“Dream Catcher” by squita conway-jones

What is a dream catcher? A dream catcher is a small trinket that you hang over your bed and is believed to catch all the bad dreams. Native Americans or Indians were the first to come up with this method but, what if there was more, something no one really knew about it? Growing up my grandma would always have dream catchers decorating her living room, dining room and even her bedroom. Some of them had wolves howling to the moon or even Indian girls sadly looking at their reflection in the water. There was one dream catcher that stood out from the rest. A baby blue one, with white and gold beads weaved through the net and black crow feathers instead of eagle feathers. I took a deep interest in this dream catcher in particular to the rest. This one was also my grandmother’s favorite. She would always tell me the story of how her mother ran in to a gentle but caring woman whom went without a home or food and she took the woman in for a few days. Once this woman introduced herself, my great grandmother started to get a strange feeling, at least, that’s what my grandma told me. My grandma always looked afraid when she told this part. She would go on to say that the woman was always happy and whimsical until one day the woman came home from out of a terrible storm with a small leather case in her hand. The woman handed the leather case to my great grandmother and in a raspy voice she asked: “Will you take care of this?” and of course, being the kind lady that my great grandmother was, she accepted the gift. A bolt of lightning cracked and the woman fell to the floor lifeless and cold. A faint whisper left the woman’s lips, but my great grandmother couldn’t make out what she said. At this point I would always hope that it was nothing bad. My great grandmother gave the woman a proper funeral, my grandmother finished. After her story ended, my grandmother had a look, a look of worry and shame almost as though she knew something more but she wouldn’t tell me. jones
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One day, after my daily workout and three long hours of tutoring, I visited my grandma like I did at least once or twice out of the week. I approached my grandmother’s front porch and noticed that something was off, the front door was open and inside was no kind of movement, I called for my grandma but no one answered. I took off my shoes and darted right for the laundry room, there was no sign of her. I ran from one room to the next in search for her. I approached the last room in the second floor hall and noticed that there was a strong scent of rotting meat emanating from the cracked door, growing more intense as I walked closer. I opened the door and saw that my grandma was lying still on the floor, her skin was white, lifeless and cold. I checked her pulse just to make sure she was okay but, there was nothing. Her eyes were fogged and the last expression she could make was one of fear, but what caused it? My heart raced as I placed her on the bed. In a vast desperation for some answers or even clues to see if something can shed some light on this. I was in denial, my grandma couldn’t be gone. I searched frantically through her room and spotted a note gently folded and placed on her night stand with a leather case gently set next to it. The note read; “My dearest and only grandson, I bid thee fair well for I have lived the life that I was given. I also want you to understand, you’re not alone, and your Nana is in your heart and I will always be watching over you. As a final request, please take this dream catcher and pass it on to your first daughter.” The note ends with ink smudging the rest of the paper. I called the emergency department alerting them about the situation. Within a half hour ambulance and police arrived at the scene. They asked me multiple questions, some in which I didn’t have an answer to, some questions seemed too personal to answer. Crime scene investigators finalized that it was a heart attack and took her body in for further analysis. The officer who was interviewing me had me take down his number. “We’ll stay in touch, if you find out anything else please, don’t be afraid to call.” The man said as he bid me good evening and sent me on my way. Hours had passed before I finally received a phone call. “Hello.” I answered quickly. The line was quiet for a moment, then a male’s voice chimed from the other end. “Is this Jacob Spealer?” The man asked in a hush tone. “Yes.” I responded. “I have to ask you a few questions.” The man insisted without any form of introduction just right to the point. “First, who are you?” “Sorry, where are my manners, I’m officer Greenwell.” He man said in a sarcastic tone. “I’m the officer who interviewed you earlier.” His voice sounded much different over the phone. “Did you