Welcome To My Nightmare (Academy of Broken Dreams Book 1) Read online

  “Do you realize how much this whole night has sucked?” I ask him while playing with the crumbs of cake on my plate.

  “Awww come on, you got to spend the whole night with me. That’s got to count for something right?” he asks, pooching his bottom lip out at me.

  “Yeah, I guess that counts,” I admit, making sure he sees me roll my eyes.

  The night winds down and people start to leave. I notice Sam glancing at his watch and wonder how late it’s gotten.

  “Sam, what time is it?” I ask, noticing that I’m feeling exhausted.

  “It’s almost ten and I need to leave soon. Mom has to go grocery shopping tomorrow and ask that I be home a little early,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow sometime and thanks for coming to my party. If it wasn’t for you coming, I would have no one here,” I admit as I walk him to the front door then wrap him in the tightest hug I can manage. Sam hugs me back then turns to leave.

  “Oh hey, I got you something,” he says, jogging off to his car and coming back with a medium-sized, square gift wrapped in paper with a purple background and green alien heads all over.

  “Sam, you didn't need to get me anything. You know that,” I gushed, throwing my hand over my mouth in surprise.

  “I know but… just open it. I really think you will like it, and it should come in handy,” he says with a sneaky little grin on his face.

  Ripping open the wrapping paper, I find the most beautiful leather bound and intricately carved journal. Each page is edged in gold and topped with a creepy looking skeletal horse.

  Hugging the journal and bouncing on the balls of my feet, “I love it Sam! Thank you so much, I can’t wait to write my thoughts down in this beauty.” I throw my arms around his neck one more time, say goodnight and walk back inside the house.

  3

  I sprint up the stairs to avoid the group of catty bitches my sister calls friends. She insisted on having a slumber party tonight. Count me out. I sit in front of my laptop and start researching the Denver horse statue for the blog post I told Sam I would write.

  A few minutes later, I hear the door open and Shadow sits on her bed, waiting for me to look at her.

  “Why aren’t you with your friends?” I ask, looking over at her.

  “You should join us. It’s your birthday too,” she replies, giving me puppy dog eyes.

  “Your friends don’t like me, and I’m sure they would prefer it if I stay away,” I point out.

  “They like you just fine, and I want you there. You’re my favorite sister,” she raises an eyebrow. Damn it, I hate it when she plays the sister card.

  In our family, with so many kids, having a sibling ally is essential. Being the two youngest, it naturally happened with Shadow and I. We’ve always had each other’s backs.

  “Fine, I’ll join you, but if it gets too awkward I’m coming back up here,” I warn her.

  “Yay! We’re going to have so much fun,” she jumps to her feet and squeals.

  “If you say so,” I sigh, resigning myself to the fact I need to pretend to enjoy myself for her sake. She doesn’t know what her friends think about me. Hell some of them are two-faced bitches that think bad things about her, but I can’t really point that out either.

  I follow her downstairs, where the six girls she calls her closest friends are sitting on a pile of blankets in the middle of the living room. The furniture is all pushed up against the walls to give them more room.

  Shadow grabs my arm and pulls me behind her, leading us to the middle of the group to sit.

  “Great! We’re all here now,” she chirps happily.

  “Let’s play truth or dare,” April suggests, an evil glint in her crazy eyes.

  “Great idea,” Christie chimes in. “We can make Whisper do something super embarrassing,” she thinks to herself.

  Looks like I’ll be choosing truth if I get called on. Shadow jumps up and runs into the kitchen to grab a bottle and the rest of us sit in awkward silence. I still don’t understand how Shadow thinks it’s a good idea to try to mesh me in with her friends.

  Shadow returns and spins the bottle, and it lands on me.

  “Pick someone to call on,” Shadow encourages me, smiling brightly.

  “Um…” I say looking around.

  “Not me,” April thinks loudly.

  “April,” I call out, trying not to smirk.

