I’m lying in the hospital bed, my eyes slowly getting heavier and heavier until I’m barely able to
keep them open, even if I push as hard as I can. It’s dark, black as night, and I get up, sitting on
the edge of my bed with a feeling of dread in my chest. In front of me, I can see something
moving; it’s small and has two eyes shining brightly in the darkness. I try to speak, but my
mouth is dry, and I can’t even open it.
I want to ask what’s happening, but there’s nothing that comes out of my throat. I’m not sure
how long I stay there, but at some point, I start to feel cold, and my heart starts beating faster.
Then, a voice comes out of the darkness. It’s low and deep and sounds like a whisper from the
other room.
“Get up,” the voice says. “Get up and do what you have to do.”
I know who it is, but I’m unsure if it’s a dream or something else. I can’t move, so I speak, but
nothing comes out. The voice is talking again, and this time it sounds like it’s coming from my
left.
“Get up,” the voice says. “Get up. You have to get up.”
I’m still trying to move, but nothing is happening. It’s too dark, and my body feels like it weighs
a thousand pounds. My eyes close, but they won’t open. It’s getting harder to breathe, and I
can feel myself starting to panic. The voice is back.
“Get up,” it says. “Do what you have to do.” Suddenly everything goes black, and then there’s a
bright flash of light that burns my eyes.
I wake up, and my head is pounding. I’m on my back, looking at the sky. Wait, am I outside?
Why am I outside?
My eyes start to adjust. The sun is just rising, but it’s already hot. I’m outside my house. Wait, what?
I look around. Someone is lying next to me. It’s a girl. She’s lying on her side, facing away from
me.
“Fuck! What the hell?” I shout, scrambling to my feet like a rabbit. A ringing pierces my
eardrums, crawling its way to my mind. I clasp at my ears, collapsing to my knees as the
ringing becomes unbearable. Everything starts to blur, but the girl is the only thing that remains
in focus.
In a blink of an eye, she’s standing in front of me, her pitch black eyes staring straight into my
soul. I couldn’t help but quiver under her gaze, and it was then that I noticed that everything
behind her came into focus for a split second. The forest that was past her is now an expanse
of decay. All the trees are now dead and set ablaze; branches and tiny animals fall from the
trees in a fiery fit. The moon is now a burnt crescent, crowned by an ominous red ring.
The girl’s eyes are vast, and she looks me up and down, the burning trees behind her giving
the scene a sickly orange glow. She opens her mouth - but no words come out. Then she
begins to fade, the trees behind her still ablaze. The last thing I see is her face, her eyes wide
and that haunting smile on her lips as she completely fades away.
I wake up with a start, my heart pounding in my chest as I gasp for air. I sit up in my bed,
wiping sweat from my brow.
It was just a dream. Just a dream. I repeat the words to myself, trying to calm down as I sigh
with relief. I look at the clock next to my bed. I throw the covers off, realizing it’s too
early for a Sunday. I walk to my window and look outside - to my surprise; there are no trees in
sight.
“What the fuck?” I mutter as I lean against the glass. The realization abruptly hit me like a brick
I slowly turn my head to face the clock when a knock at the door
startles me. Before I could utter, “Come in,” the knocking raises in volume, quickly becoming a
pounding as the door rattled from the pressure. The voice of a girl creeps through the door.
“Josh. Are you in there?” It asks in an eerily haunting sing-song voice. “I need to check on you.” My
voice quivers as I respond. “Y-yes, I-I’m h-here.”
Dread creeps back into me as my stomach drops. I have a bad feeling about this…
The doorknob slowly turns but stops when the door is about to open.
“Come on; I know you’re in there!” She sings. The door rattles as she pounds it again.
“W-who are you?” I ask, trying to buy some time.
No response. Silence. The door suddenly swings open, crashing against the far wall, but
nobody comes in.
I can hear her breathing as if she’s right next to me. She whispers into my ear, and chills run
down my spine.
