My Beautiful Nightmare: A Short Story

it's a bit rough and I may add more later but this is a start.

                “What time is it,” he says aloud. Norman checked his digital clock next to his bed. It read 4:45 am.

                As he rolled over and back into the covers, Norman wonders what was just in his dream. He slowly drifts back into sleep until he is awoken by his alarm at 6. Who was that woman, he wonders as he gets dressed for work. This thought plagued him on his drive to his place of work, McMillan’s, a family owned restaurant. He walked in and was immediately welcomed by the owner Frank. “Norman, me laddy! You look like hell. Did you sleep last night?”

                Norman paused and replied, “A little. But I couldn’t stop seeing this beautiful woman.”

                “Ahh, so you’re in love there,” Frank said. “No. I don’t know who this woman is. I have never seen her in my life. But she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

                Frank stared blankly, but after a few seconds smiled and said, “Well, maybe you will meet her soon. Now help me get this food started. We are lookin’ at a busy day.”

                Norman smiled back but couldn’t shake the thought of this “soul mate”. Her image was burned into his head throughout his shift. Her flowing blonde hair, the beautiful but soulless eyes, her lean figure all haunted him as he cooked burger after burger. As he put each dish on the counter, he scoured the dining room to see if the mystery woman of his dreams was there, to no avail. When the day was over he hung up his apron and walked out the door. As he walked to his car, he caught a glimpse of blonde and immediately dropped his keys. He whipped his head around to hopefully see what he thought he saw, but no one was there. Huh, must just be tired, he thought. Norman picked up his keys and drove home.

                That night, he dreamed of walking around in a forest when the mystery woman appeared. “Who are you?” he shouted to her. “You were looking at other women, weren’t you?”

                Norman was quite confused at this response from the woman. “What do you mean? And who are you?”

                “You were looking at other women today. I saw you. And now you will pay!”

                As he was about to explain himself the forest around him disappeared to darkness. “Wait! I don’t even know who you are! What are you doing?” he yelled in a growing fear. “You are mine and no one else’s. I am your soul mate! And you shall pay for betraying me!”

                Norman awoke in a cold sweat. He jumped out of bed and grabbed his clock. It was 2 am. “Shit. I gotta stop eating pizza before going to bed,” he mumbled to himself as he shuffled off to his bathroom. He turned on the light and turned the faucet on. He filled his hands with water and splashed his face. When he looked into the mirror, he saw a face behind him. It was the face of the mystery woman of his dreams. Norman spun around to confront her, but she wasn’t there. Norman ran through his house, scouring every corner to find who it was. But when he saw the doors were still locked and the windows were still intact, he went back to bed. As he fell asleep, his dream started back in the darkness. He decided to confront this woman. “Who are you and what do you want with me. I demand answers now!”

                A sudden gust of wind was accompanied by the voice of the woman. “I am your soul mate, Cecilia. And I want you to stop betraying me!”

                This is all just a dream, Norman thought, but it all seems so real. Lightning cracked and thunder boomed as Norman was swept up in a tornado and thrown around until he was awoken by his alarm. Thank god I don’t work today, he thought as he walked to his shower. After getting ready for the day, Norman decided he would try to find this woman. He drove off to the library to look up some history of the house. “Hi. Where can I find some of the history of the town?” he asked the librarian behind the desk.

                “The reference section is over there. What are you doing research for?”

                “I’m just seeing the history of the area. Nothing special.”

                She gave him a smile and pointed him towards the reference section. “Have fun!”

                Norman grabbed some of the history books off of the shelf. As he read through the books, a horrible truth was unfolding in front of him. “In the early 1700’s, the town was founded. The man who led the building of the town, James Hilldenburg, had a wife, Florence, and a beautiful young daughter, Cecilia. Cecilia had long, blonde hair and a beautiful figure. She was to wed a young man from a close by town and forever unite to two towns. But she was brutally killed by the young man the night before the wedding. This led to a wall being put up between the two towns and no communication was ever made,” he read aloud. Oh god, Norman realized, she thinks I’m the man she was to marry, and she wants her husband! Norman frantically drove to his best friend Peter’s house. “Peter! I need your help!”

                Peter opened the door, still in his pajamas and wiping the gunk from his eyes. “What do you want?”

                “I’m being haunted by a dead girl who thinks I killed her and is tormenting me!”

                Peter stared at him with a confused look. “And you came to me with this, why?”

                Norman stood quietly for a second before answering, “Well you know your way around a bible right? Maybe there’s something you can do. Like a blessing or something of the sort.”

                Peter squinted his eyes and replied, “Is that a joke or something? I can’t help you but maybe my pastor can. He should be at the church right now. I’ll call him and let him know you’re on your way.”

                Norman drove off and made his way to the church. As he pulled up, the pastor was standing in the doorway with a smile. “You must be Norman. Come in child.”

                Norman hadn’t been to a church in a long time, so he was a bit awestruck when he walked in. They made their way to an office in the back end of the church. “Tell me what’s bugging you,” the pastor asked as they sat down.

                Norman was a bit uneasy at first, but mustered up a bit of courage and asked, “Do you believe in ghosts?”

                Puzzled, the pastor replied, “Well no. But I do believe in evil spirits that can haunt you that are sent from the devil himself.”

                Relieved and stressed to hear this, Norman continued to tell his dilemma. “Pastor, I’ve been seeing a woman in my dream. Her name is Cecilia and she is dead. I went to the library and found out she was murdered and now she is haunting me because she thinks I was the man she was to marry. I don’t know what to do. I can’t sleep, I see her following me where ever I go, and I can’t take this feeling of fear.”

                The pastor was taken aback by this sudden outburst. Collecting himself, the pastor said, “Well I see this is troubling you and I want to help. Let me get some things together and I can swing by later on.”

                Norman, feeling relieved, smiled and returned home. When he walked in the door, something didn’t feel right. Everything seemed darker. When he got into the house, the door swung shut and locked. The room went black as he frantically grabbed for the door handle. A cold breeze kicked up and a figure emerged from the shadows. It was Cecilia. “What do you want with me?! I’m not your soul mate. He killed you long ago!” he screamed.

                But she was not fazed. Cecilia seemingly floated across the room to where Norman was. The door disappeared and was now just replaced by a wall. He frantically spun around to see her pale face directly in front of his. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Til death do us part.”
                "This seems like a nice house," Hannah said as she smiled and grabbed her husband James's arm. "Compared to all that we have looked at so far, I think this is the one," James replied back.
                "Great! I'll grab the papers and we'll get you moved in as soon as possible."
                 Hannah and James were a happy couple, just married and ready to explore the world. She was a petite girl, in her early 20s with long blonde hair and a thin frame. James was a huskier fellow, mid 20s with a beard and a few tattoos down his arms. Hannah was fresh out of college and had just gotten a job as an elementary school teacher at the local school. James was a supervisor at a bank in a nearby town. They decided to settle down so she could be closer to her new job.