NIGHTMARE

I had to leave the office early today, I couldn't continue to work in this state of mind. My eyes were swollen and I was looking as horrible as i was feeling, I couldn't bring myself to believe Tim would ever say those hurtful words to me, I recalled those sweet memories we had together, the promises we made to each other, he was my first love, we met in our freshman year in college, he was the only one who had truly taken time to understand me and ever since we were inseparable, recently I had begun to dream of a future with him, I began to long for my forever with him amidst all the upheavals and chaos, my desire for a life with him simply pushed me to go through these obstacles, now that he ended things with me but now, I felt like giving up, I simply had no will to continue living and everything else seemed meaningless. words can't express how heartbroken I was feeling at the moment.

I drove into our garage and paused to wipe the tears that had escaped from my eyes and after taking few deep breaths, I made my way out of the car and went into the house, I spotted my mom on the balcony staring cluelessly into space, I tried my best to avoid her but the sound of the door slamming shut caught her attention.

"Hey! you're home early today, are you feeling well?" she walks away from the balcony towards me, pulling me in a tight hug.

"where's Dad?" I ignored her question, pulling out of her hug while cleverly hiding my puffy eyes with my messy hair.

"He got a call from an old friend and decided to pay him a visit" She said rubbing my arms gently.

"That's great--"I sighed. "—uhm it's been a really tough week, I need a break" I blurted out, I wanted to be alone. My mom stares at me for a moment before she spoke.

"Come over here, lets talk for a few seconds" she urged leading me to the sofa, I sat down avoiding her eyes, my heart craving for my bed where I can cry my eyes out. I heard her breathe in sharply " At a very early age, My dad introduced me into the business world, it's has been all hell ever since then, I understand what you're going through, I just hope we could relate more on issues like this instead of you being so secretive and let go of some things" she tucks a strand of my hair behind my ears and I looked away sniffing, "what does she want me to let go off? the company? Tim? no, not Tim" I thought my eyes welling up in tears.

"Mom it's okay, I have everything under control" I sighed and stood up, not ready to breakdown right there before her.

"We... your sister and I didn't do it because we had to, we didn't run the company because we wanted to, we did it because we had no choice and as a Collins woman you're mandated to take over the company and carry on the women's legacy in the family, it's our right and obligation!" She sprouted up to as I had my back turned to her but I didn't move knowing well she was trying to prove her point, I sighed, turned back slowly and ran my hands through my hair that my swollen eyes were visible to her, her eyes twitched in pain and she moved closer to me

"I know mom." I agreed, Although I was doubting my capability of keeping things on check and controlling the company, I wasn't going to give up on my family's legacy and my sister's hardwork.

"I know it's hard but we have to do this for Fionna, she had given her all for the company so much so the only thing we have to remember her by is the company, we have to keep her dreams alive Flora— " she moves forward to hug me tightly and I let myself go under her embrace, I was overwhelmed and I continued my series of tear shedding as I hugged her tightly. " I don't want to lose you and what's left of her....these are the reason I keep striving to see the next day, promise me you'll keep what's left of her alive in our lives, promise me I won't get to expirence what's like to lose a daughter again" she sobs and I hugged her tight, it dawns on me what was at stake once again, and it wasn't my love for Tim or my desires, I simply live for my family and it's something that I had acknowledged a long time ago, I had to get my head straight knowing there's a lot of lives attached to mine, I recalled Blake Jones's encrypted message, Bryan Jones's eerie threats and the thought of accepting Tim's absence and exit from my life and the big hole his hurtful words had left in me, I cried louder while hugging my mom, although she might not be aware of what am going through, she was serving as a shoulder I could cry on, something I needed at the moment.

"Mom there's nothing to be worried about, I promise I would never let you expirence such tragedies again...you won't lose me and I'll never let the company crumble knowing how much it means to you.....I promise" I assured her and she hugged me tightly and we both cried out our worries and burdens, after she had slept off and I had help her get to bed, I headed straight to my room jumped on the bed belly down face first on the soft pillow, just as I closed my eyes Tim's face flashed in my head and I settled for slow drops of tears on my pillow, it felt like I would never heal, I thought about a way of rectifying this problem and thought of possible alternatives why Tim might have acted so unexpectedly and rash, maybe he was pressured or threatened and again that was so unlikely, I was forced to study his actions and words all over again in my head " you're not ready for what's to come" his deep husky voice echoed in my head and I rolled on my back "what did he mean by that? what was coming? what had he seen and why was he so bent on getting me to sell my company to him all of a sudden" I began to get more curious rather than swim in self pity, my brain spontaneously flashed back to the burning warehouse, the strange looking guy at the corner, the concerned face of the employees and my thudding heartbeat, no matter how hard I ruminated on the thoughts I could feel there was some kind of pattern that was forming but there was simply no connections with the dots so I pushed the thought away before they get too absurd, Tim was better at analyzing unprecedented situation than I was, the thought of him unveiled the pain that had subsided for some minutes within me, so I hugged my pillow tightly and cried myself to sleep, nothing seemed big enough to fill the emptiness that Tim's absence had left in me, with one more blurry look at the white plain ceiling, my eyes became heavy and I was soon lost in another darker and lonely world.

The sky was dark and there was an heavy downpour, my white dress was drenched and I was breathing heavily trying to catch up with Tim who had his back turned to me and was wandering off down a dark alley, the dark sky lit up with the reflection of the lighting and which each step I took, my heart was filled with fear and uncertainty, I felt like stopping to give my aching legs some relief, I was asphyxiated, I had to catch my breath.

"Tim.....wait up!" I yelled, stopping in my track, I suddenly lacked the will to move and was left gasping for air in the scanty and eerily silent road while Tim went off till he was out of sight.I looked around me and felt alone and cold, I shivered in the rain, suddenly a house opened right before me and I walked in, all the wetness dried up and my white dress became sparkling clean, walking around the white, huge and majestically decorated house, I found noone.

"who's here?" my voice echoed off through the countless halls and rooms the house had and I suddenly felt a cold air fill the room.

"you're going to pay!" a voice eerily echoed behind me, I turned around immediately, my hands were grabbed and I was suddenly in the restroom that was at the party, Bryan Jones hands were around my waist and mine was placed on his chest, shocked I let out a loud scream and his hands fell on my mouth to prevent me from screaming, I struggled out of his clutches and suddenly...

*****

author here...I know it's been a long time, but I hope dis meets y'all well