  Her face briefly falls before she smiles, trying to hide her first emotion. “Truth,” she says.

  Shadow leans into my ear. “Ask her if she’s slept with Chaz.”

  “Have you slept with Chaz?” I parrot Shadow’s question. Why does my sister think April slept with her boyfriend?

  “No way!” she denies vehemently.

  “Crap, do the girls suspect something? I know we’ve been sneaky enough no one should know,” she thinks, clueing me in that she’s lying.

  “You’re supposed to tell the truth, April,” I remind her, pinning her with my eyes to show I know she's lying.

  “How the fuck did you find out freak? We didn’t tell anyone!” she shrieks at me.

  “I knew it! Get the fuck out of my house,” Shadow screams at the girl, tears streaming down her face.

  “Crap, Shadow. I’m sorry,” I say, wrapping my arms around her.

  “I suspected, but I couldn’t prove it. Thank you for calling her out,” she whispers in my ear.

  “I think we should do something else,” I suggest.

  “Why, so you can ruin that too?” Christie snaps back. “You’ve ruined your sister’s birthday. I hope you’re happy.”

  “She didn’t ruin OUR birthday. She asked what I told her to,” Shadow glares at her so-called friend. “Let’s do makeovers.”

  And just like that, my sister plasters on a happy mask and acts like the last few minutes never happened. The girls all pull out their makeup bags and take turns doing each other’s makeup. I can tell Shadow is really enjoying herself, so when she offers to do mine, I don’t protest, even though I think they look like clowns with all the stuff they cake on their faces.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll keep it simple like you like it,” she winks at me.

  I sit still while she dabs and spreads stuff all over my face. I’m fighting to stay awake at this point and a dull ache has started in my stomach. When she finally finishes, I look in the mirror, and my jaw drops.

  She didn’t go heavy clown paint like the rest of the girls, but subtly highlighted my features. My lips look full and pouty, with a bright red lipstick that matches my hair. She dusts my eyes with a gold shadow that makes them appear bigger.

  “Wow, Whisper really cleans up!” Christie exclaims, a look of genuine shock on her face. The other girls agree.

  Someone suggests scary movies, so I go with Shadow and we make popcorn. Thankfully, after April left, I haven’t heard any nasty thoughts, so this is going better than I had expected.

  We sprawl out on the blankets and put Annabell on. Dolls creep me out and this movie makes that feeling even worse. The girls drift off before the movie is over, and soon I’m the only one left awake.

  It's well past midnight and officially our birthday now. I'm now seventeen. I close my eyes as the movie plays. While sleep eludes me, I begin to feel lighter, as if my body has become weightless. I open my eyes and find myself staring down at the mass of girls sleeping on the floor below me, including my own body.

  I must have dozed off without realizing it, and damn, this is a trippy dream! Christie is almost glowing and I float closer to check it out. Why in the world does she appear so much brighter than everyone else? When I get about a foot away from her, something happens. It almost feels like someone has turned on a vacuum and I’m being sucked into her head.

  I fall on my ass and look around. We are at a school dance, and there’s an announcer on stage.

  “The queen and king of your homecoming court are…” the announcer says as a drum rolls.

  “Christ
ie and Davey!” he yells and the crowd erupts in applause.

  She rushes to the stage, and as soon as she gets there, a bucket of slime dumps on her, controlled by my sister and the other cheerleaders. Everyone laughs, and she runs out of the room mortified. I follow and notice small black tendrils leaking out of me and latching on to the room around me as I walk.

  I catch up to Christie, who is surrounded by the cheerleaders. “Why would you do that to me? I thought you were my friends,” she cries, tears streaming down her face in black rivulets from her now ruined mascara.

  “Why would we ever be friends with a bimbo like you? You aren’t even smart enough to notice we hate you,” Shadow snarks at her, in a way my sister would never act.

  “Yeah, we just keep you around to make us look smarter,” April laughs in her face.

