Chapter Text
The nightmares started a week ago. It was sudden and intense, like unrelenting, harsh waves of troubled waters. Everytime she tried to get some rest, the night terrors were there. It was almost like they were waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. And it did not help one bit that this was a week before the third anniversary of her late husband's death. She had a nightmare six minutes ago. Jo lay in bed, trying to calm herself down as she brought herself back to reality. Jo sighed as she listened to the rain patter the roof, the roar of thunder already off to the distance. She came to the conclusion that she must have slept through the worst of the storm. Now all that was left was rain that was supposed to last for a couple days, at least.
Jo rubbed her eyes for a few moments. before turning to glance at the digital clock that was on her nightstand.
In red, almost glaring numbers and letters, the clock read 1:17 AM
Jo sighed as she let her eyes close as she practically threw herself back, her body slightly bouncing on the mattress when her back made an impact with the bedding. She blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over her eyes as she looked up at the ceiling. She laid there for a few moments before turning over on her side and letting her eyes flutter close. However, she knew that she would not get any more sleep that night. Especially when that nightmare she had was terrifying, even though she would never admit it to anyone.
The nightmare was filled with sorrow and sadness, while including blood and gore. Each nightmare had started off somewhat happily but as the days went on, the darkness and despair of the nightmare would be coming earlier and earlier into the dream until 10 minutes ago. It started instantly but Jo had trouble trying to wake up until her breathing got so rapid that she gasped awake. It seemed like the nightmare had gone on for hours when in reality, Jo was actually only asleep for a little less than half an hour before startling awake.
Jo, once again looked over at the clock and wasn't surprised when it was only 1:30 in the morning. Jo knew that she was off today, as was Henry but she knew that she needed to get some rest. However, the fear that had a tight grip over her mind had other plans. Jo let out a big breath before pulling the covers up to her chin and laying back down. However, as exhaustion claimed her body, Jo snapped awake, thanks to the anxiety of having another nightmare. At this point, she was starting to feel a bit hopeless.
" Ugh!" Jo let out a groan of frustration as she bolted up to a sitting position.
She pushed the covers back from her legs, shivering as tiny goose bumps covered her skin. She had realized that she was so exhausted when she had come home from work that she had forgotten to turn on the space heater when she had gotten home. Jo liked the space heater better because it was more direct than the central air conditioning that she had in her apartment. Jo pushed herself up and out of bed, before grabbing her phone from the charger. She used the phone's glow to guide her to the space heater. Once there, Jo crouched down and used her free hand to flip the switch of the heater. Almost instantly, the coils of the heater begin to glow orange, leaving the room illuminated in a soft but very dim glow. Warm air began flowing from the heater and into the air.
Jo let out a soft but quiet hum as she stood back up. The heater was starting to take the edge of chill from her. The heater hummed and hissed quietly as it warmed up completely. For the heater being a quite small machine, it sure as hell packed a punch when it came to heating up a room. Jo was about to make her way to her closet, intent on throwing on a hoodie or sweatshirt. However, as she started, her bare feet on the soft carpet, Jo felt a large and sudden wave of exhaustion fall over her. She swayed a bit on her feet as she felt like she was going to fall asleep right then and there. Jo was snapped back into reality as soon as she stumbled slightly. She blinked and took a few deep breaths to clear the fog that had settled over her brain. The heater was partially to blame for her sudden onset of extreme tiredness, even more than before. It had made Jo feel warm and fuzzy. That was a big contrast to the nightmare making Jo feel cold and terrified.
Jo shook her limbs gently, trying to get the blood flowing in them. She also sighed in and out a few times, trying to keep herself awake. Jo decided to go downstairs and have a little snack or watch a bit of television since her mind had pretty much decided that she was not going to be going back to sleep ( for very long anyway, except for when she pretty much passed out ).
Jo placed her phone on the dresser before going to the closet. It took her a few moments of searching but her hand finally found the light switch. She blinked at the now blinding light as her vision adjusted to the sudden change of lighting. Jo grabbed a dark red oversized sweatshirt from the left side of her walk-in closet and slipped it over her bra and panties that she had worn to bed. She then got a black pair of her favorite shorts and stepped inside of them, quickly pulled them up to her waist. The sweatshirt was large enough to cover her hands and the shorts that she was wearing.
