Living Nightmare

Living Nightmares

While most people love sleep whenever they get chance to sleep, Zoe was a different case. She hated getting ready for bed and then tucking herself under the blanket while her mom left the dark room. She hated begin alone in the dark as she did not know what was lurking in the shadows, but her greatest fear was going to sleep and living through nightmares after nightmares.
Zoe has sleep paralysis, a condition where when a person goes to sleep, but there mind is awake and their body is lifeless and heavy. Zoe has been having sleep paralysis for months, but she hasn't told her mother about it. She is scared that her mother would not believe her and that she will get scolded for making things up.

Zoe came from her basketball practice at 9 pm. Her body felt weak and her eyes were starting to feel heavy. Dark eye bags have been forming under her eyes for a while. Now that she recalls, she hasn't been able to sleep properly for about a week. This is becoming frustrating for her. Zoe sits on the dining table as she plays with a bowl of spaghetti that her mom made for her. It was her favourite dish, but today she didn't feel like eating the dish. Zoe's mom sat in front of her after finishing some work.
"Zoe is everything alright, dear? Do you need to talk to me about something that is bothering you. I have seen that you have lost interest in most of the things that you do. Is it class work or is it some guy in your high school?"
Zoe did not want to explain to her mom all the horrible things that have been happening to her. She just says, "Nothing. I don't want to talk about it."
" Ok, but if you need anyone to talk to you. I'm always here by your side."
Zoe was getting angry, frustrated at her mother for not understanding her situation. She doesn't want to talk about it, but her mother keeps on insisting to tell her about her personal life. She hated her mother.
" Zoe, you know that after your father's death, you are the only one that I have in my life. If you have something that is on your mind, please let me know about it, ok?"
Zoe has had it. She can't bare with this bullshit. She can feel her frustration level and anger rising beyond her control. She wants to do something. She wants to break stuff, smash things, she wants to tear things apart, but most importantly she wants to cry. She feels like she wants to keep crying until her tear ducts run out of tears. Until her eye don't have the strength to produce more tear. Until she collapses.
Zoe can feel her anger increasing more rapidly now. She shouts and gets up from the table. Holding the bowl of spaghetti in one hand, she smashes the bowl on her head. Blood starts running down her face, while her mother watches in horror as to what just happened right now. She cannot comprehend as to what just her daughter did to herself.
Zoe stands at the table in disbelief as to what just happened. She looks at her mother in guilt and despair. She cannot hold her emotions to herself. She runs aways as tears roll down slowly from her smooth cheeks. As she reaches upstairs and all Zoe's mother can hear is a loud bang of the door and then a loud sobbing coming from Zoe's room. Zoe's mother sits at the dinner table alone, hands blocking her face and tears rolling down her face.
Zoe lays in her bed, blood running from her forehead. The bed was slowly turning crimson red. She hears heavy knocking at her door.
"Zoe, it's your mama. Can I please come in and talk to you? I just want to say is that I have also been through...", but Zoe's mother could continue, Zoe interrupts.
" Mother, you never cared about me. All you cared about was you and your dead husband. I wish my real dad was here to protect me from you. I wish he would have left us. I wish he was still alive." Zoe stops as she can hear her mother's sobbing from the other end. " I don't want to talk to you anymore about anything! Don't disturb me from now on!"
"Good night dear.", as Zoe hears her mother's footsteps slowly fading.
Zoe stays still in her bed thinking about her dad. The time they would spend together, playing with each other and having fun. She also remembers the first time she went to a water park with her dad. It was the best time she had. She thought that she was going to die as soon as she entered the water, but soon her fear faded as she realized that her dad will always be there to protect her.
Zoe could feel her dad's warm hands touching her forehead as she would usually go to bed. She looks on her right to find out, her dad sitting right next to her by the bed. He looks happy, satisfied and most importantly proud at her.
"Dad, you finally came for me. I knew you would always be there for me. I knew you would show up even though everyone, even mom says that you would never show up again. Dad, I love you."
Zoe's dad looks at her with a gentle smile on his beautifully carved face. He says in a soft-soothing voice, "Zoe, I told you, I will always be there for you." As he says this, his gentle smile began to grow slowly into more like a sinister grin. His pupil begin to grow wider and wider every second. The warm hand on Zoe's head suddenly cold and scale like. Six more arms sprout out of his ribs, spraying black thickened blood all over Zoe and her entire room.
