Almost Full

Nightmares

  There I was. A sophomore in high school. Still so naive, even for my age. I was a trusting kid, and I believed people. I believed in them. Still young, and still normal. Things were simple. My worries were few. I had my family, and friends. I could share anything with them, but that was then. I wish it could've stayed that way. Back when I was me. I'm not so sure what I am now. On second thought, maybe I am still me. Maybe I just needed the change, and I did change. In more ways than I might have realized. The fact is, I still have a choice. Just as much of a choice as I did then. Other than that, the only thing I know for sure is that things became very complicated, very quickly.

  I had been running for what seemed like miles through this strange forest, and I felt like I could go no further, for my lungs began to pull at my throat. They had become a weight, a burden. It was dark, and the only light I could see was the moon. Everything around me seemed black, and like it was reaching, surrounding me, trying to slow me down. I reverted my glance, looking behind me for a moment to find that my pursuer had seemingly withdrawn. It didn't stop me from running. The trees and their limbs leaned in. I could feel their branches brushing against my arms and legs. A second time I checked, to reassure myself that I was indeed alone. I was.

  Not slowing down, I directed my eyes forward again, but not in time to evade one of the oncoming branches. My face absorbed the full impact. I didn't even feel my body hit the ground. Everything was moving in a blur, my dizziness settling in. I couldn't get up. As my sight came back into focus though, I could see, something was in the tree above. Then, the ringing in my ears ceased, and I could hear it. A low and definite growl. I knew that this thing, was what I had been running from in the first place, but I felt no need to continue on with this futile chase. I had half expected it to end with me on the bottom somehow anyway. Lying there, staring at the creature, I could see bright white fangs gleaming in the pale moonlight. My time was up. The eyes... those menacing yellow eyes were the last thing I saw before the creature was upon me. I couldn't even scream. Not a sound escaped my lips, except for the whispering of my final exhale, until consciousness finally slipped from my grasp.

  I awoke with a thick sweat all over my body, relief sweeping through me. I was safe. Nothing had happened to me. I opened my phone. It was still a few hours until sunrise. I tossed it onto a pile of clothing on my messy room floor, and rubbed my eyes, trying to get the images of the dream out of my mind. Nightmares were not something I experienced often anymore. It seemed strange for a dream such as this to get me so on edge. It was the kind that used to keep me up when I was just a toddler.

  Feeling there was no hope of achieving any more sleep that night, I got out of bed, pulled on a shirt and traded my pajamas for a pair of blue jeans. I then entered the bathroom across the hall, to look in the mirror. Switching on the light, I stared at myself in disappointment. I looked terrible. My eyes were involuntarily half closed, and had dark circles under them. My lips looked crusty, and chapped. The fact that I hadn't slept well was no excuse for me.

  My hair was a dark brown, and quite long, reaching just past the tops of my ears, my bangs overshooting my eyebrows, unless I swept it to the side. It was scruffy looking to say the least. My eyes had always been a dark to light blue, but for some reason they looked like a dull green. Additionally, I was quite scrawny, despite my repeated efforts of working out to build any muscle I could get.

  I filled my cup sitting next to the sink and immediately sucked all water from it. My throat was feeling like Death Valley. Cupping my hands under the running faucet, I threw another handful of water on my face. It was cold, and soothing. All I had been feeling was heat. I was burning up, and for some inexplicable reason, it felt like it was getting worse.

  I stumbled back into my room again, and sat down at the edge of my bed for a moment. Then, the window caught my attention, and to my dismay, the utter glare of the moon nearly blinded me. The temperature seemed to rise even more all of a sudden. It was nearly full. A panic began to boil in my gut, and I had no idea why. It was silent. Silence was all that filled my ears. And the more I wished for it to go away, the more it seemed to ring in my lobes. Discomfort ran cold through my body. "I'm going downstairs to eat something," I said just to hear my own voice.