The nightmares came again. A demonic loop where Rosa was butchered over and over again by that monster. Reenactments of last night, but everything went wrong. She never ran, she didn’t dodge from the creature’s pounce, it never vanished in the park, the mystery saviour never appeared. However it didn’t bother her.

She awoke with a slight jolt but apart from that was completely fine. No cold sweat, no drenched bed sheets, not even a little tremble. It was like she’d woken up from a normal dream, like her mind and body knew the entire thing was fabricated by itself.

It still creeped her out how little yesterday was affecting her. It made her constantly question it even happened at all.

She flung off her quilt and slid out of bed while grabbing her phone off her bedside table. Sam had messaged her.

‘Sorry won’t be in today either, sickness got worse overnight. Probably won’t see you until Monday’.

She must really have come down with something bad Rosa thought. She replied that she hoped she got well soon and will see her Monday. Rosa then put her phone down and got ready for school.

She headed downstairs, and like every morning, her parents were sat at the dining table, with cups of coffee and breakfast. Since she didn’t need to get to school early and help Sam today Rosa decided to join them. She brewed herself a cup of tea and made herself some cereal. She sat beside her father, still slightly worried he may scold or for being late and her having to explain last night. But thankfully it never came.

She stared at them both, they looked absolutely exhausted. Now that Rosa thought about it, had she heard either of them get home last night? Until what time were they working?

“Not going in early today?” her mum asked.

“No” Rosa responded taking a bite of cereal, “Sam’s sick again”.

“That’s a surprise she’d never ill” her dad said.

Rosa shrugged.

“Tell her we hope she gets better soon” her mother said.

“Will do” Rosa nodded.

She enjoyed the morning breakfast with her family. With school, her clubs and their parents work they hadn’t been able to see each other much this month.

However, it soon became time for her to leave.

“I’ll see you later” Rosa said placing her dishes in the sink.

“On time today yes?” her father questioned.

Rosa firmly nodded.

“Atta-girl” her dad smiled.

“See you later” her mum waved.

Rosa quickly grabbed her bag, put on her shoes and coat and set off.

It felt strange walking to school in full daylight and busy street, Rosa had become so accustomed to having Aldock to herself in the morning. Luckily, it didn’t affect her journey and Rosa was able to arrive in form for the first school bell. The school day went as usual, if not more boring without Sam’s presence, and Rosa quickly packed away her belongings as the final bell rang. She did have kick boxing today but decided to not go. She’d never admit it, but today she wanted to walk home in the daylight.

She left with the rest of the school. To her knowledge not many students lived near her home and that thankfully meant her time manoeuvring around slow-moving groups was cut short. By the time Rosa started getting close the park she was practically alone.

She came up on the street where it all began. It was considerably less eery in broad daylight and Rosa began feeling immature for ever thinking something like that could’ve possibly happened. It must have all been a trick of the mind. It had to be. Monsters weren’t real, just stories made up to terrify children.

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‘SNAP’

Rosa jumped. Reflexively she spun around.

Nothing.

She glanced down to see a broken twig beneath her foot. She sighed and felt her cheeks flush. Rosa couldn’t help but chuckle at herself. She scanned around making sure no one had seen it. No one had, good. She continued on her way home with no more issues.

Rosa called out to the house once inside but there was no response.

‘Must be in work’ she assumed. The rest of her day was spent relaxing and quickly completing any of the homework she’d been assigned.

Rosa waited until late into the evening but her parents never returned home. She then found her dinner already in the fridge with a note from her mother stating they’ll be home late again.

‘Working late again’ Rosa thought concerned. They already looked exhausted this morning. She didn’t want them overworking themselves and getting ill or something even worse.

She then ate, made sure the house was locked up and settled in for the night.

There was a constant buzzing in her ear, like static from the TV. Rosa tried to cover her ears but it didn’t help. Suddenly they popped, like she’d suddenly changed altitude, and everything went deathly silent. Where was she? It felt like she was stuck in a dense fog, as if she recognised her surroundings but at the same time had never seen them before. She clamped her eyes closed and tried to shake away the haze and surprisingly it worked. Little by little she began to feel clearer headed.

She opened her eyes and found herself inside a house. Wait, this was her house. She was sitting in their living room staring at a blank TV and completely in the dark.

Chilled air escaped her mouth with every breath she took, but the room didn’t feel the slightest bit cold as Rosa sat in her pyjamas. Confused she stood from the couch and turned on the lights.

Nothing was out of the ordinary, just her usual living room. Well except for the window curtains, now that she noticed it. They were fully drawn, blocking any sort of outside view. They rarely ever used the curtains normally just resorting to the window blinds instead.

Maybe her and her parents had watched a movie and wanted the room to be as dark as possible? Rosa wondered. She couldn’t really remember anything before waking up on the couch.

Thinking nothing more of it, Rosa left and entered the hall. Like the living room she found herself in the pitch black and clumsily felt around until she found the light switch. In an instant the hallway was lit up and like the living room everything looked normal.

“Hello” Rosa called out, her breath still visible despite there not being a single chill in the air. There was no response, in fact the entire house felt dead like it somehow wasn’t there even though Rosa stood within its walls.

Every door in the hallway had been closed tight with no light leaking from beneath them. She glanced up the stairs, but didn’t dare approach. It was like her body refused to act whenever she tried to move closer. She couldn’t see anything at the top, it was as if all light was being consumed leaving only eery ominous shadows that formed a black abyss. She remained motionless staring up the stairs waiting as if something was about walk down the stairs any moment. But nothing ever came.

The hallway light flickered, it was subtle but enough to draw Rosa’s attention. It flickered again. Rosa took a step back when suddenly a sharp pain radiated across her head. It was like she’d been struck with a sudden migraine. She slammed her eyes shut trying to escape the light but the pain only grew worse.

She slowly opened them and froze. A thick, steaming. crimson liquid drenched the halls. Blood covered every, now destroyed surface, splattered along the walls like someone had been mutilated.

Rosa’s knees weakened and she collapsed, falling straight into a pool of blood beneath her. She began hyperventilating, she shut eyes and viciously shook her head before opening them again.

Everything was normal again. No blood and nothing had been destroyed. Her mind still aching and her body trembling, Rosa claimed control of her breathing and stood.

The light flickered and the pain became agony, like a blade was being repeatedly stabbed through her skull. Rosa cried out and dropped to her knees clutching her head tightly, begging the world to make it stop. Her vision began to flash, like someone was turning a bright light on and off in front of her. The hallway began to rapidly convert with every flash, changing from normal to massacred. Someone screamed, it was a deep, guttural cry.

The blood once again stained the wall and floors however, it had somehow become even worse. Every surface had been torn apart, claw marks ran deep and it looked as if a wild beast had rampaged through the house.

More screams burst from the black abyss. Wait she recognized those screams. Dad and mum! she realised in horror. It sounded like they were being torn apart limb from limb. Rosa tried to run to their aid but a pain she never thought possible overcame her. She felt something warm and sticky drip down from her eyes, nose and eyes joining the pool of blood below and her mind felt like it had exploded.

“ROSA RUN! -” her father roared before something sharply cut him off.

Rosa was torn from her nightmare. She screamed and practically jumped out her slumber. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe, her body felt lifeless and tears stained her cheeks.

Her father came rushing into the bedroom. In less than a second he surveyed the room and then saw Rosa’s condition. Without hesitation, he quickly pulled into an embrace, his warmth restoring a sense of feeling inside her.

“Its alright Rosa” he said holding her tightly, “I’m here now nothing is going to happen. It was just a nightmare”. Whimpering she melted into his arms.