  I feel so bad for the girl. It’s not her fault she’s not very intelligent. I don’t know why I’m dreaming about her like this. Maybe it’s because of my own insecurities.

  I look down and notice the floor is now solid black from the tendrils flowing out of me. I glance back up, and the girls are missing. Suddenly, I feel like I’m flying and forcefully pushed out of her head. I hear screaming and sit up and look around.

  I’m laying on the floor of the living room next to Shadow, while Christie is sitting straight up, screaming her head off. The other girls stir, as Christie lays back down, never waking fully up. It looks like we both had a strange dream. I lay back down and drift off into a dreamless sleep, unable to shake the feeling something strange is going on.

  The next morning I’m the first to wake up. I feel better than I have in a while. I must have slept really hard. Running up the stairs, I jump in the shower before anyone else has a chance to. Living in a house with so many girls, I’ve learned to shower early and quickly, or you’ll be stuck with cold water. Once I’ve finished, I put on a pair of yoga pants, a worn band t-shirt, and slip on my favorite heather grey hoodie.

  I go back downstairs and into the kitchen. True to form, Mom is standing over the stove making chocolate chip pancakes for our birthday breakfast. She’s so predictable, and I love her for it.

  “Are you the only one up?” she asks, glancing over her shoulder at me.

  “So far. We stayed up late watching movies,” I tell her.

  “Go wake your sister up at least,” she smiles.

  I sneak quietly back in the living room and gently shake Shadow.

  “Happy birthday, sleepyhead,” I whisper, trying not to wake the others.

  “Did Mom make pancakes?” she asks, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

  “You know it,” I grin back at her.

  We sneak quietly back into the kitchen and sit at the counter. Mom plops two big plates of chocolate chip pancakes in front of us. I grab the real maple syrup, slather my cakes, and dig in.

  Mom returns to the stove and makes regular pancakes for the rest of the girls, who slowly start filtering into the kitchen as we finish eating.

  4

  All the other girls are now awake and have made their way to the breakfast table, but I notice we are missing one.

  “Has anyone seen Christie?” I ask, bringing their attention to the missing girl.

  “She was getting in the shower when I came down,” Jen replies timidly.

  Jen is the quiet one in the group; she is the one you will find studying hard to keep her grades up, but popular enough not to get called a geek. She has a cute round face, big brown anime eyes, cute button nose, and petite pouty lips. I swear she could have been a character in some teenage boys comic book.

  “I will go up and see what’s taking her so long,” Shadow smiles before bouncing up the stairs.

  Conversation continues as normal around the table. Most of it revolves around the upcoming Halloween events and what kind of costume everyone will wear. Someone asks if they should all wear the same theme or just go as who they want to be.

  A few minutes later, Shadow reappears with Christie in tow. She looks like she didn't sleep a wink last night and her morning routine with heavy makeup to cover the dark circles didn't help.

  “Christie are you feeling all right?” Amber asks, her brow creases in worry.

  “I guess I didn't sleep well last night. I had a bad dream. Who knows, maybe I’m coming down with something,” she says, then plops down in a chair and makes her plate.

  I take this moment to step out the backdoor and place a call to Sam.

  “Hey are you busy? I thought you might want to come over and help me write this blog about the Denver Statue?” I ask him.

  “Sure! I’ll be over in a few. I have to finish helping my mom unload the groceries from the car.” he says in a grumpy tone. I can just imagine the horrible face he is making.

  “All right, I will see you soon. Oh, and Sam don’t give your mom such a hard time; she is only trying to do what is best for you,” I taunt him before laughing and hanging up.

  I step back inside and the kitchen is empty. I guess the girls have gone to the living room to gather their things and prepare to go home. I head upstairs to the room I share with Shadow to begin research on the Denver horse statue. I have played sociable for long enough; it's time to return to the tin foil hat cave.

