Moth Boy

## Moth Boy by BleedingHeartWorks

I should've given up my smoking habits a long time ago.

The draft from the car window blew the cold evening air inside, mixing up with the smoke from the cigarette I had between my fingers while keeping a steady hand on the wheel. From such a long day like this, it seemed like nicotine was the only thing that kept me going.

As usual, the drive home would prove to test my patience. After today, I would have rather just been able to take the bus or the subway directly home without having to push myself to drive.

But I liked my home out in the nothingness. And I loved the peace and quiet above all.

On the lonely stretch of road that led into the woods around my home, I saw the dim figure of a boy trudging slowly along the roadside by himself.

Where had he come from?

There was nothing but empty woods and fields for miles around as far as I knew. I tossed the cigarette out the window and pulled alongside him.

”*Hey, kid. You lost or something? Can I get you somewhere?*”

He stopped and turned towards me, then nodded. It was full dark outside now, so I couldn't make out his face only a dark outline in the gloom. Nothing out of the ordinary.

”*Jump in.*”

He stepped into the back of my car. He sat down slowly, hunched and scrawny in the middle seat behind me. I barely looked back —- I barely wanted any contact with him. All I needed to do was drive him where he wanted, and that was it. I could hear the vaulted breathing, as if he were only a cat's whisker from my ear. Something about the raw, hollow sound of his breath and his awkward posture made me feel…anxious.

There was something *off* about this boy.

I tried to ignore my misgivings and focused on the road instead. He was just a kid, what was he supposed to do to me, and anyway I was doing him a favor.

”*Well, buckle up. It’s gonna be a while until we get to town. What was your name again—?*”

A few seconds of dead air passed before he responded.

”—***It doesn’t matter***.”

If it hadn’t been for the fact that I had already allowed him inside the car, I would have let this one pass. Kid looked old enough to care for himself…Ugh, what was I thinking?

Leaving someone like this to get lost in the woods?

The more I thought about who could have done this instead, the more I felt bad about myself. I tried to shake the guilt off the best I could before turning my attention back to getting the engine started. Just another twenty minutes and I wouldn’t have to worry any more. I shook my hand gently against an winged insect in my view to get it out of my way. It’s wings flapping against the window, tapping wildly as it tried to find a way out.

Heavy sigh, I rolled back on to the road and continued driving. Yet I couldn’t ignore the boy.

There was a prickling sensation on my scalp, as though I could feel his eyes glaring into the back of my head.

I had started to notice something.

Something foul, a stench emerging from a corner inside of the car.  I thought that my younger son had left something in there and forgotten about it — and I had only started to care about it until now when I had a stranger with me in the car. I usually had the window turned down so the smoke from my cigarettes wouldn’t get into the fabric of the seats, so that could be why I hadn’t noticed it until now.

Bad as it was, it didn't seem to bother the strange boy though.

”*Uhm…So, where do you come from?*”

Once again, I felt his eyes watching me, studying my every move as I turned the wheel.

”***Around.***”

Finally, he was talking. For a little bit, at least. That’s all I could ask of him, though I didn’t blame him. He was probably enjoying this as much as I was. I hadn’t seen him before and, this was a pretty tight-knit neighborhood. Everyone knew everyone around here. Maybe it would be wise to make sure the kid got somewhere safe. Again, that stench made me tilt my head. What on earth was that smell?

"**What’s wrong**?”

”*Sorry —— I think my son must have left something in the backseat. I’m really sorry about that awful smell.*”

Compelled to let out an empty laugh, I didn’t want him to believe I was the biggest slob out here. Should have just tried to keep my car clean — It was mine after all. It didn’t last long until the kid spoke up again.

”**Your son. Shaun?**”

”*…Yes?*”

My voice trailed off as my stomach tied itself in knots. Right within that moment, I saw another insect flying by.

How did he know my son’s name?