find out what happened to my grandmother?” I asked. I began demanding for an answer, Mr. Greenwell laughed. “Relax, that’s why I’m calling. First off, what was her maiden name? The name we have on file doesn’t seem to match.” “Jennifer Hucklebee.” I responded. “See, that’s the name that doesn’t match. On our system she is placed as deceased. August 15th of last year was when she was announced to be dead by a doctor Weinstein.” I took a moment to think back on what I did last year and realized I was at Honk Kong for a two month study program. I didn’t understand how I was just now finding out about this. “Is there any information and what the cause of death was?” I could hear the faint tapping of the computers keyboard on the other end. “Fatal gunshot wound to the head. Reports say that she called the police to report a robbery that was taking place next door.” He paused. “Police have notes saying that they heard gun fire, seven shots to be exact, then the phone sounded as if it fell onto a soft surface.” “The living room rug.” I pointed out. “Also, they heard eerie and raspy voices on the phone before it hung up.” “Well, that’s creepy.” I replied. He laughed. “That escalated quickly.” We both had a small laugh. “Back to business, do you know of anyone who may have sought out your grandmother? Standard questions you know. “ “No, no one, it was just my grandma and myself, I guess that debunks the ‘daughter going after the mothers money’ scenario.” Mr. Greenwell chuckled. “True. Anyway, let me see if I can find anything else, I’ll be sure to call you. If you manage to find anything, you have my number.” “Okay, talk to you later.” I went to hang up but Mr. Greenwell called for my attention. “Yes?” “I know you’re probably going to go to the crime scene and try to find answers for yourself just do me a favor, don’t tamper with any evidence.” Mr. Greenwell hung up shortly after. I was a bit puzzled but didn’t really pay it any mind. I took my phone off the charger and headed for the front door. I walked down Moor man drive towards my grandmother’s house. As I approached her house and as I walked closer, I saw a tall figure walk out of my grandmother’s house and in to the open field directly across the street. I ran to see who or what it was but, before I could get close enough, it vanished in to thin air. There were no foot prints left behind in the soil, just the ones that I left behind. I tuned back and went to my grandmother’s house in search of any clues that Mr. Greenwell and his investigation team may have missed. “Well, he already knew I was going to do it.” I said to myself entering the screen door. The hard wood door that followed was open, a strong scent of rotting meat protruded from the doorway. The scent was revolting but the search had to go on. I covered my nose with the rim of my shirt and proceeded towards the laundry room. Through the kitchen and to an immediate right was the small laundry room, my grandmother’s most favorite room in the house, over exaggerating a bit but, she would always say that it was the most cozy room in the house. I proceeded to search through a small basket of clothes and the shelf that rested against the west wall, sadly, I found nothing. I left the room and noticed that the smell was much stronger than before. I rushed in to the kitchen and found the holy grail of rotting meatery. The fridge was leaking red fluid. I examined the fridge and there, on the second shelf of the freezer, was a pound of beef spewing blood and some other greenish looking fluid. The sight made me cringe. I took a plastic bag from the side pantry and put the meat in it and tossed it out in to the garbage bin in the back yard. “Sense I’m back here, I may as well search the storage room.” I said softly opening a small door next to the back door. As I entered a small cloud of dust floated toward me and lifted up as if it was being controlled by the wind. “Weird.” I continued in to the dark room with just my phones flash light to guide me. A light layer of dust decorated all the boxes and other things in the room. I walked towards the back of the room and saw that the secondary back door was open slightly with the chain lock was still attached, holding the door semi-shut. Black liquid drip from the door knob and trailed in stopping at a chest in the corner against the eastern wall. “Strange.” I walked toward the chest and examined it, removing the junk from the top. I tried to move the box but, even with my little muscles, I couldn’t move it. I searched around for something that could move it. In the corner, adjacent from where I stood, rested a dolly. “That’ll help.” I grabbed the dolly and shoved it underneath the box. With the help of the dolly, I pulled box to a clear space in the center of the room. It hit the floor with a loud thud, popping it open in the