Sleepwalker

Ok I wrote this one day i hope you enjoy it.














Sleepwalker
JK took a deep breath before she opened her eyes. She could smell the soft spicy scent of pine trees; she could also smell mountain air with just a hint of rain. She smiled happily to herself and then frowned. She didn’t live in the mountains; she should smell dust, sand, and dirt. She opened her eyes ready to squint against the blazing hot desert sun. When she opened her eyes she was surprised to see she was not in her room. She shot straight up in bed. Not her bed. She looked around and realized she had a terrible pain in her neck. It hurt to look up or down or even side to side. She saw a window in her peripheral vision. She got out of the strange bed and walked over to it. There was no glass or screen and so the leaves from the tree next to it littered the windowsill. JK was sure there were leaves on the floor as well.

She could tell that the sun was either about to rise or had just set. The sky was dark blue and you could see a white line along the horizon. Because there was no sun what JK could see was the shadows of the trees stretching reaching and covering everything in their grasp. While she looked out the window a sickening sweet smell invaded the spicy smell of the forest. Was she standing over a garbage can or something? She raised her hand to brush the hair out of her face. A nervous habit she’d picked up forever ago. When she lifted her hand she felt it stick to the windowsill, she inwardly groaned. She didn’t know where she was, she couldn’t move her head and now she had sap on her hands. Well considering all that perhaps sap wasn’t so bad. She raised her hand to her eye level to see how much sap was on it and then gave a loud gasp. Her hand was red. A dark dull rusty colored red, in spots it had turned a sickening shade of brown. Suddenly the disgusting sweet smell hit her full force in the face, it was blood. She must have hurt herself, but she didn’t feel hurt or sore. She looked and saw her other hand was just as bloody as the first. JK squeezed her hands and tried to feel for any cuts or scrapes. She looked at her arms and besides where the blood had splattered on her arms there was no cut or anything.

JK turned and looked around the room; all she could see was the end of the bed in the early or late light of the day. Well she’d gotten in the room which meant that she’d gone through a door. So there must be a door out of the room. JK started toward the back wall, she would feel along the wall until she found a doorknob and hope she didn’t run into a closet. As she was feeling along the wall her legs bumped into something quite heavy and solid. She looked down to see if she could see what it was but as she did she felt a terrible pain in her neck head and back. She very carefully stepped over whatever it was and then continued looking, well feeling. She found a door, and with a whispered prayer, tested the doorknob it opened into a hallway. She let out a sigh of relief. When she stepped out she turned around and looked into the dark room. She noticed that the doorframe was splintered and looking uncommonly rough. She felt something about the door spark something in the back of her mind.

Michael was screaming as uncommonly strong hands pulled him into the room against his will. He grasped the doorframe hoping to stop from being pulled in. The doorframe splintered under his large hands but he was pulled in and the door was slammed shut.

JK shook her head, where had that come from? She turned her body careful not to turn her neck and started to walk down the hallway. The house was so quiet that it almost seemed to whisper to her. JK called out, “IS ANYONE HERE!!” The sound echoed through the hallway and then seemed to die somewhere near the end. JK got a chill and started walking faster, a brisk walk that she usually reserved for when she was late for Dr. Oldknow’s class. Soon that brisk walk turned into a run. She ran until she tripped on something in the floor. When she tripped it forced her neck back and it gave a sickening crack. JK breathed deeply on the floor and found when she pushed herself up she could at least now move her neck to some degree. She looked behind her and saw that her legs where tangled in the strap of an overnight bag. The light in the hallway was stronger then in the room so JK assumed that the sun was rising which gave her a small form of relief. She really did not do so well in the dark. She took a closer look at the bag. It was Melissa’s bag the one she’d given her for her 20th birthday. Suddenly she had the sensation in her mind that she had seen the bag more recently then last month.

Melissa screamed at the top of her lungs, “Get away from me!!!” JK growled low in her throat, “Play with fire and your going to get burned surely even you know that.” JK grabbed the overnight bag she had on her shoulder and used it to try and force Melissa toward her.

JK took a deep breath, where were these visions coming from? One consolation was if Melissa’s bag was there then Melissa must be there. JK flung the bag over her shoulder, and headed back down the hallway. She was trying hard not to jump at the shadows that were moving around.

There at the end of the hallway was a stairway that headed down. She ran to the end of the hall grateful for the sight of the long awaited stairs. When she got there she saw that the stairwell was enclosed and that there was light at the bottom and in the middle. It must be a 3 story house; JK walked as quickly as she could to the middle light and then stepped into that hallway. JK really hated the dark, she felt like it was trying to grab her with invisible fingers and draw her into its huge, dark stomach. She looked at this hallway and saw, Jason’s hawaiian shirt hanging on one of the knobs. She walked over and grabbed the shirt and held it to her cheek smelling his distinct cologne. The stuff he’d sent money to France for.

