A.M. & A.M.

Alexandra M. and Amelia M.

Ms. Apuli
C of C LA Core 4
18 January 2019
Don’t Close Your Eyes

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m too scared to sleep.”
“Alright, I want you to explain everything to me from the very beginning.”
I could see my patient gripping the exam table she was sitting on, so hard her knuckles
were white.
“I had just moved into my new house, it’s really beautiful and was very inexpensive. The
first night I got there, I had a strange dream, I was being chased by a person, but it wasn’t just
any person, it was my older brother who committed suicide three years ago. He was trying to get
me to come with him somewhere, somewhere dark. Then, he was swallowed up into a pit of
darkness and I ran after him. It was dark and there was nowhere to go, so I turned around and I
saw myself laying on the ground with blood covering every inch of my body. I was horrified, but
I couldn’t scream or cry or move, and no one could save me.”
“What you experienced started out as a lucid dream, you know you’re dreaming and can
take some sort of control over what you’re doing. Then, it escalated to astral projection, you
could see yourself, your astral form came out of your physical form.” I explained. “From these, it
seems that changing location might’ve somehow caused your brothers death to resurface in your
mind, I recommend confronting those feelings that are haunting you and I promise you will sleep
more soundly, it’s just your imagination, don’t let it frighten you.”
“Thank you so much… doctor?”
“Dr. Hoffman, Lauren Hoffman.”
“Thank you, Dr. Hoffman!”
“And your name is…?”
“Mary, Mary Harrison.”
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I watched my satisfied patient walk out the door with a feeling of joy knowing I helped
someone sleep better at night. I walked over to my boss, Kevin McCoy, and was prepared to give
him the rundown on my patient. As I shared the kind woman’s experience with Kevin, I realized
that the situation was more complex than I was formerly convinced. Usually, people came in
having horrible nightmares, but I had a weird feeling about her, her first haunting nightmare was
so realistic and she astral projected right away.
Days and cases of night terrors went by, my favorite being the one about the woman who
was convinced her baby was possessed because the baby wouldn’t stop crying at night. Nothing
interesting was going on until that kind woman appeared in the waiting room once again, but this
time, she didn’t look very calm.
“I need to see Dr. Hoffman right now!” Mary shrieked as she shook in a vigorous
manner.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but if you don’t have an appointment that you scheduled in advance
then there is nothing I can do.” the receptionist tried to explain.
After hearing the unsettling exchange my patient had with the receptionist, I knew I
needed to help her. As I approached her, I could better see the dark circles under her eyes and the
overall colorless and tired look of her face. I knew right away she hadn’t slept since I’d seen her
for the first time last week. I knew I had a weird feeling the first time she had come in, she was
different and I knew I would have a difficult case on my hands.
As I went over to her, I could see the relief and angst in her eyes. She really needed my
help. After a brief consultation with her and my colleagues, it was decided I’d come and
temporarily stay with her in her new home.
“Surroundings are a huge part of what causes these sleep problems. I think that you are
adjusting to your new home and that could be a trigger to old struggles and vulnerability.” I
explained.
“Do anything you can to help me, I need to sleep and every time I shut my eyes, I have
horrible nightmares.” She started sobbing, “Anything you can do, I will try anything.”
“I have a few ideas, but I really need your help and full commitment, even if it sounds
crazy. It takes a lot of trial and error, but I have faith that I can help you.”
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“Thank you so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate what you’re doing for me.
Thank you!”
I walked up to the grand brick mansion that stood before me. I took a minute to admire
the beauty of the home and it’s surroundings when I heard my patient, Mary, call out to me and
welcome me to her residence.
I opened the door and the inside was nowhere near as beautiful as the outside, it was dark
with a cluster of boxes and items strewn around the room. Mary and I weaved through the piles
of junk, where she brought me to the room I’d be staying in. It was huge, but not in a luxurious
way, in a creepy there’s-a-man-in-your-closet-way. Honestly, I was a little hesitant to be
sleeping here, I had never had such an extreme case that I had to move in with my patient.
Usually sleeping pills did the trick, but Mary was different and I was delighted to accept the
challenge. Everything had happened so fast, but I knew I needed to help Mary right away.
Mary and I decided to sit down and talk about her most recent occurrence. She began to
tremble as she recalled the horrid sequence of events that had occurred.
