Tʜᴇ Fᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ- Bᴀʀʙᴀʀᴀ Hᴏʟʟᴀɴᴅ

ᑭᗩᖇT TᕼIᖇTᗴᗴᑎ

Barbara rushed in through the front door faster than she left, breathing heavily from the panic which was quickly bubbling out of hand. She had no idea what Sydney had meant, but she was sure it wasn't good. Bad men were after her? Did that mean the government? The cops? Brenner himself? She didn't know, and she didn't want to know.

The girl barged into her bedroom, sweat forming on her brow. First, she opened the window wide, then threw herself down onto the creaky desk chair- preparing to try and figure it all out. From muscle memory, nothing useful came to mind apart from the fact that she should've called a certain number as soon as the sighting was made, but no information on what would happen if she didn't.

Frantically flicking through the pages didn't retrieve any information either, so Barbara simply sat there, trying not to panic. However, her methods had failed to work, so stomach ache formed, and before long, Barbara Holland felt very sick. Her mind replayed the moment when she was jabbed in the chest, and the severity of it. It wasn't a soft little tap, it was a warning- a threat. Explaining to parents wouldn't help the situation, so therefore Barb came to the conclusion that the only way of any sense about it would be another dreadful day at school, more specifically, Nancy Wheeler. She would know what to do.

-

That night, the nightmares started. After the sixth hour of fighting sleep, her body allowed her rest, travelling off into the land of nod. The land of nod, however, was not at all peaceful.
It was strange inside her mind, eerily quiet. The room her consciousness was teleported into was cold, empty. White tiles lined the walls and floor, and the bed beneath her resembled that of a hospital bed. Everything seemed to be bright and shiny- uncomfortable to look at.
Upon exploration, Barbara's dream-self discovered a picture, a kids drawing perhaps. In it, stood a girl. Short ginger hair sat on her head, and she sported the same clothes that Barb had worn the day before. The day when she had found Sydney.
Further along the paper, a van sat, shiny and clean. Just beyond the opened doors stood men with guns, pointing them directly at the young Holland. For some reason, it didn't bother her in dream-state.
A door formed out of the wall, and Barbara turned to notice a small girl, who hadn't been there previously, hunched quietly in the corner.

The door creaked open, and in stepped a white-haired man. He looked angry as the girl in the corner cowered, letting out a faint sob. Barbara stood and watched from her stance, looking back and forth between the two of them. The man, who was recognised to be Martin Brenner, took a step towards the girl who had now looked up.

Sydney sat there, blood smeared down her tearful face.
"Syd-" Barb whispered, trying to get her attention as the man took another step. Just as the words escaped her mouth, Brenner turned on his heel, eyes burning straight into the newcomer. He smiled evilly, rage obviously brewing behind his false demeanour.

"Barbara Holland," he spoke deeply, taking a step towards her. "Oh what a fool you are."

And that was where it ended. Barb awoke with a shock, cold sweat causing her nightwear to stick to her skin. The wind blew violently outside of the window, sucking the flailing curtains into the outside world. Red numbers flashed 4:51 on the alarm clock, and Barbara laid back down with a huff. The experience had traumatised her tired mind, and she already knew that she wasn't going to sleep again that night. At least the nightmare had allowed her to receive a few hours sleep- that was always the positive to these situations.

Being a student, the normal awaking time was only an hour away, so she figured it couldn't hurt just to lay there, pondering the disturbing peace. It was a weird thing to say, that the peace was nervy and disturbed...but it was. It was a strange feeling.