《Born days of Grace》 Nightmares "Dream - a series of thoughts ,images and sensations happening during the sleep." The silence is so deafening. I can hear my heart beat .I don''t know how and I don''t know why I am standing in the middle of some highway that is fenced by forest on both sides. The highway is deserted as long as I can see .The dense smoke from the forest is covering the highway. My feet is rooted to the road. No matter how much I try ,it just don''t move. "Any one there? Can anyone hear me?" I could taste the bile in my throat, ear aching from the repetitive sounds of my own heart-beat, like an abyss. I knew that I was alone in here. After wandering senselessly, I hearda rustle to my left. If I was hearing my heartbeat in my ears before, I can feel the heart in my throat now . The eerie silence followed made my head spin. Suddenly, I have this feeling in the pit of stomach indicating that something bad is going to happen. I feel like throwing up and I can feel that someone is watching me from the woods. "He...Hello. Is this a prank?",I whispered.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "If it is a joke , please stop it right now cause , it isn''t funny". Silence For Christ''s sake ! Don''t cry. Don''t cry. Don''t cry. No.. I am gonna cry. After losing track of the time and distance on the highway , I saw a small light like a little dot.Bless my soul. I started running towards the little light. I can feel my chest was tightening ,as I inch closer to it. "Grace". I heard a whisper behind me. I swear I''ve never turned that fast in my life. It was horrifying to realize there was no one. They say the primal and strongest emotion of mankind is fear and the strongest form of fear?. It is the fear of unknown and I can''t help but ponder about it. "Jordan ? Is that you?",I whispered.So much for a courageous girl. Maybe it was my mind conjuring but some part of me was telling me it''s real .I brushed off the idea and as I was before the eyes of the light, fear is now associated with hope, but hope doesn''t last long. I felt something heavy hit my head and all of a sudden I was floating mid- air. Those moments felt like my last. Death, here I come. The moment I was bracing myself for the impact, I saw it. With that, I jerked awake in my bed , blankets around my legs. The temperature in the room was chilly. Even I knew that that was just a dream, I could feel the adrenaline rush with my heart pumping very fast. Nightmares are my thing and I don''t like it a bit. The outing The phone was blaring in my ears. I flipped around and shut my eyes tightly concentrating onmy dreamless sleep. After that nightmare, I couldn''t close my eyes. Every time I closed my eyes the last thing I saw in the dream kept popping up. I didn''t even knew when I fellasleep and now this damn phone was disturbing me. I groaned and picked up the phone. "Hello", I said in a hoarse tone. "Grace get your lazy ass off the bed right now !!!! ", Eva was shrilling in the other side. Music to my ears. "Good Morning to you too Eva.", I said sarcastically. "What?" Confusion was evident in her voice. After a pause Eva spoke again, "Christ Grace!, We were talking about the day out till 1 yesterday night. Today, I call you to ask if you were ready only to find out , you are busy drooling in the pillow. Why can''t you just pick up the goddamn phone and not make me call your mother? Why? Just tell me why? ". I was a second close to ask her to talk slowly but I knew better to break hell loose if I do. I could hear her taking deep breathes. "Okay. Here''s the deadline. I am giving you exactly 30 minutes and I want you out after. Now, GET READY !!" "Hey, I''m..". The line went dead.Shit. Eva Marie Campbell ,a beautiful blonde, perfect structure , a pure soul and mybest friend through summer and winter.Controlling and caring are her traits. She is a member of our school cheer team , almost everyone bully me. She is my shield. She doesn''t care who talks bad about being my friend and I am grateful for that. Cool Eva comes when she jabs at my bullies. She lives down my street in a mansion with her family. Did I mention she was controlling.Yeah, she is. After brushing my teeth and bathing within a record time of 15 minutes .I put onmy favorite jeans and green sweatshirt that doesn''t show much of my shape. I tied mywaist length black hair into a bun. When I went down, I saw my dadin the dinning table reading papers ,mom in the kitchen and my sister, Violet ,in the phone. Weekends are same in our house, Dad reading papers all day for his research, Mom doing her special--that''s what she says--pancakes and iced tea. Violettalking to her friends from school for catching up--what changes between Friday afternoon and Saturday Morning ,I don''t know. Ever since Violet entered the middle school, the conversation between us became less. She started hanging out with her friends more and one time she told mom that she was embarrassed of me when enquired by mom. They think I don''t hear anything that happens inside the house.Wrong. "Eva called". Mom said while setting the dishes. "I spoke with her mom". I said plainly. Right when I took my backpack a car horned in our driveway . I rushed to the car waving my hands. The July weather in Chestertown is never disappointing. Not too humid to enjoy some water time in the lake. We have more visitors during this season as Chestertown is famous for its home made popsicle and Loon lake where water festival takes place around this time of the summer.