Fiction:The Nightmare

There I was, panting and gasping for air like that of a person whose oxygen had just been cut off. I was covered in sweat and shaking just as I tried to get out of bed to get into the bathroom and tried taking a shower for me to get rid of the sweat that I was covered in. As I placed my left foot down, I realized my legs were a bit heavy, and I couldn't seem to move them. I was surprised because this seemed new. In the last three months, this had become like a routine - I find myself awake from sleep, panting and covered in sweat, and I make my way to the bathroom, but surprisingly, this morning, I couldn't seem to move my legs; I couldn't stand up and my legs were numb. Different kinds of thoughts ran through my head. ‘Was this the end of my model career, was this how I would become a cripple, was my dream finally coming to pass.' All of these thoughts, one way or the other, found their way into my head. I found myself trembling and trying so hard not to scream because I didn't want my roommate to get involved in my business. 


The Prosperity Ark


The house was a two-bedroom flat with a joint kitchen and separate bathrooms located in each person's room. Stephanie and I were friends from college. We had met on the first day of college, starting as freshmen; we accidentally bumped into each other while I was trying to move my luggage into the hostel. It was an instant attraction between Stephanie and I. Especially after we realized that we were going to major in the same course, which was theatre arts. I asked her for her contact number instantly because I wasn't ready to do college alone, and who knows, maybe I had found my best friend forever because it was as though we had known each other for so long. It's fair to say we bonded instantly. 

Stephanie was a cool person and very sweet and sure damn beautiful. She was blonde, quite tall, and a bit thicker than I was. Her eyes were naturally lined eyes, and she was white, unlike me, who was a black woman with a skinny body and quite a tremendous height with my red hair. I also had a naturally lined eye. So, yes Stephanie and I had some stuff in common. During our college days, we were always found together. We were like two to tango - there was no Rachel without Stephanie. We did everything together.


The Prosperity Ark

Although we weren't roommates in college, most of the days we were with each other, because my roommate was mostly never around. Either she was at her boyfriend's house or a club partying somewhere. I wasn't very worried because she was just another rich white kid who was likely to get away with anything. So there was always time for me and Stephanie in my room. 


After completing college, we had to do auditions to get roles but then, it was always unfruitful. We both had no jobs as of then and Stephanie's family wasn't exactly a rich white family, unlike my roommate. So we decided to stay together and try to make ends meet pending the time we would be able to feature in a movie. 

I was working at a restaurant popularly known for its breakfast menu, so most of the time, I was always up very early. Stephanie, on the other hand, hadn't gotten a job yet, so I was the one feeding us both. 

Plus, I didn't mention that the house was a gift from my uncle, who decided to move into another state, and when I told him about my situation, he decided to give me the house. I was the owner of the house which we lived in. Two years down the line, Stephanie changed. She got a job at a bar downtown not very far from the house but then she always complained about one thing or the other. At this point, I already met with Simon, who introduced me to modeling agencies that were interested in black women modeling. And yes, I was a good-looking model figure. 


I met Simon at the restaurant in the morning, although he was a returning customer with whom I often threw jokes. Being a bodybuilder, he had lots of muscles but was good-looking. One morning, he had just finished ordering his usual meal when he looked up at me and said, ‘You would pass off as a model, you know.'

I was in a no-shock state because it wasn't the first time I had heard stuff about modeling, although I preferred acting to walking in a runaway whilst changing dresses. Simon was able to convince me to go for one audition with him to which I agreed. 

That was my turning point, two short years later, I was the face of almost every billboard in the city.

Simon became my manager, and it was all good and rosy except for Stephanie, who grew withdrawn. At that time, I could not say for sure if it was jealousy or if she had outgrown our bond as she suddenly became colder and more rude to me. Perhaps she was expecting me to move out of the house since I was a celebrity but then I could not just leave a house which was a gift from my uncle to her.

I just wasn't ready to let go of the house because that house had a lot of meaning to me since the death of my parents. Stephanie and I became absolute strangers in the house. We hardly talked even when I tried to initiate conversations with her. As a result, I stopped trying and we became just roommates, nothing more and nothing less.


I was able to finally move my legs. I heaved a sigh of relief as I made my way to the bathroom and I quickly got a towel to cover my body as I removed the night dress that got all wet from the sweats from earlier. I finally got into the shower and opened the tap allowing the running water to go through my head down to my toes as I think of this same nightmare that has been recurring for the past three months as I can't seem to find any meaning to it or should I just say confused. 


There I was, driving home from the tiresome shoot I had earlier in the day, thinking if I could still call my house a home because it surely didn't feel like a home lately because of the way Stephanie had been acting. I was driving, my thoughts got interrupted by the sudden sound I heard from my trunk. I parked to see what was making all that noise from the trunk. I got down scared as hell but still trying to stay calm as I moved towards the trunk. The noise became more vibrant and scary; it sounded like someone was trying to break loose from a shackle, and at the same time, more laughter came with the noise. I was confused about what to make of this. I eventually open the trunk to see a person who is covered in a mask and a very long robe like that of an angel with a knife. The mask was that kind that showed protruding teeth with horns by the head and glowing red eyes. As I tried to attempt to close back the truck, he grabbed me firmly by the waist as he tried to get out of the trunk. As he got out of the trunk, I bit him by his ears and cried out, releasing me from his grip, and I took to my hills. It was already so dark at this point as I headed for the woods and I kept running. I was already halfway into the woods with no sight of the being in sight. I decided to rest my back behind a tree to catch my breath. I was still panting as I felt a slow touch on my shoulder. I tried so hard not to move as I wasn't sure what it was. What if it was the being or a snake that had managed to descend on me? As I was still contemplating what to do, I felt a very sharp, excruciating pain in my neck. I turned to see the cause of the pain, it was the being standing in front of me with a grin on his face, that one that spelled doom. I screamed and wailed as I tried to run as fast as my legs could carry me, but it didn't prove to be helpful as I couldn't get much further from the being who seemed to be getting stronger by the minute. It hit the back of my head with a very big log of wood. The hit was so hard that I felt like my brain would separate from my head. I woke up to find myself in an uncompleted building somewhere in the woods. There were voices in my head as I was still having a very terrible headache tied to a chair as I fully regained consciousness. I was screaming at the top of my voice hoping someone would come and save me. I was still screaming when I heard a noise coming towards me, it was the being coming with a chainsaw towards me. My face filtered with fear and terror as I tried to run despite still being tied to a chair. I screamed and shouted, but it all fell on deaf ears as the being dropped the chainsaw to untie me from the chair. I was already too weak and tired to try to run from the being again because there was no point escaping. He dragged me towards a cue table where he laid me down and tied me to the table harder than it was on the chair. He then picked up the chainsaw and cut my lap, making sure my leg was finally detached from my body.  I screamed as much as my voice and lungs would carry me. At this point, my tears got more agitated as I groaned in agony as he went for the second leg. The pain became unbearable as I managed to say in between my tears and screams, “Why am I being amputated? What have I done wrong?” The being looked at me and gave boisterous laughter which sounded mocking at the same time. Slowly, I slipped into unconsciousness with the being's laughter echoing in my head.



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