The King

Kyle Stokes considered himself a ruler.

He was a king who forgot about his real life to order around subjects and put on a paper crown. He’d always held a certain power that others didn’t recognize, so when six children showed up and listened to his every command, he became a god.

Kyle took being a king very seriously, and would announce a small phrase whenever he thought his royal status was in question. In fact, just now he had declared his kingly status towards his mother. Not having realized that she said anything that implicated Kyle was anything less than his self-proclaimed royalty, she turned from the magazine she was reading, and looked at her son.

“Kyle,” she spoke slow and patronizingly. “What exactly are you the king of?”

Kyle’s mother could be expected to answer with these words just as Kyle could be expected to have uttered the statement that elicited them initially.

The boy wouldn’t reply; nobody had ever understood what he meant when he explained it before, so he learned to stay silent after all the questions. Kyle sucked in a breath through his nose angrily— his mother couldn’t accept that he was meant to rule the world. Sure, he was stuck in a treehouse with only a handful of followers, but he knew that the future would be different.

Kyle turned away and ignored his mother. He decided to go up the stairs and change into his royal attire. It was a construction paper crown and a worn out white blanket. Kyle’s mother sighed and returned to her magazine. After a minute she quit what she was doing and instead searched for child psychologists. When she found one that seemed reliable, she dialed their office. The receptionist answered, and Ms. Stokes told her she wanted an appointment for her son.

Loud footsteps emerged from the stairs that made Ms. Stokes pause her conversation. Kyle was dressed up in his costume. “I’ll be ruling my kingdom!” Kyle stated forcefully, walking through the back door, and marching to the treehouse. Ms. Stokes resumed talking with the receptionist and scheduled an appointment for 4:30 the next day.

In the treehouse, Kyle was speaking to his subjects. There was Nick, Dave, Matt, Julia, Bert, and Angie. Nick and Dave were brothers. Nick was five years old and Dave was six. Both had dirty blond hair and blue eyes; they looked like twins and Kyle sometimes mistook them for each other. Matt was the oldest at eight years old, he was older than even Kyle himself, but he always followed his king’s orders. He was the closest thing to a right-hand man Kyle had. Julia was seven. She worried about her majesty’s well being very much, and was sometimes too dramatic for Kyle’s tastes, but she could obey orders and for that he kept her around. Bert was fairly big for his age, only six, but taller than both Kyle and Matt. Bert was timid in nature, his eyes always found themselves drawn to the ground, and his shoulders hunched inward. He spoke the least out of all the subjects and followed orders closely, making sure never to mess up. Last was Angie, she was the youngest at only four years old, and Kyle was usually the kindest to her because of it. She smiled a lot and spent most of her time around Nick and Dave. Kyle was positive that these six subjects of his were all real; they not only looked real, but he could talk to them, and they would respond back. He knew the difference between imagination and reality, and the people he ruled were alive.

“Your Highness, there's a woman approaching the Kingdom.” Dave reported to his king. Kyle became perplexed. He didn't want to talk to his mother; he knew that she'd just question his royal status, and because he was only seven, he didn't want to lose his friends, or his kingdom. Plus, he knew his mom couldn't see his subjects, and hated when he spent his time ruling the kingdom. She thought her son was crazy. Still, he got up from the floor to go meet her.

His mom was surprised to see him climb down the ladder. “Honey,” she began, “how did you know I was here? I didn't see your head out the windows.” Again she spoke gently. Kyle rolled his eyes at the stupidity of his mother.

“Dave told me you were coming.” Ms. Stokes' face turned into a mixture of pity and sadness at the words. Kyle noticed the change.

“Okay, well, tomorrow you have to cancel your plans, because we're going somewhere.” She spoke simply and with wide eyes, nodding her head along, watching to make sure her son understood what she was saying. Kyle knew something was wrong; his mom didn't try to convince him that everything was in his head.

