, but not as round. She had red hair and she was very pretty....but then so was she... *that monster*.... The man showed Shannon's mom something and said, "Mrs. Norris. I'm Agent Fox Mulder from the FBI--" I almost laughed at that. What a funny name! Fox! I never heard of a person named Fox before. "And this is my partner, Agent Dana Scully. You reported some strange events happening?" Shannon's mom nodded. "It seems so crazy, Agent Mulder. Sometimes I have a hard time believing it myself. But I've seen stuff and heard things with my own eyes and ears." Then she told them about what happened: about the missing food, Shannon's toy, how things seemed to move around or disappear or reappear someplace else. "Sometimes I can hear noises as if someone is moving around in the house," she went on. "Is there a particular part of the house that these events seem to be more prevelant, Mrs. Norris?" Agent Mulder asked. "In my daughter's room," she answered. "Can we see it?" he asked. "Why, yes." They went to Shannon's room. It used to be my room. I followed after them. Agent Mulder frowned. "Mrs. Norris, have you felt any change of temperature? Does it become really, really cold? Or really, really hot?" Shannon's mom shook her head. He looked around, humming indistinctively under his breath. The front door slammed and I heard Shannon called out, "Mommy! I'm home!" "Will you excuse me for a moment?" Shannon's mom asked. "Let me check on my daughter." "No problem, Mrs. Norris." When she lefted, the red-haired lady turned and looked at the man, one eyebrow arching up. "It's seems to be one of your classic ghost hauntings, Mulder." Mulder shooked his head. "I don't think this is a ghost, Scully." The woman looked surprised. "No?" "It has most of the earmarks of one, but..." "But....?" She looked at him expectedly. "My gut feeling tells me it's something else." She laughed at that. "Doesn't it always?" He grinned at her, reached out a hand and grabbed her wrist. I jerked, suddenly scared that he was going to hurt her. But she didn't seem to be scared. He pulled her close and kissed her quickly on the lips. "Mulder," she admonished. "We can't..not on the job..." "I know, I know," he muttered. "I will never, ever do it again, but we were in such a rush to get here, I missed my good morning kiss." "Mulder--" Shannon and her mother were coming down the hall. He let her go. As he did, she whirled around, her eyes swinging past me. She froze suddenly, her eyes opening wide. I gasped. She could see me! "Mulder--?" she called out shakily. ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// She blinked. And her attention reverted to the door. Shannon and her mother had walked into her room. ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// "Agent Mulder, Agent Scully, this is my daughter Shannon." And they started talking. Not Agent Scully, though. Her eyes were busy searching the room. She was looking for me. ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ...but she couldn't see me. "...my daughter once said that she saw a little boy..." Shannon's mom was saying. "A little boy?" Both of the agents asked together. "Can you tell us about it, Shannon?" Agent Mulder asked. "What does he look like?" Agent Scully asked. And her eyes were once again darting across the room, looking for me.... And fiercely I thought. And fiercely, I willed.... ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// ///Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Iaminvisible! Noonecanseeme! Noonecanhurtme!/// She did not see me. She could not see me. My hands trembling. I felt chilled, but I was safe... safe.... ***** They were gone now. Shannon and her parents. I didn't mean to frighten them, but I guess I scared them away anyway. The house stood empty. When I walked around in the house, my footsteps echoed back at me. It made me sad to see them gone. And I was so cold...so cold....and hungry. Even when I found food, it didn't seem to matter. It seemed that my insides were all shrivelled up and I had to force the food down. It was a little while later that she came. I heard her coming, the heels of her shoes tapping against the floor. And she walked into the room, looking very pretty, with a small white paperbag in one hand, and a folded up blanket in the other. My nose whiffed. I could smell food. It smelled nice, not like the stuff that I'd been digging out of the trash at night. "Timmy?" she called out softly, looking around. "Timmy?" Oh, she sounded so nice! So nice! I leaned toward her. "Timmy?" she said again, looking around. I bit my lip hard. //don't answer! don't answer!