Closing Time

2

All I could see was darkness. The same inky darkness from the eyes of the man... thing I'd met last night. My body was frozen, a chill emanated somewhere inside me. There was a tightness in my chest from the residual fear. Last night... What had happened las-

"Problem, Ryleigh?"

I gasped loudly as I heard that voice. My gut clamped down in dread, short gasps escaped as I tried to get rid of the pressure on my chest. The pressure was stifling, the dread a reminder of last night. But I could feel it go away. The fear, the chill, and when I opened my eyes again, the darkness too. I recognized the ceiling, I recognized the sheets my hands grasped, I recognized my room. My whole body burnt, my chest felt hollow. No. No, I don't want to die. No, don't touch me please... leave me al...

My panicked thoughts came to a halt as I started to feel the burning in my body fade away. My chest no longer felt empty. My head was clear and I could... I could think again.

My fingers twitched as I felt soft sheets under them. I blinked, or I thought I blinked. It wasn't as dark anymore. Nothing was as dark as the eyes of... I was- I recognised my surroundings. I was in my room. In my apartment. But I still didn't have full control over my senses or my body. I could feel my body, and I could feel the fabric on my skin. I still wore my clothes... and shoes.

What... What had happened? How was I in my bed? I had been in the bar, trapped by that monster, and now I was... here. My body didn't feel sore anywhere, nothing seemed wrong, except the burning sensation as it faded away.

I still couldn't breathe properly. There was a pressure on my chest. My body felt cold.

I let my eyes fall shut as I forced in a deep breath to break the vice around my lungs. The burning sensation finally dissipated as I felt the tightness in my chest disappear. It wasn't long before I was just lying in my bed hyperventilating.

Gathering up my strength, I pushed myself up on my elbows. A shaky hand rose to push the open hair out of my face once I was up. My skin was cold. My room was cold. It almost felt like the bar again. I remembered nothing about how... I didn't know how I got here. My clothes were still on me. My shoes were still on me. My bag was in the chair across the room, exactly where I would normally dump it when I returned.

Had... Had last night really happened?

Had I come back home tired and just passed out? Lou... the monster... had that just been a nightmare?

It-it had to be, right? I mean, black veins across his face, dark eyes without a pupil, pale skin, talons, lanky figure. It has to be a bad dream. But that's rather strange, I haven't watched a horror movie in quite a few months. And had yesterday really been that taxing that I didn't even remember my walk home?

My hands still shook, but the cold had dissipated too. That weird burning sensation was completely gone. My phone lit up at my bedside with a notification. There had been no signal last night— in my dream— my weirdly vivid dream. I remembered everything, it felt so surreal. If... If it had been a dream.

No, it was a dream. Something that weird has to be a dream. I just got home super tired, and passed out fully clothed in my bed. It has happened before. On busy nights like Halloween, or Christmas. But yesterday hadn't been busy...

Was I losing my shit? I didn't remember coming home. I couldn't remember if yesterday was busy, but I remembered the nightmare I had. The nightmare that... that felt so real?

My short laugh broke the silence. It sounded as incredulous as my thoughts. I'm just tired. Yes, that has to be it. The weird dream has put me in the mood for some shitty horror movie. Maybe there's something good on, I could catch the morning show before work someday.