The Nightmare

A Story by JuanEgracia

A short horror story that I will never forget. A nightmare that woke me up in a pool of sweat and tears

I woke up. There’s a scent of sweat and tears, running down my face. A nightmare that I, maybe, would never forget, full of anxiety, anger, and demons. A scary one! Scarier than any movie that I have ever seen or heard of. The nightmare was cold, brisk, bloody, and terrifying… I felt alone, abandoned in my own house. I felt something staring at me, wanting my soul. It felt so real, almost as if I was living it. That night felt cold. It wasn’t your regular cold, it was the cold that gives you shivers all the way down your toes. Anyway, back to the dream.
My dream started off in the middle of the night; it was some time after midnight, but before the sunrise. It was dark, and even with the lights on, there was a faint yellow and orange tint to everything. My living room is painted white, but on that night, it looked tan, and was cold at the touch. It was with furniture, and the windows were open, so I shut them. When I looked out the window it was a dark, pitch black. It wasn’t the regular black, it was the black that you can’t see through at all. I walked around the house looking for someone, anyone! Even though I had socks on, the floor was ice cold! I always had a fear of the dark, and this was just how it expressed itself to me.
I decided to go to my room and lay down. Maybe I could lie down and fall asleep. I wanted to get out of this so badly. I lay down and I covered every inch of my body with my cover, but I still felt cold. I felt someone, or something, staring at me. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it right next to me. I didn’t want to look at it because I knew it would be something bloodcurdling. I felt its cold breath down into the cover. It was cold and bitter. A smell so strong I could taste it. It was like the metallic taste of blood, like a penny in your mouth. Suddenly, I feel the cover being tugged towards the end of the bed. I pull back. At this point I’m scared like no other, and I’m shaking with terror. He continues to pull at it, and all of a sudden it stops, then I hear the door open. I scramble to get out of bed as quickly as possible, and I tell myself to get out and drive to a friend’s house. I reach for my keys and run out the door! Then I hear my dad yell my name in terror.
At first I was skeptical about it really being my dad, but when I look through the window to his room, I see his face looking out as if he was horrified. I run back into the house without shutting the door, I just needed to grab him and get out! I get to him and he’s sitting on the couch crying. I had never seen my dad crying like that before. He’s one of those guys that never cries. He’s a strong six feet and two inches tall. “We’ve got to go!” I tell him. He looks at me and smiles. That’s when I realize that his hair is falling off, like huge chunks of hair just falling off his head! His tears turn into blood, his eyes turn pitch black like death. I see the place where he’s sitting start to turn black, and it was getting really hot in the room! The ambience was turning from yellow into a bloody red! That’s when I woke up.
I woke up scared and sweaty! It was still dark in the house, but it didn’t feel as heavy. A slight relief in me said it was just a dream. I get up out of bed and start looking for people again. I see my dad in his room shivering, as if he were cold, and as soon as I touch him he tells me that I need to get out. I start to freak out! I look back at the living room again and I see that the windows are closed, but blood was seeping through the cracks. All the lights turned red, and the barely visible moon was red as well. I look at the place where I saw my dad sitting just seconds ago, and there he was…
The most malevolent looking creature I have ever seen! He was huge! When he stood he towered above me. His body was very human like, but it had black, smiling teeth. I felt as if he could touch my soul and effortlessly pull it right out of me. That let me know that he was nothing like a human! His eyes, black as coal, stared right through me! His feet looked bloody from a distance. His skin was red, as if it were covered with blood, and when he walked you could easily see the trail of blood his feet seemed to leave behind! But he wasn’t bleeding. His hands were much larger than my father’s familiar hands. His nails were long and pitch black. His head was oddly shaped, it almost looked like he had horns, but they were sawed off. He started walking towards me, so I decide to run the other way as he hunted me. Just then, I remembered that my real dad is still in his room. I hear him shut my father’s door as he walks in and I hear my dad screaming in terror! I tell my dad to fight back! I use everything around me to get that door open! I grab a chair from the dining room and throw it in hopes that it would break the door down. After 5 minutes of yelling and screaming between the two of us I don’t hear my dad anymore. I’m exhausted, and I begin to run out of breath. My hands are bloody from punching the door. Then, I hear the door open and I watch the beast walk out of the room. His smirk gives me chills. He goes back to the couch and sits, completely still. I go into my dad’s room to find him in the corner of the room with a gun in his mouth; crying his hands are shaking sweat and tears on his shirt, blood running down his eyes as they’ve been gauged out. As I gather the courage to go toward him to help I take one step forwards and as I step my dads hand slips and all I hear is a bang...