Running through the indistinct, crisp woods, the only sound being bare feet hitting the leaf-covered ground, I run for my life, not knowing what it is I'm running from.
My heart pounds and my lungs burn, my feet are screaming for me to stop but my mind is screaming for me to keep going; it's like an endless battle that I don't have time to decipher.
The star spread sky shimmers above my head, usually I would find peace in watching them but not tonight, tonight those stars haunt me like a never-ending nightmare. The abnormally full-moon stares down at me, laughing at my weakened state as my trail comes to an end.
All I see is trees, tall, endearing trees that hide the fears of everyone's conscience. This forest was nothing I'd ever seen before.
Had it not been for the glowing moss stained outgrown roots of the trees or the unusual blue-ish hue to the leaves hanging from the hovering trees, it would have almost passed as normal. The air was thick, almost suffercating. The sky, freakishly clear.
Barely, I hear the heavy sound of footsteps crunching the dead leaves that my feet once ran through. With that, I'm running, no destination in mind.
The loud whispering follows me along my trail. I wanted to scream at them, to silence them, they were going to get us caught. By what? I don't know. But everything in me cries for me to run, to escape it.
The gnawing of leaves beneath my feet multiplied as the near footsteps became closer and closer. I was too scared to look behind me as I ran, so I picked up my pace, feeling as though I was running in circles. Everything looks the same here
Focusing on my heaving breath, I do the one thing I know I should never do, I looked. I looked behind me and saw nothing but the sound of heavy footsteps from behind me was still there. My attention turned back on the never-ending forest ahead of me.
As I turn to the left, I never thought I would be thankful to see what stands in front of me. Looking at the small, desolate cottage that lays in front of me, my run quickly turns into a fast-paced walk as I begin towards the seemingly empty cottage.
Reaching the worn down, unstable door, I bang my small fist on it, begging for someone to answer. I knock again And again until I hear the sound of footsteps start to approach in the distance, the whispers got loud, begging me to run as the steps echo through the empty circle of land which was seemed impossible given the openness of the area
As my heart rate picks up once again, fear clouds my curiosity. I try to pry open door which was harder than it should be for its worn-down attire.
After what felt like forever, the door finally opens and I stare; becoming unaware of my surroundings, frozen to my place I stare into the darkened cottage. I didn't expect was to find someone staring back. Feeling a sharp noise blister my ears, my vision starts to blur until everything goes black...
The next thing I know, I'm shooting from my bed, gasping for air as my sweat covered skin shrivels with the night air.
'Just a dream' I reassured myself with a hand over my heart trying to tame its racing, 'Just a dream'
There's a breeze on my back and for a split second, I'm back there, back in that daunting forest being mocked by the leaves and footsteps of the faceless man. Until I turn towards my open window, a breath of relief leaves me.
The sky was still dark, if I had to guess, I'd say it was around 3am, just like it was every other night.
As I go to close the window a shadow passes over my eyes. The window opposite my own flickered with light and he just stood there. Staring. His deep blue eyes look almost murderous as they burn into my light green ones, searching for answers to questions I couldn't even fathom.
The intensity of his stare has my bare feet frozen to the soft, cream carpet mom had put in barely a week ago. A chill runs through my body, through my blood.
It was as if, in that moment, time had stopped. Frozen in place.
His shadowless obsidian hair stands wildly, spiking in ever direction, as his bare chest rises heavily but his eyes never leave mine.
A second passes, a minute turns to several until whatever spell has been cast over my mind breaks, and I turn abruptly, slamming the window closed as quietly as I can in my rushed state, not daring to look back out there where I had no doubt the man still stood.
'Great' I think sarcastically, 'We live next to creeps'
Every night, like clockwork, the same dream came. It started and ended the same every time. Every tiny detail was the same, no leaf positioned differently. The deep-rooted fear overtook every cell in my body, my heart raced the same, I ran the same and ended at the same dingey cottage in the middle of the woods. No matter what my mind willed, begged even, I always ended up in the same place, with the same man, the same faceless man standing over my quivering body.
I haven't found out what happens after because every night I wake up at the exact moment I did the last.
Tonight, was different.
It felt more real, opaquer even. As if, rather than seeing the scene from a distance, I was seeing it firsthand, through my own eyes. As if coming to this town broke a barrier between my mind and my dream.
I shake the thought from my mind, it's crazy and impossible.
The dream started nine months ago; I couldn't give you a specific date if I tried. One night I went to sleep and didn't dream and the next, I did. Every single night from then the dream haunted me, like some sort of distant memory that, no matter hard I tried, I just couldn't remember.
It was as if the dream was begging me to remember, the whispers in the woods telling me, screaming for me, to hide, to run, to do absolutely anything but get caught.
I felt like a scared child waiting for her mommy or daddy to come and save the day but no matter how hard I willed for them to save me, they never did.
I guess that sort of made me a therapist dream patient. Daddy issues reflected in her dreams. Well, dream singular.
I considered telling my mom about it but I didn't even know what to say. It sounded stupid in my head, I could only imagine what it would sound like in actual words, 'Hey mom, I have the same freakish dream every night that I'm being chased by some mass-murderer, or at least I think it's a mass-murderer, I haven't exactly seem him, but anyways what's new with you?'
Yeah, couldn't see that going anywhere good.
Laying back in bed with one arm behind my head and the other draped across my torso I look up to the ceiling. Back home, I'd had these glowing star stickers on the ceiling that I would count whenever I couldn't sleep. Guess I'll have to improvise.
I don't know how long I lay there, lost in my own thoughts but eventually, when if forget about the man chasing me, the whispering voices begging me to escape and the boy in the window, exhaustion takes over and I'm falling into a dreamless sleep.
~~❤Word Count = 1308❤~~
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The Guardians (The Highest Order, Book One)
FantasyFaith's life has been anything but easy. From the divorce of her parents to moving to a completely different state, she has to learn to accommodate the changes that have come to her life in such a short amount of time. The thing is, this town is di...
