The sun was streaming through an opening between the curtains in Andrew's bedroom. He woke up on his back staring at the ceiling. He never had such a weird dream in his entire life. Was he just dreaming about the box in the ground because his sister was having these dreams? Maybe it was because they actually went after it the day before with their small garden spades trying to retrieve a treasure that might have been there. How ridiculous was it, but then again, they had a good day out in the sun and the exercise had done him well. Andrew remembered the pain he had felt in his dream. As far as he knew, dreams were not supposed to be painful, emotional maybe, but never painful. The pain he felt was real.
Andrew threw the blanket off his body and walked towards the curtains. He pulled them apart to welcome the sun in his dark bedroom. He squinted his eyes at the brightness of the summer day outside. He wondered what time it was and why he didn't hear any movement in the house that could have woken him up earlier. Maybe everyone decided to sleep a little later on this Sunday morning, but judging by the position of the sun, it had been late morning already and it was very unusual for his family to sleep later than nine in the morning.
When Andrew turned towards his bedroom door, he caught a glimpse of something on his bed. His white linen was covered with dirt and grass, but that was not all. There were also blood stains. Instinctively he looked at his clothes and noticed the same mess on his shirt and pants as well. He remembered from his dream that he had been digging the hole with his bare hands until they bled. When he looked at them, his fingers were dirty but intact. Things did not make sense. Why would his clothes, bed and body be so dirty if he was only sleeping? Was his dream real and was he really digging that hole? Clearly, there was blood on his hands. He could feel the bones shattering when he hit the wooden cube, but his hands felt fine, better than fine actually. What were those things that entered his body? Did it really happen? If it did, then he must have been possessed somehow.
Andrew sat down on his bed trying to clear his head. He didn't know what to do next. He wondered if it was a good idea to tell his family about his bizarre dream, but he would not be able to keep it a secret because he somehow had to wash his blanket and linen. If he took it to the washing machine, it would most certainly raise suspicion. Andrew decided to pull the linen from his bed and waited for the right moment to take it to the washing machine, but first, he had to get into the shower.
'Good morning lazy bums,' Emily said standing in the doorway.
Andrew was caught by surprise. The secret was out sooner than he expected. Emily would not be able to keep her mouth shut, but maybe she would not notice the mess in his bedroom and on his clothes.
'Morning sis, what time is it?' Andrew said scratching his head.
'Late. Mom's made some breakfast. We've all eaten quite a while ago. You never sleep this late.'
'Thanks, Em, I'll be there in a moment,' Andrew said. 'I can eat a buffalo right now. A herd of them actually.' He noticed a frown on Emily's face.
'What happened here last night?' Emily asked entering the room. There was confusion written all over her face.
Andrew knew there was no way out of his situation. No more hiding anything, no matter how strange it was. He did not know where to start or what to say, because who would believe him, anyway. There was no other explanation so the truth would have to do.
'Where's mom and dad?' Andrew asked in a hushed voice.
'Mom's busy cleaning and dad's watching TV, why?' Emily asked, slowly approaching Andrew. She regarded the blood stains on his clothes and bed.
'Something weird happened last night and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly. I don't want mom and dad to know yet, but maybe get Pat here so that I can talk to you both.'
'Okay,' Emily said, the frown still on her face as she scanned Andrew's bedroom. 'I'll go get him.'
Andrew sat on the edge of the bed with his head resting in his hand. He prayed that neither his mom nor dad entered his room, not before a good cleaning session. He did not know how to handle the situation. If the dream was real, did he walk there bare feet? If he did would his feet not have been bruised from all the rocks and thorns on the way there, especially on the hill where the terrain was rough? He looked at his hands. They were dirty, but there was not one scratch on either one of them. There were no new aches anywhere in his body except for stiffness in his back and arms from the digging the day before. His skin was a little sensitive from the sunburn, but that was about it. He was feeling healthy and well. He actually felt better than he had felt in a very long time. He found himself smiling, staring at nothing particular on the carpet. The smile soon faded when he remembered the horrid screams he had heard in his dream. The screams of the babies and women who were being raped, killed and tortured.
