Chapter I, Dreams
Amber always had trouble sleeping; ever since she was little her grandmother had to give her a dose of Benadryl before bed so she would go to sleep with ease.
As an eighteen year old, working full time at McDonald's, sleep was the one thing she had to look forward to at the end of a long, greasy day. Though, even then, she found it difficult to go straight to sleep… no matter how tired she was.
It was 9:00 AM, and Amber's cell-phone alarm had gone off, her phone vibrating across the desk as it played a grating, repetitive chime. She hastily retorted, yanking her phone right from the charger in desperation to silence it. When she realized it was already five past nine, she wrestled herself free of her covers and out of bed.
"What time do you get off, I forgot." Tara asked, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand.
"Probably five. It says three, but I doubt that's gonna happen. What time do you get off?" Amber asked, unbuckling her seatbelt as they stopped in the parking lot.
Tara groaned, stretching down her eyelids as she dragged her fingers over her face. "I have… no idea. I think the same time, if douche-bag doesn't make me stay late."
"I'll call you when I get off," Amber said, "now let me get in this place before what's-his-face starts bitching." She hopped out of the beige Crown Victoria, slamming the door behind her as she skipped onto the sidewalk, waving her visor as she went in.
It was nearly ten, then. She barely had time to eat, much less smoke a cigarette. She knew if her boss caught her lighting up in front of the building, he'd have her ass-and not in the good way, either.
Amber fastened her visor just beneath her pigtails, and hurried into the kitchen, greeting Shawn and Quincy on her way to the back.
"Amber, I need to see you in the office." Tony said, stepping in Amber's way.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it." She smiled apprehensively. They went into the office and Tony handed her a piece of paper.
"This was on the desk this morning-a write-up for telling Tasha to shut the fuck up?"
"I plead the fifth." Amber said, trying not to talk back, like she had the habit of doing.
"Well, from what I heard, you were bragging about cussing her out and getting away with it. What's going on, Amber, this doesn't sound like you."
I beg to differ. Amber thought to herself, refraining from smirking.
"Look, I didn't tell her to shut the fuck up, I wasn't even talking to her, and I didn't curse, either! Whatever you heard isn't true and I'm not signing that write-up." Amber tossed the paper back onto the desk and folded her arms.
Tony huffed. "Regardless, it doesn't matter whether or not you sign the write-up, it still goes in your file. You're lucky you're getting a write-up for this… you should get terminated for insubordination to a manager." He said, jabbing his finger down on the desk, his tone harsh and serious.
"Whatever." Amber rolled her eyes, "I have to clock in."
The day was slow and cyclic-it seemed every time Amber looked at the clock only ten minutes had gone by until it finally reached 4:30 when the next person came in to take her place.
"Tiffany! You have no idea how happy I am to see you right now. You're my current Godsend." Amber rushed around the counter to give her co-worker a hug.
"Let me take a wild guess… I'm taking your spot?" Tiffany smiled.
"No, I'm just hugging you because I decided I like you today." Amber threw her arm around Tiffany's shoulders. "Aw, how sweet of you!" Tiffany said joyfully, sarcastically.
After all had been said and done in the workplace, Amber checked her phone for any texts or missed calls as she slid an arm into her denim jacket, on her way out.
Glad to be finished with work for the day, Amber reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of Newport Lights. Sticking a cigarette between her lips, she began to dial Tara's number when her phone started to ring.
"Who you gonna call?" Amber answered, flicking her Bic with a quick drag of her cigarette.
"Amber! I just woke up." Hannah said from enthusiastic to dull in the same sentence.
"I just got off work, 'sup?"
"I had the weirdest dream. It kind of scared the shit out of me… which is weird, 'cause this kind of dream usually makes me giggle and clap like a retarded seal." Hannah said in a serious voice.
"Oh really? Do tell, I'm all ears."
"Well, at first the dream started out pretty cool: I was on the red carpet, meeting all our favorite celebrities, except you weren't there… and I actually met Sam Neill, and took a video of him, so you could see later, and he said "Hey Amber! How you doin'?" and it was so vivid, I could actually hear his voice… but then, everything started to go all wonky."
Amber was in the middle of squealing excitedly. "First off, I hate you for me not being there, second off, I love you for thinking of me when nobody else would. Anyway, go on."
Hannah cleared her throat.
"The red carpet got all squishy and sounded like a sponge when you walked on it, like Rakk Hive in Borderlands… and then I realized it turned into a puddle of blood… and then all the celebrities around me turned into zombies."
"That doesn't sound scary at all." Amber said.