JK was snuggling in Jason’s lap and was cuddling against his chest, he was laughing at something that Stephan had said about how much trouble it was getting gas for the Suburban that they were taking up to the mountains. Jason leaned toward her ear and whispered, “This is going to be the best trip, ever.”

“The best trip ever.” The statement sounded alien and yet familiar all at the same time on her tongue. She tried the door knob and found the door locked. She called out, “JASON?!” Again all she got was an echoed reply down the hall; she went back to the stairwell. She headed down to the first floor and saw that the first floor was huge with ceilings that went obviously to the 3rd floor. She saw the front door and ran towards it eager to get out of this strange house. There in front of the house was Stephan’s suburban, with the hood open. She went and looked inside the hood and saw wires hanging out the side.

JK snuck around the back of the suburban and got into the tool kit in the back. She got a pair of wire cutters out and then went to the front and popped the hood. She’d show Melissa what happened to those who flirted with her boyfriend. She grabbed the first wire she could reach and then cut it. She then grabbed another wire and cut it. She continued cutting till she had about 5 wires hanging over the side of the suburban. JK prided herself on her limited knowledge of cars but she knew enough to cut the ignition wire.

What was going on with these visions she was having? They weren’t really visions but they were like she was watching a dream unfold before her. She was known to have an overly active imagination, but still nothing like this. She saw herself do these things, but she couldn’t have done it. Not by a long shot could she be responsible for the things she’d seen in her head.

She turned and walked back into the living room and saw the couch’s had been made into make shift beds. Why would that be, with a three story house there should have been more then enough rooms. She sat in one of the large chairs and again she could smell Jason’s cologne.

JK was sitting in Jason’s lap laughing with the others and secretly throwing daggers at Melissa with her eyes. After Melissa had asked Jason to help with her bags it seemed everything else the girl did required Jason’s special touch. JK was surprised the girl didn’t just ask for her to move out of Jason’s lap so that she could sit there instead.

