Kara wasn’t home, so just Jodi and I went over to Jeff’s house. There was a police car in the driveway.
Jeff must have seen us coming as he came outside to talk to us when we went onto his driveway.
“He just disappeared…the doors to the house were locked, and nothing was out of place or damaged. Even his sheets were pulled up on the guest bed where he slept,” he said.
“We have to destroy the statue,” I said. “Maybe then the dreams will stop…and maybe your cousin will come back.”
We went inside and up the stairs to Jeff’s room. A poster of Cindy Crawford was over the dresser where Jeff was looking.
“Hey, I thought I put it back on my dresser,” he said. He looked around the sides of the dresser and in his closet. “It isn’t here anymore.”
“Did you show it to your mom or the police?” asked Jodi.
“No…I didn’t tell them about the dreams or the statue. I was afraid they would think I was crazy,” he said.
“Then where is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said.
There was a knock at the door while we were going downstairs. Jeff opened it up, and Katie was standing there holding the statue.
“Do you think that’s funny putting this in my room like that? Who let you in…was it my brother?” Kara said.
“What? No,” said Jeff. “It was in my room, and then it was gone.”
Kara glared at him.
“I swear,” he said. “I didn’t move it.”
“Who cares how it got there,” I said. “Let’s just destroy it and get this over with. Do you have a lighter, Jeff?”
“I think there is one in the garage,” he said.
“Grab it, and we’ll burn it on the trails,” I said.
Jeff’s mom and aunt were still talking to the police officers. Jeff shouted out, “Going for a bike ride with my friends. Be back before dark.” Then he rushed us outside and quickly closed the door before they could respond.
Jeff ran to the garage, grabbed the lighter and his bike, and off we rode for the trails. Before we turned down the dead-end street, we saw Kyle on his bike headed toward us.
“Hey guys, I’m back!” he shouted. “Are you going to the hill?” He rode over to us, and we all stopped.
The rest of us looked at each other, unsure of what to say.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go. I’ll tell you about my vacation when we get up there,” he said.
“We’re going to have a bonfire first,” I said. “We’ll fill you in when we get there.”
We went around the barrier and onto the dirt trails. Jeff led the way and stopped by the makeshift fire pit. Kara set the statue down, and we all started grabbing sticks and logs to build a fire.
“What’s going on?” Kyle asked. “You guys are so serious…this is weird.”
“It is hard to explain,” I said. “See…we found this statue, and weird things have been happening.”
“What statue? Is this it?” Kyle said as he set his bike down and reached for the statue.
“No, don’t touch it!” we all yelled simultaneously.
Kyle laughed. “You guys are messing with me,” he said and then picked it up.
“No, we’re not,” Kara said. “But it’s probably too late now… you’ll see when you go to bed tonight.”
“What are you talking about?” he said.
We threw some larger logs into the fire pit and then added a bunch of sticks and leaves.
“You guys are serious about this, aren’t you?” Kyle asked.
“Yes. We’ve all been sharing a dream since we touched this statue,” said Kara. “And now Jeff’s cousin is missing.”
“I don’t understand,” said Kyle.
Jeff lit the leaves on fire, and we added more every so often to keep the initial fire going. After a while, the sticks and then the bigger logs caught fire. Once it was going strong, Kara grabbed the statue and threw it in.
“Do you think he’ll start the dream in the circle like us?” I asked.
“Brian didn’t,” said Jeff. “He was at my house.”
“Wasn’t that where he touched it?” asked Jodi.
“Yeah. It was on my dresser when he grabbed it,” said Jeff.
“We always start in the circle where we first touched it,” said Kara. “Maybe that means Kyle will start here.”
“Hopefully, this will stop it, though,” I said as I put another log on the fire.
“What if it doesn’t stop?” asked Jodi. “We should show Kyle where to go, just in case.”
“Good idea,” I said. “We can do it after we get rid of this stupid thing.”
“I’m still not sure what you’re talking about, but okay,” said Kyle.
We added more wood and continued to sit around the fire. It was somewhat windy, so we had to move around when the smoke came our way. We hung out there for over an hour, watching the fire. Kyle told us about his camping trip, and we told him more details about the dreams and what had been happening.