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. When I reached the car, the two persons I least expected were in the car and Eva was standing outside sulking with her hands crossed across her chest. "What happened? "I asked confusedly. By the looks of Eva I can clearly see that she didn''t like them tagging along. Suddenly a head popped out of the passenger seat causing me a little shriek. "Grace what are you doing out there? Get in the car , we are going to the lake" "Jordan? What are you doing in the car and who told you were coming with us? ". I looked at Eva pouting, "You said it will be only us today. Girls day out ? Remember ?". "I'' m sorry Grace. When I parked here, Jordan asked where we were going today. When I told him that we are going to just hang out by the lake, he got in the car saying he will be coming with us". Sometimes, I forget that he lives across the street and has habit of going protective brother over me. Not that I care still sometimes he don''t get the idea of private space. Well this is Jordan Owen Smith, my brother from another mother ,school soccer team player, high school senior and my personal body guard. We have know each other from birth. Dad and uncle Smith were best buddies from school days. I sighed and looked at Jordan."Jordan, it is supposed to be only us" . "No way in the world I am sending my sweet little Grace alone for the lake and hangout. You know that festival is going on in the town right plus I am B-O-R-E-D". "I am almost sixteen and trust me that I can handle difficult situations and there is nothing dangerous in attending town festival. We know all the people in the town and why can''t you just go practice for your sponsorship and don''t even start about my little Grace thing "I whined. "Get in the car or we are cancelling the hangout ".Jordan said firmly. I huffed and entered the back of the car with Eva and that''s when I saw that deep hazel eyes looking at me through the rearview mirror. "Hey Grace" . He said with his thick honey voice. Kill me now.. "Hey Elijah". Elijah Mathews -Jordan''s best buddy, quarterback, blonde, high school senior, loves gaming, the popular guy whom every girl want as her boyfriend, makes best dumplings in the world, goes to gym every Tuesday through Friday. Stalker much. Elijah was my first crush I developed when I was 14.When he started dating ,it broke me .There were countless nights, I cried myself to sleep. He was worth it. Among all the boys I''ve know he was the most gentle and caring one ever. Though I felt happy seeing him happy, when he shares about his love life with Jordan -- during hangout at his house where I practically live-- there was this tightness in my chest that I couldn''t explain. I knew Elijah never saw me as a girl who he could date, but all I could do is HOPE. Last year Elijah broke up with his 3rd girlfriend in 3 years and he is SINGLE now. "Is that my Double Chocolate Chunkie Brownie!!". Eva asked suddenly through gritted teeth, diverting all our attention towards her. Jordan cocked his eyebrows and smirked.There he goes. "Yes Marie. It is your brownie" said with a wink. Oh Boy Two things Eva hated most were, someone eating her chocolate brownie and calling her Marie. Jordan knew where to press her buttons. When I turned towards Eva, her face was red with anger. I could practically see smoke coming from her ears. *Smack* I knew that the day was going to be a long one. The festval After a 30 minutes of tormenting drive, Jordan parked the car in the gravel road that has a small trail to the deserted part of the lake. We started walking in the trail after taking all the necessities for a nice swim in the warm weather. "Why don''t you try and ask him? ", Eva whispered. "You know I can''t", I said looking at Elijah longingly, who was walking along with Jordan in the front. "I am scared ". "One day Jordan is going to find out and you won''t be able to do anything about it. People have feelings Grace, things happen to them without control. Maybe Jordan might help if you tell him about your feelings towards Elijah", Eva stated I knew that Jordan was not a person who''d judge me . He never took out on my physical appearance for his status. Maybe I could say about my feelings on Elijah to Jordan if not to Elijah, but if things went south the friendship we shared these years would be crushed. I would rather bear this feelings than spoiling our friendship. Atleast I will know what is happening in Elijah''s life.. When the lake came into the view, the boys started sprinting towards the water , removing all the clothes in the way, throwing the bags abruptly near the dock and landed in the water with huge splash. This side of lake is encrusted with large trees and insects. People of our town rarely used this side. Jordan discovered this place during his Scouts expedition and it became our safe haven. "Grace!! ", Eva yelled at my ears. "What?! ",I said at the same intensity. "I said change your clothes", she gave me death glare. "Okay". After changing into my shorts and swim shirt, I turned to see Eva wearing a spaghetti strapped swim suit. Times like these, my confidence flies out the window. Though there are times that I actually didn''t care about myself, the looks of disgust from the people really gets me each time. I try my best to avoid such gazes and concentrate positives