Valerie worked furiously on her missed work that night. Her room was decorated with tokens, trinkets, pictures and colorschemes of her favorite books and videogames. Music played softly for a soundtrack to one of them that she had downloaded from the internet. She had already finished practicing her flute. She had practiced intensely, wearing silk gloves that her "mother" had given her for protection for the terrible element that coursed through her favorite instrument.
She couldn't possibly catch up in time for the next nay. Her eyes itched with tiredness. It was almost one in the morning. The only thing keeping her awake was the soft, cool ocean breeze pouring through her open window. She was only just working on history, her third hour. She still had psychology to read, Chemistry to study, and a whole reasearch paper for english that she had to type.
Valerie layed her head down on the desk, letting the ocean breeze and the soft moonlight play across her face. She could feel herself slipping away. Surely her teachers would understand if she hadn't finished it all...She closed her hazel optics deamily.
She had a terrible nightmare.
She was running outside, away from bright lights and sirens that were chasing her. What had she done? Nothing. Nothing she could remember. Her thoughts were strangely beastial, coming in short fragments, her actions dictated from instinct, not thought. She was on an empty road. She glanced behind her...the lights and wailing was getting closer, but she was sure they hadn't quite gotten a good look at her yet. Perhaps, if she hid, she could escape.
She ducked off the road to her left, just in time. The dark forest trees enveloped her in shadows. She closed her eyes, afraid that her pursuers could pick up two pinpricks of light in the darkness and locate her. But, fortunately, the police cars drove right past her, staying on the road, the wailing fading into silence.
She panted, a hand to her chest. It was warm an sticky against her clothing. She looked down at her right palm. It was smeared with crimson, running in steady drips of her delicate fingers.
She was covered in blood. She was quite sure it was not her own.
Looking around in desperation, she saught some way to clense herself, to rid herself of the taint that was covering her, almost swallowing her. She ran reeper into the forest, looking for a creek, a brook, a stream, a puddle, something. At last, she came upon a dark river. Around the river, it was much, much brighter than in the rest of the woods. She looked up and saw that the full moon shone down through the sliver in the thick of the tree branches that was the river.
By the light of the moon, she looked down into the water. She immidately jumped back in horror. She clapped both bloody hands to her mouth, the scream that fought to escape would never pass through her lips.
In the depths of the river, she saw the sorce of all the blood. A body of a young woman, not far from her own age, was chalky-white and looked so unreal. Though it was a dream, Valerie saw ever detail. She seemed bloodless and ghostly, because there were gashes all over her, so deep and so wide, that Val was sure all her blood had been leaked out into the river. The girls were wide open and staring at her. Val stumbled away, a quickly emptied the contents of her stomach on the ground.
When she was done retching, she wiped her mouth as clean as she could with her blood-stained shirt. She caught sight of the blood and suddenly understood. This is why I'm being chased. I did this....My God... She wanted to cry, but she heard the baying of a hound in the distance. She was sure the police had dogs chasing the culprit - chasing her. She heard splashes somewhere nearby. They were following the river!
She ran. If she wasn't spotted, she would wash in the bay, where her scent couldn't be found, mixed with all the grimy salt. Then she would run home...pretend she didn't know...pretend shocked at the news of another horrifying death in the dephs of the forest...
She woke up in her bed, screaming in terror. There were tears mingled with the sweat on her face. She looked down frantically at both her hands - clean as they were when she went to bed. She looked around her room. She was tangled in her sheets like she was imprisoned in a striaght jacket. But I fell asleep at my desk..? She looked up at her window. It was closed. She walked over to it and tried to open it again.
It was locked from the outside.
Kitani Memori Community Member 
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