Don't Stay Up Late (4 page)

I tugged my sneakers on without lacing them. And found my jean jacket in my closet. As I pulled it over my shoulders, I heard the dog howl again. A long, mournful sound.

“Morty. I'm coming, Morty.”

I crept downstairs. The steps creaked beneath my feet. The house was dark. It smelled of popcorn, the late-night snack Mom and I shared while watching a dumb comedy movie on TV.

Moving silently, I made my way out the back door, across the dew-wet back lawn, and into the woods that stretched behind our house.

The dog howled again. Close by. Very close.

My heart started to pound.

A brilliant full moon shone down through the trees. The sky was so clear tonight. Above the spring-bare tree limbs I could see the stars high above me.

The moonlight … the starlight … made the whole world glow like silver. Unreal.

The cool air made my skin tingle. I pulled the jean jacket tighter. I listened hard. “Morty, where are you? Morty—I'm coming.”

Another howl. And then a tall shadow moved between the silvery trees. A shadow. A figure. Running fast.

It burst into view, and I tried to scream.

I was staring at some kind of
creature
.

I grabbed a tree trunk and wrapped my arms around it, as if to hold myself up. I stared into the silvery light and watched the
thing
trot through the trees.

He stood on two legs and ran upright, like a human. But he was bare-chested, and even in this strange light, I could see that his body was weird, huge, long-fingered hands at the end of skinny arms, a nearly bald head, red glowing eyes. He stopped for a moment in a pool of light. And I saw his face … distorted … features twisted.… Not a human face.

His ears stuck straight up, like pig's ears. A long animal snout poked from between his cheeks. His snout hung open. I could see two rows of long, fanglike teeth.

And suddenly, with my arms wrapped tightly around the cold, rough tree trunk, I knew I was dreaming again. Another nightmare. You know how when you are asleep and you are totally aware that you are in a dream.

Wake up. Wake up, Lisa.

Why couldn't I wake myself from this one?

The creature made ugly growling sounds. He was a blur as he moved toward me. And then he was only a shadow again, a shadow with glowing ruby eyes. He seemed to melt into the darkness.

Was he really there at all?

Wake up, Lisa. Hurry. Wake up from this nightmare.

But there was no escape this time. I heard a groan. And then the shadow swept over me, grabbed me, shook me hard, grunting my name.

 

9.

“Let me go!” I shrieked. My eyes were shut tight. “Get
off
me!”

“Lisa, what are you doing out here?”

I opened my eyes to see my mother, hair wild about her face, a raincoat pulled over her nightshirt. Her eyes were wide with fright. They reflected the eerie light from the moon. Her chin trembled. She was shivering.

“What are you doing out here? Why are you in the woods in the middle of the night? I was frantic. I searched everywhere for you.”

I leaned forward and forced her to hug me. I just stood there leaning into her, wrapped up in her, my head pressed against the front of her coat.

“Lisa? Can you talk? Are you okay?” Her voice trembled on the night air.

I stood up. Her warmth lingered on my skin. “I thought … I thought I was dreaming. I saw a creature. An ugly half-human creature that ran into the shadows, Mom. I saw it and I knew I had to be dreaming.”

Mom had tears in her eyes. They glistened in the moonlight like twin pearls. “But you're not dreaming, Lisa. Look where you are. You're in the woods.”

I gazed around. The cool night air made me shiver. I hugged myself to stop my shakes. “Was I
sleepwalking
?”

Mom hesitated. “I guess you were.”

“Something new,” I said, rolling my eyes. “The nightmares weren't bad enough. Now I have to go roaming around like a lunatic in the woods.” I sighed. “At least I was sane enough to put on clothes. I'm not walking around out here totally naked. That's a good sign, right?”

I was trying to get a smile from my mom. I didn't like to see tears in her eyes. She wasn't an emotional person. She wasn't supposed to cry.

She didn't smile and she didn't answer my question. Without another word, I took her arm and we began to walk to the house. After a few steps, I stopped.

She stumbled but caught her balance. “Lisa? What's wrong?”

“What about the creature?” I asked. “Was he real, too?”

