Out of the Woods

Chapter 3: Panda high on drugs

Running through the endless dim corridor, I managed to get as far enough so that he grew smaller with every step. Reassuring myself that I was safe, I slipped through the next door on my left.

Leaning against the wall, I took a moment to catch my breath. I needed to get away from him before he did anything else. Before I could gather my thoughts, I felt a hand clamp over my mouth and nose. 

All that was heard were my screams, cascading off the walls as I was being dragged back down the long winding corridor...

I woke up shivering, in a pool of my own sweat.

I had previously suffered from the same recurring nightmare, but I was sure they had stopped showing up since the beginning of this year. I was finally considering myself normal, but apparently the monsters in my subconscious seemed to have a mind of their own. Reaching over to my bedside table, I picked up my phone and checked the time. It was 6:56am. There was only four minutes until I had to get up, so I decided to head for the bathroom.

Stepping into the shower, my toes curled as they touched the chilled ceramic floor. My mind was in shreds; I would never get his menacing face out of my head. I turned the old metallic dial, which in turn released thousands of lukewarm drops, darkening my hair and trickling down my back. My eyes closed as I took in the comforting sensation, however each time they closed, I was forced to watch my own personal slideshow of images I had repressed.

After about 15 minutes of standing half asleep in the shower, I stepped out and headed for my wardrobe. Like every other typical teenage girl, I had a lot of clothes, yet I could never pick a single outfit to wear. 

I picked up an item of clothing that was thrown across the room. It was a cream cotton-feel oversized sweater that had Kingston University written on it. My brother, Hunter, had brought it for me as a present when he came to visit us in October. Apart from Willow, he had always been there for me after my nightmare episodes. I missed having him there to comfort me.

I then grabbed a pair of skinny jeans that were hanging off a hanger in my wardrobe. Reminding myself to do my laundry later as these were probably the only clean pair, they would have to do. Since I had quite a lot of time left, I decided to actually make an effort to look nice. I swiftly applied two coats of mascara to my eyelashes, and thinly coated my lower eyelid in black eyeliner. 

Deciding not to do anything with the dark mess I call my hair, I simply ran a comb through it and put it into a high ponytail. Glancing into the mirror, I was astonished at how I actually managed to not look like a panda high on drugs this time. 

Topping off the look, I applied some strawberry scented lip gloss onto my lips. Looking over at the magenta clock that hung above my bed, I realised that I had about ten minutes until Mandy came to pick me up for school, so I decided to head downstairs for some breakfast.

'Good morning! You're nice and early today.' Mom chirped as she took a sip out of her mug.

'Yeah, I uh, had an early night yesterday.' I said avoiding her eyes. 'Can you make me a cup of coffee please.' I smiled over at her, getting some bread out from the fridge.

'Sure. Milky?' She asked getting another mug out.

'I'll have it black please.' Placing a piece of bread into the toaster, I reached over to the island for the butter.

'So, how's school?' She asked over her shoulder.

I hated small talk. If there was anything that I wish I could avoid, it was this.