The Mysterious Black Book

My husband, Seth, and I have been married for a little over six years and we had a son that was five years old. He was a very happy and energetic child and our family felt complete. About two and a half years ago, our son, Chad, was taken while playing ball in the front yard. My husband went inside to answer the phone and when he came back outside, he noticed that Chad was no longer in the front yard playing. He started looking for our son and he checked the backyard and Chad was nowhere to be found. He went throughout the neighborhood knocking on doors and no one knew where our son was. It was Saturday and I only went to work for a half day for a mandatory business meeting. While in the meeting, I received the frantic call from my husband, “Beth, I can’t find Chad”. At first, I thought he was hiding from his father, because they often played hide and seek. When Seth kept saying over and over again that he couldn’t find our son, I just went numb because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My worst fear of someone harming our child was a reality. I abruptly left the meeting and told them that I had a family emergency.

I rushed home and I embraced Seth and noticed that his eyes were red and puffy from crying. I assured him that we will find Chad although I knew that I was just as uncertain and scared. The police officers were already there and people from the neighborhood began to gather across the street from our house. Our family and close friends started arriving at the house to comfort us and some combed the neighborhood again to try to find Chad. We had several search parties go out to look for him but to no avail. I will never forget that day, it was a nightmare.

As time passed, the detectives stopped searching and people went back to their daily routine. To Seth and I, it didn’t go back to life as usual. It was as normal that life could be without our son, Chad. We tried not to blame each other, but I always wondered, “What if Seth would have let the phone go to voicemail or just brought Chad in the house?” I believe Seth felt as if I blamed him for our son’s disappearance. I didn’t blame him… I had my own guilt. “What if I stayed home or changed the meeting to another time?” I didn’t know what to think anymore. All I knew is that I miss my son. We had many challenging days trying to keep our sanity. We fought through it and we were determined that we will always be there for each other. Only God knows what happened over two and a half years ago.

We were approaching the third anniversary of Chad’s disappearance. I didn’t mention anything and neither did Seth but we both knew that we were thinking the same thing -- reminiscing about our son. We started back having date nights and hanging out with our family and friends. Our favorite couple and best friends, Olivia and Michael, were very happy that we were spending time together again. Olivia and Michael were an older couple that was young at heart. They have two children, Jennifer and John and their ages are fifteen and 10. Being around their family was therapeutic for us. Oftentimes, I thought of our son and wondered if we will ever see him again.

Seth and I have been contemplating having another child. I did not want to have another one so soon after the ‘incident’ with Chad. I went to counseling and some sessions Seth joined me and we were able to work through our hurts and fears. Amazingly, we became a lot closer and emotionally in a better place than we were two years prior. Although we had our reservations, we were excited about expanding our family again. We did not feel comfortable sharing with our family and loved ones what we’ve planned to do. We made a promise to each other that we would not say anything to anyone until I was at least three months pregnant and it 's confirmed by the doctor.

Olivia and I were eating lunch and she began to complain how expensive Jennifer’s taste increased as she got older and they knew she would want a car for her Sweet 16th Birthday. I asked Olivia, “Does Jennifer get allowances?” She responded, “Yes, but she still wants everything and I told her that she better get a job, so she can have her own money.” We chuckled and while we were finishing our meal, Jennifer called. She was so excited that I could hear through the phone telling her mother about a babysitting job for a family that recently moved into their neighborhood. Olivia was excited too but told her that they will discuss it later.

Seth and I became concerned that I wasn’t pregnant yet, so we went to the doctor. They ran various tests and all came back positive for me to have a baby. The doctor believed that I was overly stressing about having another baby and told us to try to relax and not to put so much pressure on ourselves. His prescription was for us to just enjoy ourselves and to trust the process. We were relieved that it was nothing serious. While leaving the doctor’s office, Olivia called but I let it go to voicemail because I did not want her to know about us trying to have a baby.

