Nightmare

Suspense-horror Flash-Fiction.

The sound of a door slamming stirred me awake trance-like sleep I’d succumbed to while sitting at my desk.

“Sara,” whispered a voice in my ear. “Sara…”

A light shiver traveled down my spine as I desperately tried to open my eyes.

“Love…” The voice crooned again.

With a great struggle, I threw off the weight that seemed to have settled on my eyelids. Blinking rapidly, I took in my surroundings.

I was still at my desk, my face resting on the open book that I’d attempted to read before dozing off. The room was pitch dark except for a sliver of light shining through a gap between the curtains.

I’d heard a voice calling me and the sound of the door slamming.

But I couldn’t see anything.

Tripping over my feet, I hurried over to switch on the light; all the while assuring myself that I was okay, everything was fine.

But in the dark of the night, that promise seemed empty and cold.

Cold.

Why was it so cold?

I heaved a sigh of relief when I found the light switch.

I flicked it on.

But the room remained dark.

‘As dark as the depths of hell,’ my mythology professor, Dr. Deewan would say. ‘All hope abandon, ye who enter in!’

Forcing out the lines of Dante’s poem that were echoing in my mind, I scrabbled around the table to find the switch of the small lamp I kept on it.

But the room got even spookier if that was possible.

The small lamp didn’t help. As if the light seemed to war with darkness and the darkness was winning.

There was something grim, sinister in the shadows. Something that light couldn’t touch…

Scolding myself for imagining things, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

There’s nothing to be afraid of, Sara!

Nodding to myself, I searched for my phone in the pile of books at my desk. As soon as I unlocked the phone, the screen flickered and died.

But I’d caught a glimpse of the time.

It was sharp at 3:30 in the morning.

3:30 a.m.

The hour of demons and evil spirits as Dr. Deewan often said.

Cursing the man to hell, I tried to take stock of the situation.

My parents were out of the state and I was alone in a massive secluded house with a dead cell phone, spooked at 3:30 a.m.

Alone when-

A loud bang echoed through the house making my jump.

Heart racing, I slowly approached the door of my room.

I had to investigate the sound.

Yes, I know I shouldn’t. I’ve watched more than two dozen horror movies where people get killed because they’d set out to explore some noise they’d heard.

I’ve screamed at the characters who took it upon themselves to ‘investigate’ the sounds.

But it’s next to impossible to not look for the sources of the unexplained sounds.

Apart from natural curiosity, there’s this tendency to assure ourselves that the noise was nothing to fear about. I want reassurance.

It could just be the wind…or the cat.

Heart thudding in my chest, I move to the hallway.

Nothing.

Just then, a small grunt reached my ears.

I cleared my throat. “W..Who’s there?”

Only a rustle and grunt, coming from the floor below.

Gulping, I slowly approached the stairs.

When I reached the top of the stairs, goosebumps erupted on my skin.

The wide windows of the enormous living room were thrown open.

The snow-white curtains bellowed in the biting cold wind, wildly fighting against their restraints.

Frighten, I took one step down.

The wind whistled, air piercing, the light of the torch caught the massive painting hung above the fireplace.

The painting of my family.

Our faces looked eerie.

Just as I reached the last step of the staircase, a slow…painful creak echoed loudly.

At the same time, a flash of white shone at the far end of the room.

Shocked, I frantically look through the room.

There was no white streak anymore.

Nothing except me, my flashlight and the cold, howling wind in the large, empty room.

Then, throaty chuckle reverberated again.

The dark chuckle seemed to echo through the very hollows of my bones.

“Who’s there?” I shouted desperately.

No answer.

Shaking like a leaf, trying to grasp on to the last shreds of courage.

I knew this was no case of robbery, my house was well protected.

The only option left was-paranormal?!

I’ve never believed in ghosts. But at this point, I was not sure.

Despite my behavior tonight. I wanted to run but I was not weak.

But this?

Ghosts were out of my forte.

Just as this thought passed through my mind, another low and throaty chuckle pierced the glacial air.

My heart stuttered, then started running frantically.

“Scared, love?” came the cold voice.

I looked around hopelessly, distressed.

“W..Who are you?” I whispered into the night. “What do you want?”

“Oh, Love.” The voice seemed to sigh. “I want you, of course.”

Love?

Love!

“Josh?” I called, warmth shooting in my body, though I didn’t understand anything.

More cold laughter.

“Josh!” I called again, a voice beyond desperate.

No answer.

An eerie stillness settled in the room.

Slowly, unsteadily, I walked over to the front door.

But before I could push it open, the door blasted out, the hinges creaking and groaning under the application of a mysterious force.

