by
W. P. Gerace
Ever since she could remember, Bianca had been terrified of thunderstorms and lightning. Even though her late grandmother Rosa would speak to her in a soft, broken English Tone, telling her it was nothing more than the Angels Bowling My Little Cherub. Don't worry yourself, Grandma Rosa would say, pinching Bianca's plump cheeks, her soft hazel eyes looking upon her then eight-year-old granddaughter.
Twenty years later, Bianca sat up sweating in her apartment alongside the Northern Desert of Phoenix. At twenty-eight, she was still single, had no relationship, no kids, and was alone. Unless folks counted her fluffy white kitty Sydney, who was the closest thing to a friend Bianca probably would ever have, luckily, she had an excellent job working from home as a customer service agent for Phoenix Bank and did not have to worry about people. She frankly hated being around people. They seemed so judgmental and evil these days. Disrupting her thoughts, a flash of silver lightning streaked across the dusk sky. A crack of thunder bellowed in the angry sky. Another lightning bolt zipped across the northern skies, illuminating the brilliant white sky. A shade of silver lit up the Northern Mountains' russet peaks.
More thunder, more lightning, this time more violent. The boisterous sound of a car alarm from the parking lot blasted through her ears. Bianca twisted her fingers and wished this storm would get on and be done. All she wanted was some good sleep. She had her new shift tomorrow and needed to get her required eight hours of sleep. Another flash of silver lightning lit up her crème-carpeted floor. In between each moment appeared something dark, a shadow. Another instant and it came closer to her. The shadow had tiny red eyes like that of some demonic creature.
"Get away from me, whatever you are! I know you are fake! Get away! "Bianca yelled.
"Oh my darling, it's me, Grandma Rosa. I am not going to hurt you, honey. I am just here to help you sleep. "There was something in Grandma Rosa's voice that crackled as if she was disguising her voice.
Another strike of lightning lit up her window and room, giving Bianca a full view of the shadow. This was different from the Grandma Rosa Bianca remembered. This being had long, wet, straggled silver hair plastered to her face. Grandma Rosa's eyes were oval black specs of emptiness. A chill ran through her arms as she stared into those dark pitches of obscurity. There was nothing there but coldness and evil. Her skin was so pale it was almost green as if she had something inside of her growing. She crawled back on her bed, grabbing Sydney, her fluffy fur standing up on ends as the feline began to hiss at this entity claiming to be Bianca's grandmother.
"Please go away. I don't know who or what you are, but I don't believe you are my Grandma Rosa. Please go! Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Rocking back and forth, crying as more bolts of lightning zipped through her apartment, Bianca reached out for her sleeping pills from her bureau. Damn, they were empty. She had not filled the prescription in nearly a week. Anxiety flooded her spirit. Shaking, not knowing what she could do, sweat streaming down her face, squeezing Sydney, who continued to hiss at the woman claiming to be her late grandmother.
Closing her eyes, she began to do one of her breathing exercises that Cindy, her therapist, told her to try when her thoughts were getting crazy. Trying to clear all negative thoughts, she began to count silently, thinking of a lovely day in the park when she was just a little girl. Bianca saw Phoenix Point Park. It was a gorgeous day outside. Her mother wore one of those long golden dresses, her almond hair hanging loosely at her shoulders. The grass was a perfect Leprechaun Green. Those lofty magnolia trees lined the park's cobble pavement, the pink leaves swaying back and forth on this incredible day. Sitting on the bench, she and her mom played her favorite game, Uno. Smiling, she told her mom how much she missed her.
"Honey, I miss you too. Don't worry, I will be back one day for you. "Bianca recalled that day in the park nearly twenty years ago, right before she left. That was the last time she saw her mother.
The pretty summer sky suddenly darkened as a parade of jet-black storm clouds came through. The trees swayed violently back and forth, their leaves making that unsettling swishing noise. Her mother's face tightened as if she were having a stroke. A deep purple, her lips began trembling as she spoke in an entirely different language. A heavy rain pelted upon their bodies, flooding the cobblestone pavement. Howling above, the winds roared with an eerie fierceness. Flashes of silver lightning lit up the entire sky.
Bianca began to cry, hoping this dream would go away. Begging for it to stop to be released from the torture that was going on, she could hear the blaring of her phone's alarm in the distance. A grey funnel cloud twirled in front of her. Clawed hands protruded from the cloud as Bianca heard these voices calling to her. Come to us, Bianca; you belong to us now. Come, child. We are hungry for you.
