Damien

Chapter Six

Nightmare

It was weird, he felt continuously out of breath, Reed couldn't help but think that this is what an asthma attack felt like.  Gasping, he sat up, realizing he wasn't in his room. Instead, he had found himself in what looked like the cabin, but it had none of the clutter or dust that he and his friends had become accustomed to. A single old, wooden chair sat in front of him. Sitting in that chair was a man, he was lean but somewhat muscular, he had shaggy, uneven dark reddish-brown hair, and his groomed facial hair was about medium length; but his facial expression looked strange, almost mournful. Looking down at Reed, the man in front of him started talking 
 
"I'm so sorry, boy." He spoke in a deep, cracking, voice filled with sadness and what sounded like regret.
 
It sounded like he was going to break out in tears any minute. It was very strange to Reed to see this stranger talk to him like he knew him. He looked at the man with a confused expression, but before he could, Reed noticed the man was no longer looking at him. As he followed the man's gaze behind him, he saw the creature he had run from, the one that was hunting him. The thing was drooling, and it smiled.
 
"I finally caught you, my boy." The thing said in that same voice that made the male cringe.
 
 
 
It lunged at him.
 
 
 
Suddenly he bolted up in his bed, gasping, with a pain in his head and arm. He sat there for what felt like a moment, the events of the previous day flooding back to him along with his dream. The door suddenly opening to reveal his parents  entering his room cautiously, Reed couldn't read the expressions on their faces, causing a spike in his anxiety as he tried to come up with an excuse to justify passing out on their doormat. A long pause entered the room, suffocating Reed, and then his dad spoke up.
 
"You aren't in trouble but we just want to know what happened to you last night, you worried both of us when we found you passed out on the doorstep." His dad said, inching closer to him like he was a scared animal.
 
The male furrowed his brow for a second, before he started speaking. "Sorry, I was getting chased by a wild dog or something, I think I fell, I can't really remember." He finished, laughing nervously." "It was probably just a stray." He added hesitantly.
 
His dad gave him a disappointed look before looking at his mom and sighing. "Well, your mom and I are just glad you're okay, son." His dad said before they both turned around and left his room.
 
The male watched his parents exit his room. He put his head in his hands, he wanted to scream. Suddenly his phone, which had been placed on his bedside table, dinged. He looked over and picked up the device.
 
A message from his friends, in their group chat. It was from Riley, Reed read the message over and over again, trying to make sense of such a simple message:

 
"Why did you skip yesterday?"