David was seven when he created an imaginary friend to keep him company. “This is Victor,” he would say when introducing him to others. David's mom thought his imaginary friend was adorable, believing he'd eventually outgrow it, but David and Victor were constantly together. David would leave a plate out for Victor at every meal, and when asked who it was for, he'd respond, 'That's for Victor.' His mom laughed and played along. Victor was almost a part of the family in David's eyes. They played hide and seek until dark and shared stories while staring at the stars. David continued to grow up, leaving Victor far behind. 

David was about to start high school, nearly eight years since he last saw his friend. David walked downstairs the morning before his first day of high school.

His Mom, Maria, asked, "Are you nervous?"

David hesitated, but said, “Of course not.”

His mom, knowing better, asked, "Are you sure?"

David sat there, his heart practically beating out of his chest, and said, "Positive."

David finished his breakfast and headed for the door, but before he left, his Mom called out, "Have a great day and make some friends!" When his Mom uttered that last word, "friends," a rush of memories that he had not thought about in years flooded back. He saw Victor and him doing everything together. He remembered them sitting under the warm sun, eating sandwiches, playing trains with Victor, and the comfort he felt knowing Victor was near. All of these memories helped to ease his nerves as he walked to the bus stop. As the bus neared, he felt a chill roll down his spine, like someone was watching him. He checked his shoulder, but saw nothing. He hurried along to the bus stop and boarded. Surprisingly, the first day was a breeze. David loved his classes and even made some friends. As he boarded the bus to leave, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone or something was watching him. The bus ride was loud; everyone was already making plans with their new friends, but David was just sitting there. Sure, the first day went great, but this feeling like two eyes were piercing through him and watching his every move was something he could not ignore. He stepped off the bus in a daze, almost being run over by an oncoming car, but it managed to swerve out of the way. He opened the front door and was greeted by his Mom.

“How was school, sweetie?” She asked. 

David responded with “fine” before heading up to his room.

His mom thought it was weird and just figured something went wrong that day. Although she was right, she had no idea the severity of the matter. David walked into his room and hung his backpack on the back of his door. He looked down and saw his trains that he had not seen in years, arranged neatly on the floor as if someone was waiting to use them. 

“Mom!” he yelled.

“What?” she responded.

“Did you take my trains out?” He asked.

“No, why would I do that?” She asked.

“Not sure, just wondering,” he said.

David thought someone might’ve broken in, so he checked all his drawers to see if anything was missing, but found nothing. If anything, this freaked him out more than before. If someone did break in, why? He shook off this thought and tried to continue on and just make it through to the weekend. The next few days were difficult. Not because of school, but because he could not stop thinking about the trains and the piercing eyes. David, who was usually an A and B student, now had C’s and even D’s in almost every one of his classes. When he got home that Friday, his Mom cornered him in the kitchen. 

“What is going on with you?” She asked, pointing a finger in his face.

“What do you mean?” David responded with a confused look on his face.

“Your grades!” His mother yelled.

“Oh yeah, not really sure.” He said calmly.

“You seriously have to lock in on your assignments and get your work done.” She yelled.

“I know, I know, I will,” David said, frustrated, before heading up to his room.

When he opened the door, he went completely pale. The same trains were out again, but again there was no sign anyone had been here. David quickly put the trains away and then noticed a sandwich left on his bed. 

He yelled down to his Mom, “Thanks for the sandwich, but you know I don’t like mustard anymore.”

She yelled back, “Of course I know that, but what sandwich are you talking about?” 

Another cold shiver went down his spine. He threw the sandwich away and opened his computer to get caught up on the work he’d been missing. He worked late into the night until it was dark out. A familiar memory of playing hide and seek in this dark endless void, known as night, began to creep in. Still, he brushed it off and got ready for bed. He lay and stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep, but he woke up shortly after to the sound of tapping. He heard this noise and immediately shot up. He ran out the door towards his Mom’s room and jumped into bed with her. This tapping noise that was going on was a secret code he and Victor had come up with to communicate. It was like Morse code, but with their own twist on it. No one but he and Victor knew that code, and he had just heard it. 

He wanted to fall back asleep, but feared what might happen if he did. Instead, he stayed awake for the remainder of the night until the sun peaked over the trees and sunlight filled the room. He slowly stepped out of bed and headed down the hallway towards his bedroom. He cracked open the door, just enough to be able to see inside. It was empty, but he noticed what looked like words carved into his bed frame. He flung the door open and quickly read the letters “V… I… C… T… O… R…” As he read, the color drained from his face. He then felt a cold hand rest on his shoulder. He practically jumped out of fear and turned to see nothing. The cold hand he just felt was now gone and was replaced by an old, raspy voice.

“Hi David, long time no see,” said the voice.

David, in complete shock, could only mutter out, “What?” Before passing out.

David woke up in the hospital with all kinds of wires and a heart rate monitor hooked to him. His Mom was sitting next to him with a concerned look on her face.

“The doctors think you passed out due to stress,” she said nervously.

“Oh, am I going to be okay?” He asked. 

She responded with, “They want to run more tests until they are certain, but they think you’ll be fine.”

David proceeded to stay in his hospital bed for the remainder of the day, and his Mom took him home once they got the okay from the doctors. They confirmed that his fainting spell was stress-induced, and they encouraged him to eat a good meal and drink lots of fluids once he felt up to it. They thanked the doctors and left, but by now it was dark out once again. David still had not mentioned the real reason he had fainted and was just hoping it was all his imagination. This hope was shortly lived when he entered his bedroom and still saw the word “Victor” carved into his bed. He wanted to run and tell his Mom what had happened, but then a voice told him not to. It was that same, familiar voice from before. 

Victor said, “If you tell a soul about me, I’ll kill you and your family.” 

David didn’t respond; he just sat there frozen with fear. He thought he might faint again, but he feared what might happen if he did. Victor began talking to David, but it was not that friendly a voice that he remembered from his childhood. Victor sounded like he had aged twenty years and was now a grown adult. 

Victor said, “Why did we stop talking? You left and forgot about me.”

David yelled at Victor, “You’re not real, get out of my head!”

“I am very much real,” Victor said with a sinister smile plastered across his face. 

“Why are you doing this? What did I do to hurt you?” David yelled. 

“You left me in the past and moved on, that's what you did,” Victor yelled back.

“Everyone grows out of these imaginary friends. I needed you before, and now I don’t,” David screamed.

David then ran downstairs yelling out his Mom’s name, but when he got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw her lifeless corpse lying on the kitchen floor. He yelled her name, “Maria, wake up.” Tears streamed down his face. He put his hand on her chest, but could only feel his own heartbeat. That was when he heard footsteps walking slowly down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, he heard Victor's voice one last time. 

“I told you what would happen if you tried to tell anyone, now you’re next.” David felt two cold hands grasp his throat. In his last few seconds, he didn’t scream or plead for mercy. He accepted his fate and died alongside his Mom.