31: Sleepless

“You didn’t sleep again?” Sophie whined, looking me over as she stumbled sleepily from the bedroom.

I just shrugged, “Same dream again.” It was the third night in a row now that I’d had the same dream. It didn’t always start out the same way but the end was the same. I’d wake up in a panic, clutching my neck where I’d felt his teeth mark my skin as he claimed me as his.

I couldn’t seem to get myself to go back to sleep again no matter how many times I checked and found nothing on my skin. Instead of laying there staring up at the ceiling until the sun came up, I’d started going down to the gym and running on the treadmill until I felt like my legs would give out from under me.

“Are you ready to talk about it? It might help to let it out.”

She’d been losing sleep too, worried because she hadn’t heard from her brother since he left 5 days ago. I couldn’t bring myself to tell that I was terrified by his haunting presence