Bump In The Night

Bump In The Night

“There it goes again!” my little brother whispered sharply, his voice piercing through our country house. I levelled my head & pricked up my ears to detect the sound my brother was haunted by, but there was no sound to be heard, only this hollowness in the trees & a lifeless breeze.

“Back to sleep with you! I’m certain it’s just the wind howling” I lied to him, the wind doesn’t howl here. Living out in the middle of nowhere during the cold & bitter nights like these, the silence, is what haunts me. You’d figure myself to be used to the silence since I’ve been brought up here, feeding chickens by day & sleeping on the scratchy wooden floors by night. Yet I am not, the silence is what keeps me tossing & turning.

“I promise I heard something this time, it wasn’t the dripping of the leaky tap or the rustling of cattle. It came from the barn!” He pleaded. I certainly wasn’t up for another dreary night of aimless wandering around the paddock searching for my little brother's boogie man, nor was I up for leaving my linen sheets for that matter, for they finally started to get up to warmth.

“Don’t you remember the words of what mother told us? If you keep making up such nonsense you’ll be none other than the boy who cried wolf.” I claimed in a snooty tone. I probably should have been careful with my wording because I could see my brother's face grow red like our summer tomatoes & his eyes streaming of salty tears. "I'm sorry, please don't cry. You'll wake Mother & Father" I spoke, gentling my tongue.

"If you truly are frightened why don't you tuck up close to me tonight?" I patted the empty space on the floor next to me. His face calmed, he wiped his crocodile tears & slowly dragged over his crocheted bedding, placing it not even an inch apart from my bed & we huddled close to maintain the warmth.

My brother is now laying by my side, still smelling of blackberry pie from earlier. Mother always makes him blackberry pie with the freshly picked blackberries from the bushes that grow out of the bottom of the barn. One day when he was younger, he had disappeared for a short while, my Mother was sick to the stomach wondering where he had gone. We searched all his hiding places & the animal pens where we'd normally find him, but there was no sight of him. The sun had lowered, becoming closer to dusk & we'd almost given up. No one thought to check the barn, it is about half an acre from the house. My mother & father always forbade us from reaching it when we were playing, they never told us why & it was always locked up. That day he disappeared is when I decided to search for him there, I found him with his face the colour of thistles. He had found the blackberry bushes here & was feasting on them. My brother has loved blackberries dearly ever since.

After my mind reminisced, I pulled my little brother in close & peered outside the window at the starry night. My eyes grew heavy as my breathing slowed.. I felt my body heavier than lead, I had drifted off. Dreaming, I was outside our house in the paddocks alone. The sky looked as red as blood oranges, it leaked feathers as black as pitch. Surrounding me, they felt light at first but they quickly began to wrap around me like a windstorm, they were then as sharp as thorns from a rose. They tugged & pulled me towards the barn! I dug my fingers into the earth & clamped my hands shut, my nails splitting while desperately trying to resist being pulled closer & closer! Soon, I was left by the swarm of feathers a few steps from the barn. My mouth was dry & my wrists ached, I then saw the feathers form the shape of a bird Flying towards the barn window just above the door, it perched itself & there it sat.

I soon observed that there were no blackberry bushes to lay eyes on. Suddenly I heard a loud solid thud at the barn door! The shadowy bird was startled as well as I, as a loud howl was coming from the barn door. It was not the howl of a coyote, nor the howl of a wolf. It was a haunting, guttural howl almost resembling the howl of a man, a man in pain. The sound, being so unbearable & unnerving I cupped my sweaty palms over my ears to muffle the racket.

Before I could back away into a sprint the barn door swung open busting the chains holding it shut. It crashed into the side of the building echoing throughout the forest. I peered in, my heart leaping out of my chest, I saw the light inside swinging. There was something placed in the middle of the barn so I took a step forward fixing my eyes on the barn light, it was now swaying lesser & lesser. It came to a stop, creating a beam of light that shone down. I followed along the beam with my gaze, it led me to the creaky old floor of the barn & there I saw it. There lay a brown burlap sack full of seeds, not just any seeds, these seeds were different they were crimson stained. They were almost glowing under the barn light, blood red like rubies.

