Secret Supernaturals: The Witch

Nightmares

- ALTHEA -

I told my legs to go faster, trying to get away from the monster chasing me down. Everything looked the same, and I felt like I was running around in circles even though I was going straight ahead. Faster, I needed to get away from here faster. I pushed further, running faster than I’ve ever run in my entire life. My legs felt like they were on fire, but I didn’t dare stop.

The stranger was still hot on my heels though, chasing me throughout the dark woods. A wall sprouted out from nowhere, forcing me to slow down to a stop. He was catching up to me, I could hear it.

I shut my eyes and willed it to stop. To go away. It all felt so real, so familiar. I had to get out of here.

- - - - - - - - - -

I woke up with a start, jolting up from my bed. Beads of cold sweat ran down my forehead, my heart was pounding rapidly, and my breath came in short, shallow puffs. lt felt like I’d been running, which was exactly what I was doing in my nightmare. This weekend just started but I was already wishing for it to end. When I finally got my breathing under control, I tried to close my eyes again, trying to fall back asleep. Visions of the dark forest flashed behind my eyelids every time I closed my eyes though, making it nearly impossible to go back to sleep.

It was still dark outside when I checked the windows and I wondered what the time was. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand, using my other hand to shield my eyes from the sudden bright light of the screen. It was only 4:30 am, but it seemed like going back to bed wasn’t really an option at the moment. I laid there for a while, thinking of what to do to keep myself occupied for the next few hours.

I turned the lamp on my side of the bed, setting it to the lowest brightness just so I could see the room. There wasn’t anything school-related that I had to do, but I needed something to keep my mind off of everything. I slowly got up from the bed, making sure that I was as quiet as I could possibly be so I don’t accidentally wake Cass up. I made my way into the spare room adjacent to my bedroom.

This was the room where all of the hobbies that I’ve acquired through the years were kept. I flipped the switch on, illuminating the spacious room. There was a piano in the corner, an easel on one side of the room, and a bookshelf on the other. Looking into the room, I could see all the things I was previously invested in, though I’ve lost interest in some of them over the years. It was such a trip down memory lane.Seeing everything gave me a sense of calm, and I was already feeling better.

I grabbed a book off the shelf and made my way to the soft couch in the middle of the room, trying to get comfortable. Reading was therapeutic for me, and soon I found myself invested in the story. I was painting every scene in my head, taking me away from reality.

“ALTHEA!”

Hearing my name being shouted snapped me out of my daze and made me put the book down. I didn’t know what time it was anymore, but when I looked up, streaks of sunlight were already filtering in through the windows and I was already halfway through the book. I reached over the table to reach my phone, seeing that it was already almost 7am. I’d been here reading for a little over 2 hours and I didn’t even notice.

I stuck the closest thing I could reach, which turned out to be a card that was on top of the desk, in between the pages and set the book down gently on the table. Time surely flew by so fast. I stood up and stretched my arms out, trying to wake my muscles up, before yelling back. “I’m here!”

I walked back and opened the door which connected to my room, just as Cass entered back to my room through the main door. Her eyes were wide, and worry was evident on her face.

“Where were you?! Ms. Davis was calling for breakfast and you weren’t here! We’ve been trying to find you for the past 10 minutes!” Concern laced her voice, and I found it sweet even though she was yelling at me so early in the morning.

“Good morning to you too.”

She didn’t seem to appreciate my calmness. “We were worried about you!” I raised an eyebrow at that. “I was just reading in the other room. You guys worry too much, jeez. It’s not like I’m gonna run away from my own house.”

She didn’t seem satisfied with my answer but said nothing else, which was something I wasn’t used to. Instead, she turned back to the door to leave. “Now we can eat breakfast. Let’s go! All this looking for you has me starving.”

I laughed at how quickly her priorities changed, but followed her out anyway.

What a good way to start the morning.