The Night Before All Hollows Eve

Chapter 4: Lost and tired

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills.
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter."

Unfortunately for Gollum, Bilbo had heard such a riddle before; and the answer was all around him anyway, "Darkness"

~"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien
____________________________________

"No!" I woke up, it's dark, but I feel warmer now. "Where am I now!?" I shout as I can't even see my own hands in front of me. The door flew open, I was startled by the sudden noise in the room. As the lights went on, my eyes took a while to adjust to the brightly illuminated room. It's my room, I'm in bed and my mother stood in the doorway still shocked about what happened.

"Really?" I asked myself with a smile on my face, but my mom was still trying to puzzle the mystery together. "Sorry mom. It was only a nightmare. I'm okay." I gave a small giggle and put my head back on the pillow.

"That was not very funny at all, Jessica," she said sternly, and then out of the corner of her lips, came a small grin, that grew into big smile with laughter. She came closer and sat right next to me, "Well at least you're laughing and not whining that it was scary, like you did when you were little."

I look at her shocked, happy and embarrassed at the same time.

"Mom!" I give her a soft, playful punch on the shoulder and then looked at her normally, "What's the time now?" Even with my curtains closed and having no clock in my room, telling the time here was impossible.

"About..." looking at her watch, "ten past eleven. It's almost evening. Well good morning. Come on. Lunch is in the kitchen." She gave a soft pat on my stomach and rested it a bit there, gave me a smile of care and stood up. The bed was still warm and comfortable, so I wanted to stay a bit, "I'll be right there. Just... give me a minute to get dressed and clean my room a bit." My room wasn't even that bad, but I wanted to buy some time, so... that was all I could come up with. I needed to seriously think about what I dreamt about and what it meant.

"Okay. Just don't take too long."

"I won't. I'll be quick as a lighting bolt."

She gave me a smile and chuckled a bit while walking towards the door, "Yeah right." She then walked out and closed the door behind her as softly as she could. Maybe to keep me in my peaceful and solitary room, just to have me calm when I get out, and not in a raged mood that she slammed it.

My smile immediately faded away. This was not good, and even my body was seconding that, because by the looks of it, I'm shivering in fear. I'm speechless and in shock of that horrifying nightmare. What am I going to do now? Maybe it's nothing and I shouldn't even worry about it.

Yeah, just forget about it Jessica. It's just a nightmare, don't worry. I try to calm myself, rubbing my arms and trying to stand up without making any sound.

I always had a thing I did when I woke up and I'm alone. I try to hear if there is any noise in my room, other than me walking on the concrete floor. But then, I hear a small rustle in my laundry pile that sounded not very assuring that it was friendly. I took the broom that was standing next to my dresser, I had to sweep my room yesterday, but I was too lazy to do it. Taking the side of the brush, I poke the pile of material and hear nothing. I poke again, but with more force, then at that moment Elsa came jumping out and ran towards the closed door. Startled by what happened, I threw the broom towards her, but luckily missed her.

"Elsa! You sneaky little feline ninja, you," I pick her up and brought her to the bed, "You scared me. Why do you always get it right? At the right time and place, you always get it right." Her fur as white as the mountain snow, it's always a beautiful thing to brush through. So that's just what I did. In the daylight, she's a cute and soft cat, but in the night, she looks like a ghost with bright green eyes.

Wow... that's scary. Just the thought of that, brought chills through my spine.

"Hey, what if I signed you up for the Halloween Pet Show?" She stared at me with those green, soul-searching eyes of her.

~~~~~

The kitchen was always the warmest and most welcome. The chairs and table was an old wood making, the counters were all stone topped and had a nice shine to it and the floors were covered in red tiles that looked as if you were walking on cooled lava. Even the smell welcomed me to the area, the aroma of freshly baked bread, that made me more excited of what was lunch.

My mom always made the best breads, biscuits and cakes ever. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to think of being a baker for a famous restaurant, but at least one of the best bakers, is in my house.

I sat down at the table, and every time I sit inside the kitchen, I feel like I'm in an old age tavern, it's beautiful. She brought me a sandwich that was made from the freshly baked bread, picked tomatoes that I grew in my greenhouse in the backyard, gouda cheese, ham and some mayo. It looked very appetizing and delicious. When I took the first bite, my taste buds told me about all those other times I ate my mom's best food.

It was indeed delicious and when I finished it, I took my plate to the sink, washed it, dried it and put it back in the cupboard.

"It was very good, mom. Thank you," I went back to my room to go and get ready for the evening, but then I lie down on my bed and close my eyes to think. I put my earphones on and began listening to some Taylor Swift music, but then I remember, I still have to ask her if I can go with my Harley outfit.

I ran quickly down the stairs, skipping some steps and almost tripping. The house was suspiciously colder now, maybe it's the thermostat that's set to low again. I go and check to see if that was the culprit, but when I came there, the thermostat was completely gone, with no trace that it was ever there. I take my earphones off and let it rest on my neck.

"Mom! Where is the thermostat?" And just then, all the lights went off, "And the power is out!" I shout while I stand next to the empty wall, tapping my shoe on the floor and putting my hands on my hips.

No answer and total silence was all I heard. I look around the house and listen for any noise again, but it's still silent. I go to the back to see if she's not in the backyard, busy in the greenhouse. I reached for the door's handle, it was cold as ice, but then I opened it. It's night time outside and it's cold as ever outside, but it's still not snowing.

Did I miss the party? Did I really take that long? I was just lying on my bed for a small while, nothing more. I go to the greenhouse to see if she was there, but when I came there, my mom was not in sight.

Maybe she went out to get something for dinner? Pizza maybe. As I turned around to go back to the house, I don't see my house, but another house that was different. I freeze on the spot and watch with fear in my eyes, terror in my mind and horror in my soul.

What the hell!? How? I tremble with the shock, because what my eyes are seeing is not a good sight. It's the house that was in the newspaper, just as I saw it in the newspaper... and just as I saw it in my nightmare. The house is a faded, white painted wood house with boarded up windows. There were trees that were bare naked and with, what looks like, wrapped bodies hanging from the branches.

The door creaked open and a shadowy figure stood in the doorway. Silent... No movement made... Staring at me...

What's going on?....