Pittman Place Pt 3

Later that night, Jakob lay in bed. He had had a bath but he still smelled smoke. He didn't think he'd ever stop smelling it. He'd tried blowing his nose and had been rewarded with a tissue full of black snot.
But he had washed the soot from his face and from his hair, had brushed his teeth and put on his pajamas, and although it was an extraordinary day, the likes of which would test any man or woman, Jakob was very sleepy. Now that he was warm and safe and clean, he yearned for his bed. He wished only to curl up under the blankets and forget everything that had happened over the last few hours.
But it was not to be the case.
He walked down the hall to his room and heard the door close downstairs. He heard his mom as she went into the kitchen, then started up the stairs. He walked to his bedroom and lay down. He pulled his blankets over himself, heaping them up in a great pile.
“How are you doing, darling?” His mother asked as she came in. She sat on the edge of his bed and turned on his lamp.
“I'm OK, Mom. Just sleepy.”
“The firemen say you were very lucky to get out when you did. What in the world were you doing over there, Jakob?”
Jakob curled up under his covers. He could feel his mother waiting, but he didn't know what to tell her. He couldn't put into words what had happen. He couldn't explain about Moses and the monster. His arms and legs were heavy.
“Okay” his mother said finally, “I'll let you sleep. We'll talk more in the morning.”
She pulled back the covers and kissed his cheek. She replaced them and turned off the lamp. Jakob was relieved that he didn't have to explain. His body relaxed. So much so, that he was asleep before his mother closed his bedroom door.
“Jakob.”
Jakob was cold. He looked around his room. His blankets were gone. He could see his bare feet at the end of the bed.
“Jakob.”
Jakob started for a moment, still only half awake. He searched for the voice. He recognized it.
“Moses?”
He saw a light glimmering in the far corner of the room. Out of it walked Moses. I must be dreaming, Jakob thought. He looks as real as he ever was.
“Jake, I need you to trade me clothes.”
Jakob was confused. Moses wore a sweater and jeans. He was barefoot like Jake, but Jake thought he looked warmer than he was.
“Jake, really. I need you to trade me clothes!”
“Why?”
“I can't tell you, just hurry!”
Everything seemed to blur just then. Jakob looked down at his chest and found a zipper. He laughed, it looked so funny. It poked out from his sternum, just sitting against his chest. He reached for it, grasping it lightly.
He looked up at Moses.
“Don't look.”
Moses smiled and turned around. When his back was turned completely to him, Moses disappeared. Jakob almost laughed again, but he could feel that Moses was still in the room, just hiding. Quickly, quickly, Moses whispered.
Jakob took hold of the zipper and pulled it down. He grimaced, anticipating pain, but found there was none. Instead, he felt warmer. No, that's not right, he thought. It wasn't warmth so much as lack of cold. He watched the zipper go down his body. When it reached his waistline, it stopped. He pulled the folds of the suit aside and saw that he wore the same sweater and jeans as Moses had been wearing a moment ago. He wondered at this for a moment.
“Quick, Jake!”
Moses reappeared in the same place as before, this time his hands were outstretched to him. He seemed both very excited and very scared. His eyes darted around the room, but always came back to Jakob. Jakob sighed and stepped out of the body suit he had been wearing. He was starting to think this wasn't a very funny dream after all. He pulled the suit from the floor and handed it to Moses. As it touched Moses' hands, their eyes met. Jakob wondered at an odd twinkling he saw there. Moses and Jakob stood there for a moment, their eyes locked with one another, frozen in time.
Then Moses changed.
Instead of Moses standing before Jakob, Jakob instead saw himself reflected back at him. His reflection wore the same pajamas as Jakob and the same dreamy expression.
“Moses?” He asked.
His voice was different somehow. He looked down and saw he was still in the sweater and jeans as Moses had been wearing. He didn't understand.
The other Jakob yawned loudly and shook his head. He looked at Jakob for a moment and then walked to the bed. He lay down and covered himself with the blankets which had fallen on the floor.
“Hey!” Jakob said, “What are you doing? That's my bed!”
