Deep Darkness

A million thoughts rushed through Tanya’s head as she marveled at the horrors unfolding before her eyes. She was seeing a flurry of flashing images all of which seemed insidious but it was all happening too fast for her to piece anything from it. At that very moment she saw something clear, it was a boy. She didn’t get a chance to identify him at all. The scene shifted immediately to a classroom at her high school. The sun rays piercing through the windows painted the whole scene a hazy hue of scarlet. Whatever violence that her thoughts once carried was disintegrated by the peace and quiet that had besieged her. It was that moment that she woke up from her dream. She had an insipid expression on her face. She felt tired. It was early in the morning but her body felt like a soggy log. Tanya had grown much accustomed to her dreams. Sometimes they would come as lucid as possible, she could see everything down to the tinniest detail. On others they would all be flashes. “Looks like someone had a tough night,” said her mom, noticing the uninterested look on her daughter’s face. “Just had a bad dream mom, I’ll be alright.” “Well I heard something funny today,” her mom said, “wanna hear it?” “Anyway,” she continued in spite of her daughter’s complete lack of interest in her jokes, “why was the broom late for work? Because it over swept.” Her face was beaming with a broad smile. Met and countered by Tanya’s blank stare. “Mom, I told you to stay away from dad jokes, you’re not even a dad,” she raised her arms in protest. “One day, I’m telling you one day, I’ll make you laugh,” “Well then, till that day comes please stay away from my friends, they think you’re weird,” she said that with a slight smirk on her face. She hugged her mom and walked out to begin her journey to school. Whenever Tanya was alone, she’d submerge her mind deep into her imagination. Sometimes she’d see the flashes from her dreams. This time she was broken out of her trance by her best friend Chris. “ Wet socks,” he whispered into her, scaring her completely. “You snuck up on me you imp!” she cried out with a subtle shiver. “You sneak up on me all the time,” he crossed his arms as he sat next to her. “Yeah I do but it’s supposed to be funny, you almost gave me a heart attack,” Chris cackled and she poked his head with a pen. “Are you busy after school?” he asked. “I really wanted to work on that essay for class,” “You can do that at my place, we could hang for a bit, unless you’d rather listen to your mom’s corny jokes all afternoon.” The thought of her mom’s dry jokes haunted her more than the creatures in her dreams. “Alright, I can hang,” she said. Tanya and Chris had known each free since she was five. Chris’ family had just moved in right across the street. Whenever she visited (which to be honest, was everyday) she would first go into the back yard. She’d gaze at the tree which they used to climb as kids and pretend to be jungle explorers. It used to be so big and spacious back then. Now it looked like it would die if Chris even decided to set foot on it. Staring into the yard threw her into her trance again, this time it was deeper. All her vision turned to a haze and she closed her eyes. She couldn’t hear anything around her. Then she saw a man. She recognized him from her dreams, but this time it was so vivid it was like he was there in front of her. He had a dusty feel to him, with his dusty over coat and dirty boots. He turned to face Tanya, and then muttered out one word but so softly that she barely heard him. He said, “Arise.” She tried to reach out to him. Chris walked in on her again but this time was taken over by astonishment, “Tanya,” his voice was shaky, “this is unnatural.” She opened her eyes and looked around herself. She was floating a few inches off the ground. Her left arm was out stretched and a little blood had flowed through her nostrils. She looked at her book which was hovering a few inches away amidst a few twigs. Then she fell to the ground, unconscious. Her heart pounded fast as she struggled to get conscious. Her flashes become stronger and she hated it because it made her head hurt. She could actually see the face of the boy in her dreams now. He had dark brown hair and a slight moustache forming on his face. That was all she could make out before waking up on Chris’ couch. “Tanya, are you alright?” asked Chris, “you, you were floating, I dunno if I'm seeing things but you were floating,” “Relax Chris, I’m fine. I seriously dunno what’s going on but I just got these flashes from my dreams. They got stronger and stronger till I couldn’t hear, see or feel anything anymore,” “You’ll be alright, does your mom know about the dreams?” “All she knows is that I’ve been getting nightmares but I definitely wouldn’t tell her about this,” she sat up and faced him, “I dunno why this time felt different, I could see everything, there’s this boy, been seeing him for weeks now but this time it was so much more vivid.” Chris walked her home (or rather across the street) because she was feeling dizzy and left her to her own devices after fake laughing at one of her mom’s ‘dad’ jokes. Tanya over the next few days spent a little more time alone than she should’ve. She’d leave for home immediately after soccer practice at school. She skipped a few of her friend’s sleepovers. She had even started avoiding Chris until he started showing up at her place asking her mom whether she was okay. “Tanya Chris is here!” her mom shouted when he came over one day after school. She walked down the stairs and joined them in the living room. “Well I’m heading out for groceries, Tanya you need anything?” “No, mom, I’m alright,” “Well I’ll be back in a jiffy,” she headed out. “Hey, sorry for blowing you off,” she smiled at him pleadingly, “but I gotta show you something, come on.” She moved out of the sitting room and headed to the backyard.