Sweet Nightmare (Caldor)

Prologue Night After Night-Mare

Iknow your worst nightmare.

No, not that one. The other one.

The one you don’t trot out at parties.

The one you don’t whisper to your best friend late at night.

The one you don’t even acknowledge to yourself until it’s three a.m. and the lights are out and you’re too paralyzed with fear to even reach your arm out and flick on the bedside lamp. So you lay there, heart racing, blood pumping, ears straining for the slide of the window, the creak of the door, the footstep on the stairs.

The monster under the bed.

The monster inside your head.

Don’t be ashamed. Everyone has one—even me.

Mine always starts out the same.

Full moon. Hot, sticky air. Moss hanging low enough to brush your face on a late-night walk. Waves crashing against the shore. A cottage—a girl—a storm—a dream, forever out of reach.

I know it doesn’t sound like much, but the story isn’t in the setup. It’s in the blood and the betrayal.

So fall asleep if you dare. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Because the only thing I can promise is that my nightmares are worse than yours.