Nightmare of Fatality

Chapter One

Lena sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath. Sweat poured down her face, her mousy brown hair soaked. She blinked repeatedly, trying to get the little girl's image from behind her eyelids. Hyperventilating, she threw the covers off and swung her feet off the bed, placing them on the floor. As she sat on the edge of her bed, she felt around the lamp on her bedside table, searching for the switch. As light flooded the room, Lena winced. Slowly, she reopened her eyes, letting them adjust to the brightness. A glance at her alarm clock told her it was six twenty-seven in the morning. Her nightmare woke her three minutes before her alarm went off.

She shut off her alarm clock with a shaking hand and stood. Her breathing had calmed, but her distress was still very prevalent. She had thought these nightmares were over for good this time.

Lena hadn't expected to need another shower this morning; she usually took them before bed. She didn't have much time to get ready for school with additional time needed for a shower. The thought briefly crossed her mind to climb back into bed and call to her father that she was sick. However, she might fall back to sleep - though granted, it was unlikely - and that was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

She grabbed the outfit she had laid out for herself the night before and headed out of her room towards the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and began to peel her drenched pajamas off her body. After she turned on the water, adjusting it to the correct temperature, she moved to the sink and stared into the mirror at herself.

Her light brown hair hung in wet strands around her face and reached her shoulders. Her cheeks were flushed and her green eyes were filled with terror. She hated her small build; in fact, she hated how she looked period, especially now. Disgusted and tired of examining herself, she turned away and stepped into the shower.

The feel of the water cascading down her body was amazing and she stood there for a moment, forgetting about everything as she closed her eyes. However, feeling the crunch of time, she began to wash herself with a sigh.

She had hoped the shower would take her mind off her nightmare, but it only gave her time to think about it. She recalled it in such vivid detail, just like all the others she used to have. Ever since she could remember, she'd had horrible dreams about murders, rapes, kidnappings, and other such crimes. It had been almost a year since her last one though, and she had foolishly thought they were gone. She had lost so many nights of sleep worrying about whether she was going to have another nightmare. When she was about thirteen, she'd become something of an insomniac, barely making it out of middle school. Now, she was a sophomore in high school and terrified of how it would affect her this time around. She was already seen as something of a shut in, with few friends to speak of.

Many of her peers saw her as a goody-two-shoes. She didn't smoke cigarettes, do drugs, or drink. Of course, her father was also theFather at the local church, which didn't help her social status at school either. All her teachers adored her, probably because they adored her father. She was seen as a "teacher's pet" and was often ridiculed. Being the preacher's only daughter was anything but easy.

With a sigh, she turned off the water and grabbed the towel off the rack. She stared at it for a minute, though, before forcing herself to dry off, for it was the same color as the girl's dress in her dream. This wasn't going to be an easy day.

Lena stepped into her jeans and pulled on her green tee shirt before leaving the steamy bathroom. Once back in her room, she grabbed her brush off her dresser and ran it through her hair a few times. Forgoing make up today, even though she usually went light on it anyway, she glanced at the clock. It was now a few minutes after seven and she was about to miss her bus.

She threw on her shoes, shot a brief look in the mirror to be sure she looked half way decent, and darted out the door and down the stairs. There was no time for breakfast, so she said a quick goodbye to her parents, who were sitting in the kitchen watching the news over coffee, and grabbed her backpack from by the front door.