“I’ll talk to the subjects.” He returned. Kyle was smarter than he looked, and smarter than his age would lead one to believe. Right now he was testing his mother. If she acted like all was fine, then there would be something suspicious happening tomorrow. If she acted normal, questioning his all mighty kingdom, it would be just another day.

His mother didn't respond, she just nodded her head and smiled. Kyle stared curiously for a moment, then rushed up to his tree house. Everyone was waiting there, Julia seeming the most nervous out of all of them. The subjects were standing by the window, so Kyle closed it, making sure his mother couldn't see him talking to what she perceived as nothing.

“Are you going to leave us?” Julia whimpered, unnecessarily anxious.

“Of course not. But I can't come to the kingdom tomorrow. My mom's planning something.” He paused as everyone adjusted. “You guys can handle this place, right?” He asked.

"Yes, your Highness." Bert replied. Quickly, the others repeated the same phrase. Kyle couldn't help but smile proudly.

“Good. It's getting late. I'll see you when I can.” The peasants, as Kyle referred to them in his head, nodded in agreement. The king went down the ladder again, passing his mom who was waiting patiently. “I can go.” Was all he said as he walked past her. His mother, although Kyle couldn't see, looked relieved. She thought she could finally help her son. The people who noticed her face however, were the unseen servants of the not named kingdom, and they didn't appear to be happy about how she was so pleased.

The next day when Kyle woke up, he went to his window. He saw his subjects standing outside the kingdom, looking up at him through the glass. Kyle didn’t address them and went downstairs. His mom had cooked breakfast even though the clock read past twelve. “Good morning, Kyle.” She smiled giving him a plate of eggs and bacon.

Kyle ate the food swiftly, finishing the meal before it got cold. His mom took his plate away and told him to get dressed. Although Kyle didn't like being told what to do, he changed anyway. When he was finished, Ms. Stokes hurried her son to the car, buckled him up, and then started to drive.

"Where are we going?" Kyle asked. Ms. Stokes planned for this already.

"I thought we could go get some new toys." She said looking in the rearview mirror at her son. Ms. Stokes didn't notice how her son appeared to know that it was a lie. Not only did Kyle guess hidden intentions the day before, but they weren’t driving in the direction of the toy store they usually go to.

Almost an hour later their car pulled up to a small building. Kyle thought the inside looked like his school's principal's office, which unfortunately he'd seen a few times. His mom went up to the desk and spoke to the lady behind it while Kyle sat down in a chair. He peered around the small space, trying to decipher where he was. There was a sign, but the only word he recognized was child, the other one was something he couldn't comprehend that started with a P. Kyle was looking for hints of what the place could be when his eyes connected with someone he knew: It was Matt.

His subject walked over to him. “Your Highness, do you know where you are?” Matt questioned as he sat down next to him. Kyle shook his head. “It’s a psychologist office!” Matt shouted worriedly. Kyle, knowing that no one could hear Matt, or see him, tried to show he was confused. Being as young as he was had its down sides and not knowing things was a big one. “It’s a place they take people with problems.” Kyle was still confused. “Your mom wants to get rid of our kingdom.” Matt stated firmly. Finally the king understood that this was the deceitful plan his mother had made. Ms. Stokes came over, going to sit down next to Kyle, except the chair was already occupied by Matt.

“Stop!” Kyle yelled impulsively, sticking his arms out to prevent his mother from continuing. Everyone in the room turned their heads. Ms. Stokes looked around as her cheeks turned slightly pink.

“Sweetie?” She questioned worriedly. Kyle, not knowing to say tried to act normally.

“Um, can you sit in the other seat?” Ms. Stokes did as he asked, and the attention drifted from them.

“Why couldn't I sit in the other chair?” His mother questioned. Kyle didn't respond. Matt whispered that he was going to leave, then stood up and walked away. Kyle hoped that Matt was going back to the kingdom. The last thing the child ruler wanted was his castle to be in disarray by the time he arrived back home.

