CHAPTER 1 - NIGHTMARES

I was once an ordinary kid, cheerful and happy. I enjoyed playing with my friends and I even liked going to school, because I could meet my classmates and learn new things. I was never a nerd, but I was naturally smart so I've got a pretty good grades. I used to play soccer and even though, I wasn't the best player, I could play well. I was kind and polite and funny. Put all of those traits together with my good looks and you get a popular kid. There has always been girls waiting for me at my locker and I've received numerous love letters. I had a good relationship with my family and my dad earned enough money for us to live comfortably. You could say my life was nearly perfect. However, it all changed on May, 31st, 1999. 

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I didn't remember what happened at first. I woke up in the hospital, confused and dazed. Everyone looked at me with worry and ... was it expectation? When, I said, I don't remember what happened, they all became just sad. I overheard a few whispering, that it's probably for the best. I was a kid and I didn't understand why would people make such a big deal out of it. I wasn't even hurt anywhere. For a few days, while I still stayed in the hospital and received medication, I haven't changed. I ate, I slept, I smiled. The first night after my release was the start of a transformation. 

I was thrown into the water and there was a shapeless dark figure pulling me down. I desperately tried to fight but the force was too strong for me and I was kept under the water. The time was just a word down there. It felt like hours passed, but it couldn't be so, because then I would have already been dead.  I was suffocating and I could feel a hot burning pain in my chest. I couldn't fight my reflexes anymore and I tried to draw a breath. Water started to fill my lungs and I could feel life leaving me...

Just when I was sure, I was going to die, I woke up. I was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, as if I was running for hours. I shakingly went to my parents' bedroom and crawled under the blanket with them. The nightmare was awful and the worst one I've ever had, but it was still just a nightmare. It wasn't uncommon for people to have a nightmare from time to time. However, it happened to me again the following night.

I was in the mountains and everywhere around me was snow. I couldn't see anyone or anything and I didn't know where I was. I was scared, I didn't know which way to go. Everything was the same... No matter which direction, I've tried to walk, there was no change in the scenery and I've started to panic. It was freezing and I could feel coldness numbing my body. I kept running around for hours, looking for some place to shield me, but I couldn't find any. Soon the strenght left me and I could no longer move. I've fallen down and I lay on my back on the ground, looking up at the sky. It started snowing. I could feel snowflakes landing on my face. I knew, I should move, but I couldn't. The snow was heavy and my body was soon covered by it. I was freezing to death, slowly being burried under the cold white snow flurry. 

I again woke up right when I was about to die. I was shaking so hard, my teeth were chattering. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to worry my parents, I've noticed how sad they looked when I came to them the previous night. Ever since I woke up in the hospital, they treated me as if I was made out of glass. Something must have happened, something horrible, but I still had no clue about what it could be. I've just felt, that my nightmares were somehow connected to it. I've prayed, that they would go away, but they never did. Every single time, I fall asleep, I would be trapted in frightening scenarios. The nightmares were very rarely the same. If I was to make horror movies out of them, I would surely become the best in the field. Soon, I've started to avoid sleeping. I've tried to stay awake as long as possible, because even if I was dead tired, it was still better than living though the nightmares.

*****

That was my first fear. A fear to fall asleep.

to be continued