"BLACKBERRY PIE!" I heard my brother shouting. I could feel my consciousness slipping away. The dreamscape melted away like an oil painting, my hand was reaching out to the sack of seeds but I couldn't grab them. I felt my person being shaken back & forth, my hearing broke through as I woke up to my little brother again shouting "Mother made blackberry pie for breakfast!". I rubbed my tired eyes while watching that snotty little brother sprint down the hall towards the kitchen, I sat & pondered for a minute longer before I joined them. Why had I dreamt of such heinous visuals? It didn't feel anything like a night terror nor sleep paralysis like normal, it was something pulling my soul, calling out to me. Maybe a warning of some sort? I was quite puzzled whether I should be wary or ignore the signs & deem it a silly old nightmare. Easily, I became distracted by the fruity aromas of the pie filling the room, my stomach gurgled at me.

"I'm sure it was just a dream" my mind queried, I dug myself out of my sheets & proceeded down the hall. My feet dragged behind me, my quality of sleep may not have been well I assumed. I turned the corner into the kitchen, where my family sat already devouring the pie. My mother & father were very much in love, not only was it my little brother & I, we had one other older sibling. She was like the mother hen of a sister for us both, bossing us two boys around & keeping us in line. We would have had a fourth & eldest child, but my mother rarely spoke of that, for it held a lot of weight to her shoulders, so I never persisted. My father loosely described it as a miscarriage, mentions that he would of been an older man by now if he had been delivered healthy.

I plonked myself down on the wooden stool next to my brother, I was famished. My father straight away, placed a plate of the last slice of pie, the pastry was golden brown, brushed with butter & the Blackberries had melted, their rich colours bleeding into the powdered sugar. It was a generous piece but not enough to leave me content.

"Saved you a slice kipper!" He sang in a bouncy tune.

"Thanks, I'm starving, I trust the night was well for you all" I bestowed. They all grinned & bid the same with their expressions.

"We only have enough blackberries left on the barn bushes for one last pie tomorrow, just before spring rolls in." My mother reminded us all softly.

"It's your turn to go pick the last batch of Berries little man." My sister gloated while pointing at my brother, who sat beside me with his face screwed up, poking fun at my sister.

"That's right! I did it last time & the time before was your sister. I think it's high time the berry monster picks his own produce for a change." I added, my sister standing proud at myself siding with her.

"FINE! I will tomorrow in the afternoon so mother can make us a pie after supper just before dusk. But don't kick up a fuss if I've eaten all the berries before I've returned!" He sniggered with a smug face. We all chuckled at his audacious nature & continued with our meals in a comfortable silence. After breakfast, while my sister helped my mother wash up, my brother, father & I made our way outside to tend to the livestock & animals. Not much sprouted around this season so we didn't have much to harvest off the land, only potatoes & carrots. Mother had been struggling slightly this time around to provide good meals out of the scraps we'd salvage, yet she always managed to keep the blissfulness to life, even through the hardships. After harvesting it was time to part ways to tend to our selected animals. Father was left to milking the cows, my Brother & I checked on our hens to see if they laid any eggs.

I was hoping the pen was constructed enough to hold enough heat for them to lay, we both popped aside the hen & checked the nests one by one. With little luck, out of five chickens we retained only 3 eggs.

"Better than none." I told my brother. He looked at first with concern in his eyes but then relief after what I had said.

"3 is better than one!" He continued, trying to catch my attention with his glance. He looked bothered, I could tell there was something eating at him.

"Out with it" I poked him on the shoulder.

He resisted, then fumbled with his words to say "Once you fell asleep last night I heard the howl again, but this time I felt it calling out to me. It sounded like someone needed help." He proclaimed, his voice became shaky.

"What did you do? You better not of ventured into the night on your own." I gave him a protective look.

