The dream that night was much more frightening than the one before. I was younger in this dream possibly by a year or two. I was standing at the end of a long, dimly lit hallway. Screams echoed down the hall. Primal screams that initially caused my body to freeze in fear. I stood in that spot for an indiscernible amount of time, but what choice did I have. I began walking towards the source of the screams. Each step caused the floor to bend and creak. The wood flooring had begun to decay with age and use. Lights flickered on and off around me. No one had bothered to change out dead and dying lightbulbs. The lights caused flickering shadows to rise and fall around me, but my momentum couldn’t be halted. Step after step the screams continued to get louder and louder. With steady feet and bated breath, I arrived in front of my destination. A sturdy wooden door towered above me with a fluorescent glow shooting out from the crack underneath it. Shadows of people could be seen hurrying back and forth as the screams continued to get louder and more desperate. The door did not have a handle, but when I reached up to touch the wooden frame in front of me the door burst open. I tumbled backward in fright and the towering silhouette of a man stood in front of me.

The man slammed the door shut behind him and picked me up by the collar of my shirt. “You’re not supposed to be outside your room. How did you get out?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I struggled against the grip holding me up. I flailed back and forth, but the man was much larger and stronger than I was. I looked up at him now only to be more frightened. His figure was still completely blacked out. I opened my mouth to say something, anything but words failed to come out.

The man grew angry at my lack of response and slammed me against the wall. “Answer me!” His shout echoed through the empty hallway. I tried to speak once but again nothing would come out. Not even a whisper.

The man looked at me angrily before muttering to himself, “Fucking shit for brains. What a failure.” The man started to carry me down the hallway. His weight caused the floor to sink down much further, almost dangerously so. At the end of the hall, the man opened up the door to the room on the right and threw me onto the ground. I landed heavily on my shoulder and grunted in pain. He just ignored me and slammed the door shut. The sound of the door being locked quickly followed.

I woke up drenched in sweat and rushed into the bathroom to vomit what little was in my stomach. The dream was too vivid. Too real. I shakily stood up and started my shower. The rush of warm water helped bring me back into reality. I stayed in that shower much longer than I should have with the current water restrictions in place, but I kept seeing flashes of the dream. The door. The light. The man. The screams. Was it just a bad dream? I didn’t have time for breakfast that morning. Instead, I rushed off to work resigning myself to a hungry day of work.