Nocturne of Nightmares (Fanfic)

Chapter 1

"Ahh, why did the professor have to give us homework?" Anna complained to her friend, Leila, as they walked home together. "I wanted to spend the weekend shopping, not working on assignments!"

"I wanted to catch up on my drama series too." Leila said, also complaining about being given homework.

The two girls continued to converse about their plans for the weekend until they reached the intersection.

"Well, I'm going this way." Anna said.

"Alright. See you." Leila replied.

She waved goodbye as Anna crossed the intersection. The two have been friends since the start of Leila's university classes. After graduating highschool, most of her old buddies studied far away. They spoke a lot online, but...

It honestly made her feel lonely sometimes.

Leila continued walking home as the thought of her childhood came to mind. 

She didn't remember any of her friends from back then. Her memory was a blur. All she ever got was the feeling that something was missing. She couldn't recall much. Frankly, she couldn't remember her childhood at all.

Because she didn't have memories of when she was a child.

Did she have friends? Did she do the things she liked? Did she get many toys like other kids did?

These were questions Leila often caught herself thinking before a sudden feeling if emptiness came over her.

But...

"I'm home!" Leila called out as she entered her home.

"Welcome home!" Her mother and father replied from different areas of the house.

"Something smells good." Leila said.

"Isn't it nice?" Her father said as he sat down on the sofa. "Your mother's making curry."

"I've prepared a bath for you, so clean up before dinner." Her mother said as she poked her head out of the kitchen, ladel in hand.

"Okay!" Leila replied as she made her way up the stairs to her room, the scent of curry making her hungry.

The strange feeling of emptiness hits her from time to time. But... Whenever she saw her parents...

"Dinner's ready!" Her mother called up to her.

She honestly felt so lucky.

"Coming!" Leila called back as she finished getting dressed and gave her hair a quick towel dry before heading on down to eat dinner.

****

It was after her parents had gone to bed and Leila stayed behind in the living room. She looked at the clock to see it was nine forty-five pm.

"Just a bit longer." Leila said.

She lightly slapped her face with both hands to help keep her awake and liven up her mood.

"You can't fall asleep now, Leila." She told herself. "You've been waiting all week for this episode!"

Leila climbed onto the sofa and nestled herself into a corner as she watched the commercials run. Slowly, she felt her eyelids grow heavy.

She blinked her eyes hard, widening them as much as she could.

'I need to know what happens next!' Leila thought.

However, the TV begins to distort, the images askew on the screen. Out of nowhere, the ringing of bells seemed to echo in her ears.

'What's that sound?'