The Nightmare's Return

Chapter 3

Rachel woke up the next morning fully dressed on her bed, having fallen asleep in her clothes that she had been in the night before. She was surprised that she had been able to sleep at all after the nightmare she had drifted off to last night. She looked over at her phone and saw the time it was, when she unlocked it to see if she had received any notifications. Rachel jumped off her bed and hurried to get ready for the day, when she saw what time it was. She had already missed one class so far, and would have to find a classmate to get notes from for it. When she was ready Rachel grabbed her books, school bag, and phone, and ran to her next class. She tried to focus on everything the teacher was explaining about the subject, as she pushed everything else out of her mind. After class she walked to the side of a wall in a hallway and made a phone call to Gavin. He was at work, but as long as he wasn't busy with something important, he was allowed to take short phone calls in a few places that were away from customers in the bookstore. He picked up his phone on the third ring.

"Hey, what's going on?" Gavin answered, knowing who was calling.

"Oh nothing, just making my daily phone call for some conversion." Said Rachel playing with her response.

"So how are classes? Still trying to get a feel for something?"

"Yeah I don't know, I keep trying to give everything a chance. My mom helped me with all the payments for my classes, and I don't want to just leave finding nothing to come from it all, you know?" Rachel sighed.

"Well your trying at least, that counts for something though right?" Gavin asked.

"I guess. I just wish I didn't have to try so hard at it. I mean looking out my window feels more interesting sometimes. And than I saw something.. Rachel stopped short of finishing her sentence as she thought about the strange dark clouds she saw outside her dorm window a few days ago, and the uneasy feeling she had ever since.

"What is it?" Gavin asked, catching the unease in Rachel's voice, not to mention the long pause.

"Nothing, I just.. Iv'e been having nightmares again."

"What kind?"

"The kind where a shadowy figure wearing a certain.. You know what, it's stress. I'm sure it's just stress bringing me to a dark place in my head. It's fine, it's fine, I just need to breath and take some walks outside more, and just relax." Rachel said, trying not to create a panic. She still wasn't completely sure if anything really bad was actually happening, or if her mind was just releasing some worry, with past fears and experiences.

"Are you sure, you sound concerned.. you know what would be good? You and me having a night out. I have only a few hours to work at the end of this week. You could meet me at the bookstore, and we could go out to dinner, or something. Friday night, sound good?" Gavin offered.

"Sounds great. I could use something to look forward to." Rachel felt a weight lift off of her shoulders as soon as she finished the sentence.

"Alright, I'll see you here then." Gavin said happily. "I gotta go, a shipment just arrived for the store. I need to see how to handle something with the inventory. Are you sure your alright?"

"I'll be fine. I only have one more class today. I'll get by." Rachel said, not feeling too sure about that last part.

"Okay, take it easy, and I'll see you in a few days."

"Alright see you than." Rachel hung up her phone and continued to her next class. Despite having slept longer than usual the night before, she felt sleepy and started to yawn. All throughout her next class she struggled to not node off, running her hands through her hair and shaking her head to stay alert. After she got out of class Rachel got a light dinner in the school's cafeteria, before going to her dorm room. She had slept through breakfast and had only a quick snack bar for lunch that she had bought out of a vending machine, but she still hadn't felt too hungry. In her room Rachel set her bag and books down and looked in her mirror, as she sat down in the chair in front of the desk that it rested upon. Her eyes looked tired and her face was pale. Rachel took a deep breath and put her hands to her face, slightly rubbing her eyes. When she took them away Rachel looked back at her mirror and took another deep breath in, unexpectedly..

Behind her face in the mirror was the frame of another one. It was so suttle that her tired vision barely caught it. On top of the frame of the other face, sat a mop of blondish-brown curls, resembling hair. Rachel slowly bent forward towards the mirror, breathing shallow. Her confused eyes squinted as she tried to make out more of the image in the mirror. The shape of a nose could be seen now that Rachel was closer. As she got just an inch away from the mirror, Rachel started to see the shape of the nose had a mouth underneath it, and a chin. As her eyes moved slowly back up, she saw that at the top of the nose and underneath the mop of hair and a space of forehead that was just beneath that, what looked like the two shapes of a pair of eyelids could be made out. Rachel sat frozen, eyes wide, and barely breathing. The more she stared, the more that Rachel could see that all of the shapes and features that she was seeing all together, now formed one whole face. And a pretty familiar one, that she had more than once wished to never see again.

Rachel started to slowly move back away from the mirror. As she did, the two eyelids she was looking at sprang open, and two green irises stared out at her. Rachel stood up so fast away from the mirror that she knocked over the chair behind her she had been sitting in. As she did so she took in a huge gulp of air instead of letting out a scream, as she barely had any oxygen gathered in her lungs. The ringtone from Rachel's phone suddenly went off, distracting her eyes from the mirror to her phone on her bed. Rachel looked over for a moment trying to call herself back to where she was at, away from the terror she saw in the mirror. After a couple of seconds of realizing what the sound that broke her sight in front of the mirror was, Rachel quickly turned her head back to the mirror, horrified of what she might see. But all she saw now was just her own reflection. She dared to go towards the mirror and take another close look. She put a hand up to the glass and pressed it with her fingers lightly at first, than a little harder, after she moved her hand back for a few seconds when she touched it the first time. Nothing was there except a plain mirror, nothing behind Rachel's image of her face, everything was solid. Rachel moved back carefully to go to her phone to answer it, keeping an eye on her mirror the whole time..

In his trailer Mr. Tophat moved back from his own mirror that sat upon his dresser, and sat fully upright against the back of his chair. His hands rested on top of the dresser, that were placed on either side of him. He looked at his mirror and his image in it. It was just him now, but seconds earlier he shared a reflection with his intended recepient of the homing spell he had used his cane to place on the person he was looking for. He hadn't been sure if she was still at the same place he figured her to be last, but although she seemed to be in a new room and location, Rachel was still back at what Mr. Tophat remembered was her new hometown..

"Soon Rachel.." Mr. Tophat said looking at the mirror still, after the spell had worn off. He had caught a long enough glimpse of Rachel to recognize her face, despite the slight changes in her more grown form. The feel of the area she was in had also come to him, after he had concentrated for a moment before seeing her.

"Very, very soon, I'll be there." He said, as he leaned forward on his dresser, putting his hands together.

"Now Iv'e found YOU..."