THE CYCLE OF TORMENT

CHAPTER III: TIME FOR A FRESH START

Millie woke up and gasped. She suddenly realized that she was in a place she didn't recognize. It looked like a large warehouse, or maybe a factory. It looked like it was abandoned. There wasn't a single light on within the building.

"Hello?" Millie called out. Her voice echoed throughout the large space. "Hello? Grandpa? Are you there?" There was still no answer.

She was alone. She began to feel cold and started shivering. She could also feel her heart beat faster. She suddenly heard a noise from behind her. She quickly turned around to see that bear, or "Funtime Freddy" according to her grandfather, standing behind her.

"There you are, silly Millie!" He said with joy. Millie screamed and ran in the opposite direction.

She didn't care where she was going. She just had to get away from it. She could hear its heavy footsteps behind her.

"Oh, Millie, you should know that I love a good chase! So, I hope you can keep running, because I'm beginning to enjoy this!" Funtime Freddy said in an amused tone.

Millie kept running. She could finally see a light up ahead. It was the only light in the building that was on. It still looked so far away. She was suddenly lifted up into the air by Funtime Freddy. She tried to break free from his grasp, but the bear was too strong. Funtime Freddy opened his faceplates and proceeded to bite into Millie's head.

***

Millie shot out of her bed and screamed. She breathed rapidly and looked around her room. When she realized she was back in her room, she let out a sigh of relief. It's okay. It was just a dream, Millie thought. It was just a dream.

She looked down at herself. She was sweating. Her clothes were practically soaking. She sighed. "Not again." Millie got out of bed and got into her shower. As she was washing herself, a strange feeling crept through her neck. It could only be described as a tingling sensation. When Millie went to touch her neck, she recoiled when she saw blood on her hand after touching her neck. She looked down and saw blood flowing out of her neck and down her body. She panicked, thinking she cut herself. She checked her body. There were no cuts on her neck that she knew of. After what seemed like many minutes of panic, the blood disappeared as if it was never there.

Of course it wasn't there. It was only a hallucination. It was all in her head. It was always in her head. "Why can't I just have one nice morning?!" Millie asked herself with a frustrated tone.

She didn't want to start her day like this. Christmas break was over and she had to go back to school. Miserable, boring high school. She really couldn't wait.

She got herself dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. She saw her grandpa making pancakes for her. He turned around and smiled at the sight of her.

"Oh good! You're up! I just got finished with making breakfast! Please, sit down!" He said, cheerfully.

After Millie apologized, she began paying more attention to her grandfather's kindness, and her heart ached, knowing she was nothing but rude to him before. At least things were better now.

"I hope you like them. I put blueberries in them. Just trying out new recipes, seeing what you like." He said, handing her a plate of blueberry pancakes.

Millie ate the pancakes and was surprised by how good they were. Her grandpa was certainly getting better at cooking.

"So? How are they?" Her grandpa asked in anticipation. "They're great. Thanks, Grandpa." Millie said.

"Of course, girlie. Now, I made sure you had everything in your backpack. Be careful. I don't want your stitches coming undone." Her grandpa warned.

How could she forget about the stitches on her forehead? After what happened in the shed, Millie was taken to the hospital to examine her wound. The doctor said that the wound went through her scalp and left a horizontal slit in her skull. The slit was only a millimeter away from penetrating her brain. She was lucky the wound wasn't more severe. It would heal, but she needed stitches to keep the wound closed.