The Nightmares

Chapter 16 - Meeting A Stranger

God what has happened to me?

I've fallen victim to my own subconscious.

Maybe if I die?

Yes.

Then I won't have a subconscious.

My mind would shut down.

Yes, that's what I'll do.

I ran to the kitchen and turned on the stove.

I have a gass stove, so my plan is sure to work.

As the gass from the stove was being realised into the air I ran back into the bathroom to grab some matches.

Can you see where I'm going with this?

I took my time getting back to the kitchen, making sure that the gass was thick enough in the air to catch fire.

Once there, I took a single match out of the box and held it over the little pad.

"Here it goes."

"Stop!!!"

A feminine voice rang through my ears, causing me to stop myself from lighting the match and ending my life.

"Who's there?" I called out to the empty room. If I've learned anything these past few days, just because it looks empty, doesn't mean it is.

"I've forgotten my name, but you can call me Whisp," a shadow began to grow in front of me.

A girl who looked around my age appeared in front of me, but she was almost completely transparent.

A shadow.

"Why are you trying to stop me?" I showed her the unlit match in my hand.

"Because, it won't do you any good. They will just follow you through death and trap you in their world of nightmares."

"How do you know that, and why do you keep saying them? Aren't you one of them?" I asked her accusingly.

"Because, I'm not one of them. I'm like you, tormented by them 24/7. I was...a normal girl. Like you. But one day, they began to haunt my dreams and everyday life, as well. And after years of trying desperately to escape them and end my endless nightmare, I went to bed one night, had a nightmare, one where you had to choose, and I made the wrong choice. I've been trapped in their world of shadows ever since."

I listened to her story with interest.

She was like me.

She was haunted and tormented by these things just like I am.

But why is she here?

"Okay, but what are you doing here?"

"After I made the wrong choice, they wanted to torture me by forcing me to watch as my body squirmed and shook. They made me watch myself die. Finally, my body stopped moving and everything went dark. I woke up in a world where I was forced to stay in the shadows as one of them. But they still torment me every once in a while. But since you came around, it's all they talk about. I wanted to help you escape what I could not."

"So...you're here to help me?"

"Yes." She answered and smiled.

I smiled back, "Alright, but you have to promise not to do anything funny?"

She placed her hand over her heart, "I swear on my loved ones and, if I still had one, my life."

"Thank you, Whisp."

Now I have an advantage against them.

I just hope she doesn't betray me.