Sleepless (20 page)

I tilt my head. “Pardon?”

“You will be staying with us for the next hundred years, yes? I’ve already informed the elders and we are all so pleased.”

I bristle at the suggestion. “I’ve said nothing of the sort, Chimere. It is only because Mr. Colburn has neglected his duties that I am now more a Sandman. But I firmly intend to become a human when my time arrives.”

“Oh?” She sighs, as if she has just heard that rain is expected. “But your hundred-year anniversary is tomorrow. And without Griffin … Oh dear. I am afraid if he cannot assume his duties reliably before that time, we will have no choice but to keep you here.”

“No choice?” Ire begins to bubble in my chest as I take in all she is saying. “But … then we must find him. What
ever gave you the ridiculous idea that I wanted to remain here?”

“Well, Mr. Colburn indicated …”

“You believe him? After everything he’s done?” I snarl.

She recoils, eyes wide. “But after our discussion, after everything Mr. Harmon has told you, I thought your choice would be obvious….” Her eyes fill with such unexpected, unfamiliar rage, I’m forced to stand and back away. “Why do you always behave as though your life here is so torturous?”

“Harmon?” I watch as she seethes at me, her chest heaving underneath her pale blue corset. And that is when something dawns on me, something impossible. But obvious. “Originals study humans for years upon years, sizing up their personalities, before selecting one to be a Sandman. I often wondered why you chose Mr. Colburn as my student, as he is so stubborn, so unlike what you usually look for.”

She takes an uneven breath, looks away.

“And if you wanted to
help
me, why did you place me with Harmon, a man who would undoubtedly show me the worst side of human life possible?”

“Eron, please—”

“You
wanted
me to fail, didn’t you? You wanted me to stay here, forever.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she mumbles, but there is no resolve in her voice.

“Is it, now?”

She tilts her face up to the moonlight and for the first time I see that her eyes are wet. “You have always been my favorite. My pet. I can’t bear to imagine my existence without you.”

I walk to her and unfold my handkerchief for her. Her cheeks are a flattering shade of red as I wipe the tears from them. Her eyes are still pooling with water as she watches me, then puts my arm around her delicate shoulders. “My dear, you would still have seen me in my dreams,” I say.

“You’ll never touch me or look me in the eyes again,” she says, sniffing. “I suppose that’s why I can’t be too angry with Mr. Colburn. I understand when he says it’s just not the same.”

I know that my charges are waiting, but Chimere is my dearest friend, so she needs me, as well. I do nothing but hold her, there in the grass, for a long time, then watch her thread dandelions together to make a necklace. As I help her fasten and adjust it on her pale neckline, she reaches up to give me the smallest, saddest peck on my cheek.
I made a wish for you
, she said. Yet I know that that wish was not for my happiness, but for her own.

CHAPTER 27
Julia

I
pop another Dorito into my mouth and chew. Since Eron “disappeared,” I’ve eaten almost an entire bag. Salty foods are my comfort, and right now I need all the comfort I can get. Though instead of just feeling weirded out, I now feel weirded out and sick to my stomach, which isn’t an improvement.

My fingers are coated in bright orange cheese dust, so I lick them and snuggle under the blankets, hoping a Reese Wither spoon movie will keep my mind occupied. It isn’t working.

Eron, before my eyes,
disappeared
. For the second time. Like,
poof
.

So either I am having a mental breakdown, or some really messed-up stuff is going on.

Not only that, he gave me some lame-ass story about being a Sandman. About Griffin being one, too. Since then, I haven’t been
able to get that song
“Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream …”
out of my head. Isn’t that what Sandmen are supposed to do? Bring nice, happy dreams to people? Why is mine bringing me nightmares?

Well, if I’m having nightmares because Griffin is behind it, that
does
make sense. Everything’s a joke to Griffin. Wherever he is, he’s probably laughing, thinking, What other things can I add to her dreams to make her never want to sleep again?

I roll up the bag of chips and toss it onto the floor, then stare up at the corners of the room. Eron said he’s watching me.

Could anything possibly be creepier?

