Fear

Everyday is like any other day. Nothing is out of the ordinary from the friends at school to the family at home. Everyday is a usual day. People often dream of adventures or journeys to other places, something different from their lives. Oh, how we call imagine that. Often we stare at the picture of the one place we wish to be. Paradise. But when our minds wonder to dreamland the reality before us changes, and sometimes we don't even notice it.

One day, coming home from school or from work you walk into your house. Everything is as it should be. The one place where you feel the safest, and you're all alone. No sound comes from the other rooms as you stand in the living room deciding what to have to eat. No lights are on yet, and the only lighting in the room comes from outside. Down the hallway there is darkness. For a moment, you just stand there taking in your surroundings and savoring the silence. Breathe in, breathe out. You can hear your own breathing and your heart beat slowly. Bump bump...bump bump... 


Click. You hear a high pitch ring coming from the TV. The news flashes on the screen talking about their Most Wanted list. A serial killer had recently escaped from prison and is now loose on the streets. The public was in danger. His face is shown and where he was last seen. Surprisingly it's not too far from where you live. You walk over to lock the door, when the thought just occurred to you. How did the TV turn on by itself? The possibility stopped you in your tracks. The very thought of the killer being in your house was impossible. There would be broken glass from breaking in or some sign of forced entry. Unless the front door was unlocked, but you were good enough to remember to lock it earlier. How come the dog wasn't at the front door waiting to greet you? In fact, where is your roommate who is usually home before you? You saw her car didn't you? They must be here. Either your mind is running wild or the truth of a dangerous killer is in your house. You're silent as the TV plays. Nothing at all. The house is completely quiet. You pick up the remote and turn off the TV. If there was some killer here, there would be evidence of it. Slowly and silently, you walk towards the hallway.

Click. Ring. The TV is on again. Your heart is racing faster than ever. Someone is in the house! How could this have happened? Earlier in the morning you were having coffee with your friend, and now there is a killer in your house. Your life is in danger. You need to call the police. Where is your phone? It isn't in your pocket or in your bag. Fear has frozen you in place. What do you do? You can't find your phone, and there is an intruder in the house. The only thing you can do is defend yourself as you look for your roommate. You slowly walk to the kitchen to grab a knife. Something slippery is on the ground soaking your socks. The smell of blood fills your nostrils. In fear of what it might be, you don't look down. You feel the cold steel of the knife from the sink and you gently pull it out. Your heart is pounding in your chest. Bump! Bump! Bump! You can barely hear yourself think, and your hands begin to shake. What will you do? What will you do...?

There's a slight creek from the floor where your foot landed. You are right in front of your roommate's room. The door is slightly shut, and you can hear the TV is on inside. You hope against all odds, that your roommate just didn't hear you come in the front door, and the blood in the kitchen was an illusion. Your hand presses against the cold door, and it slowly swings open. There, you see your friend sitting on the bed watching TV with their eyes open. They're alive after all! There is no killer in the house. However, just as your about to relax, you notice something. Your friend isn't moving, and there is blood dripping from their mouths. All the color is washed away from their face, and their eyes have glossed over. Fishing wire is wrapped tightly around their neck, wrists and ankles. Your friend was dead.

Fear. Sadness. Horror. Hopelessness. All these emotions are overflowing. What do you do now? Your friend is dead, and the killer is no where in sight. Again you are frozen in place and your eyes begin to water. Everything suddenly feels very cold, and the air behind your shifts just slightly. Soft breathing can be heard, and you can smell something retched. The killer is behind you. This is it. Your death has finally come. There is nothing that can be done. Two hands come around you, one of them gripping the fishing wire, and the other grabbing it. I just hope this ends quickly.


A voice whispers in your ear, "You guys are only the beginning."

Lack Thereof (Part 1)

It's Monday morning. The time is 9:15. Emily has a ten o'clock final, and she will be leaving her characters at home for a couple of hours. Will they be able to behave themselves while she is gone...?

"Alright, I'm almost ready to go. Let's go over what I want you to do today, James." Emily said as she was putting on her coat.

"You want me to start lunch, so it'll be ready when you get back, feed the cat, transfer the towels to the dryer, and make sure no one does anything that could cause the end of the world." He recited perfectly and gave a slight smile when he finished.

