Chapter 5

The nightmares came again. Rosa was trapped in a demonic loop, being butchered over and over again by that monster. The visions played reenactments of last night, except everything went wrong. She never ran, she didn't dodge from the creature's pounce, it never vanished in the park, her mystery saviour never appeared. However, despite her body spasming from the death and gore, it somehow didn't bother her. As if her soul was aware this time that everything was fabricated.

Rosa awoke to the morning light with nothing more than a slight jolt. No cold sweat, no drenched bed sheets, not even a little tremble. Although she'd keep killed over and over throughout the entire night, it was like she'd woken up from a normal, only slightly disturbing, dream. Rosa even felt refreshed.

It was still concerning her out how little yesterday's events were affecting her. It made her consistently question if it even happened at all. Was it all a strange fever dream? And that attractive, mildly terrifying man was he just an aspect of her subconscious?

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

'Sorry won't be in today either. Probably won't see you until Monday'.

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

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 treat herself and join them. She brewed herself a cup of tea and made herself some cereal. She sat beside her father, still slightly worried there may be an incoming scolding 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 she thought about it, had Rosa 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's never ill" her dad said.

Rosa shrugged.

"Tell her we hope she gets better soon".

"Will do" Rosa said with a nod.

As she consumed her cereal, Rosa had to admit she was enjoying the morning breakfast with her family. With school, her clubs and her parent's work they hadn't been able to see each other much this month, with the one exception being the family meal the other night.

However, despite the pleasant atmosphere 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.

It felt strange walking to school in full daylight and busy streets, Rosa had become so accustomed to having Aldock mostly to herself in the morning. Luckily, it didn't affect her journey time and Rosa was able to arrive in form for the first school bell.

The day went as usual if not more boring, once again without Sam's presence. The final bell echoed and Rosa stood from her desk. She did have kick boxing today but decided to abstain, she'd blame an injury if asked. The reason was quite simple. While Rosa would never admit the truth, today she wished to walk home in the grace of daylight.

She left with the rest of the school population. 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 was halfway home 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. To reinforce her beliefs Rosa even searched for the car the beast supposedly crashed into and discovered it was nowhere to be seen.

'SNAP'

Rosa leapt from her skin. 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 her reaction. She quickly scanned the surroundings making sure no one had seen it. No one had, good. Composing herself, Rosa continued on her journey home with no more issues.

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

'Must still be in work' she assumed. The rest of her day was spent relaxing, watching TV and completing any of the homework she'd been assigned.

Rosa waited until late into the evening but her parents never returned home. Now somehow bored with relaxing and feeling the coming of a growing hunger, Rosa went to explore the kitchen. It was there she found her dinner already prepared in the fridge with a note from her mother stating they'll be home late again.

'Again' Rosa thought concerned. They already looked exhausted this morning. She didn't want them overworking themselves.

Powerless to change the situation Rosa pushed the thoughts aside and then ate. After, when dusk had confidently exiled the day, she made sure the house was locked up and settled in for the night getting comfortable in bed.

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

Rosa 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 pitch black.

Chilled air escaped her mouth with every breath she took, but the room didn't feel the slightest bit cold even as Rosa sat in her pyjamas. Rosa raised her hand to her mouth and felt the cloudy breath. It was cold? Freezing in fact, and the more she observed as it dispersed through the air, it became increasingly noticeable that her breath possessed a faint white glow. Confused Rosa 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. 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 and letting it slip from her still numb mind, Rosa left and entered the hall. Like the living room, she found herself in the pitch black and clumsily felt around the wall until she found the light switch. In an instant the hallway was lit up and exactly as the living room everything appeared ordinary.

"Hello!" Rosa called out, her breath remaining visible despite there still not being a single chill in the air, it actually felt comfortably warm. There was no response, in fact the entire house felt dead like it somehow became separate from space and time 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. Or more accurately couldn't. 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. Rosa remained motionless staring up the stairs waiting, like she expected something to walk down any moment. But nothing ever came.

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

Slowly, Rosa pried her eyelids open and instantly froze. A thick, steaming, crimson liquid drenched the halls. Blood stained every, now destroyed, surface, splattered across the walls like someone had been mutilated, like a toddler had been set wild with twenty cans of crimson paint.

Rosa's knees weakened and she collapsed, falling straight into the river of blood beneath her that flowed across the entire hall. Hyperventilation began in moments, she clamped shut eyes and viciously shook her skull before opening them again.

It worked, everything was normal again. No blood and no destruction. Her mind still aching and her body trembling, Rosa reclaimed control of her breathing and slowly stood.

The serenity didn't last. To her dread, the light began flicker once again and the aching pain became agony, like a blade was being repeatedly stabbed into her skull. Rosa cried out and dropped to her knees, cradling her head and begging the world to make it stop. Her vision began to flash, like someone was repeatedly turning a bright light on and off in front of her attempting to induce a seizure. The hallway began to rapidly convert with every flash, changing from normal to massacred, to normal to massacred. Her home trembled and quaked with every conversion like it was caught in an ongoing earthquake. Nausea crept up into Rosa's throat as the world became too overwhelming. Someone screamed, it was a deep, guttural shriek. The blood once again flowed down the walls and along the 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 an even greater pain she never thought possible overcame her. Rosa felt something warm and sticky drip down from her eyes, nose and ears joining the pool of blood below and her mind felt like it had ruptured. Her vision turned a shade of crimson.

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

Rosa was torn from her nightmare back into reality. She screamed and practically leapt out her slumber, slamming into the bedroom floor. She couldn't breathe, her body felt lifeless and tears stained flooded from her tear ducts.

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 dived to the ground quickly pulled her into an embrace, his warmth restoring a sense of feeling inside her.

"It's alright Rosa" he said holding his hysterical daughter tightly. "I'm here now nothing is going to happen. It was just a nightmare". Whimpering, she melted into his arms.