Deep Inside

    You are in bed. The duvet cover’s design is of a happy rabbit, but upside down and in the moonlight it looks so much more sinister.

You are ten years old, long blonde hair scattered around your head, and something has woken you from a dream you don’t remember.

    You are out of bed. The door to your room is open a crack, the light in the hallway shines through. On the other side of the room, the light of the full moon counters the light from the hallway.

    You look through the window overlooking the vast estate of your family. The windows faces north, towards the small forest in the centre of the estate. There are small twinkling lights which aren’t normally there.

    You are down in the main hall, lights are on but no one is around. You put on your pink Wellington boots and overcoat. The front door is heavy but not beyond your small frame.

    You are outside. To the south is your house, big and oppressive. To the north is the forest, dark and scary. The full moonlight makes the darkness inside worse, but your curiosity is peaked. You clearly see glittering lights deep inside the forest.

    You are in the forest, damp leaves underfoot, trees towering over you. You head on towards the flickering lights.

    You are in the forest, damp leaves underfoot, trees towering over you. Fear is getting the better of you. You turn back.

    You are in the forest, damp leaves underfoot, trees towering over you. You are lost, the only way you can go is towards the lights.

    You come to a clearing. The lights you had seen are burning torches, so bright now you shield your eyes. You can’t make out any details. You have an impression of other people but you cannot see their faces. There is loud chanting all around. You are so frightened now, even though you cannot see why. You squeeze your eyes shut, not wanting to see anything, hoping it will go away.

    You feel a hand on your shoulder...

    Emma jumped awake. For a few seconds there was that feeling of confusion she had when waking up in a strange place. She was on a bus, or rather a coach. The seats were big and obscured her view beyond the seat in front. Looking out of the window she could see rolling hills and farmland. She was coming home.

    “You alright babe?” Asked Holly, pulling an ear bud from her ear. She was a engineering student studying at the same university. Unlike Emma, who was tall, blonde and quiet, Holly was short, dark haired and smiley. She and Emma were the type of friends who were polar opposites to look at, but in the time they had known each other, a real bond had been created.

    “Just a bad dream,” replied Emma, sitting up and stretching, “are we there yet?”

    Holly stroked the screen of her phone and brought up a map. The GPS took a second to show their location.

    “Not far now,” she smiled at her friend, “welcome home.”

    Emma smiled back despite herself. There were a lot of reasons to not want to come back home. She did not leave on the best of terms with her father, but she had missed her mother and the house. Student dorms and the small flat she now rented did not compare to the huge house with it’s acres of estate.

    “Wake up sleepies!” said Holly, throwing an empty bottle across the aisle at the other member of their group. Tim uncurled from the foetal position he had been occupying across two seats. He gave her a sleepy, annoyed look and stretched.

    Tim went to the same university as Holly and Emma and they all shared a flat. An English language student, he was quiet, clumsy and a bit pathetic. Holly loved to tease him but never maliciously.