Chapter Twenty
705 Words
Goosebumps covered every exposed portion of Selena's skin and she shivered from fear. The shivering did nothing to reduce the cold sweat that broke out all over her body. She knew her dreams weren't random, but she had no proof they had any deeper meaning. Everything looked and felt so real. She was convinced of that.
Selena felt beside her pillow for her cellphone and immediately placed a call to her mum. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest with every passing second as she waited impatiently for her mum to pick up. More fear and apprehension seeped into all available spaces in her cells.
"Hey, honey. Is everything okay?" Her mum's sleepy voice finally came through the speakers.
Selena heaved a sigh of relief before stuttering out the words that were intended to convey her message. Somehow, her ability to construct proper sentences disappeared and all she could do was cry.
"Mum... Monster... Dead." The words choked their way out of her lips.
"Honey?" Her mum called out, clearly confused.
Selena could hear her shifting on her bed and knew she was sitting up. She really wanted to relay the events from her dream, but the words escaped her.
"Mum... You... Monster."
"It's okay, honey. It was just a nightmare." Her mum consoled her over the phone.
"No, mum. It felt so real." Thankfully, she had managed to get a grasp of her sentence formation skills once again.
"Please... lock... the doors... and windows." Selena pleaded.
"Honey, my doors and windows are always locked. It was just a nightmare." She repeated.
She knew her mum always had the doors and windows at the house locked but she was convinced the front door was open. It was open in her dream and it felt too real not to be true.
"Please, mum. Just check." She cried.
"Okay. I'll go downstairs and check the doors if you promise to go back to sleep." She said.
"Okay." Selena agreed, sniffing back her tears.
She waited on the phone for a couple of seconds before her mum spoke again.
"Honey, I'm standing at the front door and it's locked, just like I said."
"Okay... Thank... God." Selena sighed into the phone.
"Selena, I suggest you apply for a change of dorm rooms. It's clear you're still troubled by the horrific incident, just like anyone in your position will be. You don't have to keep staying there. Please put in your application in the morning. The authorities will understand." Her mum explained calmly.
"Okay, mum. I love you." She replied.
"I love you too, honey."
The line went dead but Selena couldn't go back to sleep. She looked at the time on her alarm clock and it was 3:45 am. She decided it would be better to be around people, so she grabbed her pillow and was heading out the door when she saw a fast-moving shadow from the corner of her eye.
Her blood froze in her veins, numbing her muscles from further action. The last time she saw that shadow in her room, Alex turned up dead.
"Am I going to be next?"
The thought horrified her even further. Her neck turned in every direction, forcing her eyes to scan her surroundings quickly.
There was no one there.
Selena ran as fast as she could and opened the door like she was being chased. She knocked on Trina Bayle's door and waited for her to answer. She knew Trina would be fast asleep but standing out there in the hallway terrified her.
Thankfully, Trina opened the door and wrapped her hands around her. Selena tried to explain what she was doing outside Trina's door but the only things that came out of her mouth were sobs. Tears flowed down her cheeks like something terrible had happened.
Selena had no exact reason for crying. She had confirmed her mum was fine, but the fear just didn't go away. Everything was too overwhelming.
Trina Bayle made some hot chocolate in a mug and offered her to drink. Selena didn't realize how thirsty she was until the precious liquid touched her tongue. She gulped it down as much as the heat allowed her, falling asleep on her bed shortly after.
- Writer
