Woodlington

Chapter 21 - Return to Old Jak

That night Alex dreamt.

Her old classmate, Danny Mills (the one all the girls fancied) was chasing her.

As she pelted down the longest of the school's corridors, she whipped her head around. He was closer than ever, his outstretched hand opening and closing convulsively.

Lining the walls either side of them were the students. They were spurring him on, willing him to catch her.

Even the teachers were in attendance. She could hear her maths instructor Mr Atkins, roaring "go on Danny, get her."

And the shrill voice of Miss Spencer:

"Catch the little tramp."

It was insane.

Didn't they know Danny was dead? That he was a rotting corpse sent by Harold to kill her?

Couldn't they see the skin peeling from his face, the wasted muscles, the sunken eyes? What was wrong with them all?

The grasping hand finally latched onto her shoulder.

She screamed, and falling sideways, crashed into a cabinet.

Danny spun her around.

Close up, she could see his eyes were now nothing but two black pits. Below them, what had once been a nose, jutted like a broken stump from his grinning face.

Incredibly, the crowd were still cheering "way to go Danny!"

"Cool man, you're the best."

"No," she whispered. "You're dead."

His rotting mouth stretched wide as he leaned close. One of his few remaining teeth dropped from its gum and fell to the floor, seemingly in slow motion.

"You're dead."

She felt the grip on her shoulder tighten.

"You're..."

The rank breath on her cheek.

"You're..."

The warm drool dripping onto her outstretched arm.

"Dead!"

She shrieked as he bit into her.

Alex's eyes sprang open.

She saw the outline of the figure above and shrank back in horror.

"What –"

"Shh, quiet. You'll wake your mum."

For a moment, the words didn't register, then the outline sharpened and Jessie swam into view.

"Nightmare?"

Alex could only nod.

Grabbing the edge of her duvet, she mopped the sweat from her face.

"Thought I was a goner."

"That bad eh?"

"You don't want to know."

Suddenly, the realisation Jessie was in her room, sank in.

"What are you doing here?"

Her friend rose, turned, and disappeared into the shadows.

"Needed to escape for a while - I hate being cooped up."

Her whispered voice sounded near the window, and sure enough, a second later her silhouette appeared.

It looked strange.

"What's up with your head?" asked Alex.

"My head?"

She raised a hand.