Awake

Maria awoke screaming.

She clawed at her bedsheets, sure that she would find her belly swollen with something unholy. Instead she found proof that mother nature has a sick sense of humour. She had gotten her period, not only earlier than normal for her but heavier than ever before.

Still she struggled to relax, the nightmare lingered on as she struggled to her feet. The images and sensations all overlapping as if she was watching multiple films all at the same time and running across all of them was the white light.

The white light and the pain.

It hurts!

She tried to shake it off as she cleaned herself up in the bathroom but the images refused to fade away. She knew that sleep was out of the question now so she sat down and went over the files again. Committing as many details of the still missing girls as she could.

Sally Longden, aged 32.

Bed springs screamed.

Cathy Yates, aged 24.

She wanted to live.

Beatrice Armitage, age 20.

It hurts!

Monica McColl, age 19.

Get it out of me!

Sasha Cartwright, aged 18

GET IT OUT OF ME!

She stared at the pictures of these girls, her mind drawn back time and time again to the cold corpse of Mindy. She wondered if they had already met the same fate. She wondered if that was the fate that lay in store for her.

The three hours left till sunrise took a long time to pass as Maria considered her future.