process. “Well, that was easy.” I searched through the assorted files and computer parts, among them was a purple and pink gem studded USB drive and a yellow manila envelope. The envelope had coffee stains and cursive hand writing all over it. I could only understand one line: “This can’t be true, is it?” I noticed that this was my grandmother’s hand writing, her perfect hand writing dancing across the envelope. If only I knew how to read it. I continued to search through the box to see if I could find anything else, to my luck I found nothing. I placed the USB in my pocket and held on to the folder as I walked from the storage room and back toward the kitchen, water was running from the fridge. I took a mop from the pantry and cleaned it up, force of habit I guess. I went on to examine any drawers in the kitchen and in to the dining room which was dimly lit by the touch lamps that my grandma collected along with her dream catchers. She loved her collectables. I checked the desk that was set up next to the stairwell, a newspaper article was folded in the top drawer. “The search continues.” “An artifact was lost at sea along with a small group of people, six people were estimated to come up missing. No one knows who the people are or how they disappeared, investigators speculate that the people missing and the artifact that disappeared are connected somehow. Further investigation is being held at the docks of Brooksville and where ever the ship was heading to.” The article was worn out, most of the ink faded away. I couldn’t make out anything afterwards. Next to the article was an old fashioned black and grey photo of the dream catcher that my grandmother has, the one that I favored. I folded the newspaper article and the photo and placed it in to the envelope. “I’ll look at this later.” I took a glimpse up stairs, a shadow stood at the top of the stairs directly in front of my grandma’s room. I could hear whispers, faintly but loud enough that I knew they were there. I couldn’t understand them, it was scary but something was telling me to check it out. “Just go.” I told myself, inching my way up the stairs and closer to the figure. A small set of pale blue eyes glimpsed through the immense darkness. “Come closer.” The shadow whispered. It gradually levitated to one of the bedroom doors on the left fazing itself through the wall. I followed after it. My body cringed as the horrifying sounds of gurgling emanated from behind the door. I had to know what was in there, that spirit wanted me to know something. I had to know but, I was too afraid. I closed my eyes and slowly opened the door, peeking through my eyelids just enough to kind of see my surroundings. The shadowed figure was gone but the window across from the door was open. The lavender curtain gently flowing in the night’s breeze. I made my way to close the window as the door slammed shut behind me, a faint click came from the door. I tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge. By using a pin and paper clip that I found on a small dresser next to the door, I attempted to break out but some sort of force knocked the utensils out of my hands. A loud bang came from the opposite side of the door, making me fall to my butt. The window slammed shut, the room grew unbearably cold. Goose bumps specked all over my skin, I could see my breathe drifting in to the air. The sound of gurgling arose from behind me. I turned quickly to find that the shadowed figure was standing behind me its body waving aimlessly. Its shadow covered mouth moved but no words came out. I could make out the words “she lied” from the movement of its lips. The gurgling became denser, each gurgle becoming longer turning in to slight screeches to near screams. “She lied!” The shadow screamed. The shadow waved a hand and I flew and hit the door, with in a matter of seconds the room became warm and the door clicked, possibly signaling that the door came unlocked. As I looked up, the shadow figure was still there. It kneeled down and gradually made its way to me, its mouth moving and again, no sound came out. I could make out “she lied, that’s not her.” The shadow lifted itself upright and vanished almost instantaneously, all that was left behind was the same black gook that I found in the storage room. I accidently put my hands in it trying to get myself off of the floor. With closer inspection, it was a crimson red color. “Blood?” I asked myself. It must have been, but where was it coming from, I mean where did it come from? It couldn’t have come from the shadow. I looked down and noticed that there was a small gash on my arm, where my arm hit the door but, my blood was on the door not in the center of the room. Confused I picked up the envelope that lied underneath me, leaving the room and heading out of the front door. I realized, for some odd