Somniphobia

Content Warnings: abuse, mentions of drugging and somniphobia

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Somniphobia, the irrational fear of sleep. It was an unnecessary fear, a fear that didn’t make sense, or at least that’s what people who didn’t suffer from this fear said, but it was a completely different story for someone who actually had it. 

It was a cold moonless night. The wind was howling and shaking the windows of the house. 

Corey Young stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, he heard the constant ticking of a clock echoing throughout the room. He was attempting to keep his mind blank so as to not panic, this was normally easy for him to do, but not tonight. Tonight, for some reason, Corey couldn’t distract himself from the horrors that were waiting for him to let his guard down. His heart raced with trepidation, and he could feel beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. Corey was a prisoner of his fear– a fear that gripped him every night and slowly chipped away at his mental health. He had been dealing with Somniphobia for about six years, it was difficult to avoid sleeping at first, but now it seemed downright impossible. Now he could hardly get through the day without dozing off and be trapped in the relentless grasp of his worst nightmares. Although at times, he would be able to sleep without reliving the terrors he wished he could forget, it wasn’t enough to stop his body from shutting down. His eyes were bloodshot, dark bags underneath them and while he still managed to be his vibrant self, it wouldn’t last much longer. 

Corey knew that this worried his family and they had tried to help. His older brother had set up an appointment with a therapist in an attempt to help solve Corey’s somniphobia, but Corey never attended the meeting. He saw it was a fruitless attempt, talking to someone about his fear wouldn’t help and talking about the fear would make him remember what he was trying so hard to forget. Not to mention, no one would believe him if he explained what caused his somniphobia. He had tried explaining to someone, but they didn’t believe him and accused him of lying to try and get attention. Ever since then, he didn’t think that anyone would believe him, they’d probably react the same way they did and he didn’t want that to happen again. 

Corey’s eyes grew heavy and the world grew slightly darker and darker. He shook himself awake violently, he wasn’t going to let himself fall asleep. He got up from the floor and made his way to the kitchen, he rummaged around the fridge for a soda or energy drink, really anything that could help him stay awake, even for just a little while longer. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything that contained caffeine, Corey sighed, trying not to fall asleep would be difficult without caffeine to help him stay awake. 

Corey returned to his room and sat back down on the floor. He could already feel the little energy he had drained and he grew even more exhausted, although he kept shaking himself awake, he kept dozing off and eventually fell to sleep. It was an almost peaceful slumber, until he remembered. 

Corey stared blankly at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Once again he had woken up with fresh bruises and cuts of his face and body. All the other times this happened, he was too afraid to tell his “mother” or any family member the truth, but today was going to be different. Today he was going to reveal the truth and all his suffering would finally be over. Corey walked to the living room where his “mother” was watching television. 

His “mother” took notice of Corey and asked. “Corey? What happened to you? Did some kids bully you again like last time?” 

Corey shook his head, a glimmer of determination in his eyes. “No. I didn’t get hurt by other kids, I never did.” He said, “It was Leon! He’s the one who’s been hurting me this entire time.!” 

Corey’s “mother” stayed silent for a while. “Corey Frederick Johnson!” She snapped, “How dare you blame your father for this. I know you two don’t get along well, but that’s no excuse to accuse him of abusing you!” 

“But… But it’s true!” Corey stammered, “I’m not lying about this!”

“Enough lies,” she said angrily, “Go to your room. Oh and your father will be hearing about this when he gets home from work!” 

Corey’s eyes began to tear up, he turned around quickly and went to his “older brother’s” room. If his “mother” didn’t believe him, then maybe his “brother” would. He whipped the tears from his eyes and opened the door to his “brother’s” room. 

“Cole,” Corey said, tugging at his “brother’s” arm. “I need to tell you something important.” 

Cole turned to face his brother. “What is it Corey? I’m in the middle of packing for university, so make it quick.” 

Corey took a deep breath. “Leon has been hurting me,” he explained, “You can make him stop right? You can do something about it?” 

Cole paused. “You’re saying that our father has been abusing you?”

Corey nodded his head frantically. 

Cole rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure. That’s quite a story you’ve made up there,” he said, “But our father wouldn’t hurt you or anyone.” 

“Why can’t you believe me!?” Corey yelled, “I’m telling the truth and you’re not even concerned it could be true?” 

Cole sighed heavily and pushed Corey out of his room. “You’re just trying to make a scene to get attention. It’s not working and if you continue lying like this you’ll be in trouble.” Cole slammed the door shut in Corey’s face, leaving Corey alone, misunderstood and a little hurt. 

Hours later, Corey sat on the edge of his bed. He couldn’t figure out why his “mother” and “brother” didn’t believe him. Sure, they could naturally be suspicious, but they didn’t even act concerned or try to figure out if Corey was telling the truth. Did his family care about him at all? He knew that Leon didn’t, but he always thought that his “mother” and “brother” were different. Now, he wasn’t sure if they were concerned about his well-being whatsoever. 

Corey snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his bedroom door swing open and then shut. He looked towards the door… only to see his “father”. 

“Your mother told me about your little lie,” he said, “You have some nerve to try and get me caught. Luckily for me, they didn’t believe you and no one you tell will ever believe you.” 

Corey’s father took a few steps closer to him. Corey was panicking internally, then he had a thought. Maybe if he could just run past Leon, he could get his “mother” or “brother’s” attention and they would finally believe him. He took the chance, rushing past his “father” and towards the door, but he felt his arm get grabbed and he was pulled back. Corey opened his mouth to scream, but a hand muffled his cries. Leon swiftly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small needle, he stuck it into Corey’s arm, then let him go. Corey felt lightheaded and slightly tired, he tried to fight off the upcoming sleep to no avail. Soon enough, he fell to the floor, his vision becoming blurry. The last thing he heard before succumbing to the darkness, was his “father’s” laughter. 

Corey woke up in a panic. He started screaming hysterically and frantically looking around the room. It took a few minutes for him to realize that he wasn’t in that terrible place anymore. He calmed down slightly, but his heart and mind were still racing. He took a deep breath, he was safe now. He didn’t have to worry about Leon anymore. He was safe, at least in the waking world, but his dreams were haunted by the memories he had tried so hard to forget and they would only further worsen his somniphobia, until the lack of sleep eventually killed him.