"Good. You know what to do. That should put my mind at ease till I get back." She walked over to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. It had already been a stressful morning with Vincent trying to escape again; having coffee would her be in a better mood. She didn't need it to wake her up; she needed it to relax. Most of her characters make sure she's awake enough in the morning. "Oh! One more thing James, would you mind,-"

"Walk the dog. I got it." He stood by the front door holding her backpack.

"You know, I shouldn't be surprised by all of this, but you still do things that I don't expect." She smiled as she grabs her backpack from him.

"You'll never get used to it."

"Ha ha! No kidding." She opened the front door, "Considering you are the only one here capable of causing the end of the world, I wouldn't worry too much about the others. Just make sure no one finds out." She grinned and shut the door.

"That's not funny." He said as he continued to stand in front of the door.

Silence swept over the apartment. The others hadn't made their appearance yet. They were sleeping or something. Emily hadn't considered their need to sleep. James was the only one who had been recorded of sleeping, and having nightmares. James, being the one who has premonitions every day of the following day, and knowing exactly what someone is about to do before they do it. Having that ability to know has gotten him use to living with the other characters, but he couldn't say anything about it to any of them.

A head rested on his right shoulder, "You know it's rude to lie to our writer." Jeremy Caplet said. He stood behind James looking at the front door. He had the ability to read and control one's mind. However, by demand of Emily, he wasn't allowed to control anybody against their will. He and Michael Calamere were the only characters who knew of James's ability.

"It's better if she didn't know what's going to happen today." He looked to his right, Jeremy was standing right next to him, "You know it's rude to do things again Emily's will?"

"Aww, come on! I'm just going to have a bit of fun. Don't worry. I won't control your mind." He smirked and gave James a little nudge.

James began to laugh. He shook his head and spoke, "That's just the problem." He made his hand into a fist, and brought it up to Jeremy's face. Jeremy looked at James right as he swung his arm. The moment of impact, Jeremy was out and collapsed to the floor. There was a noise made by his body hitting the floor, but it wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear. James quickly picked up his unconscious body and placed it on the couch. He covered Jeremy with a blanket and rested his head on a pillow making him look like he was asleep. James walked over to the hallway to feed the cat when he saw Edward walking down the hallway.

"Good morning, James." Ed said as he walked into the dining room, "Did Emily already leave?"

"Yeah, she had to do a couple of things to do before her final." He said casually.

"Bummer, I was hoping to ask her if I could use her computer. Oh well, I'll just hack into it myself." He turned around and started walking towards her room.

"That won't do you any good, since I removed the battery and hid the power cord. You won't be able to access the internet and do any of your 'evil' plans you are plotting." James smiled.

"How did you-?"

"It doesn't matter how I knew. What matters now is your life. Do you have your pacemaker today? I think that was the next thing that Emily had planned for you on her list of ideas. Why don't you sit peacefully on the couch next to Jeremy or else I will end your life right now."

Edward stood in astonishment, "How did you wind up being the bad guy in this situation?" He slowly walked across the room to the couch, "Why is Jeremy sleeping? He usually doesn't sleep."

"Just sit down!" James shouted.

Edward sat. He was completely speechless by James's actions. Who would have thought he had a dark side?

James picked up the remotes and turned on the TV. The Food Network displayed on the screen. Ed made a slight grumble of complaint. James walked away from the living room and headed into Emily bedroom. There he hid the remotes in a box, and went over to her dresser to feed the cat who sat patiently waiting for food. The cat meowed a couple times, and then started purring when there was food in her dish. James petted her for a bit until he heard Dave protesting in the kitchen.

"Where the heck are all the knives?" He shouted.

"Ask James, he might know." Edward distastefully, "He took Emily's laptop battery, he might have taken the knives as well."

"James!" Dave shouted.

"Yes?" James replied as he walked out the room.

"Where are the knives? Tell me!"

He inhaled and shook his head, "Sorry, I can't tell you."

Dave grabbed the collar of James shirt and slammed him against the wall, "You will tell me or else I'll injure you in a way where no one will be able to recognize you."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" James coughed, "Haven't you been trying to get on Emily good side by behaving? You are the only one who has a short temper and physically capable of beating me up, you wouldn't be able to blame anyone else."

Dave growled and let go of James, "I'll get you for this. Someday, you'll pay." He began to walk away.

"Actually, I have a better idea! How about you help me deal with the immortals?"

