I. Nightmare
Ángeles point of
view
I
was walking hurriedly down the street on my way back home. I was holding my wallet
tightly because I was more scared than I would usually be. The reason for this
was that I’d been at a friend’s house, watching a horror movie and, despite
having insisted over and over again that it hadn’t affected me at all and that
I could go back home alone, I felt utterly vulnerable. I had this weird
feeling that…someone was watching me from somewhere… But every time I turned around,
I realized it was all part of my imagination: I was on my own and no one was
stalking me at all.
I
preferred thinking about my mom, the only member of my family, to take every
thought that could disturb me out of my mind. She would definitely be waiting
for me, at home, with dinner ready. It was past nine o’clock at night and I had
no way to tell her that she could start eating without me, as I had forgotten
my phone at my friend’s house. She was brunette, like me, and she had bright
blue eyes. My eyes, on the other hand, were a piercing dark brown. She’d always
said that I’ve inherited them from my father and, every time she looked at me,
she could swear that she could see him
too. My mom’s named was Paola. She’d never spoken too much about my father,
neither good nor bad things about him. The only things that I did know were the
color of his eyes and how they met. The reason why they broke up wasn’t
explained to me either, no matter how hard I tried to make her talk about that,
she’d never told me why he left her in the end. And, whenever I mentioned the
subject, you could clearly see that she still held resentment towards him, but
I could realize she still loved him too…despite not having seen him for
seventeen years. I felt sad for her too because, as she’d told me several
times, I reminded her of him… How was his life now? I mean, my father… did he
know I exist?
The
night kept getting colder and colder as hours went by. Damn, it was freezing.
Once I felt more relaxed, I put both of my hands inside my pockets.
-
Hey! - Somebody yelled at me from behind, giving me a chill that went through
my whole body. I didn’t know what to do: Keep walking? Stand still? - Angie,
wait up! – I turned around quickly as soon as I noticed that that voice sounded
familiar. - Are you okay? -
-
Yes, I’m alright. - I said letting out a relieved sigh once I realized it was
my friend.
-
You are quite tense. Don’t tell me you are…? - And he smiled triumphantly.
-
What are you doing here? - I asked in order to change the topic because, if
not, I would spend a lifetime with him teasing me. He didn’t have to realize
how scared I was.
-
You forgot this at home. - He took my phone out of his pocket and handed it to
me. - I didn’t want you to worry and think you lost it in the way or something
like that. -
-
Well, I knew I’d left it there by mistake. - I explained. - But thanks, anyway. - I
smiled. - Time to leave now. Mom must be waiting for me.-
- I
walk you home. - He answered and started walking beside me.
-
No, don’t worry, there’s no need to do so. - And I combed two strands of
his rebellious hair. - You know that I’m a few blocks away. -
-
Are you sure? I could swear you were… -
-
Absolutely sure. - I interrupted him with a smile. - See you tomorrow morning
then. -
-
Okay. -
I turned around and continued walking
more relaxed than before. Now I knew that I had nothing to be scared of
and that all my awkwardness was a result of that damn movie.
I quickened my pace when I saw it
was half past nine. It was so late! Mom was going to kill me! She didn’t like
it when I came back home so late… And things were even worst because, firstly,
the area where I lived was kind of a phantom zone: around eight and half past
eight it got already deserted; and, secondly, I was alone! She was going to
scold me for more than a whole month...
I
was about to start running when somebody grasped my arm. I was certain it was
him. He didn’t agree with what I’d said before for sure, so he had followed me because
he didn’t want me to be alone: of course, without respecting my decision.
Upset, I turned around but was surprised at what I saw. It definitely wasn’t
him.
Another
chill went through my body, from my toes up to my head. I tried to scream but
it was way too late: the man had already covered my mouth and nose with a piece
of wet cloth. My eyesight began to cloud… it was all so blurry…
A
car suddenly appeared out of nowhere and parked really quickly and almost
desperately… my eyelids were heavy and I had to put a lot of effort to hold my
head up high. I looked over my shoulder. One block. I was only one block away.
My
head slumped. I felt the leather as they sat me on it and…
- Let’s go! Come on!
…and everything went dark.
