2 Chapter#02: I'm having strange dreams

"Mom! Dad! Help me! Somebody please help me!" yelled Jenifer as she ran in the dark woods, "She's after me!" She ran and screamed but there was no one who could listen her. She went deeper into the woods. There was nothing except trees, darkness and terror. She could hear the crows and rattling of dry leaves.

She felt a breath behind her but when she slowly rolled her eyes and turned around, there was no one. She started to scream and cry. Suddenly she heard some voices calling out her name. There was her name echoing in the woods and dread everywhere. She started to run again to find her way out of the deep woods but unluckily she slipped and her foot stuck to something. She saw feet of someone standing in front of her. She slowly looked up and her heart pounded so fast that it could just come out.

It was a strange girl with long disheveled sooty hair standing in front of her. She was wearing a mucky torn dress which reached till her knees.

Jenifer tried to get up but something was holding her there. She was about to die. Knowing not what to do, she started to scream again.

"Jen! Are you okay?" Kate shook Jenifer, "wake up!"

"Uh…what happened?" Jenifer woke up, "I…I was in the woods and I was stuck a…and I saw her…"

"Jen that was just a dream, see you're awake now. There's no one here."

"But those hair, those voices, the feet I saw were all real."

"Come out from it. Dad and Dalton are here and the dinner is also ready. You can't let the dinner wait, right?"

"Yeah but…"

"No buts okay else I would tell mom that you're acting like Dalton and you know how much she worries about her children."

"It was a dream indeed." Jenifer gave a mock smile.

"You need to be quick Jen, we're waiting for you. Don't think about it much else you'd be seeing the doctor instead of Dalton." saying this Kate went out.

Jenifer kept on thinking that how can a dream be so real. She knew that something strange was happening. She dried herself, wore a pair of pajamas and went downstairs.

"Hey dad!"

"Well hello dear!" John got up from the brown couch. He was a big black man. Jenifer resembled her father.

"How are you?" asked John.

"Just a little tired." sighed Jenifer.

"Tired?" John posed.

"I mean after a long journey who won't be tired…"

"You should be. So how's your work going?"

"It's going great but getting tough day by day."

"Life gets tough when you grow old. You don't know what's going to happen next or what surprises are you going to have ahead."

"And the difficulties too."

"But miseries are not only the part of life. It moves on and you forget everything as time passes."

"Yeah you're right Dad. Dad where is Dalton?"

"He'd be sitting here around somewhere."

"Bet I'll have to find him then."

Jenifer came out from the living room. She was finding Dalton. She saw Dalton on a chair in the dining room playing with his cube. He was a kid of 10 having freckles on his face.

"Knock! Knock!" smiled Jenifer but no response. "You had to ask who's there." exclaimed Jenifer. She sat on a chair beside him.

"Who's there?" asked Dalton in a faint voice.

"It's Jenifer!" she laughed.

"Hey Jen! I didn't know you were coming." Dalton came out from his thoughts.

"I've my own ways."

"And your own style to tease." Dalton laughed, "By the way how are you?"

"Well I should ask this from you."

"I'm fine, just a little worried about my sleep."

"What about your sleep?"

"I can't sleep well because of my nightmares I'm having and they seem so real to me."

"So what do you see?"

"They're not always the same but mostly I see the dark woods and I'm lost and…"

"A girl in white dress with really long hair comes close to you." Interrupted Jenifer.

"How do you know that?"

"Most of the kids of your age see these kinds of dreams."

"But these are so real."

"You'll be fine soon."

Jenifer was having the same dreams as Dalton. "But how can this be possible?" she thought. She went to the kitchen to tell her mother but her mother did not believe her.

"Mom you've to believe me."

"Don't be a child Jen."

"But why the same dreams?"

"I and your Dad were having some issues lately; he must have taken them in his head. That is all."

"But why me?" Jenifer cried.

"You're just tired because of your work. You will be fine if you take some rest."

"Mom you're not getting us right."

"Doctor has told the same reason about Dalton. How can you make the doctor wrong?"

"I don't know but I'll prove it."

"Okay! Prove it later but now take this sauce to the table and sit there to eat. I'm bringing the noodles."

"No one would believe us." thought Jenifer.

There sure was something going on strange. Dalton seemed scared and so was Jenifer. All she could do was to talk to Dalton and try to know more of what was happening.