Zoe tries screaming at top of her lungs, but all she can hear is slithering of the creature that once was her father near her legs. The six ten appendices creature hisses loudly at Zoe showing its sharp pointed teeth. She tries to move her feet away from the creature, but she cannot move her feet. They feel heavy.
The creature slowly slithers inside of Zoe's blanket. She can see the blanket rising off of her body as the blanket takes the form of the creature. The creature slowly moves it's long skinny-scale like fingers on Zoe's stomach. The creature flips Zoe on her stomach and exposing her bare back. The creature digs it's scaly fingers in Zoe. She tries to scream in pain, but all in vain. The creature slowly scratches hard on Zoe's back removing her skin and spilling her blood everywhere over her bed. Zoe feels a thousand sharp blades entering her back.
After assaulting Zoe, the creature flips her again on her back to reveal her dad's handsome face. The creature speaks in the same soothing voice as it spoke earlier. "Zoe, don't you worry kido. Everything is going to be alright. Everything will work out fine in the end. During death, there is no pain. It just feels so great to be released from all the society's norms, responsibility and customs. It feels as if you are a free bird soring through an endless sky enjoying your freedom. Kido, you know that your dad will always be there for you. I will always be there to protect you from any evil."
The creature stops talking and looks at the ceiling with it's pale face and starts to laugh loudly. The laughs echoes filling the room. The creature turns back to Zoe with a dead face looking her in the eye with an evil smirk on its face and says, "Zoe, I will always love you more than my own life. I died protecting you, you know that, don't you? I died for US, you piece of shit. I died because of your fault you filthy ungrateful piece of shit. I wish that you were never born to me. I wish that I had killed you even before you were born. I wish I could have killed you and your mother when she gave birth to you. I just wish..."
The creature stops and suddenly conjures an axe from thin air. Zoe's dad begins to swing the axe frantically across her room."I wish I could chop that dirty shitty head of yours into tiny pieces and feed it to your mother. I just wish that you could die right now. I just wish..."
Zoe begins to think that this must not be real. She knows that her dad loved her from his heart. He would never even imagine my about killing her. This is an imposter. She focuses on her right toe and try to move it with her entire will. The creature looks confused, "What the hell do you think you are doing? Do you think that by moving your body you can destroy me? You are wrong. Even if you managed to move your body, I will come tomorrow to haunt you even more. I will always be there in your mind. You cannot get rid of me. I'm you."
Zoe moves her left index finger this time. She manages to move it with her entire will. It exhausts her to move her body parts, but she can see the effect. The creature fully turns into her father. "Zoe, are you thinking about pushing me away from you? Are you not my daughter? Zoe, I'm your dad. I raised you with love Zoe. I cared for you. I was there when you came home with a trophy. I still remember, I took you through the entire community on my shoulder. I fed you, I cooked for you when you were sick. I was always there for you, Zoe and I'll always be."
Zoe looks at her dad's face and says, "Dad, I love you. I know that this is you, and I know that you have always supported me in everything. You are greatest dad ever. You are the only person that I have ever trusted in my life. You have always guided me to my righteous path and have always held my hand my hand through the darkness. I would never remove you from my memories. Memories are the only way I can ever communicate with you. I love you, dad I know that you would always be there for me." Zoe's dad slowly fades away from the room as the sun begins to shine over the window.
Zoe's doorknob crackles and Zoe sees her mom walking in the room. She looks at Zoe and asks her to wake up. Zoe opens her eyes and gets up from her bed.  Zoe's mom looks at Zoe's injured forehead and tells her that it's gonna be alright. She tells Zoe to get ready for her school as her school bus will be at the door in half an hour. I'll go and make breakfast for you. Come down quickly to have some breakfast. Zoe's mom goes towards the door and holds the door knob. Without looking at Zoe she says, "Zoe, this is going to be a fun day today. You will remember this day from now on. This day will be so wonderful that you will even see this day in your dreams. I know that you will enjoy it too. As you know, I really love you and I will always be there for you, kiddo."
As Zoe's pupils dilate. Her mouth opens wide in horror and disbelief. She thinks to herself, "This cannot be true. Only my dad was the one who called me kiddo." Before she could say anything, her face becomes stern. Zoe looks at her mom and says, "I love you too, dad."