The Sandman (teaser)

         “Rain, rain, go away! Come again some other day. Rain, rain, go away! Come again some other day. Rain, rain…”
         Thunder roared with each frightful strike of lighting as rain pounded vigorously against the window. The lightning cut through the dark world like a knife that aimlessly stabbed at the earth. The monstrous roaring followed shortly, almost unanimously, along with it.
         The boy screamed in response. He hid under his blankets and whimpered. Under his blankets he cowered and covered his head. His body shook with fear and jumped with each strike of lightning.
         “Brother!” he howled. The boy crawled to the lower edge of the bed and poked his head out to call for his brother one more time. Lightning struck again a mere few yards away, causing him to whimper.
         “Brother!” A young teen boy burst through his door. “What’s wrong, Boris?” the blonde teen asked. Boris looked away slightly. “It’s just dark… a-and rainy,” he said sheepishly. “Sanford, how long will the storm last?”
         “I don’t know,” Sanford replied as he sat down next to his brother. “maybe an hour or so. But what’s really up? You’re usually not scared of the rain.” Sanford smiled a bit to comfort him, and Boris smiled back.
         But as quickly as it came, Boris’s smile disappeared. “I’m not scared of the rain… just that Sandman murderer guy that’s going around. I heard he only comes out in the rain.” He swallowed hard as he turned his head toward the window. A few moments passed without thunder or lighting which gave the boy a few moments to relax.
         Crack! Boris dove back into the covers and whimpered loudly. Sanford couldn’t help but laugh… but it didn’t seem much like a laugh. Not a comical one anyway. It was much too relaxed… to sinister…
         “No,” Boris thought. “I’m just scared. Everything just seems suspicious to me at the moment.” He blamed adrenalin, the stories of the Sandman murderer, and his natural instinct to be cautious for his strange feeling of insecurity. He crawled out from under the covers to find his brother grinning strangely at him. Soon that grin faded into a more comforting smile, then to a slightly concerned frown.
         “Can’t really blame ya for being scared,” Sanford said softly. “with all those murders going around.” The both looked out the window, hypnotized by the pitter-patter of the rain against the glass. Sanford rubbed off some ashy skin from his arm.
         “Have they caught him yet?” Boris asked without looking away from the window. A moment of uncomfortable silence fell between them. “No,” Sanford replied grimly. “they don’t even have any prime suspects or anything. There’s no fingerprints, no footprints, no possible videos of him, nothing.”
         Sanford smiled widely with unreadable expression. Boris tried to decipher the expression, but it was too odd to really classify his brother’s feelings. It was as if he was trying to hide something through a slightly comforting smile. He marked the thought as simply paranoia and ignored it.
         “Sanford?” Boris crawled out from the covers and lay next to Sanford. He pawed at his brother’s leg and whimpered a bit to get his attention. His brother looked down at him and chuckled a bit.
         “Don’t worry,” Sanford murmured, “I’ll take good care of you.” He began to glide his fingers through Boris’ hair. “Trust me…”
         “Ow, stop!” Boris screamed. Sanford had gripped tightly onto his younger brother’s brown hair. He laughed in sinister hysteria as his grip tightened. “Stop!” Boris yelled again. He could hear the air swirling around him.
         Boris soon opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness…