GH5 4: The Bog-Man.

That night in my bedroom, i tossed and turned in my sleep while Copper slept on the floor at the foot of my bed in his puppy-basket.

I was having a nightmare.
/

I awoke and sat up to find myself on the ground, wearing a white short sleeve t-shirt, pale blue pajama pants and white socks. I looked at my surroundings and realized that i was in a creepy swampy area in the middle of the night. I got to my feet and began walking through the swamp-like land.

"Hello?" I called. But there was no response. "What's going on? Is this a joke?"

"Keegan!" Came the voice of Connor. "Keegan!"

I walked further through the creepy swamp-like area and looked at my surroundings again. I then realized where i was. It was a big bog.

Connor then appeared in front of me, wearing a gray short sleeve t-shirt that had white words on it that read 'Ultimate Sleeper' and a pale blue design of a video game controller in the middle of both words, cornflower blue pajama pants with video game designs, and he wore white and gray socks. "He's after you too, Keegan. He wants both of us."

"What are you talking about? Who wants us?" I asked.

"The Bog-Man." Connor answered before disappearing.

I turned around to see a vaguely humanoid being composed of plant-matter in the form of a tree with a face. It had glowing red eyes, a long face, pointed ears, a long hand-made cape that touched the ground, and three branches on it's forehead. I instantly became overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. For i immediately recognized the monster in front of me. This was the creature i saw as Connor's drawing in the 4th grade nightmare i had. This creature...was the Bog-Man.

The monster now known as the Bog-Man speedily made it's way toward me.

/

My eyes shot open and i sat up, sweating all over, and looked around and saw that i was in my dark bedroom in the Dale house. Knowing that it was just a dream, i laid back down on my bed on my right side, closed my eyes, and went back to sleep.

I then heard the the bedroom door open, followed by the sound of someone walking in.

My eyes opened. "Dad..." I began. "is it time to get up already?" I asked before i turned over on my back to face my Dad, only to see the Bog-Man standing in my room. "AAH! AAH! DADDY! HELP!" I screamed as i sat up in bed.

Alarmed by my screams, Copper awoke in his puppy-basket, saw the Bog-Man, and began growling and barking at him viciously, attempting to scare him off, to no avail.

"Keegan!" Came the voice of my Dad from outside my room, followed by him, aunt Candace, Layla, Isaac, Chelsea, Adam, Emma and Connor rushing in through the open doorway and my Dad turning on the lights in my room, making the Bog-Man disappear instantly, as well as making Copper's growling and barking cease. "Are you alright?" Everyone was dressed in their sleep-clothes.

Isaac wore white sleeveless undershirt, blue knee-length adidas shorts, and he wore black flip-flops.

Connor was wearing the exact same pajamas he wore in my nightmare about the Bog-Man.

Fearful and utterly shaken, tears formed in my eyes and i began crying as they ran down my face, and i covered my face with my hands. I then noticed my Dad and the others looking at me strange. "(Crying) What is it?" I asked.

"Keegan, you're bed. It's wet." Isaac said.

I moved my hands away from my face and looked at my bed to see what Isaac was talking about and sure enough...he was right. My bed was wet.

My Dad came over to me. "You haven't wet your bed since you were 4 years old."

"(Crying) What?" I asked my Dad in disbelief. That explained why he and the others were looking at me so strangely. They thought i had wet the bed. But that couldn't have been it, as the sheets didn't smell like pee. And it couldn't have been Copper because he just woke up at the sound of my screams. It had to have been from the Bog-Man. What other explanation could there have been? "I didn't do it."

"We need to put everything in the washer and you need a bath." Dad said.

"(Crying) It's not pee." I said.

"Then what is is?" Dad asked.

"(Crying) It's water." I answered.

"Where did it come from?" Dad asked.

I continued crying, as i was too scared and shook up to answer my Dad's question.

"I don't know." I said, wiping the tears away with my hands. "I was having a nightmare. I woke up..." I stopped talking.

"I know this isn't easy for you, but...You know what, let's just all go in the master bedroom and talk about this." Dad said.

"I think that's a good idea." Aunt Candace added.

"Same here." Layla stated.
...

We were now all in the master bedroom, which was Adam and Chelsea's bedroom, and Dad, aunt Candace and i sat on the left side of it, with everybody else, and Copper, standing up and gathered around us, listening to me as i described to them what i saw in my room.

"There was something standing there made out of some kind of plant-matter with these...these glowing red eyes, a long face, pointed ears, three trees on it's forehead and a long hand-made cape that touched the floor." I said describing the creature i saw.

"It was him." Isaac said. We all looked at him. "The Bog-Man."

"You didn't even see it." I said to Isaac.

Chelsea and Adam looked at each other.

"I haven't told them yet." Chelsea said, referring to me, my family and friends. "They don't know."

"Know what? Somebody tell me what's going on." Dad said.

We then flinched when we heard footsteps coming from outside the master bedroom.

Adam rushed over to the door and closed it shut. He picked up a metal baseball-bat leaning up against the wall by the door, then turned to face us. "Get the kids inside the closet. Now." He said to the other grown-ups.

