Hidden in Death- Chapter One

After witnessing death, nothing has been the same. Something is different. The feeling of being followed is getting stronger each day. Why am I having these nightmares? Why am I seeing death in every

"Jade, you need to run. Get out of here." A woman yells from down the long hallway, causing her voice to echo off the walls. She rounds the corner and starts running down the hall towards a young girl. As soon as she reaches the girl, she grabs her arms and looks her in the face. "Baby, get out of the house. Go to the neighbors and tell them to call the cops, can you do that?" With tears rolling down her cheeks, the young girl nods, turns around and starts running towards the back door. As soon as she reaches the back door, she hears the screams of her mother right before the sound of two loud popping noises echo through the house...

       

      Quickly, I shoot straight up from a laying position, while I am still sitting in bed, gasping for air and my body damp from sweat; I close my eyes again and put my face in my hands while I take, long deep breaths. As soon as I get calm, I push the covers off my legs and get out of the bed, my muscles feeling sore from the restless night. I have been having nightmares quite often, they have been happening more than normal but I try not to think about that. I walk towards the bathroom while grabbing my black, silk bra off the back of my desk chair. Once I finish with my morning routine, I head out of my room and towards the living room. I live in a small house, it's meant for a single person to be alone, in opinion; but then again, I am a single woman living in it.

As soon as I get out to the living room; I get greeted by my, not so small, husky puppy. "Well good morning to you too, Panda." I named her Panda because she is black and white and her face has markings that are similar to a pandas. "Are you hungry, baby girl?" I giggle quietly when she starts spinning in circles. I walk over to the side of the living room that is designated just for her. It has her bed, her basket full of toys, and then her food and water dishes. Right next to her dishes is a five gallon bucket with a lid on it, that's where I store her food. There was one time, I forgot to close the lid  all the way and when she was younger, she got into it and there was food everywhere when I woke up. That was not a fun morning because I was running late for work to begin with. After I get her fed, I walk to the kitchen so that I can either find myself something to eat or make me something.

While I'm in the process of making some scrambled eggs, my phone starts ringing while it's on the counter by the back door. "Hello?" I answer after unplugging it. "Calm down... Yes, you can come over... No, I don't have work... See you soon, love." I hang up the phone and finish making breakfast. Shortly after finishing breakfast, Panda walks over to the back door, sits down and looks back towards me with her ears down. She's pretty much telling me that I need to let her outside soon or I'll have to yell at her for peeing in the house. I get up from the kitchen table and open the sliding glass door for her to go out to the back yard. After closing the door, I grab my plate and walk over to the sink to place the dishes in some water. I hear a knock on the door right as I was about to go down the hall to my room, so instead I walk over to the front door in my short shorts and tank top so that I can see who it is. As I peek out the window, smiling when I see who it is, I open the door. "That was a quick drive, were you in the neighborhood?" I ask, as my best friend walks through the door.

"I was kind of in the area, that's why I called... I went to see him." She says as she walks into the house and follows me to my room. "Please don't yell at me though, I know that it was stupid that I went to see him. I already know that it was a mistake. So just please don't lecture me on it, okay?"

"I wasn't going to lecture you; I do have one question though. Why do you go over there, why do you want to with what happened last time?" I ask, both of is entering my room. She sits on my bed while I walk over to my closet to find something to wear.

"I had another dream last night, the same dream, where things were different. I wanted to see if the dream was trying to tell me something, I was wrong." She says while watching me grab a pair of ripped jeans and a big t-shirt. ""Oh hell no, you are not wearing that shirt. If you are wearing those old, torn jeans then you need to at least wear a sexy shirt." She gets up and gently pushes me aside so that she can get in my closet.

"Why do I have to wear a sexy shirt? I had no plans of going anywhere today." I say, watching her rummage through all my shirts.

"You are not staying home, babe. You are turning into a hermit and I'm not going to let that continue. We are going to go out and take over this town," She says, turning to face me with a huge smile plastered on her face. I look down and realize that she is holding one of my old tank tops that's all torn up. "We are going to show off that sexy body of yours and we are going to find some fun tonight."

"I am not wearing that, it will show everything. I'm pretty sure showing off every inch of skin is not really the right thing to wear in public."

"You play it too safe. Come on... Strip."

"Valerie..."

"Nope, you are not going to get out of it. Strip or I will strip you myself and force you into the clothes."

I stand there and stare at her for probably a good five minutes. I let out a long sigh and shake my head while I start stripping out of my pajamas so that I am in nothing but my bra and matching panties. I hold out my hand to her, waiting for her to hand me the shirt; but when I go to look in her eyes, I notice that her eyes are locked on to my waist and hips where I have several scars that trail over my skin. Out of pure instinct, I slowly moves my hands around my waist, trying to cover all the scars that I have; knowing that I am failing at covering them all. I quickly grab the shirt from out of her hands then grab my jeans again before turning and walking towards my bathroom; not saying another word to her. A few minutes later, I walk out of the bathroom and walk back over to my closet.

"So, where are we going tonight?" I ask, trying to break the silence. When I look over at her, I see that she is still staring at the floor and still being silent. "Valerie... It's fine, so stop being so weird about it."

"I guess I'm still not used to it. I forget that you have those that it's a shock when I see them still." She says, slowly looking up at me. "The plan was to go to a club that is nearby. I figured we could get some food first and then head over there."

"Alright, sounds like a good plan. So how do I look, good enough for dinner and the club?" I ask as I stand there in front of her. I've to the ripped, light blue tank top on with it showing a little of the lace that's on my black bra, I also have the faded, ripped jeans on, I left my hair down; showing that it reaches the middle of my back and then I chose to wear my light blue, high top converse.

She looks me over and smiles, "The guys won't know what to do around you that's for sure."

All I can do is roll my eyes after her comment. She has been my best friend since the freshman year of high school. I was barely entering the building and before I had a chance to react, she grabbed me by the waist and kissed me on the lips. I can honestly say that she was my first kiss, wasn't really what I was expecting for my first kiss but I didn't mind. She was mostly using me to get rid of her first boyfriend that wouldn't leave her alone, but she stayed my friend and from that point on its all been history.

"So, why are we leaving this early when we aren't going to the club 'till later on tonight?" I ask, remembering that it's still morning.

"Well I was hoping that we could spend all day together since you have off of work. "She smiles really big, letting me know that that is not the only reason she wants to hang out all day. As soon as she realizes that I can read right through her smile, she shakes her head and sighs. "I'm avoiding my roommates; they are arguing again."

"That's fine, do you want to be navigator today and I will drive?" I ask, grabbing my purse and my phone. We both walk out of my room and head out towards the living room again.

"That sounds good to me as long as we take your car; my car has trash all over the seats." She laughs under her breath while watching me walk to the back door to let Panda back inside. Panda runs over to Valerie while sliding on the hardwood flooring. After her and Panda greet each other, Valerie and I walk out of the house, after I make sure Panda is locked up in her kennel.