“I just don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough,” Fear could hear his mother saying from the next room.

The voice that answered belonged to his psychologist, Dr Hess.

“All I said is that he needs love and patience.”

Supposedly, the psychologist’s room had been designed to be soundproof but Fear, in the half hour that he’d been there, he hadn’t had much trouble hearing what was being said on the other side of the door.

“My son ran away from home,” his mother continued. “No word, no note, and now that he’s come back he’s making up wild stories about being summoned and it’s all I can do to keep him making up any more lies! I just want to know the truth. Why did he run away? Where’d he go? He’s only ten years old.” She added the last bit as though it was an explanation for why Fear’s explanation couldn’t be the real one.

“It’s all a classic call for help,” Dr Hess stated. “The fact that he came home on his own should give you some comfort. We don’t know what happened to him while he was gone, but punishing him is not how you should be welcoming him back.”

There was a pause in the conversation, or perhaps they finally began speaking in soft enough tones that they could no longer be overheard. In that silence, Fear let his eyes wander around the small waiting room. No one else was there except for the elderly receptionist who had checked them in. She was the sort of elderly woman that wore a wig and too much makeup. Usually, he found those women to be funny and kind. Unfortunately, this woman inexplicably reminded him of the night he’d been summoned and so he avoided looking at her as much as possible.

After a few more minutes, the door opened and Fear’s mother walked out. She didn’t look at him as she walked over to the seat beside him and sat down. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to look at him ever since he tried to tell her what had happened to him.

Dr Hess stood in the doorway to his office. “Why don’t you and I have a little chat?”

Fear got up from his seat, wishing his mother would have at least given him a pat on the knee or something, and walked into Dr Hess’ office.

“You want a soda or something?” Dr Hess offered.

He motioned to a mini-fridge in the corner, nearer to Fear’s seat. Inside, Fear discovered not just sodas but a small assortment of snacks as well. Fear got himself an orange soda. Dr Hess already had a pineapple soda open and sitting on the small table that separated the two chairs in the office.

Dr Hess sat down, notebook in hand and pencil tucked behind his ear.

“I’m Dr Hess,” he began, “I understand that you’ve had a rough few days.”

Fear took a sip from his soda to delay having to answer. He glanced to the now closed door, beyond which sat his mother. He wondered if she could hear his conversation as easily as he had heard hers with Dr Hess.

“It’s alright,” Fear said at last. He tried to keep his voice low without it seeming too obvious that he was worried about being overheard.

“Your mother mentioned that you’d gone missing. Can you tell me about that?”

“Mom doesn’t want me to talk about it,” Fear said to his lap.

“It can be hard, especially for parents sometimes, to listen to people as young as you. Do you think you could give me chance to listen to what you have to say?”

“Can she hear us?” Fear hadn’t meant to ask that question. It just tumbled out of him.

“No, she can’t,” Dr Hess assured him.

“But,” Fear began and then hesitated, not sure if he’d be in trouble if he admitted that he had been able to hear them talking.

“Go put your ear to the door,” Dr Hess suggested as though reading Fear’s thoughts.

It was a strange request but Fear obeyed. With his ear to the door, he could make out notes of music and strands of lyrics coming from the other side.

“There wasn’t any music when I was out there,” Fear said.

“It’s playing now, though, isn’t it?”

Fear nodded.

Dr Hess motioned for him to return to his seat. Fear did so but was confused why the music hadn’t been playing when his mother was talking with Dr Hess.

“If it makes you more comfortable, I can even turn on some white noise to make it even harder for anyone to listen in on what we talk about.”

“No thanks,” Fear said, not wanting to make more Dr Hess fuss over it even more.

“So, would you like to talk about what happened when you were summoned?”

Fear snapped his gaze onto Dr Hess at once.

“Do you believe me?” Fear asked.

“I have no reason to disbelieve you,” Dr Hess answered.

“But people can’t just be summoned,” Fear said. It was the argument he’d been using on himself ever since it had happened, hoping to find some way to explain it all away.

“Well, why don’t you tell me what happened and then maybe we can find some answers for you?”

“Okay,” Fear said, “it happened on Tuesday. I was lying in bed when I started to feel…weird.”

