From Darkness It Comes

Waking From A Nightmare

Darrin sits there breathing heavy and covered in cold sweat. He could have sworn there was someone or something in his room just moments ago. If it wasn't for the fact that he is now staring at his jacket slung over the back of a chair in the lamplight he would still swear it was here watching his every move. That eerie feeling of eyes upon you was still tugging at his frazzled psyche.

Taking a deep breath he tries to clear his head and shake off the feeling. He blinks several times and places the lamp back in its normal position on the nightstand. "It was just a dream dude." He tells himself.

His heart still racing but his head clearing he slides out of the bed and slowly lowers his feet to the floor, still not entirely confident there is nothing there. Once they make contact with the cold wood he remembers the other reason he is always slow about getting out of bed and quickly slides them onto the throw rug a foot ahead. At least it helps calm him down a little and his heart starts to slow down.

"Just a dream." He says quietly to himself again. "That's all it was. Nothing to be afraid of."

Not that he really believed it as he said it. His eyes slid over to his desk, where the strange box was with its mysterious contents can be found. He scoffs a sigh and looks down at his feet, shaking his head and mumbling. "Yeah, nothing to be afraid of at all."

Raising his head he looks out the window at the darkness of the night with another sigh. "Not even a hint of light yet. I gotta get back to sleep."

He stands up and takes a trip to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. The cool water feels good on his face, as does the cool tiles on his feet now. He stares at his face in the mirror but a much older looking him seems to be staring back. He sighs and turns away, realizing he is still rather tired.

He heads back to his room but sees it is dark again and long shadows cross from the windows. Did I turn the light off? He thinks to himself, feeling his heart skip a beat. I must have. It was just a dream and there is nobody here. Just calm down so you can get some sleep.

He closes the dorm room door behind him and crosses the dark room towards the lamp next to his desk. He flicks it on so he can get back into bed and calm down before trying to go back to sleep.