Chapter 1

"No!"

A young woman jumped in her bed. Sweat was running down her forehead as she sat and tried to calm down.

"Oh dear… What kind of a hellish nightmare was that?" she whispered to herself. "Several times I had such kind of dreams, and in each of them I found myself in that place. And this creature with a pyramid-shaped thing on its head…"

Linda got up from her bed and went to the bathroom to wash her face. Cold water touched the heated skin of her face, creating a pleasant feeling of refreshment. After that she looked at the clock. It was 05:00 a.m. Too early to wake up and too late to go to bed. She sighed. Anyway, after such dreams it was impossible to sleep, so the lady decided to prepare for work slowly. She worked in a translation office, and work began at 08:00 a.m. Turning off the alarm clock, Linda opened her wardrobe and took the necessary clothes for today. She chose to put on her dark blue jeans, a white shirt and a black jacket. After dressing up she went to the kitchen to have breakfast.

Although she still had time, Linda decided to make something quick. This time she made herself bacon and eggs for breakfast. And, of course, her favourite part – tea. In her native city of London she loved tea time with her family. It was a bit pity for her to leave England, but she could do nothing about that when moving to the States as a child. The Higgins family moved to the state of Maine and found home in the city of Portland. Her parents found a place to live and work soon enough, so Linda was now used to life in a foreign country and how people talk, because at first the American accent seemed strange to her. Despite that she was used to it, Linda was faithful to her British ancestry, which included the language.

Linda drank her tea slowly, trying to spend the time. She usually left home at 06:30 a.m., and it was no use to come to work too early. She switched the TV on to watch the latest news while having breakfast. There wasn't anything very new on TV, mostly they talked about politics that Linda found totally boring.

"Oh dear Lord, is there really nothing else to talk about than politics? Uff…" she huffed, taking another sip. But anyway, in the morning there wasn't much to watch, so… not much choice. The time passed slowly, but if you watch TV and have tea without hurry, it doesn't seem so long. Soon enough it was nearly 06:30 a.m., and Linda prepared to leave home. Putting a warmer jacket on and a pair of boots, she finally left for work.

Usually Linda took a bus to get to her workplace. The bus stop was near her block of flats, practically in front of the main entrance. She lived in this flat for several years already, starting from twenty second year of life. This year Linda turned twenty five and she has worked in a translation office for two years.

After ten minutes the bus arrived and Linda boarded it. It took twenty minutes to reach the right stop, from where she had to walk a few metres to her work. It was ten minutes to eight when she entered the main hall. The headmistress was already there, preparing all the necessary things before opening the office.

"Good morning, Mrs. Parker," Linda greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning, Linda," Mrs. Parker replied kindly. "Is everything all right? You look tired somehow" her voice sounded concerned.

"I'm fine, thank you," the young woman said "I just slept very badly today, so I might look a bit sleepy or tired. Nothing serious. It's not an obstacle for working."

"I see. Glad to hear you're all right. I hope tomorrow you'll have a better sleep," said the headmistress with a friendly smile. She really liked Linda as one of the most hard-working employees who treated her duties very responsibly. Also, as a person she seemed interesting to her and sometimes they talked things over.

"I hope so, too. Thank you very much. By the way, is Alice here already?"

"Not yet, but she'll be here in a minute. She is never late for work," Mrs. Parker replied.

Linda then took the turn on the left and walked down the hallway until she reached her cabinet, the first on the right. She shared the rather large room with her colleague and a good friend - Alice Bridger, that was also an immigrant, like Linda. She migrated from Australia, the city of Melbourne. But unlike her British friend, she left her native country when she was twenty, so her living in the States wasn't as long as Linda's. When Linda began working as a translator, Alice was already there for a year. They became friends at once and very often visited each other, as they lived not far away, and went shopping together, that they both loved. In one word, they were best friends and had much in common. They were even nearly of the same age, Alice being a year older. She specialized in French while Linda was a professional German translator.

