Who Will Save Me Now?

Who Will Save Me Now? Chapter 1

 Darkness. That is all that I see before it takes me over. The haze, the fog that has been chasing me in my dreams for the past days has returned. I don't try to run. The cool air envelops me, compressing against my body. I gasp for air. As the fog fills my lungs I begin to grow dizzy. I stop breathing and my mind clears, but then, I hear a voice. A voice calling my name, and I know somehow, that everything is going to be okay. I am finally safe. With a deep breath, I inhale the fog once more, letting it take me over completely.

My dreams subside, and all that I am left with is memories. Dark and shadowed, they are worse than the dreams. Worse than the monsters that haunt the corners of my minds, because unlike the terrible dreams, the nightmares, memories are real. Physically, I am safe. My mind however, is everything but.

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Suddenly, I was in my old bed again, spent with the day's work and antsy for the start of tomorrow. There was a knock on my door. Slowly, turning, I craned my neck as it opened. My mother walked in. I tried to get up, to move towards her, but my body stayed rooted to my bed. “Honey,” she cooed. “Why are you still up?”

“I'm having them again mommy,” I whispered, but it wasn't me who was thinking and saying the words, but my younger self. “He comes for me.” The nightmares. They were so long ago, I almost forgot the dreams I used to have leaving me awake at night, crying, scared of everything.

Ever so slightly, my mother's warm facade cracked, revealing worry and grief, but with a quick smile she replied, “Take my hand and I'll stay with you until you fall asleep.”

“Forever and always?” I asked already sliding down into my heavy warm comforter, sleep taking over, my eyes drifting shut.

“Forever and always,” she promised, her careful fingers tracing the long, spindly birthmark on my left cheek. “Forever and always,” she repeated again, so softly that I wondered if it was more for me or for herself.

I laid there a moment, letting the warmth take me over, until I really did fall asleep, deeper into the depths of my mind.

Then the cold fog came for me like before, pulling me into darkness. Nightmare. The word swirled in my mouth like a bad taste, one I was desperate to spit out. Struggle as I did though, the nightmare from my childhood seeped into my thoughts. A dark figure appeared in front of me. The fog enveloped him too. The body, floating in the fog began to drift towards me. All was silent.

I tried to back away, but my feet were rooted to the spot. Looking down, I see the smoke envelop me as well. It swirls around my body, tightening around my legs, then my waist until I can barely breathe. The figure stops and points into the distance. Slowly I turn my head. The scene around me changes to another nightmare.

A knock sounds at the door and my mother goes to answer it. There is a crash and a shout. Quickly throwing off my covers I sprint out of my room and race down the hall, my little body carrying me as fast as it can. When I reach the living room I stop, feeling a blast of cold air blowing through the open door. At first I think that no one is there, but just barely in the moonlight, I catch a glimpse of a face. My mother's face. And her eyes are closed, her blood spilled on the cold concrete floor.

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With a gasp I shoot up in bed, waking my mother beside me. Glancing down I see that I am still my old self, a little girl. “What's wrong sweetie...” my mother begins to ask soothingly, but is interrupted by a knock at the front door.

I freeze.

“Susan, will you get that?” my father calls from across the hall half-heartedly.

My mother sighs and replies that she will be right back. Quickly I get up and follow her down the hall, begging her to go back to bed with me. I tell her its not safe. Crying I follow her down the hall, through the kitchen, and to the living room entryway. I pause as my mother continues on to the door.

“Everything will be alright,” my mother says, unlocking and opening the door. With a swish a dark figure steps out of the shadows and grabs my mother. “Stop!!!!!” I beg as he pulls out a knife. In one swift movement he takes it across her throat and she falls to the ground, bleeding, unresponsive.