Dreams of Darkness

Chapter One

2010

            Tabitha woke with a start; sitting up in her bed. Alert. She still smelled the garbage in her nostrils; making her stomach do queasy flips. Her head was throbbing and sweat ran down her face. She stretched out her arms and legs feeling the soreness in them, climbing out of bed she winced, it felt like she pulled a muscle in her leg. Tabitha let her black and white checkered cover fall to the hardwood floor without bothering to pick it up. She yawned, while wiping away the sleep from her eyes. She looked at her reflection in the mirror that was attached to the green wall in her room. Her bright orange hair brushed to the left side of her head, blond hair shown underneath the orange, which her guardian didn’t much approve of, but Tabitha loved it. Eyeliner was smeared under her stormy blue eyes from recently crying. She had her father’s eyes, everyone told her so, but she didn’t remember much about her father and didn’t know her mother for that matter, just the memories from the photos around the house was all she could remember of her father. A memory of him that stuck with her was when he left their house on the night before Christmas. Tabitha didn’t hate him like most children would have for their parents leaving. She loved him and wished he could be here with her every second of the day. But her father was in heaven now, if there was one.

She groaned as she detached herself from the mirror. Opening her window to get some fresh air, breathing in Mother Nature’s air, and letting it fill her lungs. She heard voices nearby coming from outside. She smiled as she thought back on something that happened seven years ago. That was when she found out she could talk to animals and not just speak with them, but have an intelligent conversation with them.

Tabitha looked over at a picture frame that held a photo of her aunt; she frowned. Tabitha blinked, snapping back into reality. Thinking about Rosie still saddened her because her relative was diagnosed with Leukemia three years back and was now in the hospital fighting it. Rosie was a healthy, strong woman, but this cancer was taking over her, she was on the edge of giving up. Her aunt had been in the hospital for about four and half months. Tabitha hadn’t gone to see her yet. She had talked to her on the phone plenty of times, but that’s all. She kept trying to push herself to go, but she never made it there. She would get halfway to the hospital, and then change her mind and went back home, she would run back to the house each time.  

            She grabbed her cell phone off the floor, looking at the time. It was six am; she decided to call her friend, Sophia, who happened to be telepathic. What are the odds that Tabitha would meet someone different like her? Sophia discovered it when she was ten, also. It had been two months after Tabitha learned her ability. She thought it was somewhat funny how Sophia found out she was telepathic, but it also freaked her out as well. Sophia and Tabitha were hanging out with Hayden, Sophia’s older brother, when Sophia started hearing their thoughts. She thought she was going mad, but soon after she began to realize she was able to hear thoughts of those around her. She allowed herself to get use to it through the years; growing up. 

            “Hey Hayden, this is Tabitha. Is Sophia there?” Tabitha asked, after Sophia’s older brother answered the phone. Tabitha heard Hayden yell for Sophia and soon after she picked up the phone.

            “Hey, good morning Soph.” Tabitha was trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. On the other line, Sophia asked if Tabitha had the dream again.

            “Yeah and its freaking me out, it seemed so real,” Tabitha exclaimed. “The thing that bothers me is that it happens every week, it’s crazy, and I don’t understand it at all.”

            “Sophia Brookes! Where the hell are you?” Tabitha heard Sophia’s dad yelling in the background, his voice had so much anger built in it, he sounded like he was going to snap. Tabitha was terrified of Sophia’s father, but she hadn’t always been afraid of him.