Nightmares Within Me

Night 1 Part 3

I opened my eyes to see that the room was full of people I knew. I recognized every one of them without having to see their faces. We were in someone's house. I didn't know whose we were in but it looked strangely familiar to me. I looked around and realized that it was Ryder's dad's house, but it was distorted and weird. Everything was flipped around and rearranged. It didn't quite look like his house but i could tell that it was. I saw only a few people here at the moment but I knew that there had to be more coming. Chains clinked in the back of my mind, followed by screaming. It got louder and louder. I fell to my knees, not being able to handle myself up anymore. I squeezed my hands over my ears and tried to block out the noise, it cam from everywhere and I couldn't escape it. I heard Ryder and Lillian yelling something. I couldn't figure out what it was but suddenly it all stopped and I felt hands on my shoulders. I removed my hands from my head to see Lillian and Ryder standing next to me. Lillian and Ryder were ok.They weren't gone. Ryder picked me up and gave me a hug while Lillian went back to where she had been standing with Justyn and three other people. Josiah, James, and Eric were all standing around Justyn and Lillian talking about something that happened in a video game or something. Typical.

" Whats going on here?" I whispered to Ryder. He looked at me with confusion on his face. I just stared him down until he shrugged and answered.

" It's Austin's birthday. We're throwing him a surprise party, remember? The party you planned." I acted like I knew exactly what was going on and continued on my day. I found a notebook by the group that had all the plans in it and did a quick read through it. Nicoli, Ryder's dad, was standing in the other room watching tv and making something.

As time passed more people began to show up and soon enough we had everyone there. Now the house was full. Grace, Gavin, Bennett, Camilla, Kat, Victoria, Jessica, and Alexander had all showed up and were gathered in a group looking at me. I checked my phone to find that it was 6:50 in the afternoon. He was going to be here at 7. He was being brought by Nathan who had been in on it and I convinced to help. It was strange having him in these nightmares but I no longer questioned it. My phone vibrated and a text from Nathan popped up.

"Ok guys, they're ten minutes out so get ready. I don't care how you surprise him, if you hide or if you just stand around and watch him walk in the door but do something," I said. Everyone nodded and just like that they were all hiding. I shrugged and hid somewhere to. Nicoli shut the lights out and within the next ten minutes the house was dead silent as we waited. We heard Nathan's care pull up and park, then the engine shut off. A minute later the door was opened, the lights came on, and everyone popped out scaring the shit out of Austin. I had never seen him scared except for this moment. It was worth it big time. Everyone started laughing and Nathan pat him on the shoulder then disappeared into his room. I shrugged and went to give Austin a hug. He hugged me back and asked who organized this. I raised my hand and he gave me another hug. I laughed and backed up, taking Ryder's hand. He looked down at me, with pride in his eyes and a smile on his face. It was something that made me smile more and was worth all the effort I had put in to see Austin and Ryder tackle each other and start wrestling. I rolled my eyes and went to go start talking to everyone.

This went on until about one in the morning and then it was determined that everyone was going to stay the night. Warning signs went off in my head that I should just get people to leave and go home because i didn't know how this nightmare was going to go, but I ignored it like the dumbass I am and continued on. We had a small fire and the guys decided to try and be stunters and jump the fire. All of them passed and all got smacked by someone for being absolute idiots. I just hugged Ryder, smacked him, then hugged him again. After a while people began to head back inside and sit on the couch. While that happened I went to tell Nathan thank you for helping out. When i went up there his door was half way open. It was weird because whenever i was over he always closed the door completely. I knocked on the door and called out his name. No response. I popped my head in, thinking he might have just fallen asleep but I saw the glow of his computer and the sound of gunshots like he was playing Siege. I took a couple steps in and when I got in there I hung my head and just sighed. Nathan was hanging from the ceiling with a rope tied around his chest, his arms tied around his back so his shoulders wouldn't dislocate and he'd fall. To add to the already morbid scene, his throat had been slit and there was a pool of blood around his feet, staining the carpet.

I didn't know who else could have done this. The front door was locked, he wasn't able to pull this off himself, and all the other kids were with me the entire time. That was when I realized that i hadn't seen Nicoli since Nathan had gotten back. I went over to untie him and set him on the bed when I saw a paper in his hand. I pulled it out, unfolded it and read it.

" This was my dad," it read. "He wanted me to kill Raelyn. I refused to do it then he threatened to kill Ryder and so he brought me in here. I could write this fast enough. You all need to escape. He's going to kill you all now."

I put the note on the bed, pulled out my phone and called Ryder. I wasn't going to walk down there and pull him aside making everyone worry. When he answered I told him to come to Nathan's room. When he got up I was standing outside the room, the door was closed behind me. I handed him the note before allowing him to enter. I wanted him to read it first. Ryder just laughed and asked if it was a joke for the party. Then I opened the door and motioned him in. He was hesitant, but followed despite his suspicions. When he saw his brother hanging there he fell to the ground and reread the note. I hadn't noticed it before but there was writing on the back of it. I took it from his hand, read it, and handed it to Ryder. He broke into tears upon reading the extra note. It was especially for his eyes and my eyes only but it was something I wish I hadn't let Ryder read it.