Nightmare Illusions

*Amazing banner by @halsies*

There is blood. Blood everywhere. So much blood.

"Come on, hold on, you can do it. Don't you die on me!" I furiously pressed my hands onto his wounds to keep pressure, watching as blood spluttered out of his mouth. "Come on damn it! You never even read your fortune!" I pick up the small slip of paper next to me lying next to the smashed cookie.

"Thank you." He breathes his last breathe and went limp in my arms.

I wake up screaming, a cold sweat dripping down my back from sheer terror.

I've been having these nightmares as long as I could remember. The scary thing is, they all end with someone dying a bloody and gory death. Every time it happens, it's always someone different; I feel like I know them. Everything just feels so real.

"Calm down, it was only a nightmare. A terrifying, realistic nightmare." I persuade myself as I tiptoe through my cold apartment, making a beeline for the kitchen.

Sunlight streams through the large windows in the kitchen. I go over to the sink under the window and grab myself a cool glass of water and just stand there, staring out into the sunny day. Just like in my nightmare...

I quickly shake off the thought and stride back into my room to quickly chuck some clothes on. I need to get out of this house.

I don't know where my feet are taking me until I smell the sweet scent of Chinese food at 10 O'clock in the morning. One of the many reasons I bought my apartment is because it has a Chinese restaurant around the corner.

"Hello! What were you after today?" I was greeted at the counter by a short smiling woman.

I quickly explain to her what I want.

"Great, well that comes up to $14.50 and you get a free fortune cookie with every meal."

I thank her and go over to the bowl near the front of the crowded place to grab a fortune cookie but when I stick my hand in someone's is already there, grabbing the same one I am.

"Oh, sorry about that. Here you go, you can have it." I give the cookie to the stranger standing next to me.

"Thank you." He gives me a charming smile. I swear I've seen him somewhere.

"No problem. Hey... Do I know-"

"Everybody hands up now!" Three masked men barge through the doors of the small place with guns waving around. Immediately screams of panic erupt from the bystanders as the masked men go over to the frightened lady at the cash register and demand for her money.

"Okay, that's enough. You're just scaring everyone now. Why don't you guys just get a life?" The guy that was standing next me suddenly was walking up to them.

I know what happens.

"No! Don't-!" I get cut off as one of the masked men pulls the trigger and a body slumps to the floor.