The Guide Dog

Nightmares

"Scarlett! Scarlett where the hell are you?!" The voice screams inside the dilapidated shack of a house.

I hide where I pray she won't find me. It's routine now. I know that when she drinks the water from the glass bottles, I need to run and hide.

"I'm going to find you, you stupid brat!" She slurs. I'm afraid. But I can't cry. If I cry, then she'll hear me. If she hears me, she will find me.

I hear the sounds of heavy footsteps coming towards her bedroom. Tears stream from my face as I silently beg for her not to look under her own bed.

She kneels down to one knee.

No.

She's found me.

"NO!" I scream into the darkness. Still feeling the woman rip hair from my scalp as I squirm in the soft, suede of my sheets rubbing against my legs. My sheets. My bed.

I'm home. I'm safe with Jenna and Sam. She can't get me here.

I hear the distinct sound of a howl right outside of my very own window. No way! Do the wolves really get that close here? I'm reminded of the howl that I'd heard earlier today, when I'd nearly been killed. Or was it yesterday? I had no idea what time it was, but I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. The stress of everything that's happened in the last few days was definitely beginning to weigh on me. I'd nearly died this week. Twice! Once because I'd been abandoned in the hallway of my high school and then again when I ran directly in front of a vehicle. Either I'm having the crappiest luck of my life this week, or my number was up. I decided I probably needed to get out of bed and clear my head if I was going to have any real chance of falling back asleep. But before my feet could touch the floor, the dark blur that was my vision became a grayish blur. Followed by the sound of a light switch being flipped.

Jenna. Ever since I was a kid she has always checked on me whenever she heard my screams of terror from my nightmares. After I was comfortable with her and Sam, she would slip into my room while I was sleeping and lie next to me in my bed so that she would be there to hold me when I awoke screaming.

"I'm okay, Jenna." I say giving a tight-lipped smile toward the door. "It was just a nightmare, but I'm alright now. I promise."

I hear a sigh come from the doorway. The darkness is back, and the footsteps retreat.

That was weird. Usually Jenna offers me some tea or offers to talk with me before she leaves. Maybe she's had a long day. With the new designs that she's implementing in the house and the kitchen remodel she's planning, she's probably exhausted and just needed to know that I was okay. I walk over to my top-load in the corner of my room. Sam put a top-load fountain in my room one day back in Pennsylvania, after a night when my terrifying nightmares had me nearly screaming myself hoarse. This way, I wouldn't have to walk to the kitchen and risk an injury if I needed some water. I loaded water into the paper cup as I had done for several years of sleepless nights.

After my drink I climbed back into the bed praying that my traumatizing childhood memories would allow me to sleep the rest of the night in peace.

I closed my eyes and for the rest of the night dreamt of snow. These are the memories that I wish would visit me every night. The good memories of my mother. The memories of my vision. The cool flakes pile up on my beanie and winter coat as my mother and I would lie out on thick blankets covering the crisp white snow during a Pennsylvania snowstorm. Cool, soft flakes piled together feeling almost like the caress of a hand as it brushed over my forehead. I turned my head to see a  large figure standing in the distance. The clouds of snow making it impossible to make out the being. The figure was coming closer, and I was able to make out the long dark hair that whipped like a flag in the white wind.

"Scarlett." It whispered.

The figure was so far away but the whisper sounded as though it were speaking right in my ear.

I jolted as my alarm buzzed.

It was 8 a.m, and I couldn't keep the smile from my face as it occurred to me that today was the day that Seth was coming to take me out on our date. I squealed as I slapped my alarm and jumped out of bed.

*Author's note: Hey you guy's I know this chapter is short but I promise to update as soon as I can. With school starting back it's just been really hard trying to manage everything. But I will try my best. Thank you so much for the support! Love you all!

~XoXo Scarlett

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