The mountain cabin was all around me. I was laying in bed. How the hell did I get to my bed? I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It said 6:00 a.m., that couldn’t be possible. I was already here at 6:00 a.m. today. I checked the date on the clock again. It was the same. I got up, and wandered into the kitchen to make my hot tea. Buster came running from the bathroom, meowing at me. He rubbed against my legs, and purred loudly. I went through my normal morning routine. I took a shower; towel dried my hair, drank my tea, fed Buster, and went to get my keys off the hook to lock the front door.

Where did they go? They weren’t on the wall hook!! I know I leave them there every night. Where are they? My heart starts to beat harder against my ribs. Someone is here with me….they are watching me. They know I know. I reach into the drawer beside the kitchen sink, and grab a butcher knife. I hold it in my right hand. I take a step out of the kitchen to the right into the hallway that runs between my bathroom and bedroom. I was just in the bathroom, so I know there is no one there. I look at my bedroom. The only place anyone could be is the closet. I step lightly, making my way to the closet door. It is shut tight, as always. No light on. I place my hand on the doorknob, and slowly turn in the handle. I threw the door open and screamed. There was nothing there. Just a wall. My closet wasn’t there. I placed my hand on the brick, and it was cool to the touch and very solid. It was real. I ran through the house to the front door. I pushed down on the handle, and opened the door. A wall…brick just like the other.

I ran my hands through my hair. “Think Sam…Think!!” I paced from the front door to the bathroom and back. Something caught my eye. I walked over to the window. I had never had a view of the lake from that side of the cabin, why now? I went to move the curtain back, and my hand ran across smooth glass, it was an illusion, a damn good one too. I started to scream. I started to bang on the walls. I started to throw whatever wasn’t held down. Then I heard this noise, like nails on a chalkboard. I covered my ears, and started screaming louder to try and drown it out. The louder I screamed the louder the noise got. I started getting hoarse, and then I started getting dizzy. I fell to my knees. I started to cry. Sobs racked my body. “Why? Why!! I didn’t do it!! I never did it!! Why are you doing this to me? It was them, I keep telling you that!! Why? Just let me go back to my home….Please….”

Darkness overcame me…as I fell once again into a deep slumber.

The alarm on my bedside table went off. I sat up, looking around confused. I looked at the time. It was 6:00 a.m. Buster was laying on my passenger side pillow, and looked at me with those beautiful eyes. I switched on the light and he blinked at me. I walked downstairs into the kitchen; the view of the ocean was quite spectacular from this spot. It looked as though we might have a storm brewing out at sea.

(To be continued)