Jo had also slipped on a pair of dark red soft socks on her feet before grabbing her phone and turning off the light from the closet. Jo then remembered the heater and went to unplug the thing quickly before sighing. It was easier said than done. Trying to keep yourself awake and alert when all your body wants to do is sleep but your mind refuses to let you do so. Jo looked one last time at her now pitch dark bedroom before closing the bedroom door softly.
Jo, once again used the glow from her phone and the moonlight from the sky to guide her downstairs as she held onto the railing to make sure that she didn't trip and fall. She flipped the first light switch that she found and sighed. It was only 1:45 AM at this point and Jo decided that she did not feel like dealing with any more nightmares at the moment. She had enough night terrors to last a lifetime. However, Jo knew in the back of her mind that eventually she was going to have to face them. Especially when it was causing her to lose enough sleep to almost be falling asleep standing up. Jo sighed at the thought of that, making her way to the kitchen as well. Jo decided to have a small midnight meal. Nothing too fancy. Most likely grilled chicken with a glass of water. Something nice and hot to keep her mind off of how sleepy she was.
Jo held back a yawn as she placed her phone on the kitchen counter. Jo stood there for a minute, trying to decide on what she wanted to eat. After opening the fridge and a few of the cupboards, she made her decision. Weirdly enough, she was in the mood for grilled chicken. Jo grabbed the boneless, skinless chicken breast from the fridge before checking the expiration date. The last thing she wanted was for her to get food poisoning, especially since she was already tired. To her relief, it was not out of date and she had another week to use or freeze the meat before it went bad. After placing the packaged chicken on the counter, she turned and got a cutting board to prepare the chicken. After seasoning the chicken a little, Jo had let it rest before grabbing a medium sized pan from one of the cabinets by her sink.
She placed the pan on the stove and turned the knob to where the heat stealing on the stovetop was at medium.
As Jo grabbed a pair of cooking tongs, she failed to stifle the yawn that came from her mouth. She spread a little bit of olive oil on the pan and placed her hand about 3 inches from the bottom of the pan. It was hot enough for Jo to decide that she could start cooking the chicken.
As she placed the pre-seasoned chicken on the hot, oil covered pan, a soft sizzling sound filled the vicinity of the kitchen. The aroma began to smell slightly of chicken and pepper and Jo smiled softly. As the poultry cooked, Jo decided to grab her phone and try and occupy herself with something to keep herself awake, even though the yawns were growing more intense and more frequent.
After around two minutes of just scrolling through random apps, trying to keep herself busy, Jo placed her phone on the counter. She grabbed the tongs with her left hand and used those to carefully turn the chicken to the other side so it could cook. As she did, she was satisfied with how it looked. It was cooked to perfection and had a golden brown crust. As the other side of the chicken cooked, Jo got herself an ice cold glass of water. She got a small burst of energy because of how the cold water shocked her a bit. However, Jo knew that it wasn't going to last for long and before she knew it, she would be exhausted again. Jo took the tongs that rested on some paper towels and lifted up the chicken to check on it and she was glad when it was done. She quickly checked it's temperature with a food thermometer and once it had hit one hundred and seventy degrees fahrenheit, it was cooked properly.
Jo turned off the stove and moved the pan of chicken to the other side of the stove before rinsing the tongs off and placing them into the dishwasher. She grabbed a plate from the cupboard, her sweatshirt, riding up a bit when she reached for it. After grabbing a fork and a knife, Jo transferred the now cooked and tasty looking chicken from the pan to the plate. Jo had a plate and phone in one hand as the hot pan in the other. She placed the hot pan in the sink before running cold water over it. The cool water cooled the pan down and Jo decided to eat her food first before cleaning the pan that sat in the sink. As she sat down, Jo had to fight off the exhaustion that was trying to creep up on her. As she began to eat, Jo smiled because the chicken was actually delicious. It was the perfect amount of seasoning paired with the chicken being cooked to perfection. She finished her meal within ten minutes.
However, when Jo went to stand, she froze. Her body felt heavy yet her head felt light. The room began to slowly spin, the walls seeming like they were dipping in and out of focus. Jo decided it was a good idea to sit back down as she fought off the sudden wave of vertigo. It took her a few minutes but it finally subsided enough to where she could get up and move around without feeling like she was on a never ending carousel. Jo cleaned up her mess and yawned once again. Now it was time to find a new activity to keep her busy. Yeah, this is going to be a long night.