My Dad, aunt Candace and i quickly got off the bed and rushed into the walk-in closet with Layla, Isaac, Copper, Emma, Connor and Chelsea, followed by my Dad exiting the closet and closing the door, locking it afterwards. We all sat down on the floor together, scared for our lives.

"I'm scared." Connor said.

"Shh. I need you to be really quiet." Chelsea whispered. "Stay right here." She said before going over to the door and putting her right ear up to it to listen to what was occurring on the other side.

None of us heard anything for a few moments. And then...the lights went out.

"AH!" Came the scream of Adam on the other side of the door. Adam's scream was followed by a loud bang on the master bedroom door outside the closet, making all of us flinch.

All was quiet on the other side again for a few minutes until we heard the master bedroom door open, making a creaking sound as it did. I'm not gonna lie. I was really scared at this point. Everyone was. Had the monster gotten into the master bedroom? Were Adam and Dad in danger? Were we all in danger? Our fears then increased when we heard the other side of the closet door unlock, as we didn't know if it was Dad or Adam...or the Bog-Man...standing on the other side.

"He's gonna get in, he's gonna get in! He's gonna get inside!" Connor panicked as aunt Candace held him close to her.

"Shut up, shut up." Emma said frighteningly.

Chelsea backed away from the closet-door and, like the rest of us, waited for the door to open and reveal who or what was standing on the other side. The door then opened as the lights came back on, and much to our relief, it was Adam and Dad standing on the other side.

"The coast is clear." Adam said, still holding the bat. He and Dad then moved aside.

Chelsea exited the closet and the rest of us got up and exited it too. Chelsea went over to the cordless house phone that was resting on the bed, picked it up, and dialed 911. Clearly Adam had tried to do the same just before the lights went out. Smart thinking on both of their parts. There was no way this was a false alarm or our imaginations running wild. We all heard the same footsteps. Someone was in the house with us. No question.

"911, What's you're emergency?" Asked a man on the phone.
...

The cops had arrived at the house 20 minutes later and were searching the entire house for any sign of the intruder while we were being questioned by some of the other officers about what had happened.

All kinds of other thoughts raced through my head about the creature. Or rather, the monster-dressed intruder. When i was being questioned about what happened-not wanting to not be believed about what i had seen-i told the cops that i saw a monster in my room and how i believed it was a holographic projection of someone dressed up to look like a monster put there by someone to scare me. And i could've been right. What guaranteed that this was a real monster and not some sicko in a monster-costume, trying to scare me and Connor? That was sure what it looked like. It looked like one of those cheesy Saban villains costumes from 'Power Rangers'. The kind of costume that one could tell had a person in it. Sure, the monster had disappeared as soon as my Dad turned the lights on in his room, but that could've easily been a holographic projection of the creature to make it look like it was paranormal. Holograms weren't new, they had existed since 1948. And this was the 21st century. It wasn't hard for a person to get their hands in a hologram these days. If that was the case, then that meant that there was someone secretly living in this house with the Dales and terrorizing Connor. Question was how long had this mystery person been staying here? Had they been here the whole time we were here...or longer? I wanted to believe the first theory so bad...so i did.

"You said you and the others heard footsteps outside the master bedroom?" A male officer asked Adam.

"Yeah, we heard 'em clear as day. We all did." Adam answered.

"So where is this mystery person now?" The male officer asked.

"I don't know." Adam said.

"Are there any other entries to the house?" The male officer asked.

Adam and Chelsea looked at each other before refocusing on the male officer.

"The basement." Adam said.

"We'll check it out right away." Said the male officer.

"Thank you. I'll show you where it is. Come on." Adam said.

The officer followed Adam out of the living-room and into the foyer.

Later, we all stood at the open basement door with Adam as the male officer came out.

"It sure doesn't look like someone broke in. Your house is empty. We've checked everywhere. Even the fuse-box wasn't tampered with." Said the male officer.

"Then what made the lights go out?" Chelsea asked.

"Beats. Probably just a coincidental power-outage. It happens. Especially in old houses like this." The male officer said.

"Well, you need to check the property. This person could be hiding out on the moor somewhere." Adam said.

"I understand your concerns, but we've been patrolling the area all night. It's the night shift." Said the male officer. "If there was someone in your house, they're probably long gone by now."

I couldn't understand it. What kind of person breaks into a home without leaving any signs of forced entry? It wasn't doable...unless it was done one or two ways. (1)-The mystery intruder had a key to the house, which made them a friend or relative of the Dales. Or (2)-The intruder had been secretly living here when the Dales moved in. And i knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was number 2.

And even though the others and i will likely sleep together in the master bedroom...and even though we will likely sleep there with the bedroom door locked...no level of barricade feels safe tonight. I doubt that it ever will again as long as we're here. Because if there was no sign of forced entry anywhere in the house, then that meant this monster-dressed creep had been secretly living in this house since the Dales moved in. Maybe longer. And he got into my room. I then thought about the times when i was 3, 4 and 5 years old when i use to think that monsters or the Boogyman were hiding in my closet or under my bed. My parents would always assure me that there was no such thing and that made me feel safe. But this time was different. This time...the fear is real. This time...the threat of this monster is clearer than ever.

This time...there really is a Boogyman.

And he's been living with the Dale family this entire time.

GOOSEPUPS

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