Ernst jumped up in bed when I sat up with a jolt. We glanced at each other in the dark, his shiny black eyes looking like onyx in the darkness of night. I reached over and glanced at my cell phone. It was just after two o’clock in the morning. I had been dreaming about the eerie green light yet again and then something had jolted me awake. It had been a sound, I was pretty sure, but I couldn’t remember what it was for the life of me.
Something in the night had been loud enough to disturb me from my sleep and had also rattled Ernst. I knew he was rattled because of his stance but also due to the fact that he hadn’t scuttled off into the darkness to wherever it was that he scuttled off to when I had woken up in the past. Of course, now that I knew of his existence, we had talked to each other, it was unlikely that he would avoid me much anymore.
“Did you hear something, Ernst?” I asked, peering over to look at him, alert at the end of the bed.
“Aye.” He nodded.
“What was it?”
“Dunno, sir.” He whispered. “Someone hollerin’ out, I think.”
“Oma…?”
He shrugged his tiny shoulders in the dark. Together, we stayed there in bed together, listening for the sound of whatever it had been that had shaken us from our slumber. I cautiously slid my legs over the side of the bed as Ernst listened and watched me, as though concerned for me.
“Careful, sir.” He whispered.
“I’m sure it’s fine.” I tried to smile. “I don’t hear anything now.”
Ernst gave the smallest of nods as I stood from the bed. I stood there at the bedside, listening for any noise, watching for any movement. Of course, in the dark, how would I know if anything was moving? Ernst was quiet as a church mouse and stood still as a statue as his pointy ears stayed at alert, listening for any sound throughout the house.
Oma wasn’t screaming out for me and the house seemed as quiet and still as it did on any other deep night at two in the morning. My grandmother was probably still tucked tightly into bed, sleeping soundly. Maybe Lena or another one of the Kobolds asleep at her feet or side. Why had I been dreaming about the green light again? I had promised Oma I would stay away from the cellar, that I wouldn’t search out whatever it was drawing me there.
That was another thing I had thought about while we were doing dishes after dinner. How had she known about my dreams about the cellar? Or had I been dreaming when I had gone down to the cellar? Had I been sleepwalking and she had caught me doing it? I shivered there in the bedroom in the dark as I stood, listening for sounds. Ernst tiptoed over to the side of the bed and tapped me on the elbow with one of his small, bony fingers.
I nearly jumped out of my skin, then laughed nervously. Ernst gave me an apologetic smile.
“Did you hear something?” I looked down into those black eyes in the dark.
“No, sir.” He shook his head. “I dunno what woke us, sir.”
I nodded down at him.
“Maybe I said something in my sleep?” I suggested.
He shrugged, appearing to be less worried than before.
“Are you okay?”
He beamed up at me. Obviously, he was fine. And me asking about his well-being made him happy.
“Yes, sir.”
I smiled down at him.
But then I heard it again. Well, I would have said I heard whatever it was again because what I heard was familiar. I hadn’t known what noise had shaken us from our sleep, but the sound that came to me didn’t sound foreign but like something I had just heard recently. Or, maybe that wasn’t right. It just seemed like I should know the sound. Ernst’s ears pricked up and his hand went to mine. His tiny hand managed to wrap around two of my fingers frantically as his head turned towards the window.
“What was that?” I asked.
Ernst nodded towards the window. I looked down at him. His hand stayed wrapped around my fingers. The child-like gesture would have made me smile if it weren’t for the fact that I was concerned. Something was going on that wasn’t right, even if I didn’t know what it was. I slowly slid my fingers out of Ernst’s grasp as I stepped towards the window. Ernst made concerned noises as I moved away from the bed towards the drapes. Turning my head slightly, I gave him a reassuring smile.
When I approached the window, I reached out cautiously and grabbed ahold of the drape, pulling it to the side so that I could peer out. Ernst was making concerned noises from behind me as I leaned forward and looked out into the backyard. My eyes grew wide as I looked down and saw a tall, hooded figure in the middle of Oma’s still unplanted garden, hands raised aloft, his or her back turned to me. Several, shorter figures in hoods stood around the figure in a circle, their arms raised towards the sky as well.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
“What is it, sir?” Ernst whisper-hissed behind me.
“There are people down there,” I said lowly. “They’re…I don’t know what they’re doing.”
I let go of the drape and stomped over to the bedside table, quickly flipping on the lamp. Ernst shut his eyes against the sudden light as I shoved my feet into my slippers.
“What are ya’ doing, sir?” Ernst asked frantically when his eyes opened incrementally.
