FIRST INTERLUDE

In the Aboveground…

Toby jerked awake, nearly falling off his bed. His eyes popped open; there was no dazed, half-asleep moment. One minute he'd been asleep—the next he wasn't. Toby stretched and rubbed his eyes, flopping onto his stomach. Tomorrow was…Sunday…Sarah promised to take him to the park, the one with the pool and the twisty water slide. He was excited about it because his Mom didn't believe in public pools—that's what she literally said: "I don't believe in public pools. Filthy places full of E. coli."

When Toby pointed out that was fallacious reasoning, his Mom raised her eyebrows. "Fallacious reasoning? Toby, just because you hang out with Sarah all the time doesn't mean you have to listen to everything she says."

Which wasn't true—he didn't listen to everything his sister said. But he couldn't just ignore her, could he? Especially since she'd moved back and had begun to spend so much time with him. Oftentimes, when the school bus dropped him off two blocks from their home, it was Sarah waiting for him.

"Why don't you ever let me walk home by myself?"

"Are you saying you don't want my amazing company? I assure you, I'm considered quite a wit by my colleagues."

That's what he liked about his sister; she treated him like an adult. His Mom always reminded him that he was only ten, like it was some place he was stuck at. And Dad was always too tired. "Dad's tired today, Toby. Be a big boy and let him rest, okay?" What was he? A big boy or only ten? Sarah never said his age with "only" in front of it, never told him Dad was "too tired." She was upfront about Dad's illness; she was the one who explained what type of cancer it was, and then firmly grabbed him and hugged him when his eyes misted with tears and fiercely told him Dad would survive.

Toby sighed. When he couldn't sleep, his Mom would make hot chocolate with hot milk instead of water. But, his Mom was out tonight with Dad. He wondered if Sarah would make one for him. He kicked off the covers, hearing them fall to the floor with the soft rustle of linen. He padded quietly down the stairs and to the back of the house, where his sister's room was, then pushed open the door to peek inside. He was surprised to find the room empty and stood there uncertainly for a moment. Was she in the bathroom? Or out as well? He knew that sometimes when his sister couldn't sleep she went walking in the park, but if his Mom found out she'd left him alone, she'd be in big trouble.

Toby went back to the staircase and called up, "Sis? Sis, you here?" He went around the house, checking the bathrooms, but the house really was empty. It was just him. For a moment, fear prickled his heart. He was alone…in the dark. He looked around and the house suddenly seemed cavernous, with little corners that monsters could hide in. He shook himself. His sister trusted him to be alone, even if it was just for a few minutes. He doubted she'd spend too long away. She was just walking somewhere.

I can make hot chocolate by myself. How hard can it be? Toby wondered. He went into the kitchen, turned the light on with a click, and realized he'd never really paid attention where Mom put the hot chocolate mix. He tried the pantry, staring at the various food items. Cereal, spices, canned soup…he closed the pantry and tried the cabinets next. He found the cocoa mix next to the sugar and took both down.

There was only one splash of chocolatey-milk onto the counter as he stirred the powder into the liquid. He mopped it out with the kitchen towel. He put the cup into the microwave and then cursed when the milk spilled over around the third minute. But when he mopped that up, the remaining amount was surprisingly good—and very hot.

Toby gingerly held the mug, blowing over the liquid to cool it down, and switched off the lights.

Sssh…

Toby frowned, looking back into the kitchen. The soft hissing sound had been like a kettle getting ready to boil—or a snake. Toby shuddered. He hated snakes, ever since his friend in kindergarten had brought a pet snake for show and tell, then threw it at him to freak him out. Toby quickened his pace, the heat of the mug uncomfortable against his skin.

Toby padded to his bedroom and sat on the bed, sipping on the hot chocolate. He looked around, uneasily. Why did his room seem so alien in the dark?

He saw a shadow from the corner of his eye and his head whipped around, but it was just a jacket hanging off his chair. For a moment, it had looked like a person standing there, looking at him. Toby stood, flipped on the light, and looked around.

No, that didn't really help.

The house was too silent and empty. When would Sarah get home? He wanted Sarah to be home.

Toby put the hot chocolate on the bedside table and went to the bookshelf at the corner of his room, next to his desk. He reached up where an old, ratty teddy-bear sat next to an old novel of Treasure Island. Both items were gifts from his sister; the teddy-bear was, in fact, the toy she'd had as a kid. He pulled it down, looked at its pathetic face with the missing button eye, and tossed it onto the bed.