  I’m only able to find a few articles about the Denver Horse statue and most of them are consistent with each other. Apparently, after the sculptor of the statue died, the towns people started to say it's cursed and believe it will come alive for one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

  I wonder which horseman would ride a blue horse with red eyes, I think to myself. I open a new tab in my browser and hear a knock and then my door opens.

  “Hey Sam, come on in; I’m just looking up a few things about that horse you told me about,” I say over my shoulder. Sam walks over and plops down in the torn and tattered desk chair that he claims is made to fit only his ass. I swear he can be such a goofball. While searching for more information on the Denver demon horse, I run across an article on Nightmares that catches my attention. I elbow Sam in the side to get his attention.

  “Look at this. Did you know there is such a thing as a Nightmare horse?” I ask him, turning the monitor so he can see. “It says here that they will sit on your chest and consume your nightmares.”

  “Sounds creepy right?” I ask him.

  “That sounds like something you should bookmark. It would make an awesome blog post,” Sam says with a serious look on his face. I can tell his gears are turning.

  "I think I have everything I need for my blog post. Hold on a sec while I finish writing it up," I say, switching back to my blog.

  "Take your time," Sam grins, shaking his head. He knows once I'm on a roll I won't quit until it's finished.

  I type quickly then read it over for any spelling mistakes and hit post.

  “Whisper, you know that Halloween is next week right? That means the yearly Halloween slumber party that your twin sisters always have?” He asks, knowing I love to prank my older twin sisters, Rain and Stormy, any chance I get.

  “Yes, I know it’s next week. What kind of creepy ideas do you have cooked up for this year? What about spiders in their sleeping bags? Salt in the sugar container?” I pepper him with my own ideas, which makes both of us laugh, bringing up memories of the pranks we played on them last year.

  “We can figure all that out later. What I really wanted to talk to you about is this new haunted mansion, and it's already open to the public. I want you to go with me. Besides we should celebrate both of our birthdays. Remember mine is the third of November,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Oh, so you are using the haunted mansion to bribe me out of the house, and guilt tripping me with your birthday huh?” I ask, sarcasm dripping from my words. I bust out laughing.

  “Of course I will go with you; you know I love Halloween and the creepier the better!” I answer.

  “Ok great. I will pick you up at six p.m. sharp, be ready for a scary night,” he says as h
e walks like a zombie out of my room.

  I look at the clock on my computer, its four-thirty p.m. plenty of time to grab a sandwich and a shower.

  I’m just finishing up getting dressed when I hear the doorbell ring. I grab my keys, headphones, and money shoving them into my pocket. I run down the stairs, stopping in the kitchen to give Mom a kiss on the cheek.

  “I’ll be home before curfew, Mom,” I holler over my shoulder as I close the door behind me.

  It’s dark by the time we arrive at the haunted mansion, we stand in the longest line ever. Finally it’s our turn to enter.

  We expect the first few scares. The same old clowns with sharp-pointed teeth that jump out at you from the caged windows and the classic monsters from all the old horror movies, but once we get to the second floor, the house grows darker and the strobe lights are in full effect. We can only see flashes of people and things. I feel like something is watching me, the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention and goosebumps pop up all of my skin. I grip Sam’s arm so hard he will probably have bruises the next day.

  We round another dark corner, and I freeze, dragging Sam to a halt with me. There's something with long black tendrils coming out of its body standing in front of us, but in a flash, it's gone.

  “What the hell was that? Did you see that?” I scream at Sam so he can hear me over the loud pounding music and the squeals of the surrounding girls.

  “See what?” he asks as he tugs me forward, wanting to finish the tour.

  “The black thing that was standing in the corner back there,” I say, pointing back over my shoulder.

  “I saw something but I’m not sure what it was,” he says walking out the exit.

  “That was fun, Sam; thanks for getting me out of the house. I can’t believe how long the line was. Are you sure you didn’t see the thing earlier in the corner. It looked like a body with black things coming out of it? What do you think it was?” I ask, glancing up at the sky I notice the clouds are gathering and thunder rumbles above our heads.