Chapter 10


    It was like someone had sshed a bucket of hot, scolding water all over her face. Lyte awoke


    inside her bed with such a jolt that she had to catch her breath that had been eluding her in her night


    terrors.


    Soaking wet and crying, the young woman sat up in her bed clutching her heaving chest while tears


    dripped down from her eyes. Lyte breathed in and out so rapidly that she had to force herself to


    calm down; before long, the inane beating of her heart gradually ceased, but not to a level where the


    woman was satisfied.


    She reached over to her nightstand and yanked out the drawer from underneath before moring for


    the bottle that was within. Feverishly, she twisted open the bottle which in turn caused tiny pills to spill


    up and out of the bottle and all over the bed. Infuriated, Lyte quickly gathered as many pills as she


    could grasp before stuffing a multitude into her mouth all at once. Before she knew it, she was on her


    knees, allowing the pills to take their effect. Lyte''s body began to sway back and forth on the bed.


    Her tank top shirt was saturated in sweat. She happened to notice that her panties were wet from both


    sweat and urine.


    Before she could even attempt a simple move, her body began twitching and jerking before it ended up


    falling off the bed and onto the wood floor. Lyteid there trying her best to keep the "shakes" from


    taking full control of her. She grabbed her body all over in the hopes that she wouldn''t awaken anyone


    else in the house.


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    After nearly ten minutes ofmotion, her entire body went still. Lyte remained on the floor for a


    moment or two more before she looked up at her clock to notice that it was 2:57 am.


    As though she had just fought a battle, Lyte slowly hoisted her body up by the aid of the bed''s


    railing and sat herself down onto the mattress. She was still sweating profusely, but at least the


    convulsions had ended for the evening. Once she was able to regain her bearings, she got up and


    stepped over to the window that overlooked the backyard and alley. All she could see was the bright


    safety light that her father had installed on the back porch shine like a stadium''s beam. Beyond that


    was nothing but nighttime darkness and sounds.


    The woman rooted around a bit longer before she yanked the curtains back and walked herself out of


    the bedroom and into the ckness of the hallway. She stood and viewed all the bedroom doors before


    she carried on down the hall to the final door. With a shaking left hand, Lyte twisted the knob and


    opened the door to find Isaiah fast asleep in his bed. She stood at the threshold momentarily before


    stepping inside and standing over the resting child. Her body wanted to shake, but she wouldn''t allow it


    to be.


    She just stood, watched and listened as her son snored away peacefully before he suddenly turned


    onto his side. Soon, Lyte began to discover something very peculiar, she saw her own two hands


    raise and extend towards the boy. Inside her head was still the nightmare that had disturbed her


    slumber. She didn''t want to try and rationalize why her hands were slowly creeping towards Isaiah''s


    neck; all she knew was that something waspelling them both far beyond her own control.


    With as much will power as she possessed, Lyte pulled away. Before she knew it, she was backing


    out of the room and into the hallway, all the while carrying a revolting frown on her face.


    "What are you doing?" Lyte''s mother appeared all of the sudden from out of nowhere in the


    hallway.


    Right there, Lyte''s body began shaking all over again, but only from sheer, stunned fright.


    "What?" She stammered. "Mama, what are you doing up?"


    Her mother stood down the hallway. All Lyte could see was the woman''s ck silhouette, all of her


    other features were too dark to view.


    "Mama...what are you doing up?" Lyte''s voice rose.


    "What are you doing in there?" Her mother asked in a more indignant tone.


    By then, Lyte was not only afraid, she was bing even more frightened of her mother than she


    was of her nightmare.


    "Mama, why don''t you go back to bed?" Lyte''s voice faltered. "I was just checking on Isaiah."


    "You need to be away from that child."


    "What?" Lyte began to slowly back up. "What are you talking about?"


    For the longest time, Lyte''s mother would not respond. The woman just stood perfectly still, nearly


    hunchbacked only ten feet away from Lyte down the opposite end of the hallway.


    "Stay away from him...he''s not yours to take."


    Lyte, from head to toe, was perfectly solid. Her entire body was as stiff as the old wooden floor she


    was standing upon. It was her mother, the voice let her know that much, but the woman''s words were


    eerie and cryptic. Thest thing Lyte wanted was to cut on the hallway light and see the woman''s


    face.


    She just watched as her mother turned and went back into her room, mming the door behind her.


    The very second her mother was out of sight, Lyte''s body saw fit to unloosen itself from the


    position it was in and race back to her own bedroom. Lyte shut the door and jumped right back into


    bed like a little child scurrying from a thunderstorm.


    It was hot that early morning, nearly 80 degrees, and yet there she was, underneath her covers,


    praying for another nightmare to take her mind away from her own mother.