“Of course not,” she said softly.

“But what does that mean? That I was sleepwalking and having a nightmare at the same time?” I sighed. “Will I always be this crazy, Mom?”

“You're not crazy.” Her voice was a whisper. “Don't say that.”

“Well, will I ever be normal again? Will I?”

She stepped into shadows. I couldn't see her face. I couldn't hear her whispered reply. My question lingered in the air like a forgotten whisper.

*   *   *

The next morning I slept in and woke up refreshed. I thought about the day. I remembered I had an appointment with Dr. Shein. Before that, I wanted to walk over to Nate's house and apologize for how badly I treated him the day before.

Of course, Mom thought it might be too much for me. “Why don't you invite him over here?”

“Mom,” I said, “I can walk three blocks in broad daylight. Seriously. You have to let me try to do normal things. It's the only way I'll ever return to a normal life.”

I didn't shout and I didn't plead. I kept my voice low and steady, and I think my argument won her over.

“Maybe you're right. Walk to Nate's. Go ahead. Get out of the house for a couple of hours. I don't want to hold you back. Let's see how you do.”

A couple of hours? She was treating me like a mental patient. But so what? I got my way. I texted Nate and told him I was coming over.

It was a warm spring afternoon. I pulled a blue, long-sleeved top over a pair of denim shorts. “You need a jacket,” Mom called from the kitchen.

“No, I don't,” I shouted.

“Don't forget your appointment with Dr. Shein,” she yelled.

“I won't forget.” I stepped outside, squinting into the sunlight, and took a deep breath. The air smelled so fresh and sweet.

Across the street, the dogwood trees in the Millers' front yard were just beginning to show their white blossoms. Two little boys in their driveway were tossing a Nerf baseball back and forth. They waved to me as I walked to the sidewalk.

Our front lawn needed to be mowed. It was overgrown with weeds, and the brown fall leaves hadn't been raked. Dad had always taken care of the lawn. Mom probably hadn't given it a thought.

I crossed Pines Road. An SUV filled with kids in soccer uniforms rumbled past. The houses on this block were big, with wide sloping lawns. I saw two robins fighting over a fat brown earthworm, a real tug-of-war.

A beautiful spring day and I was enjoying my walk, feeling like a human again, feeling like I could face the world and move on. Just move on.

The walk was refreshing and enjoyable—until I arrived at Nate's house. And then I was heaved back … back into a world of horror.

 

10.

Nate lives in a long, ranch-style house, dark redwood with purple shutters beside the windows. The purple shutters were his dad's idea. His dad is kind of an old-style hippie. He tries to be very cool. He sells life insurance, but he's also a jazz musician and a painter.

Nate's mom is tall and thin and very pretty in an old-fashioned TV sitcom way. She likes to chatter and gossip. She is the nicest person in the world. Nate has a younger brother, Tim, who looks like a Nate clone, but I don't know him very well.

Actually, the whole family could be clones. They are all lanky and tall with straight black hair and dark eyes.

I walked up Nate's driveway. His dad's red Prius was parked at the top of the driveway. The sun was reflected in their living room window making it glow like gold. I turned toward the front stoop but stopped when I heard voices. From the backyard?

Yes. I made my way around the side of the garage, stepping over a coiled green garden hose. I smelled something sweet from the open kitchen window. Mrs. Goodman is an awesome baker.

Nate's backyard is fenced in by tall, straight evergreen shrubs. I saw a row of shrubs, gleaming in the sunlight. And then I heard a scream.

I stepped past the garage onto the back lawn. And cried out as I saw a hideous green creature. A demon. From out of my nightmares. Only this one was real, as real as the grass and the blue sky and the gray squirrel that leaped out of its way and darted from the yard.

The green creature dove out of the shadows of the tall shrubs and scrambled across the yard. I saw Saralynn with her back turned.

No time to warn her. I tried to scream but I couldn't make a sound.

No time. No time.

The creature looked like something out of a horror movie with huge, three-fingered hands, a round green head with rows of long pointed teeth hanging from its mouth, a slender green body, naked, totally naked.

