Free Come Get Me by Michael Hunter

again lying in wet
sheets. This was starting to be a regular thing with him. Now that
his attention was finally somewhere else the dream he’d been having
was quickly fading. Unfortunately, thinking about the creature he
thought he saw a few seconds ago triggered part of it to come back.
He could vaguely remember something about a beast of some sort
chasing him through dark woods he’d never seen before. Every time
he thought he’d escaped it he found the thing right back in front
of him waiting with its mouth open like it was going to eat him.
Just thinking about it gave him the chills. By thinking about it he
realized something else. It was the same monster he’d dreamed of a
couple nights ago. Having the same type of dream a couple nights in
a row was really strange. At least he thought it was. Too bad there
was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t want to think about it
anymore. If only he could forget about the eyes, then he’d be
ok.
     
    He couldn’t understand why he might be having
dreams like these. He’d heard somewhere that what people dreamed
was a way for their minds to deal with things. What problems he
might be dealing with that would make dream of monsters was beyond
him though. He hardly ever dreamed of monsters. At least not since
he’d been a little kid. The last time he could honestly remember
doing it was back in high school.
     
    It was around the same time as…well that was
funny. He couldn’t remember. One second he’d been trying to
remember a childhood dream and the next thing he knew it was gone.
No more memory. He tried to grab hold of it again but it was too
elusive. He didn’t know if he should be glad or not. The need to
figure out what was going on still gnawed at him. It wasn’t like
him to have dreams like that.
     
    Putting dreams aside for later pondering and
tiring of lying on wet sheets, he finally rolled from the bed and
headed towards the bathroom. He’d planned on going back to town
today to see if he could find out what else had changed since his
departure. There was also the matter of finding Rob to deal with.
He really hoped he could find him today. He needed to find out more
about Tommy’s death and Rob was the only other person he could
ask.
     
    He thought sleeping on it might make him feel
better about the whole thing but it had done the exact opposite. He
just couldn’t let it go and accept that it was all just an
accident, especially after hearing what Maria had to say. She was
weird, but she did give him some more questions to ask when he
found Rob. He didn’t know exactly what he thought Rob might tell
him but it would still be more than what little he already
knew.
     
    On his way down the stairs he heard plates
clinking together and guessed his mother was already there making
breakfast. Looking at his watch he corrected himself. She was
probably making brunch. He didn’t realize he’d slept so late, that
definitely wasn’t like him. With his job back in the city he was
usually up early everyday so even when he was off on the weekends
he didn’t sleep in very late. Now it was almost noon if his watch
was to be believed. Dream or not he’d somehow manage to sleep
almost half the day away. Mom was at the stove cooking something as
he walked into the kitchen.
     
    “I thought you might want something to eat,"
she said glancing over her shoulder as he took a seat. “Ya know
something? You don’t look like you’re eating enough. You’re gone
all skin and bones since you were here last.”
     
    It was the same thing every time he came but
he was used to it by now so he didn’t even try protesting her
observations. It wouldn’t have done any good anyways. Jim had
always been skin and bones, his mother just hadn’t seemed to
notice. To her he was always too skinny and in need of more food.
For being a twenty nine-year-old man he didn’t think he was doing
half bad. He still had a full head of light brown hair, hadn’t
gained a lot of weight and