"I might have left to follow the sound, but I was right I tell you, it was coming directly from inside the barn." He said with a puffed up chest.

"You know Mother & Father have forbade us from going there, on one account we are allowed & that is when we are asked to go pick the Berries!" I raised my voice.

Of course I feared the barn, just as my siblings did. We aren't ever told why we must stay away or why it is barred up, it's instinctive for me to feel this way, this afraid.

"I'm sorry, I won't ever go there again! I don't ever want to go there because of what I saw through the cracks in the chipped red wood!" His eyes widened, then relaxed in a purposeful way like he was hiding more from me.

"Tell me what you saw in that barn, immediately!" I should have laid my sentence lighter, but with my anxiety rising & the fear of the unknown peaking, I needed to know. "I saw nothing, only a giant sack of seeds in the corner. The seeds were barely ordinary, they were red" He stared blankly. My breathing quickened as I felt my chest tighten, for the description of these seeds he had given were uncanny & extremely similar to the ones I saw laid on the barn floor in my dream. He halted his words & stared off with a troubled look. I knew my brother as well as I tie my shoes, he was burdened somehow, by something MORE than just seeing a sack of seeds. But I didn't pester, I embraced him & said gently "Please stay away from peeping inside the barn little one, there is only so much I can do to protect you." He looked up at me brooding like he had just seen a ghost & whispered "It asked me for food." Before I could answer I heard my father calling out for us to hurry in for soup. I looked up at the sky, the sun was a vibrant orange, it was already falling to become night. I grabbed my brother's arm, held it tight & we made our way home. The pens were only a handful of metres away from the house so before we knew it we were already at the doorstep. Mother had made her classic creamy potato & carrot soup from our produce. I realised how hungry I was when the aromatics of the soup reached my senses, smelling the delightful sweet scent of the carrots & potatoes made my stomach yearn. We all sunk into our stools, each exhausted from our hard days work immediately tucking into the mouth watering soup.

“I trust your chores were fulfilled today?” My mother looked up from her soup at my Father, brother & I. Mother & my sister tend to the housework such as cooking, cleaning, washing, the things women succeed in doing greater than men.

“Yes Mother. Our hens only laid 3 eggs for us due to the bitter weather, but 3 is better than none! They will be perfect for your Blackberry pie tomorrow” I said proudly, She smiled then looked to my father for an answer.

“Yes my love, but I ran into a hiccup while milking the cows, you see as I began to milk the first I swiftly noticed the milk wasn't fresh & as white as sugar.” My Father said boggled.

“The milk was mouldy & gangrenous, with a viscosity to that of curdled milk” He continued.

“So sadly we will be without fresh milk for the time being.” He dropped his head, puzzled. How could this be? I thought to myself, it couldn't be the weather causing such a hindrance within our cows, it just isn't possible.

My mother sat there confused but told us “Not to worry, we will still have some milk left from the last harvest.” we all nodded to her response in some relief.

“I saw some Blackberry seeds in the barn last dusk.” My brother finally said. I noticed he had been sitting like stone most of our conversation. I find it hard to believe that seeds are all he laid vision on, his eyes couldn't hide what more he had seen.

“We will not talk about that barn nor what is inside my child!” My mother said with a sharpened tone, she then abruptly arose off her stool, empty ceramic bowl in hand & made her way over to the basin to wash up. My father shook his head at us, motioning that we all must hurry to bed at once. I stood & handed my bowl over to my Mother along with my brother's bowl, his was untouched & still full to the brim with mothers soup.

We each washed ourselves & made our way to our quarters. Mother & Father had their own separate room, as did my sister, she slept in the empty spare room because she was becoming a lady, so she required her own space. My brother & I entered our own shared room, I laid over my linen sheets, arms rested on top of my belly. My brother slumped over to his bedding laying down without a single word, he faced his body away from myself. He seemed unfit & oddly unwell, so I decided not to bother him with my questions. It wasn't long before my eyes wanted rest, so I closed them gently & cleared my mind. Breathing heavily I again felt myself drifting, my body was afloat & lifting into a dreamscape. I entered a deep mesmerising sleep.