A few feet from Saralynn, it turned. It
saw
me! It spun away from her and came galloping at me, grunting, its huge bare feet thundering over the grass.

Before I could move, it dove forward—and grabbed me around the waist.

I opened my mouth and uttered a shrill scream.

 

11.

“You idiot!” I cried. “You stupid idiot!”

Nate laughed and slid the green creature mask off his head. His dark hair was damp and matted across his forehead. “Lisa? Did I scare you?”

I pumped both fists against his green rubber chest. “How could you
do
that to me? Did you think that was
funny
?”

“Oops. Sorry,” he said, his smile fading. “I just wasn't thinking. I'm sorry.”

“You ruined the whole scene,” I heard a voice behind me say. I turned and saw Isaac with a little camcorder in his hand. “We'll have to start again.”

“Too bad,” I said. “I can't believe you would do that to me, Nate. Especially after … after…”

He tried to slide his green arm around my shoulders but I backed away. “I just got carried away,” he said. “Guess I
like
being a demon too much.”

“We're sorry,” Saralynn said, her eyes on Nate. “It's just that we've been working for days on my horror video.”

“Do you like the demon costume?” Nate said, thumping the green chest with one fist. “It was actually used in an old Universal horror film back in the fifties. It's from my costume collection.”

“Hey, Nate, you should do it
without
the mask,” Isaac said. “Your face is a lot scarier.”

Saralynn put an arm around my waist. “Lisa, forgive us. Sometimes Nate is an idiot.”

“You don't understand,” I said. “These days, I'm scared of my own reflection. Last night I saw a creature running through the woods. And now—now when I saw you in your costume coming at me…” My voice trailed off.

Saralynn kept her arm around my waist. “We know you've been having a tough time.”

I took a deep breath and forced myself to stop trembling. “I'm going to stop being ridiculous,” I said. “I promise. I'm going to be myself again. You'll see.”

“Maybe we should go inside,” Nate said.

“We need to shoot the rest at night,” Isaac said. “It's too nice outside to be scary.”

I started to follow them to the house. I felt much better. They really were good friends. Other kids might have laughed or made jokes or tried to embarrass me for seeing a demon in the backyard. But they tried to assure me that I wasn't crazy.

Nate stepped up beside me as we made our way along the side of the garage. “I have a new horror film on DVD,” he said. “
My Big Fat Blood-Soaked Wedding.
Have you seen it?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“I heard it's a riot,” Isaac said.

“Let's watch it,” Saralynn said. “Nate, what have you got for snacks?”

I stopped at the kitchen door. Through the window, I could see Nate's mom taking something out of the oven. The smell of chocolate floated over the backyard. “I can't stay,” I said.

“Sorry,” Nate said, squeezing my hand. “A horror film is probably a bad idea. I didn't think.”

“It's not that,” I said. “I have a doctor appointment. I just came over to apologize. You know. For yesterday when you came over. I was a beast. I'm really sorry. I—”

“Has the doctor been helpful?” Saralynn asked.

“She's wonderful,” I said. “She's so supportive. She makes me feel I really can get over this.”

“That's so nice you have someone good to talk to,” Saralynn said.

Behind her, Isaac was waving frantically, trying to get my attention. I turned to him. “What's up?”

“Hey, I have a great idea,” he said. “Why don't you come hear my band at the Hothouse Friday night? We totally suck, but maybe it will take your mind off everything.”

“Yeah. Maybe,” I said.

But I realized I didn't want to do that. Since the accident, I'd only seen my three friends. I hadn't seen anyone else from school.

And if I went to hear Isaac's band, all these people would be feeling sorry for me, and staring at me, and giving me sympathetic looks, and offering me condolences and saying how sorry they were.

I knew they'd all mean well. But I couldn't take it. I knew all that attention and all that sympathy would freak me out.

“So you'll come?” Isaac said.

“Well … I'll ask Dr. Shein if it's a good idea,” I said.

Nate tugged at the neck of his green rubber costume. “I've got to get out of this thing,” he groaned. “It's two hundred degrees in here.”