Only A Nightmare

As she opened her eyes she realized that she was screaming, her heart beat rapidly and she was thankful it was only a nightmare, she had almost gotten her breath back when the doorknob rattled and loud knocking at the door told her she had most likely waken the neighbors.

Looking around the dark room she saw the clock was flashing 12:00 telling her the power had gone out once again, she grabbed her robe and with one arm in a sleeve she leaned against the door and yelled “Who is it?” the knocking continued.

Hey whoever it is I am all right, it was only a dream, the knocking got louder and all of a sudden she could feel breathing on her remaining bare shoulder, someone or something was behind her, she yanked the door open and darted into the hallway.

Expecting help to be on the other side of the door she found herself alone, she dropped her robe and began running down the hallway, banging on each door as she approached it, screaming for the help that never came.

The hallway suddenly went dark; the power was once again out so her idea of reaching the elevator in time was abandoned, she turned for the stairwell slamming the door behind her as she passed through.

The footsteps behind her were slow and steady as she descended the steps, the hot and almost growling breath brushed the top of her head as she made the turns towards the next landing, every hallway door she tried was locked and the only one she found open led to the basement.

Crouching behind a stack of musty boxes, pushing her way between them and the wall dragging spider webs down with her face and hair as she went, she hoped to remain hidden from the unknown being following her, but the slow raspy breath told her it was close once again, holding her breath she remained motionless as the thing passed on the other side of the boxes.

Scratching sounds from within the boxes made her anxious and when she felt the scratching sensation of a rodents claws going across the top of her bare feet she knew one had escaped, withholding her need to scream was almost impossible, and was barely accomplished as the rodent scurried across her feet.

The door she came through opened and closed and when she could no longer hear the footsteps she ran for the opposite door that went outside.

Into the dark night she ran, and just about the time she felt safe, the warm breath was on the back of her neck once again, along with the slow and steady footsteps crunching the leaves behind her, she knew the demon was gaining on her, she wildly ran towards the river and on approach made the decision to dive in.

She swam back against the current and pulled herself into the bank of the river, just underneath the grass and reeds, she sank down until the water was just below her earlobes, this way she could still see and hear things around her.

Footsteps in the grass right above her head gave her hope that she was safe but the slow raspy breath told her that her nightmare was right on top of her, she sank a little lower in the water just as a water moccasin brushed the side of her face, swimming on its way to the den behind her in the bank, she made the decision to leave.

Stifling a scream she quietly pushed her way out into the current and allowed the river to take her away, floating for quite a while she felt that whatever was chasing her was no longer near, now in a secluded area that she didn’t recognize, and she swam for shore.

She could make out Spanish moss hanging in the trees giving the river an almost tunnel like effect, it was actually a quiet and peaceful feeling, she finally reached the bank and began pulling herself up and out of the water, at the top she reached as far as she could for the last hand hold on the grass when sharp fingernails surrounded her wrist and yanked her up into the air.

As she opened her eyes she realized that she was screaming, her heart beat rapidly and she was thankful it was only a nightmare, she had almost gotten her breath back when the doorknob rattled…