Recurring Nightmare

Katherine's mind drifted as she fell asleep, and in her dream state, she found herself in a panic. She was back at home, desperately running through the halls of her castle.

Her crown felt heavy on her head and her dress too tight as she rushed away from the person chasing her. She could feel the burning in her lungs as she despairingly tried to fill them with air. Her feet throbbed with every heavy leap as they came crashing onto the marble flooring.

All she was consumed with was fear, and she knew she had to get away from the threat that was attempting to catch her.

As she continuously ran, she felt her body start to give up on her. Her heels kept catching on the long black dress she had worn at her coronation, and she was struggling with not falling.

Every time she tripped, she would grab onto the wall that was near, not willing to give up or give in. She knew if the person caught her that she would die, and she needed to fight to keep going, even though her body ached with every movement and breath.

With each slip up, the threat got closer and closer, and Katherine knew that she was running out of time. Her demise was near, and there was nothing that could help save her.

Wanting to know how much distance she had between her and the person after her, she looked back as she ran, which she instantly regretted. She lost her footing, and came tumbling to the ground as her elbows and knees caught her weight on the hard floor.

Katherine watched as her metal crown came crashing down and skid across the floor she now laid on; she tried to move and pick herself up, but the sound of a pair of feet making their way towards her caused her to freeze dead in her tracks.

She looked across the floor as the pair of feet made their way over to her crown before the person slightly bent down to pick it up.

Katherine's heart raced as a sinister chuckle echoed in the halls.

Suddenly, she felt pressure on the top of her head as the person grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her up to a standing position. She grabbed at their hands and kicked and screamed as they lifted her off of the ground.

An arm went around her waist and held her just tight enough to make her wince from the force. Her crown, that was now being held by her captor, dug into her stomach and caused her to cry out in pain.

The person held her tightly so that her back was up against their front. When they exhaled, she could feel their hot breath against her skin, and it caused her to tremble in fear.

"Oh Katherine," the familiar voice started, "I thought you wanted to be rid of this crown? Hmmm?"

She continued to struggle against the person who held a tight grip on her, when the crown suddenly dropped to the floor.

"Don't worry, it won't be your burden anymore," the voice threatened.

The person continued to hold tightly onto her hair with one hand, and trailed their other hand up Katherine's body as she desperately tried to push them away.

When the hand reached her throat, it started to squeeze, and Katherine could feel her consciousness slowly slipping away as she continued to thrash in her captor's arms.

Soon, she ran out of air, and watched as black danced at the sides of her vision.

With a jolt back into reality, Katherine sat up in bed, now fully awake and away from the threat in her dream.

She reached for her neck and breathed heavily as she realized that she was safe and that no one was chasing her. Something about the nightmare still made her feel uneasy though.

Much like in the nightmare she had the day of the attack, she recognized the voice of the person who was trying to kill her. However, now that she was awake, she couldn't place it and had no idea who the voice belonged to. Since she never saw the person's face in her dream, she had no other way to identify them.

She shook her head and tried to forget about how awful she felt in those nightmares. Thinking about them did nothing but stress her out more, and after all, they were just nightmares. They were not real.

"Not real," Katherine said to herself as she massaged her temples.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down her nervous system, she looked over at the screen of her phone to see that it was six in the morning.

Knowing that trying to fall back asleep for another hour and a half was pointless, she got out of bed and walked over to open the curtains and let light into the room.

She pulled back the black curtains, and squinted as the bright light invaded her eyes. After they adjusted, she looked out her window that overlooked the view in front of the castle.

Since the castle was on top of a grand hill on the west coast, she had a beautiful view of the morning waves crashing on the long sandy beaches down below. She smiled and felt at ease as she thought about her dream of living in a house on the beach. This was probably as close to that dream as she would ever get.

As Katherine enjoyed the scenery, she noticed a figure running along the waterline. She focused her attention and watched as a shirtless Charles jogged across the sand.

Still feeling the need to talk to him after his mood swing last night, Katherine quickly got dressed and pulled on some shoes before venturing out of her room to go meet Charles down by the beach.