A few minutes later one of the doors opened. A young girl carrying a stuffed blue bunny walked out with a tall, brown haired man. The girl walked to another woman, and they left after a quick conversation with the receptionist. The man looked around and called out, “Kyle Stokes.” Kyle turned to his mom, not knowing what to do. Ms. Stokes told her son to go with the man; hesitantly, Kyle did.

The first thing the king noticed about the room they walked into was how obnoxiously friendly the place looked. There were toys everywhere; dolls, action figures, and stuffed animals were sprawled on the ground and couches. Drawings were hung on the walls, a small table with chairs was stuffed in a corner, and in the center sat two big, soft looking seats. Kyle thought this place was trying not to scare people (or children in this case) too much. But he knew that this building was putting forth the effort to take his thrown from under him, and because of this knowledge, he stayed alert.

Kyle sat in one of the plush chairs. There was a small, awkward silence moving through the surrounding air, so the doctor started a conversation. "My name is Dr. Fisher. Your mom gave us some information about yourself," he paused looking for any kind of emotion on the boy’s face. There was none. "I see you're not wearing the outfit, Kyle." Dr. Fisher ended with his name to make sure he knew he was being addressed.

Kyle said his phrase without thinking. "I'm a king." He nearly whispered it, but once the words slipped passed his lips, he was angry at himself for not being able to keep his mouth shut.

"What was that?" He asked. Kyle didn’t respond. He wanted to yell at the man and tell him that he should bow at his feet, but his expression barely changed. "Well, I suppose if you're a king, you must have a kingdom." The doctor was doing something, but Kyle didn't know what. Dr. Fisher stood up and strolled to the tiny table in the corner. After picking up a piece of paper and a red crayon he went back to Kyle. "Why don't you draw it." It was an order, made to sound nice, but Kyle didn’t care, he only wanted to avoid revealing his secrets. He concluded that the appearance of his kingdom wasn't anything special and began to draw.

In the end Kyle had drawn a treehouse.

"This is it?" The Doctor asked expecting something similar to bricks stacked hundreds of feet high, with a drawbridge, or maybe a guard tower and a moat. The boy responded by nodding his head. "Your kingdom is a treehouse?" The man asked, still curious. Kyle nodded again.

A minute or two passed while Dr. Fisher was thinking everything through. "If this is your kingdom, the servants your mother talked about must also exist." Kyle didn't know where the doctor was going with this, but slowly he answered yes. "You wouldn't mind drawing them, would you?" The king felt a strong urge disobey.

"No."

"Why not?"

Before answering, Kyle looked to the side out of habit while searching for his answer. His eyes met the glass window, and he recognized a face staring back at him. It was Matt. His gaze lingered on the glass, and Dr. Fisher took notice.

"Are they here?" Kyle snapped his attention back to the man sitting across from him. His face flushed, feeling as though he got caught doing something he shouldn't have. "Your subjects?" Dr. Fisher knew the answer after seeing the boy shocked and flustered. He wrote that Kyle was experiencing hallucinations. The doctor looked down at his watch. "Looks like our time is up." He smiled, then stood. Kyle did the same thing, relieved he didn't have to answer the question.

Dr. Fisher walked Kyle out of the room. Ms. Stokes put away the magazine she was reading when she saw her son. Kyle walked behind his mom, acting shy, and holding onto the hem of her shirt. "So, how is he?" She asked. The doctor shook his head.

"To be honest, it’ll take more sessions to figure out. My best guess at the moment is an early onset case of Schizophrenia." Kyle's mother put her hand over her mouth in shock.

"Really?" She questioned looking at her son. The doctor just nodded his head.

"Remember that it's a premature diagnosis. We will need a few more sessions before I can accurately assess the situation." Ms. Stokes nodded her head. She seemed to be at the brink of tears; she could never imagine this happening to her child.

The adults ended their conversation, and the doctor called another patient. Ms. Stokes made another appointment for next week.

When Kyle entered his home, he automatically went up to his room. He threw on his cape and put on his crown, then ran down the stairs to attain the rule of his kingdom before the sun set.