JK had stopped trying to understand the images flashing in her mind. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. The smell of blood hit her full force in the face, and she winced, she stood up and saw a snack bar and kitchen just to the side of the living room. She walked in and beside the sink was a bar of soap. She took the bar of soap and she lathered up her hands until the bar itself was a brownish red color as well. Then she rinsed her hands and she rinsed them some more. The water was a disgusting color as it flowed down the drain and several times JK had to stop herself from throwing up into the sink. After the soap was gone she continued to let the water run over her hands and arms. She just stood there and let tears of confusion, and frustration run down her face. When she turned off the water she stared at her pale hands. They were slightly pruned from the water and her nice acrylic nails that she was always so proud of were chipped and one was broken. Even though she’d washed the blood from her hands it was still there in her mind. The smell even now hung in the air. It made her stomach turn. Then with very little warning she dry heaved into the sink. Then she started throwing up anything in her stomach. Which she knew couldn’t be much. When she was done she stood there and breathed deeply trying to get her balance back. She took her hand and scooped some water into it. She rinsed her mouth out and then stood there and started trying to drink the well water from the faucet. Her resolve to not cry was slowly starting to crumble. She sat down and let a few tears fall down her face in a fit of confusion.
Suddenly her head snapped up, what was that? She had heard a noise! A footstep, she scrambled up and ran towards the noise. She ran into the living room and there was Stephen. He had no color in his face and large bags under his eyes. His arm was wrapped in a white T-shirt and she could see where blood had slipped through, and made a nastily looking cut appear. They just stared at each other for a few minutes neither of them speaking.
“YOUR ALL AGAINST ME!” JK screamed. Stephen was holding her back; “Since you’re with HER then by God I’ll get you too.” JK made another lunge toward Michael, Stephen’s grasp was held tight. She twisted her body and had a manic gleam in her eye. “Let go Stephen.” Stephen just tightened his hold on her and then with a deadly gleam she bit his upper arm. She could feel her teeth tearing into his skin she could taste his blood tickling her senses. This was no love nip, it was a dog tearing out a mans throat bite. Stephen yelped and let go.
Stephen looked about ready to bolt from her presence, which surprised her because Stephen never looked ready to bolt from anything. He was captain of the wrestling team and he was known to be a bit of a bully. You didn’t bother Stephen if you didn’t have too. JK smiled trying to ignore the nagging images in her head.
“Hi.” Stephen did not respond.
“What happened to your arm?” Again Stephen did not speak.
“Well I was surprised to wake up here.” She said.
“Why? Did you think you’d wake up in hell?” Stephen had finally spoken and this time it was JK’s turn not to speak. She didn’t know how to respond to that question. She turned her head to look out the window. For whatever reason Stephen was mad at her. Of course when she’d seen him yesterday in class he’d been fine. She was stumped for words. He had snapped at her and for some strange and unknown reason she thought she deserved it. She heard footsteps and saw Stephen running back up the stairs. She should chase him and make him lead her to the others but the feeling that he was running from her just shook her resolve. Why would he run from her, she never hurt anyone? Perhaps it was all one cruel joke. JK sat down and thought,
“There has to be something going on that I’m unaware of.”
Now what could that something be? Well if Stephen wanted to run from her she couldn’t stop him she was much more athletic then she was. As JK sat there she figured, “If I sit here long enough they will have to come out and face me.” So that was decided her best course of action. She wondered where Jason was. She sat down on one of the armchairs and closed her eyes. Pictures flashed behind them so quickly she couldn’t keep up.
“Hey JK lets go. We want to get some good time on the road” Stephen called out to her second story window.
“Where are we going?” JK called back obviously a little confused.
“Come on we’re going to my Uncles house in the mountains.” Stephen said appearing upset that he’d had to repeat himself.
“Thanks for the invite but what about school?” JK sounded tired.
Stephen looked confused, “What are you talking about, school was out yesterday. We’re free for 2 months. But we’re only going up for a weekend.”
How had JK forgotten that school was out? She opened her eyes and wondered what else she’d forgotten. Suddenly JK knew where she was. But the rest was not clear. It was like a puzzle that was slowly putting itself together but not in the correct order. Then the panic happened, what else had she seen in her head that she’d done. She took a calm deep breath. None of it. She wasn’t capable of performing such heinous acts as she’d seen in her head.
It was all a bad dream that was no where near being through with her yet. The last tangible memory she had was going to bed. In the desert. She remembered before that, school was out and she’d studied so hard she thought she’d pass out. She’d done two English research papers, a history paper, and a math test on top of a math research paper. Chemistry, JK was getting a headache what had she been thinking taking so many classes her senior year. Oh right she wanted to boost up her transcript and try to get into a better college then what it was expected she’d get into. Well she had an impressive transcript but she was worn out. She had been tired to the point she was taking long naps during the day. Although her friends had tried to be understanding it was hard on more then one occasion she had to decline hanging out so that she could study. She didn’t have many friends but the ones she did have were very dear to her. It had hurt when they had teased her about beefing up her transcript but the end result was worth it. Wasn’t it? Well at least she thought it’s done. Up until the end she had quit being social at all. She threw herself completely into her studies. When final grades were posted her friends had confronted her, cornered her and threatened her. She relented and that last week apologies were made and friendships were renewed. She and Jason had apologized and then had spent the better part of a night showing how sorry they were. It had been a roller coaster of emotions. Just thinking about the whole ordeal had her drained. She sat on the over stuffed leather chair. For awhile and then decided to go and find out what happened to her friends here? When she stood up her stomach gave a very unlady like growl. When was the last time she ate?
“You going to eat?” Jason asked her as they watched the 4 boys and 2 girls putting up groceries around the kitchen.
“Nah I’m not hungry today.” JK said as she watched with half closed eyes.
“You not hungry the only time I’ve never seen you eat is in your sleep.”
“Come one JK we brought all this food and some meat for you to barbecue.” Suddenly the boys started howling like dogs, “Yes her famous barbecue!”
JK stood up and with careful anticipation walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. She staggered back. The smell of raw mean reached out and grabbed her. There was food in here. She saw lots of meat that hadn’t been taken out of its package yet. She hesitantly reached in a grabbed a smaller bowl of potato salad in the back when she grasped the lid something pricked her finger. She swore and sucked on the bleeding digit. What had cut her? She moved the bowl and saw a piece of broken glass. A large piece. In fact it had blood on it already. It wasn’t her blood although she could see her fresh tip of blood on the tip. She reached din carefully and pulled out the glass careful not to touch the jagged edges. As she pulled it out she put it on the counter. She looked in drawers and pulled out a cuptowel. She carefully, wrapped the towel around the glass and picked it up.
“You bastard, you say you love me then you betray me, I’ll kill you for that.” JK snarled.
“Your crazy JK you don’t know what your talking about” Jason said in slight panic.
“Bullshit Jason, you were holding her hand.” She accused in a menacing growl.
“I was helping her off the floor I had to hold it to help her up.”
“LIAR!” She lunged forward and stabbed him in the arm with the glass in her hand. He just looked at her with a shocked look in hie eyes. She lunged again.
JK dropped the glass and watched it break into smaller pieces on the ground. Something so vivid couldn’t be imagined could it? If that was the case then how is it she was seeing it in her mind. She wasn’t capable of committing such a terrible act. She leaned against the refrigerator and took a deep breath. She forced herself to breathe. She had to find answers.
She left the salad and went up the stairs. Answers were just around this house and she was going to find them. Somehow she was going to find the truth. She kept pondering in her mind what Stephen had said,
“Why? Did you think you’d wake up in hell?” Apparently this was hell to some extent. She stood up and then ran up the stairs. When she got to the second floor she ran and turned all the doorknobs and swung the doors open.