A few minutes passed after Linda entered the cabinet and started preparing for work when she heard footsteps in the hallway. The door opened and Alice entered the room. Both women greeted each other with a warm, friendly hug.

"Hey, Lin, are you ok? You don't look so well. How do you feel?" Alice was worried about her friend.

"It's ok, I just slept very poorly today."

"Having nightmares again?"

"Yeah, you guessed it right. Today I even jumped in my bed, face was all in sweat."

Alice sighed. She felt sorry for her friend and wanted to help her somehow.

"Oh well… If I could help you, but I have no idea what can be done about this. By the way, how long do you actually have them?"

"Hmm… for a few months, I'd say," Linda said "and mostly they are repetitive. With slight variations, but for most part repetitive."

"But you actually never told me the details of those dreams of yours. What were they about? And what do you mean with repetitive?" Alice was growing curious. Linda immersed in thoughts for a moment.

"What I want to say is that I always see the same place in my dreams. It's some kind of a foggy ghost town, totally abandoned. But there's something more. It suddenly gets dark there and the town becomes inhabited by horrible creatures that can only exist in sickest fantasies. They are different, but one of them was always there." Speaking of the monster that haunted her dreams, Linda's body shivered. "From what I can remember, that monster looked like a tall, muscular man with pale skin. He wore some kind of robe, all covered in dried blood, gloves on his hands, also bloody, and black boots. But what scared me the most, was the large red metal pyramid on his head. Logically, it was absolutely impossible to see the face. Believe me, Alice, it's such a creature that no one would like to face ever, let it be dreams or reality."

"Wow…" Alice was more than surprised. "And what did that monster do? Did he hurt you?"

Linda frowned, trying to remember more details concerning the pyramid headed beast.

"Well, not really. Each time he came closer, I woke up. I can't remember all of the dreams, but the last one is still in my mind, and rather clear. The beast dragged a guy in his hand, approximately of my age, barely alive. Somehow he seemed familiar to me, I had such a feeling that I knew that man. But it wasn't all. I also felt that I hated that guy and wanted him to die. And then, right before my eyes the monster killed him, splitting his body in two parts with a gigantic knife that he carried with him. It made such an unpleasant sound when he dragged it, you know, like metal screeching. And then he turned to me and began coming closer. And right in the moment when his bloody hand stretched to me, I woke up, more precise – jumped in bed, all sweaty. So yes, that's what I dreamt today. I know, it sounds unbelievable, but it's a fact."

When Linda finished speaking, her friend's eyes widened in shock. She stared at Linda, mouth agape.

"Oh dear… I don't know what to say. Really, I don't envy you for having such nightmares. God, poor you. I can only wonder how you're able to keep your mind clear after that. I personally would have gone insane if I saw such things in my dreams." Alice put a palm on her forehead. Indeed, she felt sorry for her friend. Linda was literally going through hell in her dreams.

"Nah, don't worry, Alice. Anyway, those are just dreams, nothing more. And that is good. Luckily I don't see them every night, just occasionally. So there's nothing to worry about." Linda's face became brighter. "All I need now is a cup of hot tea to calm down completely."

"Glad to hear it. At least you don't go through this torture each night. I hope tonight you'll have a peaceful sleep," Alice smiled. "Should I bring you tea? I was going to buy me a hot drink, so I can bring you one, too."

"Thank you so much, that's very kind of you," Linda smiled gently. "I'd be grateful if you bring me a cup of tea."

"Anytime, dear," Alice stood from her chair and went out. After a short time she returned with two plastic glasses with hot drinks – cappuccino for herself and fruit tea for Linda.

"There you go, Lin, it will make you feel better," she said, putting a glass of tea on Linda's desk.

"Thanks, dear, you're a true friend," Linda said, smiling friendly at Alice. "Now we should concentrate on work. We can talk about it later."

"Yes, right. Let's forget about it. At least for now."