“I’m going down there and finding out what the fuck is going on is what I’m doing,” I grumbled as I went over to the bathroom door and grabbed my robe. “I’m sick of this shit.”
“No, sir. No.” Ernst leaped down from the bed and landed on the floor with a soft ‘thump’. “Ya’ shouldn’t go out there. Ya’ should stay here. It’s safe inside of the house.”
“Ernst.” I pulled my hand back as he reached for it. “I’m going out there and finding out once and for all what is going on here. You just crawl back up onto the bed and go back to sleep. I’ll be back once I talk to those assholes out there.”
My mind raced back to the night I had had dinner and wine at Lucas’ house the first time. I had come home, quite a bit drunk, and seen those figures in the garden before. At the time, I brushed it all off as being under the influence of alcohol. Now, I wasn’t dreaming, drunk, or under the influence of anything else. This was real and I was going to get to the bottom of it.
“Sir.” Ernst raced along beside me as I walked to the bedroom door. “Don’t. Please.”
I sighed and squatted down so that my eyes were close to level with Ernst’s.
“Look,” I said, “just get back up into the bed, okay? Try to sleep. I won’t be gone long. I’ll be okay, Ernst. Don’t worry. When I come back, we’ll both go back to sleep and forget all about this.”
Ernst chewed at his lip, his eyes darting around.
“I promise.” I laid my hand on his shoulder.
My hand was enormous in comparison to his bony shoulder.
“Okay, sir.” He gave a decisive nod. “But if ya’re not back in ten minutes, I will wake up the madam.”
“Fair enough.” I tried to smile confidently. “But give me ten full minutes, okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
I gave him another pat on the shoulder and exited the bedroom. As I gently shut the door, I gave him a wink. Ernst still looked as though he had eaten something funny and it had settled in his stomach. Once the door was shut, I crept down the dark hallway and tiptoed down the stairs, doing my best to be as quiet as possible. I walked quietly through the living room, through the kitchen, and to the back door. Taking a deep breath, I unlatched the door and grabbed the knob. What would happen if I went out into the garden and demanded these people tell me what the fuck they were doing? Were they some cult or coven performing some ritual?
When I threw the door wide, though, I found the backyard dark, quiet, and absolutely empty. The fenced in garden area was empty and there was absolutely no sign of anyone having been inside the fence. Everything was deathly quiet and still. My throat felt like a multitude of lumps needed to be swallowed down. My eyes scanned the yard, looking for signs of movement or absolutely anything that was out of place. Everything was as it always was. Still, dark, quiet, peaceful.
I was at the point of convincing myself to close and latch the door once again when my eyes affixed on the woods just beyond the yard. Shimmering, white and ghost-like, I saw a figure. I squinted and looked towards the sight, immediately recognizing it as the teen-Rob I had pulled out of the lake nights before. I swallowed hard as my eyes adjusted and I took in the figure peeking playfully from around one of the trees at the edge of the woods.
As if beckoning to me, teen-Rob’s arm came up and its hand waved me towards it.
Close the fucking door, Rob.
Close the door.
Close the door.
Latch it. Go back to bed. Forget you saw this.
I found myself going down the back steps and stepping into the yard below. The figure continued to beckon to me as I glided across the soggy backyard, water seeping into my slippers as I was propelled by some unknown forced towards the woods. I knew that if I wanted, I could force myself to go back to the house, lock the door, go upstairs, and crawl back into bed. But something inside of me told me that there was no way out but through.
When I got within a few yards of the tree that my teenage self had stood behind, the ghost-like teen-Rob ducked behind it with an audible chuckle. I stopped in my tracks, suddenly concerned that I was in danger. However, I allowed myself the space of a few breaths to collect myself and then began walking towards the woods again. One more foot. Then two. Then three. When I was nearly close enough to reach out and touch the tree, my eyes grew wide as ghost-like teen-Rob appeared from behind the tree. He smiled at me for a split second…and then he was flying at me.
Teenage ghost-Rob flew into me and I was flung backward, falling wetly onto the soggy lawn behind me. My back hit the soggy ground and my head thumped softly against the muddy earth. The breath was knocked out of me as I hit the ground so that I ended up lying there, trying to collect myself and my thoughts as I gazed up at the clear, starry, early-spring sky above. My mind went blank and my vision hazed over. For a split second, I wondered if I was about to feel myself lose consciousness, blackout, only to wake in the yard with the sun beating down on me, Oma standing over me cursing and raving.
Then I felt myself inhale sharply. A gasp escaped my mouth as my eyes welled with fat tears and I came back to myself.
I remembered everything.