Non-fiction / Witching Hour Chapter One: Dreams

She ran for her life, not knowing if she would succeed. Everything was so new to her in this realm and this was just too much information to process. And now this beast was chasing her for God knew what. And that’s how she got to where she was now, running with no idea where she was going or what she was going to do. Everything blurred together before all of a sudden, the ground was no longer below her. She screamed, realizing that she was free-falling straight over the edge of the mountain, heading towards the road below. Early commuter traffic rushed towards her. All she could do now was hope and pray.
Tanya woke with a start. She was covered in sweat, her sheets soaked and her clothes sticking to her. She took a deep breath and looked around, trying to remember what had happened. She had been running, trying to escape something horrible and had found herself free falling over St. John’s free way. It had been a nightmare.
A horrifying nightmare.
She got up and walked to her bathroom, getting a drink of water and then wiping her face down with a cool rag. She looked at her clock, guessing it was about two in the morning. As usual, she was right on the dot, which was why she kept a clock in every room of her apartment. She tried to see if she could get the time wrong but it never worked. She was always right on the dot, down to the millisecond. Everyone had some kind of uncanny ability though.
‘Well, I’m already awake so I might as well get ready.’ She thought, going to start a pot of coffee. She loved the caffeine rushing through her veins and the smell of fresh brewed roast. It was intoxicating to her, almost like a drug. She smiled to herself. Then she headed to the shower.
As the water ran down her body, she thought about the nightmare. She had had lots of them recently and it was starting to scare her. Tanya had always been a very imaginative child, going through school fast. She graduated two years early to the surprise of everyone. Her classmates had said she slept her way to the top and they would be right. She never studied, not once. Hadn’t had the attention span for it or the patience.
Turning the cold water off completely, Tanya enjoyed feeling the tension being drawn out of her muscles by the scalding water. Soon she couldn’t see through the steam and she laid toothpaste on her toothbrush, letting the bristles wash away the rest of the taste the nightmare had brought as the water cascaded the visible evidence away. The ringing of her phone brought Tanya back to reality. Getting out of the shower, the girl wrapped a towel around herself and answered. It was 2:30 A.M.
“Hello?” she said, toothbrush still in her mouth.
“Tanya? I’m sorry to bother you but I didn’t know who else to call.” a girl said, sounding like she was crying. Tanya sighed. It was Kat, her best friend. She went and spit out her mouth full of toothpaste and took a breath.
“Kat, what’s wrong? Did you have that dream again? Or a new one?” she asked, knowing that her confidant had been having nightmares lately too. Usually they had the same dream, maybe slightly varied but not by much and they could talk about it. She could tell that Kat was scared shitless and that, in turn, scared her. She had learned to handle hers but Kat was too emotional. With a mysterious past around them both, it had kind of brought them together.
“It was the same one. It’s giving me that feeling and it feels like it is getting stronger or something. Tanya, I’m scared. What if this is some kind of sign and this does happen?” Kat said, her words seeming to give the question some finalization, as if sealing something in the future to happen. Tanya shook her head, clearing it a little. She didn’t want Kat to think like that. The girl would barricade herself in her apartment and wouldn’t come out.
Making up her mind, and looking at the clock even though she didn’t need to, Tanya said, “Hang on Kat. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Let me get dressed and some coffee. Okay?”
“Okay. Thank you Tanya.” Kat said in answer before clicking off the line. Tanya sighed as she went to her bedroom, picking up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, hoping they were clean. She grabbed her wallet and keys, tucking them in her pockets as well as her cell phone as she headed into the kitchen. She made a cup of coffee to go, loading it down with creamer and sugar. She sniffed the cup with satisfaction as she turned everything off and headed out the door.
Kat lived a few blocks away so Tanya decided to walk. It wouldn’t hurt her since she needed to do her morning run anyways. The streets of Denver were pretty deserted at three in the morning, which was a relief to Tanya. She loved the quiet and peace. She made it to Kat’s in record time.

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