Friendly Fire

CHAPTER 3 : IVAN

"Yes sir, I will update the changes and let you know when the server can be up and running." Ivan ended the call with a sigh. he had been working all day on a project and had barely had time to eat. It was already three pm and his son would be back from daycare in an hour. Working from home wasn't as bad as he thought, a cleaner came in once a week to do a thorough cleaning so all he had to do was cook.

He prepared Dom's snack, prepared a simple stew that they would have later with whatever Dom wanted, and laid out his pajamas for him. He took a quick bath while his stew slow-cooked. He was done and had a few minutes to spare while he waited for the van so he prepared a sandwich and smoothie for himself. Dom hated smoothies. not long after he started eating, he heard the van honking and knew his son was back. opening the front door, he saw Dom struggling to step off the van. He did this all the time and dint want to be helped because he was a big man like papa, always said. After almost plopping on the asphalt, he made it to his dad's open arms for a hug. "Papa am home." Dom beamed at his dad and all the worries of unmet deadlines left Ivans body. Dom was his little ray of hope, his life, his everything. They went inside and did their papa and son evening routine and by 8 pm. Dom was asleep in his room. Ivan went back to his office at the corner of the living where he had set up his workspace and resumed his work.

"Papa! papa! where are you!”, the little boy screamed as he dragged his blanket across the hallway to the next room. Looking up from his computer, he noticed the halls were dark. Strange, the house was never dark, as Dom would never sleep anywhere remotely dark. Mushroom night lights were spread evenly around the house so that Dom would always find his way to his dad's room in case he woke up, like now.

“I’m here Baby, shhh it's going to be okay, papa is here now, it's okay”, Ivan cooed as he bent down to pick his son. This was the second night Baby left his room and he was starting to get panicky. “What's the matter BABwhat's wrong?”, He asked the now sniffling child in his arms.

“I had a bad, dim papa. The bad guy stole all the nai-lais and took you away papa. I don't want you to go p-papa”. Baby replied even more frantic than he'd been and Ivan knew it would be the beginning of his co-sleeping with Dom.

“It's okay sweetie, see all the nightlights are still on,wanna go check with me?” he asked Baby while he mentally mapped out the location of the “nai-lais” as Baby called them. They went to his room first and they found the orange mushroom glowing gently and they both counted “one”.

They moved to the next room, Dom's playroom, he stood there frozen for a second as the room was pitch dark, no light was illuminated from it as it should. “What the actual Fu- fish???” he remarked in fear as he held Baby a little bit tighter. On top of the table where the mushroom should have been was a card folded into two. With trembling fingers, he reached for the note and flipped it open only to throw it on the floor. Fighting the bile that was threatening to leave his body. He moved hurriedly to the kitchen where he reached for his taser. He was now on the brink of a full-on panic attack but now was not the time.

With controlled breaths, he looked through the whole house and looked for the other night lights in the living room and guest bathroom, they were also missing. To say he was terrified was an understatement. He barely managed to get it together as he dialed the nearest police station. “Hello, this is Ivan calling from 1556 river view street, I think someone broke into my house and woke my son. hurry please!”. He barely waited for confirmation as he walked back to his room, locking himself and Dom in his bathroom. “Papa, are we playing haisik again?”, Dom asked innocently.

“Yes Baby we are”, Ivan was too shaken to correct his pronunciation of hide and seek.

Minutes later-Thank God- he heard the police car announcing its arrival with that mewing sound they made. He hurriedly picked Dom up and headed towards the front door to meet the officers.

“Ohh thank God you are here, I think someone broke into our house and stole our night lights, they also left a note and I don't think I can sleep here tonight, oooh god what if they had taken my son… what if they -'' he was cut off by the officer who gently asked him to calm down," sir, take a breath and begin from the top, meanwhile my partner here will do a sweep of the premises as I take your statement''.

Ivan recalled everything that had happened since morning leading up to the moment he made the call. After what seemed like a century the other officer came back out with the note in an evidence plastic bag. Chills ran down his spine as he remembered what he read on the red card.

“Sir, I suggest you and your child find a place to stay for a few days, your place is no longer safe to stay, it is clear in this note that the person is very close and very dangerous, we will stay guard as you pack your personal belongings and we will escort you to your destination”, the older officer commanded rather than suggest.

Tears of fear and helplessness couldn't help but trickle-down Ivans’s face because where was the flipping- fish was he supposed to go in the middle of the night with a child?