Late Night

 

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            Tony slammed his book shut and sat up straight, glancing fearfully at the dark night outside his window. He should have gone to bed hours ago, but he’d been so wrapped up in the story, he’d had to finish it to the end.

            A chill crawled up his spine as he thought again about the book. It had been intriguing, but now he realized he should have read it during the day. Thoughts of the old wizened warlock with his goblin minions filled his mind, and he wished for the sunshine. A sudden breeze blew in through the open window and he shivered, tunneling into the blankets on his bed. How was he going to be able to sleep tonight?

            The light in his room was still on, but he wasn’t sure if he was brave enough to get out of bed to turn it off. He considered calling out for Mom, but he wasn’t supposed to be reading this late. Maybe Mom had been right when she said that book might be a little too much for him.

            Throwing the covers over his head, he tried ignoring the light in his room. That lasted about three minutes before he became convinced that he would never fall asleep that way. He gathered his courage to get out of bed and walked over to the light switch near the door. He hesitated a moment before he flicked the light off. Trying not to run, he hurried to his bed, but let out a little yelp when he felt something brush against the back of his leg. Springing into his bed, he buried his head underneath his pillow, trying to block out thoughts of monsters.

            He told himself that he must have bumped up against his backpack that he’d left on his floor, but his imagination was already in overdrive. Visions of warty goblins and cave spiders paraded in his mind, and he shut his eyes as tightly as he could.

            The wind was picking up outside, and the tree next to his window filled the air with the sound of its rustling leaves. A dog barked somewhere, and a car door slammed. Tony covered his ears with his hands, but a new noise reached him.

            A scritch, scritch, scritch came from the direction of the hallway. He bolted into a sitting position and whispered, “Thomas?” Their cat sometimes like to come and sleep in his bed at night.

            An answering “Meow” came, and he hurried to open his bedroom door. Thomas slunk in and immediately made himself comfortable on Tony’s bed, stretching out before curling into a tight ball.

            Tony was relieved. Even though Thomas ignored him as he settled down to sleep, Tony was grateful for his company. Feeling a little more relaxed, he got back in bed and closed his eyes. He had nearly fallen asleep when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. “Thomas?” he whispered again.

            This time, the “Meow” came from the end of his bed.

            “Mom?” His voice came out small and scared.

            The hinges on the door creaked as it slowly eased open.

            “Dad?” Tony’s voice was now full of panic.

            Slow, heavy steps came into his room. He wanted to scream or cry out, but his mouth was dry, and he couldn’t think properly. All he could do was grip his blankets tightly and throw them over his head. He tried to still his body that was now shaking violently. The footsteps grew closer until he felt a presence right next to his bed. The sound of heavy breathing grew closer and closer to his head, and his mind froze, unable to think or move.

            The small swish of a knife being pulled from a scabbard finally broke through the terror. A scream burst out of him. “Mom!” There was a clatter as something dropped to the floor and footsteps scampered away into the hall.

            Shuffling footsteps sounded a moment later and Tony sagged with relief when he heard Mom’s voice. “Tony? What’s the matter?”

            He scrambled out of bed and ran to his mother, hugging her tightly.

            Mom stumbled slightly as she wrapped her arms around him. “Was it a nightmare?” she asked sleepily as she kissed the top of his head.

            Tony could only shake his head no, too shocked to say anything.

            “It’s all right, sweetie.” She guided him back to his bed and tucked him in. “You’re okay now. It was just a dream. Looks like you’ve got Thomas in here to protect you.” She ruffled his hair and gave him another kiss before she shuffled back to bed.

            Tony sat still for a long while before his pounding heart settled down into a more normal pace. At least an hour passed before he heard Thomas jump off his bed and sneak back out of his room. He had finally started to grow tired, and his last thought before he went to sleep was that Thomas hadn’t done a very good job at protecting him and scaring off any intruders.

            A few hours of uneasy sleep brought bright morning sunshine to Tony’s room. His alarm went off, and he got up to start getting ready for school. He was exhausted after getting only a few hours of sleep. He kept his eyes closed as he pulled himself out of bed and toward his closet to get dressed.

            His foot touched cold metal and he finally opened his eyes to see what it was. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of a long dagger with emeralds and sapphires embedded in the golden handle. Heart pounding, he bent down to pick it up and noticed the dirt that had been tracked into his room. Dusty footprints led from his door to the side of his bed.

            His heart threatened to beat itself out of his chest as he picked up the dagger. It was surprisingly heavy, and glittered in the reflecting light. With a start, he realized that he knew this dagger. His eyes flicked over to the book he’d finished reading the night before.

            He swept the book off his nightstand and hurriedly flipped through its pages, stopping when he found what he was looking for. An image of a dagger lay in front of him. It was exactly the same as the dagger he held in his hand. He read the caption under the image and swallowed nervously. The book said this dagger held the key to the warlock’s power, and he remembered how it had been used in the story to defeat the warlock and his minions.

            “Tony! Are you up yet!” Mom yelled from downstairs. “Come get some breakfast!”

            Startled, Tony put the book and the dagger inside a dresser drawer. He didn’t have time to worry about them now. How would he explain this to his parents? Was he going to tell them that this dagger could defeat an evil warlock? He shook his head. No, what he needed to do was listen to Mom and stop reading in bed so late. He didn’t want another experience like last night. It couldn’t have been real, anyway, right?

            That’s what Tony told himself, but he always kept the dagger hidden in his room, just in case something else came to visit him in the night.