that life''s given me--it isn''t as easy as it is. Its just that I love food more than anything. Food is associated with my every emotion. It is my safe haven. Though there are times I have tried diets for weight loss, I don''t have enough motivation to do so. "Lets go", Eva told walking towards the lake -- waking me from my daydream. After an hour of playing ,swimming and letting ourselves go in water, Eva slowly pulled us out of the water. She was changing very fast and was fidgetting with her feet. "What happened,Ev? ",I asked furrowing my eyebrows, watching her carefully. It isn''t like her. "Nothing. Dress up fast .I want to leave right now ".She said while shifting her eyes between the boys and me. "Why ? Something going on? ". I asked her "I may have done something with Jordan''s shoes to which he might become furious and I may have the desire to live a little longer" ,Eva smirked while looking at me and then his shoes. I am not going to see what''s in there. We both started running while laughing towards the town festival crowd.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "I can''t believe you did that", I said while laughing. "He did eat my chocolate brownie and called me Marie." ,Eva said while heaving a sigh. The festival was packed with people from the neighboring towns, various stalls for games and food were installed in the front of the mayor building. Various displays of achievement and honors that town has achieved and people who have helped in the enhancement of the town were all there. This time of the year was the most exciting time in our town and to my excitement there were many ice cream stalls displaying mouthwatering ice creams and popsicles. The ice cream made in these stalls were milked from our local farms making it more special. After eating a chunk of ice creams and popsicle, we both went for the giant wheel, that stood majestically at the center of the crowd that takes upto 50 feet up. The thing about riding giant wheel is when you are at the crest of the ride, the nature unfolds beautifully in front of you by showing transparent lake perfectly reflecting the clear blue sky and surrounded by bottle green vegetation on all the sides extending for kilometers on one side, and sculpted building appears as lego models creating an exuberant good feelings. Feeling lighter at the top of the wheel and sinking feeling overtaking while going down brought whirlwind of emotions inside me.I felt like nothing could hold me down even if it is far from truth. I may have taken some wrong decisions while facing my fears but life is all about mistakes and learning. We learn from mistakes and I am not going to make those same mistakes again. I was able to spot Elijah in the crowd with a girl . There were people in my small world, who truly worry about me and I was not going to let them down. As the ride was going on and on I could feel the emotions bottling up within me. I felt like crying, i feel grateful ,happy ,sad at the same time . I sense some kind of pressure building up inside me. I closed my eyes and started counting. When I opened my eyes, Eva was looking at me. I shot a small smile at her indicating that I was doing fine and started looking at the grandeur view in front of me.When we were descending I saw it again. The cloak. The nightmare that has been haunting me for months .It disappeared in the blink of the eyes. It has to be my imagination. When we unloaded our cart my heart was sputtering inside my chest and the sense of paranoia took over, with a creeping sensation. Thin layer of sweat formed on my forehead. My eyes were frantically searching the crowd, praying the cloak I saw was just a figment of my imagination. "Grace! Grace! Are you okay? Grace, look at me", Eva jerked me towards her snapping me out of the thoughts . My mind was blank . I could see her face etched with worry but I couldn''t register the things happening around me. Slowly after few deep breaths I smiled at her " I am fine, I think my stomach is acting up after eating and riding the wheel. That''s it". "Okay , then lets get you home. Its just mayor speech after this", she said nudging me to walk forward. When we walked back to the car, Jordan was sitting in the hood with his phone. "Shit. I forgot about him", Eva grunted next to me. I started laughing thinking about the outcome of the little prank that Eva pulled on Jordan. This brought Jordan''s attention to us. "See, lets be civil ,okay?. You ate my brownie without my permission and called me Marie and I squished some insects inside your shoes. You did one and I did it back, okay?. Lets end it here , okay". Jordan was intently listening to what Eva was saying ,threw a smile small towards her. "I ended it earlier, Eva. Lets get going". "What?" Eva and I asked at the same time. "Come on girls .Elijah went to festival with his friend ,lets get moving okay. I am tired", Jordan told us taking us by surprise and started the engine . Eva and I looked at each other surprised because a)Jordan isn''t compromising type b)He loves his shoes more that his ex girlfriend c)He never leaves a festival until we drag him out The Jordan inside the car smiling at us is contradicting the things that real Jordan does .Without saying anything we both entered the car. "I think something is wrong" , Eva whispered to me looking at ever so joyful Jordan. My eyes were trained at Jordan looking at us through the mirror. I think so too