Leena opened her eyes dreamily as the rhythmic sound of a creaking awakened her.

Creak. Thunk. Creak. Thunk.

Leena rolled over cautiously, sleepily looking over to the sound.

A dark blonde haired lady sat, rocking in a rocking chair across the room. Her hair was pulled back in a tangled bun like a knot on the top of her head. Her eyes were worn, dark and sunken into her face. The apron on her faded blue dress was slightly stained with faded brown, like dirt or blood.

She started to hum, giving Leena a weary smile. Leena shivered under the covers.

The room looked very different from the lovely, little, rose colored one in Ingrid’s house. This one was mostly blue with pure white lace curtains and a small night table near the bed with a glass of water atop it only half full. The sheets smelled of laundry soap and flowers, and a pretty blue quilt was laying over top of her. Sunlight dripped luxuriantly through the window, and she heard cheery song birds twitter and chirp outside.

The lady hummed louder. Leena sat up and stared at her for a bit. She stared at the window with the sunlight. She felt at the edges of the sheets and the collar of her night gown. Oh.

This room was from Grandfather’s house.

Memories pushed at the boundaries of her mind, and she saw flashes of her grandmother, lying still in the bed, covered with a thin blanket. Her father, half alive, his emaciated form half off of the bed. Her sister, bundled up underneath.

This blue room was the room everyone died in.

Leena threw off the blankets, shaking as she scrambled out of the bed. The lady rose quickly to her.

“Shh, its ok. It’s just me, remember? I made you some tea,” the woman said softly, suddenly holding up a green tea cup, “Now drink up.”

Leena cautiously took the cup, holding it gingerly with two hands. The lady smiled at her, nodding her head and motioning with her hand to drink it.

“Sit down and rest for a bit.”

“Why am I here?” Leena asked, ignoring her.

The lady frowned at her, “Are you feeling any better? Drink the tea up, and let me check your forehead.”

“I…I don’t want to drink this,” Leena said, remembering another green teacup, “Just…who are you?”

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The lady’s brow furrowed deeply with concern, and she stepped closer to Leena. Leena stepped away from her, sensing the wall behind her.

“No, I’m fine, I promise,” Leena said, “Just…is this a dream? Why is it like this?”

“Robert! Come here please!” The lady called out, “She’s awake, and I need your help!” Her face started contorting in fear, eyes widening, hands shaking, reaching out towards Leena. Leena pulled away, dropping the tea cup on the floor, letting it chip and spill its contents into the wood, pooling between cracks. The room seemed to fill with some kind of noxious smell. Pressure started to build, and she felt like the air was pressing down on her, rooting her to the room.

“Robert!” The lady shouted, a bit more frantically as she picked up the teacup and set it on the dresser.

Leena jumped on top of the bed, wanting to get around her to get through to the open door. Her movements were so slow, taking so long. It seemed to take forever to jump off the side of the bed.

The lady was now frantically screaming the same name over and over again, “Robert! Robert! Robert!” The sound echoed around the room, causing a cacophony of sounds.

Leena managed to set her feet back on the floor after jumping off the bed, feeling a moistness against her skin that caused her to shiver and her feet stick slightly to the floor. She ran at the door, watching the lady, echoing the name, screaming, shaking, reaching out, slowly, too slow.

Feet pattered behind Leena on the stairs creaking like a broken piano, adding an off key dissonance to the shouting. She tried to turn around to look. Too slow. Everything was too slow! The lady grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t go yet. You’re still not well. Robert! Come here!” Her voice broke through the murmur of his name.

Leena tried to pull away. The tea stain was stretching itself across the floor, as if the wood was soaking itself in it.

“No, I don’t want to do this right now,” Leena cried out, “Just let me go!” She pulled away, getting loose from the woman’s grasp and turned to run down the hall. Instead, she faced a small boy standing barefoot in a puddle at the top of the stairs.

His eyes were wide, and his jaw dropped a bit. The edges of his shirt were browned with earth, and his hair was wet against his head like a bad hat. His ears stuck out a little bit, and Leena paused a bit too long.

“Robert!” The woman cried, wrapping her arms around Leena. She suddenly felt too small, too fragile, too weak. Water started to pool around her ankles, and Leena struggled unsuccessfully to release herself from the woman.

The boy was shouting something.

Leena could not hear what he was saying, there was a silent roar that entered the house, blocking out all the words. The lady behind her was screaming. She could feel the vibrations through her core. The boy was running at them, waving his arms wildly.

She felt her self being pulled down, and she relaxed, feeling the water kiss her cheeks, knowing her dream was going to be over soon. It was how her nightmare always ended. Drowning in a sea, being pulled down until she lost consciousness.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the end.

The lady was still holding her from behind, struggling against the water, pulling Leena up to keep her above the water that was starting to touch the ceiling.

Leena started to curl up, feeling the weightlessness of her body in the water. Her face dipped into the water, and she felt the pressure against her lungs.

“No don’t do this!” The woman cried out, snapping Leena out of her momentarily resignation, pulling her head above the water.

“Don’t do this, please!” She cried, “Please!” Leena felt tired. Tired. So tired. Tired.

Tired.