As stormy as the Bermuda triangle (Completed)

Chapter 7: Hell.

Hi all.  I am almost done with the book and it will not be a long one. 

I have been here a month.  I was kept busy with getting settled and getting to know my surroundings.  There were three of us from the states and we stuck together. 

“So girls I think we should get ready to do some more sight seeing.  We only have another week left before classes start.”  Ashley was a voluptuous blonde with a fake tan and big hair.  She reminded me of Alisa.  Ashley was from Texas. 

“I don’t feel like going today.  We have been at it for two weeks straight.  I need a days rest.  What else is there that we haven’t seen?”  Betty had long red hair and freckles.  She was a bit chubby but a very nice person.  I liked her.  She was from New Orleans. 

“I could use a day to rest.  I have some reading that I need to do before classes start.”  I took my book and sat on my bed.  “Why don’t you go ask one of the other girls to go with you?” 

“Well, I should probably start on reading too.”  Ashley grabbed a book and sat on the floor. 

We spend the rest of our day reading.  The dorms were fairly quiet because most of the students would only arrive at the end of next week.

My first few days here were filled with orientations and unofficial classes.  The classes were so we could get used to the way things were done and to get our assignments for when the real classes started.   I familiarized myself with the grounds.  The dorms were in the back and in the front was the school.  It was a beautiful campus and the buildings dated out of the early eighteen hundreds.  It was build with stones and even though the buildings itself was old everything inside was modern and up to date.

Our dorms were closest to the classes.  I shared a room with Ashley and Betty.  They both arrived the same day as me.  The first few days were a little slow but it got better.  We were friends now.  They were actually the first girl friend that I ever had.  Daniel and Chris were really the only friends I wanted back in California.  It was so different to be friends with girls.  

I still thought about Daniel and the nightmares were still there.  If I pushed myself to the limit every day by the time I went to bed I was too tiered for the nightmares.  I spend an hour every day twice a day in the gym or running.  It helped me to clear my mind.  But as time passed my body got used to the exercise and it didn’t affect my stamina or energy anymore.

Classes started and for another two months the nightmares were tolerable.  I had them only once or twice a week.  My days were full.  Mondays to Fridays I would get up at five.  I would then work out for an hour and then back to my room for a shower and an hour to study before breakfast.  Classes started at nine and went on till three in the afternoon.  We had lunch halfway though.  After classes were over we had a study session for two hours then free time for another two hours.  I would use those two hours for my second session of exercise and the other hour for e-mailing and phoning my family back home.  After that it would be dinner time and another hour to study.  Lights out was at eleven.

Weekends were open for us to do whatever.  We would go shopping and exploring on those days.  But as the year progressed I had more nightmares and less time in a day to get myself so tiered that I could have a peaceful nights sleep. 

My nightmares were different but still mostly the same.  The ended with me screaming my lungs out and waking every one in my room.  They tried to get me to talk about it but I never did. 

I have been here for six month now.  It was cold and I didn’t like it.

“I hate winter.”  We were all just getting back into our routines after a two week break.  My parents came down to visit me for a week.  We didn’t talk about Daniel and Chris.  It was like they were hiding something from me. 

“We don’t have it this bad in the states.”  Betty said while she was getting ready for bed. 

Ashley wasn’t with us anymore.  She couldn’t handle the pressure and went home when break started.  It was just me and Betty. 

We said our goodnights and I thought about what the next day would bring.  I woke screaming and crying at he same time.  Betty held me till I was calm.  In the days that followed I pushed myself harder in everything I did and tried so hard to forget the nightmare, but it was hopeless. 

“Emma, why don’t you go see the therapist.  Maybe she could help you with the nightmares.  You hardly sleep anymore.”  Betty was really worried about me.

“I don’t need to see a shrink to know what is causing my nightmares.  I know exactly what the cause is and I don’t care to talk about it.”  I took my water bottle and towel.  “I am going for my run.”  

I decided to skip the call to my family and take two hours for running.  I ran so far that I didn’t know the area and had to ask for directions to get back to the campus.  I felt foolish for getting lost but that night I had the best sleep I’ve had in a while. 

Weeks went by that I didn’t have any nightmares, but for some reason all of a sudden the nightmares got worse, I started getting them every night until I decided not to sleep anymore.  I was tiered and my grades were slipping.  Betty must have told some one because two weeks later the student counselor called me in.

She was a nice lady with grayish hair and a pointy nose.  She spoke in a thick but still understandable English accent.  “Emma, this is not good.  You can’t keep going on like this.  You are so busy and you try so hard but still your grades are slipping and you look like hell.    I hear you don’t sleep and on top of it all you have a full day of class and school activities and you work out two hours a day.  You don’t eat much and you have lost weight.  Can I maybe refer you to the school therapist?  She could help you get to the bottom of this.” 

“Like I told Betty, I know what the cause is, but I can not talk about it.  I don’t need help and no one can help me.  I am doing my best under the circumstances.  I will not be bullied into this.”  I stood up to leave.  “I will go to my teachers and get assignments for extra credit so I can bring my grades back up.”

The next day I went to see all my teachers and got the work for my extra credit.  For the next four weeks I worked my ass of and in the end everyone was happy with my performance.  My grades were back to where it was suppose to be. 

It was now the last week of school.  We had finished our exams the week before and everyone was excited for the school year to end.  I feared for the end of the week.  I was invited to return but on condition that I sorted out what ever was causing my nightmares.  I told them that I would think about it but it was very unlikely that I would return. 

A week later I was on the plane taking me home.  I didn’t know what it would be like to see everyone again after so long.  I only saw my parents once for a week but that was it.  I thought about the morning after I told every one that I was leaving. 

Daniel had spent the night in my bed just holding me.  The next morning Daniel stood in front of the window.  He was just standing there staring.  He heard me getting up.  “I will not try to stop you, but I need to tell you once more.  I love you and I will always love you.  Please keep my heart and come back to me.” 

“You should probably go before my parents find you in here.”

“They know that I am here.  We are not dating anymore so I am not a breaking any rules and you are going away so it doesn’t matter anymore.”  He walked to the door and stood in the opening.   “Have a safe trip.”  And Daniel was gone.

I felt the pain in my chest.  The pilot announced our decent and I felt my whole body getting hot and by the time the plane landed I was on fire and it wasn’t a good fire.  My skin and everything in between was burning and the pain in my chest got even worse.   

As I waited to get off the plane, the fear became unbearable and I had to ask the flight attendant for a glass of water.  “We don’t normally do it, but you look like you might need me to carry you off this plane on a stretcher.”  I guess it was her way of telling me I looked like death.  That was exactly how I felt. 

In the airport building I got a trolley and went to get my bags.  After that I moved toward the meeting area where my parents were supposed to meet me.