Kiss or Kill H.S

7. Déjà Vu

~WARNING THE FOLLOWING WILL CONTAIN HORROR, BLOOD, AND VIOLENCE~

"This is a dream. And the moment you realize it, is when the nightmare begins."

FLASHBACK

My eyelids flutter open, paralyzed. I slowly take in my surrounding, darkness. The only light peeps through the dim lamp next to the bedside. My breaths constrict at the sight in front of me, I am standing upright on the foot of the bed, the figure that lays dormant upon the bed is me.

As I carefully watch my sleeping figure, my heart paces are regular heartbeat, my breaths are tranquil as my chest rises up and down in rhythmical fashion and my body lays compressed and tightly wound to the left side of the bed. The covers somehow have found their way far from chest. The room is silent, serene, bare to the evil approaching it.

I try to approach my sleeping body, but I can't move. I stand still as time. I struggle, the force holding me captive, but my body doesn't flinch. My eyes are heavy but I can't blink. I feel the suffocating need to breathe, but I can't. I stand on the foot of the bedside upright, motionless and dead. While my sleeping figure lies asleep, serene and alive.

This is a dream. And the moment you realize it, is when the nightmare begins.

The eerie silence of the room is hung in the air, the thudding of soles echoes. Fear arises as footsteps gain approximately. The soles precisely and carefully dance on the edge of terror. I can't move. My heart beats hard as the air around me thickens. But I am frozen in time. My sleeping body lays unaware of the evil lurking it's way in. The sound of the footsteps come to an abrupt stop. The sound of the turning door knob sends my body into a weeping tremor within.

The darkness has made it's way in. The shadow-man begins to walk around the room. I can't turn around and see. I stand paralyzed. The silhouette drifts from wall to wall, followed by it's deadly footsteps. The pressure on my chest is unbearable as it makes its way closer to the sleeping figure. The shadow-man stands over my sleeping body staring down at her, in between both parts of me, unaware of the awakened version of myself. Its claws begin to trace the cheeks of my unconscious self, leaving behind a trail of blood. I watch and feel every action of the demon, but I am frozen. The claws continue to angrily mutilate my helpless body. Each stroke, leaving behind its imprint of revenge. The blood pours on the satin sheets as they bleed red. Then I feel the breath of it on my neck as it dives into my barren skin, leaving a deadly kiss behind my ear. "Run," he whispers.

The shadow-man now turns my way and his laugh echoes the room. This is a dream, I tell myself. But I can't wake up. I can't move. I can't run. He approaches me, standing inches away from my awakened body, and everything goes black.

~

My eyelids flutter open. Galvanized, I slowly take in my surrounding--light. A smile warms it's way onto my face, as my body submerges from the crystal blue lagoon. The sin washes away from my tormented soul. I am finally clean.

I step out of the blue lagoon, reborn. I am light, pure, and innocent once again. I surrendered my soul to the purifying water allowing myself to find peace. I have left behind the pain, hate, and memories that once damned me.

I wander around the garden of eden. The leaves crunch softly beneath my feet, tickling my skin. The beauty of nature and life encircles me. It all seems so real. I close my eyes for a second, believing it will disappear as I do. I take it all in. The way the wind blows softly against my skin. The fresh air uncontaminated to the miasma, the birds chirping sweetly, the flowers blooming brightly and the warmth of the sun.

I take a step back, assessing my paradise. It was all too good to be true. My dark and utterly damaged soul will never find peace or redemption. The innocence has been stripped from me too long ago. The devil grasped my soul and would never let go, not even in the depths of raging hell.