Chapter 1

The cold air felt frigid against my skin, as I rolled back over trying to get those few precious hours of sleep in before work. 4:59AM, the clock read. Why am I awake? With work in less than 3 hours, sleep was really a moot point now. I might as well get up. Between the nightmares and the lack of sleep, it was a wonder I was able to function on a daily basis. 

Those nightmares kept coming, keeping me from sleeping. I remember each one, haunting me, everytime I closed my eyes. I sat up, my feet touching the cold wood floor. The sun had not even come up yet, so it was still very dark. 5:05AM the clock read.

The house was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop in the next room. Not that anyone else was in the house to drop a pin, but it was very quiet. I got up out of bed, put on my bedroom slippers and walked into the other room, which was illuminated by the bluish glow of the night light and the light on my computer. I typed in my password and got online to check my email. 

"Why is it so cold?" I thought to myself, remembering, yes, it is indeed winter and it gets cold here. I sat there staring blankly at the screen, which gave off enough light for me to see the keyboard. I sat there and listened to the whirring of the fans in my computer, sitting back in my chair. I was exhausted. 

"Come on, Denali, you need some sort of help, this lack of sleep is going to kill you." I thought to myself. The nightmares alone were enough to make anyone not want to go to sleep. I kept remembering that night. I just wanted to forget that night. I wanted to erase it completely out of my memory forever. 

I got up out of my chair, leaving the room, I walked down the hallway to the bathroom and switched on the light. It flickered a bit, then lit up the room in a blinding light. My eyes were not used to the light, because they had adjusted to the dark. I squinted and shielded my eyes until it was bearable enough to go into the room. I turned on the shower, thinking a nice hot shower will help. Those are pretty relaxing. By the time I got out of the shower, got dressed, the clock read 5:45AM. It was almost 6. 

The sun was about to come up. The sky was getting lighter, with a tint of blue. Birds were singing their morning songs. I sat back down in my chair and stared blankly at my computer screen.  
"Time to get ready for work" I said to myself. I walked into the bathroom, pulled up my hair, and walked into the kitchen to grab my lunch. It was going to be a long day.