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Chapter 16- Nightmares that haunt

Hey guys, surprised to see an update? I am too. I might be having other writing jobs alongside this for the rest of the year so I thought it'd be better for me to increase my update frequency and finish this book on time so I don't leave y'all hanging when I get busy with other stuff. I declare this part OPENNNNNNN

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AMANDA'S POV
(Amanda Aderinsola Akinde)

I turn on my bed and open my eyes, immediately noticing a figure sitting beside my pillow. I switch on my bedside lamp to get a proper look at the silhouette but the lights don't come on. I crane my head to study the features of this strange form sitting with me. She has bantu knots on her head with baby pink hair clips placed at the two sides of her round head. I can't miss the familiarity of her skin texture when I graze my fingers over her plump ones. I look closer and I see her cheeks are wet with fresh tears and her nose is running violently

"I said I wanted to come with you" she says with venom on her tongue, a tone I had never heard her use with anyone

"I know, and I'm sorry" I feel my own tears coming up and bile rising in my throat. I place my hands on her cheeks

"But you let me die" She touches my arms and I pull my hand quickly, shocked by the unusual burning temperature of her palms

She stops crying and her face contorts into one of anger and heavy seething. I look away from her slowly and see the room is getting filled with dark fumes

"A-Ashley?" I call as the temperature of the room steps up at least 20 degrees

"You let me die" she says in a low evil tone I'm not even sure belonged to her

The smoke getting to my throat makes me start to cough and whizz painfully. I clutch my throat as the stinging feeling gets more intense, I roll over on the bed landing on the floor with a big thump that shakes me awake

I feel the pain of landing on the tiled floor by the throbbing feeling on my hip. I quickly sit up and switch on my bedside lamp, there is no Ashley, there is no smoke, just me and my room the way I slept in it. I feel tears brimming in my eyes and my heart rate increasing rapidly, I am having a panic attack. I stretch my hand to the top of my bedside desk dragging the cylindrical bottle of my pills down with me. I try to open the bottle but my hands can't seem to focus on the lid. I use my thumb to flick it open dumping all the contents on the floor by mistake. I shriek and cough as my breathing becomes more labored, I hold my chest lying on my side facing the grey wood of my bed frame. I feel my lungs giving up when I see a pair of feet burst into my room through the door. I close my eyes slowly, out of breath to keep fighting

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"now she just needs some rest and a huge supply of nutrients, her body can't fight against anything if its not strong enough" I hear an unknown professional voice say

It felt like I was going insane, I could hear my mum's voice full of panic as she tried to keep me awake. I knew she gave me medicines but throughout I couldn't feel a thing, it felt like I was floating to the afterlife. She made so many phone calls I was scared that my entire family would be gathered in front of my bed waiting for my eyes to pop open. I don't want to wake up, I don't want to continue this, I want to give up. I hear muffled voices outside my door, one is my mum's I suspect the other to be the doctor's. Then I hear a faint and hurried "good morning ma" before the door is opened rather too quickly

"Oh my baby Trip" I open my eyes to a distressed looking Nancy whose shirt is untucked and her tie hanging loosely around her neck.

She walks over to sit on my bed pulling me into a gentle hug