"That's not the part that got to me," Hannah continued. "So, I was weeding through the hoard of zombies, my camera turned into a gun so I started shooting like a mo'fo. I climbed onto a limo and out of nowhere heard this hysterical laughter coming from the crowd of zombies…"
"Oh God, what." Amber took another puff from her cigarette.
"The freakin' mob of zombies split, creating a pathway and somebody was standing there… it was Freddy Krueger. I got all excited wanting to tell you about it but then he said something, I don't really remember but somehow he ended up right next to me and slashed into my arm, and when I woke up, I found the slash marks were still there like in my dream. I thought it was sleep paralysis, 'cause I could still hear him laughing but, dude, the scratches are still here, on my forearm."
"What! No fair! I wanna see." Amber frowned. "That's it, I'm calling Tara. Hopefully her ass is off work so she can come pick me up."
"I would, but I'm too OCD to drive." Hannah said, blankly.
"And I'm just too lazy to get my license."
Hannah sat down on the couch, her laptop staring at her from the coffee-table. The dim illumination of the LCD screen bathed the keyboard in green light, from the website she had been on.
Orion, Hannah's Tabby cat, leapt onto the arm of the couch and padded down the cushions of the back of the couch, and sat behind Hannah's head and played with her hair.
Hannah stared at her cuts curiously, wondering if that maybe Orion, Sam or Penny had done it with their nails-though the cuts were far too deep and long to be cat-scratches, as much as she wished they were.
"Maybe having that Nightmare on Elm Street marathon wasn't the best idea. The aliens are catching on…" Hannah eyed the dark corners of the living room cautiously.
Amber sat on the brick wall that bordered the outside of Walgreen's parking lot, cigarette hanging from her bottom lip as she texted Tara, considering she wouldn't pick up when she had called before. She took her hat off and secured it onto one of her belt-loops so it wouldn't blow off in the wind.
She was bored and had been waiting a good twenty minutes for Tara to answer the phone.
"Maybe Dan's around and can pick me up…" She considered, dialing his number.
"You have reached cell-phone number-" Amber hung up. "Great. Guess I'm catching the bus."
Amber took a glance down the boulevard, and saw that the bus had stopped at a red-light a few blocks ahead. "Just in time!" She said, jumping off the brick wall and dodging cars as she crossed the street.
"Hey! Watch where you're goin' piggy!" Somebody yelled, blaring their horn at Amber as she darted from in front of their car. "Piggy? …Creeper. Why don't you watch where you're going, asshole!"
She made it to the other side of the road, in one piece, just in time for the bus. It stopped, the breaks creaking like metal on a chalkboard.
"Evenin'." The bus driver tipped his hat to her. Amber hadn't paid any mind to him, as she slid her bus-pass through the slot and found herself a seat.
"Next stop, 19th Street and Pacific Avenue." The driver said over the speakers. Amber looked up at the digital marquee in gold letters, flashing 19th and Pacific Ave. overhead. She pulled the wire, requesting off, as they approached her stop.
Amber stood up, holding onto what she liked to call the bitch-bar opposite of the yellow line. Two people walked inside but before she got the chance to leave, the doors slammed and she found herself sitting back down.
"What the…" Amber trailed off. She looked out the window and they were back across the boulevard from her work. Confused, she pulled the wire again, and again they drew near to where she wanted to get off. Two more people entered the bus, one sat next to her. The bus didn't stop.
"Hey, I need to get off!" Amber called out to the bus driver.
"Sounds like a personal problem to me!" The driver said, his voice went from gentle to guttural.
"No, I do! Stop the bus!" Amber got to her feet and the driver slammed his foot on the breaks; the gravity lifted her from her footing and threw her into the windshield.
"Fuck…" She rubbed her head, and looked up to the blurry figure who was sitting in the driver's seat. She blinked, curious as to why she didn't break her neck from the impact.
Amber saw a metal-plated hand curl over the shift-stick, the sound of metal reverberating on metal made her heart pound. She looked up to see Freddy Krueger looming over her, his lips twisted into a wicked grin. "Have a nice trip, piggy?" He laughed maniacally, leaning back into the driver's seat. He wrenched the shift down and floored it. Amber slid into the back of the bus, hitting her head on the back wall. "Ow! God damn it! What the hell is going on! I'm not asleep!" She cried out, grabbing a hold of whatever sturdy object was within her reach.
Freddy's laughter filled the bus, it rang in Amber's ears. "Next stop, 19th Street and Pacific Avenue!" His voice faded and Amber jerked awake in her seat.
"Holy shit…" She murmured, massaging her sore neck. The bus began to yield before coming to a complete stop. Amber got up and looked around-everything was back to normal. She sprinted through the door, shoving the people waiting at the bus stop out of her way as she jogged down the sidewalk. "Fuck that shit."