// She set the paperbag and the blanket in the middle of the floor. "I brought you some food, Timmy," she said. "And a blanket. It's getting cold. I thought you might like to have it." She stood there uncertainly for a moment. Then she said, "Timmy, don't be afraid. Let me help you." She stood there for a long time before she sighed, shaking her head little. She looked sad. "I'll be back, Timmy," she said. Then she left. That night was the first time in a long time that I felt warm inside and out. ***** She came again with a large brown paper bag in her hand. She set it down in the middle of the living room floor. "Timmy?" she called out, looking around. She went into my bedroom and opened the closet. She saw the blanket curled up in the back. She reached out a hand to touch it, but suddenly stopped. She glanced over her shoulder, looking straight at me, but I could tell she couldn't see me. "Timmy--?" She straighten up and went back into the living room where the bag was. "I brought you some stuff," she said in a chatty tone as she pulled things from the bag. "I brought you some clothes. I'm not sure if they will fit, though. They're probably too big. And I brought you something to eat. And--" She pulled out a bedraggled stuffed white cat with shiny black boots. "I bet you're wondering why I brought this.." She waved it around, its white fluffy tail flapping in the wind. "...Mr. Boots." She gazed down at Mr. Boots with a bemused smile. "Mr. Boots...Mr. Boots is a very, very old friend of mine...When I was a little girl...Ahab... that's my Daddy...used to go away a lot...and even though I had my Mom and brothers and sister....My Mom was too busy taking care of all of us..my brother Bill Jr. and my sister Missy were too old to pay attention to me, and Charlie-- that's my little brother--was *too young* for me to pay any attention to him. Anyway, Ahab used to tell me the story of Puss In Boots...that was my favorite story then...and he bought me Mr. Boots to keep me company." She sat Mr. Boots down tenderly on the ground, in front of the bag. "I am leaving him to keep you company. Okay?" She looked around, her eyes searching me. I wanted to...I wanted to... But I couldn't! My throat choked up. After a last look and a pat on Mr. Boots, she left again. ***** She always brought food and something to drink. Sometimes she brought a book or a toy. Each time she would call my name softly. Sometimes she would stay and tell me stories about when she was a little girl. I would curl up with Mr. Boots in my arms and listen to her voice rippling over me. It was the only time that I felt warm, not cold and weak. The next time she came, she did not come alone. Agent Mulder had followed after her. "What are you doing here, Scully?" he asked from behind her. She had jumped, looking guilty. "Mulder!--" She held a hand to her chest. "You startled me!" He reached out a hand and rubbed up and down her arm. "Sorry. I didn't mean to." Then, "Scully?" She looked down. He sighed. "I know that this case was bothering you, Scully. Especially when we found out that little Timothy Bell was missing and the description of the little boy that Shannon Norris saw matched his description..." Her lips tightened. "No one seemed to care that he was missing." "His grandparents cared," he said calmly. "They cared enough to call when they hadn't heard anything about him for a while." My heart stopped. Nanny Dee and Papa Bell! A wave of achiness washed over me. Oh, how I missed them! I didn't have to be invisible when I was with them! "Do--do you think he's dead?" she asked him. "Are you asking because Shannon Norris thought she saw his ghost?" he asked, cupping her face gently with his hands. She nodded. "The Millers insisted that the boy ran away--" "They didn't even report it!" "They said they didn't want to lose the money--!" "Lose the money!" She hissed. "They didn't even give a damn, Mulder!" "Scully--" She sighed. "I know, I know. I'm getting too personal..." She swallowed and took a deep breath. "I have..have to tell you something, Mulder. I know I should have told you earlier but..." It seemed that he smiled without smiling. "...you saw him, too?" She jerked up her head and looked at him, startled. "You knew?" This time he did smile. "There've been incidents where an apparation was seen and the person that it belonged to was not dead." "In what cases, Mulder?" "When the person in question was actually astral projecting himself to another place." "And you think that's what happened, Mulder?" "It could be. That he is hiding somewhere and projected himself here so that Shannon Norris saw him. This place is familiar and it may be somewhat