Darkest of Dreams

Darkest of Dreams

Prologue

The little girl felt a tear roll down her face as she sat in the dark, silently calming herself. The dream had frightened her. She didn't know what to do. If she woke her parents, they would be upset, but she needed someone to hold her. She needed someone to tell her the dream meant nothing.

Quietly, the little girl made her way to her parents' room. Opening the door to peak in, she saw only her mother lying down in bed. That eased her worries slightly about them being upset about her waking them. Her mother understood the little girl better than her father did.

"Mommy," The little girl said, crawling in the bed beside the mother. "I had a bad dream."

The mother didn't move, didn't make a sound. That worried the little girl. Her mother normally always awoke when the little girl called to her.

"Mommy," She tried again. "I'm afraid to go back to sleep."

From behind her, the little girl heard a deep throated laugh. She squealed and dove under the covers.

"You can't hide from us, little girl." A deep voice said. "You can try to run, but sooner or later you will be found. No one can hide from us forever. You're mother certainly couldn't."

The girl didn't understand what the voice meant, but it scared her. She could feel that something was wrong with her mother and she was now certain whoever the voice belonged to had hurt her mom. Reaching out, the little girl touched her mother's arm. It was cold and sticky. Frightened, she pulled her hand away. Looking closely at her fingers she saw a sticky, dark red substance there. She screamed,

Then woke up.

The now wide awake little girl jumped out of her bed and ran to her parents' room.

"Mommy, daddy?" She asked. Looking in the bed, she saw only her mother's figure lying there. Down the hall, towards where the living room sat, she could hear her father calling out to her.

She made her way to her mother's figure. Something felt off to her and she was afraid to find out what it was. She knew she had to, though. That dream bothered her too much to let it go. Looking over at her mother, she screamed again.

Her mother was covered in a sticky, dark red substance like in her dream. Her mother was covered in blood.

"Sweetie, come here." She heard her dad say. She hadn't even realized he had walked into the room.

"What happened to her, Daddy?" She asked. "Why is she covered in that?"

"I don't know, Sweetie." He said. She could hear the tears in his voice.

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As she sat in the living room, her father paced the kitchen while he talked to the police. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. She was afraid. The dream of hers had really frightened her.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Her father asked, pulling the frightened little girl into his lap.

"I had a bad dream, Daddy. That's why I ran to your room." She said, curling into her father. He held her close to him.

"What was it about?" Her father asked her. She started shaking slightly.

"A scary voice told me that I couldn't hide from him, and that Mommy wasn't able to hide from him." She said in a small, terrified voice. Her father held her tighter. "She had that sticky blood over her too. I'm scared, Daddy. Is the monster real? Was it the thing that hurt Mommy?" She asked, tears in her eyes.