reason, the shadow had a familiar face although it wasn’t all that visible, its eyes and faint lips still had a close resemblance. I shook it off as me going insane and went home. “There’s…. Much…. More.” The night air was cool, the soft breeze felt as if it was caressing my body helping to lead me home safely. The nights silent whispers put my mind at ease, releasing all of the stress from my being. I pulled the pretty USB from my pocket. “What is on this thing?” I questioned twirling it in my fingers then placing it back in to my pocket. I approached my home jingling keys in my pocket, my cat answered meowing frantically. “Hold on.” I called to her. She started to scratch at the door. “Give me a second.” Her meowing became quiet, the door opening without me entering the key in to the lock. My cat ran outside towards the light post that settled in my front yard. I turned, slowly peering over my shoulder to see if I could catch a glimpse of who may have been in my house. Those eyes, those same blue eyes from my grandmother’s house was peeking from the side of my door frame. I didn’t know what to do, out of instinct I turned quickly in hopes of catching the culprit, but the shadowed figure vanished leaving my dining room light on, it was the only light that was on in fact. A cold chill ran down my spine as I entered my home fearfully holding on to the envelope, in my head I thought it would protect me but, deep down, I knew it wasn’t going to do anything to help keep me safe. I took off my shoes at the door like I do on a daily basis, entering my dining room I started to search the house to make sure nothing was out of place or out of the ordinary. Once I was satisfied with my surroundings I sat at the desk in my living room, entering the pretty little USB in to the USB port and commenced my hours of research to see what contents were store on the pretty little device. I opened the databank to the USB. A bunch of files were stored on it. Some of them had names; “Dinner ideas” “dandy” and many others but one file had no name at all, just a date. “May 5th” I opened the file. A bunch of mini pictures of newspaper clippings were stored inside, some of the files names included “Disappearance of eight family members simultaneously,” “Family of five found buried behind family home.” “Single woman and new born found mangled under basement stairs.” The titles of these articles and many more made my hair stand on end, a cold chill ran down my spine. One article managed to stand out. “Young woman found lifeless sitting inside her bathtub.” This article was dated back to the time when I was 14 years old. The story went as follows: “A young woman in her mid-30’s found dead in an empty bathtub. Her husband found her after he noticed that she was gone for over 5 hours after telling him she was going to take a bath. ‘I don’t understand what could have happened,’ her husband, Mr. Hucklebee explains. ‘She was perfectly fine when she was lying next to me.” I stopped reading, taking in to consideration that Hucklebee was my grandmothers last name, she never told me that she was married, she said that the man she fell in love with ran away to Texas with her sister almost 27 years ago. Something wasn’t adding up. I searched further to see if there was anything else that may fill in the blanks. Another news article grabbed my attention; “Death of wife may be connected to disappearance of husband.” It went like this: “About a week after the death of his wife, Mr. Hucklebee disappears without a trace leaving grandson alone at the family estate. The grandson and Grandfather were last seen at a local coffee and bakery shop.” At the end of the article there was a picture of a small boy with blonde hair and baby blue eyes dressed in a navy blue jean jacket with a crest on the right side of his chest. “There is no photo of Mr. Hucklebee unfortunately.” The article finished. I looked at the photo of the small boy. I pulled out a photo from the top of my desk drawer, a photo that had a similarity to the photo that was in the newspaper article. I put the pictures side by side and realized, it was me, the exact picture in fact. So many years had passed I completely forgot that I had blonde hair. I started to remember a little bit about what happened to me at that age, how my mom and dad were arguing and my dad would leave the house leaving my mom in tears and how I was the only kid in my family with no friends, no one to talk to. I even remembered the group of friends my grandma would bring over for tea parties, the conversations they would have would make me really uncomfortable, not in a bad way just, they had multiple grandkids while I was my grandmother’s only grandchild. I continued reading the article, pushing the memories behind me. “Young boy by the name of Jacob Spealer will be put into an orphanage