A giant THUD had woken me suddenly, there I lay on frosty wooden floors without my sheets. Sitting up, I darted my eyes around looking for my sheets, as the cold was biting my toes. My senses returned to me, I felt my hands dig themselves into a dirt flooring rather than wooden, I quickly realised the vicinity of this now unfamiliar room, it was not my quarters at all, I was inside of the barn.. I sat, frozen & without my whits. I looked up at that small barn window above the door to see the outside sky, it was scarlet, like a blood moon had dawned. The barn door was unbarred, yet it was still shut. I grabbed the handle & twisted it frantically, it was locked.

My heart skipped for a moment as I peered around the room with my back to the door, looking for something to help my escape. Luckily, I saw a stool in the back corner of the room so I grabbed it & placed it just below the barn window. I leapt up on the wobbly wooden stool, it propped me up just enough so I could see out of the barn window. Our house was opposite the barn, also opposing to the barn was my Brother & I’s bedroom window. I saw our bedroom window shoot out a blinding beam of vermillion light towards me. It impaired my vision for a moment but then I saw something there, I saw a silhouette of a boy staring straight back at me. He seemed to be my brother's age but I couldn't make out any features. My eyes glued to this visual, I could not look away. The boy just stood there, lifeless & peering out towards me.

I could then see another silhouette, a man, slowly coming up behind the boy. This man violently snatched the boy up in his arms, I could see him struggling to get out of his grasp. It was seconds later, they both had fallen out of sight from the window. I stood on the stool a while longer to see if I could see anything but I could not. Listening out, I could hear flapping in the distance, flapping of feathers. It got louder & louder as it got closer, it was flapping of wings. I saw a black shadowy figure flying right towards my face, before I could act the figure had hit me like a catapult right in my nose, sending me off the stool, THUMPING my body of flesh into the middle of the barn back where I woke. My head dazed, with my nose bleeding I fixed my gaze dizzily at the barn window. There perched & sat in the windowsill was a substantially large black Owl, Its eyes were wide, sable & beady. It did nothing but sit & watch my every move. Dizzily & with eyes of an Owl watching, I looked around the barn once again.

The room of course was unkept & empty, stray bits of hay lay everywhere & cobwebs in every corner. Looking at the bottom corners of the room I began to notice there were almost little holes dug in the dirt at the skirts of the walls. Some had thick roots following to outside the barn & some were riddled with the same carmine seeds I've seen in here before. My mind couldn't make sense of it all, my head thumped from the fall & my throat tasted of pennies. I glanced up one last time at the Owl, it was still looking down at me. It then darted its head to the back left corner of the room, startled it took flight leaving stray feathers behind, they floated down through the air softly.

I was terrified of what the Owl saw in the corner behind me, my mouth ran dry & my pulse was palpitating rapidly I could hear it running through my ears. Steadily, as not to disturb what could be in the corner, I turned ONLY my head towards the corner. Before I could lay eyes on what was lurking behind me I heard stomping & struggling coming from a few metres outside the barn. It grew greater & greater, it was stomping of boots on the tall grass just outside making its way towards the barn door. I heard the door swing open & slam the side of the barn, immediately I swung my head around & the same vermillion blinding light beamed over me as the door remained open. There stood a silhouette of that same tall man I saw grab the boy in the window of our house, he was standing still in the doorway. I noticed that he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at the back left corner, the same direction as where the owl was looking. He kept his distance, staying within the doorway while pointing to the corner he muttered in a distorted voice “You’ll stay in here until you are no longer sick!” Grabbing clanky chains from beside him, he then slammed the wooden door shut. I could hear him barring & locking the barn door up so I sprinted & started banging repeatedly. I listened to hear his steps leaving, now getting further & further away, I soon heard the backdoor of our house slam shut. I faced & rested my head against the barn door in defeat, the blood from my nose dripping onto the dirt in front of me.

