Nocturne of Nightmares: A Retelling

Chapter Two

     THE LAST THING I FELT WAS Ray's skin on my fingertips. I awoke to the sound of sirens blaring, carefully opening my eyes as dawn flooded into the living room. The television was still on, broadcasting the 6a.m. news. Had I been here all night? 

"A young woman was found dead this morning." The news played as I tried to recall what had happened. "The victim, Monica Collins, was –"

Monica? I immediately grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.

"– found dead in her partner's bedroom earlier this morning. The circumstances regarding this mysterious case are currently being investigated by the local police."

I stared hard at the television, my heart beating fast and my mouth agape. There was no way this was all a coincidence.

But wasn't it all just a bad dream?

I still couldn't believe it. Or maybe, I just didn't want to. Unable to come up with an explanation, all I could do was to stare at the screen.

"It can't be the same girl..."

"The police are looking at the possibility of murder." I turned away finally, my throat coarse. "They're also not ruling out an undiagnosed condition, considering the damage on her neural functions..." the noise from the TV faded as I made my way to the kitchen for a glass of water.

"What on earth is going on? Neural damage..?" I murmured as I turned the tap water on, absentmindedly filling my cup. "Monica was... eaten by a monster. Did all of that... actually happen?" I closed my eyes, shaking away the visions of what I'd seen the night before.

"Ziya?"

There's no way it could've actually been real, right? How she died in the dream and how the news said she died are completely different. It's all just a coincidence. At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

"Ziya!"

I felt a hand land firmly on my shoulder. With a yelp, I jumped away, my heart pounding like a drum, but when I turned around, I only found my mother turning the faucet off.

"Why are you so jumpy?" she asked me as I put a hand on my chest, catching my breath and trying to calm my thundering heartbeat.

"Jeez, Mom! You scared me!"

"I didn't mean to, Honey," she said soothingly. "You were so out of it. I've been calling you, but you didn't respond. You even left the tap running. What's wrong?"

We looked at the mess I'd made, the water spilt all over the sink and counter. Somehow, the glass was still in my hand and not on the floor. Mom's concern made me want to cry, but I held back the tears welling up in my eyes. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I exhaled.

"It's nothing. I was just watching a scary movie last night." I'm sorry, Mom. I wanted to tell her everything that happened, I really did, but I couldn't. Even I don't know what happened. Or what I've gotten tangled up in...

"That's why I keep telling you to stop watching those things," she said, grabbing a cloth for the water. "They make you more paranoid by the minute. Silly little girl," she laughed, unaware of my troubled thoughts.

"Sorry, Mom."

"Come on, let's get you some hot chocolate."

Yeah, something sweet would be nice. I had a sip of my water before setting the glass down on the counter and taking the cloth from my mother to finish what she had started. It was my mess after all. In the meantime, Mom moved over to the pantry cupboard and fetched the hot chocolate, set the kettle to boil. I honed in on the sound of bubbling water, needing to focus on something else for a while.