Running down the walkway, her hair plastered to her face, she could hear her mother crying for her to come back. They weren't done playing. Bianca's heart boomed in her chest as she ran down the dark area of what once was Phoenix Point Park.
"Girl, you OK? Honey, you OK? "Pearl Adams, her next-door neighbor, stood in the hallway, her wide-brimmed eyeglasses sliding down her face as she looked at Bianca.
"Yes, Ms. Adams, I am OK. Thank you for asking. "Saturated, she couldn't recall how she got from the park to the hallway of her complex. For the first time, Bianca thought she was losing her sanity.
Going back into her apartment, things seemed the way they were before. Sydney lay sprawled out on her light brown sofa. Her coffee pot was brewing on the Formica kitchen counter; the invigorating smell of freshly ground coffee beans, a welcoming aroma after another night of restlessness. The sun shined brilliantly as another day started in the desert town of Phoenix, Arizona. Just a moment ago, she was lying in bed in the middle of the night as a storm roared outside. Now it was daylight, and she was saturated from her dream that was so real. What the hell was happening?
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Sleep-deprived Bianca shuffled to her home office to begin her eight-hour shift at Phoenix Bank when she felt something brush past her. It was slimy and cold. Suddenly, the temperature dropped significantly in her office. The grey box thermostat confirmed this as the black numbers read fifty degrees. sh*t that is nearly twenty degrees less than she had set it to. Her office windows overlooking the valley below had developed a thick frost across them as the thin glass began to splinter from the frigid temperatures. Rubbing her arms for warmth, Bianca imagine what it felt like to be locked in a freezer.
The distant roar of thunder echoed through the eerie silence. Walking over to the window, Bianca stared at the darkening skies outside. A thick blanket of Smokey black clouds came in over the Western mountains. Their dark tips obscured the peaks. Twisting about the soaring maple trees surrounding her complex, the branches whisked back and forth under the immense gusty winds; their magenta leaves flying everywhere. A chill crept into her bones. Bianca felt a heavy presence make its way into her office. Darkness enveloped outside and inside as more cracks of thunder and streaks of silver lightning split across the sky.
"This is not happening! It is just a friggin storm! Nothing else! I am not getting myself worked up! That is it. I have to work in an hour. I need to get ready. "Bianca spoke to herself in the dark silence as she approached her oak wooden desk where her work equipment lay spread out, ready for her to start her day.
The black computer monitor sat staring at her. It is time to get started, Bianca. We have customers waiting for your assistance. She could hear Jerry, her manager, talking in that raspy southern tone of his. She only met Jerry once in the office. Still, he seemed equally unsettling, with those beady silver eyes squinting at her through his thick eyeglasses. A small man with wispy white hair and sunburnt cheeks, he spent way too much time in this deadly Arizona sun, Bianca surmised.
Nevertheless, something about his diminutive stature and gruff tone suggested he was not from this world or universe. Jerry seemed nice, but he was very demanding, especially to the agents on his team, wanting calls handled efficiently and quickly. He had no time for Bianca and her anxieties. She just had a meeting with him last week about attendance. His bushy brown eyebrows raised as he rattled off all her absences for ten in three months as if he were reading off someone's recent purchases. In his low tone, he warned her any other occurrences in the next two months would be a termination.
Termination, those words echoed through her ears as the storm roared outside. Pellets of rain splattered and cracked across her glass. Those splinters now burst, letting in that fierce gusty wind. A substantial silver lightning bolt lit up her room. There was that shadow again. Its dangling red hands opened up to Bianca.
"Come on, my sweet Bianca. I want to put you to sleep. Don't worry about Jerry. He won't fire you. "
" You are not real! This is just a bad dream! Leave me alone! Leave!" Bianca screamed, hoping that the shrillness of her pleas would wake her up back to the land of reality.
The creature bent its head back, its long, slimy hair whisking about, splashing its wetness on Bianca's arms. Its skin was so pale, so green, it had no eyebrows above those blazing red, now yellow eyes. Parting its black rotting lips, it let out this deafening cackle that Bianca swore she would never get out of her thoughts.
Dead silence went on for what seemed an eternity before Bianca felt a cold, clammy feeling grip her hands. Digging into her hands, she felt her small bones crumble under immense pressure. Wetness dripped down her arms and onto her legs.