I shrieked as the icy cold wind howled, knocking me over.

Despair filled me as I lay on the ground, exhausted.

I didn’t want to deal with this, whatever ‘this’ was. I was tired, aching, and scared.

With shaky legs, I rose just in time to see a translucent form drifting away.

Was that real?

Was any of this real?

The flashes, the howls, the voice.

The voice belonging to my Josh.

Josh, my love, the guy I’d lost to an accident a year ago?

Nothing made sense anymore…

A tinkling sound reached my ears.

The wind chimes clashed, tinkling merrily against the wind.

“Sara..” Someone whispered.

A cry of anguish left my lips.

“Help me, Love!”

“Josh”, Tears falling down from my eyes.

I ran towards the sound.

Agony and despair seemed to ooze out of my heart.

Josh needed help.

Help? Wasn’t he dead?

I didn’t know. What I knew was I had to reach him…

Panting, I reached to the left side of the house.

I now stood in front of the pond that I’d spent countless hours playing, with Josh.

Ghostly echoes of our laughter filled the air again. Ripples rose on the surface of the pond and the air grew heavier under the weight of nearly opaque fog.

Shrieks of bats accompanied the ghoulish laughter. Added to the mix was the pounding sound that seemed to come from somewhere deep within the earth.

The low, throaty chuckle was clear in the midst of this cacophony.

“Stop it!” I cried, sinking to the ground under the sheer force of desperation and fright.

I was petrified beyond belief.

I wanted this to end! I wanted everything to end!

I wanted Josh.

As I watched, the translucent water of the pond started swirling, pale hands reaching out of the water.

Reaching towards me…

Screaming, I shuffled backward until my back hit a tree.

Another chuckle.

A movement right before my eyes caught my attention.

There was something swinging from the branches of the tree I was leaning against.

A corpse!

A corpse hanging upside down was swinging by a rope right before my eyes!

A loud, high pitched wail filled with stark terror and desolate hopelessness reverberated through the grounds.

It took me a moment to understand that it was coming from me before the world turned black before my eyes.

I fought to remain conscious.

Heavy footsteps reached my ears.

Moaning, I tried to push myself away, but to no avail.

“No…” I groaned.

At the very next second, there was a loud thud.

And a human voice.

A human!

“Help!” I tried to shout but it came out as a mumble.

A man’s voice swore above me.

Someone turned my face away from the ground.

I caught a glimpse of a tall body before all turn black.

I woke up on a bed decked in pure white sheets. A glow from a bedside lamp illuminated the small room I was in.

A room I’d never been in before.

My head felt heavy and my throat parched.

What on earth had happened to me?

More importantly…

Where was I?

I felt trapped in a heavy daze, unable to make sense of anything.

My body ached all over as I fought consciousness desperately.

Water…I needed water.

Thankfully, a glass of water stood at a table next to the lone window.

Heaving a sigh, I pushed myself up from the bed and stumbled across the room to reach for the glass.

Supporting myself against the wall, I lifted the glass up to my mouth…

Only to drop it with a shriek when the door creaked.

The door opened slowly and a tall form, shrouded in the shadows, entered the room.

“Stay away from me!” I screamed at it.

The figure held up its hand and stepped into the light.

“Josh?!”

My legs gave way and I dropped on the floor.

I fought to remember…something!

All I could remember was-

“You’re supposed to be dead!” I croaked, gazing up at him.

The concerned expression on Josh’s face melted to understanding.

Slowly, he crouched down in front of me.

He raised his hand to touch me but thought better of it.

Sighing, he spoke softly: “I didn’t die in that accident, Sara.”

“You didn’t die…?”

His steady eyes burned into my subconscious.

Something clicked…

“Josh!” I gasped again, looking at him in horror. “I did it again, didn’t I?”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Josh crooned, finally touching me. “Relapses happen. But I’ll always be here to remind you that I’m very much alive.”

I threw myself into his arms, sobbing in joy.

He was okay.

My Josh was fine.

I am okay.

I was safe, in Josh’s arms.

Sometime later, Josh shifted beneath me on the bed, brushing back my hair and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You’ll have to let me go, Love. I need to use the washroom.”

Reluctantly, I released my grip on him, pouting at the loss of contact.

Smiling brilliantly, Josh got out of the bed.

When he disappeared into the washroom, I felt myself growing restless again.

Desperate to be near him, I padded to the bathroom, I peeked inside.

But Josh was standing in front of the sink with his back to me.

He seemed to be looking at the mirror above the sink.

As I watched, he chuckled slowly.

A deep chuckle…low, mysterious, and absolutely terrifying.