After a lot of the wood had burned down, I scooped up some dirt and sand to throw on the fire. Then I grabbed a big stick and pushed around the remnants of the fire.
“I don’t see it in here,” I said. “Hopefully, it is burnt to ashes.”
“I like seeing you guys during the day, but I don’t want to see you in my dreams anymore,” said Jodi.
“I still think you all are messing with me, but you are freaking me out,” he said. “My mom didn’t want me to stay out long since we just got back, so I should go home.”
“Good idea,” said Jeff. “I’m sure I’ll be in trouble when I get back.
We took Kyle over to the circle of dead grass and told him to come right over here when the dream started. He nodded, but I don’t think he believed us yet.
“Is the circle getting smaller?” asked Jodi.
“Huh. I think it is,” said Jeff.
Some of the yellowing grass was standing up, and I could definitely see that it was smaller than before.
We got back on our bikes and rode on the trail back to our neighborhood.
“Hope I don’t see you tonight,” said Kara.
I said goodbye to my friends and headed home. When I got back, my parents talked to me about Jeff’s cousin and said they didn’t want me out after dark anymore. They said to be aware of anyone suspicious in the neighborhood and scream for help if I was ever in danger.
I fell asleep pretty quickly that night and dreamt that I was walking through the trails by myself. The trees were burning all around me, and I could feel the heat from the flames. I heard a loud growl from within the burning woods and watched as the monster ran through the trees, stopping directly in front of me. It smelled of burnt wood and had smoke coming off of its body.
I tried to move but was frozen in place. All I could do was stand there as it moved closer and closer. The heat was radiating off its body, and I could feel my body sweating.
I heard my friends yelling my name, and I looked over to see them in the circle surrounded by a ring of fire.
The monster reached out and touched my arm. I screamed in pain before waking up in my bed. My sheets were wet, which I had hoped was just from sweat, as I could feel it dripping off my face.
I had a burning pain in my arm. After rolling up my sleeve, I saw a red mark where the monster had touched me. It hurt pretty bad, but I didn’t tell my parents because I was worried they would think I burned it on a bonfire.
At school, I couldn’t wait for recess so I could talk to my friends. The morning moved slowly, and when it was finally time to go outside, I walked with Jodi down the hall and out to the playground.
“What happened last night?” Jodi said. “You weren’t with us, and we could barely see you over the fire.”
I rolled up my sleeve. “The monster grabbed my arm,” I said.
“Oh my God!” she said. “That’s a pretty bad burn. It looks like it hurts.”
“It was worse when I woke up, but it doesn’t feel as bad now,” I said.
Once we got outside, we saw Kyle by the swings and started walking over to him.
“Oh no,” said Jodi. “Here comes Jason and his friends.”
Jason was a jerk. He would always purposely walk toward you, and if you didn’t move out of the way, he would strike you with his shoulder.
I didn’t feel like dealing with him, so I moved to the side. He put his foot out right as I walked by, and I stumbled and fell into the dirt.
“Did you have a nice trip?” one of his friends said while they all laughed.
Kyle ran over, and then he and Jodi helped me up. I brushed the dust off my clothes. I glared at Jason for a moment and then turned around. “Let’s just go,” I said.
“He’s such a jerk,” said Kyle.
He was always causing trouble with the other kids and the teachers. I was glad he wasn’t in my class since he was so disruptive and annoying.
After they made sure I was okay, we started talking about the statue.
“I didn’t have any weird dreams last night…I knew you guys were just messing with me about that statue,” he said.
“It was different last night,” said Jodi. “But they are real. Look at this.” Jodi grabbed my arm and showed Kyle the burn mark.
“The monster touched my arm last night, and this was here when I woke up,” I said.
“Hey guys,” Jeff said as he and Kara walked over to join us. “Why was it so different last night? I thought this was supposed to be over.”
“Me too,” said Jodi.
“You won’t believe what happened this morning,” Kara said. “The statue was sitting on my dresser when I woke up. It was covered with ash but looked the same as before once I brushed it off.”
“I think I made it mad,” I said as I showed her my arm.
“Yikes,” said Kara.
“I wonder what is going to happen tonight,” said Jeff.