Olivia and Jennifer discussed her babysitting job. It was going to be for two to three nights a week. She will be making $12.00 an hour for watching the neighbor’s eight year old son. Olivia was fine with it as long they met his parents and it did not interfere with her homework. Olivia and Jennifer went over to the new neighbor’s house and discussed her responsibilities but their son was playing upstairs in his room. Jennifer asked if she could introduce herself to their son. They gave her permission but cautioned her that he was shy and wasn’t talkative. His name was Joshua but they called him, “Josh”. She went upstairs and met Josh and they played with his toys for a while then she joined the adults downstairs. Jennifer was excited and believed that this would be a great fit seeing that Josh enjoyed being with her. He was at the top of the staircase and he could see Jennifer and her mother, but Olivia couldn’t see him but could hear him as he said good-bye to them.

Jennifer enjoyed babysitting Josh. Although he was shy and did not speak much when others were around, he became very fond of Jennifer. His parents were cordial but appeared overprotective concerning Josh. She noticed that there were no baby photos of him and she thought it was strange but did not stress about it. His parents did not want him playing outside unless it was in the backyard and that was limited. She noticed that Josh was somewhat fidgety and slept with the night light on. One night, Jennifer went to check on Josh while he was sleeping and she heard him screamed, “No, No, No… Daddy, help me!” She waited to hear if he would say something else but he rolled over and was sound to sleep.

Jennifer talked to her mother about what was happening while she was babysitting, especially about Josh screaming as he was sleeping. Her mother advised her to keep an eye on Josh and to see if he remembered the dream. To Jennifer, it sounded more like he was having a nightmare. The following night, she was scheduled to babysit Josh and she told him that she heard him say something while he was asleep. She asked him if he remembered what he dreamt the night before. He couldn’t remember and Jennifer did not press him to answer but continued to keep a close watch on Josh.

Weeks went by, Jennifer was downstairs watching television and checking her messages on her cell phone, Josh came downstairs. She noticed that he had something in his hand. It was a medium size black book and he handed it to her. She asked him, “Where did you find this black book?” He said that he found it under his parents’ bed. Jennifer tried to get him to go back to bed but he kept saying that she needed to read it. As she opened the mysterious black book, Jennifer noticed that it was a personal journal with his mother’s handwriting. Also, she noticed that there were old but neatly folded newspaper clippings. As she unfolded the clippings, she was shocked and dismayed. She told Josh to go to bed and that she will make sure that the black book is put back underneath his parents’ bed. She took pictures of some of the handwritten pages, as well as all of the newspaper clippings with her cell phone.

Olivia picked Jennifer up and noticed that her daughter was unusually quiet. Jennifer just acted as if she was extremely tired. She told her mother goodnight and went immediately to her room. She went over the photos and information that she saw in the mysterious black book. Could it be? No, it can’t be. She did not know what to do but believed it would be best to wait to share it with her parents in the morning. Morning felt like eternity, but it finally arrived. When she saw her mother, she just started crying. Her mother was worried that something happened to her while she was at the babysitter’s house. Jennifer assured her that no one touched her inappropriately. She told her parents that she really needed to speak with them about something very important. She gave them her cell phone and she watched as they viewed and read the information.

Michael and Olivia were irate! They could not believe what they had read and began to ask Jennifer a lot of questions. She told them that Josh gave her the black book and reminded her parents that Josh often screamed while he slept crying for his daddy’s help. They did not know whether to confront the neighbors or call the police. One thing for sure, Jennifer will not babysit Josh anymore. They had to figure something out soon. Michael and Olivia decided that they would tell Josh’s parents that their daughter could no longer babysit. His parents were confused because everything was going great and this was so unexpected. They had no idea that Jennifer knew about the information in the black book.

Josh started crying because he overheard that Jennifer will no longer babysit him. He told his parents that it was his fault. They did not understand why he was blaming himself. He wasn’t known to do pranks or to be disrespectful, especially towards Jennifer. He really liked her. They finally calmed him down and asked, “What happened?” He told them that he found the black book underneath their bed and gave it to Jennifer. They got nervous and very upset with him. They kept asking rhetorically, “Why, Why, Why did you do that?” He still did not understand fully what was happening. His parents told him that they will have to move immediately.

While Josh and his family were gathering enough clothes to leave, they heard the sirens. His parents knew that the same black book that kept their deepest and darkest secret will soon be the headlines of their local newspaper. The police came. His parents confessed. Josh left the house but he was finally home. Seth and Beth finally received the news that they were waiting on… The four of them lived happily ever after.