CHAPTER TWO
It was a dark and windy night.
I stood at the foot of the Empire State Building gazing upwards. It made me feel dizzy, looking at the skyscraper towering into the sky and disappearing into the threatening black clouds overhead.
There was a knot in the pit of my stomach.
I don’t want to go up there again . . .
Please don’t make me go up there!
But a hand was at my back, pushing me onwards . . . across the floor of the entrance lobby . . . into the lift.
I was alone in there, apart from the thing at my back, and at first, I averted my eyes from the mirror, terrified to catch a glimpse of my tormentor. With a sickening jolt, the lift lurched upwards, and when I turned my head slowly, it was more horrible than I’d imagined.
A dark, hooded shape was standing there, perfectly still, watching me.
I glanced away, my heart beating so fast I could hardly breathe, willing the lift to reach its destination so that I could run – and escape from those burning eyes . . .
Bolting through the lift doors as soon as they opened, I ran for the observation deck, frantically hoping there would be people there to save me from this monster on my tail.
But there was no one.
The deck was deserted.
Filled with panic, I leaned over the rail and yelled into the darkness for someone to help me. But the wind whipped my voice right back to me, and I knew in my gut that no one was coming. I was eighty-six floors above ground-level and I could feel the menacing presence gaining on me.
Suddenly, shockingly, the ground beneath my feet shifted and then the whole building began to shake. Terrified, I clung to the rail as a violent force – like an earthquake – seemed to be thrusting me from side to side. Debris was falling around me . . . everything was disintegrating.
I screamed into the black void . . .
*****
I woke sweating and sat up, still half in the nightmare.
Darkness swirled around me . . . I felt I was pitching forward into thin air . . .
I’m dreaming! It’s just a dream!
Deliberately biting the inside of my cheek, I felt the sharp pain bring me back to myself, and relief surged through me. I was in bed. In my flat.
I’d had the nightmare once again.
But I was safe . . .
In the shower, I let the hot water stream over my face and tried to ignore the sick feeling inside. I would not allow the creeping horror of the nightmare to darken my day.
It was just a stupid dream. It was nothing to do with reality.
And I had a busy day ahead of me.