in hopes of finding a new and happy home.” None of this was adding up. I was just with my grandmother yesterday how was she dead? I was with her the entire day, how is she gone? Was I becoming schizophrenic or something? Was this all some sort of bad dream? It must be. I laughed. I have to go to bed, I have to try and wake myself up from this horrible nightmare. I closed my lap top and headed for my bedroom. I took off my jacket and my jeans and bundled up in my favorite anime pajamas, something that a little kid would do I know. I took the leather case from off the side of my bed and hung up the dream catcher that my grandmother asked me to hold on to. “Good night grandma.” I whispered to the trinket. I gently pressed my lips against the white silk before hanging it above my bed, next to my failed attempt of painting a vase and a single rose. Then, I laid down, staring at the dark ceiling, watching it swirl, twist and turn before my eyes finally became heavy and closed on their own. My body was resting as my mind continued to race, trying to piece it all together. In my dreams, I was trying to put the puzzle pieces together, some pieces were bigger than others and some didn’t piece together properly. The only piece of the puzzle that I could put together formed an image, a very familiar image. The dream catcher, the exact dream catcher that rested on my wall over my bed. Whatever is going on seems to be connected to that innocent materialistic thing, something that no one expected could cause so much trouble. A question arose, where did this dream catcher come from? “This… is… all… a lie” A voice whispered directly in to my ears making me jump out of my deep slumber. No one was there. I looked up to the ceiling and just before I drifted back to sleep I noticed the dream catcher was gone. The window in my room was open, the smell of morning dew gently blew in to my room. Was I just robbed? I thought. I put on my slippers and ran down the stairs checking everything as I ran. Nothing else was missing just the dream catcher, but why? My cell phone rang so I ran back up the stairs to my room and answered my phone. “Hello?” The opposite end of the call was silent. “If you don’t answer I’m hanging up!” “Who do you think you’re talking to young man?” My grandmother’s voice said from the other end. I was confused. “Grandma?” I asked questionably. “Well who else would it be? You don’t have a girlfriend, unless you do and you didn’t inform me.” She laughed. “No grandma, I’m still single but, I thought you died?” Her laughter became louder. “Baby, grandma isn’t going anywhere, not until you get married at least.” I chuckled softly. “Before I forget, you sir, make sure you get your butt straight here, you promised Nana you would help finish the house for the inspectors today.” She said in a stern tone. “I’ll be right over.” I told her. She hung up without saying good-bye. I quickly got dressed and put on my shoes before running out of my door and to my grandma’s house. I slowed down once I approached my grandmother’s porch. Both the screen door and wooden door was open, a strong scent of bleach and lemons sort of punched me in the face, figuratively speaking. The best way to explain it is the scent of clean, I guess. I took off my shoes and entered the house. The black gook that trailed through the house was gone, the rotting meat smell was gone and the dream catcher was back on the wall hanging over the entertainment center. I walked around examining everything, puzzled I went to the storage room and noticed that the chest was back where it was before I moved it, almost as if nothing happened. “Jacob honey, is that you?” My grandma called from the front of the house. “Yes grandma.” I closed the storage room door and directed my attention the small window on the back door. In the window was the blue eyes from the night before. Its mouth moving, “that’s not her.” I read from the shadows mouth before it vanished. “Come on, we have a busy day ahead of us.” My grandma called. I walked back to the front of the house where my grandma was struggling to move the couch in the living room. I ran to her aid, luckily I did because she almost dropped it. From the living room to the dining room, we continued moving all the furniture sweeping, mopping, and waxing the floors. Taking coffee brakes at the top of every hour. It was almost four in the afternoon before we finally finished. “Finally.” I sighed plopping myself on to my grandmothers bed. “Boy, what did I tell you about that?” She took off her slipper and hit me on my thigh. “You’re not too old for an ass whooping.” I flinched as she hit me on my thigh again. “Sorry grandma.” I quickly got off of her bed and ran down to the dining room. There was a slight knock on the door. “Who is it?” My grandma called from in her room. “Ronald Baker from