Exhaling slowly, I attempted to quiet my racing mind as I work to untangle my long legs from the stubborn quilt that haphazardly covers me on the loveseat. After fighting with it for a few moments, my impatience gets the better of me. I growl and rapidly kick until It finally pools at my feet, leaving my sweat slicked skin vulnerable to the crisp night air.
When had I opened the living room window?
Slowing standing, I walk over to the window and stretch my arms above my head, wincing at the tight muscles. Images from the nightmare flash through my mind and another wave of violent shivers wrack my body, causing goosebumps to spring up and travel along my exposed limps.
I grip the windowsill for a moment, attempting to swallow past the fear, only to choke on my own spit. I really needed some water to remove the foul taste in my mouth. Letting my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room, I confirmed the window is locked before taking a few steps towards the kitchen. My legs begin to give out and I attempt to catch myself by slamming my shoulder into the wall for support. My legs were strong from years of farm work and riding, but they turned to jello after my nightmares. Its as if not only my mind was exhausted, but my body as well. They were taking everything out of me.
I slide along the wall until I reach the hallway, testing out my muscles, until I am finally able to shuffle my legs without support long enough to make my way to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee.
Raising the steaming cup to my lips, I inhale, savoring the rich aroma. But before I could take a sip, movement out of the corner of my eye draws my focus back to the living room window. Letting out the breath I'd been holding, I relaxed slightly when I realized it was just the curtains billowing in the breeze. I brought the coffee mug to my lips once more then froze as realization hits me... the curtains were moving as a result of the open window, the same window that I had just closed and locked just minutes ago.
"Mmm mmm, nope, not happening."
Shaking my head, I dismissed the dark thoughts creeping into the back of my mind. As usual, the nightmares were playing with my sanity, so much so that I could no longer tell what was real or a figment of my imagination.
Choosing to believe that none of this was really happening and that I was in fact losing my mind, I set the cup down on the counter and trudged into my bedroom to collapse onto my comfortable bed in hopes that I could steal just a few hours of peaceful sleep before the sun comes up.
~
Sweeping my arm back and forth, I struggled to grab my phone that lay just out of reach on the mattress beside me. Despite my eyes remaining closed, I could tell that it was still in the middle of the night since I remained shrouded in darkness, but I wanted to check and see how much sleep I managed to get since earlier. After a few moments of fumbling around with no success, I huffed and peeled open one eye to locate the source of my frustration.
In a matter of seconds my eyes adjusted, but my other senses were still working to comprehend what I was witnessing.
"What. The. Fuck."
Blinking rapidly to clear the spots clouding my vision, I scrambled up from where I lay on the ground, spinning in circles as the trees surrounding me began to close in.
"No, this can't happening," I pant, "I can't be here."
I had never sleep walked before, but I suspect that I do now. For a moment it occurred to me that I could still be dreaming. Pinching my arm, I try to force myself to wake up from this nightmare. But when I open my eyes, I am still outside, standing on a bed of pine needles, still half naked and alone, in the North Woods.
My vision wavers for a moment before my legs give out. Drawing my knees up to my chest, I recalled what my therapist instructed to do when the night terrors become too much. And so I began to softly sing my favorite song. I don't know why it brings me comfort, but it does. It always calms me down during times of duress. It's my saving grace, my mantra if you will.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."
After I've finished, I sit like that for another few minutes, still scrunched into a tight ball, unable to move. I wait for my heart rate to slow and the nausea to abide before I release the tight hold I have on my legs and push myself up to rise from the ground. Immediately another wave of nausea rolls over me, and I lean my pounding head into the rough bark of the tree closest to me.
The sound of twigs snapping to my left jolts me out of my weakened state, causing my head to snap up. There were no animals in the North Woods, or at least that is what the locals said. But make no mistake, there was something else lurking in the woods tonight, and it had begun to stalk me.
Another branch snapped, this time to my right, and much closer. I still couldn't see anything, but I could hear the snow crunching under the weight of the animal that hunted me as it stalked closer. I slowly bent down to grab the fist-size rock at my feet. I was going to need something to defend myself with if I had any chance of making it out of these woods in one piece.
Still crouching, I spun slowly on the balls of my feet, gripping the rock tight, ready to face whatever awaited me in the shadows. But when my eyes connected with the animals, I instinctively dropped the rock. For those glowing eyes did not belong to an animal like I previously thought.
They belonged to a monster.
YOU ARE READING
Kingdom of the Zodiac
幻想The locals had warned me that no one in their right mind would enter the North Woods alone, not unless they had a death wish. It's a good thing then that I am not in my right mind. Fear had prevented me from returning to this place for years, but th...
