Clay Was Taken

Chapter 6: Glimpses

George loves his mom, and so when she got the flu George wanted to help her however he could. His mom said soup from a local restaurant always helped her.

The thing is, the restaurant was on the other side of town. It was an hour long walk at best.

But George loves his mom, so he looked up the restaurant in his phone, found it on google maps, and prepared for a long, long bike ride.

Everything was fine. Sure, the hills were annoying to ride over, but a bit of exercise and sunlight is good for you. It was a pleasant day, the temperature was nice, and just the right amount of wind. Actually, George was having a good time.

Until his phone ran out of battery. George had been depending on Google Maps to tell him where to go, and now that he couldn't, he was very lost.

He tried to remember what the map had said, but his sense of direction is terrible and his memory worse.

He tried to turn back home, but again, he is terrible with directions. He decided that maybe he could find someone who could help him find his way back home, or even better, let him charge his phone.

But as luck would have it, George ended up in the older part of town, the part with old, abandoned houses that were rumored to be haunted. Houses without electricity and people. George wasn't a little kid anymore, so he knew there weren't any ghosts. He thought about it a bit more and wondered if there was actually something there.

His curiosity kept nagging at him, so he mustered up every ounce of bravery he had and looked around. He decided he wouldn't go in any of the houses, as they looked decayed and close to falling down, and he didn't want to die. It was a wonder the houses hadn't been torn down and the space left behind sold to build another house.

Snakes and other rodents hurried away when George stepped near them. Broken glass littered the ground and could easily be stepped on.

This was maybe one of the most stupid things George had done.

He eventually came to the last house on the street. This house seemed a bit more friendly than the others. It was somewhat more stable, and no where near as dusty. There were no mice on the porch, no spider webs along the walls, and no bird nests on the window seals. It was almost as if someone had been taking care of this house. Almost as if someone was still living there.

George took a step closer to the house. The children that said the house was haunted always said that they heard voices. Obviously the voices had to come from somewhere.

Wait, wasn't he supposed to be getting soup for his mother? He really should be going. He'd save the ghost hunting for another day. He hopped on his bike and prepared to leave.

And then he looked down the street to see a tall, dirty blond boy walking towards him. His face was towards the ground, but he seemed somewhat familiar. Maybe it was the way he walked, or maybe it was a feeling from within, but just from those few glimpses of the him, George knew.

———————

Dream was just getting back from the hardware store to buy a hammer. The floor had gotten torn up, again, and needed repairing, and because Bailey lost the hammer last week, they needed a new one.

Dream was almost home and lost in his own thoughts, the rest of the world a blur in the background. He felt a chill go up his spine and could tell something was off. He looked up to see a short, brown haired boy with a bike standing next to his home. He was staring at him. The boy was staring like he knew Dream. Dream stared back, and realized that the boy seemed familiar, too.

After a second or two, the boy stepped forward, slowly and shyly.

"Clay?" His voice cracked, not sure if he was really there.

Clay felt a jolt of realization go through him. This boy knew him. No, not him, as in Dream, but this boy knew Clay. His old self. He was a person of his past. Dream knew him.

It didn't really matter who this boy was, what mattered was that his freedom was at stake.

Dream glanced to his left, and started running as quickly as he could.