Shadows danced along the walls illuminated by only by the glare of the large, full white moon outside my window. The shapes shifted meaninglessly through the night. And yet. I couldn’t help but lie there and watch them. Paranoid or not, I was not sleeping tonight. Being home alone sucks enough as it is. Of course tonight is the night where I start to hear every creak in the house, and I would swear there was something looking in my window from behind the trees.
I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I’m guessing I somehow managed to fall asleep. Whatever it was, I was awakened by the sound of a turning doorknob. My heart raced, a hundred miles per hour, and I could feel the beads of sweat slowly forming on my forehead. As silently as possible, I slipped out of bed, reaching over to my dresser. Being the paranoid fool I was, I kept my pocket knife up there, ya know, just in case. The last thing I remembered was the clink of the knife as I popped the blade out. Everything between now and then is but a blur.

I lay here watching the shadows dance along the forest, as smoothly as gentlemen along a ballroom floor. The ringing in my ears and the beat of my heart were the only things that broke the piercing silence. My whole body ached. Almost as if I’d been hit by a car. If I could take a guess, I’d say my insides were practically jello. Everything hurt. Even the slightest movements. As I tried to drag myself to my feet I heard a crinkling in my pocket. I reached inside and pulled out what seemed to be a newspaper bit. The title of the article read “Stocks increased, largest since 2009”. I honestly don’t know why that matters to me, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t be finding out. A sudden gust blew the paper from my hand…..just..out..of…reach….

The town was tiny. Not a person around with a familiar face. I was safe here, at least for now. I strolled down the barely paved sidewalks, not exactly sure where I was going. I stopped by a newspaper stand where I saw an article that caught my attention. I haven’t the slightest idea of what it said, but it certainly peaked my interests. I tore it out and stuffed it into my pocket. Walking along the street, I stopped at the traffic light to cross. Gazing over, I met the glare of a sunken eyed man standing there on the other side. He looked almost familiar to me, but I couldn’t exactly figure out how. His eyes seemed as if they wanted to burn a hole in my soul. The light flickered to a white crossing signal. I reluctantly started towards the man when a sudden realization washed over me. I stopped. Dead in my tracks. I heard him call out, but it was just a moment too late. He was interrupted by the screech of tires along pavement.
The darkness surrounded me, almost lifelessly. Lying there, I could feel nothing of my body except an intense pain coursing through my veins. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The air seemed to be pulled from my lungs when I awoke breathlessly. Just a few feet away, I noticed a slip of newspaper stuck fluttering in the wind against a few twigs. I pulled myself over, grasping it between my fingers. “Stocks……” I turned it over to find a picture of a boy. Familiar. Eerily familiar. Except for one thing. One distinct thing…….My eyes seemed sunken in. Almost hollow. Lifeless. The headline boldly printed above “Search for suspect continues after mysterious death of boy found stabbed to death in his apartment”.
What. In. the. Hell. Reading more into the article it said “five days ago the body of a young boy, age”……..a hole in the page made it illegible. “Was found inside his home with a single s….” The tear in the page cut off the rest of the sentence. But….I….I’m not dead……at least….I don’t think so……..
A tint of red began to fill the sky I managed to pull myself to my feet with a struggle. I need to find my way back home. I noticed distinct footprints up to where I was currently lying. I decided I would back track and hopefully make it to somewhere familiar. After dragging myself for what felt like hours, I managed to reach a small town. It didn’t look anything like any town I’ve ever been to, and not a single person I walked by had a familiar face. The worst thing though was the stares I got passing along the unpaved sidewalks. As I waited at the stoplight to cross the street, I noticed one little boy making his way up the sidewalk. As he passed under a street light, I noticed his sweat soaked shirt, almost as if he’d been running for hours. He looked over and met my gaze. I couldn’t help but look back, because his face was very familiar. As the boy entered the crosswalk, a look of recognition ran over his face, followed by horror. He stopped dead in his tracks, but his moment was interrupted by the screech of tires. The bumper of the rusty green pickup met with his body. He fell like a rock. I stared in horror, wondering if he’d been killed. Running towards him, I noticed him moving. I called out for him to be still, but amazingly he pulled himself off of the ground and darted off in the direction I just came from. I called out to him, but was offered no response. My body ached too much to chase him down, and I had to get home and figure this mess out.
