You Can't Run From The Dark

{Part 9}

~Dessa~

Dessa was being dragged by her hair. She couldn't see anything. She was blanketed in pure darkness. Was she blinded by someone? She attempted to scream, but her throat made no sound. She desperately tried to rip her hair free from their grasp, not caring if it shredded her strands, if it could free her from whoever or whatever was dragging her. The rough ground scraped underneath her as she uselessly struggled to dig the heels of her bare feet into the dirt - to at least make it harder for the being, that was certainly a faerie, who was taking her away somewhere. Let me go! Dessa tried to screech, yet her lips remained silent, betraying her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she reached up blindly to use her fingernails to claw at the hand that was gripping her hair so relentlessly. As if responding to her soundless shriek, she was thrown onto what felt like a cold, stone floor. The back of her head smashed against the hard, unyielding surface and she cried out in pain, though it just came out as a sharp exhale that could not be heard by anyone. The only sound that echoed off of the stone in the darkness was metal scraping against metal. Then the rattling of what could only be a set of keys. A heart-stopping chink of a heavy lock. She was imprisoned.

Dessa's eyes snapped open, a headache pounding against the insides of her skull, reminiscent of the pain she felt when her head hit the floor in her nightmare. She rubbed her scalp with her fingertips, as if she expected it to be sore from being dragged by her hair. Of course, it wasn't, because it hadn't happened, no matter how real it felt. She was in her bed, not a prison cell. She wasn't blind, or surrounded by darkness. It was morning, and Dessa moaned woefully, pulling the blankets over her head to block out the rays of sunshine. It was such a cruel reminder that she was insane. That the nightmares would never stop. It was almost like her subconscious had felt spiteful for her whisper to the darkness last night. Oh, yeah? Don't want to be afraid of the darkness? Try this on for size, Dessa.

She didn't want to be afraid of it, but her nightmare assured her that she definitely still was. She was terrified. That peaceful moment under the moonlight didn't change anything. She was no more brave than she was before that excursion. She wanted more fitful sleep, but if she took a nap now, it would do her no good. For one, going right back to sleep could allow her to slip back into the very same nightmare. That had happened to her too many times to count. If she wanted more rest, she would need to stay awake longer until the non-reality had time to dissipate, but by then, she would be too awake to fall back asleep easily. Secondly, she didn't want to ruin her sleep schedule when it had just started to right itself. If she took a nap, she wouldn't wake up until it was time to get ready for work. She always slept better during the daylight hours, when shadows couldn't mess with her mind. Aside from that nightmare the other day that was more like a ridiculous fantasy, she didn't dream once the sun was up.

So Dessa was left with only one option. Get the fuck up, and be a big girl. You can sleep when you're dead. She slid out of the blankets and went to take a shower, which as luck would have it, still worked. Once she got her first paycheck, she would make sure all the bills were paid up, and the rent. Then the stipend she would receive at the first of the next month could go to food and possibly a used bicycle, if she managed to find a seller in the city. After her shower, she gathered her clothes from the floor, and decided to be an adult and take them to the laundry room. She didn't have any more laundry soap to wash them, nor the electricity to run the washing machine, but she threw them in there anyway, just to keep them from piling up in her bedroom like a slob. Then she went online with her phone to check each bill, and note when each one was due, that way it wouldn't take her by surprise again when they were cut off. She was very fortunate that she had time to pay the rest before that happened. With the pay-rate promised, she would be able to handle them.