The Nightmare

Luna’s heart pounded. She glanced at the clock. 12:30 am. Hesitantly, she set the empty coffee cup on the table beside her bed with only one thought in her mind, I can’t sleep tonight. She slid underneath her warm fuzzy blanket and opened her laptop to Netflix. Clicking on her favorite show, the one she’s seen a million times, she clicked play. Halfway through season 3 episode 17, her eyes grew heavy.

-

“Alex!” Luna gasped.

Quickly, the car swerved just fast enough to avoid an oncoming semi.

“What?” asked Alex groggily.

She glanced over to her boyfriend, her heart racing.

He almost just killed us, she thought, too afraid to say the words out loud.

It’s like he was in a haze and didn’t know what he was doing. She gripped the seat, the car ride couldn’t be over fast enough.

-

Luna jolted awake to the loud sound of her alarm clock. The sun peered through the curtains casting shadows on her wall. She turned over in bed and her feet hid the ground. She lifted her hand to the side of her head, it was pounding. She winced in pain as she searched her nightstand for an asprin. Lifting her coffee cup, she groaned. It was empty.

Glancing at the time, she rushed to get to class. Another 8 am she would walk in late to. Rolling her eyes, she slid her black leather bag over her shoulder. Good thing I wrote that essay last night, she thought to herself.

In class, her mind quickly wondered off. She flipped to a blank page of the notebook she was doodling in.

I think I had another nightmare last night, she wrote. Something about almost hitting a car. I don’t know, am I going crazy? She scribbled on the page until the class was over, unsure she heard anything the professor just said.

That night, Luna refilled her coffee cup three times. She decided 12:30 was a good enough time to do laundry. She threw her dirty clothes in a hamper and walked to the elevator. When she got back to her dorm room, she set an alarm. 60 minutes. Yawning, Luna jumped onto her bed and laid her head on the pillow. Slowly, the room began to fade.

-

Laughter filled the air. Luna was in the kitchen with her mother and sister. Her mom had a cup with something in it. “Have some dinner,” her sister said, handing her a plate. “Thanks,” mumbled Luna as she turned her back to them and began eating.

Suddenly, something sharp stabbed her back. Wincing in pain, Luna jumped out of her chair.

“Mom?!” gasped Luna.

Her mom stood there a knife in hand, laughing.

“What? It’s a joke!” shouted her mother a little too loudly.

Luna ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

-

Beep. Beep. Beep. Luna jolted awake yet again. Her mind was cloudly. She sat up in bed and touched her back. A sharp pain pierced through her body and she felt something underneath her shirt. Blood. Gasping in pain, Luna ran to her closet to grab a towel. She wiped the blood away, wondering what the hell just happened. Suddenly, she felt dizzy, unable to stand, she tried to balance herself by leaning against the wall. Her hand slipped and she fell, hitting her head against the mirror hanging in her closet. Glass shattered around her and the room went dark.

-

Lights blared in the night sky. The loud noise of the ambulance ringing in Luna’s ears. She was tied down to a stretcher. Her stomach flipped and she felt nauseous. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay,” she thought she heard someone say. But, everything was blurry. Luna blinked and she was lying in a hospital gown, shivering. “Would you like a blanket?” asked a nurse, who brought her a thin cloth.

“Luna?” said a voice.

“Luna, do you want Wendy’s?”

Alex? What was he doing here?

Luna looked at the dingy clock hanging on the wall beside her. 12:30 am. A pain coursed through her body. Glancing at her arm, she saw a needle. It was connected to an IV.

What? What happened? she asked herself. But, she couldn’t remember.

“Luna… Luna…” the voices all clung together. She didn’t know who was speaking.

-

“Luna? Luna!”

Slowly, Luna opened her eyes. Someone was shaking her.

“What?” she muttered slowly.

“Luna? Are you okay? There’s glass everywhere what happened?”

“What…?” Luna began to say, but a pain shot up her arm. She looked down. There was a scar. The perfect size for a needle.

“What happened?” Luna asked, her eyes wide, as thoughts raced through her mind.

“Don’t you know?” asked the voice.

“I don’t remember,” replied Luna as her voice trailed off and her eyes closed.

-

“Luna, you know I loved you,” said a deep voice. It was her dad.

“Loved me? Dad, why are you acting so weird?” she asked, a hint of dread in her voice.

A knot grew in her stomach. Something bad was going to happen. She just knew it.

“I tried my best,” he said as he hugged her tightly and walked out the door.

Luna watched him drive away as she shouted, “Dad! Where are you going?”

No answer.

Luna ran back inside. Locked the door and shut all the blinds. Something didn’t feel right.

She opened the door to her dad’s office and switched on the light. She slid open the closet door. Empty beer bottles stared at her from the top shelf.

She closed the door and left the room exactly how she found it. She went into her parent’s bedroom and opened the closet. A large black case was sitting on the top shelf. Heart racing, head pounding, she fought against the anxiety boiling inside her. She opened the case. A gun.

Quickly, she lifted the case off the shelf and locked it in the bathroom.

She called her mom. No answer.

“Luna..” said a voice faintly in the distance.

She looked around. No one was there.

“Luna…”

She ran to the basement and hid in the small room underneath the stairs. Slamming the door shut and locking it. She slipped the key in her pocket.

“Luna…”

Where was the voice coming from?

She grabbed her ears that kept ringing. A high pitch note screeching her name.

-

“Luna!”

Luna’s body shook. Her eyes shot open.

“No!” She shouted. “I don’t remember!”