A faint twitching rustle came from the left corner behind me. Fight or flight took over as I flipped myself around pressing my back against the barn door. At once I fixed my gaze straight to the corner where the sound emanated from, all I could make out was a dark nebulous figure, hunched over, its body facing the wall but its head & neck was turned to look back at me. Its eyes were reflective & white like a foxes, hunting in the forest at night. I could not look away from such a sight, such an otherworldly vision. It sat staring, breathing, it almost sounded like a death rattle rather than gasps of air.

“What are you?” I whispered in an unsteady voice. It stared up at me for a while, then turned to me ploddingly & stood tall, towering in the corner, its limbs jolting & twitching. It let out that same haunting & guttural howl, the howl of a man in pain, yet not, this time it was a lot lower & a more impatient pitch.

“Forbidden fruit.” It spoke, those words chilled the very marrow in my bones. Its arms raised, I saw it beginning to sprout quills all over its back & arms. It was morphing into an unnatural, unsightly form. I pushed my back securely into the barn door, this thing was utterly impulsive & had the presence of a wild animal. It bounded towards me grabbing me by my shoulders, it lifted me up to its height & howled at me with a blood-curdling growl. I shut my eyes tight, while being shaken back & forth. “It's just a dream.” I chanted over & over, pleading to be awoken. The growl was deafening, the sound clawed throughout the barn & into the dead of night.

“WAKE UP” My sister yelled, her hands grasping & shaking my shoulders.

“You’ve slept until midday!” She proceeded to shake me until I was fully awake.

“I must have not slept well.” I replied, rubbing my eyes & yawning, of course I had to bite my tongue & lie.

“Are you not well?” She asked, putting her palm on my forehead to check the temperature.

“Your temperature is fine, up you get, you can't fake your way out of work.” She said as she hopped up, fixed her dress, she walked towards the door. I glanced over to my brother's bed, it was already made up & unoccupied.

“Where is he?” I asked. “He's at the barn picking berries, remember?” She teased. “Anyhow I’m off to pick the winter flowers around our fields, it's your turn to help Mother make the blackberry pie.” She exited the room to outside.

As soon as she left I ran towards the back door & swung it open to see a view of the barn in the distance. There he was like she said, picking the last of the berries. Had I lost my mind? These dreams I am having do they mean anything? Are they warnings? Or has the fear Mother & Father have put into me about the barn causing these dreams? All I know is that there is something in that barn Mother & Father aren't telling us about, something evil & my brother is now a victim of it because he has seen it or what it is. I could be overthinking all of this, but why else would my mind have dreamt of such a vision, almost an epiphany of some sort..

I heard my Mothers call to help, she was in the kitchen beginning to make the pastry for the pie. “There you are my dear, you were asleep all afternoon, I feared you were ill.” She said kissing me on the head in concern.

“Well here I am. I feel fine, I just didn't sleep well.” I deceived her.

“You can help me make the pastry before your brother returns with the berries.” She grinned & motioned to the window out to the barn where he was, still, picking.

“How about you get started by cracking the eggs you retrieved into that bowl of flour there?” She pointed to her large handmade ceramic bowl, it already had flour & all its other components to make pastry in a perfect circle on top of the flour.

There were the three eggs, lined up on the side of the bowl ready to be cracked. I grabbed the first one & cracked it on the side of the wooden kitchen bench. I then held it over the bowl of flour & broke the shell in half, the inside of the egg falling onto the flour with a puff. “Huh?” I said aloud. The egg yolk & white were black sludge, they were completely rotten & reaked. My mother rushed over & she snatched the egg shells out of my hands & peered inside the bowl.

“What in the-” Too stunned to speak & barely finishing her sentence, she picked the last two remaining eggs up & cracked them once each. They both were the same, off & aged like they were kept in a jar for years.

“Don't worry!” She said, “They must have been outdated eggs! Luckily your father will be bringing in some more soon.” She seemed dismissive of why or how the eggs came to be that way. Shortly after, Father returned with some more eggs, my sister also with a bouquet of flowers & then my brother his basket full of berries as deep as nightshade.