All right, I tell myself, straightening on the couch. If he is watching me, then he can hear me. And nobody is home, so if I talk to him out loud and this all turns out to be just some lame practical joke, I won’t get carted off to a mental hospital.

“Griffin,” I whisper to the air. “Do you hear me?”

Feeling more comfortable, I speak more loudly. “Griffin. You need to cut out whatever you are doing, okay? I care about you, but you’re really freaking me out. Okay? So just stop it. Go toward the light.”

“Hon?”

I turn to see my mom standing in the door of the living room with a bag of groceries. When did she become a ninja?

“Oh, hi, Mom,” I say. “Um, just practicing a play.”

I can tell by her face that she doesn’t believe me, but I don’t think she wants to know what I’m up to, either. She drops the bag on the kitchen table and starts to unpack it. “I bought more Doritos.”

“Thanks,” I say. If it is possible to OD on Doritos, I am almost there.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” she asks. “You have your driver’s test bright and early tomorrow.”

“Um …” It’s after eleven but all I can think of is Eron’s warning. If I see Griffin in my dreams, I need to wake myself up. What if he does come? What if I can’t wake up? What will he do? He was my boyfriend, not some crazed lunatic. Although Bret is also one of my best friends—at least, I think he is. I remember Eron’s words to me:
People you know, even very well, can surprise you
.

Sigh. I’d rather just
not
sleep and save myself from wetting the bed tonight.

But then I yawn.

And I know that will never work.

CHAPTER 28
Eron

B
oth Vicki and Evangeline have been asleep for many hours when Julia trudges upstairs, rubbing her eyes. I can sense her trepidation as she pulls back her covers and slips into the bed. I hope that I can make her slumber a comfortable one.

As I’m about to pass into her room, a heavy hand falls on my shoulder, pulling me backward. I lose my balance and slip from the tree, scraping my arms and cheek on branches before landing with a dull thud on the dewy grass. “Mr. Colburn!” I hiss in the darkness.

“Yeah?” he says, dangling above me on a branch.

“What have you been up to?” I shout, standing and brushing off my pants.

He snorts. “I had the same question for you. But I know. Julia’s dreams filled me in.” He jumps down and stands toe to toe with me. We glare at each other murderously. “She is
mine
.”

I turn back toward her window. “You’re crazy.”

“You are not going in there!” he whispers fiercely. “If you so much as look at her again, I’ll kill you.”

I laugh. “I’m still a Sandman, thanks to you. You can no more end my life than I can end yours.”

He stands there, shaking with anger. “You said you would protect her. Not steal her from me.”

“She can’t be stolen from you. She’s not yours.”

“She
is
! She just doesn’t know I’m still here. But when she does—”

“She already knows. I told her.”

His eyes narrow. “What else did you tell her? What lies have you been spreading about me?”

“You can’t change who you are, not now. Accept who you are, Mr. Colburn.”

“Can’t do that, old man,” he sighs.

And with that, he disappears through Julia’s window.

I’m not leaving her. I climb the tree and pass quietly into the room. He’s standing over her, his hands spread. “Get away,” he whispers as I move closer.

Julia winces and rolls over. I stand against the wall, arms crossed. “I’m not leaving.”

Suddenly, Mr. Colburn’s image fades into the darkness. I look at my hands. Of course. He has come back to his duties, and now I am human. Human and … inside Julia’s home. I reach for the window and jam my knuckles against it. I’m trapped here. Now I need to sneak down the stairs and out the front door undetected, or else risk frightening the life out of Julia. I know that wherever he is, Mr. Colburn is probably laughing at me. He is in control now. With Julia asleep, I am powerless.

I give the air where I know Mr. Colburn is standing a stern look, then creep toward the door. As I open it, it creaks. Julia sits up in bed immediately. “Eron?” she says, rubbing her eyes.

I whisper, “I can explain—”

“I can’t get Griffin out of my head. He won’t leave me alone.”

“It’s okay, shhh,” I say, as soothingly as possible from across the room. With Mr. Colburn there, I have to fight the urge to go to her, to hold her, as fierce as it may be.

She pulls the covers up to her chin. “I don’t care how you got here. I’m glad.”

I move closer and see that she’s trembling. I put my finger to my lips.
He’s here
, I mouth.