real estate. I’m here to look at your home.” A deep voice replied. “Jacob, let the gentleman in please? I’ll be down in a moment.” She called to me. I opened the door to see a man in a grey suit standing before me. His bright smile wide from ear to ear. I allowed him but not before asking him to remove his shoes. I’m not letting any of our hard work get ruined. The man walked around the first three rooms then stood in the dining room doorway awaiting my grandmother to come down stairs. “Here I come, sorry for taking so long.” My grandma came down the stairs dressed up in her old but fairly new work uniform and a pair of her favorite fluffy pink slippers. She shook the man hand and introduced the two of us. She escorted him to the laundry room to start the tour. “Honey, can you make a pot of coffee for me?” My grandma asked. I nodded my head as I watched her and the man disappear behind the back hall wall. I made the pot of coffee for my grandmother then grabbed my shoes and ran home. Once I entered the door my house phone rang. “Hello?” I answered out of breathe. “What did you do? Get laid?” A man’s voice joked from the other end. “Who is this?” “Its officer Greenwell we have bad news.” My heart dropped to my stomach. “Your grandmother’s body is missing, we’re getting reports from our street officers saying that they saw her walking to the store this morning. She looked perfectly healthy, as if nothing has happened to her.” “She’s at her house trying to sell it as we speak.” I explained to the officer. Before I knew it, the phone hung up. I tried calling back but there was no answer. I didn’t know what to do. Do I go back or stay here? Stay where I wouldn’t get involved? I placed the phone back on the receiver. I walked in to the living room and sat at the desk. I turned my lap top on and searched through the rest of the files. I don’t know what else I was looking for but, there must have been something that I may have over looked, something more to maybe ease my curiosity. I went through each article, including the ones that I haven’t read yet. Nearly 2 hours have passed before I could finally piece together that each family photo that was in the articles had that same damn dream catcher, the same dream catcher that hangs over my grandmother’s entertainment center at this very moment. There was a link saved on the thumb drive. I clicked on the link which opened my web browser and brought up a website that went by the name of “Unknown Dark and Mysterious.” There was a brief description of what the website was made for: “From finding out the truth to our modern history to even finding out what humanity is really turning out to be, just type in the search bar what you wish to know and allow our website to open your mind to the truth, the in depth story of what really happened. There’s nothing wrong with being a little bit smarter.” I hesitated for a moment before typing in “The dream catcher.” One article popped up with a woman’s photo in the right hand corner. “Death in a dream” The article was named. The article starts by saying that the dream catcher made by this Native American woman whose name was Kiwidinok, made the dream catcher as a gift to one of Christopher Columbus’ men. “The dream catcher, made by a young Native American woman who is known by the name of Kiwidinok, is considered a cursed item. This dream catcher is known to completely erase someone out of a person’s life. Only, if they don’t have the heart to be rid the person themselves. No one knows how the dream catcher gets around but this item alone has made almost a million people disappear off the face of the planet, no trace left of its victims what so ever. Some speculate that the dream catcher dates back as far as the time when Christopher Columbus found America. A young woman by the name of Kiwidinok was well known by other children and witch doctors for her black magic, her kind heart and very well known for her energy and willingness to learn.” There was a video of an older man talking. He spoke highly of Kiwidinok, almost as if it was his daughter. “Kiwidinok was the only child among the others who could perform healing rituals even without the years of training that it takes to perform them properly. We interviewed one of the children that she grew up with. ‘Kiwidinok was a very strange girl but, I loved her.’ The man said. ‘She was amazingly talented and well skilled but, I didn’t think she would do this. I didn’t think she would use her black magic to cause so much havoc.’ He left the interview before we could finish.” Underneath this part was another video but it was a pale older man with big glasses that covered nearly half of his face. “I met this young woman when I worked for Christopher. There was something off about her when we started to call the land our own. She had a flame ragging in her eyes. I felt it was my responsibility to try and calm her, tell her that we weren’t going to hurt her but, before I could say anything, one of the men I worked with shot her father, the chief of the village was shot dead from Jon’s stupidity.” Tears welled in his eyes. Why was he crying? I thought to myself. “A few nights have passed before Christopher decides that it’s time for us to leave. The same girl who had that ragging flame in her eyes stopped me before I could board the ship. ‘Take this.’ She handed me a baby blue and white dream catcher. ‘Make sure to use it properly if not, you will lose all the ones you love for generations to come.’ She said to me and smiled oddly before running off.” The color flushed from his face. “Whoever finds that dream catcher burn it! Get rid of it!” The man got out of his seat looking directly in to the camera. “It may be a beautiful dream catcher but don’t let it fool you, I lost everything because of that damn thing. She cursed my family, she cursed the dream catcher. I wanted people gone and it took them away, one by one, everyone was gone!” The footage cuts out. There was still about 25 minutes left of the video. I waited for almost 5 minutes to see if the video turned back on but, it was till black static. I got out of my chair and headed to the kitchen for a drink. I came back and the man was just staring in to the camera, not saying a word. Not the first thing you want to see when you turn the corner trust me. “That thing is alive.” He whispered. “It feeds off the essence of the people who use it, specifically woman.” He sat back down and placed his head in to his hands. He started to sob softly. This went on for the final ten minutes of the video. I sat back in disbelief. I started to laugh softly as I continued to read the little bit of the article that was left. “The man in this video died a few days after this autobiography was published. His son reported to us that his father would sit in his death bed repeating some sort of incantation, staring at the same wall for hours, aimlessly and emotionless. He finished by saying, don’t allow a male to keep it in his possession, for the curse will never be broken.” My heart jumped out of my chest. I picked up my cell phone and called officer Greenwell to relay the message. He still didn’t answer. I looked at the digital clock on my lap top. “11:49” the clock read. I shut my lap top down and headed for my bed room. I didn’t want to think about what I watched, what I heard, what I now know. I just wanted to sleep it away, and I did just that. “She… is… here…” I woke up to a cool breeze gently brushing my cheek. The sun was bright and the birds singing happily outside my open window. Open window? My window was closed before I went to bed. The smell of bacon emanated through the crack of my bedroom door. I sat up quickly without allowing myself to fully wake up giving myself whiplash. I rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen to find my grandmother cooking breakfast. She had no clue I was behind her. I saw a small hole in the back of her neck, it was big enough for me to see straight through to the other side. My jaw dropped. Tears welled in my eyes and before I knew it I was on my knees looking at a reanimated woman who was not my grandmother. I grabbed my pocket knife from the top of my movie stand and gradually moved in for the kill but, before I could strike, she turned around with her rosy cheeks and a wide smile. “Morning honey, I have great news!” She looked at my hand. “Why do you have a knife pointed at me?” I dropped the knife and wrapped my arms around my grandmother’s waist. “Grandma, you’re not alive! You’re dead! You’re dead!” I cried. She pulled me away from her chest and forced me to look in to her eyes. Her fogged over colorless eyes. “I’m very alive, I can’t cook for you if I’m dead love, now can I?” I shook my head as she took me back in to her arms and held me close. I was confused. I didn’t know what else to do. At least until I could figure out what more to do I played along and just let the truth become a false state of mind. “What was the good news grandma?” I asked cheerfully, covering up the sadness. “Oh, I sold the house. I have to get things before tomorrow and bring them here, do you mind helping me?” “No problem grandma, I just have to do my work out regimen that I haven’t done in the last couple of days.” She giggled. “Boy what are you trying to become a twig? You’re small enough as it is.” I laughed sarcastically. “Go on, I’ll see if Tracy and her husband can help me get things over here.” She kissed me on my forehead fed me a breakfast sandwich and sent me on my way. I felt bad for lying to my grandma but, I had to investigate the house once more. I ran to my grandma’s house and burst through the open door where the real estate man from