'What's up, Andy,' Patrick interrupted Andrew's thought when he walked into the room. He was followed by Emily. 'Fuck, what the hell happened here last night?'
'Ssst,' Andrew said holding his right index finger across his mouth, 'close the door.'
Once the door was closed, he said, 'Guys, I don't know what happened last night, but I had this dream. I know it would sound crazy, but I think I was there.'
'Where? What are you talking about?' Patrick frowned. He moved closer and sat down next to Andrew.
'The hill,' Andrew said. He noticed the healthy colour draining from Patrick's face, leaving him pale and confused.
'You were actually there last night?' Patrick asked. He looked around and noticed more stains on Andrew's bed.
'Yes, and I found the cube. I was digging with my bare hands. My fingers were bleeding as well. The voice told me that I was close, so I dug until I retrieved it from the ground.'
'Phew, that sounds like a good story, but come on Andy, who's going to believe that?' Emily said. 'I've got crazy dreams, I know, but at least I never said they actually happened.'
'I promise you. Why would I do this to myself, getting myself and my bed dirty? Think about it for a moment. I was there last night. It doesn't make sense to me either, but what else could this be? My dream was real. I'm telling you, I was there. Where would the blood come from otherwise?'
Patrick shook his head in disbelief as he regarded Andrew. 'What was in the box?' He could not believe that he asked that question.
'Much more than horrible images,' Andrew said. 'There were bones and a – ' Andrew paused, remembering about the staff-like thing he retrieved from the cube, the thing with the stone in it. He jumped up from the bed, 'there was a staff in there. It had a strange-looking stone. The stone was glowing when I touched it. I'm not crazy. It must be here somewhere.' Andrew got up and pulled the blanket from underneath Patrick where he was sitting on the bed. He shook it but there was nothing.
'Are you feeling okay?' Patrick asked. He got up from the bed and regarded Andrew with a mixture of concern and confusion.
'I'm telling you, I was holding that fucking thing in my hand last night. It must be around here somewhere.' He threw the blanket down in the corner of the room and went down on his hands and knees. He peeked under the bed and saw an object that seemed familiar, but he could not be sure. He was sort of hoping it would be the staff he had found in his dreams. He reached in and retrieved it from deep under the bed. When he pulled it out, he had a smile of victory. 'See, I told you.'
'What the - ' Patrick said reaching out for the strange object in Andrew's hand. When his hand came closer, the stone on the staff started illuminating just like Andrew had said.
Emily's eyes were fixed on the glowing stone. 'This is the same thing I dreamt about. It looked exactly like this one.'
It was Andrew's turn to be surprised. 'This one,' he said shaking it a little.
'Yes, it looked exactly like it.'
Patrick rubbed his face for a moment and fixed his stare on Andrew again. 'I can hardly fucking believe this. What does it all mean?'
'I don't know Pat, but at least you guys believe me now. One more thing, my fingers were bleeding, and they were broken last night because I hit the box with my fist. I guess I wanted it open so badly that I started doing ridiculous things. Look at them now.' He turned his left hand in the air for them to see it from all angles, 'there's nothing wrong with my hands this morning. They simply healed overnight. There's not one single scratch.'
'Oh my God,' Emily said holding her hands in front of her mouth as if she just witnessed a crime. She looked at Andrew in astonishment. 'This doesn't make sense at all. In my dreams, it was Patrick at the grave, not you.'
'None of this makes sense at the moment,' Andrew said.
'This is some fucking crazy shit man?' Patrick said. He had a sheepish expression on his face.
'What now?' Andrew asked. 'Should we tell mom and dad about it?'
'Well, they will find out sooner or later, won't they?' Patrick said. 'I mean look at your clothes and bedding. It's a fucking mess.'
'You're right. Let me have a quick shower first then I'll tell them,' Andrew said. He walked to his closet and hid the staff behind a box on his top shelf. He grabbed some clothes and headed for the door. He glanced back at Patrick and Emily for a moment before he opened his bedroom door. They simply looked at him in awe. 'I'm not crazy guys.'