Trapped

"No!" she screamed, the chilling darkness creep

ing out of every corner. "Don't!" her bones

locked against themselves in the frigid

air. She watched, eyes widened in terror

as a handful of claws breached the dark, 

sliding to her. The girl's heart hammered 

away in her chest - a violent thud, thud, thud

that she felt in her bones and imagined

that she could hear. And as the fingers of 

darkness came out to reach her, a single

claw scratched its way down her spine and she

shrieked herself awake from the nightmare. 

Her panicked eyes flew open and flitted

around her bedroom. Darkness. The creeping 

darkness surrounded her. A scream crept its 

way toward her gaping mouth, but the ear-

splitting sound never came out. When would the

terrifying nightmares end? Would they ever

end? Or was she doomed to replay the dark

terrors every night for the rest of

forever? She fought to suppress the rising

panic that paralleled such uncertain

questions. Its been months since he... a chilling

shudder crept up the girl's spine. Its been six

months since he had left her. And the bitter 

realization dawned on her panicked mind. 

Memories flooded over her mind. But

these memories were happy memories. 

She drew all the way back to the first day

they had met each other as sophomores in

high school, then to the attractive couple

they became as juniors, then to the night

of senior prom. Such joyful memories 

that she was very fond of that brought tears to

her eyes. She fast forwarded to college. 

They had attended and graduated

from the same university. They had

been sweethearts of eight years before he had

proposed to her. Of course she had said "Yes." 

Their engagement had lasted a happy

and wonderful year before they began

finalizing their wedding arrangements. 

No longer was their relationship one

of affection and love. In a matter 

of weeks, things grew bitter between the two. 

Emotions were always riled and care

for each other's feelings were long forgotten. 

The couple grew very indifferent 

towards each other. She was convinced that

he was drinking in secret, which caused the

violent fights and disdainful atmosphere

whenever they were in a room together. 

The girl slowly pulled her exhausted mind 

from the painful memories. Her tired

eyes scanned the room once more. Darkness. Darkness.

It surrounded her and whispered to her. 

If he was here, if things hadn't grown so

horrible, she would have no reason to

fear the darkness now, but he had left her

and she had turned into this insecure,

miserable, and frightened girl who now

suffered through life-like nightmares every

night. And this was her life now. Six months 

ago... Her mind suddenly dove into

a particularly poignant memory. 

It was less than two weeks until the day

of their wedding. She sat, crying in their

bedroom. She didn't know what to do to

save and rekindle the tattered remains 

of their relationship. She didn't know

if anything could be done at this point.

As she let out another sob, he 

appeared in the doorway. "Don't cry." His voice 

was rough, broken, and far from the gentle 

tone she longed for. (It's all your fault.) She 

retorted in her mind and watched as he

walked further into the room. "Don't." he

repeated, a cross between anger and 

despondence. "Why should I?" she snapped, glaring

up at him. He slowly sunk down onto

the bed next to her. "Because." His voice was 

calmer, as if he was bothered by her

tears. "We're going to be married in three

days. This isn't a time for crying." She 

took one look at him and collapsed, sobbing

like a lost child in his outstretched arms. 

She clung to him, afraid to let the

moment go, because if she let go, she

might lost him forever. In this way, 

the moment represented their fragile

relationship. But she didn't have to 

let go, because he wouldn't let her go. 

The girl gasped as she broke free from the

stinging memory only to be plunged

into a much worse and heartrending one. 

She was halfway down the Church aisle, white

gown flowing behind her, face behind a 

thin screen of white. She walked in time to the

cheerful music. Her eyes met his as she 

stepped onto the alter. A smile

brightly infected her face. But he wasn't

smiling. He looked panicked, lost even. 

"I can't." He stared at her, almost looking

through her.  "I can't do this." The girl's smile

slowly fell as she realized how serious

he was. "Vince?" She whispered, afraid that her

voice would fail if she spoke aloud. "I'm 

sorry, Jamie." He said abruptly and

brushed past her, stepped off the alter, and walked

down the aisle. The only sound was the

door banging closed as he exited the

Church. "Don't you love me?" She whispered to the

closed door, eyes filling with tears. 

                                                       She slowly 

released herself from the memory and

fell back into the creeping darkness. Tears

stung her eyes. "Don't you love me?" she whispered

to the darkness, desperately wishing 

she had his answer.