Jeremy collapsed face first into his soft feather pillow, giving not a thought to his filthy clothes or his mud ridden shoes. After a deep relaxing breath he sluggishly rolled over and was met head on by the bright morning sun gazing through his open window. His hand flew to the defense of his bloodshot eyes as his other groped the wall for the cord that would release the shield of blinds. His fingers chased the cord back and forth in his haste to shut out the piercing light. It seemed to him to have grown a mind of its own, now playing some sort of early morning prank, but in the end he was triumphant and down the blinds came with a thud, cutting off the horrendous radiance of the sun. His hand left his eyes to fend for themselves as he mustered enough energy to sit up and close his Clemson curtains. He no longer liked the team, but it was either them or those lame frilly white ones that his dear old decorating disaster mother wanted to put up.
His room was small, but he liked it. His bed was nestled nicely in the corner and though it had no head or foot board it suited him well enough. At the end of his twin bed a desk had been built into the wall. It was his idea “to save space”, he proposed to his father, but in reality he liked the idea of using the edge of his bed as the chair so when he grew tired of homework all he needed to do was flop back and boom; total comfort. Which he did regularly. He had only the one window that faced east and he wasn’t a morning person by any means, but the tree that had been there at one time was the perfect escape route when needed. Unfortunately the few rotted limbs that were discovered when the leaves had begun their autumn decent left his father fearing an unwelcome house guest and he had the tree cut down. He claimed he had spent too much time and money fixing up the place to have mother nature come crashing through the roof one stormy night. At first Jeremy was bummed about his getaway tree being removed, but the thought of being crushed to death by it was worse than losing a few nights of freedom. That was until Katherine came into his life that is. Now he’d give anything to have his accomplice back. His thoughts and dreams drifted back to the beach and his night with her. He replayed every instant from the moment he saw her leaning against the brick entryway bearing the name of her subdivision. Each moment was burned forever into his memory and he knew in his soul that years from now he would draw from the well of his past the memory of last night. Her smile, her walk, the feel of her arms around him and the smell of her all flooded back to him. It was a perfect night up until they fell asleep. Jeremy strained to remember actually when he had fallen asleep, but the last memory he had was walking into the woods to put on his suit and the feeling of being watched… or hunted. Icy fingers slid up his spine as he concentrated on that moment. He shuddered at some unseen menace, some evil that was lurking at the edges of his consciousness. Finally he put the whole thought aside convincing himself that he must have fallen asleep even earlier than he thought and dreamed the rest. Still he had an overwhelming feeling deep within him that they both had barely escaped a horrible fate that no one should ever have to face no matter how horrible they may be.
Sleep began to creep up on him, but he wasn’t ready to give in just yet to its draw. He forced his eyes to focus on his surroundings in an effort to drive the sleep from them. In lieu of a head board he had three shelves at the head of his the bed placed high enough to avoid any headaches. Believe me ten times is enough to make anyone move them up a couple of feet. His walls were adorned like many teens with posters of ageless cartoon characters, action heroes, rock bands, and movie posters all which had been hanging on his walls for years. The only thing his room lacked was an assortment of bikini babes, but that’s where his mother drew the line. She was a modern career woman, but she taught him to respect women and that meant no girly pictures. At first her demands infuriated him, he couldn’t see how a few bikini pictures would be any harm, but as the years grew he had begun to understand. Chris was his friend, but the way he talked about girls would almost make a sailor blush. His room was wall to wall flesh and even though Jeremy had once made any excuse possible to visit him somewhere along the way things had changed. Now the pictures were somewhat embarrassing especially when he thought about Katherine. He hated to admit it, but his mother had been right. About that at least. He had Katherine, all Chris had was his pictures and a yearbook full of girls that refused to speak to him.
Jeremy closed his eyes again, he could no longer look at his room without thoughts of changing it taking over, but he dare not mention it even to himself. He knew that if he so much as hinted at wanting to change anything his mother would be in his room with pastel paint, flowered wallpaper, pictures of big eyed puppies, and frilly everything quicker than anyone could stop her. Once he let it slip that he wanted to paint his room Zambezi purple to enhance the effect of his black light, and when he came home from school that afternoon he found his mother in his room with a measuring tape, two gallons of lavender semi-gloss, and a huge smile. Ever since that day his room remained locked when he was out. He wasn’t hiding anything; he just didn’t want to come home to the Lifestyles of the Pink and Fluffy.
“Mom should have a girl, then she can leave me alone and I won’t have to sleep with one eye open.” He opened his eyes one last time to make sure his room was still his own, satisfied he let himself relax into nothingness. Closet bulging, desk cluttered with comics, magazines, dirty dishes, papers, and clothes, an empty laundry basket and a full floor, old cd’s shoved anywhere they would fit, and his new stereo placed proudly on the top shelf above his bed. This was his sanctuary where he slept and dreamt while his parents were downstairs, unlocking the mysteries of an ancient, deadly, horror.