“I’m your Nightmare. I’ll be seeing you.”
The door slams shut, and the lock clicks. I’m locked in here. My breathing is heavy, and the
dread of knowing that I’m trapped in here sets in. I scream for help, but no one hears me. I feel
tears rolling down my cheeks, and I can’t help but cry. This can’t be happening! My heart is
racing, and my chest hurts.
I’m trapped in here, in the dark. It’s cold, and there’s nothing but darkness around me. I can
feel the walls closing in on me, and I have the sudden urge to run. I run for what seems like
hours, but nothing changes. It’s as if the room around me morphs.
I’m still running, and there’s no end in sight. This is worse than a nightmare! The walls are
closing in, and there’s no way out. I can’t breathe! My chest hurts so much that I feel like it’s
going to burst.
I feel myself collapsing to the floor, but the pain is still there. I feel myself being moved, but I
don’t know what’s going on. I hear voices around me, but they are muffled and hard to
understand. The only thing that registers is pain. My head hurts so much! It feels like it’s going to
explode! I try to hold back my screams, but it
hurts so much! I can’t breathe! My chest feels like it’s being crushed. I feel hands on me, and
the pain only grows worse. I’m gasping for air, but it doesn’t come. I need to breathe! … … I
can’t breathe.
I feel myself being pulled back into the darkness, but I don’t want to go. The pain is too much! I
want it to stop! Please… … make it stop.
I opened my eyes and looked around. It’s so dark! I can’t see anything! I’m so scared… Where
am I? Why is it so dark? What happened to me?
Suddenly, I heard a voice.
“Well, well. I see we’re finally awake.” I didn’t recognize the voice. No, wait… It sounds
familiar… Where do I know it from?
“Who are you?” I asked the darkness.
“Aww, you don’t remember me? That’s too bad. I’m hurt…” Who is this? What do they want with me?
Why can’t I see them?
“Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you….Yet.” What? I thought as panic started to fill my body. Who’s
this? What do they want with me? And why can’t I see them?
“What do you want?” I asked, trying to hide my fear.
“Well, if you must know…” The voice said.
I gasped at the sudden light. I raised my hand to cover my eyes, but something stopped me.
“What? What’s going on?” I asked, looking around, trying to get my eyes used to the light.
“Calm down, mortal.” The voice said again.
I let out a yelp of surprise. I’d been expecting a dark room or something like that. This was…
different. The light came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It wasn’t blinding, but
it was still overwhelming.
“What is this? ?” I asked, looking around.
“This is Hell. You’ve been sent here for your crimes.” The voice said.
I looked around, searching for the source of the voice.
“What?! What crimes? I’ve never done anything!” I said.
There was a long pause as the voice thought it over.
The voice was silent for a long time. I was starting to get frustrated.
“You do not know who I am?” The voice asked.
“No! Who are you?” I said, looking around the room. There was nothing there. It was just a
white room, with a single spotlight on the ceiling.
“I am the one who decides your fate.” The voice said.
“My fate?” I asked. “What do you mean?
The voice repeated what it had said before. I felt a chill down my spine.
“What is your name?” I asked the voice.
“I told you, I am the one who decides your fate.”
“Please…tell me your name.
“I am the one who decides your fate.”
I was getting annoyed now, but I tried to remain calm.
“What is your name? Please tell me.”
The voice didn’t reply. Instead, the spotlight began to dim, and a figure appeared before me. I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. The figure in front of me was a boy my age, wearing a white dress shirt and black trousers. He had a pair of tiny wings on his back and was more beautiful than any human I had ever seen. I hadn’t noticed that I was staring until I heard the floor crack from behind me. “Who are you!?” I shouted as a black pit opened up behind me. The boy was silent for a moment. Then he spoke just before pushing me down the endless expanse of darkness, his voice as beautiful as his face.
“Are you ready for your punishment?”