When he finished the chocolate milk, he turned off the light and snuggled down with his arm around Lancelot's neck. The teddy-bear's fur was still soft—probably from all the years it had been around. Toby ran his hands through the furry bear's head and his eyes began to droop.

Ssssh…

He closed his eyes, the strange sound echoing in his ears. When he opened his eyes, the room was the same; dark, shadowed—but strange. The shadows seemed longer, more sinister. He looked around, wondering if this was a dream—but when you're dreaming, you don't know you're dreaming. Right?

Lancelot had rolled under him somehow and the teddy bear's snout was jabbing into him. He pushed Lancelot away and turned over so he faced the wall.

Ssssh…

There was a snake in his bed. He saw the slim, scaled shape; the light from his radio clock reflected off the creature's back. He saw the head rise and a forked tongue glided over his cheek just as the snake's tail shook, letting off a dry, terrifying rattle.

Toby was so scared, he couldn't even scream, instead he made a choked, keening wail and flailed backwards. His feet tangled with the bed sheet and he fell off the bed. Thinking the snake may launch at him, he rolled away from the bed, sure that he was going to be bitten and then die a painfully slow, poisoned death. The bed sheets fell with him, tangling around his body and obscuring his vision as he rolled; he was too busy with the thought of getting away to push the linens off him. He waited, too frightened to even look and see if the snake was advancing. His heart pounded so loudly that it echoed in his ears and his breathing came quick and harsh. He was so frightened he felt faint. He almost wished he'd faint, then he wouldn't be so frightened anymore.

Finally, when the suspense became too much for Toby, he pulled off the blanket from his face and looked around. The room looked the same. He didn't see any snake.

Toby felt silly. The snake was probably the last part of a dream, like when he was dozing off and suddenly felt like he was falling. Nothing to be afraid of; just a figment of his mind. However, Toby swiped the pillows off the bed just in case, but there wasn't anything hiding underneath them. Now his bed was just the white sheet tucked under the mattress.

Slowly, ready to run if need be, Toby got back on the bed, rearranged the pillows, and grabbed his bed sheets. He curled up in a tight ball and thought, I'm not alone in the house. I'm not! It was this thought, repeated as a mantra, that was on his mind as he slowly drifted back to sleep. He shouldn't have been able to fall back asleep—not with the scare he'd just had—and yet, relatively quickly, he found himself drowsily turning onto his back.

The last thing he heard was Lancelot falling off the bed with a soft hiss and thump.

He dreamed again, but this time he was a silver stag in a silver forest. He munched on leaves, wondering where the rest of his herd was—which was silly, because he was a boy, not a deer. His thoughts were still human.

He didn't like this dream. Despite the beauty around him and the silence of the forest, he felt vulnerable and weak. Prey. This dream was almost a nightmare.

Toby wished he would wake up. He was sure when he did, Sarah would be back and he'd run to her and she'd hug him. She always hugged him when he had a nightmare—and even though he felt he was too old for his sister to be comforting him, he'd let that fact slide this once. Sarah always says "dreams are what you make of them," that if I just concentrate, I'll change the dream into whatever I want, Toby thought, trying to focus on his animal body. He was a boy! A boy!

Nothing happened—well, worse, what happened was that he felt a touch on his flank. Toby jumped, skittering to the side, jerking his long neck around to try and see who had touched him, but the forest was empty. Then he heard a voice, and it sounded as if it was whispering directly into his ear: "Sarah, hmm? Is that her name?"

Toby yelled—except it came out as an animalistic keen. He was frightened, oh he was so frightened, and his heart pounded as he leapt forward on graceful, long legs. Four legs pounded the ground, taking him through the forest, easily dodging shrubs and trees.

"I'm sorry for this nightmare, Toby dear," the voice whispered, keeping pace with him. It still sounded like it was whispering right into his ear. "You're going to have to run, Toby. Run faster! Faster! FASTER!"

Toby screeched again, racing through the forest, trying to get ahead of the voice and at the same time praying he would wake up. Nightmares couldn't last forever. He just had to wake up.

Author's Note: I'm not sure I like how this turned out. It was much more difficult than I thought. I've never written from this POV - a young boy - and hopefully I got it right. Improvement is constant, right? Anyway, the first hints to the antagonist appear. I'll keep the interlude notes brief, so shout-outs in the next chapter. But, please review and let me know what you think! Any guesses as to what's happening with Toby? Who the antagonist may be? Did you hate this interlude or like it? Think I messed up Toby's POV? I'd love to hear your comments/suggestions/questions! Also, I've upped the rating since things are getting a little darker for a few chapters. :)