Sweet Dreams

Blood-curdling Screams

Tyler has always been a light sleeper.

He was able to detect faintest of the noise that no one around him could hear.

His friends thought it was a great ability as he was always able to find them when they were playing hide and seek.

Personally, he thought it was more of a curse than anything else. When he was little his parents were really annoyed that he could hear them or neighbours at any distance and with the slightest of sound he'll wake up and cry.

Even at the age of fifteen, he was not able to sleep properly because of his super hearing. He has been suggested earplugs by many people before but they irritated him too much to make any sleeping possible. So he could not use them either.

For the first time in a long week, Tyler was able to sleep that was until he heard a faint noise in the distance.

He covered his ears in an attempt to sleep. But that didn't help his case. Then he pulled the pillow over his head.

That should definitely help he thought.

After a while, he noticed the sound was a bit louder now and it didn't sound that distant like earlier.

He pulled the pillow away and tried to listen clearly.

It was then he realized that sound was actually screaming. They were horrifying and sounded very painful.

He immediately put his hands on his ears and closed his eyes. It was another pitiful attempt to block out the noise.

Tyler pinched himself to check if it was real. He thought it was possible that he was still sleeping. Yes, that should be it. A nightmare. But why wasn't he waking up?

"Dammit!", he said. By now he even slapped himself but to no avail.

The screams were real and could not be ignored anymore. This was not something he could ever wake up from.

Tyler was able to recognise that the screams were of a woman but he somehow was not able to identify the location from where they were coming.

He thought about his parents. Could it be his mother who was screaming? No... no... that was not possible. They must be safe.

But he couldn't let go of the idea of something dangerous happening to them either. With that, he thought that he should definitely go check upon them. Surely they were awake now by the high pitch of the screams.

He pushed the sheets above him and tried to get up from his bed. But he somehow slipped and fell on the ground.

His t-shirt was soaked in sweat and it was feeling to him like someone was beating drums right next to his ears. But that was just his heart pounding on an inhumane level.

The screams were getting louder and closer every second.

He tried getting up several times but he was not able to. His whole body felt rigid and he could feel a wetness on his face. Till then he was not aware that the wetness was his own tears. After three more tries finally, he was able to get up on his feet.

The screams were filling his veins with terror. And a trivial task like walking to his parents' room was feeling like an impossible feat.

He stepped out of his room and climbed down the stairs but on the last step he again slipped and landed on the wooden floor. His head was bruised with the impact of the fall.

By now he was sure that the screams were coming from his home only. Getting up this time took all his strength but he managed that for the sake of his parents.

"I have to go see what is happening. I have to ensure that mom and dad are safe. I know they are. It's all in my mind. Everything is alright." He was muttering these words frantically.

He was trying to convince himself that all of this was merely a hallucination. This was not real. It could not be. He needed to reassure himself. Because if it was real, then he was not sure if he would be able to handle himself or the situation.

By the time he reached his parents' room the screaming stopped. Five minutes ago he would have given anything to make the screams stop. But when it has finally stopped. The noise of silence was becoming too much to bear. The only noise was of his rapid breathing and the drumming of his heart. But he was not able to hear either of them. It seemed like his senses were getting numb.

Something wet and thick was moving down his neck. He touched it and his hand was filled with crimson red.

"How?" He gasped. The sweet scent of his own blood startled him. He checked himself for injuries and found that his ears were bleeding.

Last time when this happened was when he was at a wedding party. The noise of the band was torture for his oversensitive ears. The only reason for his ears to bleed now could be only because of the high-pitched screaming.

He tried to knock on his parents' room but the door was unlocked. He was neither able to hear the usual creak of the wooden floor below when he entered, nor the voice of shattered glass pieces below his feet.

But when he saw the dismantled state of his parents body and the crimson colour in which the whole room was painted. The only thing he could hear was screams.

His own blood-curdling screams.