"So, why did you kill her?"
Snap. "Huh?" I zoned back to life.
"In your dream-- why did you kill the girl in the gown."
"I didn't. I knocked her unconscious and left her there, but I never actually killed her."
"So why are you holding a bloody knife?"
SNAP. SNAP.
"Cy, wake up! You're safe, you're safe!" I woke up to my sister, Erin, clutching my body so hard that it felt like my bones were gonna break. I was drenched in sweat, but the worst part was that no matter how many times the nightmares came, my sister still looked at me with the same concerned face she had on since they first appeared.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I tried to slow my breathing and straighten myself out.
"Was it the knife again?" she asked.
"Always." I started rubbing my head. Sometimes I felt like I had so much craziness locked inside me, that eventually I was going to have a personal invitation to my local looney bin. My nightmares were getting worse and eventually, I started actually screaming in my sleep. I wondered how my lungs hadn't gave out by now.
"I'll make breakfast meanwhile you shower and take your meds."
"Thank you, I'll come out in a second." I said, I was calm now.
I got my clothes ready but decided to take my meds first because I knew it would take a while for them to kick in. Antidepressants, pfft. I'm fine. I'm okay. But, most of the time I said that phrase, it felt like I was trying to convince myself.
I cracked open the bottle and just as I was about to pop my daily dose of shine and rainbows- i rubbed my eyes to see clearer- BATS. They weren't pills anymore, they were miniature bats.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
SNAP. SNAP SNAP.
Three snaps, damn I forgot. Erin was sitting by me, rubbing my head gently.
"How many tries for you to come back this time?" she asked.
"Two. This is real right? I'm not stuck anymore, right?" She picked up the lavender candle next to my bed and pressed it against my nose. I smelled, "Ah, yes."
I couldn't smell lavender in my dreams, so I knew I wasn't trapped anymore.
