"Who? There’s no one in the room." Chris said.


    "Calm down Ariana. There’s no one here, it was only a nightmare." Maybelline held her daughter close.


    "But mum... You don’t understand. I saw them with my own eyes." Ari cried. "They chained me to the bed, look at my wrist." She stretched her hands towards her mother, but there was no mark of the tight chain on her wrist. Not even a little red mark, even if she could feel the aftermath of it.


    Ari felt like she was losing her mind. What the hell is wrong with her?


    This would be the second time she’s had this nightmare that feels so real. Everything she felt was real.


    "There’s nothing on your hand, sweetheart," Maybelline said to her child. "It’s just a nightmare." She added. But Ariana was not satisfied with their words.


    Only she knew what she had seen. She wouldn’t expect them to believe her.


    What she didn’t understand was what was happening to her.


    Who wants to ruin her life?


    "Your mother is right Ariana. You had a nightmare, I’ll book an appointment with my therapist tomorrow. He’ll help you out." Abby suggested.


    "You can’t sleep alone anymore, just to be on the safe side. Come to my room love, I’ll take care of you." Maybelline said calmly and Ari walked away with her. David followed closely behind them, but Chris, Greg, and Abby stayed back.


    The trio looked between themselves.


    "This problem started with Ariana sleeping in that madman’s house. I told you it was a bad idea." Chris said.


    "You think it has anything to do with the madman?" Greg asked confused. He knew Dewitt made his only son mad, but what does that have to do with Ariana or the penthouse?


    Or, were the particles of madness now spread around the penthouse? Was that even possible?


    But why isn’t Penny affected by it? It would be better if the madness got to her, that way she’d be automatically disqualified from being the madman’s wife.


    "What do you think?" Chris asked back.


    "Let’s hope that her therapy section with Doctor Taler works out and everything will go back to normal," Abby said calmly.


    ####


    Once everyone was back to sleep, Arianay in bed with her mother, afraid of closing her eyes even for a minute. She was scared she would hallucinate again.


    But do hallucinations need sleep to be effective?


    She was seated on the bed, staring at the door when suddenly, the light turned off.


    Ariana panicked immediately, eyes darting around. Her heart raced wildly in her chest as she tried to stay calm. It was only power outrage, it happens all the time. The power would be restored soon.


    "Pretty?" A voice sounded deep in her ears, the hotness of his breath fanning her ears. Ariana turned to look, but there was no one behind her, just the headboard.


    She knew she wasn’t dreaming and she had just heard the terrifying madman’s voice. He called her pretty like he did this afternoon.


    <fn4> Follow current nov?ls on Find1Novel</fn4>


    Was he the one ying these mind games with her?


    If he is, it’s not funny.


    Her heart raced faster...


    Why is it taking them so long to restore power, they’re supposed to do so now.


    She tried searching for her cell phone but didn’t seem to reach it. So she went ahead to wake her sleeping mother up.


    Ariana’s fingers moved across the bed gently, but for some reason, she couldn’t reach her mother no matter how much she tried. She kept trying, but it seemed something was pulling her back.


    Then all of a sudden, the light turned on again and her eyes went wide.


    There was blood everywhere. The mattress, floor, walls, everything was drenched in blood.


    Then she saw him...


    Osvaldo was standing right before her, eyes bloodshot. Blood dropped from his hair, eyes, nose, mouth, hands, feet, everywhere. There was not a part of his body blood didn’t drop from.


    In his hands was a knife dripping with blood as well. Osvaldo grinned as he watched her.


    "P... Please don’t kill me, I... I didn’t mean to hurt you." Ari cried out moving up in bed as she tried to distance herself from him. This is not how she had imagined she would die.


    "Fool." He said and with that, heunched. Like an animal, ready to devour her.


    Osvaldo jumped on the bed, crawling quickly to her and Ariana screamed her lungs out.


    "No! No! Please don’t harm me! Please don’t kill me!


    "I’ll do anything!"


    He pinned her down, pressing her hands against the sheet with one hand, and used the other which held the knife to stab her gut. Her chest.


    Ari screamed. The pain she felt was unbearable. It surged through her entire being. Ariana screamed till she could no longer scream. She was slowly losing it, and just when she thought she was finally dead.


    "Ariana, why are you screaming again, you’re not even asleep yet?" Maybelline asked shaking her back to reality.


    All through the night, no one slept in the Wird mansion because of Ariana’s constant hallucinations.