Christmas Morning

Are You Having The Dreams?

I woke in the middle of the night to the pink covers of the bed in my new room. I didn't remember what had happened yesterday after the fire, or even how I had gotten to bed. But what I did remember were the dreams. They had gotten worse since the night before, I had seen things that were unnaturally horrific. The dreams had been a vicious tug of war between fire and ice, between the look of burning glee and madness I saw in Thea's eyes and the look of freezing cruelty I saw in my own as I relived the nightmare of smothering myself in the snow.

It took me a while to stop shivering in bed, and to stop feeling the frostbite numbing my lips and the fire singeing my cheeks. But the sensation eventually stopped, and was replaced by my being painfully aware of the eery silence in the room. All week I had woken up in the middle of the night, and I had thought I'd heard whispers and giggles from the shadowy corners of the room, but tonight the whispers were gone. "At this point I'm just scaring myself... Whispers are one thing, but now even the quiet is freaking me out." I mumble out loud to myself.

"Shhhh!"

My eyes dart around. That was a very distinct noise. Someone shushing me. "What was- Nora? Peter?", I whispered questioningly. "Go back to bed.", I ordered. But neither my brother or sister made themselves known.

"Shhhhhhhh!", it came again.

"Go back to bed!", another voice mocked, giggling.

"It was just a dream.", a little girl whispered.

"Such a scaredy cat.", an older boy's voice remarked.

I crept to the edge of my bed, my knuckles white from clutching the covers so hard. Four voices? These were not my siblings. Then, from the corner of my room, a voice I recognised, one that sounded raspy from smoke. "Emma, Emma, Emma.", Thea's voice lilted. "What did you think of my show?"

"You... You burned them... You killed them." I stuttered, the memory of what I had seen was trying to force itself into my head.

"Mhm. And you liked it.", she insisted. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

"No! No, you're messed up! How did you get in my house?", I asked forcefully, I wouldn't, no- couldn't allow myself to feel the fascination and delight I had felt when her mother, father, and brother's scarecrow like bodies had erupted into flame. I thought it disgusting and wrong and awful. Didn't I?

"Sh, it's alright, it's okay to accept it. It was cool, and I know you know it was.", she smiled slyly at me.

"Stop bragging, Scarecrow.", the teenage boy who had called me a scaredy cat emerged from the shadows behind Thea, rolling his eyes. Three other kids soon followed him, two girls and another boy. "Shut up, Elijah. This is my job.", she shot back at him, but he didn't back down. He passed her by, stalking closer to me.

"Are you having the dreams?", he whispered, crouching at the foot of my bed. "We all had them."

I stared back at him. He seemed so calming, so sincere. He locked eyes with me and with a flash in my mind I saw him with a blue mask over his mouth, in a veterinarian's office, walking calmly toward three kids and a dad who were each lying on examination tables. He had a look on his face like a vet putting down a sick dog. Like he was doing the right thing. And then, the scene flipped, and I could see him coming toward me with the syringe-

"Stop!", I yelled, breaking eye contact with him, snapping out of the trance. I don't want... I don't want to see.", I insist, shaking my head. "Yeah, I have nightmares, but they're not- They aren't like that, I'm not like you!" The other kids and Thea came forward toward me, and all five of them were now standing at the foot of my bed in a sort of semicircle.

"Don't worry, Emma.", a little girl sat on the edge of the bed, putting her pale white hand on mine. I tried to jerk my hand away, but I couldn't. She wasn't even putting pressure on my hand, and yet I was pinned. "We won't hurt you. We want to save you.", she continues.

Thea caught my gaze. "Imagine a life without being forced to watch Cowboy movies and babysit brats. Imagine it. Just you, me, and a new family. One where you could do whatever you want. We can give you that. It's so easy..." She let that statement sit, heavy in the air. Whatever she and her friends were, a club, a gang, some sort of cult... They did seem happy.

No. That was messed up.

"I can't Thea, I just... I can't.", I shook my head. " I love my family.", I added. But this argument sounded feeble, and I knew that. Did I even actually love them? I knew that question sounded cruel and awful, but what did they ever actually do for me? Did they even love me?

"Just think about it. Okay? Come to the clearing in the forest tomorrow, no pressure, just to hang out. We don't bite...", she laughed. Her tone was that of a friend. I wanted to believe we were friends. "Gotta bail, Nightingale.", She said, sounding like a 50s sockhop girl. She disappeared once again into the shadows of my room. One by one, the others left too, until it was just Elijah left. He smirked at me, and I noticed how pretty his eyes were. When they weren't filled with visions of nightmarish scenes, they were really nice and-

"You're going into a trance again.", He said, raising an eyebrow and snapping me awake.

"Oh.", I breathed, and despite the cold my cheeks felt hot with embarrassment.

"See you tomorrow, Scaredy-Cat. Sweet dreams.", He winked at me and disappeared into the darkness, leaving me alone again with the silence of the room. I inched back under my covers, and closed my eyes tentatively. As I drifted back into my fitful sleep, I didn't hear whispers, and I didn't feel eyes on me, so I was pretty sure this time they were really gone. At least for now.