Chapter 1: Birthday

You are not supposed to be afraid of going to sleep. When you are, things are bad. Sure, there are nightmares, sometimes terrifyingly vivid, but they do not make you afraid, because you know that you are going to wake up. Besides, when you are asleep you are free to be or do anything you want. You could simply be on holiday, or you could be a superhero, and nobody can judge you. They are your dreams and nightmares. Nobody can interfere.

But Stephanie couldn't help wondering if somebody was.

She knew that she was sleeping as she wandered about a posh hotel. There was no way that her mother could afford anything like that anyway, and besides, she didn't even like hotels very much. She wasn't particularly sure why she was dreaming about one.

As she wandered around, Stephanie suddenly felt like somebody was watching her. And that was wrong. Nobody should be watching you without you knowing about it in your own dream. That was when Stephanie realized that it was a nightmare.

It wasn't just any nightmare. It was one of those. The ones that made her afraid of sleeping.

The previously almost not there feel of the wooden flooring under her bare feet vanished, replaced by the definite hard feeling of wood under her feet. The air seemed to thicken and become more believable, as if the dream was trying to hard to be real. Stephanie closed her eyes tightly, bile beginning to rise up in her stomach. She swallowed it down, and began running blindly, her eyes tightly shut.

Then something very hard and very real hit her in the face. Stephanie stumbled backwards, tears pricking the insides of her eyelids. But she refused to open them, finding the darkness comforting. Even when she hit the hard wooden flooring they stayed glued shut.

She shouldn't even have hit the floor in the first place. She shouldn't have been able to feel it, or the thing that had hit her in the face. Even that, whatever it was, wasn't supposed to be there.

And yet it was, again. And again. And again and again.

" Get up," a man's voice said harshly. Stephanie felt her stomach clench with fear at the sound of his voice, though she didn't even know what he looked like. Her eyes had never opened, in all of the times that she had experienced this nightmare, not once. Every time, the same thing happened. Every time, something hit her in the face. Every time, she ran, and fell. Every time she was kicked and told to get up. But her eyes were never open.

As if on cue, she felt a boot connect with her side. There was definite pain whenever the unseen man did this, so much so that she could not quite tell herself that this was all a dream.

" GET UP!" The man shouted at her. His boot connected with her side again. And again. And again.

" STOP IT!" Stephanie screamed at him, her anger suddenly getting the better of her. This was not her dream. It wasn't even real. She ignored the pain in her side, or the metallic taste in her mouth from where she had bit her lip. It was a stupid dream.

Her eyes flew open just as the barrel of a gun was shoved in her face.

She scrambled out of the way, knocking into a person standing in the doorway. She smelt heavy perfume, lilac scent, her mothers favorite.

" Mum!" Stephanie shouted, throwing her arms around her mother. Her mother hugged her back, cradling her head against her chest.

" WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!" Her mother shouted. Stephanie flinched at her anger. She had never seen her mother properly angry before, not really, but now she was properly screaming." WHAT HAS SHE DONE TO DISERVE YOU THUGS BEATING HER TO A PULP!"

They said nothing. For a second Stephanie tried to convince herself that they were leaving, then rough hands ripped her off her mother. Stephanie lay still on the floor, closing her eyes again.

" GET-UP!" The man screamed at her."GET UP AND FIGHT YOU FREAK!"

" Stephy, get up," Stephanie's eyes shot open. Her mother was crouched next to her, shaking her arm. Without thinking, Stephanie leapt up and threw her arms around her. Her mother hugged her back, a little confused.

" Good morning to you," She said. Stephanie let go of her, smiling, tears threatening to spill over. Tears of relief that the nightmare had been just that. A nightmare. Nothing to be afraid of.

Stephanie glanced at the alarm and did a double take.

" Mum, we have an agreement," Stephanie said seriously, trying to take her mind off her nightmare." No waking me up on the weekend before-"

" Before 10 at least, i know," her mother interrupted. She smiled at Stephanie, amused." Don't you know what day it is?"

" Should i?" Stephanie mumbled, feeling tired and grumpy already.

" Go check the calendar," her mother told her. Stephanie groaned and shook her head, burying it soon afterwards in her pillow. Her mother began to laugh at her. Stephanie lifted her head back up again to scowl at her.

" What?"

" I'm not going to tell you..." Stephanie huffed in frustration, not wanting to leave the warmth of her bed. She hated getting up in the mornings. It annoyed her so much. When she went to bed her bed was freezing, but when she woke up it was nice and warm, and she never wanted to get out of it.

Thinking about this brought her mind back to dwell on her dreams. She jumped out of her bed quickly, the sudden rush of cold air taking her mind off the subject slightly again. She then proceeded to march past her mother, who was still finding something incredibly amusing. She marched down the stairs, jumping the fifth one down. It always creaked whenever people stepped on it, and ever since she was little Stephanie had always been afraid that it would suddenly break and she would fall through. She knew that it was silly of course, but even now, when she was 16 years old that step was always skipped.

Wait, 16...Stephanie stopped on the last step.

' No,' she thought.'I can't have forgotten...'

She sprinted into the kitchen, sliding slightly on the polished wooden floor. She looked at the calendar. July 25th. She was 17.

" I'm 17."

" Not quite yet," Stephanie jumped as her mother spoke. She was leaning on the kitchen door frame, pointing to the clock hanging next to the fridge." 2 more minutes."

Stephanie sighed, staring at the calendar. How could she have forgotten her own birthday? She supposed, with the stress of her nightmares that it had just slipped her mind. Suddenly, she burst out laughing at the sheer stupidity of it all. Her mother joined in, walking over to her and giving her a hug.