“In what way?” Dr Hess asked. “Did you feel dizzy? Tingles?”

“It wasn’t my body that felt weird.”

It was so difficult to explain, and that was partly the reason why he’d had such a hard time talking to his mom. Not only did he now know what the right words were, but his mom grew more and more upset with every different attempt he’d made.

“Did it feel like the whole world was filling you,” Dr Hess asked, “except it wasn’t the whole world? It was only the part of the world that was feeling afraid, and yet you still felt the whole world.”

“Yes,” Fear whispered, glancing again to the door. “How did you know?”

“You’ve felt this fear before, haven’t you?” Dr Hess asked, ignoring Fear’s question. “Except it wasn’t as strong, not as overwhelming, correct?”

Fear nodded as both relief and terror flooded into him. If Dr Hess knew what had happened then that meant he might be able to help, but it also meant that Fear hadn’t made it all up. It had really happened. It might happen again.

“You are what’s known as an Earthly Personification,” Dr Hess explained. “You are aware of the fear throughout the world because you are the Earthly Personification of Fear. There are other Earthly Personifications, Love, Hate, Sympathy, Misery, Trust, Secrets, and on and one. No one’s sure how many there are or who they are.”

“Does my mom know about them?”

“No, generally only other Personifications know about it.”

“How do you know, then?”

“I know because I am one.”

Fear looked at Dr Hess with new eyes.

“You’re a…an Earth Person?”

“An Earthly Personification,” Dr Hess corrected, “and yes, I am one.

“Are you Sympathy?”

Dr Hess shook his head.

“No, but we’re not here to talk about me. We’re here for you.”

“Are you going to teach me how to control my powers?”

Fear was actually beginning to get a little excited as he started imagining what all he might be able to do.

“Unfortunately,” Dr Hess began and Fear deflated, “we don’t have much in the way of powers, and there isn’t any way to keep from being summoned, as you put it. What I can do is teach you how to manage it and give you some contacts you can rely on to help you out, especially if you get summoned to someplace much farther from home than a few miles.”

“You mean I’m going to keep getting summoned?”

“Well, yes and no. You see, no one ever summons one of us, but if there’s an event that is especially strong in one of our areas, then we can be pulled, or summoned as you call it, to that place. People generally ignore our presence wherever we show up, as long as we just sort of keep to ourselves and, well, witness whatever it is that’s going on. Then, once it’s over, we’re free to make our way back home.”

“How often does this happen?” Fear asked, unsure he wanted to know the answer.

“It’s different for all of us, but usually it’s only a few times a year. Last year I was only called to witness three events. And once the universe decides that we’re too old for all the traveling we stop getting pulled around at all.”

“Will it always be so scary?”

Dr Hess was quiet for a moment, taking a sip from his soda and then lacing his fingers together. When at last he spoke, he held Fear with his eyes and Fear saw a deep understanding inside of him.

“You are the Earthly Personification for Fear,” he said heavily, “so you will be called to witness the worlds events that cause the most fear. Just know that you will never be in any danger yourself. The universe finds a way to always protect us, even if everything around us is…well, you’ll always be safe. I can promise you that.”

It was little comfort to Fear, but he supposed it was the best Dr Hess could do.

“Will you explain this to my mom?” Fear asked. “She won’t listen to me.”

“I don’t think she’ll listen to me either,” Dr Hess admitted. “Most people around us don’t notice when we disappear. That’s how we’re able to keep our jobs and such, but family has always been different. They notice, and none of us have ever been able to get them to understand it.”

Fear didn’t like to cry but he couldn’t help it now as he thought of how angry his mom had been when he finally got home.

“Is she always going to be like this now?”

“It’s how it is for all of us,” Dr Hess explained. “Some make it work, stick it out until they’re old enough to move out, but for most that isn’t an option. That’s why we older Personifications tend to take in one or two of the younger Personifications while they’re growing up. It’s not perfect, but at least we can understand one another.”

“I don’t want to leave my mom!” Fear balled. “I just want her to…to…

“To look at you again without cringing?” Dr Hess provided. “To not doubt every word you say? To not be upset when you finally get back home after being lost for days?” Dr Hess shook his head. “I’m sorry, Fear, it’s not going to happen.”

