1 Awakening

Where am I?

Darkness envelopes my surroundings. It was getting hard to breathe. I am panicking and I cannot stop myself. I squeezes my eyes shut, cold run down my spine. Having no freakin' idea where the hell I am is the most scariest thing. My arms go over my body, making a protective circle. Guarding myself from the unknown.

I try opening my eyes but it's so dark that the only thing I can see are the silhouettes of the dancing trees. It's taking a great toll on my sanity,  I am alone in the middle of a forest wearing my pajamas feeling helpless. Just then the most dreadful thought crosses my overworking brain, I'm going to die.

There's someone trying to get me! I can feel it in my bones. The same eerie feeling you get when someone is looking at your back is eating my remaining bravery. I demand for my legs to move and run away but they are firmly cemented the ground. Exhaustion has  already taken over my body like I had been running for hours. There's nothing I can do and all I want is to take my defeat.

Help. Help! I shout in my head for there is no sound that can escape my mouth. Tears are threatening to fall, my dam breaks and I cry for being so powerless. Fuck it! Move! Just move, please! I cry repeatedly but it's no use. My whole body has long turned into stone. The chilling presence is getting nearer every bit of second.That thing, whatever it is, it cannot take me. Oh, god! I need to do something but I cannot. I cry even harder.

Then, out of a sudden everything goes eerily still. The wind stops blowing and the trees becomes stoic The owls and crickets are nowhere to be heard as an eerie silence falls over. In a snap of finger, all sounds are wipe off around me. It's here! It finally got to me.

Desperation claws me from the inside, for the last time I will my body to move but with no use at all. Beads of sweat starts to form intricately throughout my body as all my hairs stood at once, greeting the presence beside me. I don't want to die! Not yet No. No! NO!

I hurriedly shut my eyes. My body shakes in fear, it's within my reach.

I can feel it, the hot breath in my nape. A voice creeps to my head, "Ah, Princess at last we found you. We are coming to get you."

No! No! No!

I wake up gasping for breath. My shirt clings to my body like a second layer of skin, drench with sweat. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream, I chant calming my raising heart. My hands cover my face; it felt so freaking real. I inhale deeply-- the hairs on my arms are still up and I'm chilling through the warm blowing air from the open window. I close my eyes, trying to erase the residual effects of the dream. With a shake of my head I tack it away to the back of my brain and head downstairs.

"There's the birthday girl!" My mom beams at me as I enter the kitchen. I repay it with an equal sized smile. The woman loves me more than I can offer her and it warms me that even if we are not blood related, she doesn't made me feel otherwise for the seventeen years of existence that I have.

As soon as I got near her, I'm envelop in a tight embrace. The familiar scent of vanilla fills the air, making me hungry.

"Thanks mom," I say and kisses her on the cheek. I sit down in front of my five layered sourdough pancakes, candle on top; a tradition they made especially for me.

"Good morning, birthday girl!" My dad walks in from the living room, gives me a kiss on the forehead. Then, they start singing me a happy birthday.

I blow the candle and make a wish. Hope something interesting happens today.

Everyone would be wishing that too if they're me. I mean, my life is boring. Hell, how would it not be if you're living in boring town of Santa Monica, where everyone knows everyone and with a booming population of a thousand and eight. Great I'm babbling to myself.

"You're supposed to be meeting someone, right?" I ask my dad through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Yeah...yeah, I totally forgot and I'm running late now," he says as he stands up, gives mom a chaste kiss on the lips and me on the cheek. He walks over the door with another kiss, flying it to my mom's direction. He's a lawyer and working a case right now. Mom on the other hand owns a cafe and a killer cook.

"You two, never grows up," I say giving my mom a wide grin. They love each other like they always do, no less and always more.

She eyes me across the table. "Hmm... honey?"

"Yes?"

"Is there anything you feel different...?" she pauses, "Anything? Just anything unusual," mom asks me, sounding a bit concern. The same question she asks me on every birthday I have.

"I'm fine, okay. You're worrying with nothing, Ma. I just turned a year older not something weird, I didn't grow horns and tail." I almost roll my eyes then remember that she would definitely scold me, so I stand up instead and head upstairs to get ready for school.

...

"Be safe honey!" mom shouts as I step outside of the house.

"Bye mom!" I shout back to her.

The drive is about fifteen minutes long, we live a little over the town's edge. It's a clear day and everything is starting as normal, as they usually do. Besides the dream that I had. I've been thinking about it, more like it won't go away. Usually I can't hardly recall my dreams but that one still lingers in my brain, specially the creepy voice. Ugh it's..."Shit!" I slam my break hard, almost hitting a cat-- a freaking black cat.

I'm sure as hell it look me in the eyes before scurrying away. Maybe it's just my imagination but it still gives me the hives. I'm being overly jumpy this morning.

I dismiss the thought and start the ignition, continuing my drive till I get to school.

"Hey, there's the birthday girl!" My friends, Milo and Connie shout as I exit my jeep.

"Hey, guys! What's up?"

"You look shit! You are white as a ghost! What happened?" Connie asks me as I got near them. She examines me at shoulder length, giving me chinky eyes.

I snap at her, "Nothing, I just almost hit a black cat on my way here. It's strating to be a shitty morning... but nothing serious." I start walking without waiting for them. No footsteps are following, I look back at them. "Come on, slow pokes!" I trace back  my stepsto them, grabbing each of their arms.