"What are you talking about?" He said without turning around.

"You've wanted to get revenge on Vincent for taking your toast, right?. I can give you the opportunity to do so."

"I'm listening." He slowly turned around and looked at James.

"There is a bat under Emily's bed, use it to hit him on the head. He may be immortal but you can still knock him unconscious."

"I like this idea." Dave smiled.

"You get the bat and hide behind Emily's door, while I'll distract him."

Dave turned and walked into Emily's room. James stood by the dining table waiting for Vincent to come walking in. There was a long moment of silence. Any minute now, he will come walking in. James thought to himself.

"What's all the commotion going on out here?" Vincent said from the other room. His voice was sounding innocent as usual.

"Vincent!" James exclaimed, "What are you doing alone? Isn't Joshua supposed to be with you at all times?"

"Yeah." He laughed.

"Well where is he?"

"I locked him in the bathroom in the master bedroom." He smiled mischievously, "I decided to cause some trouble and he was the only person to get in my way."

James didn't even want to ask how he locked him up. He ignored the last comment, "Anyway, I wanted to show you something. Mind coming this way?" In his peripheral, he saw Dave slowly walking out of Emily's room with the bat at the ready.

"Sure, what is it?" Vincent said.

With the swift swing of the bat, Dave hit Vincent directly on the head, and Vincent collapsed in a second. Dave smiled with accomplishment and satisfaction. He had finally got his revenge. It was the second unconscious body that day, and James was just getting started executing his plans.

Encouragment Dismissed

It's the morning of the day Emily is supposed to give her senior presentation in order to graduate. Her nerves are going insane and she consults her characters for advice or some comfort. Of course, them being the characters she created, they may not be of much help as she hopes... "James would you mind grabbing my backpack from my room, my note cards are in there." Emily walked out of the bathroom in the middle of straightening her hair. Earlier there was a loud noise coming from the kitchen. She feared something bad was happening.

