When Night Breaks

It was past midnight when my car pulled into the driveway of my makeshift hideaway home. There was a light still on glaring out from Leo’s bedroom window. I knew he was probably up playing video games or reading. The thought of such a wonderful night ending brought on a slight sadness. I wanted to stay at Samantha’s longer, and had to practically pull myself away from her. I had never felt such a rush or such an inner peace than when I held her. She had told me she loved me; it was something no one had ever said to me before, really. At least not in a way that I believed.

I stepped out of my car, the gravel crunching under my dress shoes. I loosening my tie as I walked to the door. The doorknob was cold on my hand as I turned the key to open it. I walked into Leo’s room, without knocking. He was sitting at his desk, looking over some papers.

“Hey man, I’m home.” It wasn’t until that moment that I realized just how tired I actually was.

“Have fun?” He asked, without looking up from his work.

“Yeah. I did.” He didn’t respond, and I leaned against the door frame. “Leo?”

“Yeah?” Looking up at me, he furrowed his brow.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever been in love?” Leo and I had been friends for many years. He had occasionally dated a few women but it never seemed like anything serious developed out of it. Truth be told though, I had never bothered to ask him.

“Oh my God Jay, are we seriously having this conversation?” Leo was never one for mushy conversation.

“No man, I’m serious. Have you?”

“I mean…no,” he stammered, “I guess not. Why? Are you in love?”

I paused for a moment, a slight smile showing across my face. I looked down at my feet and then back at Leo. I simply nodded slightly, my smile growing.

“Ugh.” He sighed, taking off his glasses. “Do you like, want to talk about it?”

“She loves me too.” It was the first statement I could think to make. Leo rolled his chair away from his desk and focused his attention on me.

“Jay, are you sure?” I knew that he would question the validity of it all.

“I’m positive. She told me.”

“Well, you’ve known her a pretty good while, spent a lot of time together, so I guess it makes sense.” I mentally counted in my mind how many months we had been seeing each other. It was early August when I first saw her, and now Thanksgiving was approaching. Was it possible to fall for someone that fast? Or was that right on track? I had no experience with matters of the heart, so I did not know. Leo stood up, and as he walked out of his room, he patted me on the back.

“I see that she makes you happy. Just don’t get hurt.” I nodded, following his down the hallway before going into my bedroom.

I traded my dress clothes for an old pair of sweats and no shirt. I got into bed, the sheets cool but refreshing against my body. My body was tired and urging my to sleep, but my mind didn’t turn off. I smiled to myself as I envisioned Samantha; the way the dimples formed when she smiled a genuine smile, the way her cheeks would turn a slight red when I got close to her, and the way she looked at me after kissing me for the first time. It was such a tender moment, and as I laid in bed I ached to have her near me again.



I was running. It was dark and I didn’t know where I was. The air was thick and sticky. I felt the sweat dripping down from my forehead. I kept running; faster and faster. I came to the edge of a forest. I stopped my stride and pondered if I should enter.
“Jay.” I whirled around, trying to find the source of the voice. It got louder and louder but I saw no one.

“Jay. Why are you running Jay?” The voice was coming from inside the forest. I turned to run in the direction I came. But the voice followed every step I took.

“You can’t get away. Quit running from me Jay.”

It was all around me, now. The sound of the voice was coming at me from every direction. It grew louder and louder as I began to panic. The air was getting warmer and I struggled to breathe. I hit my knees, gasping for air as a figure emerged out of no where.

“Jay.” Her hand reached out and touched my face, her jagged nails sending chills down my spin. There was dirt under each one, and her hand was gray. I looked up at her face, sunken and pale. She had slash marks down all over her body.

“Leave!” I managed to yell as I attempted to get up to run.

“I’ll never leave you, Jay. I’ll always be here; to haunt you and torment your dreams and thoughts.

You only thought that I was dead. But I’ll never really die, will I?” she dissipated into the air, leaving me trembling.



I jumped up, trying to catch my breath. I was burning up, and dripping sweat. I slowed my breathing down as I realized it was only a dream. A terrible nightmare. They were occurring more frequently and more vividly than ever before. I was still shaking as I got out of bed.

I glanced at the trashcan by my door. Leo always forgot to empty it when he took out the trash every week. There was never much garbage in it, minus a few paper wads here and there. But something caught my eye. It was the photo I had thrown away the day Samantha came by. I reached in the trash can and held the photo in my hand. It was around 8:30 in the morning, and the sun was shining in through a crack in my curtains. But I knew my eyes were as white as snow, glaring with hatred at the girl in the photo. Kara had haunted my dreams for years, and I knew that she was back. But why? Why was she now filling my head? I had forgotten about her in the years since moving to North Carolina, and I wished so bad that she would stay forgotten. But after seeing her dead corpse in my nightmare, I knew I had to force her out of my mind.

I reached over to my desk and picked up a lighter. I didn’t smoke and didn’t use candles, but sometimes I liked to flick on the lighter and just stare at the flame as it burned. It was soothing, at times.

I walked outside, the fall morning biting me with its cold teeth. I flicked the lighter and stuck the corner of the photograph into the flame. I dropped it onto the ground as the flames consumed Kara’s figure in the picture. I stood and watched the paper burn until it was nothing more than ashes.