Come Get Me (8 page)

Shaking his head he put it aside for another
time. He kept walking towards his mother’s house trying to figure
out what exactly might be going on as he went. He hadn’t found Rob
but that was only a matter of time. Then he hoped he’d get some of
the answers for all the questions that were floating around in his
head.

4

Jim woke with a start the next morning
stifling a scream that was trying to rip its way from his throat.
The nightmare he’d been having only moments before caused him a
slight disorientation which panicked him even more. Images from it
kept superimposing themselves over the familiar objects in his
room. One minute he was looking at a chair the next minute it was a
bush. He was still trying to orient himself when he looked at a
poster that had been on his wall since he was ten but instead of
the familiar movie star looking down at him it was a beast with
dark red smoldering eyes. Stifling yet another scream he shook his
head and looked again. This time everything was normal. Well,
almost everything.

Unfortunately he was again lying in wet
sheets. This was starting to be a regular thing with him. Now that
his attention was finally somewhere else the dream he’d been having
was quickly fading. Unfortunately, thinking about the creature he
thought he saw a few seconds ago triggered part of it to come back.
He could vaguely remember something about a beast of some sort
chasing him through dark woods he’d never seen before. Every time
he thought he’d escaped it he found the thing right back in front
of him waiting with its mouth open like it was going to eat him.
Just thinking about it gave him the chills. By thinking about it he
realized something else. It was the same monster he’d dreamed of a
couple nights ago. Having the same type of dream a couple nights in
a row was really strange. At least he thought it was. Too bad there
was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t want to think about it
anymore. If only he could forget about the eyes, then he’d be
ok.

He couldn’t understand why he might be having
dreams like these. He’d heard somewhere that what people dreamed
was a way for their minds to deal with things. What problems he
might be dealing with that would make dream of monsters was beyond
him though. He hardly ever dreamed of monsters. At least not since
he’d been a little kid. The last time he could honestly remember
doing it was back in high school.

It was around the same time as…well that was
funny. He couldn’t remember. One second he’d been trying to
remember a childhood dream and the next thing he knew it was gone.
No more memory. He tried to grab hold of it again but it was too
elusive. He didn’t know if he should be glad or not. The need to
figure out what was going on still gnawed at him. It wasn’t like
him to have dreams like that.

Putting dreams aside for later pondering and
tiring of lying on wet sheets, he finally rolled from the bed and
headed towards the bathroom. He’d planned on going back to town
today to see if he could find out what else had changed since his
departure. There was also the matter of finding Rob to deal with.
He really hoped he could find him today. He needed to find out more
about Tommy’s death and Rob was the only other person he could
ask.

He thought sleeping on it might make him feel
better about the whole thing but it had done the exact opposite. He
just couldn’t let it go and accept that it was all just an
accident, especially after hearing what Maria had to say. She was
weird, but she did give him some more questions to ask when he
found Rob. He didn’t know exactly what he thought Rob might tell
him but it would still be more than what little he already
knew.

On his way down the stairs he heard plates
clinking together and guessed his mother was already there making
breakfast. Looking at his watch he corrected himself. She was
probably making brunch. He didn’t realize he’d slept so late, that
definitely wasn’t like him. With his job back in the city he was
usually up early everyday so even when he was off on the weekends
he didn’t sleep in very late. Now it was almost noon if his watch
was to be believed. Dream or not he’d somehow manage to sleep
almost half the day away. Mom was at the stove cooking something as
he walked into the kitchen.

“I thought you might want something to eat,"
she said glancing over her shoulder as he took a seat. “Ya know
something? You don’t look like you’re eating enough. You’re gone
all skin and bones since you were here last.”

It was the same thing every time he came but
he was used to it by now so he didn’t even try protesting her
observations. It wouldn’t have done any good anyways. Jim had
always been skin and bones, his mother just hadn’t seemed to
notice. To her he was always too skinny and in need of more food.
For being a twenty nine-year-old man he didn’t think he was doing
half bad. He still had a full head of light brown hair, hadn’t
gained a lot of weight and could still play a game of basketball
with guys ten years younger than him. How many guys his age could
say that? Most of them were bald with no hair and sat on their
butts doing nothing all the time. He’d seen a lot of them while on
the job.

He found his looks had never been anything to
write home about, but they were his and he was used to them and he
had gotten his share of compliments throughout his life so he
couldn’t be that bad. Mostly he heard about how cool his eyes were.
This would usually be a bad thing if the only thing a girl could
find good to say was that she liked his eyes, but he’d heard it his
whole life. He didn’t know what was so cool about them though. The
only thing he could think of was that they had a tendency to change
color depending on his mood. When he was calm they were a nice,
normal green but when he got upset or pissed off they changed to a
blazing greenish-blue. If that was what women thought was cool then
more power to them and good for him. Unfortunately his mother
wasn’t mesmerized by his eyes. As far as she was concerned he was
who he was and was always in need of more food so he could put some
meat on his bones. She was always telling him that women liked
being able to feel something when they hugged a man, and if all he
had were his pokey bones then that explained why he didn’t have a
girlfriend. He would just keep his mouth shut and let her say her
piece. He wanted to tell her it was a bit more complicated than
just gaining some weight but he didn’t. She needed to think it was
something and not just the fact that not that many girls were
interested. There’d been a few over the years but none that wanted
to stick around for a while. She prattled on and on while he ate.
He didn’t pay it much mind. In one ear and out the other, just like
when he’d been little.