“Mary, I want you to lie down and tell me about what happened the night before I saw
you come into my office, freaking out.”
“Well, I…I was so tired. I told myself I wasn’t going to fall asleep, it wasn’t worth it. I
sat down and my exhausted, overwhelmed body fell asleep. I saw someone I recognized but
didn’t know. It was a man. He was able to morph into different things, he was able to become
anything he wanted, but I had never seen his true form until that night.” Mary’s voice began to
shake. “He told me that we were friends and he would help me but all he’s done is hurt me and I
told him no and to leave me alone. I felt his hands around my throat and his body weighing down
on my chest, I couldn’t breathe, I was desperate for air as I clutched my throat. That’s when I
woke up, but I didn’t wake up, my mind was awake, but I couldn’t move, I could still feel his
hands on my throat. This man, the best way to describe him is death, and he was after m…”
All of a sudden Mary froze, her entire body relaxed and she lay on the bed looking
somewhat peaceful. I almost thought she had just fallen asleep due to the long and intense nights
she’d clearly been struggling with. Once it registered that what Mary was in was not sleep, I felt
my heart rate spike as I fell to her side.
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“MARY, MARY WAKE UP!” I shouted, starting to cry. “This is all my fault!” I felt her
pulse, she was alive, I yelled and screamed but nothing I did could shake her from the state she
was in.
“Dr. McCoy! My patient, Mary, I just moved in, she was talking to me, she isn’t moving!
I don’t know what to do.”
“Call the police!” Kevin exclaimed.
The paramedics arrived at the house minutes after my call. They told me that she was in a
coma, but moving her could complicate things further and as a doctor, they trusted me to stay
and take care of her. They hooked her up to all different sorts of machines, I was most familiar
with the one that tracked her brain activity and I could use this to help my research, I had no
doubt that the sleep problems would go on in her brain even though her body wasn’t responsive.
It would be like never ending sleep paralysis until she woke up, if she did.
Mary’s coma didn’t bring me any comfort about spending the night in her home. I tried to
focus on my job, helping Mary and monitoring her coma.
After what felt like hours of discomfort and unease, I finally felt myself nod off.
“Stop! Stop!” I heard a faint sound of a screaming boy. It sounded so familiar. My eyes
adjusted and I found myself in a room, not the guest room at Mary’s. I heard more screams come
from downstairs, wait...downstairs? I have had this experience before, I told myself not to panic.
Maybe, I was getting a look into Mary’s mind, but nothing she had told me related to what I was
seeing, I wish I could see her brain activity at this moment. Wish I could figure out what was
going on and get her out of this coma. If I really were in her mind, I wouldn’t recognize the
people or the memories.
I decided that if this was Mary’s mind, I needed to investigate and do everything possible
to help her. Even though I would rather wake up, I couldn’t so I might as well try to figure
something out. I stood up and slowly walked out of the little room I was in. I could see my
physical body laying on the ground. As I neared the door, I heard a young girl screaming and
glass shattering. I resisted the temptation to run down and see what that was because I can’t
change it if it is Mary’s memory. This doesn’t look like Mary’s house, she said she was in her
house in the nightmares she described to me. I continued to slowly progress closer and closer to
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the doorway. I peaked my head out and my entire body quivered at the sight of my mother
drinking and my little sister laying on the floor, bleeding from her head.
This couldn’t be happening, my mother is not a part of my life anymore, she is a monster.
Why am I having a nightmare, I am here to figure out why Mary is having a nightmare, I haven’t
seen this memory since I was 8 years old and it was actually happening. Just then I saw
something coming toward me out of the corner of my eye. It was my mother! I​ screamed and shut
my eyes tightly, then I woke up.
I sat up, my body sweating profusely and my heart racing faster than the speed of light.
After calming myself down, I went to check on Mary. The monitor showed crazy brain waves,
she had to be having sleep paralysis or be astral projecting. I shook her body and tried to get her
to wake up, the brain waves stopped, but her body didn’t wake up. What does this mean? She has
had sleep problems since she moved into this house and the minute I even begin to rest, I astral
project. There has to be something in this house causing this.
The last thing I remember was checking on Mary, now I am laying in my bed, the sun is
starting to rise, it’s time to figure this out.
My determination weakens as no progress is made throughout the day. All I’ve thought
about is that dream from last night.
