Take You Back

NIGHTMARES

~One person's craziness is another
person's reality.
-Tim Burton.

My eyes flew open, scanning the room as I found myself drenched in sweat and panting heavily. The words of my parents kept replaying in my head, and all I could do was scream and tightly hug myself to calm down. I sat up slowly, wiping my damp and sweaty forehead and neck.

I took it upon myself to walk through the dimly lit room to the kitchen in order to get a glass of water. I held onto the wall for support as I stumbled. I hit the countertop hard. Take deep breaths. That's all I needed to get through this.

I filled the cup with water and drank it all at once. The nightmare gave me panic attacks, something to which I've become accustomed. Keeping them under control was extremely difficult because I couldn't bring myself to go back to sleep, fully aware that they would return as soon as I closed my eyes.

I stripped off my clothes, heaving a sigh. The water fell onto my skin, relieving tension. The warm droplets formed steam as I stood there motionless.

There was an eerie feeling that settled over me as I sat comfortably on the couch. I couldn't help but keep glancing back into the kitchen, as if someone was watching me from the dark corner. I could feel someone's gaze burning holes in the back of my neck, but perhaps I was misbehaving once again.

After several minutes of contemplating whether it was nothing, I went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea just to keep myself going. The kettle whistled loudly as I groaned, searching for a mug in the dimly lit kitchen. I sighed, feeling too lazy to go into the dark corner to turn on the light, or perhaps too scared that something or someone might be waiting for me there.

The dark presence of a man caught my eye in the dimly lit room. I took a step backward, accidentally hitting my feet on one of the open kitchen cabinets. I winced a bit before quickly turning my head back to the corner.

I know that I'm not being paranoid about what I just saw because I could smell a hint of men's cologne in the air.

The shadow moved again, and it took all the courage I had to speak, despite the uncontrollable shaking within me. "Who's there?" As I spoke, I felt a momentary wave of nausea and reassured myself that nothing was going to happen, even as my heart raced.

Imagine being alone, but in reality, you are not truly alone. There will always be someone watching you from the shadows, observing your every move.

The sound of footsteps coming from the room startled me, causing me to freeze. Not once did I ever think that I would get robbed or, even worse, kidnapped. The footsteps could no longer be heard, but I remained frozen in place. If I tried anything, who knew what might happen? If I hadn't thought quickly, I might have been beaten or, even worse, killed.

"Don't think about it now, love." "There's nothing you can do." The voice spoke, freezing me in my tracks. I looked around and my eyes landed on the nearest weapon, which happened to be a frying pan.

My eyes averted to the window as a deep masculine chuckle emanated from the man concealed in the shadows. Soon, the lights were on. I blinked a few times before I saw who it was. Confused about his identity, I tilted my head to the side, carefully observing his appearance from head to toe.

He wasn't a male model, but he looked like he could be one. He had dark charcoal hair. He groomed it so carefully that it had a rippling quality, which was a sign of his good health. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at me in frustration.

The aquiline nose he sported complemented his prominent cheekbones, which appeared to have been chiseled into shape by a master craftsman. They had such sharp profiles, sculpted and perfected to perfection. His eyes, those captivating eyes, shone so brilliantly, like the evening stars, that they resembled two pools of flickering fire, with a liquid-blue hue.