" Look," Stephanie followed her mother's pointing finger to the clock again. 8:43 on July 25th. She was officially 17. Her mother grabbed her birthday card off the kitchen counter and chucked it to her. Stephanie caught it, turning it over to have a look at the front. It was one of her mother's home made cards, the ones that her mother was so fond of making. This one had a picture of Stephanie when she was little, at the local fair. She was holding a huge stick of candyfloss and she was grinning like a fool. The picture was outline in little heart sequins and there was enough glitter covering the surface to drown a small elephant.

" Mum!" Stephanie complained, pointing to the picture." You could have used a better picture!"

Her mother shrugged, grinning. Stephanie sighed and opened the card. It read: Love to the grumpy teenager on her birthday from her poor, slaving mother.

" Poor, slaving mother?"

" It's so sad," Her mother pretended to wipe away a tear. Stephanie rolled her eyes at her, putting the card on the side again. She sat down, a wave of tiredness suddenly coming over her. Her mother looked at her as she drooped, a concerned expression on her face.

" You want to go back to sleep Steph?"

" NO!" Stephanie's head jerked up, awake and alert suddenly. Her mother's eyes widened, and she looked surprised. Stephanie took a deep breath and forced a smile." No that's O.K."

Her mother walked over to her and sat down. Stephanie looked at her, biting her lip.

" You were talking in your sleep," her Mother said seriously. Stephanie swallowed, nodding.

" Yes, and?"

" You've been talking in your sleep for thirteen days straight," Stephanie swallowed again, standing up. Her mother stood up as well, holding her shoulders." Stephanie, what are you dreaming about?"

Stephanie shook herself free of her mother's grasp and walked stiffly into the living room, flicking the television on. Her mother followed her, standing in the doorway again.

" Stephy? Are you going to tell me?" Stephanie looked at her, feeling guilty as she saw an expression of deepest concern on her mother's face. She was truly worried about her. Stephanie opened her mouth, but shut it again as something on the television caught her eye. It was video footage of a large white building and several people being lead inside.

" Reports are coming in that a large group of Psychics have been found sheltering in an abandoned warehouse. They were found with guns in their possession. There are also reports that two officers were killed trying to apprehend them," The Newsman was saying. Stephanie stared at the television screen, sighing. She didn't like the Psychics, no-one did, but she did not agree with some of the lengths the officers went to to capture them. She found it barbaric and cruel, just like her mother.

" Another one?" Her mother was temporarily distracted. Stephanie took this opportunity to attempt to slip away. She wasn't very successful. Her mother cleared her throat as she got up. Stephanie took the hint and sat down again.

" Look, Steph," Her mother said, her eyes sad." I noticed these nightmares started the night of your D-Dad's 10 year memorial."

Stephanie's brain suddenly clicked. She hadn't really noticed before, but now she realized that her mother was right. The first nightmare had occurred on the exact same night as her father's memorial, thirteen days ago. Yes, that was probably it. That was the most likely explanation.

She felt guilty for using her father's memorial as an excuse for her fear. Immediately, she felt her eyes tear up out of sadness and shame.

" I-i'm sorry Stephy i shouldn't have brought it up," her mother said quickly. Stephanie nodded, staring at the television to distract herself from her thoughts.

" There have been many reported cases of Psychics attacking normal, innocent people without provocation," an official looking man was speaking into a microphone at some sort of conference." And we furthermore rule them to be a danger to soci-"

" Oh, shut up!" Her mother shouted suddenly, turning the television off. Stephanie stared at her mother in surprise. Her mother was breathing heavily, surreptitiously glancing at Stephanie. Stephanie narrowed her eyes, suspicious of her mothers behaviour.

" What's with you?" She asked. Her mother shook her head, not speaking. She got up and walked out of the living room. Stephanie frowned,before shrugging her shoulders and turning the television back on. The piece on Psychics was still running, and the Newsman was interviewing somebody. Stephanie wasn't really paying attention to it.

" Stephy."

Stephanie jumped. Her mother was back, her eyes slightly red.

" Stephy," She said again." You would-tell me if anything serious was happening right?"

" I suppose so," Stephanie shrugged." Why?"

" Oh, nothing, nothing," Her mother frowned at the the television again." For gods sake, it's this thug again."

" What thug...?" Stephanie looked at the television and felt her stomach clench. She shot up off her seat, she froze, her palms beginning to get sweaty. On the television, talking to the Newsman, was the man who haunted her dreams.

Automatically her hand went to her ribs where he kicked her every night. In her head she could hear his voice shouting, "GET UP! GET UP YOU FREAK!".

" Steph!" Her mother yelled in surprise as she began to sway on the spot. Then suddenly the ground was coming at her very fast. She had fainted. she was asleep.

She ran, something hit her in the face, she fell, she was kicked.

' Keep your eyes closed,' she told herself.

She ran, something hit her in the face, she fell, she was kicked.

' Don't look, don't look.'

" GET UP!"

' Don't look!'

" GET UP! GET UP AND FIGHT YOU FREAK!"

' DON'T LOOK AT THEM!'

Ring, ring...

Stephanie's eyes flew open. The doorbell was ringing. She looked at her alarm. It was 10:43pm. She heard her mother grumble in the next room.

" Who the hell-at this time-" her mother rambled incoherently as she got up. Stephanie swung her legs put of bed also, thinking along the same lines as her mother. Who on earth would be calling at this time?

Knock, knock, knock.

" Alright! I'm coming!" Stephanie heard the fifth stair creak. Her mother was halfway down the stairs, still mumbling in annoyance. She heard her unlock the front door.

" What the hell-" Her mother's tone suddenly changed. It was afraid and angry at the same time." Oh no, please..."

Stephanie tore out of her bed, not liking the way her mother sounded.

" Where is she?"

Stephanie froze. She heard him shouting at her again in her head, she felt him kicking her and hitting her.

Her mouth opened in a scream.