Sure enough, as she walked into the kitchen she saw Dave Erickson standing with a knife in his hands looking at the ground at Edward Tyson's shaking body.
"Dave what did you do?" Emily shouted.
"I didn't do anything! He just collapsed and started having a seizure."
"Yeah right. You probably threatened him." She knelt down to tend to him, but once he started to foam at the mouth she panicked, "James, come here quickly!"
"What is it?" James was immediately to her side.
"Help him, please." She got up and walked over to Dave, "You come with me." She grabbed his arm and escorted him out of the kitchen. It wasn't the time to be dealing with him, but she had to keep him in check. They walked over to the dining table and shoved him to sit down. It was bad enough that she had to prepare for a presentation, but now she had to deal with a serial killer. She ripped the knife from his hands and walked back to the kitchen to put it back.
James was still on the floor helping Ed who had apparently stopped shaking.
"How's he doing?" Emily asked.
"Better. How are you? Still feeling nervous?" He looked up at her.
"Yeah." She rubbed her hands through her hair, "When you get the chance, mind coming to the dining room?"
He nodded his head.
She walked back to the table and saw that Dave was still obediently sitting. His arms were crossed and he majorly slouched in his seat. Acting like a child, he was pouting. She had grabbed her backpack earlier and pulled out her note cards. She flopped down on her chair and began going over them. There was a long silence exchanged. Neither of them spoke for the longest time, until Dave was about to speak and James came walking in.
"Alright, did you need me for something?" He asked as he sat down next to her.
"I need some advice. I'm giving this presentation at lunch today, and I don't feel like I'm prepared at all."
"Well, do you have an introduction?"
"Yes."
"A conclusion?"
"Yes."
"How about a-"
"Yes!" She interrupted.
"I have enough of this!" Dave stood, "Why do I have to listen to you! You don't like me, and you assume I am the cause of everything that goes wrong!"
"That's not true! I like you. You're one of my favorite bad guys I've created."
"No! You favor Ed and Jeremiah than me. You didn't even bother to hear my side of the story in the kitchen!"
"Fine! What happened in the kitchen?" Emily shouted.
"I walked into the kitchen to make myself some toast. I put the bread in the toaster and grabbed the butter and a knife. Ed walks in. Sees me with the knife the knife and freaks out. I didn't even say anything to him."
"Liar!" A voice came from the kitchen. Edward walks into the room, "You wanted to kill me when I walked in the kitchen. I saw that look in your eyes."
"Oh no, now who do I believe?" Emily closed her eyes and lowered her head.
"And speaking of my life being in danger again, Emily how come I had a seizure this time? I thought I had a weak heart. How come you're always changing my health problem? Why don't you do some actual character development, like personality..." Ed kept going with his rant.
Emily looked away from Ed and saw Vincent walk into the room. He had a smile on his face as usual.
"...I'm serious Emily! What's next? Am I going to be in a wheelchair tomorrow?" Edward finished.
"That's actually not a bad a idea." Dave commented, "That way I don't have to kill you just by looking at you."
Edward glared at him.
"Hey do we got anything to eat?" Vincent asked. He stood in the hallway leading towards the kitchen.
"I-i don't know. Go look for yourself." Emily shooed him away. Her stress level was increasing by the minute with Dave and Edward complaining and James unable to help her in any way.
"Hey look! There's toast in here!" He shouted.
"Don't you dare touch that toast!" Dave was gone in an instant, "that's my toast!"
There was a sound of a struggle between the two, something hitting the ground, and then Vincent walking out of the kitchen with toast in his hands. He sat down where Dave originally sat and eating feeling victorious.
"What did you do?" Emily asked.
He shrugged as he continued to eat.
She rose to her feet and walked to the kitchen. Dave lie on the floor curled up in a ball groaning in pain.
"I hate him. I really do." He barely whispered, "Tell me Emily. Why in the world did you create a character such as him?"
"Actually, I didn't create him. He was my brother's idea."
He grunted, "I hate it."
It felt like an awkward moment. Emily wasn't sure how to respond. She almost thought that she apologized to him for having to go through something painful, and for not treating him fairly like the others. She walked over to him and whispered, "Would you like me to make you some more toast?"
He nodded his head.
"How about a knife you can spin around?"
Nodded again.
She smiled and grabbed the bread from the pantry. Dave didn't move much as she made his toast, but he did talk. He started talking about the good old days and how much he enjoyed killing people. It was a rather disturbing topic for Emily to be engaged in, but he was her character and she had to treat him fairly. Once she finished buttering the toast she handed it to Dave and went looking for a knife for him to play with. By the time she found one Dave was in the dining room with everyone else. Things to have looked like they calmed down, and for the first time today Emily felt like she could relax. She sat down with the others and started to look over her notes again.
Not a minute later did Joshua come running in looking frantic. He looked at the table and when he saw Vincent, he said, "Oh thank goodness! I found you!"
Before anyone spoke James piped up, "Have you practiced your presentation out loud yet?" He sat up in his chair feeling proud of himself.
"No, I haven't." Emily looked away.
"Come on then! Stand up and give it to us." He pulled her up from her seat and stepped back, "Go ahead."
She felt rather stupid. Giving a speech in front of her characters was making her nervous. She really hated speaking in front of anyone.
"I did my internship at...at..." She looked at each one of them. All listening intently to what she was about to say. She continued to speak, going through her notes she said everything she needed to say in her speech. Once she finished she asked the question, "So does anyone have any advice?"
Silence.
"Anyone? Come on. None of you have given a speech before?"
Joshua raised his hand, "Honestly, I'm terrified of giving speeches."
Everyone shook their head in agreement.
"That can't be right! James, you gave a speech at your graduation ceremony. Vincent, you are not even sane enough to be afraid of crowds. Dave...seriously? And Edward, how can you be afraid of crowds if your CEO of your own company? You didn't inherit your position. You work hard to where you are at now, so you must have some skills in giving speeches!"
Edward's face lit up, "Are you saying you are giving me a characteristic?" He said with excitement.
"Yes, it's official. You are good at talking in front of people. It also helps that you are ridiculously smart. Now come help me."
"Yes!" He said with delight.
Finally, things were looking up.

And Chaos Interrupted

James Bookings, Dave Erickson, Vincent Geraldine, Edward Tyson, Jeremy Caplet, Hunter Callis, Joshua Malachi, Michael Calamere, Alrick and their writer Emily Thorne sit at home. Emily struggles with her writer's block and can't figure out what to write next. Meanwhile, it is slowly creeping closer and closer to dinner time, but there isn't food to eat. To top it all off the neighbors outside are building a new deck and making a lot of noise. Everyone is restless. Occasionally, they try to help Emily come up with something to write, but at the same time bored out of their minds...

