The Cobbe house iii The dreams

I recall running for our lives, out of that damned house. Down the narrow woodland path and onward to the safety of home.  Looking back, perhaps we should have laughed when we reached the friendly lights of town. But Nell was still shaken and I… I was utterly terrified.

 It was early evening when we were in sight of home. The sun was a huge orange ball on the horizon and streaks of orange and
crimson cloud streaked across it. I looked down into Bridgeton at the valley beneath and the tall trees like black spears in the evening.  In the near light I looked to my right and at Tony, who was looking down at the toy soldier he had picked up from the attic space.  

It was small, about an inch tall; painted red and black with a sliver face that was hard to see. It was standing at attention. Its rifle pointed upward its legs set apart. The large black  hat: domed.

‘you, shouldn’t have-‘ I began.  Feeling unnerved.

‘-I know…but…I’ve always wanted one.’  Came the downcast reply.  I was going to persist.  Perhaps, with hind sight, I should have done. Part of me wanted to throw the thing into the woods and be done with this whole, horrible business. Instead, and despite myself, I shrugged and put my hands in my trouser, pockets.  I looked behind me to see Cerci, who was still holding Nell’s hand as we reached the corner of Prospect and Briar street; where we said fare well, and went our separate ways.

 Nell, turned left and down the hill, towards Briar. Cerci, Tony and I right towards Prospect.  When in the sight of home, Cerci pecked my cheek and then ran off, leaving Tony and I.

Tony giggled a little at that, but said nothing. I blushed as I saw her run up the steps and through her door with a bang.

       ‘--Tony…’  The soldier was bothering me, really bothering me. Like an itch I couldn’t scratch; a darkness had pervaded my heart. A sense of something ominous; that I could not put my finger on felt ominously close.

       ‘…Do you really want that thing… its-‘

        ‘-It’s mine an’ I ain’t parting-‘He spat.  Then he charged
off towards his house on the corner of Prospect, three doors down and just in sight from where I lived.  

‘Okay… well’ I called out after him.  I received no reply.  I stood there, alone, looking at his back as he turned into his house and out of sight.  The night began to reveal stars, one streaked out overhead. A golden moon was seen glittering through the trees at the top of the road. The evening was full of crickets and bullfrogs croaking to be heard.  It was the end of innocence.  

That night I did not sleep well. The dreams were the most vivid that I have ever experienced. Even now, despite the twenty years that have lapsed since that fateful night, those images still  wrestle with me. The reality of them, even down to sensation is one that I haven’t experienced before or since.  It was so vivid…so real, beyond anything… I am standing in the attic space of the Cobbe  house, in front of that door.  The knocking sound becomes louder and louder until it becomes a boom. Then the door handle is turned, slowly carefully as if what is behind it cannot grasp the handle properly.  Then the door violently swings inward to reveal utter darkness.  But there is something in the darkness. I can just about make it out.   I hear its slithering a flapping humm  and its knocking. It is calling me in.  Into the dark. Its voice is like that of a small child. Yet… there is something malign in it. Something inhuman and evil. It wants me to come and play. Despite myself, despite screaming NO I find myself being drawn to the dark. To the noise and the voice, I hear it calling me, calling me ever onward. The doorway looms closer. I can smell something ugly decaying, like wet rotten meat left to bake in the sun.  I hold onto the door frame. I scream.

 I then woke up.  Only to think I do, to find myself in a huge
four poster bed. I am not alone. There is something next to me in the bed. Whatever it is, it is still…unmoving…I am repulsed by the shape that is so still. I cannot be assured that it even breathes. I feel the weight of the linen. It ties me down to the bed. I cannot move.  I feel my breathing begin to feel constrained.  Then it grabs for me.

Then I am on the path towards the Cobbe  house. I see it looming through the trees of the narrow path to my left. I feel the dampness of the soil beneath my feet. I turn to run, but I cannot. The ground grabs at my feet. I feel it turn into fingers. The fingers to hands the hands on wild unearthly arms.  I hear a pony and trap coming, but there is no pony or trap.  I hear the clacking of  a whip. The pulling on of reigns, but there is nothing there. Nothing other than the feeling of being dragged down into the earth by hands that grip me tighter and tighter still. I feel I am being suffocated. That there is something, something above me. Something pale with yellow fiery slit snake like eyes that wants to feed on me, and carry on feeding on me for eternity.