After a little bit of a walk, I found a gas station which I stopped at. Walking in, I was met by the gaze of a grey haired man who was tending to a customer. Mid sentence, he stopped, turning his gaze to me. I could see he was pondering something, but I wasn’t exactly sure what. I walked up to the counter, with his stare locked on me the whole time. As I waited behind the customer, I noticed a map nearby on the shelf. I picked it up, casually thumbing through the pages, until I found my town. The cashier finished with the customer, and I stepped up to the counter. “Excuse me, sir can you tell me how far we are from here?” I said pointing at the map
“Well….I’d say it’s a good twenty miles south. Straight road though, can’t miss it.”
“Well thank y……” I started, but was cut off
“Yeah…..but I can’t let you go there……”
“What do you mean…..?”
“I know who you are.”
“Well that’s odd, I don’t seem to have ever been here before.”
“You haven’t, But your face’d been posted in the paper for years.”
“What do you mean by that….I don’t recall ever being in the paper….’
At that moment I recalled the article I’d torn out of the newspaper. I recalled the boy crossing the street.
“You’re that boy who they found dead at that town, ‘bout 10 years ago.”
I knew exactly what he was referring to, but I decided to not let on to it. 10 years……..it couldn’t have been that long…….it just couldn’t……..He must be delusional……
“Well, I don’t know anything about that, sir. And I’m afraid I’ve to get home soon.”
I rolled up the map and stuffed it in my pocket as I started out the door. It’s gonna be a long journey……..Five miles out I decided I just couldn’t take it. My knees wobbled, and my body trembled. A headlight drew closer out of the darkness of the country road. I stuck my thumb out as the truck drew closer.
“Need a ride?” The man said
“Yessir”
“Well hop on in the back, where ya going?”
I told him where we were going and we started off towards the town. The cool breeze blew through my hair as the truck tore through the night and bucked along over the loose gravel roads. Soon enough we were back on solid pavement as we neared the town. We pulled over at corner store just a few blocks from my house. The neon lights lit up the street like day time. As I hopped out of the back of the pickup, I stuck my head in the window
“Thanks again for the ride, I appreciate it”
Just at the moment, he turned his head and looked over. His smile turned to horror almost as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Y…yeah” He stammered as I pulled my head out of the window.
The wheels squealed off and the last thing I saw was the rusty green tailgate disappear into the night, on the road we returned from.
After a short walk accompanied by the subtle glow of the moon behind me, I reached the front of my house. Standing there, I noticed it seemed to be in a state of disrepair. Boards hung aimlessly from the windows. I stood out there, in a sense of disbelief. This couldn’t be real. Not at all. I walked over to the front door and tried the knob. To my surprise the door swung open. Everything looked as if the residents had simply left for a few days. Gazing up the stairs, I could see shadows dance across the walls from the trees outside. I started up, guided only by the glow of the moon which illuminated the hallway through what used to be my room. The thud of my foot reached the landing, but was met with a distinct clink. The blade cut through. The pain rushed back into my body. I collapsed. Blood rushed out of the wound almost as if it were ready to engulf me and drown me. Looking up, I met a gaze, with a boy. A small brown haired boy. With a familiar face. However, my eyes seemed illuminated by my brown pupils and white eyeballs, with a distinct lack of sunked black eye sockets. The last thing I remember before the embrace of darkness wrapped its cruel arms around me, was the look of horror which rushed over his….my….. face as he backed up stammering. As my eyes drew to a close, a sound met my ears. The turning of a doorknob and the fading footsteps as they ran from the house……
Only….to….return…..again……