His face and throat hurt from crying but he couldn’t stop it now that it had started. Fear hiccupped while he cried. He wanted to say something, or for Dr Hess to say something. Anything besides this empty silence into which he was crying would have been better.

“I want my mom,” Fear managed to squeak out at last.

“You aren’t listening to me,” Dr Hess said, and Fear was disturbed to hear the anger in his voice. “She won’t accept you anymore. It isn’t going to get better again. At best she’ll just give up on you, at worst you’ll wind up shouting and fighting over even the smallest things. There’s nothing for you back there with her!”

“Are you trying to kidnap me?” Fear asked with a sudden, dawning awareness of how much of what Dr Hess had said could be interpreted.

“What? No, of course not! I’m offering you a place where you won’t be hated and shunned for what you are.”

“But you want me to go live with you instead of my mom?”

“Well, I mean,” Dr Hess stammered, “Yes, it’s an option but it wouldn’t necessarily have to be me that you live with. There are others I could introduce you to and you could –

“MOM!” Fear shouted. “MOMMY!”

He’d heard enough. Even if what Dr Hess was saying were true, about the Personifications and everything, he wasn’t going to let Dr Hess or any other stranger take him away. Fear was afraid. His mom was afraid. That wasn’t reason enough to run away for real.

Fear’s mom burst into the room, shock and panic on her face as she looked from Dr Hess, to Fear, and then back to Dr Hess.

“What’s wrong?!” she demanded.

“He wants to kidnap me!” Fear cried.

“No, that’s not what I said,” Dr Hess said in a calm voice. “I merely suggested he might need to be taken for observation. He’s clearly had some sort of dissociative episode, this summoning thing, and I believe if we can identify what triggered it, we’ll have a greater understanding of what’s going on and how to treat it.”

Fear glared at Dr Hess, feeling a hatred and betrayal he’d never known was possible before.

“Don’t listen to him mom, please,” Fear begged. “I’ll go see a different doctor, any doctor, but not him, not Dr Hess, please mom!”

He left his chair and rushed over to her, still standing in the doorway, and wrapped his arms as tightly around her waist as he could manage, burying his face into her blouse.

“Please don’t let him take me, mom,” he murmured over and over, “I want to get better but I don’t want to see him again, please, mom.”

At last he looked up into her face and he could see, finally, the soft, tender, love she had for him. She even had a few tears of her own in her eyes.

“Alright,” she mouthed, nodding.

“NO!” Dr Hess shouted, pounding his fist down hard on the table.

Fear spun, afraid that Dr Hess was going to take him by force. Before Dr Hess could do much more than stand up, however, another voice spoke from behind Fear’s mom.

“That’s enough!”

It was a voice that reminded Fear of his grandfather. When he peaked around his mom he wasn’t at all surprised to see that the speaker was, in fact, an old man. What did surprise Fear were the police officers that were flanking the old man. Behind the trio were a few more police officers who were speaking quietly to the receptionist.

“You!” Dr Hess cried out, hatred etched into his face.

“What’s going on?” Fear’s mom, having also looked around and seen all of this, demanded, though it wasn’t clear to whom she was directing her question.

The old man stepped forward, patting her on the shoulder and giving Fear a comforting glance.

“I’m sorry for getting here so late,” the old man said to Fear’s mom and then pointed to Dr Hess. “This isn’t Dr Hess. He’s impersonating him in order to get to your son.”

The police were already moving forward, pushing past Fear’s mom and taking hold of the man who had been posing as Dr Hess.

“How?” the man who wasn’t Dr Hess demanded, never taking his eyes off of the old man.

“How?” the old man asked, a bit surprised. “You practically invited me.”

“I never told you about this meeting!” the imposter shouted even as the police began escorting him out of the office. “You haven’t even met with Secrets, yet!”

“Secrets and I did meet,” the old man stated in flat tones, “but you were out at the time and we both felt it best not to tell you.

The imposter stopped struggling against the police and he turned to glare at the receptionist. She didn’t meet his gaze and instead stared

“She wasn’t sure what you were planning, but she’d decided she didn’t trust you like she does me.”