When I finally awoke, I had no knowledge of whether I was awake or not.  Time and voices rippled through me. I felt
Nell’s nervousness, and Cerci’s fear.  I tried to reach Tony but there was nothing. Just a huge black wall. I tried to press though it, but it was impossible. It was as if Tony had deliberately blocked us out.

 I felt drained of strength and weak to my knees. I arose feebly  from my sweaty bed and with a great pain walked across the floorboard's and greeted that warm sunny morning in July.  I looked out of my window to see Cerci sitting by her window opposite mine and looking very drawn and pale as if she was very ill.

I called out for her and asked if she was okay.  She smiled weakly and began saying that she had had terrible dreams about the Thatched house, the door in the attic and something inside…in the dark.  I looked into her cornflower eyes, and smiled weakly back. she seemed so sick pale and drawn.  I held back on my story at the time. I simply mentioned that she looked wan.

‘Have you seen yourself?’

I then went to the mirror on my chest and stared at a pale faced drawn young boy.  It was then that I heard a scream coming from up the street. My heart leapt as I knew it was Tony.

 In my nightgown, I ran through the hall down the stairs, and out of the front door, Cerci followed me out at the same
time.  She stood on her veranda. We stared at each other, each realising that something was wrong.  I looked up to where Tony lived and saw Mrs Sables burst out of the front door and scream down the road for a doctor.

  Both Cerci and I ran up to her. She was in her own nightgown. A nightgown that was soaked in blood; babbling something about Tony.  Then she ran past us and up the street.

We charged up to Tony’s front door. And tried to get in. But Mr. Sables wouldn’t let us in.  He just kept saying please stay
away, He stood there looking tearful and in shock His grey eyes wide, his moustache damp.  Sweat fell in pearls from his balding head.

From inside the house, all we could hear were Tony’s constant screaming and then…maniacal laughter.  Mr Sables paled at hearing that

‘Just go HOME!’   he bellowed as he slammed the door on us.

 We turned away, just as both the Doctor and the Sheriff arrived, who then told us to leave. So we both sat down on my parent’s porch looking sadly and fearfully towards  the Sable’s place.

Fifteen minutes later Nell arrived, also looking as pale as the two of us.  She too recalled her dream with the exact detail as I have already described.  It was clear that all three of us had had exactly the same dream. The only difference was Tony something, we knew not what had occurred in the night.  Something terrible.  It was then that I recalled the tin soldier that he picked up; and my concern

‘Perhaps that was the key.’  Cerci remarked hollowly.

I looked into her eyes and then Nell’s, and we held each other’s hand’s; as we were sharing, thinking that our combined effort might break down the wall each one of us saw.

In our minds eye we saw the wall. It was huge and made of black grey lined bricks, veined with grey.  We called out to Tony and as we did so, the bricks started to come down, one at a time.  I could feel a surge of energy within me, something that I nor Nell or Cerci  had felt before.  The wall began to crumble away,  faster and faster.  As the final bricks fell away, we saw it.

  It, for there was no other word to describe what we saw, glared at us.  It was clear that it wanted to harm us all of us.  I
had no doubt that it was very same thing I saw in my dream that morning. We all must have seen it. At one time it would have been human, but it had deformed into something truly terrifying to behold.  It grinned with savage cruelty and with triumph as it with an evil intent, kept a claw like hand on Tony’s head; as
Tony knelt at its feet.

‘little puppets little puppets… Imm coming forrr YOU!’ it screamed and reached out towards us. 

We each screamed and let go of each other’s hands. The wall returned.

‘Tony’s behind the wall. It has him it has him what are we going to do?’

  I was mute.  A dark coloured hospital van came up the road and stopped outside Tony’s house.  Two men in white shirts and
trousers alighted  from either door and walked into the house.  Minutes seem to pass, though it felt like a forever.  Then both the men in white came out carrying something  writhing between them. It was Tony. But a Tony that I simply didn’t recognise. His hair had turned from the curly brown to a bleached white, his skin pale and sunken, his eyes wild.  He was screaming at the top of his lungs as the two men put him into the van and then slammed the door.  The van drove away.  The street was silent again, and the morning sun had risen just a little bit higher.