Once the kitchen was tidied, I headed upstairs to shower before bed. It’d been a long day going through the accounts with a fine-tooth comb, and I was ready to sleep. Almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep.
I woke with a start, a strange feeling coursing through methatI was being watched. Bolting upright, I flicked the bedside lamp on, shrieking like a terrified girl and pulling the covers over me at finding the dark figure of a man standing in the shadows.
My heart raced as I hid under the covers like a coward, and I took several deep breaths, willing myself to calm. It wasjusta dream; it had to be. Why would a man be standing in my room? Surely, I would have heard if someone had broken into the house, right?
Feeling stupid, I lowered the covers, and my heart instantly froze in my chest at seeing the man still standing there. Only now, he had moved into the light filtering in from the moon, and he stared at me with a familiar grin.
“Jake?”My brows furrowed as I called the name of my former business partner, disbelief coating my voice.
It looked like him; he still wore the hospital gown he’d died in, and his face was pale and gaunt, the same as it was the night I sat with him in the hospice as he took his last, wheezing breath. I’d been his only visitor for the last few weeks of his life; like me, Jake had no family or friends.
We only had each other, andthenhe left me.
There was a difference with the man standing in front of me, though. A startlingly obvious one. Wrapped around him were thick metal chains, his body sagging from their weight. He stepped further into my room, the chains clanging as he moved.
“Good to see you, Benny Boy,”Jake grinned, knowing how much I hated him calling methat.“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
His deep, grating voice boomed around the room as he laughed at his own joke. He often was the only one laughing at his jokes; I rarely found them funny, mainly because they were aimed at my expense.
I squeezed my eyes shut, hopingthatwhen I opened them, I would be alone in my room, and this wasjusta dream. Although it didn’t feel like a dream, it felt too real, too vivid. The shuffling of chains made my eyes fly open, and I flinched at seeingthatJake had moved closer.
“This is a dream,”I muttered, unable to pull my horrified gaze from him.
Jake smirked.“A dream or reality. It matters not. I’m still here.”
“Why are you here?”I snarled, fear flowing through my veins.
He lifted a shoulder, shrugging.“To give you a message.”He clicked his fingers, the sound echoing around the otherwise silent room.“No. A warning. I’m here to warn you.”
His eyes darkened before he sat on the bed by my feet. The mattress dipped with his weight, adding to my worrythatthis wasn’t a dream. If it were, would I have noticed a detail likethat?
“A…A warning?”I stuttered, my heart once again thundering like a speeding train.“What sort of a warning?”
Jake lifted the chains drooping around his neck, rattling them.“You see these chains? They were forged in my life. For every shitty thing I did,we did,another chink was added to them. I’ll carry these around with me for the rest of eternity, I’ll never be free of them.”He moved closer, and I found myself holding my breath.“There’s a set waiting for you, too, Benny Boy. And it grows thicker and longer with every passing day.”
I shook my head, his words burrowing into the marrow of my bones.“This is bullshit. I’m dreaming. This is a dream.”
I slammed the palms of my hands into my eyes, pressing hard to block out the vision before me. Cold fingers wrapped around my wrist, turning my blood to ice. Frozen in pure terror, I didn’t resist when my hands were pulled away from my eyes, and I met Jake’s lifeless gaze.
“This isn’t a dream. I told you, it’s a warning. It’s too late for me; these chains will be with me forever, but you have time, Ben. You can change your path, but this is your only shot. You have one chance to rid yourself of the chainsthatawait you.”The plea in his voice was undeniable, and I didn’t dare blink or breathe as he continued talking.“Heed my warning, Ben. You’re reaching a fork in the path of your life, but it’s up to you which path you take into your future. The time to change is now. Your end will come sooner than you think if you don’t change your ways.”
Nausea swam in my stomach, the chicken I’d eaten earlier threatening to come back up when the sallow skin under his eyes and over his nose began to rot away. I swallowed it down, forcing myself to say the words repeating in my head.“I don’t know how to change… I am who I am.”
He shook his head.“No. You are what your past made you, but your future doesn’t have to be defined by it. It won’t come easy, though. Change is hard, and to change, you have to accept your past. That’s why I’m going to help.”
I blinked several times when Jake’s body turned transparent, allowing me to see my bedroom straight through his torso. I reached for him, not wanting him to go, and needing him to explain more.“How? How can you help?”
My hand fell to the bed as he faded away, and the last words he spoke were barely audible.“There’ll be signs, Benny Boy. Look out for the signs.”
My body sagged as he completely disappeared, but I wasn’t sure if it was in reliefthatthe encounter was over, or if it was in resignationthatall my questions remained unanswered.
It took several long minutes for my heart to return to its normal pace and for the tremor in my hands to subside. I didn’t know how long I sat staring into thin air, but eventually, sleep claimed me once more.
Bright sun streaming into my bedroom woke me before my alarm. I sat up, rubbing my eyes as the dream rushed back to me with every vivid detail replaying. I shook my head, telling myself it wasjusta dream until I realized two things: the bedside light was still on, and there was a distant sound of rattling chains echoing around the room.
Tristan
“Ijustdon’t think it’s fair,”Ivy whined as she shoveled a spoonful of her cereal into her mouth, spilling a drop of milk down her chin.“I don’t see how you get thewholeof December off, and we still have to go to school.”
