Chapter 01
I was running, again, another mile, another forest, between the thousand trees and bushes. Splinters pierced into my skin and I cried heavily. Tears gushed down to my cheeks and onto the wet grounds of the forest. It poured from the skies and from my eyes.
My chest became heavy. I barely breathed. Every time I did so, I felt my heart clenching and my lungs throbbing.
I didn’t look back. I knew what was happening as this wasn’t the first time so instead, I kept running and running, hoping to save myself from the beast that was chasing me down.
He was faster than, quicker and his men were crowding up to me but I believed that if I ran a little more, I could escape.
I was a fool.
Just as I looked over my shoulders for a second, I saw nothing, only darkness for miles and miles. There was no light, nothing that could allow me to see if he was still chasing me. I breathed harder and turned around.
Maybe I lost him.
My head collided with a bare chest and I screamed before falling on my back. The branches poked against the thin material I wore and the pain began to rise.
When I rose my head, I saw him.
The beast.
Another scream pierced through the air and tears fled from my eyes. I placed my hands on the ground and tried to back away from him but failed terribly.
He lowered his head, meeting with my gaze. His eyes were dark as the night but the moon glowed right over him.
“Don’t run from me, baby girl. I’ll always find you.” The corner of his lips curled into a smug grin and as his arm extended to reach my face, I closed my eyes tightly and screamed as loud as I could.
Sweat dribbled down from my face and back, soaking into my clothes as I thrashed away. My mother came running inside upon hearing my scream. My chest rose and dropped as I tried to breathe. My throat was dry, as if I had been screaming for hours and hours.
“Oh, no, what happened?” My mother rushed to my bed and grasped my arm, pulling me away from the dream I had just seen.
I looked into her eyes and reality rushed into my head. “It was a dream?” I asked as tears continued to fall down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe it, not again.
“Yes, baby. It was just a dream. Shush. Nothing to be worried about. You’re perfectly fine and you’re safe.” She rubbed my back and tried to soothe me down.
My heart was still racing at an unusual beat. I looked away from her and outside from the window in my room. Daylight shone over the tree just beside my bedroom.
I pressed my eyes and rubbed them before gathering myself. It was just a dream. I reminded myself before resting my back over the brown, vintage headboard of my bed. My mother remained alongside with me for a few minutes, helping me.
“What did you see? Was it the same dream?” She asked.
I shook my head, “It was different. Someone was running behind me and I trying to get away and I just couldn’t.” I responded, my voice breaking as I had just sobbed a few seconds ago.
“Did you see it’s face?”
“No.” I stared at the black brown wall in front of me and tried remember the face I had seen. It was there in my memory but I just couldn’t bring it to my lips.
Although, I remembered his voice clearly, it was deep and dominating, it was terrifying and it bought fear into my heart. His voice alone was the worst of the nightmares as that was all I could remember. Everything slowly began to become a blur as someone was trying to force the dream out of me.
“It’s okay. I’m here with you.” Mother’s voice rang in my ears as she rubbed her hand down my shoulder.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and pushed the tendrils away from my face before leaping on to the other side of the bed and getting up. “I’m going to take a shower.” I whispered, slipping in my shoes and heading to the bathroom that was right next to my bed.
“Okay, baby. Come down and have some breakfast after that!” She exclaimed before I heard her footsteps fading away from the room.
I walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. My thoughts ran wild and I rubbed my eyes, hoping I could forget it all and remember nothing. I didn’t want to.
This wasn’t the first dream I had.
Running the water warm, I stripped and jumped into the shower. My thoughts scattered and I remembered the first time I had gotten the dream. It was nearly an year ago, exactly on my eighteenth birthday and it was the worst day of my life.
After the little celebration we had at home, I went to sleep and woke in the middle of the night panting and screaming. It was the same dreams but in different places and different words. The man’s voice was all that I could remember.
I remembered his every single word. It echoed in my head every time I thought about it.
You’re going to be mine, baby girl.
This pretty little face is only mine.
Dream all you want. One day you’ll be dreaming in my arms.
I couldn’t understand what any of it meant. I couldn’t understand what the voice wanted from me. Why me?
Every week after my birthday, I got the dreams and woke up screaming. My mother grew concerned day by day and even after a visit to the therapist, no one could figure out what was happening to me.
Even I couldn’t.
The voice was eating me alive and so were the dreams. I wanted to end them for once and all. I wanted to sleep peacefully without the fear of hearing or seeing someone.
But I couldn’t.
After showering, I headed downstairs where I found my Mother setting up the table for breakfast for me. She had cooked my favorite morning meal and I couldn’t resist it even when my stomach was churning and twisting from within from the dream I had encountered.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
I poured myself a glass of orange juice and sipped on it as my throat was dry as the desert. After having a little bit to drink, I felt better—a lot more.
“I’m okay. I just want to go to school.” I replied while holding the glass of the juice against my chest. I couldn’t think straight on the morning when I woke up screaming and thrashing and today was one of those mornings.
“It’s fine. I’ll drop you. Have something to eat!” She nodded her head and pushed a plate of pancakes toward me.
The pancakes were as delicious as they could get. I had a couple of them before I headed back upstairs to change and get ready for school. It was six in the morning and school wasn’t going to start until eight.
I still had a lot of time left in my hands so I tidied up my bed, changed my clothes and threw the dirty clothes into laundry. Once I was all ready, I got inside the car with Mother and she drove me to the school.