Mind Or Matter

Chapter Eighteen

I ran through the hallway, walls a shade of deep red. I felt as if I was trapped inside a never-ending maze.

Suddenly, I came to a dead end. The red walls seemed to grow taller, making me feel small.

Arianna stood at the end, holding onto a ripped, brown teddy bear. Her mouth opened and she started to speak.

I couldn't hear her. It was as if she was just mouthing words.

She then started to giggle, like a small child would. Squeezing her teddy bear under her arm, she used the other to pull at her hair, tugging at the blonde curls.

Without warning, the red walls changed into large mirrors. In the reflection was Candi, her body lifeless on the ground, lying in her own pool of blood.

Arianna began to laugh in a distorted voice, like something in a horror movie. Her mouth opened so wide, her jaw digging into her neck. Coming out of the darkness that was her mouth were dozens of leaves, each one burning black. The flames were orange-red, like a campfire. As the leaves hit the floor, an odd echoing noise sounded quietly.

The mirrors rippled like water sitting in a lake.

I could see pool of blood under Candi began to spread throughout the whole room by looking in the mirrors. However, on the floor around me, Candi was not there, nor her blood.

The echoes started to go faster and louder, soon booming throughout the dream world.

Suddenly, scaring me half to death, Arianna began to run towards me, full speed. Right before she was about to spew burning leaves at me, everything turned black.

I sat up in bed, a scream escaping from my mouth. I was panting, the white sheets sticking to my bare legs.

Sounds came from the living/dining room. It's probably Candi waking up, I thought, hating myself for making so much noise. She was probably having wonderful dreams while I had my horrible nightmares...

She came down the hall into my room. "Will?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. She was still wearing the clothes she wore yesterday. "What the hell... what?" Her voice was wispy, just like her pink hair. She squinted, her eyes tired.

I sighed. "It's just another nightmare," I muttered, wishing Candi would get out of my room and go back to sleep.

But she remained in the doorway, arms crossed. "What nightmares? Will, are you okay?" Her head fell to one side, her eyes thin.

I rolled over in bed. "I'm fine. Go back to bed." I pulled the thick blankets over my head, even though my body was already hot and sweaty.

I heard footsteps coming towards me. At the end of the bed, I felt weight sinking into the mattress.

Damnit, Candi, I thought, trying my hardest to go to sleep, just go away...

Tuesday, 7:58 am. The sounds of birds chirping outside my apartment woke me up. My alarm wasn't set, thank god, or I wouldn't have woken up so peacefully. Instead, I'd be thrashing around in bed, desperate to turn off my alarm clock. See, my alarm had this loud ringing noise that scared the hell out of me every morning.

Sitting up, I gasped. Sleeping near my feet was Candi, curled up on top of my white blankets.

"Oh, crap," I whispered to myself, laying back down. I checked my watch again. 7:59, wait, 8:00.

Sliding out of bed, I decided that I had to wake her. God knows what would happen if she woke up and had a panic attack or something.

Tuesday, I thought, thumping over to Candi. I wasn't sure how to wake her, so I simply tapped her shoulder.

Looking down, I saw that I was wearing a pair of boxers. Gasping, I ran over to my closet, put on some black jeans and a shirt, then went back to Candi, thankful that I hadn't woken her, stomping around my room.

I thought she left, eventually... Tapping her shoulder again, this time a bit harder, I sat on the bed next to her, waiting.

Still nothing.

I smiled. Candi's such a sound sleeper, I thought, laughing a little. Then, deciding to take on a better approach, I rested my hand on the bed near Candi's back.

"Candi," I called quietly, but not too quiet for her to sleep through it. Slowly, Candi started shifting over the blankets.

Her eyes opened slowly. I waited for it, waited for the panicked look on her face, like the one I had seen many times before. But she simply smiled.

"Hi," she breathed, exhaling.

"Hello," I replied, sitting up a bit more.

Candi yawned, then giggled. Her eyes widened, then they followed me. "There's this ball tomorrow. It's for charity. Would you want to go?"

I left out a small scoff. "Sure." I stood from the bed, running a hand through my dark hair.

Suddenly, Candi stood up. It happened so fast that I jumped, almost running into the wall behind me.

Candi grinned. In a deep voice, which clearly wasn't hers, she rasped, "they're all going to die. ALL OF THEM!" she screeched. Her eyes began to turn red, just like Arianna's.

Fuck, I thought, backing up. This time I did run into the wall, trapped in the corner of my bedroom.

Candi began to levitate above the bed, which was starting to burn, the flames dark and mysterious. Blood ran down the walls and Candi's light blue nightgown, dripping onto the bed and floor.

Without warning, Candi let out one last piercing scream, then came at me, flying through the air.

I sat up, screaming like a child. Covering my mouth, not wanting to get a complaint from the douche living in the room next to mine, I slowly laid back down.

Looking at the end of the bed, I was relieved to see that Candi was gone.

What the fuck... I thought, eyes darting around the room. That nightmare... it felt so real! It, it...

My head crashed onto the pillow. I glanced at my watch. 5:09.

The room was dark, not a single light on. Once my eyes adjusted to the blackness in the air, I did a scan of the entire room, checking to see if it was a dream or not.

My eyes felt heavy once I was done looking. I turned onto my right side, facing away from my closet. Something didn't feel quite right, but I didn't care. I was still too scared from that nightmare.

What does it mean? I asked myself, trying to go to sleep, to block out my thoughts. Is Arianna right? Am I going crazy? No one else has witnessed anything that I have seen... No, I don't think... wait a minute... no, no one else has seen anything...

Remembering my nightmare, I gasped a little. Is there really a Miami charity ball or whatever? What if there is? Candi had said that "they're all going to die." Does she mean us? Or does she mean the people at the ball.

I felt sleep overcoming me, letting one last thought out. Maybe both...