Nightmares In Promises

Chapter 1| Day One Again

☆Jessica☆

I gazed into his eyes. Everything about him seemed so familiar, yet I had never seen him before. He smiled before disappearing into the next aisle of the store. 

Had I seen him in another life?… No. It couldn't be. That kind of stuff wasn't real, right? 

***

I went home and suddenly got an unsteady feeling in my gut when I walked through the front door. I walked into the kitchen and set my grocery bags down. Something was definitely wrong. My cat didn't come into the kitchen like she always did when I came back with something new. 

A foul stench filled the air. I walked in the direction of the smell. Towards the staircase I hear loud meowing. 

I let out an ear piercing scream. At the top of the steps was the body of a headless girl! The head rolled down the stairs, leaving a bloody trail behind it. The face was masked with messy dark brown hair. It was the same color as mine, only my hair went down to my shoulders and unlike the girl, I had bangs. Tears of fear poured from my dark brown eyes. 

My thoughts shifted back to the man in the grocery store, though I didn't know why. What could a stranger possibly have to do with this? 

I pulled out my phone from my back pocket with shaky hands and called 911.

"911. What's your emergency?" The operator had a deep voice that I guessed was that of a male.

"I found a dead body in my house," I cried. I heard a gasp on the other end. He asked for my address and I gave it to him. 

***

I stepped outside into the 70 degree, Mayport Florida, winter weather. This was something that I never thought I'd see. How could a perfectly normal day turn into something so horrible so quickly? I still couldn't grasp my head around it even after the police arrived. They asked me some questions and I answered them the best I could along with telling them everything that had happened since I got home.

***

After that night, I was too scared to be near my home. After hearing what happened, a friend of mine- Narula -let me stay with her. 

A loud knock on the door disrupted me from my sleep. I didn't know what time it was. Part of me was still asleep. So naturally I answered the door. It was him! The same man with shiny back hair that looked to be held in place with hair gel that I saw at the store. The second I saw him all tiredness vanished.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Yes." His voice was the kind someone would use in an everyday conversation. 

"Okay, how?"

"Can I come in?"

"Excuse my language, but hell no! First of all, I don't know you. Second of all, most people are asleep this late at night, or at least I was." The familiarity of his eyes were unsettling. Why did he seem so familiar? 

"You may not know me now, but you made me a promise a long time ago."

"A promise?" I whispered, searching my memories. Nothing came of it.

"Yes." His tone was now full of anger. Was he crazy? Did he have the wrong person?

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You will when I kill you. And I will kill you. That's a promise that I will not break." His voice was back to it's previous sound. Fear struck through me.

"What's wrong?" Narula asked from behind me.  "Who were you talking to?"

"I… I don't know." I looked back, but the man was gone.