The Virtuous

Chapter One: Nightmares

 I remembered running.

The sound of my gasping breathing was the only audible noises through the hospital corridor aside from the sound of my sneakers slapping against the linoleum.

Where is he! Where is he! My mind hissed at me.

I turned the nearby corner and at the end of the long and dimly lit hall, I saw the door. I jolted forward, my legs screaming in protest as my arm shot straight out, aiming to grab the handle. However just as my fingertips brushed against the cool silver of the door knob an unseen force knocked into my chest like a linebacker and I was airborne.

I crashed to the floor several yards away and struggled to reach my feet but invisible restraints held me down.

"No! Let me go!" I screamed and thrashed my limbs wildly, trying to pinpoint a route of escape. It felt like a dozen sets of tight hands were holding me down to the floor; it was no use to try and get away, but my body continued to struggle against the strength.

"No! No! No!" I shouted and my torso lurched upward in convulsions.

I felt something stirring in my chest. It was a thick and dark emotion that was starting to wriggle its way up my throat like bile. I wondered if I was going to be sick but I looked up at the silver sphere attached to the ceiling above my head and felt a shudder travel down the length of my spine. My eyes were glowing white as I screamed.

I sat upright in my bed as the shouts ripped from my throat. I slapped my hand over my mouth as I blinked and realized I was no longer in my throng of nightmares but back in my dorm at Penn state. I gasped for air and was stunned in my silence for a breath before my hands instinctively started searching my body, looking for any signs of distress or abuse. The only thing I found were my sheets tightly knotted around my ankles. Slowly I uttered a sigh and let my head fall into my hands.

The nightmares were getting worse. They were growing too vibrant and too emotional. I was used to getting nightmares frequently; it had been that way since I was a child. However lately they were growing more dangerous and much less predictable. I wasn't sure how much I could take exactly before I had a complete emotional breakdown. I made a mental note to stop by the hospital just beside the college later and schedule a sleep study.

My eyes tilted towards the flashing neon green numbers of my clock, telling me I was up a full twenty minutes before I had to be. I pulled my knees to my chest and contemplated going back to sleep but then the memories of my strange glowing eyes became the forefront image of my subconscious and I voted on taking a shower and getting an early start to my day.

Pushing out of bed I heard a slight shuffling coming from my roommate, London's room. I peeked my head into the hall and saw it was just Tara, my best friend and London's girlfriend, going to get a glass of water from the kitchen. I rolled my eyes and shut my door as I jumped in the shower. The cold water nearly sent me into a hypothermic shock but it also did good to chase away the images of my nightmare.

I finished in the shower and got myself dressed and grabbed my books for my classes for the day. As I went into the kitchen to pour myself some cereal I heard Tara and London speaking in hushed tones; a soft giggle then a sigh before the sound of the door opening as one of them left to get their day started, probably Tara.

Most girls would've probably been freaked out to have a lesbian as their roommate but you could hardly tell London was. She was super sweet and she didn't act any differently towards me. Besides that even, Tara had been my best friend from high school and followed me to college so of course I could never hold something like that against her. Plus if you weren't close to them like I was you would never tell because they didn't like PDA and were never keen on cuddling up to each other unless it was in private.