\"Come out of hiding you cowards. I’ll kill you if I have to find you. You’ll all be dead” Michael jumped in front of her and she lunged. Only to be held back by strong arms.

She slammed open another door and then screamed, it was bathroom and there was blood all over the floor and the mirror.

“You thought you could hide here?” JK said snidely. Melissa shivered, “What are you going to do?” she said with a quivering voice.
“I’ll make it painful so that you know how I feel. You betrayed me. You opened Pandora’s box…”
“NO!” JK screamed. She suddenly decided that her stomach needed to be emptied again. She ran into the bloody bathroom and emptied her stomach into the sink. The smell of blood made her dry heave for several minutes afterward.
“It’s over now, your dead Melissa and there’s nothing you can do about it.” JK grabbed her arm with her long manicured nails she wrapped her hand around Melissa’s throat. Her hands had long fingers and with a new strength she didn’t know she had she squeezed. She kept squeezing. Suddenly her voice took on a conversationalist tone as her other hand joined the first is squeezing.
“You know I forgave you once for teasing me in grade school. I forgave you for teasing me for trying to get good grades. I forgave you for being prettier then I. But I cannot forgive you for trying to steal my boyfriend.” As she spoke Melissa was struggling and trying to grab her arm but JK’s hand just kept getting tighter and tighter. Soon blood poured out from where her nails bit into the milky white skin and spread over her hands. And finally Melissa’s struggles got weaker and weaker. Finally she stopped moving all together. JK kept squeezing and she didn’t stop when Melissa’s head rolled to the side. Finally she threw her into the bathtub and shut the shower curtain.

JK turned around with fearful eyes. Her hands gripped the edge of the curtain. There was so much blood. It had squirted and was every where. She took a deep breath and quickly jerked back the shower curtain.

“I’ll put you in her second Jason.” She stabbed him again with the glass forcing him to go where she wanted him. He didn’t fight her it was as though his mind couldn’t comprehend whom this devil was who’d taken over his girlfriend’s body. Jason looked around the bathroom and in a dazed voice said, “Whose blood is this?”
“It’s your lovers blood who else would I kill? It’s so sad that I had so much happiness wound up in you and now? Oh well, all good things must come to an end. In fact I want you to know I’m not all that angry I’ll even allow you to date Melissa.” Jason was staggering and his fuzzy mind still couldn’t comprehend that he was being attacked by JK. He felt JK take hand, “Jason I’m sorer.” He smiled, this was his JK the JK he knew and trusted. He weakly gripped her hand. She gave him a timid smile and turned his wrist over. With the glass she slit his wrist. He looked at her. She started making various cuts along his arm. Then she stroked his cheek with her bloody hands and said, “Just sleep, in sleep your darkest desires come to light.”
Jason’s body and Melissa’s body bloody and laying on top of each other. In a tub full of blood. JK turned and ran out of the room. She cried and tired to breathe. It wasn’t easy her body seemed to reject any form of oxygen going through her system. She’d killed them. She must have, the refrigerator, the bodies, the engine, the glass, it all pointed to her. She needed a drink.
“Stupid idiots, now I have blood in my mouth and I still have to hunt up Jason.” JK grabbed a glass and rinsed out her mouth. Then she set it in the edge of the counter and watched it totter for a moment before it tipped over and shattered on the ground. JK swore and then started picking up glass shards and dumping the. Then an evil smile came on her face. She took a cuptowel and picked up a piece of glass. It was nicely shaped and pointed. Suddenly she called, “Jason!”

JK gasped and cried even harder. My God what was this! She had killed not just one person but two people. She stood up and started looking again. She ran to the third floor and there at the end of the hallway was the room she’d woken up in. She pushed open the door.
“Michael I’m going to kill you.”
“JK you just need to calm down.”
“I AM calm.”
Michael stopped in front of the room. He didn’t know where else to put her. The plan was let go and push. He let and pushed. Suddenly she turned and grabbed him pulling him into the room with her. When had she gotten so strong? She pulled him in and Stephen slammed the door. Michael broke free and hit his forehead on the wall and JK slammed back and hit her head making her neck give an awkward snap.

JK stepped into the room carefully. Michael was out but she could see the rise and fall of his chest. She looked out the window the day was done and as the sun sat behind the house she looked and gave a sigh. It was so pretty outside, the trees and their shadows stretching forward and covering everything in their path. Michael gave a little moan. She ran and laid sat down behind his head, she started to rock him and then she started to chant, “Don’t worry we’re awake now, don’t worry we’re awake now.”