Quite some time had passed & it was already time for dessert. Mother rationed the blackberry pie & gave us all a slice each. We sat quietly, all eating except my brother. He was just lightly poking his slice with his fork. Not devouring it first thing Mother set it on the plate like he normally would.

“Not hungry there little one?” Father questioned him. He looked up & realised how aloof he’d been & said “Oh, well I may have snacked on some berries on my walk back from the barn so I’m not as hungry, forgive me.”

“That's no worry at all.” Mother said, chuckling, she grabbed his plate with the slice on it, covered it with a cloth & set it aside for him on the kitchen bench.

Later that night when it was time to slumber, my brother once again went to bed without any words wishing me a good night's rest. So I did the same. Closing my eyes while my mind eased, I drifted off a lot quicker than most nights. I awoke in the body of someone else, someone other than myself. They were shorter & younger than I. I quickly realised I was dreaming, seeing through the eyes of my little brother. He appeared to be walking towards the kitchen, sneakily, trying not to wake anyone. His eyes locked onto the slice of blackberry pie he didn't eat earlier. He grabbed it & placed it into a basket. What was he doing? I followed along the dream some more, he began to walk to the back door of the house, grabbing the door handle & swiftly twisting it open, trying to be as quiet as possible. The door opened to its fullest showing a view of the barn parallel to our house. He proceeded to walk outside & down the steps with the basket in hand. Still peering through his eyes, he looked up to the sky, it was normal, no bleeding colours, nor was it in the slightest bit unordinary, just a deep azure sky full of stars. I felt unsafe & realised that he was making his way to the barn. We were drawing closer & closer, my heart felt faint. I couldn't run or move as I was not in control, I was stuck almost being made to watch my brother getting closer & closer to danger. I tried to scream & call out to him for he was almost at the door of the barn. I didn't wish to see anymore of it, I yelled as loud as I could to try & break through but nothing was working.

“WAKE UP!” I wailed, opening my eyes, prompting myself out of the dream, it was still the dead of night when I woke, I was sweating profusely. Without thinking, I looked over to my brother's bedding, the sheets were slept in but he was not there. I sprung up & made my way to the back door of the house. I hauled it open & looked towards the barn, the door was wide open & I saw broken chains in the grass. I jumped off the porch into a dead sprint towards the barn. My eyes streamed of tears, I was not prepared for anything at this point in time. Before I knew it I was a few steps from the barndoor. The light was swinging side to side, it proved difficult to get a sight of inside. As I walked closer I saw that the blackberry bushes were dead & wilted.

Within the barn echoed the soft flutter of clumped feathers followed by strange short yet sharp gushes of wind. I shuffled closer towards the front, in the doorway I saw a basket with a broken plate & remnants of blackberries. I moved towards it & picked up the broken plate to inspect it. It wasn't only covered in the remains of a blackberry pie, it also had traces of blood splattered all over. My face ran cold, my hand dropping the plate out of disbelief. My breathing quickened as I leaned inside the doorway to peer around the barn, the light still swinging. The light swung over the corner of the barn & that's when I saw. The same shadowy being I dreamt, only this time I saw every detail, every equation. He was enormously tall & slender yet was in a hunch, his eyes white & reflective like someone was shining a light over his retinas. My hands shook while becoming familiar with such a repulsive appearance. He had quills of feathers sprouting from every body part. He was malnourished & skinny enough to see the ribs of his cage.

He sat there hunched in the corner staring at me, growling & twitching. He lowered his arm to point beside him. I followed is arm down & saw my brothers hand seeping out of the darkness. As the barnlight swung past them yet again, giving my eyesight a perfect glimpse of my brother that lay beside this thing, lifeless. The man's neck lurched away from the horrific scene of my sibling's dismemberment, the ruby life-nectar gushing from his hanging jaw. the deep redness covered his pale, deathly face, his hollow eye bags framing the absent eyes above. I was unable to move, fixated on the swaying barn-light within his cold pupils...