Haunted Dreams

I walked alone on the street at night, embraced by the darkness around me.

The lampposts threw shadows around me as the wind shook through the tree crowns, and the noise of everyday city life was now dead quiet.

It was as if the city was asleep, and I was the only one awake.

My heart was beating faster within my chest as a sudden feeling of being watched acknowledged me.

I began walking faster, trying to escape whatever was after me.

But then, I heard a hoarse voice whispering my name in the wind, forcing me to freeze in my movement.

I looked to my left and saw a dark figure facing me across the street.

It appeared to be a man with a very tall and slender silhouette facing my direction.

My heart was pounding hard inside my chest now. I could not move or look away when the man slowly removed a hoodie that had covered most of his face.

I inhaled sharply when his dark eyes locked with mine, paralyzing me.

My breathing got more strained, and heavy dizziness drowned me while his lips curved into an evil smile as everything around me faded.

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I woke up screaming. The cloth of my shirt was drenched with sweat, and my heart was still pounding in my chest. The dream had felt so real.

I took a few deep breaths and tried to compose myself: it was only a dream.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness in my room, and I looked at the nightstand next to my bed, where the alarm clock showed 3. a.m.

I sighed. This was the same time I had woken up over the last few weeks.

I got up from bed and made my way to the window in front of me.

The street was quiet beneath, and there was hardly any light on in the building across the street, just a TV showing an old episode of Seinfeld.

I stood there briefly before turning around and returning to bed, but I was too driven to fall back asleep again.

I could not deny that the dream had taken hold of me this time.

Why was that man taunting me night after night? What did the dream mean? The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

No, I refused to be scared and let one stupid dream affect me like this, so I closed my eyes, turned aside, and soon drifted away.

(That same morning.)

I felt a ray of sunshine on my face, and I growled loudly at my alarm clock, which played the annoying song; Wake me up before you go.

I was too tired to get up, so I buried my face into the pillow to escape the sun.

"Mary? Are you awake? " Leia shouted and knocked on my bedroom door.

"Go away," I replied with a grunt and buried my face deeper into the pillow when I heard Leia open the door.

"It's a beautiful day to run, don't you think?" Leia stepped inside the room and I heard her giggle.

"A jog? Are you insane," I muttered, and I could feel the weight of Leia's body sitting down on the bed.

"Don't you dare, L! " I said in a warning tone a few seconds before Leia grabbed my legs and pulled me off the bed.

Leia laughed when she saw my angry face glaring back at her.

"Oh, don't give me that look, honey," Leia said after she composed herself from the good laugh. I sighed and got up.

"Remind me to lock the door in the future." Leia rolled her eyes at me, "Like I don't know how to pick a lock?" She snarked back and shook her head.

Leia and I had been friends since the first day of high school, and now, four years later, after graduation, our friendship was stronger than ever.

"How did you even get in here? In the apartment? " Leia looked away, "I used the spare key, of course," I narrowed my eyes.

"How did you get the key?" Leia bit her lip,

"Your mom gave it to me before she left for her work trip the other day. After I had promised to get you out of bed every morning this summer," I grumbled, "Did you also set my alarm clock?" Leia's guilty face said it all.

"No! This is my last summer of freedom before college! You can't do this to me. " I cried, and Leia padded me on the shoulder.

"Now, now. Get yourself dressed so we can go for a morning run."

Leia left the bedroom, and I was too tired to fight.

I began searching for my running clothes and found a pair of black leggings and a training bra in a mess on the floor.

I passed the bathroom and spotted my reflection in the mirror above the sink. The bags under my blue eyes reminded me of the lack of sleep I had lost last night. I put my long brown hair into a ponytail and splashed cold water on my face before I met Leia in the hall.

"Good job," Leia cheered, and I kept silent while tying my shoes on.

Leia was 5'8 in height and had a muscular and slender body with long black hair and green eyes.

I was a head shorter, 5'6 feet tall, and curvy. I was the first in middle school to have my period, so my body transformed rapidly.

My flat chest turned into a big c-cup, and my thighs and booty also rounded up. The boys began to tease me daily and snatched my bra strap every other day, and the girls were envious of my giant breasts and never let me join them on the break between classes.

It was the worst years of my life, and I began to despise my own body.

I hated the attention from the boys and always being left out by the other girls.

No one wanted to be friends with me, and I was never invited to birthday parties.

If I hadn't met Leia on the first day of high school, I would have suffered more than I already had. Leia and I bumped into each other by the lockers on the first day of the first year: One hello later, and we never stopped talking.

Leia was an athletic and outgoing girl who liked to exercise and spent countless hours in the gym. She hated bullying and was never afraid to call it out when she saw it.

The two of us initially seemed like an odd match, but Leia's outgoing and positive energy had smitten me. I was more reserved and liked observing my surroundings.

But Leia drew me out of the hard shell I had put up after years of bullying and being left out.

------

"What's up?" Leia asked and elbowed me to the side. "Nothing... I stayed up way too long last night, so I didn't get much sleep." I replied and felt slightly bad for lying, but I was determined to ignore the dream and not speak of it to acknowledge it.

"Oh yeah? Did you watch that ridiculous show again?" Leia replied, and I laughed a little as she rolled her eyes, "Cheers isn't ridiculous; you just don't get the satire," I replied.

We entered the park by the canal, and Leia started jogging, with me following up behind her.

The sun hadn't reached its highest point yet, so the park was still chilled to run in with all the trees shadowing the tracks, and the breeze from the canal was helping out too.

Leia kept a nice rhythm that I quickly adjusted to too. We passed a few dog walkers around the park and some other joggers.

The park was in the center of our small town next to the Gota Canal.

Our hometown was a small town in Sweden, a popular summer tourist attraction where many tourists docked boats along the canal that went through the outer city.

But when summer passed and autumn came, the whole city died.

Most restaurants along the canal were only opened during the summer season, along with the ice cream shops. So our hometown became a ghost town.

"Let's finish with the stairs," Leia shouted, aiming for the stairs that went up the mountain before the canal. "That's like hundreds of steps? Are you trying to kill me?" I panted and steered after Leia, who was already taking three steps at a time. But I reached the top after what felt like an eternity.

"Wake me up in another life," I said dramatically and collapsed beside the vantage point. Leia giggled and climbed up on a rock with the perfect view of our hometown, barely out of breath.

"Can you believe high school is over?" She sighed, and I climbed up and fell down next to her.

"Yeah, let's just be happy that we don't have to see all those idiots again, okay?" I replied, and Leia laughed and nodded.

"When does your shift start at the pub tonight?" Leia continued, leaning back on her elbows, "Six, and then I get off by eleven." I replied and leaned back as well.

"Okay, and I get off my shift at five. So, we are totally missing each other... But you are free every other weekend and one weekday, right?" I nodded, "Yeah, so we won't spend too much time apart, and you can spend the night too!"

"Yeah! But it would be so much more fun to work together!" Leia pouted, and I soughed.

We went back down the mountain and parted by the canal.

Our hometown was ancient, around 800 years.

Most of the houses had been restored, and they were super charming in various pastel colors with tiny windows and small courtyards.

The streets were slim and narrow, with many back alleys, except for the main road that ran through the town. I began walking towards the little bakery around the corner from our building when a feeling of being watched stroked me.

I stopped and looked around me, and then I saw a tall figure in a hoodie a block away from where I stood.