of a comfort to him." "But you think he would be able to project himself to his grandparents. They seemed to have a loving relationship." "Maybe..." He paused. "But I don't think that's what happening..." "You think he's dead, Mulder?" Then, quickly before he answered, "I know it's crazy but I know he's not dead, Mulder. I've been leaving him food. It's gone. I left a blanket. It's been used. And Mr. Boots lying in the blanket as if someone had tucked him in or as if someone is holding him in their arms...I know it sounds crazy, Mulder, but..." She fell silent and their gazes caught. Then he said slowly, "I think he's trapped, Scully." "What do you mean?" "I think he withdrew into himself so much...like a turtle when its scared. He pulled inward...somehow, he was able to crawl inward into himself so that he was able to become invisible to our eyes. But now, he's so caught in his fear that he is unable to let go...It's not a matter of *wanting to be invisible.* Rather it's a matter that he is unable to be anything but invisible..." Her voice caught. "He's trapped..." "In his own fear, Scully," he said sadly. "How can we--?" "We have to find the key that will unlock his fear, Scully--before he fades away." ***** "Timmy," she called out to me. Agent Mulder had left her alone in the house. He said that she would probably have a better chance of getting to me by herself. He seemed very nice but he still scared me a little. I liked it better when she was by herself anyway. "Timmy," she said. "I know you can hear me so I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay? You won't have to go back to live with your Mother and Randy anymore. I don't know exactly what happened that day but we know that Randy tried to hurt you and that your Mom hurt you bad. You will never have to go back to live with them if you don't want. And your grandparents, Nanny Dee and Papa Bell. They miss you! They are worried about you. And they hope you will come back to live with them forever..." "...forever..." I whispered huskily. It was so hard to speak...so hard...so weak...so weak...so cold...so cold... She stopped speaking and looked around quickly. "Timmy?" And I willed myself...willed myself to speak... "Help me..." ***** I laid on my blanket in my bedroom closet, curled around Mr. Boots. I couldn't hold him anymore. He just passed through my arms. Poor, poor Mr. Boots. Was he sad that I couldn't hold him anymore? I know I was. Nothing warm...just coldness...emptiness... Sometimes, the darkness pressed around me, squeezing me so that I could hardly breathe. Coldness tingled at the tip of my toes and fingers. I was slowly sinking.... It was then that I heard their voices in the living room. //Nanny Dee and Papa Bell!!!// "I know it sounds irregular, Mrs. Bell," I heard Agent Scully saying, "but we honestly believe that you may be able to help find your grandson." "It doesn't matter," Nanny Dee said, "if there's a chance that I can find my grandbaby." "Like we told you, we believe he is here," I heard Agent Mulder say. //Here! Here! Here!// I tried to call out but my throat cracked around the words. I could not speak. //Here! Here! Here!// I could hear them walking around the house. "I think he usually hides here," I heard Agent Scully say. The footsteps coming closer and closer. //See me! See me! See me!// //See me! See me! See me!// //See me! See me! See me!// And the closet door burst open. Nanny Dee, short and round, with her short flyaway white hair, standing in front. Papa Bell in his red dungerees standing next to her. And the agents behind them. . //See me! See me! See me!// //See me! See me! See me!// //See me! See me! See me!// They stood, blinking, not seeing.... Oh, they couldn't see! Despair washed over me...over my head...drowning me.. The coldness spreading. I couldn't feel my hands--my feet. Everything was becoming numb. It was spreading from outside inward....toward my heart.... I could feel myself sinking...sinking.... //See me! See me! See me!// //See me! See me! See me!// //See me! See me! See me!// I heard Nanny Dee whisper, "Timmy?" Then screamed, "Timmy! Timmy!" Then I was gathered into her warmth. Her heart lighting the spark of mine. I could feel the warmth seeping back to me, feel the tears on my cheeks and in my hair...I could feel her love enveloping me, warming me.... Oh, Nanny Dee!!! I gazed into Nanny Dee's eyes... She gazed back into mine... She could see me... Oh, she could see me... With a sigh, I let go.... I was safe.... Safe. Fini Author's Note: If you liked the story, please let me know. Also, constructive criticism is always welcome. Myriss myriss1013@yahoo.com