Opening her eyes, she could not believe the horror she saw. Her dainty little hands she used to work with were crushed. Protruding from the tops of her hands were glistening white bones stained by sprays of her blood. Bianca's fingers were like that of some arthritic-stricken patient. Every one of them was frozen and bent. She could not manipulate them to type if she wanted to. Trying to move her thumb sent the most excruciating pain that shot up her left arm. It felt like a burning hot liquid was inside her as the blazing pain consumed her. She cried as she looked at the white clock on her wall. It was 6:45 AM, and she had 15 minutes before she started.
As she attempted to walk to her desk, another shooting pain went through her legs and torso. Her skin was burning up as if she were being cooked. Swaying back and forth, she could not keep her balance as she maneuvered to her desk. Losing her balance, she quickly collided with the hard hardwood floor. Bianca could feel darkness and coldness surrounding her.
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Bianca noticed the clock on her bureau read 7:30 AM on July 5, 2023. She had missed a whole day of work. She had not slept in nearly 24 hours. Exhaustion weighed on her heavily as every part of her demanded rest but could not.
Boom! Crack! Boom! Roars of thunder disrupted her exhaustion. Her bedroom on the other end of her apartment was illuminated with silver flashes of lightning. Restrained in her bed, Bianca tried to get up and do anything to escape, but every muscle inside her was suddenly paralyzed. She could see the creature that pretended to be her grandmother hovering above her in the air. It's eyes were blood red, seeping the fluid onto her crème carpets. Screaming for help, her voice boomed in the silence as if her room was suddenly soundproof. She was stuck in the nightmare she had been dreaming of for months. There was no escape.
"Oh, my poor little girl, your nightmare is now a reality. Your poor nerves were too weak to fight off the nightmare. Now, I control you and your world. You belong to me forever!! "The woman flew down onto Bianca's bed, her soiled dark skirt brushing against her sheets.
"No, you are make-believe! You do not exist! I demand you go away and now! Leave bitch! "Bianca yelled, using what little remained of her sanity to end this.
Twisting her neck around the bones in the woman's neck, making an eerie popping sound as if it were nothing to her, she transformed once again. Her grandmother's soft face was before her, smiling. Bianca saw her grandmother wearing one of her soft cotton yellow dresses, her small size six beige shoes, and her skin was a rich olive tone, the same Bianca remembered as a little girl.
"Bianca honey, I would never hurt you. Now, honey, you are not having a nightmare. You know that the storms are nothing more than Angels Bowling Cherub. Trust me, love. I would never hurt you. Hold my hand so I can help you. It's OK, honey, trust me. "Opening her hands, she held her black pair of rosary beads, the same ones Bianca remembered her dying with.
Grabbing her grandmother's hands, she wanted peace for the first time in her life, wanting to be rid of these childhood nightmares that plagued her for as long as she could remember. She wanted freedom. That was all she ever wanted. At first, her grandmother's skin had that soft tissue paper texture that she recalled as a little girl. A piercing prickling sensation jolted Bianca out of her serenity. An oozing fluid trickled down her arm, almost tickling her soft flesh. Opening her eyes, it was the evil creature. Her claw-like daggers dug orifices into Bianca's palms. They were long gaping wounds. She could see the insides of her veins splintered and emitting blood everywhere. Her white sheets were utterly stained with blood. Screaming, she could feel the throbbing pain shoot up her arm.
"You belong to me now bitch! You will never be free again! You are all mine, my love! Never will you have peace! "The woman's blotched red skin cracked open as a colony of green worms with sharp white teeth scattered across.
"No!!! "Bianca slapped her face, wanting to wake up from this nightmare.
A dark oval mirror appeared in the center of her floor. A brilliant white hue radiated. Through the bright, pure white shades, Bianca saw her bedroom. There stood Mrs. Adams holding her chest. I know the girl had troubles, but I can't believe she would do this to herself. Oh my god, this is awful. A tall policewoman stood with straggly brunette hair beside Mrs. Adams, holding a blue notebook. Bianca took a closer look and saw that her arms were slit at the wrists blood oozed onto the floor as she lay lifeless, her eyes staring out into space.
"See, child, you are dead. You belong to me. This nightmare was not a nightmare at all. We were always here, just waiting for you to break and take you. That moment has arrived. Come here bitch! "The woman grabbed Bianca and took her into the fire pit hole beneath her bed.
2665 Words
Prompt: A Scene From A Nightmare Comes True The Next Day
