The Golden Locket

Chapter 3: Ben's Journal

Chapter 3: Ben's Journal

"My father." Whispered Jake, staring out the side window. Martha glanced over, her eyes still wide.

"I know what you're thinking." She exclaimed, "But if that thing had anything to do with your father's disappearance-"

"It did have to do with my father." Said Jake, cutting his mother off.

Martha loosened her grip on the steering wheel and rolled down her side window, "How do you know?" She asked slowly.

"I had a dream about it." Exclaimed Jake.

"That's just a dream."

"It wasn't though." Jake continued, "I remembered everything. Every tree and every stick was exactly where it was in the dream. In the dream, I was that thing and I attacked dad!"

Martha swallowed, took a deep breath and made a left turn.

"Okay. Let's assume you did dream about that thing. We need to think of what it could've been. I don't know of any creatures that look like that, do you?" Asked Martha.

Jake opened his window as well and rested his elbow outside. "No." He said.

"Right." Replied Martha, turning onto the highway, "There isn't anything like that Jake. So, it's safe to say that even if we told the police about the creature, they wouldn't believe us. It's best that we just keep this between you and me. Tomorrow, I'll drive back up and grab all our things we left sitting back there."

The drive home felt shorter than an hour and a half. When Jake saw their car was approaching the familiar street he lived on, he rolled his window up. Martha pushed a button clipped to the car visor and the garage doors opened. The car rolled in and came to a dead stop. Jake unfastened the seatbelt, opened the door and stepped out, hitting his head on the car ceiling. He winced and put his hand on his forehead.

CAW! CAW!

Jake's eyes opened wide. His glance shot up towards the ceiling of the garage, he scanned it searching for the source of the noise. His eyes eventually found a single, completely black bird. A crow, sitting on a beam and staring right at Jake.

CAW! CAW!

Jake couldn't keep his eyes off of the crow. They weren't a common sight in this area and seeing one in the garage meant it had been trapped in here at least a day. Martha stepped out of the car and looked up at the crow.

"That's bad luck." She said softly. "Some people believe that seeing a crow means someone you know is going to die."

The crow took off, flying out of the garage and into the daylight. Martha watched it steadily until it disappeared into the sky. She walked over to the door leading into the house and pressed the button. The garage came to life again and as the garage doors closed, she opened the other.

Jake stared at his mother for a moment. "Hey! Wait mom! You just said someone was going to die!" He ran forward and grabbed Martha's arm, stopping her from entering the house.

"I'm not one for superstition." She exclaimed. "It's just a bird. Nothing else." Martha pushed her sons arm out of the way and entered the kitchen. She stepped around the counter and entered the living room. Jake followed and sat down on the brown couch.

Jake grabbed the television remote and flicked straight to the news.

"What do you think about getting a dog?" Martha asked, glancing over at her son.