Moving into my aunt’s house was like living in a hotel, except I had to clean my own room. My aunt Marie and uncle Richman lived in San Francisco which was a long way from where I lived, but they didn’t live in the flourishing and exciting city. They lived on the outskirts, almost in the middle of nowhere. They liked the seclusion a lot but they managed to get a house by the ocean so it wasn’t all that bad.
They were really nice with getting me school supplies. They let me get the fancy binders and the pens that were ten dollars. They even managed to get me new school clothes which I didn’t really need, but nonetheless picking out all the finest clothes in the store and not having to focus on what is necessary was a pleasant change.
Although I had new school supplies and the finest clothes, I could not shake this damned annoying feeling that I was terrified to attend a new school. The thought of being the “fresh meat” who is going to take whatever the upper classmen throw at him like some cheap whore wasn’t the finest thought in the world. I know that sounded a little extreme but I guess you could say I watch too many movies. The fact that I was absolutely fucked when I came to making friends due to my anxiety of meeting new people wasn’t helping. I am not much of a people person at all, I only had one friend back at my other school and she was my best friend. Her name was Alice Winters, she was the only person who ever took the time to get past my anxiety to see who I really was.
The first night I was sure I flushed my god damned pills right down the toilet. Aunt Marie and Uncle Richman didn’t feel they should keep the prescription going so I was happier than I had ever been to see them be sucked right down the drain. I could finally escape the horrors that terrorized and tormented my being while I slept. It was almost a feeling of being free.
Aunt Marie and Uncle Richman knew of my night terrors from when I was just a little kid visiting with my mother, but they didn’t to seem to take them as seriously when I moved in with them. I always thought it was because I was older and must have grown out of it, or they just really didn’t give a shit.
The first night spent at Aunt Marie’s and Uncle Richman’s house I had fallen asleep by accident as if that was ever possible for anyone but especially me. The last thing I remember was laying there on my phone when I just rolled over and fell right to sleep. Now up until I moved in with my aunt and my uncle I could never remember my night terrors. All that would happen was always my parents waking me up because I would be screaming. I would always be in an ice cold sweat that soaked my pillow, and my throat was constantly sore.
That first night’s dreams set off a chain reaction of unforgiving illustrations in the dreams to come that still manage to hunt me after death.
Chapter Two The Dream
The dream started off pleasantly enough, Alice and I were wandering the through woods as we often did back home. Everything was bright and in a way, cheerful. It was as if the air around us was alive and smiling with us. We climbed trees and threw rocks at each other. We would play ‘I Spy’ and wrestle in the leaves, just like back home. I was starting to get comfortable with the idea of telling her about my feelings for her and had managed to convince myself that I should. I waited till the right moment, and I believe I picked a damn good one. The sunlight beamed through and scattered through the tree leaves and branches. The gentle breeze brought a slight chill in the warm air. Birds perched above our heads singing with a melody so sweet one could drift off in a daze in its presence.
We sat upon a fairly huge rock among grass and dead wood in the center of a clearing. We were both winded for we had raced there. I, of course, let her win. I looked at her star struck and dumbfounded in her beauty. She had long auburn hair, with oak wood eyes, and a smile so white it could light up the night. She was tall, and busty with skin that looked smoother than silk and even more so. I began to feel a pit of nerves form in my inner bowels and stomach. I ignored it though.
I worked up the nerve to say something, “Alice…” I felt my face grow hot. She turned with her smile, “Yes?” I felt the urge to vomit. “Nothing…I forgot what I was going to say.” “You’re so silly.” Her voice was calming yet enthusiastic at the same time. Truly she was the girl of any man’s dreams I could say without any hesitation.
As we sat there, the sun began to hide its face behind the mountains. The sky shined a deep gold and the clouds an overpowering orange. It was a stunning sight to behold. I knew in the back of my mind I had one last chance, and I knew the hours of sitting on a rock in awkward silence wasn’t going to help it. Once again I worked up the courage and ignored the boiling pit of nerves brewing in my guts and turned to her. “Alice…” She turned and smiled, “It’s about damn time you said something dude.” I chuckled. I felt my face heat up once more but I ignored it and went all in. More like let it all out. As soon as I was about to speak, I emitted a stream out of my mouth that burned as it came up from my stomach. An enormous amount of the, at the time unknown liquid glazed Alice’s person, and when she realized what had happened she screamed. She didn’t scream in disgust, no, it was a scream of pure terror. A blood curdling scream tinged with terror that was so loud I could see the very sound waves leave her mouth.
I felt dizzy, vertigo was quickly settling in and when my vision managed to straighten the slightest I saw she was covered in blood. I wiped off the liquid from my mouth, there was blood there as well. Before I knew it, an overwhelming taste of iron violated my mouth molesting every god damn taste bud.
Alice stood up and began to dart in the opposite direction. She glanced back and I could have sworn her left eye was all black. I began to pursue her, following as closely as I could behind but she just as in reality was faster than me. Alice did not know the woods as well as I did. My fear was she would get lost, there are many dangerous animals in the back woods which is where we were heading.
When I finally caught up to her I was exhausted. She sat there weeping in disgust, I called her name and when she spun around both of her eyes where a memorizing black, and the veins on her face bulged out as if they were going to give way into the bloody mess at any second. She gave out another scream louder than the one before, as she did her face went red to a purple with all the veins by the side of her head blackened.
Shocked, I stood there soaking in the severity of what was going on and what was to come. Alice stretched her back to where her shirt tore off and her bra snapped sending it flying into the air. Her back started to bubble as she kept screaming. It continued until was enormous blobs of black that were slowly consuming her. I turned to run but I couldn’t move, it was as if a force was holding me there, making me watch for some unknown reason. I began to panic (realizing that I had not panicked that entire time) thrashing about screaming and starting to tear up.
I had just enough strength to take a final glance at Alice. What had been my best friend, and my crush, was not an unrecognizable monstrosity. She was a humanoid jet black figure, with piercing white eyes and give you the feeling of your being watched or talked about when nobody is there. Emitting from her body was a slimy black substance that singed the ground around it. The creature threw its head back and when thrown forth a horrible ripping sound penetrated my ears as a mouth appeared on the monster. The monster began to bellow a deep sickening bellow and slowly stomped towards me.
Still struggling I felt goose bumps forming down my back, and the bellow of the beast made the inner part of my ear shake rapidly. When the monster was close enough in my reach I kicked at it violently. The creature did not hesitate to grab my leg, and when it did so a truly horrible burning feeling consumed my leg. I could feel the skin and muscly just slide off the part where the monster had grabbed leaving them charred on the floor.
Once again the creature pulled my forth and lifted up its free hand, right before it hit me, I was woken by my aunt and uncle. They told me I had been screaking and thrashing violently. They sat beside me comforting me as well as they could. After about thirty minutes that left my side with a goodnight. I sat there and thought about the dream, replaying every moment in my mind. I kept reassuring myself that it was just a dream. I felt an itch on my leg, an itch that quickly turned into a burn. I checked my leg to fine a deep red mark, a hand mark…