The rest of what they were all saying didn’t seem to matter anymore as relief flooded through Fear. He felt his mom scoop him up and hold him in her arms like she used to do when he was smaller. He nestled his head deeply in her hair, holding her tightly in return. This was all he’d wanted, ever since he’d first been summoned, taken, that night, and he cried now not for fear or sadness but for finally feeling loved and secure once again.

Eventually he had to be set back down and answer questions about his time with the imposter but he hardly remembered much of the details. It wasn’t really until that evening when they were both home again that Fear began to come back out of the haze he’d been in. He and his mom ordered pizza for dinner and were just starting to pick out a movie to watch when there was a knock at the door.

“That’ll be the pizza,” Fear’s mom said, “go ahead and pick a movie.”

“Sorry to bother you this evening,” a familiar, elderly man’s voice came from the front step when Fear’s mom answered the door. “I really wouldn’t trouble you again, today especially, if it wasn’t important.”

Fear left the living room and peaked around the corner until he could see the front door where his mom and the old man from before were talking.

“There were some things we didn’t have a chance to talk about that I wanted to make sure were discussed,” the old man explained. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” Fear’s mom said, and then added when somethings she’d seen outside caught her eye. “Is there someone in the car waiting for you?”

“It’s my daughter,” he explained. “I’m a bit old for traveling on my own these days, but she didn’t want to impose on you. I’ll be brief and then we’ll be on our way and you two can get back to your own evening together.”

Fear hurried back to the couch before the others saw him. A moment later they came into the living room. His mom sat down beside him on the couch and the old man sat down in the armchair.

“Before I introduce myself,” the old man said, withdrawing an envelope from his jacket pocket, “I need to explain a few things.” He handed the envelope to Fear’s mom but did not wait for her to open it. “I apologize for what I’m sure must seem to be a party trick but please bear with me. Inside the envelope is a note detailing not only what your son witnessed Tuesday evening, but also a name he has called himself without ever telling anyone else until today.”

Fear’s mom looked understandably confused but opened and read the note she’d been handed. As she read, her eyes widened and at a few points she even placed her hand to her mouth and gasped.

“Is this what he told Dr, uh, the man who was pretending to be Dr Hess?”

“No,” the old man said, “they never spoke of this event in any detail.”

“Then where are you getting this information?”

“First of all, the name by which your son is referred to in there,” he turned his attention to Fear, “could you tell us that name.”

Fear felt his face flush but given everything else that had happened that day, if this would allow him to finally talk to his mom about all of this then he would do whatever he needed to do.

“Fear,” he said, a bit quieter than he’d meant. “I’ve always thought of myself as Fear. Always.”

“Fear,” the old man said, “have you told anyone the details of what you witnessed Tuesday evening?”

Fear shook his head.

“I know it’s unpleasant, but could you tell us what happened that night?”

Fear looked uncertainly towards his mom, but the anger she had expressed the other times he’d tried to tell her what had happened wasn’t there anymore. He took a deep breath and began telling her what had happened.

“I was lying in bed,” he said, “when I felt as if all the fear in the world was inside me. I didn’t feel afraid, but I just…I just knew about the fear. And then I wasn’t in bed anymore. I was outside in a forest and it was cold and there were all these people around me, shouting. I couldn’t see a lot of what was going on because it was dark out, but there was a large bonfire and…

He trailed off as the memory of what he’d seen and heard came back to him. His mom gave his leg a comforting squeeze and he was able to find his voice again.

“They were hurting people with the fire,” he went on, “and doing…other things to them. It went on for hours and I couldn’t look away. I could leave. Finally, after they’d finished, they left and I thought I was alone until I saw there was an old lady looking at me. She wasn’t dressed like the other people. She looked like she had been getting ready to go to bed too. She tried to talk to me but I realized I could move and I just ran away. I ran until I found someone who could tell me where I was and then I had to figure out how to get home, and…

He began to cry again and his mom pulled him to herself and held him tightly.

“The details I gave you,” the old man said to Fear’s mom, “were gathered as part of an investigation going on surrounding the capture, torture, and murder of several families and individuals about four hours drive north of here.”