"Maybe you should try writing a short story." James suggests to Emily as they stare at the computer screen. James was a high school student who graduated with the highest grades in the class, and a person who constantly had premonitions of the next day. He had short sandy hair and light green eyes. With a height of 5' 9" and average looks, he claims he would have gone unnoticed in school if it weren't for his intelligence. He was actually quite popular in school, along his best friend Andrew. Emily hoped that with his brains he could come up with something, but being only a character she wrote herself, he wasn't much help.

"If I were to write a short story, what would the story be about?" Emily looked at him with her eyebrow raised and an expression that said, "You see the problem now?"

"I don't even see the point of writing right now," Edward Tyson sat on the couch across the room watching the TV, "Instead, we should do something a little more productive than sitting in front of a laptop." Edward being the CEO of his company has a physical condition that limits his activity. Too much emotional stress or movement such as running put his life at risk.

"Oh yeah, you're one to talk Ed! Being the one sitting in front of the TV, why don't you do something productive?" Emily shouted at him.

"Great idea! Since I can’t do much, how about you develop my character a little more? I'm tired of being the bad guy with a health problem. Also, I hardly even have a past, much less a life! How about that? Yeah, write about me!"

"Keep your voice down, there are other people living in this complex." Emily tried to lower her voice.

"Ha! Not like that matters!” Dave Erickson stood in the kitchen twirling a knife in his hand, “the people in the building next to us are so noisy making their new deck.” Dave was an infamous serial killer. He killed not only for the enjoyment he received from it, but also watching families suffer through the loss of a loved one. He was not someone to easily trust just because he gave you a reassuring smile. His over confidence has yet to get him into trouble. He has buzzed cut black hair and dark brown eyes.

Bang, bang bang! The nail gun sounds. It wouldn't have been so bad to deal with as long as the noise was consistent, but it wasn't. The gun would go off, stop, and then go again. Emily rubbed her temples as she tried to endure the sound. It was starting to give her a headache. What to write? What to write? Her thoughts were in a big jumbled mess, and she couldn’t think straight. With what's going on, she wouldn't be able to write anything.

Joshua Malachi came running into the room from the hallway panicked with his eyes searching across the room looking for something.

"Josh, what's wrong?" Emily’s concerning voice was sincere. Anytime he was bothered, there was something wrong. Being an immortal, it took a lot to upset him. Most of the time, he was very composed and calm, their voice of reason amongst the group.

"I-I can't find Vincent."

The words caught all of their attention. Vincent Geraldine, an immortal like Josh, was irrational and dangerous. At one point in his life he was placed in an asylum for being criminally insane, but escaped by killing the majority of the people there. In one sentence you could say he was more terrifying than Dave. Joshua was the only one could face him without being in any real danger.

James and Edward both stood from where they sat, "What do you mean you can't find him?" James spoke.

"It's exactly as he said it, James! He is no where to be seen." Edward shouted, "Now, our lives are in dang-" he stopped breathing. He grabbed his chest and had a pained expression on his face.

"Oh come on!" Emily exclaimed, "Why do you have to have an attack now?"

He gasped for breath as he fell to his knees. James ran over to help Edward back onto the couch, and began searching for his medication.

Emily walked over to Joshua to try and calm him down. "Okay, let's think about this clearly. He couldn't have gone far. He must be somewhere in the house, otherwise I would have seen him leave."

"But what if he didn't leave through the front door. It's possible he went out the window." Joshua's breathing quickened. He ran his hands through his blonde hair, "This is entirely my fault."

"It's okay. It's okay. We can fix this. We'll have Jeremy find him. Everything is going to be alright. Just calm down. Breath." Emily soothed.

Joshua took a deep breath in and then let it out. This was not what Emily was expecting. She was already stressed out about not having anything to write; now she had to start searching for Vincent. Where ever he could be.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" A voice came from behind Joshua.

The horror that came from Joshua's eyes confirmed who it was. He quickly spun around and shouted, "Vincent! Where have you been?" By looking at his hand, Emily noticed that he was getting ready to pull out his sword.

Vincent gave a pitiful look, "Is it a crime to go to the bathroom?"

"WHAT?!" Dave screamed at the top of his lungs. He was furious, "You said you looked everywhere, but you didn't bother to check the bathroom! Are you an idiot?"

