Page 4 of A Merry Little Christmas
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.
CHAPTER THREE
As I iced traybake ginger cakes in the Little Duck Pond Café kitchen later, I was grateful to be busy.
With little time to think, I had more chance of shrugging off last night’s nightmare. I hadn’t experienced one for a few weeks now – but apparently, they were back with a vengeance. I didn’t usually remember my dreams in the morning, but these were different: they were so vivid that the fear I’d felt while asleep seemed to cast a chilly shadow over the whole of the following day.
But right now, I had to finish the icing then clear tables in the café, and after that I’d need to make another batch of the sultana scones that were always so popular, especially when they were still warm from the oven. They tended to vanish as quickly as the good chocolates in a tin of Quality Street!
‘Penny for your thoughts?’ asked Maddy, who’d popped into the kitchen with a loaded tray of crockery for the dishwasher. She set the tray on the worktop and peered at me. ‘You look exhausted.’
I forced a laugh. ‘Gee, thanks.’ I shrugged. ‘Bad dream last night.’
‘Are you still regretting not inviting the lovely Caleb to Sylvia and Mick’s wedding?’
‘I am. It would have been much nicer with Caleb there.’
‘But you and Caleb are fine now?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Good. Because you don’t want to stretch the poor man’s patience to breaking point. Is that ex of his still hanging about?’
I sighed. ‘Thanks for reminding me about her, Maddy. But no. He hasn’t seen her for months.’
‘Sorry.’ She frowned. ‘I was just going to say that if itishis ex you’re worried about, maybe you’re imagining stuff that’s not actually happening?’ She shrugged. ‘I remember working myself up into a terrible state over Jack’s female work colleague when we were first going out. They were so chummy together. But she turned out to be no threat at all.’
I attempted a smile but didn’t reply.
The truth was, last night’s scary dream had set me back a little. I was feeling tired and vulnerable again, wondering if these nightmares were a warning of some kind. But after a good night’s sleep, I’d be feeling fine again.
