The Nightmare

" Ahhh...." she gasped as she opens her eyes to find her parents looking at her with concern , " What happened darling ? we heard you scream ."

She couldn't find it in herself to answer the question . She was petrified and couldn't even move her eyes . Her parents poured her a glass of water to drink and calm herself down .

" Do you want me to sleep with you tonight dear ?" asked Greta with great concern as she had never seen Scarlett so scared . Scarlett was a lively soul , always with a smile on her face and making everyone smile , never once had anyone seen her scared , crying or angry .

" No mother , you can return now , I'm fine . It was just a nightmare " is what she says as she didn't want to worry her parents with her problem .

Once they're gone , she tries to recollect the nightmare . There was a woman who kept repeating the word ,' Deep in the forest you must hide , for history is to be repeated again and peace must be sustained .' Just as the women kept repeating those words something from the shadow seemed to have got to the women and ripped her throat apart .

Scarlett ran for her life , she could feel whatever it was getting closer to her . She was scared for her life because it all felt real . The nightmare was spine chilling and traumatizing as she had just watched a women being ripped to shreds .

Scarlett didn't know what to make out of it . She thought maybe it was because of reading that creepy book or it was just a terrifying nightmare and nothing more than that .

Things went back to normal pretty soon , she went on with her school life and didn't have any more of those terrifying nightmares . Was everything really back to normal or was it the calm before the storm .

It really was the calm before the storm . As Scarlett opened her locker she found another letter , she was terrified . What does this mean ? Is she going to be haunted by that prankster again ? This time she didn't read the letter , instead she threw it into the dustbin . As she turned around , her nightmares came to life , it was the woman from her nightmare . The same woman she had watched being ripped to shreds .

She didn't flinch an inch , " Who are you ?" she demanded with trembling feet . The woman opened her mouth to speak but Scarlett was dragged aside by her friends , " Who are you talking to ?" . As Scarlett turns around to find the woman , she had dissapeared . " No one , I was just talking to myself ."

Scarlett now knew that whatever it was , it wasn't just a nightmare . That night she couldn't sleep , she kept fidgeting in bed . Soon after she heard something in the kitchen , a shatter . She decides to go investigate and while she was at it , she found it was just a glass but then she notices some muddy footprints leading to her parents' bedroom .

Scarlett was terror-struck , she couldn't get herself to move . She then slowly proceeded towards the door and cracked the door open . There was darkness , she couldn't see anything . She entered the room and what lay in front of her , broke her heart into a million pieces . Her parents were no more , there wasn't a single ray of life on their body , they seemed to be drained of blood .

Soon the authorities arrived . They investigated the whole crime scene but couldn't find a single clue . This was the first time a crime had taken place in their town . Never had there been any news of theft , murder , rape or any form of crime in their town .

" I couldn't find anything that points at forced entry or theft , but there was something interesting . As you can see that their body is drained of blood , I found bite marks around their neck . It doesn't seem normal , I've never heard of anything like this " said one of the officer .

However , Scarlett did read about it . ' A vampire ! they are supposed to be myths but what if it's all actually true . The letters , the book and my nightmares . Besides how do I explain seeing the very same woman of my nightmares at my school . Everything is somehow connected , they're connected to that academy ' she considered deeply .

" We're sorry for your loss Scarlett , they were good people " said one fo the officers and it brought scarlett back to the present . She could think about all this later but right now she had a duty to fulfill. She had to pay her respect to the only family she ever had .

ON THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL :

Everyone from the town was present at Scarlett's parents' funeral . Everyone offered their prayers and the ceremony was performed by a celebrant . Then it was time for Scarlett's eulogy .

Scarlett had never thought there'll come a day where she'll have to dona eulogy for her parents . She wasn't ready for it , but she poured her heart out in front of everyone . This day brought back the memory of her parents .

She had once said ," I personally believe that eulogies are just meant to make the person cry . Shouldn't we let them live in peace instead of reminding them of who they lost ?" to which her mother had replied ," yes , eulogies tend to do that but my dear Scarlett wouldn't you want to tell the world of the good things they've done ? Eulogies are meant to respect the deceased , for them to have a moment of peace before moving forward to the afterlife ."

Scarlett sobbed as she was reminded of what her mother had taught her . Once the ceremony was concluded , she got home and cried her eyes out . She was an orphan now , with no family . Life seemed to be hard on her and it wasn't getting any easier either .

She tried focusing on school the coming days but nothing could take her mind off of things . She had an unsettling feeling of wanting to investigate and that's what she did . She decided to find the academy at all cost . " I'm coming for you and nothing will save you from my wrath " she said with a determined look , clenching her fist .

She wasn't sure who it was or maybe what it was . She didn't know why her parents were killed either . But what she knows is that it wasn't a normal death . Someone murdered them in cold blood and left their bodies on the floor .

" I'll avenge your death mother- father , doesn't matter if I die in the process . I'll accept death with open arms as I have nothing to loose anymore " Scarlett had an emotionless face , it seemed as if she had lost every fibre of light in her body .