Tales of Gloomsdale #3: Awake at Sunrise

Chapter One

My eyes shot open in the middle of the night. Darkness surrounded me. My heart pounded in my chest, a layer of cold sweat covering my body under my pajamas. My long blonde hair fell over my face, obscuring my vision for a moment. The covers seemed to press down on me, weighing me down. My low, soft breathing joined my pounding heartbeat, the only sounds in the silent blackness at first.

It wasn't the first time I had woken up in the middle of the night. Far from it. It happened on a regular basis. And that was when I actually managed to get to sleep instead of staying up all night. I often stay up all night and sleep through school. My mom says I'm an insomniac. I can never fix my sleep, no matter how much she reminds me. I should be used to it by now, but I still experience the same fear and paranoia upon waking up. But I'm not scared enough to fall asleep.

Everything's always louder at night. I notice all the little noises I don't in the daytime. Every sound sets me off and makes me jump. It's why I don't like to get out of bed at night. Even the sound of my feet against the floor makes my hairs stand on end. Everything looks different as well, and not just because it's darker. It's like I've entered a new world, another side of the day.

But this time was different. As my heartbeat receded, I became familiar with the low hum of electricity in the background. But none of the familiar sounds of my bedroom. No ticking of the clock, no soft beating of my fan, no hooting owl or light breeze outside.

I closed my eyes as I shifted under the covers. Somehow, the darkness behind my eyelids was always less intimidating than the darkness surrounding me. It was peaceful, almost... but not enough for me to drift off to sleep.

It felt different, too. My bed was unfamiliar. The mattresses and blankets were wrong, and I was in the wrong position. Then I remembered. I wasn't in my bedroom. I was somewhere else.

We had been on our way to visit my grandparents. They lived in a town called Gloomsdale. It was a long drive. We usually started in the early morning and arrived late at night. I tried to sleep through it, but my annoying little brothers kept me awake. My parents didn't help, either. They spent the entire time arguing, especially when Dad took the wrong turn. We ended up getting lost before the car broke down. Before Dad could totally lose it, we managed to find a hotel nearby. Sunrise Hotel, it was called. But it was far from sunrise by then, so we decide to stay there for the night.

I was so exhausted from the drive, I dozed off as soon as we arrived in our room. I couldn't get to sleep last night either. Despite the strange things that occasionally happened when we visited Gloomsdale, I was still excited about seeing my family. I thought I'd stay up until we had to leave. I always tell myself that, but it never works. But here I was, awake again in the middle of the night. I opened my eyes, my paranoia returning at my unfamiliar surroundings.

I usually kept my curtains open so moonlight could spill into my room, ever since my brothers broke the nightlight that they always teased me for sleeping with. But in this hotel room, I could see nothing but empty darkness. No soft glow of the glowsticks I had gotten for my birthday, no brightly colored posters or paintings on the walls illuminated by shafts of moonlight. No music playing from my phone.

My phone. That always helped me feel more at ease. I reached to my left, only to remember there wasn't a nightstand here. Then I remembered that it was in my bag at the other end of the room. It was nearly dead after the long journey, and I had forgotten to plug it in charge after arriving. I figured I might as well do that now.

My legs shook as I forced them out of bed. I jumped as my bare feet made contact with the hard, cold floor. It wasn't the soft carpet of my bedroom. I was always apprehensive about disturbing the silence at night, especially in an unfamiliar place.

I shivered at the goosebumps that erupted on my arms beneath my pajamas, drawing them around my trembling body as I crossed the room as quietly as possible. Every footstep made me jump. I lowered my head, letting my long blonde hair fall over my face.

I reached my hand out when I finally reached the counter with my bag next to the door. The rustling sounds as I ran my hands through it made me jump. I pulled my phone out when I felt the cold surface, holding it tightly in my damp palm. I was about to reach back inside to get the charger – and that was when I heard it.

Tap. Tap.