Shadows of Delusion

Her eyes fluttered open, a sudden feeling of panic flooding her chest. Bolting up, she scanned her surroundings. Nothing. Darkness as far as the eye could see. Only the occasional indistinguishable shape was visible in the distance.

“Hello?” She whimpered, her mind trying to recall anything at all, 

“Hello, is anyone there?”

At first a few minutes passed, then a few more, and then she had been alone in the darkness for hours. Shivering, alone, the girl began to break down, not being able to remember where she was or how she got there.

“Please! Anybody!” As the tears rolled down her face, one thing finally came to her mind. One word, that left her shocked and scared all at the same time.

“Run,” Her mind yelled it at her, louder and louder, until it roared in her ears, “run, Run, RUN!”

Jumping up, unsure of where to go or what would be waiting, she sprang forward into the infinite darkness.

Faster, faster her legs moved beneath her. There were no interferences, no obstacles. Only what appeared to be an infinite oblivion of darkness, streaking by inch by inch, foot by foot. She began to slow, her body and mind breaking down. Enough time had passed, with nothing to be found, that the running became a jog, and the jog became a walk. Slowly, eventually, she stopped. Dark shapes lurked in the darkness, the sound of her own breath and beating heart rang through the air.

Giving up hope, she slumped to the floor, wanting to lay down and let it end. Hoping she would wake up from this terrible nightmare. It wasn’t until her breathing had steadied and her heart had calmed that she heard it. One simple sentence, that made her skin crawl and every hair stand on end, a ghostly paleness rushing over her.

“I knew you would find me.”

========================================================

She whipped around, looking for any sign of where the omnipresent voice had originated. Darkness still surrounded her, however, and all that her senses could detect were whispers coming from every direction and a gut wrenching feeling that things were very, very wrong.

This can’t be real. This can’t be happening. Mind racing, the shapes in the shadows seemed to become slightly clearer. A shape that could be a tree on her left, and possibly a house on her right. Not sure what else to do, she chose a shadow straight ahead and began to run towards it. Whispers getting louder, her mind telling her not to go any further.

She ran for what seemed like hours, yet the shape didn’t seem to be getting any closer. Finally, after exhaustion completely overtook her body, she collapsed.

“Get up,” The voice said, making its presence known once more, “Just get up.”

Slowly, dreadfully, with her body fighting against her will, she got up. There in front of her she saw a door. She had finally made it. She reached for the handle, finally hopeful that something would—

“—NO! You will regret that. Leave this place. Or else the darkness will be all you know.” Panicking for only a moment, she quickly realized what had to be done. She was no longer afraid of the voice, or of the danger of the darkness. Knowing if she didn’t take a chance, then there would most definitely never be another chance for her escape again. With confidence, the girl opened the door and stepped inside.

“Big mistake,” whispered the voice once again. Just then, the ground began to rumble, the door disappeared, and what was left was only total darkness. The rumble became fiercer, stronger, until the girl could no longer stand. She collapsed to the ground, only this time from something completely different.

The ground was shaking so vigorously it was as if the fabric of reality were tearing itself apart. Her body was being thrown around like a ragdoll, a feeling of weightlessness washing over her, making her stomach churn. All the while, the voice continued to grow louder and louder.

“Wake up,” Merely a whisper at first, escalating until it was like a train in her mind, “WAKE UP!”

The last thing she remembered was screaming.

========================================================

“-Just a nightmare, wake up sweetie. Hey, you’re okay, it was only a bad dream. That’s it.” As her boyfriend slowly shook her awake, back to reality, the realization set in. That what had happened was not real. It only happened in her mind, and that it was over. Relief flooded over her body as her heart beat slower, her breath steadied.

“Are you alright? What happened?” He asked with a gentle and concerned voice.

“It was only the worst dream of my life,” she quipped, “It really was quite awful.”

With nothing left to lay around for, the couple got up and began their days, getting themselves ready for a day in the real world. He showered, put on his suit and got ready for work. She put on her exercise clothes and got ready to go to the gym. As they were about to leave, saying goodbye with smiles, that’s when she noticed it. Subtle at first, yet it still struck fear in her eyes. It was as if the world were getting darker. The sun disappeared behind dark clouds, the lights went out, and it was as if the very soul of everything around her was disappearing, leaving only darkness. Her heart began to beat rapidly once more. The hairs on her neck stood up, and a dreadfully familiar sensation seized her body. With one final look at her boyfriend, she realized:

it wasn’t just a dream.