Charlie crept into the restaurant.
He knew it was a trap. But if his dad was there, he had to help.
The restaurant was dark and locked, a CLOSED sign in the window.
His father’s car was alone in the parking lot.
Charlie went around to the back and tried to peer in. It was pitch-black inside. He tried the door, and it was open.
The freezers were off. So were the washers. He listened for anything. The silence was total. He came around the corner and saw his father seated in a chair, bolt upright like a king, his hands and legs bound, his mouth gagged.
“Dad!” Charlie yelled, forgetting himself, running up to his father.
All his anger was gone as adrenaline took over. He forgot about every horrible thing his father had done. All he could feel now was love and fear. He tore at the bindings, trying to free his father.
Charlie felt the chill of premonition, the lizard brain warning him danger was near.
Something creaked in the main room.
Charlie worked faster on the ropes but it was hopeless. He wouldn’t get one free before whoever was in the darkness arrived.
He heard the sound of glass crunching under a foot.
Charlie’s dad begged him with his eyes, Leave. But Charlie went to the knife block instead, where he drew a long knife. The skin on his father’s wrists had looked so thin, so much older and frailer than Charlie had ever noticed.
He turned toward the dark room. He put himself between his father and the unknown. His dad was trying to tell him something, but it was too late to loosen the gag.
He could wait for death to come to them.
Or he could step into the darkness and face it head-on.