Four

“CHELSEA!” I was running through the forest barefoot, and Daniel was running behind me, screaming my name. He was catching up, and I was slowing down. I tried to push myself harder. Faster. I was out of breath, however. Eventually, my body gave in and I collapsed on the forest floor. I heard Daniel’s footsteps approach me. He knelt down and said out of breathe, “Chelsea. What the hell? Why were you running from me?” I was so scared. I knew he was going to hurt me. All I wanted was to be away from him. “Go away!” I screamed. Daniel shook his head and said, “You ever run away from me again, and I will kill you.”

I glared at him and said, “I dare you.” He laughed and said, “You got to run first.” I picked myself up at ran as fast as I could. My adrenaline was pumping, and I was increasing speed as I went. I heard him yell something, and soon heard his feet pounding about 20 feet behind me.

I swiftly darted behind a mass of trees and watched as he ran by, not even noticing me. I breathed a sigh of relief. My back slid down the tree trunk, and I perched myself on the wet soil. I almost let my heart rate go back to normal, but then I heard a branch snap to the left of me. I whirled my head to the area of the sound.

“Did I scare you?” Steve’s voice asked. I let my breathe out and said, “No. I’m hiding from Daniel. So my senses are all paranoid.” Steve came out from behind a tree and nodded, “Chelsea. Come with me. I’ll help you.” Just as I was getting up, Daniel walked out from the other side of my tree and said, “Ah-ha! I found you!” Then, he took a long rope out of his pocket, unrolled it, and before I could move, he whipped me with it.

I screamed and fell to the ground. “Daniel! STOP!” I cried out between each whip that I received. I could feel the cuts that the rope was making on my arms and face. I saw Steve’s shadow come up from behind Daniel, “Daniel, you better put that rope down.” He stopped whipping me and turned around to face Steve. “Oh yeah? And what if-” Daniel was cut off by a startled shriek that came from his mouth. I glanced up at what had happened. Daniel was standing there with a knife in his stomach!

I darted my eyes over at Steve, who was smirking. “STEVE!” I screamed, springing to my feet. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?” Steve looked at me and chuckled a little. “He was pissing me off. Apparently, a fist fight wasn’t going to teach him a lesson. So I decided to finish the job.” I stood there, shocked. “He’s not going to learn a lesson if he’s dead, Steve!” I yelled out. My brain was still in shock, however. It hadn’t connected that Daniel was dead yet. Wait. Daniel. Was dead?

My brain had finally caught up and realized what had happened. How could this have happened? No, this was not possible. None of it was. This is insane. I must be dreaming!

I felt a nice cushion under me, and soft warm blankets surrounded my body. I opened my eyes and saw a white ceiling. I sat up and glanced around my room. Same old, same old. And then I remembered what I had just experienced. My heart nearly broke out of my rib cage. And then I became aware that it wasn’t real. It was a dream. Just a dream. Daniel was alive. Steve wasn’t a physco killer. And everything was going to be okay.

At least I hoped so…

 

Reviews

[bluessadmood]

wow this is really so nice, i really never thought it was a dream ,but you tell it as if its in normal life,you know and she should know dreams reflect almost exactly how life is taking us ,the mind is always at work analysing,its like an alarm that tells us something may go wrong,i like the running away in the woods ,and he after her,you do it great ,thats how evil are we even convince ourselves that evil will always win always after us ,but her other friend shows with a tragic move there is a murder now,i just love how the mind works in dreams he even dramatize so the picture is out and clear,very great talent you have at telling stories ,i really enjoyed it