the day before was escorting the new land owners through the home. “May I help you young man?” He asked me intently. I shook my head and headed straight for the living room where I found the dream catcher hanging over the entertainment center just like before. I grabbed it and dashed out of the door. I took it to a place where I go when I just need to be alone. I placed a pile of dry leaves and branches in the center of the stone walk way and lit it with a lighter that I found in my jacket. I placed the dream catcher in to the flames and watched as the flames quickly engulfed the thing and burning it with no problem what so ever. I placed more dry leaves and twigs just to keep the fire going a little longer. I turned and walked to the gym which wasn’t that far from where I was. Just before I reached the gym my phone vibrated in my pocket frantically. “Hello?” A woman was screaming in my ear. “Jacob!” A male’s voice hollered. “Yes.” I replied calmly. “Your grandmother’s house is in flames, where is she?” “She’s at my house why?” The phone hung up before I could get a reply. A text followed soon after. “How much do you love your grandmother?” The number came in as unknown. My heart raced, something wasn’t right. I hitch hiked asking a random woman if she could take me to my house because I thought my grandmother was in danger, she looked at me if I was nuts but she still allowed me to enter her car. She sped off, in a matter of minutes we pulled up to my front door. I quickly left the car and burst through my front door. There, standing before me was my grandma with a butcher knife to her neck, a creepy wide white smile which spread oddly from ear to ear, curling at the ends. She was laughing uncontrollably. “You love your grandma don’t you?” An eerie, demonic voice emerged from my grandmother’s mouth. She laughed again. I watched as whatever it was lifted my grandmother off of her feet and levitated her closer to me. Her creepy white eyes pierced through me, leaving me paralyzed with fear. The thing leaned in towards me with the knife still up to my grandma’s neck and that smile still plastered creepily on her face. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. I could nearly feel my life leaving my body. “Your essence.” The voice growled. “Your essence isn’t as delicious as your grandmother’s. You’re not one of them.” She laughed maniacally. Her laughter echoing through my head. I covered my ears and watched as the woman who wasn’t my grandmother walk in to my kitchen and take a leather case from off of the counter. She opened it and took out the blue dream catcher, the same dream catcher that I burned not that long ago. “How did you get that?” “Oh this? I saved it before you burned it too bad.” I watched as the white laces turned to red. I could see some sort of plasma come from the woman’s mouth and rap around the dream catcher. Once she was done, she shot the dream catcher at me. “Try again, I dare you.” I took the lighter from my pocket and without hesitation I tried to set the dream catcher on fire but the flames would just bounce back. She began to laugh again. I tossed it to the ground, I looked around to see if there was something else I could do. “Your officer friend can’t even save you, he’s dead! Along with the humans who were in the other house! They all burned alive because of you!” My heart sank. I listened to the laughter once again. What if? I thought. I quickly crawled toward the kitchen turning all the burners on but not actually lighting them. I let the gas from the pallet lights fill the kitchen before igniting it. The woman came in to the kitchen and lifted me from the floor by my neck. “What do you possibly think you are doing?” She smiled. I looked in to her eyes and noticed that there were faint blue orbs staring back at me. The same blue orbs that were following me over the course of the last few days, the blue eyes of my grandmother’s spirit. “Kill me.” A voice whispered. “Yes grandma.” I whispered lighting the clothes on the body of my enemy, she dropped me and tried frantically to put out the flames. I kicked her into the stove and watched as the stove exploded engulfing the woman and my house in flames. I’m happy to say that I’m still alive but Kiwidinok is looking for me. I don’t know what she will do but, I’m going to be running for the rest of my life. Please, take heed, if a small girl asks for your help and she holds a leather case, don’t help her. Send her on her way, but don’t anger her. If she returns then she has found someone who she can feed off of. At this point, you can’t chase her away. At least I can say that my grandmother is happily at peace knowing that I am happily married with a young daughter sleeping happily in her room. Hold on, there’s a knock at my door.

 

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