Jessie's Nightmare by Catherine Holland (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📕

sleep inevitably won. Thankfully her dreams were free of nightmares, but were pleasant memories of when her family was alive and well.
Someone gently shook her shoulder and she woke up rather reluctantly, not wanting to leave her family. As Jessie opened her eyes she saw that they had arrived at a large town house. The house was well kept, a fresh coat of white paint on the outside and the blue window shutters were flapping lazily in a light breeze.
From a glance the porch looked incredibly well kept, and the swinging bench swayed slightly. There was a balcony that ran the length of the second floor, and the slanted tiled roof had a chimney. Jessie wasn’t sure how long they’d driven for but as the sun rose over the crest of the house, she could see woodlands closing in around the house.
She stared in awe at the house then slowly exited the SUV, as she stood gazing up at the gorgeous house; she looked to her left and saw James talking his phone. She could hear him talking on the phone, his voice soft and gentle as though he were talking to a lover.
A pang of jealousy shot through Jessie at the thought, but she stopped herself short, she had no right being jealous over a girlfriend he may have, after all he was doing his job by bringing her here and keeping her safe. Jessie waited until he’d finished his phone call then slowly made her way to the porch steps, pausing at the front door.
A voice behind her made her jump “The door’s open, so go on in and make yourself at home.” Jessie turned around and saw James, he had an amused expression on his face, and she faced the door again and turned the handle, the door opened with a slight creek.
Jessie stepped inside and gasped, she’d just entered a large and wide hallway, wooden floorboards newly polished. A chandelier hung from the ceiling and the walls had been painted warm beige, a dozen squashy armchairs were scattered about with a few tables in the middle.
The hallway had three doors leading off of it, the first and closest was the one on her left, she opened it and saw what appeared at first glance to be a coat cupboard, but closer inspection revealed the fuse box and a keypad with various numbers and letters on it.
Jessie closed the door and moved to her right where a large lounge was revealed, it contained several squashy sofas and chairs as well as the coffee tables, and bay windows, and it also boasted a small bar. To the right of the bar was an additional door, she opened it and saw a modern toilet.
Jessie came out of the lounge and went to the one remaining door, as Jessie put her hand on the handle she glanced to her right and saw a wide wooden staircase, knowing she’d explore them next Jessie opened the door to see a cavernous kitchen.
The counters were a mahogany marble and the breakfast aisle had stools surrounding it, the cupboards, fridges and freezers and pantry were fully stocked, and a set of French doors led out to a large patio area. Beyond the patio was a clearing that ran roughly one hundred foot long and fifty foot wide.
A large pond with a wooden edge and a short dock, where you’d be able to let your feet hang over the edge and brush the surface water. Jessie headed back inside and stopped at the staircase she’d noticed earlier, gripping the brass banister she slowly went up the stairs, her hand sliding over the cool metal.
When she reached the second floor there were four rooms spread out on it. Jessie opened the first door and saw a single bed with a wardrobe and two sets of chest of drawers. There was a bedside table with a lamp on it, one of the chests of drawers held a small plasma screen television.
Another door was by the wardrobe and as Jessie entered it she saw a small bathroom complete with a shower. Jessie came out of the room and went to the next door, the room was decorated exactly the same as the first room. The third room was the same, but as Jessie entered the room furthest from the stairs, she saw a double bed, and the bathroom contained a bath/shower combination.
Jessie decided to look on the last floor before claiming a room, she went up the stairs and saw only two doors on this floor, she opened the first door and saw another double room, complete with a bath and shower. As she entered the second door she gasped.
The room was nothing less than an extremely large library, there must have been at least a hundred thousand books, there was a medium sized coffee table surrounded by large comfortable looking chairs.
As Jessie looked around the library examining some of the titles she saw a door near the back that was open to a small balcony area, not visible from the front of the house. Jessie made her way back down the stairs to the lounge where James and the plain clothes officers were drinking coffee.
“This house is amazing!” She exclaimed. James looked up “Glad you like it, have you chosen a room?” Jessie nodded “The top floor, the room next to the library.” James nodded “It’s a good choice, now come and sit down while we go over some ground rules.”
Jessie sat and listened as they told her not to go out after dark or to wander in the woods, after the ground rules were set Jessie headed to the kitchen and heated up a tin of ravioli then made herself a mug of cocoa and retreated to the library.