In the kingdom Julia was being her usual anxious self, pacing around the castle, and worrying about what was happening to her beloved ruler. Bert was attempting to get Julia to stop, saying that everything was going to be fine. That was till Kyle walked in. "Your Highness!" Julia ran to the boy, relieved her king had returned.

Kyle looked around, "Where's Matt?" He asked, everyone froze. Kyle felt angry and confused at his question being ignored. He thought Matt left him, possibly for another kingdom. "Where is he!" He shouted at his subjects. Some jumped back at the sudden rage in Kyle's voice. Tears formed in Julia's eyes.

"You won’t like it." She mumbled. Kyle feared his thoughts had become a reality.

"I don't care. I am your king, now tell me!" The boy looked straight at Julia, causing a tear to fall down her cheek.

"He's inside the house." Was all she said. Kyle didn't understand.

"Why?" The group looked at each other as if they were deciding whether to tell their king something. "What is it?!" Kyle snapped. Julia started crying fully, and the others looked at the ground. Kyle's face was getting red with anger, he suddenly felt he had no control over his kingdom. "Tell me!" He screamed. Julia let out a choking cough.

“He wanted to get rid of your mom!” Dave yelled back. “He wanted to help. Your mom's trying to destroy the kingdom.” Kyle didn't give it a second thought and climbed down the ladder.

The boy opened the backdoor just in time to see Matt shove a blade in the pit of his mother’s stomach. Kyle screamed for Matt to stop. Matt turned his head, removing the knife from her stomach. Kyle ran to his mom; he fell to his knees beside her. "Mom?" He cried, shaking her shoulder. Ms. Stokes was staring at her son, but only for a moment. Tears formed in Kyle's eyes. "Mom!" He shouted at her now motionless form. Blood pooled beneath the woman's corpse. Kyle didn't move, still hanging onto the hope she could live.

"She's dead." Matt's words came in at full force, knocking into Kyle's young mind. His cheeks were already soaked with tears. Slowly he turned to face Matt, hands never leaving his mother's body.

"Why?" His voice came out slightly louder than a whisper. Matt stared down, he hated to see his leader so helpless. Matt's hands still grasped the knife. "I asked why you did it." Kyle demanded. Matt still didn't respond. Kyle stood up, releasing the cooling hand of his mother. The lower part of his legs was covered with the crimson fluid. "I am your king!" He yelled. "Now tell me why you killed her!" Matt was disturbed by his ruler’s shouts.

"I did it because she wanted to get rid of us." He said. Kyle's face twisted. Matt’s breathing labored and suddenly he wiped any thought he had of Kyle ever looking helpless.

"That's not good enough!" Kyle shouted. Matt instantly felt smaller.

"You were going to forget about us!" A girl's voice wailed loudly from the backdoor. Both of the boys spun toward the noise. It was Julia. Kyle ignored her and walked to Matt.

"You killed her." Matt suddenly felt like he was looking up at Kyle despite being taller.

Kyle reached for the knife in Matt's hand. Matt let him have it, afraid of refusing his king. "I can't do the same to you," Kyle stated, holding the knife. A pained smile played on his lips. Kyle saw how sharp the knife was, remembering how Matt plunged the tip into his mother. "This blade would have no effect on you." Kyle's eyes jumped from the blade to Matt's face. Dread flowed throughout the subject’s body.

"She—," Matt stopped with a chill. The boy looked down and saw only the handle of the blade sticking out of his chest. Then the king pulled the object out. Nothing changed. Matt was fine. Matt couldn’t die from the stabbing, but Kyle’s presence made him briefly think otherwise.

Kyle dropped the knife with a thud. His head was bent towards the ground, and he turned around to kneel beside his mother. He sobbed, quietly at first, but then, as time went on, the breaths and wails grew. He looked around him and no one was there. Kyle clutched his mom's hand tightly.

"I'm sorry," Kyle cried. "I'm so sorry."