A Nightmare, A Curse

!WARNING! *Contains gore and mental instability*

She woke up in a break of sweat, shrieking into the emptiness of her dark apartment. She jolts up and out of bed, heart racing, head spinning both ways. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath. It’s only 2:00 am and she should go back to sleep, she knows it. But the thoughts in her head keep her awake. It’ll come back if I fall asleep. It’ll ki- it’ll… her face falls pale as she downs a glass of ice, cold water. She slams it onto the desktop. Her breath was heavy, and she takes a shaky, deep breath as she tries to calm down. It took forever, blocking the thoughts, and emptying her mind. Looking back at the clock, one more hour is gone. 3 more to go. no point in wasting away these hours. She thought. She flings the bedsheets off, stumbles into the bathroom, and gets dressed. Phone, wallet, and keys in her pockets ready to get out of the cramped apartment. Opening the door, silence fills the air as she takes a breath in. She steps onto the sidewalk, deciding to take a walk to Central Park. Counting the cars as they zip by, she takes a stroll, watching the sun rise into the sky. The silence is cut with the sounds of trucks, motorcycles, and cars zipping about the city. 6:30. It’s a thirty-minute walk there, better get going. She holds her head up high, step by step until her alarm hits 7:00. Ding! She has a slight smile on her face as she gets her uniform on. “Welcome to Lila’s cafe, what would you like to order?” She asks as soon as the boy walks in. Not eager to talk with her, he drags his voice as he says, 

“One black coffee and a sesame seed bagel. Extra cream cheese.” He emphasized the extra. She nods her head and starts making the bagel. She hands him the order and he grabs it and heads off, not even leaving a single penny in the tip jar. With a frustrated look, she takes the next few orders and hands them over. At least they gave a dollar tip, no more, but it was something. Every small break between her order and waitress service, she looks up at the clock, counting down to her break. 

“Okay, Lidia, you’re off for 30 minutes, then can you go to the back and clean the dishes, okay?” With a smile on her face, Lidia hangs her apron,  says a quick thank you, and heads off to talk with her friend in the shop next by. 

“Hey, Bree! What’s up, you on break yet?” Breeana looks up at her friend covered in a jacket as the door rings. She lights up and takes a look at the clock and takes off her apron. She grins at her friend and jumps onto her with a hug and replies, 

“Hell yeah! Now, off to Dunkin’, we go!” They speed walk through the cold and open the doors of the shop, taking in all of the chocolatey aromas inside. Each giving their order, they take a seat with their hot chocolates and donuts as they catch up on their day. The one thing that Lidia doesn’t mention though, is her nightmare, her now recurring, extremely, early morning walks, and the nonstop fear she has of going to sleep. They both look at their phones as their conversation gradually comes to a halt. Looking up at each other, they deviously smile and race back to their workstations. A small hug, a wave, and their off. Once again. 

“Ah Lidia, right on time, kitchen’s that way darling!” and she walks away, leaving Lidia to check up on the newer members.” She turns on the tap and gets to the dirty dishes and coffee cups stacked like skyscrapers. She stretches out her hands as she grimaces at the long hours of work coming up. Scrubbing away at the plates, stumbling around as the other hand her more, she works at max speed, not wanting to be late for her dinner reservation. The filthy dishes one by one, all racked up neatly into the dryer, she takes a heavy breath and looks up at the clock. Three…no one’s coming in with dishes. Two… The cafe is emptying by the second. One! She’s off! She puts a sigh of relief and retires for the day. Getting her coat on, she takes the Uber over to the restaurant she’s been dying to go to and enters. Getting a whiff of the sweet aroma, she already knew dessert was going to be to die for. She gives the server her order and ends it off with a chocolate souffle. As a waitress herself, she gives a generous tip, thanks him for the meal, and decides to walk off the calories. Humming her favorite song, she admires the moon as she dances along with the beat of the music. The sidewalks weren’t filled with people like usual; late-night workers were here and there, but she was mostly by herself. As her song ended, she notices a man by a flickering street light. He was slim and in a black jacket. He shows off his toothless smile as she walks by. Though she was trying to not look, she couldn’t help but take a peek. She had a faint memory of him. Her walk slows as she tries to wrap her head around it, but when she did, she turned away quickly and walks away as fast as she can. When she looks back, he’s gone with the flicker of the light which makes her heart race. She picks up her pace and before she knows it, she starts running in panic. As she runs through the cold night, she trips over the smallest of rocks. Dizzy, she looks up to see the same man, but this time, his eyes were soft. Getting paler, she lets him pick her up and off the ground. It can’t be, no. That was just a nightmare, right? Thoughts run through her mind as he whispers to her, 

“It’s been such a great day for you,” She tries to rip out of his grip, but he holds on tight and continues, “Watch as it ends in agony. But you won’t be able, will you…” His face suddenly turns to an amusing pity as he ends with, “But it’s not your fault…The curse of this world has fallen upon you, my dear.” With his face as serious as can be, he loosens his grip on Lidia’s, now red, arm. She runs away screaming, 

“Get away freak! Don’t ever look at me again!” She keeps on running, not daring to look back. She keeps running onto the sidewalk, up the stairs, and into her bedroom, stumbling through all the way. Holding the same arm the man held, she couldn’t shake it off. It was exactly like her nightmare. The man, the light, the words. She then looked up white-skinned, The mirror, that was next… She quickly took a spare towel and she crept towards it to try and cover it.  Just as she goes, she hears a whisper calling out her name, Lidia? Lidia. She looks behind her when she jolts at the sound of a crack. She turns around once more. Her reflection showed with a smile, eyes red, and hair a mess. She screams, stepping back wanting someone to hear her, but the door was locked behind her. Sobbing, she runs and hides in a small corner between her bed and her bed stand. Panting as she hears the cracking of the mirror, she covers her ears, but the sounds only get louder. Crying her eyes out, she peeks at the mirror and she sees a spirit-like hand coming out as it goes from side to side as if trying to find her. She ducks out of view and hyperventilates. She then looks down, under the bed. There was a blue, ghastly glow slowly, eerily approaching her. Scared to look up she keeps sobbing quietly, hoping the hand won’t find her. But just as she hopes her wish would come true, the spirit-like hand appeared, not in its somehow comforting blue glow, but in the form of a green claw ready to dig through her skin, just like her nightmare. It’s just like it… that stupid dream, no, a warning. Her last words were never said, only an ear-piercing screech was heard by anybody surrounding her small apartment. The claw jumps onto her scratching away at her face. It scratches off layer by layer blood dripping off her face and the claws. Not leaving any clear skin, it suddenly stops, turning to its calming blue, looking unsettling with the blood dripping off of it. It returns to its mirror, now just a black void, leaving the girl no way to scream with her mouth ripped off, no message going to her arms or legs to move, just stunned, not being able to see, or hear, just the feeling of the blood trickling down everywhere, ending it all.