Silent Mind (z.h)

1.

I closed the door behind me as I entered my apartment that warm Sunday evening. A deep sigh escaped my lips, gladly receiving the silence that welcomed me. Spending a whole day with my boyfriend Chad made me relieved to finally have some time on my own.

Since tomorrow was Monday and Monday meant school, I simply warmed frozen pizza in the oven, poured some juice and sat down by the TV. Another week of early mornings, classes and homework. It all made my whole body and mind lazy and heavy. I flipped it over to the news and leaned back in the sofa, the pizza on a plate on my lap.

  -“Last night the serial killer known as the Dark Shadow attacked fourteen year old Jessica Parker around midnight near Willesden Green station. It is said that he had brutally kicked her several times in the stomach and back before pulling out bundles of hair off her head and leaving the scene with her phone and wallet.” The TV reporter said, looking me in the eye.
I felt sorry for the girl. How would someone do that?

  -“The offender is responsible for several assaults, robberies and two murders the past two years. He has now escaped prison and his location is at this point unknown.” The reporter continued. I turned the TV off, tired of the negativity, and went to the kitchen.
I put the empty plate in the sink and walked into the bathroom. I took a long, hot shower. The warmth calmed me down after a long day, making it worth it.

After blow-drying my hair and brushing my teeth, I walked to my bedroom with a towel tied around my waist. I put a plain black t-shirt and grey sweatpants on before it was time to go to sleep. I tucked myself down in my warm bed, closing my eyes and drifted away.

I woke up in the middle of the night, sweating. The heat from the radiator had now turned my bedroom into a desert. I slowly dragged my feet over to the window and opened it, letting fresh air into the room. My eyes was already half closed as I threw myself on the bed and went back to sleep in a second.

Later same night

I woke up by the lack of air. The darkness was too thick and black to be the night. As I went to sit up, I felt it. Pressure. Someone was holding me down.
I struggled against whoever was pressing what seemed to be a pillow over my face, completely blocking my airway.  The stranger had me straddled down and I felt the panic rise as my heartbeat rapidly increased.

  -“Shhhh…” My attacker shushed me as I was making dull screams into the pillow. My lungs were aching, I needed air desperately. But so did my brain and it was slowly losing consciousness. I stopped struggling, my limbs going numb. Just as I was about to faint, get lost in the darkness - My attacker took the pillow away, revealing his face.

It was still dark outside, the stranger like a dark shadow hovering over me. He leaned closer and even with too much black, I could still see the color of his eyes… blue. Like ice. He pressed his cheek against mine, whispering into my ear;

  -“Such a pretty boy you are”
The lack of oxygen and the fear had me losing grip and I fell into unconsciousness right after.

I woke up, fluttering my eyes to adjust the morning light shining in from my window. I looked around the room and stretched my body awake. The vague memory of the nightmare I’d had, had me confused. It was as if it had been real. It had felt more real than any nightmare before.
I shook the thoughts away and got up from the bed to check the watch on the nightstand. I gasped at the trouble I knew I was in being two hours late. Panicked, I ran heading for the kitchen. But as I was crossing the living room, I froze. 

  -“Hi babe” A dark voice erupted my mind and in the back of my head it was familiar. I turned to find a strange man on my couch. He had brown hair sticking out of a cap and wore a grey sweater and worn, dark blue jeans. I looked into his eyes, and the ice blue color made me realize that the nightmare had been real. As I realized, the man rose and made his way towards me.