”**Shaun learned something from you, didn’t he? He’s always been a good learner. That’s why the teachers admire him.”**

If my hands weren't at the wheel, I would have shoved this kid out of here as fast as I could. I was trembling, gasping for air open mouthed — alike a dog that was out of breath. I just couldn’t keep driving at this point. I didn’t care if we were stopping out in in the middle of nowhere. This kid was bad news. All of my previous feelings of guilt from before had disappeared.

Now there was nothing but panic. Panic and anger.

Before I knew what was going on, I had thrown myself against the stranger in the backseat. As I reached for him, I could feel my hand digging into something wet and cold.  Instinctively, I snatched my hand back into the dim moonlight. Hundreds of white maggots squirmed over my fingers, stuck in between of my nails, pushing underneath the surface of skin. I shook my hands and frantically rubbed them against the back of my seat trying to get rid of the horrid creatures. The rotten smell from before had intensified, I could feel the bile rising to the back of my throat.

I had to get out into the open air, away from that disgusting smell, away from him!

The moment my hand had slipped around the door handle of the car, I felt something pulling me backwards and my head hit the seat. A gasp escaped my lips, as I fought to regain my breath before the voice behind cut me off. At first, his voice had seemed so weak. Now, it was filled with an overwhelming rage.

”**Why aren’t you listening — ?**”

I struggled, but once more I found myself so entranced, I could barely move.  A cold handheld me by the throat, fingers inexorably tightening. My voice came out a throttled whisper.

”*Let me go—*”

The grip became tighter. Again, I frantically tried to prize his fingers from my neck, but I was barely scratching at the surface of the skin. The foul smell had swept up into my nostrils and the car seemed to be spinning My fear and confusion struggled against a growing sense of desperation.

”**Good parenting is a heavy burden. One you haven’t been able to carry. Your bad habit affected him and soon it will be too late. He doesn’t even understand the fault of it — and how could he?**”

”What are you talking about —!?”

”**Your lighter. The reason to why you couldn’t find it earlier today was because you left it at home. Do I need to spell it out for you?**”

In a heartbeat I understood what he meant.

I knew Shaun had tendencies from the start to follow what I was doing. He’d follow all of my bad habits, but I had always been careful not to show off my smoking. But it wasn’t the smoking that I wanted to hide from him, it was the lighters flame.

”*Sh-Shaun*.”

As I spoke his name, the hands behind of me let go. Without hesitating, I flung the car door open, stumbling out scrambling on my knees in the mud. I had to hurry home. But despite the panic rising within, my body felt too heavy to move. Several seconds passed as I slowly turned around, staring back into the backseat of my car.

I finally could see him.

The image I had built up about this boy was nothing similar to what he actually looked like. The stern face of a corpse, rotten and deformed stared back at me through the car window and my heart dropped to the bottom of my throat. But I still couldn’t see him clearly. What covered the full view were a hoard of winged insects — Moths. Several hundred of them, swarming and circulating around the dead boy.

I wasn’t going back in there, not with that…thing. I pushed my body off from the ground and sprinted into the dark I had to run. It wasn’t that far. I could make it.

I didn't look back, not once. I had to make it home. To escape the thing in my car, back home to my son. There wasn’t anything else on my mind. I just prayed to God it wouldn’t be too late.

Why had I trusted the beast in the back of my car? Why had I been listening to him in the first place? Maybe it had all just been a sick joke — But the way he looked, spoke, no one could fake that.

And that stench.

I ignored my own urge to stop and take a breath, continuing on.

There was my street. There was my mailbox.

Just a little further.

The moment I placed my eyes upon the familiar house in the distance, I knew it was too late.

With each step, I slowed. Then stopped.

I watched my house bursting into flames, the fire devouring everything. Time stood still as the supporting timbers hissed and crackled before giving way, the whole building collapsing inward. A wave of searing hot air washed over me as thousands of glowing embers filled the air like dancing fireflies.

I saw my son’s bike on the ground next to me.