I couldn’t move. I was completely paralyzed. The pressure in my chest became stronger and stronger. I could barely move.
***
It was an average day at work, the ER is chaotic no matter what day it is. The patients with less urgent cases are always getting agitated. For example, the patient with stable vitals and a twisted ankle calls me a horrible nurse because I decided to help the patient that was just rushed in with a bullet hole in his chest first. Typical. I just have to bite my tongue and apologize for the wait even though it’s not my fault. I work the last shift of the night that’s not considered graveyard every night (I get off around midnight) and my shift had just ended so I gathered up my stuff and went on my way. It’s mid November, prime time for rainstorms. It was raining so damn hard I could barely find where I had parked my car. I was soaking wet and exhausted from work, all I wanted was to get home and curl up in bed with a hot cup of tea with my dog by my side.
The drive home was brutal. It was raining so hard I couldn’t see more than 20 feet in front of me. It didn’t help that I was driving through a forest with no streetlights. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. At one point my eyelids began to droop heavily and I was about to pull over because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stay awake when suddenly something darted in front of my car. I screamed and slammed on my brakes. My car skidded across the slippery pavement and I yanked the steering wheel to the left to avoid going off the road. I grabbed my emergency flashlight and got out of the car to see what I had hit. I guessed that it was a deer. I shone my flashlight all around, but I couldn’t find anything. Had I imagined it? I checked the hood of my car and there was a large dent on it and I was missing a headlight. I definitely hadn’t imagined anything. I looked around some more and I found the shattered remains of my headlight, but I couldn’t find whatever it was that I hit. There wasn’t even any blood anywhere. Not on the road or even any on the front of my car. I walked back to my car and sat in the driver’s seat and took a deep breath. Whatever I hit must have ran off, I guess.
I began the rest of my drive home. At least now I didn’t feel like I was about to fall asleep anymore.
I finally arrived home, exhausted and still soaking wet. I took off my wet scrubs and put on my comfy sweatpants and tank top. I made I hot cup of tea and headed toward my bed. I sat in bed under my cozy blankets, and I decided to do a little catching up on the new episodes of American Horror Story (I know, classic). My beautiful blue pittie, Joey, was curled up next to me and I was finally able to relax after the s**t day I had.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly I had a flash of the accident I had earlier tonight… but this time I got a glimpse of what I had hit. It was a pale woman with jet black hair wearing an elegant, but torn up white dress. No. I didn’t hit a woman. I couldn’t have. I opened my eyes and decided maybe tonight wasn’t a good night for American Horror Story. I turned off the TV, finished my tea and shut off the lights. I snuggled up next to Joey, closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
I had been asleep for an hour or 2, and I was in a fairly deep sleep. Then all of the sudden my eyes shot open and a woman stood at the foot of my bed. I quickly closed my eyes again. It looked like the woman I saw in my flashback of the accident. I was dreaming, I MUST be dreaming. Slowly I opened my eyes again and I no longer saw anything. I started to relax then suddenly, out of no where, the woman lunged at me, and pinned my arms down. Her eyes were pure black and her mouth was cracked. She screamed in my face. It was an ear-piercing, horrific, demonic-like scream. It made every hair on my body stand up and I tried to move, tried to scream, but nothing worked. I felt a horrible pressure on my chest. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I couldn’t do a thing. I couldn’t move. I was completely paralyzed. The pressure in my chest became stronger and stronger. I could barely breathe. I couldn’t even close my eyes. The demonic woman disappeared, but I still could not move.
About 5 minutes passed and I could finally start to move again, but I felt very weak. Slowly, I leaned over and turned on my lamp. Joey sat in the corner and whimpered, “Joey baby, come here, I just had a bad dream. I didn’t mean to scare you.” At least I hoped that’s what it was. But it felt so real. Joey crept towards the bed with his tail tucked between his legs and quickly jumped up on my bed and nuzzled his way under my arm. I laid in bed and pet Joey, but I couldn’t get over what happened.
It was about 4 a.m. I turned on the TV to the early morning news. I had given up on sleep and I needed something to keep myself occupied. After what seemed like an eternity, 8 o’clock finally rolled around and I decided to get out of bed. I fed Joey his breakfast and got myself a bowl of cereal. As closed the refrigerator door, I saw the woman once again behind the door, but only just for a spilt second. I screamed and tumbled back, falling to the floor. I took a second to recover and got back up. I was just being paranoid. The rest of the morning and afternoon I swore I kept seeing her around every corner and behind every door.
I went into my bathroom to clean myself up a bit. I looked like complete s**t. I brushed my hair and my teeth. Then I began to wash my face. I bent over and rinsed the soap off of my face and grabbed my towel and patted my face dry. I looked up in the mirror and what I saw made my heart skip a beat. I would never forget what I saw.
A message, written it what appeared to be blood:
I have you now, my dear.
You are mine.
You will forever spend your life living in fear of me.
I’m always with you, and I am your worst nightmare.
