Cedar

Chapter 1- Dreams

  The forest was twisted every which way, gnarled tree branches snaking around, seeming to move forward to grasp at any inch of anything they could find. The sky was pitch black, with no light to guide anyone or anything. There was no moon, no stars. The howling of animals pierced through the silent air. A rumbling sound took over the night. A cloud of darkness and smoke, intermingled with flashes of bloodred, had appeared. A thunderstorm, it seemed, had rumbled down to the earth. Out of the darkness leapt a girl.  The girl ran faster than ever, her heart thundering in her chest as she struggled to breathe. Even she did not know why she ran.
  
  The darkness rolled over the land like waves of an ocean. The girl pumped her arms back and forth, trying to escape the riptide, the current of darkness. Tears rolled down her face in her desperation to flee to safety. Or perhaps, anywhere but the darkness. She sprinted forwards, gulping for breath as she choked on the flood of her tears. She flew through the trees,  turning sharply every way the darkness overcame her...

  The girl looked up, and a wave of horror passed over her. A few steps ahead, the edge of a cliff loomed in the air, spiraling down into a chasm of darkness. There was no way around it- she had to jump, pray she could make it to safety on the other side of the canyon, just a few feet away...

  Suddenly, out of the smoke on the other side emerged a boy. His eyes were shocking blue, his hair fading from brown to the same color, his build strong yet sleek. He reached out his hand- she picked up speed- then she jumped. Time slowed down as she flew towards the boy. Her hand stretched out, fingers spread apart in a desperate grasp. Her hand, his hand- they reached to each other with a final, desperate cry, as the darkness began to swallow her-

Her hand missed his. Right before he grasped her, she missed. He shouted her name without sound, the noise lost in the air. "Cedar!" The darkness began to swallow her...

  "Shit!"

  The girl woke up screaming. She gasped for breath and furiously wiped away tears. She had been haunted by the same dream for the past few weeks. Every night, the same boy. She had begun to go crazy. No sleep anymore, she promised herself. It was too dangerous. Her heartbeat slowed down- it felt like it was beating out of her chest. She felt trapped in her dreams- so she refused to return to them.

  Cedar forced herself out of bed, though she was exhausted, and dragged herself to her mirror. It was time to get ready for school. She took in her own appearance in the mirror. Her hazel eyes were bloodshot and tired; her cheeks were sunken and defined; her hair was layered and wavy, dyed ombré from her dark brown roots to ashy blonde at the tips, which reached down nearly to her elbows. She was five-foot-seven(and quite uncoordinated at times) and swam on her high school's swim team.

  She sighed as her alarm clock finally went off, and pulled on her black swimsuit. Cedar yanked her hair up in a bun and pulled a jacked and sweatpants over the suit. Flip-flops on, goggles slung over her arm, earbuds in. She grabbed her backpack and her athletics bag with her clothes in it.

  Cedar shook up a protein shake, risked a sip of coffee from a mug on the table, and headed out. At sixteen years old, she was able to drive, and pulled out of the driveway. Her head spun and her limbs ached from the previous night. She couldn't seem to understand. How could she be trapped in her dreams? Dreams were supposed to be good, supposed to be pleasant. This was a repetition of nightmares.

  Cedar shook her head and listened to her favorite song, hoping it could get her mind off of the recurring nightmares. She pulled her car into the school's half-empty parking lot. When she finally rushed to the pool, her coach greeted her.

  "Hey, Cedar. Whoa, you look exhausted," the short, stocky female coach pointed out.

  "I guess I didn't sleep too well, Coach Miller."