“I don’t understand,” Fear’s mom said, still holding Fear close. “Are you saying he saw or heard this on the news and that’s how he got it into his head?”

“These events took place Tuesday evening,” the old man said. “What your son has said is all true, exactly as he said it happened.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Just as your son has always known he was Fear, I have always known that I am Trust. The man that was arrested today is Misery, and his accomplice, the woman who posed as the receptionist, is Secrets. There are others, of course, many others. I have a list here of the ones I am aware of and who have agreed to share their contact information. When Fear is older, he can decide if he would like to similarly share his contact information.”

Trust withdrew a small, laminated card with names and their contact information printed down both sides. He held it out for Fear’s mom to take but she didn’t move. Instead, she just looked back and forth from Fear and Trust, her mouth slightly agape.

“I don’t want to leave,” Fear said, unsure what had prompted him to speak. “I can’t help it when I get taken to places where there’s a lot of fear. I wouldn’t go if I could help it, but I can’t. I just get taken.”

“There’s a fund,” Trust put in, “that many of us contribute to that any of us can use for covering expenses when we get called away. We’ve found it helpful to carry a cell phone on us whenever we can so we can call home and let our loved ones know where we are and begin arranging for our return home.”

“Are you actually expecting me to believe this?” Fear’s mom asked, taking the laminated card that Trust was still holding out for her to take and then threw it across the room. “My son had some sort of mental episode, I can understand that, but what you’re trying to sell me here is ridiculous. Next thing you’re going to ask me to start putting into this travel fund that you and your buddies have set up, right?”

Trust didn’t seem surprised at all by her reaction.

“No one can contribute to the fund besides myself and a few others. No one is ever asked to contribute to it. We do this voluntarily and the financial details are shared with everyone who has access to it. In addition to that, a private equity firm monitors the fund as well so we can be sure no one is taking advantage of it and that those who donate are doing so freely and without coercion.”

“And there’s a whole group of you?” she asked Trust, still making it obvious that she wasn’t buying what he was saying.

“Yes.”

“And the two that were arrested today were Misery and Secrets?”

“Yes,” Trust nodded.

“So, what did they want with my son?”

Trust frowned and it looked as though a shadow passed over his face.

“We aren’t sure yet,” he admitted, “but it does seem that Misery may have been responsible for organizing the events that called your son away from home on Tuesday evening. There are a few other similarly shocking events that we’re only just now starting to be able to link back to him, but it seems he was actively trying to create situations that would call others like us to him. Ones that the rest of us hadn’t discovered yet and were otherwise ignorant of the rest of us.”

“Why would he do that?” Fear asked.

“Again, I don’t know yet. We’re hoping that he’ll cooperate with the investigation and thereby gain some answers.”

“Okay, well,” Fear’s mom said in the same tone she used when it was Fear’s bed time and he was trying to stay up just a little longer, “we’ve had a heck of a day today and we’re needing some quiet here so I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Of course,” Trust said and got up from his seat. “Good night.”

Fear’s mom walked him to the door and saw him out.

“Pizza’s finally here,” she called as she came back into the living room.

She set it down in front of them, hit play on the first movie she came to, and together they ate and watched the film. It was quiet between them at first, each one allowing the pizza and the movie to act as an excuse not to talk. Eventually, Fear’s mom got up and retrieved the list of contacts she had taken from Trust and thrown across the room.

“Friendship sounds nice,” she said, holding the card out for Fear to see. “Not sure about Boredom.”

“Ew, there’s one for Upset Stomach?” Fear pointed.

“How’d you think people would react if that one just showed up in the bathroom?”

“People don’t notice us,” Fear told her. “To them, we’re not there. I tried to talk to some people that night, before I saw what was going on, but it was like they couldn’t really see me, and when it was all over they just walked away without any questions. Misery said that’s how it always is.”

“I don’t think we can trust anything that man said.”

“I don’t think he was lying about that part.”

The movie played on but they weren’t really paying it much attention. They stayed up late that night, talking about what had happened and, although he wasn’t sure his mom fully believed the explanation she’d been given for his disappearance, she agreed to get him a cell phone.

That night, for the first time in days, Fear was able to fall asleep feeling at peace.