INMARCESIBLE

INMARCESIBLE - 4

I opened my eyes to find myself in a dark empty room. The room was like a place out of time, in there even the ticking of my watch felt relaxed. It was cold and I found myself trapped without an exit. I then blinked; the very next moment I found myself standing at a crossroad, darkness veiled the scenery like thick curtains of a theatre but there was something about this darkness. It was not the kind of darkness that makes the street seem like an old fashioned photograph, everything a shade of grey; This was the kind of darkness that robs you of your best sense and replaces it with a paralysing fear.

Both the streets winded over the hill like a carelessly discarded belt, grey and cracked with age. On each side houses were separated by yards large enough to accommodate farm animals, but this was no rural district. The homes were many times larger than even the biggest of families might need. Yet they seemed empty, abandoned and creepy. I mindlessly took to the left and walked down the street. Fear was corroding my senses but I kept going. After walking for what felt like an hour I found myself standing at the same crossroad. I was confused as hell but I took the courage and walked down the road to the right hoping for an exit. Before long I realised I was stuck in a vicious spiral of maze. No matter the road I took, I kept coming back to the same spot. But I couldn't stop myself from moving, going round and round in circles, desperately trying to find a way out. Every time I ended up at the same place the scenery somehow got creepier. As if there was something out there watching me, enjoying the sight of me squirming as I fell deeper into its trap. The fear was taking over my body and at some point I stopped moving, I stood at the crossroad alone and cold. Suddenly I felt the hairs behind my neck stand up and a chill ran down my spine. And the very next moment a pair of cold hands grab my neck and was choking me to death.

"Sara Sara SARA!!! Wake up!" I snapped open my eyes abruptly and sat up, Lena was beside me, looking very worried. "You alright?"

"Yeah! I'm okay," As I roused from my slumber, I blinked, close my eyes, and blinked again. I realised I was breathing heavy, as if I had just ran a marathon. I drank the feedback of my senses as I tried to steady my breathing and let my mind catch up to reality. I had just had a nightmare.

"You were screaming in your sleep. Are you sure you are okay?" She placed her hand on my shoulder to calm me down, she looked tensed.

"Please don't worry about me, I am fine. It was just a bad dream." I smiled at her and she returned my smile with her toothy grin.

"Oh, okay. If you say so." She retired to her bed when she felt reassured and fell back to sleep. It was half past two in the morning and after that nightmare I doubted any sleep would grace me for the rest of the night. I've been having weird dreams and nightmares for a while now. The bags under my eyes and my tired posture were evidence of my fatigue. I sighed to myself as I thought about the long day ahead and tried to summon some sleep to my system.

I jarred out of my sleep to the assault of my blaring alarm clock in my ears. It was a birthday gift from my dad and quite honestly so, it was one of a kind. The alarm rotated between about six different annoying noises of varying pitch and volume. It sounded like a disco for the anti-christ. A very irritating one at that. I was drowsy and tired as hell and the noise was maddening me. I jolted up, smashing the snooze button as hard as I possibly could. I was not ready to wake up in the morning to rinse and repeat and it was days like these I wished we had a vacation every other day. I reluctantly hauled myself off the bed and to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Verona High didn't seem like one but it was a school that liked to encourage and hone the talents of their students. Hence the various club activities and extracurricular courses. Today we had music class early in the morning.

Our music teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Turner was a cheerful woman who was seldom forgetful and told irrelevant stories in the class about her pet fish Nemo. She loved music as if it was her personal brand of cocaine and wanted everyone she met to share the same passion. But otherwise she was a good-natured easygoing teacher. I would've enjoyed her lessons if not for some unpleasant people pervading the class as if it was their personal playground.