Chapter Eight


Jessie remained in the library until after dark, finally taking down her empty bowl and mug, as she headed back upstairs to her room the lights suddenly went out.
Her instincts warning her that it wasn’t a normal power outage, Jessie panicked and as her eyes adjusted to the dark she retreated back down the stairs, fumbling her way to the lounge. She met James on the way to the lounge “Jessie? OK follow me and stay close.”
“OK.” Jessie whispered. As she followed him through the house, she heard two gunshot sounds from the front porch, then two bodies hitting the floor. James led her to the bar and pushed her behind him, “How did they even know you were her? Nobody knew but us three and the Captain.”
James was livid, she could sense the anger and betrayal coursing through his system, leaking into his aura. A shadow moved past the toilet door and Jessie crouched down even further, they waited until the shadow had passed then moved from their hiding place.
James led her to the foot of the stairs and whispered “Go upstairs and find a place to hide, I’ll come back for you once I’ve called for help and moved the car.” Jessie nodded and quietly started going up the stairs, she heard the front door open and then silently close, she was now alone in the house, and hoped that James would be able to call for help. As Jessie reached the second floor, she peeked out of one of the windows and saw James enter one of the SUV’s.
As he appeared to be fumbling something, Jessie heard the front door open, she tried to get James’ attention but it was too late, the moment James turned the ignition on to start the car, it exploded. White hot flames were consuming the car, and the force of the explosion sent the car two or three feet up in the air, crashing back down to earth.
The flames were now a deep orange on the outside, but still white hot in the centre, Jessie knew without a doubt that James was dead; no-one could survive an explosion of that magnitude. She was now alone in the house with a killer. Jessie forced herself to move away from the window, she fled to the top floor and ran into her room, re-arranging the pillows to make it look as though she were sleeping.
She then quietly opened the door to the library to try and find somewhere to hide, as Jessie disappeared into a row of books she heard muffled shots coming from her room. Jessie ran to the back of the library towards the door but then stopped; if she opened the door surely the wind would give her position away? That moment of hesitation was when the killer stepped into the library.
She froze then started creeping to her right, using the bookshelves for cover, hoping to be able to get out of the library. “Jessie, I know you’re in here.” The voice taunted, she knew that voice, and it was Adrian, the man who’d given her the scars on her chest and back.
“There’s nowhere to run Jessie, you’re all alone and no-one’s coming to help you. It’s just you and me.” Adrian taunted. The voice had come from her right so she moved back to the left and pressed her body up against a bookshelf. The thick carpet muffled her footsteps, so Jessie relied on her instincts to get her to safety.
Jessie moved to the end of one of the bookshelves and saw the door that led to the main staircase; crouching low she ran for the door, but halfway there received a sharp blow to her ribs. She cried out in pain and heard a menacing laugh to her left.
She then realised that this had been his plan all along, he’d been counting on her to go for the easy escape. As Jessie struggled for breath another blow to the ribs sent a new sharp pain up her left side and knocked the air from her lungs.
The suddenness of the lights going back on made her squint, she saw the boot come towards her again and felt it connect with her nose, and she felt the bone break and hot salty blood ran into her mouth.
Jessie tried to move but received blow after blow for her efforts, she knew this was the end, could feel death creeping up on her. She closed her eyes and saw her family waiting for her in a green meadow, a final kick to the ribs made her eyes open, she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun, heard the next bullet load and closed her eyes.


Epilogue


Jessie woke up abruptly to the sound of her alarm clock, she was in a tangled mess of sheets, and shaken from her nightmare. As she turned her alarm clock off she climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
An hour later Jessie was washed, dressed and unlocking the front door to go to work, lighting a cigarette as she walked to the bus stop. All through the work day Jessie couldn’t shake off the nightmare, or the fact that something bad was going to happen.
She spoke to her mum during her lunch break and was smiling for the remaining few hours of work. When Jessie was finally on her way home, she relaxed into the bus seat listening to her music. Getting off the bus Jessie admired the sun shining down, and the cool wind blowing loose strands of hair around her face.
Jessie lit a cigarette and walked the few minutes it took to get home,