I climb into bed and lay awake on my bed to think, how I am going to help my patient
before I go crazy. I need to get out of this house, I get up, grab my coat and head for the door. I
sit outside staring at the stars, a peaceful moment that I really needed. Time to forget about
everything...everything goes black.
I hear crying and screaming, I move and look behind me, I see myself laying on the
ground, I look dead. I open the door to my house, my house, not Mary’s. How did I get here
again? I walk through the door. I see my mother, holding an empty bottle of beer and my little
sister trying to talk to her, but with no success due to my mother’s intoxication. I freeze, I can’t
move, I watch my mother throw her bottle over my sisters head as my sister screams and passes
out. Seeing my sister knocked out gave me the sickest feeling I ever felt. Her head is bleeding and
my mother walks up the stairs, I don’t want to follow, I remember what happened next I don’t
need to see it again. I want to wake up now, but I can’t, I can’t move. I follow her up the stairs, I
 A.M. & A.M. 6

pass by my room, I see myself lying asleep, useless, not helping my sister.
I know what I need to do, I need to do something, something that I had been too scared to
do before. I need to face my fear, my mother. I can’t let her dictate my life especially when she
isn’t a part of it anymore. My mother comes up to me, she starts yelling and crying. It’s
registering what just happened and she is telling me it’s my fault, she is blaming me again. I
looked her dead in the eyes and watched her weaken as I established my responsibility and
power. She couldn’t boss me around any longer.
Just then, as I took control of my nightmare, my mother morphed into a long black figure,
I was horrified but feeling so empowered by what I’d just done that I somehow kept it together.
The figure floated around me and whispered “WAKE”.
I feel my body begin to wake up and my vision blurs as I open my eyes. I hear a loud
beeping sound. I rush inside and into Mary’s room and see her begin to wake up. I assisted her as
she sat up in the bed and attentively fluffed up her pillows.
What caused her to wake up? I think the key to stopping her sleeping problems is the
reason that she woke up, but what did she do, what happened and how can I use that to find a
cure for sleep paralysis and astral projection?
Mary called her family and spent most of the day being checked on by all kinds of
doctors as I dwelled on the reason for her awakening. I thought about my nightmare and how I
broke free of that torture. There had to be some connection between my nightmare and Mary
waking up. “WAKE” lingered in my mind. As soon as that mysterious figure said it, I woke up
and so did Mary. But why, why did that thing say “WAKE”? I had never been able to stop a
nightmare, but this time when I wanted it to be over, it stopped.
Night came and I was feeling somewhat secure, if I could break free once I doubted I
couldn’t do it again, would I even have to, have I already won? The only angst I felt was coming
from Mary going to sleep tonight. Despite the relief related to my own sleep, I knew it was
going to be a sleepless night for me, I couldn’t let Mary relapse into a coma, I had to stay up and
make sure she made it through the night.
Hours had gone by and I heard rustling in Mary’s room, she was moving, I peeked in and
saw her move, then her body freeze. She continued to shake sporadically and I knew I had to do
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something. I ran over to Mary’s unsettled body and grabbed her arms. I needed to get through to
her. “You need to take control, you can not let death scare you!” I screamed.
“It can’t take you if you don’t let it! Fight Mary, you need to fight!”
Like that, Mary shot up in her bed, she was breathing so heavily, it was as if air had just
flooded her lungs. “I did it! I stood up to it and I won! I conquered my fear, I am stronger and
more powerful, I get to dictate my life. It can’t stop me anymore!” Mary exclaimed. She still
looked terrible, she needed a lot of sleep. I told her to go to bed and forget about everything and
get the sleep she really needed.
One thing was still left unanswered for me. Why did Mary and I, two people who never
had experienced such agonizing night terrors, have such difficulty sleeping in that house. There
had to be something wrong with it. As far as the history of it, I looked into it and we’ll just say
that some seriously messed up things took place. It was nicknamed “The House of Fear” because
everyone who set foot in it ran screaming. No wonder the price was so low.
The entire next week was spent relaxing and retaining my sanity once again. Mary spent
it packing up her home and moving into a much safer atmosphere, and sleeping obviously. All
was calm in my life once again and nothing pleased me more than those ridiculously silly cases
with “possessed” babies. And how do I feel about Mary’s case now, you may ask? All I can say
is if you’re in that house, don’t close your eyes.