Her eyes scan the room, narrowing.
Now?
she mouths back to me. I nod. Her angry voice pierces the silence. “Stop, Griffin. I’m serious.
Please
. You know I care about you. But we need to move on.”

A picture frame, the one holding a photo of Griffin on Julia’s bedside table, topples over. She turns to it, then to me, her face questioning. I imagine Mr. Colburn’s anger; I almost
feel
the heat as he seethes in his invisibility. He will not be happy about this, not at all. I reach over to return the picture to its upright position, and that’s when she reaches up and pulls me to the bed.

“But Griffin …,” I caution her.

“He’s always been stubborn. Maybe he needs to
see
I’ve moved on before he’ll believe it,” she whispers tentatively.

She doesn’t look away. She brings my hand to her cheek and I feel the rough imprint of her scars. “You know how I got these, don’t you?”

I nod.

“You probably know more than I do. When I was in the trailer, when I was seven, I was asleep the whole time….” She blinks. “Because of you?”

“Yes.”

“I finally remember you being there, in my dreams. You kept me company the whole time. That’s why I was never afraid. And you put that horrible man to sleep, so that I could escape?”

“Yes,” I say, embarrassed. I try to right myself, but she doesn’t let go. Her soft lips touch mine. I realize that this is no accident. This is what she wants.

When she pulls away, I lie there, stunned, before scrambling to my feet. Finally experiencing something he’s waited over a hundred years for will do that to a person.

“Did he see that?” she asks me.

“I—I—” I stammer. Perhaps I should be worried that Mr. Colburn will take something to the back of my head, but I am too concerned with trying to steady my weak knees. She
kissed
me. “I am certain he did.”

“You have no right to do this to me, Griffin,” she yells, her voice more authoritative than I’ve ever known her to be.

I can still taste her, a flavor like mint and strawberries. Her lips were so soft; I never knew it possible to have lips that soft. Mine are probably sandpaper in comparison. Yet I can’t resist moving closer to her, wanting to try again. Obviously Harmon has never experienced this, or he’d never wish to be a Sandman again. I move to the edge of her bed, and she puts her hand over mine. She sinks under the covers and pulls my body to her, and I’m so lost in the swell of my own heartbeat
and the heat from her skin that I can do nothing but follow, her willing slave.

“Julia?”

I jump. In the darkness is Mrs. Devine, clad in a pale yellow nightshirt that matches her moonlit complexion.

“Mom?” Julia mumbles.

“What are you doing in here?” she barks, jabbing her finger at me. Then she turns to Julia. “Oh, you are in
so much trouble
, young lady.”

I stand there, straight as an arrow. I can just hear Mama groaning her disapproval. In my time, a mother would have had every right to beat a boy senseless over something like this. And I would have applauded her. I bow my head in respect, then follow her out the bedroom door. She seethes at me, and as I’m descending the staircase, I hear her exchanging heated words with her daughter.

Outside, I am trembling in the midnight air. I’m not sure where to go; I don’t want to leave her. After a moment, I see Julia watching me from the window. Her cheeks are still red from the lashing she took from her mother. She leans over and whispers, “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Julia, I’m concerned … about Griffin.” My teeth chatter as I speak, but it’s more from awe than from fear.

“Why? He was my boyfriend. He wouldn’t hurt me….” Her voice trails off. I know what is finally dawning on her.
People you know, even very well, can surprise you
.

“Julia, don’t sleep. You must do everything you can not to.”

She yawns. “I’m so beat. And I have my driver’s test tomorrow.”

“As long as I am human, Griffin is in charge of putting you to sleep. And I have no idea what he might do.”

“What do you mean? How can I …” She yawns again.

I wrap my fingers around a low branch of the familiar tree outside her home. When I reach her window, I climb inside, realizing that I’ve never before worked to keep someone
awake
. But I suppose that these days, I am used to new experiences.

Julia leans against her headboard, pulls her knees up to her chest, and snorts. “I can’t believe this. So, like, all this time, we’ve all had Sandmen putting us to sleep? And we can’t sleep without them?”

“Yes.”

“Are they always as … um, attractive as you are?”