The Last Time

    It was a bright and sunny day that beamed heat onto the sidewalk, a day just like any other, while Mr. Collins was walking down the street on his way to his office in New York City.  He had always loved his job and found no problems with coworkers or clients. He arrived to the building and was greeted by the lovely Ms. Sarah Ronella, his secretary. She spoke in a slow gentle tone while telling him of the appointments he had in the afternoon. He nodded and walked to his office thinking of how troublesome the meetings would be today, and as he opened the door, he found his boss waiting in the room for him.

    "Good morning Mr. Collins," his boss said in a serious tone "I believe we have some business to attend to." He spoke in a deep baritone voice, while looking at him with his ice-cold eyes. "Whatever could that be?" asked Mr. Collins slightly confused and concerned. He stood up from his chair and walked around the office, "You've been working for my company for ten years now, and that makes you special."

    "Special?", he replied still confused with what his boss wanted.

    "Yes, you are very special, and due to your conditions at home I decided that you will be receiving a raise for any extra expenses you and your family may have need."
    "Thank you sir! It is an honor to be working here." he replied in excitement.

    His boss left the office and Mr. Collins stood there with a smile for a minute until he decided to go to work finally. After the day had finished he went home immediately  to tell his wife and five children: June, April, Mary, Olivia, and Alex, about the exciting news, and went to bed.

    He woke up at around 1:00 in the morning to the sound of scratching on the door, which of course he knew was his dog ready to go outside to take care of his business. He opened the door and found nothing there, so he went back to bed and fell back asleep. He woke up thirty minutes later to the sound of scratching again, and again he opened his door to find nothing there. He went back to bed and was not disturbed the rest of the night.

    It was finally Saturday, and his wife had taken all the kids to their favorite restaurant to celebrate the raise given to her husband. Mr. Collins had a bad headache, so he decided to stay home and let the children spend some time with their mother.

    He started hearing the scratching noise again and assumed it was all in his head since the dog was in front of him sleeping on the floor. He decided to go to the cold, dim basement to find some toys for the younger children when they got home. He started hearing the scratching coming from the door to his right, so he decided to see if the dog somehow got in there while he wasn't looking. He opened the door to find a pair of red eyes looking at him from the darkness.

    He woke up to the sound of his alarm clock feeling relieved it was just another one of his nightmares. It was Saturday and his wife had taken the kids to their favorite restaurant, McDonald's, to celebrate the raise given to her husband. Mr. Collins had a migraine, so he stayed home to let the children spend some time with their mother.

    He heard the scratching noise which no longer bothered him, so he decided to ignore it for an hour or so. He went down to the basement, which was dark and very cold, to get some toys for the children upon their return, but then he heard something different. This was not scratching, this was moaning. Moaning coming from the door directly to his right. He thought someone was in pain, so he rushed to open the door. On the other side of the doors he saw them. The eyes. They came rushing towards his face.

    He woke up screaming to the sound of beeping and was relieved that it had been another one of his nightmares. He turned over to comfort his wife because he thought he had woken her from his shreikes of terror. To his surprise, she was not there. In fact the whole house seemed quiet. He got up to check on his children, and to his horror, he found that nobody was in the house.

    He ran to his neighbor's door and started pounding as hard as he could for help. He soon realized nobody was home, so he went to his other neighbor's houses and found no one there either. He ran into his house and dialed the police. *Ring* *Ring* *Ring*. Nobody answered. He came to the awful realization he was alone. Out of everyone in the world, he was the last one.

    Weeks or maybe even months passed, and he sat alone in his bedroom waiting for something to change, for someone to show up at his house. One day, he got what he wished for. He heard a knock on his door. He ran so fast you could barely see him move his feet. As he opened the door half way he realized the horror waiting on the other side of door. The red eyes were back. In the darkness, he saw them slowly coming closer to him. He knew that his time had come.

    He woke up to the sound of his alarm clock relieved it was only a dream. He suddenly looked to find his wife who was laying there, peacefully sleeping. What he didn't notice was the eyes staring from the other side of the room. That was the last time he had the nightmare.