Nightmares (slow updates!)

Chapter 23

Poppy's POV

As I woke up, the pounding in my head was made apparent. My eyes burned from crying and my throat felt as dry as the desert. I remembered Patrick had carried me to my bed, he had laid with me and petted my hair until I fell asleep. I tossed the blankets off of me and let my feet meet the carpet.

I got up, making my way into my bathroom. I grimaced when I saw myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess, my nose was red, and my face was tear stained. I opened my drawer, grabbing my brush out of it and proceeded to brush through my messy hair.

Suddenly I heard a strange noise coming from down stairs, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. Tossing the brush on the counter I made my way to the stairs. Hesitantly  I headed my way down, the old boards beneath my feet creaked loudly under my weight. "Patrick?" I called over the banister, no reply. When I made it into the living room I stood still waiting to hear the sound again so I could locate where it was coming from.

A dripping sound echoed through my fathers office. I made my way across the room to the wooden doors and stopped at the entrance. As I looked inside I could see Patrick facing away from me, he had no shirt on and he was holding something... examining it.

"Patrick?" I repeated once again as I walked inside the office towards him, he turned around slowly. I gasped and backed up when I saw what was in his hands. His chest, arms, and face where covered in blood and in his left hand he held my mothers pet rat. The animal was dismembered almost beyond recognition. "What did you do" I screamed, terrified of the sight before me.

A strange smile spread across his blood covered face and an unnatural sounding laugh escaped his chest. He quickly took a few steps towards me and just as quickly I took a few steps back. He opened his hand, letting the rat carcass fall to the ground next to his feet. "What's wrong Poppy? I thought you hated your mom." he said, the smile never leaving his face. "I-I don't understand... why did you kill him?" I said, my eyes going back and forth between him and Apollo. "For you, of course."

Suddenly he lunged at me grabbing me by my neck, it was so unexpected that I didn't get the chance to run away. I grabbed onto his wrist in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure he was applying to my airway. "Patrick, your hurting me." I said struggling to breath in. The smile on his face seemed to get bigger, unusually big.

He leaned in so that his lips where against my temple. "Your not even real, you thought being a good girl would convince me? Huh poppy?" he growled against my skin. I shoved my hand against his face, the feeling of the blood touching me making me gag in sheer disgust. "I don't know what your talking about. I'm real!" I screamed in terror.

He took a hold of both my wrists, binding them together in between his fingers. He wrestled with me for a minute before he finally gained the upper hand and held me in place. He pressed his face into my neck and inhaled deeply, almost as if he was smelling me. "Your fear smells so good." he said sounding satisfied.

"My what?" I questioned as he continued to sniff me, like a dog looking for his buried bone. He was silent for a minute before letting go of me and stepping back. "Your fear, it's wonderful" his voice sounded weird, like it was coming through a radio on a station that was just out of reach.

He started to laugh again, hysterically. His body shaking as he bent over in a fit of giggles. My eyes grew wide as I noticed something strange happening with his face. It was twisting, the size of his features increasing and decreasing as if he was a cartoon character.

Before I knew it his eyes turned completely white and blood leaked from his mouth, just like that day at school when I had seen him in the window. I looked behind me to make sure the office door was still open, ready to run, ready to make a break for the front door. When I turned back, I felt my blood run cold. There, inched from my face was the face of my mother.