Sally awoke to screaming. The cries ripped through the remnants of her dream and immediately she sat up. “Gabrielle?” she murmured in the dark, her voice sounding groggy, despite the panic that was starting to cause her heart to beat in painful hiccups.
Throwing her covers off ,she slipped out of bed, rushed across the room, and darted down the hall to her daughters room. Her chest gave a terrifying lurch when she realized the screams were getting louder, more persistent. It was happening again . . . She could feel it.
Please be ok, she prayed. Please!
She threw open the door. It hit the wall with a loud bang. “Gabrielle, honey . . .” her voice trailed off as she fumbled for the light switch. A few seconds later, her fingers had touched something cool and the light was on.
Gabrielle sat crouched at the comer of her bed, her mouth wide open as she belted out screams after screams. Her fair hair hung over her face matted by the tears on her cheeks. She was trembling shaking, choking, her arms wrapped around her knees.
Without thinking, Sally rushed to her daughter side. “Gabrielle honey, what;s wrong?" she asked, her voice shaking. “Come on stop it. tell mummy,”. The palms of her hands felt sweaty as she made to hug her her daughter,
“Stay away,” Gabrielle mumbled, her eyes suddenly wide. Her lips quivering.
“What?” sally frowned, taken aback. “don’t be silly, darling. Come—“
“No!” Gabrielle shouted cutting her off, her little voice etched with fear. “Stay away,” she said again, backing away from her mother.
Sally stared a her daughter at a loss for words. More than anything she wanted to gather her daughter into her arms, rock her, kiss her, tell her everything was alright. Why was it . . . why was it that Gabrielle never wanted her to do that. It hurt . . . terribly.
Sighing, Sally lifted and hand to brush away matted strands of hair from Gabrielle’s face. Gabrielle let out a gasp and tried to move her head away from her mothers reach. Not far enough though. Her mother’s fingers brushed the top of her forehead. Gabrielle’s body gave a sudden as though struck by an electric current. The pupils of her eyes widened and mouth gaped open like a black endless tunnel.
“Darling, what the—!“ Sally's cry of alarm was lost in the dreadful sounding scream that next ripped from the little girls mouth. It seemed to last an eternity, thratening to break the body of its frail container.
But it would stop, Sally thought, tears springing to her eyes. It always did.

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