Night Terrors
1314 Words
Ava dreamt she was running. Shadowy trees flashed past, their limbs grasping at her like skeletal fingers. Something chased her, breathing wet and hot at her neck. She turned, heart pounding, but saw only yellow eyes gleaming in the dark. When she tried to scream, the sound caught in her throat.
She woke with a gasp, tangled in sweat and sheets. Early morning sky leaked gray into her bedroom window. For a moment, she lay still, listening to the wind and her own ragged breaths, unable to shake the feeling that someone was still watching her.
Slowly, she got up and went to the window. Down on the edge of the yard, where the lawn met the trees, she spotted a set of tracks pressed into the mud—too large for any dog. Goosebumps prickled up her arms.
Her mom’s voice echoed from downstairs. The sounds of breakfast—the clatter of silverware, the beep of the toaster—offered a little comfort, and she forced herself to get dressed.
Downstairs, her mother was reading emails at the kitchen island. “You look pale,” she said, peering over her glasses. “Didn’t sleep?”
“I’m fine.” Ava forced a smile and stirred her coffee, then stared at her reflection in the black liquid. She wrestled with whether to mention the dreams or the tracks, but the words felt heavy and strange.
Lucas entered a moment later, dark stubble shadowing his jaw, his eyes clouded beneath a ragged mop of hair. He didn’t bother with breakfast—just grabbed an apple, biting into it with a force that made Ava flinch.
Allen’s voice floated in from the hallway, cheerful and unaware. “Lucas, can you drop Ava at school on your way?”
Lucas looked at Ava, his expression unreadable. “Yeah. Come on.”
•
The clouds promised rain as they reached the school. Lucas didn’t speak during the drive, his jaw set and hands tight on the wheel. Ava wanted to ask about the tracks, about the thing in the woods, about his warnings—but the words died in her throat.
As they slid from the truck, Ava glanced up to see Sidney and her group clustered near the entrance, eyes sharp with curiosity. Sidney watched Lucas with a longing smile, but when her gaze shifted to Ava it went cold as a blade.
Lucas ignored her, setting a brisk pace. “Don’t let them bother you. They don’t matter.”
Easy for you to say, Ava wanted to snap, but she bit her tongue and hurried after him.
Inside, the day began like any other—teachers clicking through slideshows, students texting with thumbs tucked under their desks. But nothing felt normal. As she moved from class to class, Ava couldn’t shake the sense she was being watched, as if the very building was alive with secrets.
Mid-morning, Ava found herself in the library, searching the shelves for a textbook she didn’t need. She heard footsteps behind her—far too soft to belong to a teacher or librarian. She spun, ready to defend herself, but found only Lucas, leaning against the end of a row.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people.”
He shrugged, letting a lazy grin flicker. “You looked like you needed rescuing.”
From what? she wondered, but kept her face impassive.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice so it wouldn’t carry past the shelves. “If people give you trouble—Sidney, her friends, whoever—it won’t last. They get bored quick. Let them.”
She tried for nonchalance. “You keep saying stuff like that. Like you know everything that’s going to happen.”
His golden eyes bored into hers. “Sometimes I do.”
For a moment, neither moved. There was almost a restless energy buzzing between them, like the air before lightning. She thought he wanted to say more, but two sophomores darted in, giggling and ruining the moment.
Lucas straightened, nodding to the exit. “I’ll see you in bio.”
When he left, Ava slumped against the stacks, trying to catch her breath. There was a weight in his words—a certainty—she couldn’t explain. Why did he always seem to know more than he could possibly say? Why did she trust him, when she barely knew him at all?
•
Biology passed in blur. Lucas sat beside her, silent and brooding, but every so often she caught him watching her—furtive, almost guilty.
They were halfway through reviewing cell structure when the PA crackled to life. “Lucas Knight and Ava Martin, please report to the main office.”
Whispers rippled through the classroom. Lucas smirked, but Ava’s anxiety spiked as she grabbed her backpack.
The principal’s office smelled of old paper and sanitizer. Principal Reilly, round-faced and stern, eyed them both over rimless glasses. “There was a concern raised about both of you at lunch yesterday,” he began, his voice too polite.
Ava’s heart thudded. Lucas leaned back, all defiance and indifference.
Reilly surveyed a note on his desk. “A threatening note was found on Miss Martin’s locker. This sort of thing will not be tolerated in my school. But you’re both seniors—I expect you’ll rise above childish games.”
Ava nodded mutely.
Lucas said nothing, just crossed his arms. Principal Reilly offered them each a hard candy, as if that settled everything, and dismissed them.
In the hallway, Lucas stopped her. “He thinks someone’s playing a joke. People here—they hide behind jokes. It’s how they keep outsiders out.”
Ava looked up at him, anger and fear tangling together. “Why are you the only one who seems to understand what’s happening?”
Lucas hesitated long enough to confirm what she already feared: there was something he wasn’t telling her.
He dropped his gaze, voice low. “Let’s just get through today.”
•
When the last bell rang, rain was streaking the windows in gray sheets. Ava paused at her locker, arms loaded with books, when Sidney slid up beside her, false sweetness oozing from every syllable.
“Settling in? Or is it… too wild around here for city girls?”
Ava forced herself to roll her eyes, refusing to show she was shaken. Before she could answer, Lucas appeared again, looming over Sidney.
“She doesn’t need your help, Sid. Move on.”
Sidney sneered as she brushed past him, her pack trailing after her. Lucas shot Ava an expectant look. “Come on.”
Without another word, she followed him outside, the two of them walking in silence while rain soaked through their hoodies. Ava shivered, but Lucas didn’t seem to feel the cold.
As they reached the woods near the house, a shadow flickered in the trees—too dark for a man, too large for a dog. Lucas stopped in his tracks, nostrils flaring, posture hardening. Ava could barely breathe.
“Inside,” he said, voice urgent, barely above a growl.
She didn’t argue. She ran, feeling his presence behind her, heat and danger at her heels. The door slammed behind them. Ava stumbled into the entryway, heart pounding as Lucas locked the deadbolt.
He turned, golden eyes blazing, rainwater trickling down his face. “You have to trust me, Ava,” he said quietly, dangerously. “No matter what you see or hear.”
For the first time, she truly believed him.
That night, Ava stood at her window—and even with the house glowing behind her, the shadows beyond the glass seemed to pulse and move with secrets she couldn’t yet name.
The night pressed in, and Ava understood-danger was no longer just a rumor or a nightmare. It was here, in Pine Ridge, and it was only going to get closer.
- Writer
