Awake In The Shadows

Chapter 1

Emily Thompson shot up in bed, her heart pounding like a drum. Eyes darting, she took in the room. The digital clock read 3:17 a.m. She was in her bedroom, not lost in the nightmare forest.

Sweat trickled down her forehead. She couldn't shake off the dream's grip. Despite the warm summer air, a chill crawled up her spine. With trembling hands, she grabbed her water glass, took a shaky sip, and set it back down.

"That was too real," she whispered to herself, her voice tinged with fear.

The nightmare had been vivid. She was lost in a dense forest. Moonlight barely pierced through the leaves. An owl hooted in the distance—a warning. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and rotting leaves.

She ran, stumbling over rocks and roots. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Running from what, she couldn't say. Her heart's pounding drowned out all other sounds.

She reached a clearing, legs about to buckle. A lifeless body lay in the center. She couldn't see the face, but the sight filled her with an indescribable horror. In the dream, she glanced at her hands—covered in blood. That's when she woke up.

Mark, her fiancé, slept peacefully beside her. His steady breathing contrasted sharply with her inner turmoil. She looked at him and pondered, "Should I wake him?" No, she decided. He had an important meeting in the morning.

Emily slid out of bed, knees wobbly. She flicked on the bathroom light, squinting at the sudden brightness. Cold water splashed her face. She looked in the mirror—pale, eyes bloodshot. She looked haunted.

As she crawled back into bed, her thoughts drifted to Willow Creek, their idyllic small town. A place where doors stayed unlocked and kids played in the streets. Could something dark really happen here?

She pulled the covers up, as if they could protect her from her own thoughts. She looked at Mark again, her rock. He'd proposed in this very room, vowing to love and protect her. The thought should've comforted her, but instead, it made her uneasy.

"Can you ever truly know someone?" she wondered aloud, her voice barely above a whisper.

She took a deep, shaky breath and closed her eyes, praying for a dreamless sleep. But as she drifted off, an unsettling thought lingered: something was wrong. And it was coming for her, as inevitable as the dawn that would soon break, shattering Willow Creek's illusion of peace and plunging her into a waking nightmare.