A mistake…

Pacing back and forth in my house I try to comprehend what I was just told. Those things don't exist...I can't think about this anymore.

I sigh and go and put on my workout clothes. Arriving at the gym I greet Marcus "Hello"

"Hi, I'm in need of a workout. Need to get some frustration out. I am sore but I don't care" "Alright we need to make sure we watch out and don't go too hard because you may actually get hurt. Too much work on your muscles can be bad, okay? So we'll take it easy but still challenging. Sound good?"

"Yes" I step up to him.

"Alright, I want you to do 20 sit-ups and some stretches while I finish something up. I'll be back in 5 minutes'' he walks away and I just sit there on the floor. Let's see how this is gonna work. I start out with toe touches which feel like my legs are being carved so I try something easier. Pressing my feet together I try to relax my leg muscles and release some tension through breathing and the butterfly. Stretching my arms I notice my shoulders are sore and my hands are bruised. I sigh. I'm a mess. Getting into the sit up position I begin and I feel it automatically. After 5 my whole body is angry. But I'm starting to forget about my day. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. I continue on and then stand up when reaching 20. Marcus comes walking back.

"Perfect timing" I state. He looks at me and motions for me to follow. Wow he needs to stop talking so much...I giggle to myself and he looks back at me.

In confusion and bewilderment he begins to show me blocking and dodging hits. So far I am managing to get "hit" by everything. Finally I managed to block a hit. He talks... "Good" I smile then get hit again. My smile fades away. Focus. Watch his movements.

Watching his arms I get the rhythm and manage to dodge and block a couple more.

"Excellent, I want you to lunge across the gym. I want you to try to go back and forth 10 times, if it is too painful let me know. I don't want to push too hard"

"got it" I start. I finish and start to feel my body feel like jello.

"Alright, I want you to keep stretching so you prevent cramping. And I'll see you next time. Good work" he walks off.

I walk out and drive home. Letting Bella out, I sit on the kitchen floor. When she runs in she gives me a kiss and sits down looking at me. I hug her and just sit there for a little while. Managing to get to my feet I feed Bella and head upstairs. Showering quickly, the talk of today comes back. Should I quit my job? I sigh looking in the mirror. It's a great job and it doesn't seem very stressful but he is a lunatic. He believes all these creatures exist and he creates weapons to destroy them. Do I believe they exist?

And that night the dreams started came back in full force...

     I began running, not knowing where I was going but I had to get out of here. Tripping over a root I land in the leaves. Looking up I see him standing there a hooded man...Blood running down his face. I know what I just saw... This man, whoever he was, killed my mom, I have seen him before but I don't know his name... His eyes reflected.

I tried to scream as I was suddenly overtaken by darkness... I jerked up on my bed in a cold sweat. My shirt is sticking to my back. How did I get in bed? I look at my clock through my mess of hair trying to make out the time. It's 1 am... Bella was curled up close asleep. I wish I was a dog dammit...to be able to just sleep like nothing is wrong. Knots made up my stomach as I laid back and tried to close my eyes but I just kept seeing that mouth, the teeth and blood. The look of my mother laying there lifeless. Her eyes are empty...

I put on my slippers and go downstairs. Logging onto my laptop I look at my email.

From: Michael Tobias

Hello. I just wanted to make sure you were alright after today. It's a lot to take in. And I hope you will continue your work here. Everyone here cares for you. And I feel that you could be very successful here.

--M

I sigh. That's the last thing I need. Work isn't even my biggest problem. I lay my head on the table trying to breath and wake up 4 hours later. Shooooot. I'm going to be late. I smack myself on the head. What the heck...Bella is curled up at my feet looking at me patiently waiting for me to let her outside. I get up trying to ignore the pain traveling through my neck and back. I run upstairs and get ready while Bella is outside and put on the most comfortable professional clothes I own...letting her back inside I run for my car. Arriving at work only a couple of minutes late I sit at my desk and take a breather. Well I could have been a lot later. I wish I was I need some strong coffee. Sighing and placing my head in my hands. "Miss Rose" I look up through my hands to see Mich-Mr. Tobais standing there looking at me. "Are you okay?" "Yes sir. I had a long night and a bad morning." "Here" he walks forward handing me a coffee. "What's this?"I say examining the cup. "Coffee" "Well I knew that...I mean why did you get me coffee?"I scoff. He smiles "Well I know how stressful yesterday was. And judging by your reply to my email last night I decided that you may need it. You see Miss Rose I wouldn't be in this business if I didnt know what people were doing with what I created." Wait. Hold on a second. What email. What. I start panicking. "What email?" "The email I sent you last night to which you replied and I quote "Bad...dreams....chasing...monsters can't be real" followed by an extreme amount of extra letters. To which I assume you fell asleep" I die. "First off. Let me apologize. I had a rough night. I honestly have no recollection of replying and it seemed very unprofessional. Second I'm going to apologize again..." I try to hide my face as I feel it burn. "Miss Rose it is fine. I just would like to let you know the email was deleted after a fair amount of trying to decipher if it was a secret code and a few giggles. I promise" he smirks. Thanks so much brain...