By the look in his eyes, Emily wasn't so sure which one he would throw the knife at, the killer who mysteriously disappeared or the idiot who didn't even think of checking the bathroom.

"Are you kidding me?" James stood up and walked over to Josh, "You put Edward's life at risk. How could you be so careless?"

The three began to argue back and forth shouting. The stress of it all was tiring Emily out. She thought about going to lay down for a bit, but the three of them were in the way. She let out a sigh as she sat back down in her chair.

Tomorrow

The end of the world, Judgment day, Armageddon, Rapture, they are all predicaments of the end of the world. However, the date in which this major disaster occurs is unclear. We as people have no idea when existence will diminish. People will talk about the end of the world and the survivors of it, but if there are people still alive then it’s not really the end. The end of the world means everyone and everything is dead. Can such an occurrence really happen?

What if, you did know the year, month, day, down to the hour? Say, you knew the exact events that lead up to the end. Would you try to prevent it? Of course! Anybody would, if it meant saving them, their family, friends and everyone else on this planet, but the real question is: What happens after you stop it all? Does life continue as it were or does everything end in a big flash because that was the day it was supposed to happen?

We often had this discussion in one of my extra curricular classes in high school. My teacher was convinced that he had it all figured out. Everything was already predestined, and there was nothing we could do about it. Events of terrorist attacks to natural disasters were already set to happen and all we had to do was play our parts. He even went to the lengths of saying that no one can prevent the end of the world. Everyone had their roles they had to play, and despite their efforts of changing it, it was meant for them to change it. For example, if it was predicted that there would be a huge fire at the fair tomorrow, people would try their best to keep it from happening. So, the people who were extra cautious would keeping an eye on anybody who would try to cause this fire, and the people who move flammable objects to safer places. However, while being cautious someone accidently causes sparks from the fireworks, thus a flame is lightened. That flame eventually turns into a fire, and the predicament comes true. No matter how hard they tried, the fire happened anyway.

My teacher would argue his point with this example, and then some student brings up the question. "But what if someone actually thought if they tried too hard to prevent they would cause the fire, so instead they just let the day go as it was originally planned?" At this point my teacher would smile and say, "Then the carelessness they possess will cause the fire. Regardless which way they choose, the fire will always be started."

We always had discussions like this in class. Sometimes I would agree with my teacher, and other times I thought his ideas were a little far stretched. Nevertheless, I admired the man. He took the time to think these kinds of things through, and provoked us to think about them as well. He was a very intellectual man.

However, knowing what I know now, there is something I would like to ask him. What if you could relive each and every day twice? I'm curious what he would say. Because knowing what I know, throws destiny out the window. Preventing death left and right, riots, plane crashes, explosions, you think these wouldn't lead to the end of the world, right? Wrong. Who knew saving the world could bring it to its end. Now, it haunts me day and night, if this were destiny would I still be the cause of the end of the world if I didn't have these premonitions?

Nightmare

My whole world was spinning. Round and round it went, passing by. I felt like I was standing outside of time, and I watched it as things progressed. What was happening? Where am I?

Everything stopped. I stood in the middle of the road. Buildings on both sides of me. People walking on the sidewalks, cars driving by. On the horizon I could see the ocean. I was nearby the beach. The sun may have been in the sky, but it hid behind the clouds. No one seemed notice me. I walked to the sidewalk, and began heading towards the beach. Again no one looked at me or even bothered to get out of my way. It was as if I wasn't even there. To test it out I stopped directly in front of a man, and he walked through me. I was a ghost! I died? When? I don't remember dying.

I turned around and everything changed. I no longer stood in a town nearby the beach. I stood on a busy street in the heart of a city. Taxis, cars, buses, bicycles, people were going all over the place. Again, no one seemed to notice me. I walked down the sidewalk with no where to go looking down at my feet. It was at that point I came to the conclusion that this was a dream. Whenever something weird or impossible happens, it is most likely a dream. Well, no one can see me, I'm not dead, and I went from the beach to the city. I must be dreaming!

"Jessica!"

Someone called my name. I looked up to see where it came from, and there stood a man fifteen yards away staring at me. He wore a black suite, and his brown hair was combed back. He smiled at me, and turned around. He walked through the crowds like I did, no one saw him either. I ran after him. Who was he? Why was he in my dream? He kept walking away.

