The blood slithered down my hands, the knife glistened red. I clung to the wall, in front of me was his lifeless body covered in blood. My hands wrapped around my mouth as I screamed, my chest felt unbearably tight. I tried to reach for him but my tear filled eyes blurred my vision and I fell to the floor. I grabbed his hand and kissed it repeatedly begging him to wake up. On my knees, I looked up gasping for air, crying out for forgiveness.
"Alianna, Alianna!" My eyes shot open, my bed sheets covered in sweat. I sat up, panting. I placed my hand on my chest and felt the fast beating of my heart.
"Ali?" I glanced at my door, there stood Justin; My fiancé. I wobbled towards him, and crashed into his chest as sobs escaped my being. He wrapped his arms around me, "It's alright, I'm here." He whispered, I hugged him even more tightly to the point where my arms started to fall asleep.
"I had that same nightmare...this time it was..." I bit my bottom lip, as he wiped one of my tears away with his thumb. "This time it was you." I finished.
I felt his body tense up, but he gave me a smile. "Sweetheart, we'll be okay." He kissed my forehead. "It's just a phase, these nightmares will stop."
I wanted to believe him, I really did but I knew deep down inside that I couldn't. I nodded, trying to convince him, or myself, that everything was going to be okay.
—
"Maybe it's all the stress you have." Leianna suggested, Leianna has been my friend since as far as I can remember. We met up at a cafe down the street from our university, I hoped that maybe she could give me some advice.
"Could be, but just yesterday I dreamed that it was you instead of Justin." I sipped my coffee.
"Maybe you really do want to kill us but you're just too kind to act on it?" She shrugged, puffing her cheeks.
"Keep it up with your sarcasm and you just might be right."
She giggled, but got serious again. "Have you tried therapy?" She asked, biting into a biscuit.
"I can't afford therapy, and I don't think it has to do with me being crazy." I adjusted my glasses. "I've tried drinking tea, I've tried edibles-"
"And that was a disaster." She laughed.
"Yes, it was but anyway, I tried crystal therapy, dream catchers, witchcraft, pretty much everything but I still have these dreams." I crossed my arms, my eyes unintentionally looked down at the floor.
"Everything but therapy." Leianna pulled out her phone. "I can't afford therapy either but sometimes I need one. So I just go to the therapy majors in training at the university. Schedule a meeting with them."
"You want me to go to a therapist in training?" I raised my brow, she nodded.
"I'll send you the number, I hope it helps." She scrolled through her phone. I put my chin on my hand and looked out the cafe's window. The sky was colored grey, the sun hid behind the clouds while rain gently hit the window, making a small tic tic sound. I watched as people hurried to shelter with umbrellas hovering over them, the cafe's "Open" sign buzzed faintly in the background.
"Do you like LA?" I eyed Leianna, she looked up from her phone. "Well, yeah. What's not to like? The beach is near, the school we go to has an amazing art program, most of the youtubers we watch live here, and it's just a city filled with opportunity."
I sighed, "Yeah you're right, I just miss Las Vegas sometimes. It's been a long time since I've seen my mom and siblings, I haven't heard from everyone in a long time."
"Why don't we go visit for a few days, maybe it'll help distract you from you know what."
"Where will we stay? We can't afford it." I took another sip of my tea and felt the warm liquid slide down my throat.
"We can ask someone to let us stay with them, like Alexa. I heard that she bought herself a decent house with the money she got from selling the old mobile house her dad left her." Leianna put her hands together, "Please, please! Justin can come with us."
I thought about it for a second, my grades were above decent and I haven't taken any sick days since the semester started. "Alright, I guess so."
Leianna smiled, "Let's start planning."
