Wildest Dreams

f ou r te e n

Not until I was in front of Nancy's house did I slowed down to a stop. I gazed up at her house and the curiosity to know if she was okay after her scare in school arose. I knocked on the door and her mother answered after a few seconds.

"Maple," Marge greeted with a surprised smile. "How are you? We haven't seen each other in a while, haven't we?"

"Oh, yes, it's been quite a while." I forced a smile, still catching my breath in a subtle way.

Marge's smile was uneven, eyes drooping, and she leaned on the door frame as she spoke to me. Even though she was nice and friendly, alcohol and alcoholism never left her system.

"Is Nancy in? I saw her at school but I heard she left early. Is she okay?" I glanced past her, searching at the dim interior of the house.

"She just came home not long after you arrived. She's in her room, why don't you come in?" She proceeded to call Nancy while I just went ahead up the stairs as if I've been most familiar with the house. Nancy was already waiting for me upstairs. The worried look etched on her face was unfamiliar to me.

"Maple, I'm so glad you're here. I really need to talk to you." Nancy pulled me to her room. I immediately noticed the bandage around her arm. Once we entered the room, she closed the door behind me and went to peek at the curtains.

"I guess the thing that happened to your arm is connected to the rumors in school?" I observed, standing at the edge of her bed.

"Oh god, people have been talking about it already?" Nancy grimaced and sat on her bed.

"Believe me, the rumors aren't the weirdest part of the day. Plus, you're not the only one being talked about." I pointed at my face and her eyes widened in surprise.

She shot up on her feet to inspect my bandage over the wound. "Don't tell me you... you had a dream too."

I only nodded and her jaw dropped in shock. Nancy went back to sit again, her hands covering her mouth. "About—"

"About the creepy guy with the finger knives, yes." I sat beside her, the mattress sinking with the weight. "He got to me, hence the cut, but I was lucky I woke up."

"He cornered me too, so I had to burn myself on the steam pipe beside me. That's what happened to my arm," she explained.

"I'm starting to get scared that he's getting close to our reality. I have no plans of seeing him anytime soon, nor getting murdered in cold-blood."

"Me too, but we don't know how to stop him." She ran her hands through her thick hair in frustration. She sat up, taking a deep breath. "I spoke to Rod in jail before I went home, he said he also had dreams like ours, exactly the same one."

I cursed under my breath and started pacing. "That's not good. That's a bad sign, Nancy. There's four of us—one is dead, two almost died, and Rod... he's in grave danger and he's alone in a cell."

"I thought of that too, but we can't just break him out. It's literally the police station, not detention."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, dropping my hands defenseless. I stopped my own pacing and said, "The best thing we can do right now is hope his nightmare doesn't become real."

I turned away and faced the window, peeking through the open curtains. My eyes gazed at Glen's room, shadowy with the curtains drawn closed.

"What about Glen? D-did he say anything about his dreams?" I turned to Nancy again. She would know him better than me.

"He said he doesn't dream."

I scoffed. "I don't believe that."

"Of course, you don't." A smile appeared on Nancy's lips but disappeared within a blink.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me." Nancy shrugged with a light chuckle.

I returned the grin and sat beside her on the bed. Nancy rested her head on my shoulder.

"It's been a tough day, Maple, and a rough night," she muttered under her breath. "I'm really glad you're here, I could always use a talk."

"It's no problem, Nan. You can talk to me anytime."

Our comfortable silence was cut short when Nancy's mom called us from the kitchen. "Nancy! Maple! Dinner's ready!"

"Okay Mom! Wanna eat with us?" Nancy asked.

"I, uh... I didn't tell my grandparents—"

"Yeah, yeah. I should've expected that, again."

I grinned. "I'll give them a call anyway, d'you mind?" I pointed at her blue phone at her table.

"No, go ahead." Nancy patted my shoulder then left the room, going downstairs.

I dialed my house's landline. It was answered after two tries, each ringing five times. My grandma's voice was on the other side.

"Hey Grandma. I'm at a friend's house and I might come home late," I told her.

"No, go straight home now, young lady. It's not safe after dark and there's still a killer on the loose," she answered back. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, well, the suspected killer is now in jail. I'll be fine, I could just make a run to home, it's not that far."

"No, straight home now."

I grabbed the phone tightly in one hand and made a whacking gesture towards the table. "Fine. See you."

"Good."

I almost slammed the phone back, but that was almost. After putting it down, I retied my hair with thicker strands falling to the side of my face, hiding the wound. I went downstairs with quick steps as I descended. I peeked out the archway to see Nancy and her mom eating their dinner.

"I'm afraid I can't join you, guys. My nan says I have to go home this instant," I told them and Nancy pouted. "Well it's been nice talking with you, Nancy. See you at school after you get some rest. Bye!"

"Stay safe, Maple," Marge answered back. I closed the front door behind me, heading to the middle of the road but I stopped when I noticed a light switching on in a certain room across the street.

The sun was setting behind the roofs of the houses, giving an eerie atmosphere in the surroundings. A mysterious pull lured me into the front lawn of the opposite house and I skipped the steps to the front door. My finger hovered above the door bell.

Guess who's not going home.