Mad Maggie II

Nightmares & The Message

Joanne's POV

I instantly wake up in a cold sweat. Sunlight shines through the lace curtains in my dorm, nearly blinding me. I rub my eyes as I groan quietly and stretch my arms. It felt like if I slept for only a short time but it's already morning.

I just have had another nightmare and it's so bad this time. I can't...I can't even stop thinking about it, no matter how hard I try. In the nightmare, I remember I was walking in a dark forest with streaks of sunlight breaking through the thick trees overhead. My friends from my hometown was there - Anne-Marie, Mary, Dave, Jack, Kiara, Omar and Eric. But all of them were dead - Mary's head was smashed. I can't even recognize her at first, Omar's body walked like a broken puppet because all of his bones inside his body were smashed from the fall at the Hangman's Bridge. Anne-Marie had blood all over her yellow silk dress and her neck was bend in an odd angle. Jack's ankles bend in weird directions and he's bloody all over with glass stuck on his face, arms and chest. Kiara's face is flattened and smashed. I didn't recognize Dave at first because he's burned from head to toe. And at last, Eric...his head was leaning on his right shoulder, from the broken neck that Maggie gave him.

I felt something wet on my hands so I looked down and I found my hands stained with fresh blood. My nightgown was bloodstained as well. I didn't see any wounds on me, but no matter how much I wipe the blood off of my hands, the bloodstains still show up, dripping as red maple syrup. I can't stop myself from walking in the forest, among with my dead friends. I called their names but they didn't hear me. They just stared ahead of them, as if they're looking for something. It's like if they're listening to someone who called them in the forest and they're ignoring my cries and shouts.

Then my friends stopped in their tracks right before I can think of something else to get their attention. Their eyes rolled back until there's pure whiteness before they dropped dead, as they were before. I looked around and I spotted Maggie in front of me, grinning. She pointed at something behind me, her silver fingernails bloody. I turned around and I found a large oak tree with words carved in the bark, bleeding red as if the sap is blood. It reads:

CONFESS YOUR SINS

I looked around and every tree in the forest had the same message carved on them. I tried to run away from her but I can't move at all - it's like if my feet are stuck deep in the ground. Maggie laughed at me, mocking me as she slowly walked up to me...and that's the part when I woke up.

I rub the sweat off my forehead and sigh heavily. I always thought the nightmares would go away little by little, but boy I don't think that will happen eventually. I look at my alarm clock next of my bed and it reads 8:12am. I groan as I plop back onto my pillow, sighing. I stare up at the ceiling, thinking. I knew that this kind of thing would happen, but I didn't even thought of it before. Now that I think about the message carved on the tree in my nightmare, it seems like if Maggie truly planted a curse on me to drive me mad before I "confess my sins" - aka telling people the truth about...how Maggie really died in the woods near my high school. But I don't want to. I don't want people to see me different when they find out that I murdered Maggie.

Then my phone next of me buzzes with a new message. I pick it up and notice that it's from Marie. The text reads, Hey sleepyhead, are you up? 

I yawn out loud before I text her back, Yeah, just woke up. 

Did you sleep well last? Any nightmares? Marie messages me back a few moments later. I just sit there, wondering if I can tell her that I don't have one last night, but something tells me I should say the truth instead of fiddling around with it. She knew about my nightmares and she's so sweet about it. She always makes sure I'm okay, so why should I lie to her about that? So I just text, I slept through the night but I just had a really bad nightmare so that's why i just woke up. 

A few moments later, Marie messages me: Awe I'm so sorry to hear that! Wanna go shopping together today?

I ponder myself for a few minutes before responding, Sure, meet you at the bus stop at 10?

You got it! Marie quickly responds. I get out of my bed, gently rubbing my face to wake me up as I walk to my closet to wear something. I choose a light pink loose shirt, skinny jeans, designer sneakers and a few jewelry pieces. I grab a banana from m mini fridge before grabbing my Chanel handbag and head out. 

Many hours later, back at Joanne's dorm

It's almost nighttime and I'm back in my dorm, sitting on a cozy chair as I work on an essay for my English class. I know it's the weekend, but I like to finish my homework early so I can have more fun time. I'm a straight A student, and I still am, even if I'm in one of the hardest colleges in the world. 

I have had a good time shopping with Marie and her girlfriend at a different mall near the college. I have bought some cute clothes and other things from Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, and other stores. I may be rich and I wear a lot of designer things, but sometimes cheap clothes look better than designer clothes. Marie and Tricia are the same thing - sometimes they'd wear some clothes from Rue21, Deb, Charming Charlie and so on. It's not all about wearing designer clothes all of time, it's just about knowing fashion and having a good style.

I yawn before checking the time. Wow, it's almost 9pm and I've been working on the essay since 6pm...maybe I should take a break for a few minutes before returning to work. I get up and place my laptop on the chair before heading to my private bathroom to do my business before I head to my mini fridge to grab a bottle of water and an orange. I peel the orange and begin to eat the pieces.

While I'm eating the orange, I hear a strange buzzing sound. I slowly turn around, listening carefully. It appears that the buzzing sound is coming from my laptop. I walk up to it on the chair and find that the screen is full of static - but the static is black and...light lilac. 

"What the fuck?" I whisper to myself as I eat another piece of the orange, and just as I'm about to shut off my laptop, I hear eerie laughter coming from nowhere. I shiver, it's not a normal laugh...it's more like a demonic chuckling. Then the screen turns black in a blink of the eye, and bold purple words show up:

THE WHOLE EMPIRE WILL FALL, AND YOU'LL BE THE LAST KILL. REVEAL YOUR DARKEST SECRETS TO SPARE YOURSELF. 

I just stand there, shaking with fear. Is this Maggie, or is it someone else, trying to scare me into thinking that it's from Maggie herself? I have no idea, but it scares me to think that Maggie is looking for me again. I rush to my window, searching for any sign of a person standing near by, looking at me, waiting for me to be afraid - maybe I'd see Maggie standing below my window, grinning like a mad hatter with her bloodied face staring up to me as her smile widens. Oh, I have seen that horrific smile before! It's the same smile I saw every time she shows up in my dreams! I can't even forget every detail of her face...

I search for any sign of life outside, but I don't see any. Not a single person nearby. I sigh as I lean my forehead on the cool window. It's not fair. It's not fucking fair. Why can't she just leave me alone? I wish I can travel back in time and apologize to Maggie in 3rd grade for bullying her. But I can't, and I never apologize to her at all. And now she's on the hunt to kill me in an act of revenge.

I hear loud knocking on my door. I jump at the sound before I take a breath to calm down and walk to the door. I reach for the knob and pull the door open. Hannah is leaning on the doorway, a soft smirk on her face. She's wearing a short yellow dress with nude heels and a denim jacket. Her short brown hair is gently curled and styled, and her face is fresh and pretty and I can tell she's a bit buzzed because she's holding a bottle of Smirnoff. 

"Hey Joanne, wanna hang out with the girls at the bar?" Hannah asks me as she holds up her iPhone, which shows a picture of the event at the bar that says there'd be a lot of hot male strippers tonight.

"Oh, I don't know..." I struggle to make an excuse. I just really wanna stay in, and plus I don't really know if I really should go out. 

"C'mon, it will be fun!" Hannah giggles. I chuckle quietly and stand in the doorway for a moment before I walk to my closet and put on my rose gold heels. 

"Okay, but just one drink and that's it!" I grin as I put on my jacket and grab my keys and wallet before heading out of my dorm with Hannah. I have a feeling that I'd end up with a small hangover in the morning...