Chapter 3: Was That The Sleepwalker?

I heard a voice calling and shouting my name in an undertone, "Lucy, Lucy, Lucy, wake up!" It sounded demanding, and then I opened my eyes when I felt something shaking me. As I rose on the bed, I could make out John saying something as the ceiling light in my room blinded my vision.

Finally, I wiped my eyes, and his voice became clear to me. He said in a loud whisper, "Lucy, wake up! We gotta go now; it's almost time to meet Tim."

I immediately recalled the plan we had set early that day, then replied, "Alright, alright, I heard you." Slowly, I got off the bed and followed John to the door. He turned off my light and closed the door behind me, then used a flashlight to guide us down the short corridor.

As we passed our parents' bedroom, tiptoeing, I said quietly, "Are Mom and Dad asleep? What if they wake up and find us gone?"

"Shhh," he replied, "Stop worrying, I already told you not to come if you don't want to."

I sulked at his reply but kept following him. When we reached the front door, John picked up the keys off the hat rack right next to the front door. Then he shined the light at the door knob and opened it as softly as possible.

He returned the key to its hook and exited into the hallway. Just before he closed the door, I could swear I heard the wooden floorboard in the house creak, but I ignored it. The ceiling lights were on, which was a new sight to me. I never thought they kept these on throughout the night.

"Quietly now, Lucy, we can't let anyone know or see us out here." John cautioned as we strolled down the white-tiled corridor. Finally, we reached the stairs and cautiously crept down them. Every time we reached a new landing, John would stop me and peek around the corner to see if anyone was there, and then we would continue.

I was certain our presence in the lobby would be noticed by someone, but to my surprise, no one was there, and the door was open.

A cold breeze slapped my almost bare body the moment I stepped outside and caused me to rub my upper arms. As we went down the outside steps, I took a look up and saw a sight beyond my imagination. Above me were stars, millions of them, more than we ever saw on a daily basis, all giving the night sky a different hue, as if to mock the beautiful sunsets in the afternoon.

"John, look," I said, pointing into the sky.

For a moment, I felt good about coming outside, but John quickly brought me back to reality, and he grabbed me. "It's nice, Lucy," he said, "but don't forget why we're here. let's go."

We walked carefully on the sidewalk. There wasn't much creeping to do since everyone was asleep, and the only thing guiding us was the light of the full moon that hung low in the sky and the occasional orange streetlamp. After walking past Marcy Topping's home, we passed about three more houses before reaching Tim's house.

The breeze blew with a loud howl and shook the oak tree in Jennifer's front yard. The cold chill made me feel like running home. Unlike John, I was in a nightgown without sleeves. My brother then checked the time on his old silver watch that had no wristband. He had picked it up off my father after he had purchased a new one, and John treasured it ever since.

After checking the time, he pointed the flashlight at what would be Tim's bedroom and flashed it three times, then someone pushed up the window, and Tim stuck his head outside and said, "Come quick."

Since Jennifer's front yard had no fencing, we rushed up to the window, and John collected a bin from Tim while Tim climbed out of the window with both our bins in his hand.

He also handed me a knitted scarf to put around my body as we crossed the road, saying, "Here, take this, Lucy. I know you might be cold." I accepted the scarf with a broad smile and rushed to put it around me.

The sleepwalker's house was situated right next to an intersection, so we walked back and past the three houses again and kept going until we reached the intersection, then we crossed the road and walked down the sidewalk, which was at the side of the sleepwalker's house.

John stopped at the side gate and rested his bin on the sidewalk, then said, "Hurry, guys, it's almost 12 a.m." I was fairly certain nothing was going to happen.

But after taking a look at the house and the dead streets, a sense of fear came over me, and I quickly hopped inside the bin, then closed the lid. I waited in complete darkness for even the slightest sound. It felt like an eternity, but suddenly, I heard a loud—

"Slam!"

Followed by a loud creaking sound that increased and decreased in volume like when an old door swings back and forth.

Then I heard the old gate rattle, and fear rushed inside me and my breathing became deeper. I waited, trying to decide when to look. Then I decided to peek outside. I raised the lid as slowly as possible and looked down the street.

Through the tiny space I had created, I saw a figure like a man only for a moment under the streetlight, until he disappeared into the darkness again. He wore a top hat, and the rest of his clothing was pitch black. I failed to take a look at his shoes, though.

Then I heard John say, "Tim, Lucy, did you hear that?"

I flung open the lid, and a cold breeze hit me. Then I looked around at John, who was getting out of his bin, and Tim who was also getting out.

"I thought I heard the door open," Tim said, with his teeth hitting together. The place was freezing.

"Look there, the sleepwalker must have exited through that door," John pointed at the Sleepwalker's house. So, I looked and saw that the side door was open and had slammed into the wall.

"If only I had looked earlier," Tim said with regret in his voice.

"Same," John added. This enlightened me. Apparently, they didn't get to see anything, so I turned and said, "I saw something."

John and Tim bent their heads in my direction, "What did you see?" Tim asked.

"Mmmmm, nothing much, just a guy," I replied.

"Come on, Lucy, tell us," Tim asked, hoping for more, so I filled them in.

After revealing what I saw, Tim frowned, "Is that all?"

"Yeah, that's all I saw," I answered, but it's clear I didn't read the mood properly.

John walked up to me, "Alright, Lucy, you can go'n home. Me and Tim will put back the bins. I was surprised by his reaction and somewhat happy, but something was off.

I protested, "Why can't I help carry them in?"

John rolled his eyes, "Alright, fine, start packing them in; we're just gonna go down by the gate." That also sounded strange, so I watched them.

They were having a conversation in whispers, so I couldn't hear. Then I saw Tim step inside the yard, and John was about to follow him when I shouted, "Where the Hell are y'all going!"

They froze in their steps and looked around at me as if a bullet had hit them. Then John gathered his words, "Keep quiet, Lucy!" he replied in a low tone, gesturing his hands at me.

I put my hands on my hips and frowned. Then John sighed and signalled for me to come, and I walked over, "Me and Tim are just gonna take a look inside," he said.

I was about to explode, but John covered my mouth and put his other hand on his face, shaking his head, "I swear you don't know how to react. If you don't wanna come, then just go home and don't make a sound."

I scowled at his reply and pondered what I should do, but there was no other choice, "Fine, I'll come," I replied reluctantly. It's clear these two planned on getting killed tonight, and I was being dragged into it.

A broad smile appeared on Tim's face as we proceeded up the broken cobblestone path that led up to a concrete step. I watched the long crack it had down the middle as I pondered on all the problems that could come from this. The wind blew, and a rooster crowed. The closer I got to the house, the more anxiety overtook me, and then we entered it and were consumed by the darkness.