"Black cat?" asks Milo, curiosity is oozing from him.

"Uh-huh."

His eyes got wide, glinting with enthusiasm. "Oh! ow...that's a bad luck, totally bad. My grandma says--"

I punch him in the shoulders, cutting him before he can continue anything he would say. He's a man full of wild superstitions courtesy of his hundred year old grandma. "Hey! No crazy superstitions, or voodoo thingies! It's my birthday," I say as we enter our classroom.

"But you'll never know if it meant anything!" grumbles Milo.

"And, it meant nothing." I eye him to shut up as our english teacher walks in.

"Who can tell me about Mayor of Cambridge?" asks our teacher as Milo mouths bad luck to me. I roll my eyes and focus on our discussion. It won't be any help if I give in with the notion of something bad is going to happen. Though, at the back of my head something shouts adventure. FUN.

Throughout the day Milo kept bugging me with the idea of the black cat being a bad omen. He said it can be a Bakeneko, a Japanese demon cat that preys on human soul. Of course, I dismissed all his ideas to the trash. That somehow, he got tired.

So far no excitement happened, maybe my wish would never come. It'll be just like the endless monotonous day I've been having my entire life. I don't want to make my hopes high so I don't really expect for anything.

"Movie night!" exclaims Connie, jumping around in the parking lot like a sugar crazed kid.

The three of us celebrates each ones birthday hanging out binge watching movies and eating junks. And, today is no exception.

"I'm picking, it's my birthday!" I say getting on my jeep.

"No fair! I don't want anything scary!" she cries banging on my window then run out to Milo's car.

"Let's see!"

The only response I get is an ear shuttering honking of Milo's car. I laugh to myself dismissing her and both our cars start to move.

...

As agreed, we are at Connie's place for my birthday celebration. I picked the second movie of Scream and Connie won't shut whining about it. The girl hates anything that has to do with blood. She keeps shouting whenever the masked killer would appear on the screen. It's like the tenth time we have watched the movie and it still gets to her. Milo and I on the other hand won't stop laughing because of this. It's like I've memorize the script and all the survival tips, as if one day I would use them to my benefit.

I hear my phone beep; a text from mom.

Be home for dinner.

I text her back. Sure do.

I check the time and it's quarter to six. I need to get home. Dinner's at seven. It's almost a thirty minute drive here to home since we live end to end of town.

"Hey, need to go home," I whisper goodbye to my friends.

"Happy birthday Chicka, be safe," Connie says squeezing my face then turns her eyes back on the screen.

"Happy birthday," Milo repeats, eyes focus on the movie while fighting with Connie as she hide her face on his back.

I chuck,"Thanks, enjoy." I slip out. Milo usually stays late, so most the time I go home alone.

I jump to my jeep and starts driving. One of the turn downs of living in a secluded town is having this weird eerie silence. It creeps the hell out of me added to the fact that I'm the only car driving and it's getting dark. I turn on my radio and volume it up only to hear loud static sounds. I turn it off as my jeep suddenly whizzes and die. Yeah, it just stop without apparent reason.  Just Perfect! Ohmygod! What am I gonna do?

I reach for my phone but best of luck, there's no freaking signal. I weigh my option: It's too far to walk back to Connie's so it's either I stay in the car or I walk home. And no way I'm staying in the car!

I got out and start walking in the dark. The wind is unnaturally frigid, it seeps through my bones making me tremble. Winter is far from the calendar, making me scared. I also got this weird feeling that someone's following me. The hairs on my back are all awake as if telling me a bad omen. I peer over my shoulders but no one's there, so I reach for my shoes and run. The fastest I can.

I check my phone while running and still, the bars are down. I'm getting exhausted, I never thought the road would be so long. I stop to catch my breath then it hit me, everything seems to be like my dream. Fear succumbs me as I glance to my surroundings, it's dark and scary.

"Ahh!" I scream, something is at my legs. Though I don't want to do it, I slowly cast my eyes down.  Oh, thank god it's just a cat! I breathe a sigh of relief but it's shortly cut as I stare to the different colored eyes of the furry creature. One is yellow and the other is green; it's the cat that morning. I try to jump away from the cat but my legs won't budge. Move! Freaking move! Come on! I plea in my mind but no, nothing happen. The cat just keep circling me and rubbing its head on my legs making me uncomfortable.

Instead of overly panicking, I divert my eyes up ahead to calculate things and maybe find a way of escape from the despicable animal. But what I see is a hundred if not a thousand times worse. I want to dig a hole and hide away from the horrors in front of me.

It is just a dream. It is just a dream. It is just a dream. It is just a dream. IT IS JUST A DREAM!

I keep repeating in my head but unlike this morning, I know this one is different. The problem is my brain couldn't possibly comprehend the things my eyes are seeing. This doesn't happen in real life.

There's snow coming out of the sky but instead of white it is black. "Ahh"  I wince as the snow touches my skin. It burns like hell. It doesn't stop there because up ahead the road, monsters are roaming wildly.

I rub on my eyes but the creatures won't disappear. They are everywhere. I don't know what happened, they just appeared out of nowhere. poof! the monsters are there! MONSTERS!

...

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♥jes