"Hey! Who are you?" I shouted at him, but he ignored me. I ran faster, but I couldn't catch up to him. He took a left turn down an alley. It was so far away, yet so close. What was going on? I finally came upon the alley, and went down it.

My surroundings changed again. I stood in the middle of a road, again. Only this time, I stood out in the middle of no where. There was nothing to look at. From east to west, there was nothing but flat terrain. The road continued on forever in both directions too. The clouds in the sky were dark, threatening to rain. The temperature decreased excessively as well. Goose bumps ran up my arms. I held on to myself. I look around a bit, and found the man that I saw in the city. He stood there smiling at me.

"Jessica," he said in a very caring way, "Why do you keep punishing yourself like this?"

My heart was pounding. Now that I was closer to this man, I recognized him almost immediately. Panic rushed through my body, and a lump formed in my throat. "What are you talking about?"

Even thought those words left my mouth I knew what he was talking about. Everything changed. My surroundings, my clothes, the weather, everything! I sat on the driver's side of my car waiting patiently for my sister. She had to make a phone call, and both of our phones were dead. We were on our road trip that we talked about for so long, and we finally saved up enough money to go. At the time, we were out shopping, and were about to head back to the hotel. I sat listening to music while the sun beamed down on me. It felt like one of the happiest moments of my life.

Ten minutes passed, and my sister hadn't come back. I got out of my car, walked down the street looking for her. Where was the phone booth she was using? I continued to walk down the street looking for her, but she was no where in site. Another ten minutes had passed, and there was still no sign of her. I began to run around frantically looking for her. I came upon a parking lot, and saw a phone booth that someone was using. Without even thinking, I ran towards the phone booth. Maybe, just maybe my sister would be around somewhere. The man talking on the phone saw me. He hung up the phone and walked to his car. I was still so far away from him.

"Wait!" I shouted, "I need to talk to you!"

He looked over to me, and smiled. Why would he do that? He opened the door to his car, and I heard someone screaming. My heart sank into my stomach as I recognized that scream. It was my sister. He shut the door, and started the engine.

"No!"

He pulled out of his parking spot, and just as he sped away I saw my sister in the back, tied up, screaming my name.

Tears flowed from my eyes as I watched helplessly my sister being kidnapped. My hands began to tremble.

The man that kidnapped my sister five years ago, still haunts my dreams to this day.

Road Trip

The long hours on the road. We have been driving all day, and the sun was slowly creeping behind the horizon. The shadows covered the mountain range. Our headlights turned on, as well as the cars next to us. Pretty soon everything was dark and only the road ahead of us could be seen.

My eyes grew heavy and everything started to blur. The tireless hours of being on the road were starting to take affect. I couldn't wait until we arrived at our destination. Sleep called for me and I would have greatly answered if it weren't for my stubborn self unable to fall asleep in a car. My parents were talking in the front seat about where we were at or how much further it was. My sister sat next to me with her eyes closed. I wouldn't have been surprised if she were actually asleep. I stared out the window looking at nothing but blackness. For a moment I thought that I may have fallen asleep, but I was uncertain. The music was still playing and tires rolling on the road could still be heard.

Then something happened, I saw something beautiful. A town crossed my vision. The colors it illuminated were so vibrant and bright. It looked like a circus covered, no showered with Christmas lights of all colors. The buildings were of extravagant design, no two buildings looked the same. The streets were lit up and cars slowly drove by. I swore it looked like a dream. Maybe it was. I tried to focus on it a little more, trying to see things in better detail, but my vision was fading. We were speeding by too fast to see what the town was really like. The moment I saw the town, it was beautiful, but just as quickly as it arrived, it disappeared. I never saw that town ever again. It truly felt like a dream.

I sat straight in my seat. Resting my head on back of it, I thought what it might be like to live in that town. With the colorful lights, and the music playing. I wondered what would the people be like. Friendly, welcoming, fun. I thought of it as one of those places where everything is perfect, and there is nothing to worry about. Those places that are only found in your dreams. You are at peace, and you can't help but smile. All your friends and family are there, and nobody is unhappy. A dreamland, Heaven. That's what I imagined it was. If a place like that ever existed I would go searching for it. Like everyone else that searched for the Garden of Eden, or the Fountain of Youth, buried treasure under historical places, or the perfect house to live in. I would search for the perfect town.

Of course, the sad part is there's no such thing as a perfect town.