While he was eating, his mother asked what he
was planning to do that day. Not wanting to speak with a mouthful
of food he held a finger up telling her to wait a minute. He never
understood it but his mother had always been big on talking at
meals. Most parents back when he was growing up, wanted their kids
to be seen and not heard. Not his mother. She conducted most of her
daily conversations in the kitchen during a meal of some sort. That
was one of the things his friends had liked about his mom. She was
laid back unlike other parents. They ate over at his house every
chance they got.

Since he hadn’t had a chance to tell her
about it before, he told her in between mouthfuls about his unlucky
meeting with Maria from the day before. When asked how he’d known
her, he told his mom she was an old acquaintance from high school.
Even with a day to think about it he still only had vague
recollections of her and from those he didn’t think she had been or
ever would be what he would call a friend. After telling her some
of the things Maria had gleefully told him concerning Tommy’s death
he asked to hear her thoughts on the whole thing. She agreed that
it sounded strange but that maybe she was just excited about seeing
him again. She also told him again that he should find Rob and get
information from someone that would know and quit listening to
gossip.

With that advice barely out of her mouth he
finished his last bite of food and told her that was exactly what
he was going to go do. He put his plate in the sink, planted a kiss
on her cheek and was out the door before she could say anything
else.

He was greeted by a slightly overcast morning
that just about accurately reflected his current emotional mood.
Dark and melancholy.

Yup, that was him to the bone.

As if to echo the tears that had been falling
from his eyes recently it looked like it might turn to rain at some
point throughout the day. Not really caring if he got wet he
decided to walk to town. It was only water after all.

He wandered down the road and memory lane
thinking about his childhood and the things they’d done as they
grew up. He was really looking forward to finding Rob. If nothing
else at least then he’d have a more familiar face to see. He hoped
it wouldn’t be too hard to locate him. He could probably ask around
or go to the police station if worse came to worse but if he did
that he might run into the sheriff. He wanted to put that off as
long as possible, if at all. Hopefully Rob would know something.
The two of them weren’t as close as they’d once been, time tended
to do that, but he hoped it hadn’t changed things too much.

As he walked towards town he eventually
passed the restaurant Maria worked at. Glancing at the windows he
quickened his pace a little. Hopefully she wasn’t there and if she
was she wouldn’t see him. Just in case he walked a little faster,
almost running, until the place was safely behind him. Maria was
definitely a strange one he thought looking back over his shoulder
making sure she wasn’t there. He still didn’t remember too much
about her but he was pretty sure she hadn’t been as weird as she
was now when they were in high school. The most he could remember
was that she’d been one of the quiet kids who would get excited
just by someone saying hello to her. That and the tagging along
behind him stuff, but that wasn’t that big a deal. She sure had
changed. Now it seemed like she was Dr Frankenstein’s younger
sister or something. She seemed just a little too enthusiastic
telling him the circumstances of Tommy’s death for Jim’s comfort.
It was almost like she’d been bragging or something. She’d really
seemed to enjoy talking about it that was for sure. Oh well, he
thought shuddering, that’s just how some people are. He didn’t have
to like it. He would just make sure he avoided her for the
remainder of his stay. It wouldn’t be that hard. He wasn’t really
going to be home long enough to do anything so there shouldn’t be a
problem. After he was gone he wouldn’t need to worry about her or
her gruesome enjoyment of death anymore and that was just fine with
him. The sooner everything was over the better.

Glad to be out of any area Maria might be
found in Jim realized he must’ve been walking faster than he
thought. When he finally took a few seconds to look up he saw he
had almost made it to the old grocery store he hung out at as a
kid. It never had been much of a store, he thought looking at it.
He savored the few minutes he had and studied what once had been so
familiar. Back then he’d looked at it with childish eyes. Now he
was an adult and saw it not for what he once made it to be, but for
what it actually was.

Back when he was a kid it had seemed an
almost magical place where he and his friends could get everything
their little hearts desired. Now it was just an old run down store
that didn’t even look like one. It actually looked like it used to
be a house and Jim guessed at one point it probably had been. The
place had to be one of the oldest buildings in town so it must’ve
once been something other than a store. The only thing that really
identified it for what it was now was the old dilapidated icebox
setting off to the side of the front door and the old, faded
weather worn sign proclaiming the name of the place. Grandmas.

Just seeing the sign raised goose pimples on
his skin. He’d been there many a time in his childhood. It was
almost his second home. Looking the building over he saw that the
windows still had the old homemade decorations up that he and his
friends used to make fun of when they were young. He felt bad about
it now what with Grandma being retired and all. They’d just been a
bunch of stupid little kids looking for something to pick on and
the store had unfortunately been it. The little old lady everyone
called Grandma, who was the owner, used to take the time each year
to decorate just so she could help get everyone into the spirit of
whichever holiday it was. Since the store only did local business
she’d made the decorations herself to save a little money. They
were nothing fancy, just enough to remind everyone there was a
holiday and what one it was. Shaking his head he walked up to the
door.

Hesitantly he opened the door and stepped
inside. He couldn’t help but smile as the door let out a squeal of
protest. It had always done that. No matter how much oil was put on
it, it still squealed. Taking a few steps forward so the door could
close he heard the floorboards groan like an old man under his
weight. That was slightly new. They used to make noise but not so
much. Of course he had gained some weight since the last time he’d
been here so maybe that was it. The place was still the same, he
thought looking around, seeing familiar little knick knacks hung
here and there.