Insomnia: The First Nightmare

Charlotte Miller's phone vibrated, signaling that she had received a new text message. Looking at the screen, she saw that it was from her best friend, Amelia O'Conner.

'Hey. My parents are out of town for the week, so you know what that means?' the message read.

Sighing, she quickly wrote back. 'Horror Movie Weekend?'

A few seconds later, a reply came, confirming the previous text.

'Alright. What time will you pick me up?'

A few minutes later the phone vibrated again.

'In an hour? That will give me time to get some snacks!'

'Okay. See you then.'

Sliding off her bed, Charlotte grabbed her bag and started packing the things she would need for the weekend. Changing into sweat pants and a hoodie, she pulled her light brown hair into twin-tails.

One hour later, the familiar blue sedan pulled into her driveway. Amelia hopped out of the car and met Charlotte on the walkway. Her curly light red hair was drawn up into a pony tail; she was wearing lounge pants patterned with turtles and a tank top with 'The Sea is for Me' written on it.

"Did you really go out wearing that?"

"Of course, Char! Why wouldn't I? Turtles are awesome!"

Charlotte sighed. She would never understand her hyper friend's obsession with turtles. "Right. Well, should we get going Mel?"

"Sure thing!"

They both climbed into the car, Charlotte putting her overnight bag into the back seat, joining the several bags of groceries already in there.

Seeing as Amelia lived on the complete opposite side of the town, the car ride lasted for close to half an hour. By the time they reached her house, it was a little after ten o'clock. They unpacked the car, and walked inside.

"You can put your bag in the guest room, okay?"

"Alright." the brunette walked up the stairs and down the hall, pushing open the door to the guest bedroom. After placing her dufflebag on the brown and blue comforter, she took off her hoodie and hung it on the bed post. Then she walked back down to the kitchen to find it smelling like popcorn and fake butter. Amelia was already munching on some while waiting for another bag to finish cooking.

"So, what movie are we going to watch tonight?" Charlotte asked.

"The Exorcist!"

"What? But, we have seen that one five times!"

"Yeah, but not all the way in complete darkness!"

"But..." the brunette's quiet protests went unheard by the ginger as the microwave beeped.

"Come on! Let's go start the movie!" Amelia grabbed the bowl and second bag of popcorn, and walked into the T.V. room. "Oh, and can you grab some sodas? They're in the fridge."

"Okay...." She grabbed two bottles of soda from the shelf and joined her friend in the other room. Amelia was fiddling with the Blu-Ray player under the flat screen T.V. She sat down on the sofa and placed the refreshments on the table infront of it. A minute later, Amelia joined her after turning off the lights.

That was a mistake.

Halfway through the movie, Amelia ran out of the room, leaving Charlotte behind to block out everything with a pillow.

When the credits started rolling, the red-head strolled back into the room, accompanied by a turtle plushie.

"Wasn't that amazing?" she asked.

"Uh... Y-yeah. Sure. A-amazing." Charlotte stuttered.

"Told you we could do it!"

"You ran out of the room halfway through, Mel..."

Amelia shrugged. "Well, I got further than last time!" She yawned. "I'm tired. Let's get some sleep, eh?"

"Alright." The two friends trudged up the stairs. Bidding the other good night, Charlotte stepped into the guest room and shut the door.

Amelia walked down the hall a bit further until she got to her room. Closing the door behind her, she set her turtle plushie on a bean bag chair and got into bed.

However, as hard as she tried, sleep would not come to her. Everytime she came close to drifting off, she heard whispers around her. Opening one eye she reassured herself that nothing was there.

Finally, she managed to fall asleep.

***

She wasn't exactly sure when she woke up, or where. She was surrounded by a field of perfectly green grass, waving in the gentle breeze.

Looking around, she noticed a figure standing atop one of the hills.

"Hey!" she called out. When the figure didn't respond, she started to run toward it.

As she got closer, she was able to see the figure, and recognize it.

"Charlotte. Hey! Charlotte! Do ya know where we are?"

The brunette turned around as her friend called out the her. She bent down, picked something off the ground, and handed it to Amelia.

"I think this belongs to you" she said very quietly.

"Huh? Oh! Thanks!" it was her plush turtle. "Do you know where we are?"

The brunette didn't respond.

"Hey, Char? Do you kno-"

That's when she noticed the blood.

"Char! You- You're bleeding! Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. It's not too bad. It doesn't hurt at all."

"'Not too bad'? Charlotte, your whole left side is bleeding! And a lot too!"

"I'm sorry, Amelia. I'll... I'll do better next time."

"'Do better next time'? What? What the hell are you talking about."

Suddenly, Amelia felt herself get shoved away as another figure appeared behind Charlotte.

"Char! Look out!"

But it was too late. The figure had stabbed the brunette in the stomach with a knife, and disappeared.

"Charlotte!" The ginger screamed as she saw her friend collapse to the ground. Running over to the girl, she took out the blade, placed her hands over the wound, and applied pressure, noticing that the ground beneath her was already stained red. "Char! Charlotte! Y-you're loosing so much blood! Please be alright. Just please..."

"I-I'm sorry, Mel. I failed..."
"Shh. Don't talk. I have to stop the bleeding." But beneath her hands, Amelia could feel her friend's heartbeat slow.

The field around them started to fade away.

At that moment, Charlotte chuckled softly. "Run." 

Amelia felt hands wrap around her neck, pulling her up.
Then, darkness swept over her.

***

Amelia sat up in her bed panting, a scream caught in her throat. Looking at her surroundings, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. 'It was just a dream,' she thought, unaware that the nightmare had only just begun.