Don't Let Him In

J awoke with a start – his skin was clammy and the sheets were tangled round his legs. He blinked in the dark and tried to orientate himself – what time was it? The blue glow of his alarm clock told him that it was near to 3 am. He was in his bedroom, it felt familiar and his bunk bed creaked as he moved. However something had woken him, and the 'something' felt bad.

He lay very still, trying to 'feel ' the darkness without moving. He listened so hard he imagined the sheer effort of concentration might make his ears tilt to catch sound – but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The house was still, the rest of his family probably fast asleep. Their dog, despite being a great guard dog during the day, was snoring downstairs in the kitchen. Whatever jolted J awake had made no such impression on his family. Unable to shake the feeling of menace, J began to trawl his subconscious, to remember what he had been dreaming, and the feeling of dread pressed in again.

J found himself on the street – the familiar route to and from school – but it was wrong somehow. It was dark and the moon bathed the gardens with an eerie silver. The wind moved branches in the trees and clouds scudded along at quite a pace. Autumn leaves made scuttling, rattling noises, being lifted and swirled on the pavements and drives. J walked, towards home, unsure why he was out so late. He cast his eyes to either side looking for danger, when suddenly his heart leapt in his chest. Something lurched out of the shadows! It was a cat! It flashed past, keeping low to the ground and emitting a yowl, then disappeared again into the gloom of a nearby bush. What had startled the cat? J 's heart was still hammering when he saw a shadowy figure at the nearby garden wall.

J could make out the shape of a boy, the body too slender to be a man, but couldn't see the features. J drew closer, keeping himself in the shadow of the hedge. In the instant the moon moved clear of the clouds J was shocked to recognise Laurie, a boy he knew from school. His hair stuck to his forehead and cheeks with sweat and there was a sickly pallor to his skin that had nothing to do with the moonlight. Now, more curious than afraid, J moved closer and called out Laurie's name.

"Hey Laurie, what's up?"

The other boy's eyes took a moment to focus, and he blinked rapidly. His chest rose and fell with ragged breaths. J tried again.

"What are you doing out? It's really late."

"They let him in." Laurie's voice was shaky, barely a whisper.

"What?" said J, "they let who in?"

Laurie shook his head, his expression haunted.

"I was safe until they opened the door and let him in."

The alarm clock began its electronic bleating and J struggled to surface from sleep. His bedroom door was thrown open by his Dad, who poked his head into the room.

"Fancy a boiled egg J?"

"Uh – maybe."

J was struggling to get his head around the idea that it was now a normal morning and that the creepy events of last night had been no more than a dream. He swung his long legs off the side of the bed. Rubbing his head, he tried to rouse himself from the sleepiness which clung. Outside his door he could hear his younger sister talking to the dog and the clatter in the kitchen of his Dad getting breakfast. Now he was hungry.

It wasn't until J slammed the front door behind him half an hour later, to set off for school, that he had a spare moment to think about the strange events which had troubled his sleep. As he walked round Cranberry Gardens he passed Laurie's house. Everything appeared to be normal. His eyes scanned the wall and the bushes, he looked up at the window of Laurie's room, but he saw nothing. Nothing to add to or detract from last night's dream.

J loped on, a glance at his watch telling him there was no time to dawdle, he had to meet Alex and get to class. He passed some junior boys from his school, visible in their cherry red blazers, then cut through the twitchell which trimmed 5 minutes off his journey to school. Sure he risked snagging by brambles or getting mud on his shoes, but the twitchell came out opposite Alex's house and all the kids from Cranberry Gardens used it on route to St Ethelred's High School.

As he waited at the door for Alex to grab his school paraphernalia, J saw other pupils pass by. The girls clutched their folders to their chests or had colourful bags slung over their shoulders. The boys walked, hands deep in pockets, in separate groups – not many boys had the front to walk downhill to school in the company of a girl.

J's attention was caught as Laurie passed by – his eyes were downcast and his face pale. J called out to him – he passed right by Alex's drive, but Laurie didn't look up – didn't even seem to hear him.

"What are you calling him for?" Alex was ready now, a piece of toast in one hand and the other struggling to shrug on the black blazer worn by the senior boys at St Ethelred's.

"Homework," J mumbled, unwilling to talk about his strange dream just yet. "Wanted to know how he got on with the maths questions."

Alex was not in the same set for maths, so J was pretty sure he wouldn't ask any more questions. Alex was a 'sports hero' at school, captain of the Rugby team and also represented the school for long jump. J and Alex didn't share many classes now, but they'd been friends since their days at play school when both were fascinated by dinosaurs.

The two boys walked downhill, only a few minutes left til registration, the Head was a stickler for punctuality. Luckily they could use the side gate into school this year – juniors had to walk to the bottom of the hill and round the corner to use the main gate on the High Street. Scooting through the narrow gateway, Alex & J cut across the quad into the low, flat-roofed building that housed their classroom. Miss Read had not yet begun to check the register so they sat in their usual places. Another school day had begun.

Second lesson was Maths, and J was keen to try talking to Laurie again, so he took a desk by the window, near Laurie.

"Hey Laurie, how's it going?"

Laurie looked up slowly – his eyes dull and vacant. He looked at J, no! He looked through him. Then he looked away. Which was strange, but not as strange as his behaviour during the class. Laurie was a gifted pupil at maths, but he didn't put his hand up once with answers, in fact he didn't participate at all. When J looked over at his notes, Laurie had not answered any of the problems. When the lesson was over Laurie scooped up his books and left the room, not trying to catch up with any of his friends or talk to anyone. J was puzzled – the boy seemed a shell of his usual self. Did this have any relation to what he'd seen in his dream?