Again his voice was strange in his own ears. The other Jakob covered himself up and closed his eyes. Jakob walked to the bed and looked down at him. He saw a smile on the other Jakob's lips.
“Better keep it down, Jake, or they'll hear you.”
“What? What are you doing?”
“Shhhh.”
Jakob stomped his foot indignantly. What was Moses doing? Stop pretending, he thought angrily. He reached down to touch Moses. His hand was inches from Moses' shoulder when it stopped. It stayed there in the air, unmoving, next to the blanket.
Jakob tried to pull his hand back, but couldn't. He pulled at it harder for a moment, trying to shake it free, but nothing happened.
It was then that he heard a noise. It was like a chain being dragged down the hall. It sounded very large. He heard a bumping as the chain moved. It seemed to be coming towards him rather than being dragged away. He turned around just as a shadow moved under his door. Mom! He thought.
But the shadow moved then, whatever it was, it snaked back and forth, still making sounds of heavy chains. As Jakob watched, he saw something wriggle under the door. It was something small, but the chain noise was louder now, in the room with him even. He tried to get a better look, but his hand stayed put and prevented him from looking around at his door way. Jakob grew frightened, he did not like whatever this was. Whatever part of the dream this might be, he didn't want it.
He closed his eyes, squeezing them tight to try and wake himself up. Still he heard the chains, closer now. He shook his head back and forth and squeezed his eyes tighter and tighter. Still he heard chains.
“Wake up!” He shouted. He heard his old voice as it pushed through the new one.
It was quiet and very still. He heard no more rustling. He hoped for a moment that whatever it was had disappeared. Down the hall, from his mother's room, he heard his mom's voice call his name.
He opened his eyes.
Everything was so bright, he almost couldn't see. Something hung in the air in front of him, twisting around wildly. It looked like a giant glowing worm of some sort. It reminded Jakob of the design on a finger trap, that sort of criss-crossed pattern. Its thrashing slowed for a moment and it seemed to be considering something.
Then in a flash, it swept itself around his waist. He tried to use his free hand to pull it off of him, but that hand was stuck just as rigidly as before. He struggled for a moment, but the strange snake continued to coil itself around his body. He made mewling noises and tried to move, but his entire body was stuck rigidly in place.
The for a moment everything stopped and he heard his mother's door open.
Then the chain snake tugged, as if signaling to someone on the other end, and, in an instant, Jakob was pulled out of his spot and under the door. His body seemed to slip under, like he was an octopus and was without bones. He was pulled at an incredible speed, seeing his mother's face in her doorway for only an instant.
“Mom!” He cried, but he was already past her.
He went down the stares and through kitchen. It pulled him under the front door and out onto the street. He tumbled for a moment, barely noticing the use of his arms and legs had returned. He rolled out to the sidewalk, only to be tugged, rather roughly, onto the black top. He lay there panting and looked down and the shining cord.
“I'd stand up, if I war you.” It said.
Jakob was flabbergasted. He propped himself up on his hands and knees, looking down in amazement.
“Up and at 'em now, we haven't time to waist!”
There was an edge of authority in the voice which pushed Jakob to obey. He stood up, the golden chain still about his midsection. He ran his fingers over the chain, it felted warm and vibrated slightly, as if there was something going on inside of it. As he watched, there was another tug, but this time the chain was caught and held. The chain was parallel with the street and ran down to the end of Jakob's block.
“What's going on?” He asked.
“Hold on, ked. T'll be all right.”
The chain held taut for a moment, shining like a neon light. Jakob looked at it with wonder and amazement. He felt something gathering at the far end of the street. He stopped watching for a moment and looked back at the house. He looked at the darken front window and saw himself reflected in it, standing in the street. But he wasn't himself. He looked like Moses.
What a strange dream I'm having, he thought.
For the third time that night, the air was still and heavy around Jakob. For a moment, Jakob vaguely perceived the voice of his mother from the upstairs of his house. Mom, Sis, he thought. The chain grew tight and then the force multiplied tenfold, pulling Jakob off his feet. He flew forward at an incredible speed and in seconds, when he reached the end of his block, he came to Oblivion.