Nightmare

Sunshine In The Darkness

       It's been this way my whole life. I'd go to bed and wake up with scratches on my body. My chest, my arms, legs, my back. It'd be because of the nightmare. It follows me. Chases me. When it hurts me in the nightmare, I wake up with it in real life. My parents always thought I was crazy. That it was just depression. But tell that to the hundred foot monster chasing me through a barren neighborhood currently. 

       I was on a road again. It was dark and nobody was around. Streetlights blinded me as I ran. I knew it was chasing me, but I didn't know where it was. I look behind me for a split second and run into something. Looking up I saw a man, tall. He had dark brown hair which curled around his ears. He seemed pretty lean as he bent down to help me up, confused. I was too. I've never seen another person here before.

       "Thank you," I tell him. He opens his mouth but a loud growl interrupts him. "Run!" I yank his hand and pull him into step with me. It was closer than I thought.

       "What was that?!" The man said, concerned. I laugh.

       "I don't know, but don't look at it. I'm Michael." The man huffs as we sprint.

       "Levi."

       "Well, Levi, welcome to my nightmare." Noticing an open house, I yank Levi into it, slamming the door shut. 

       "Your nightmare? You mean this is your dream?" He bends down on his knees, trying to get a breath. 

       "Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. And that thing  wants to kill us. I promise, you don't want it to hurt you in here." Levi stands up straight and glances at me, before looking around him. He goes to turn on a light switch until I stop him. "It will see the light." He nods. We walk into different rooms, him going into the entertainment room while I head to the kitchen. 

       Usually there will be food stocked in the houses and I've learned to check for it. You want some kind of blanket, water, and food. You could be here for days before you wake up, however when you wake up it's only the next day. 

       "So, where exactly are we?" Levi is leaning on the doorframe looking at me. It's dark, but I can make out the features of his face decently well. 

       "My home town. Nobody else is here, though. I don't know how you are, seeing as how this is my nightmare." He nods. I turn the handle of the sink to see if there's running water, and thankfully there is. "We can stay here for a little bit, but the thing will sniff us out sooner or later."

       "Won't we wake up soon?" We sit down at the table across from each other. 

       "Time works different here. We'll be here for a few days but when we wake up it'll still be the next morning from when you went to sleep." 

       "Oh," he mumbles. He runs his hands over his face, "What happens if the thing  catches us?"

       "Depends. What happens to your body in here happens in real life. So, if you die in here, you die in real life. If he scratches you in here, you'll wake up with scratches." Levi looks startled but nods.

       "Can I take a shower?" 

       "Yeah." 

       We head upstairs together looking for the toilet and the bedroom. With the size of the house you'd expect there to be multiple bedrooms and baths, however there's only one of each. Levi finds a towel and heads to the bath while I head to the bedroom. There's nothing in the closet as I thought there would be. I sigh and look around the room better. I can see an outline of a dresser and bookshelf on the wall across from the bed. Beside the bed is a bedside table and a candle. 

       I pull off my shoes and jeans and head into the bed. The house has no heating which makes it extremely chilly. I snuggle into the blanket as my mind wonders. There hasn't been another person in my nightmare in nearly ten years. After that incident I didn't sleep for a week, where I was then put into a coma for my health. According to my parents I was only asleep for a few weeks, but it felt like months in the nightmare. My parents said that the doctors would find random scratches across my body and could never find where they came from. I knew. 

       "Uhm, are there clothes?" I turn around to see Levi in a towel, water dripping down his torso. I was right to say he was lean as he's pretty toned. I can see the start of his v-line as water trails down it, disappearing underneath the towel. "Michael?" I clear my throat and avert my eyes, shutting them tightly.

       "S-sorry. Uh, no there aren't. I can find the washer and dryer if you'd like and I can do a load of laundry before my shower." I can hear him mumble a 'yeah' before I rush out of the bedroom in search of the washer and dryer. Once I find them I grab his clothes and toss them in, quickly discarding the rest of my clothes into it and wrapping a towel around my body. 

       "Shit," I mumble. I drag my feet to the bedroom, keeping my eyes down as I enter, finding my pants and bending down to pick them up. "Forgot these." I shoot my eyes up quickly to Levi's and see him watching me intently. I stand up and rush out, finishing up with the washer and heading to the bathroom. I sigh and put my towel on the toilet, turning to look in the mirror. I have a few scars on my body from the thing  running down my torso and back. The only super noticeable one is on my back running down from my left shoulder to above my hip, spreading down in two directions. One over my v-line and the other towards my lower right back. 

       I shake my head and turn on the shower, running my hand over it. Since there's no heating in the house I doubt the water will be heated so I step right in. As expected, there's no soaps. Even then I still run the water all over my body, scrubbing with my hands to remove as much dirt I can. When I'm done I step out of the shower. I immediately put my towel on and check the laundry. It seems that Levi put the laundry in the dryer and so I only have to wait a few minutes hopefully. I decide to head to the bedroom and see Levi checking out the bookshelf. 

       "Find anything?" He jumps a little bit and turns to me, surprise evident on his face. "Sorry," I smile at him. Doubt he could see it, though. 

       "It's okay, and no. Can't really read the titles." I nod.

       "We could try and light the candle. Just it'd be better if we kept from lighting up the whole room." As I say this, we both seem to remember that we're both in towels. I look down. "Are you hungry? I could see if there's anything." Levi shakes his head and just then the dryer beeps. I breathe out a sigh of relief and we both head to get our clothes. Levi hands me my clothes and then grabs his. 

       "I'll take the bathroom," he says. I head to the bedroom and finish drying off before hastily putting my clothes back on. Right when I'm finished I hear a knock. 

       "It's okay to come in now." I toss my towel in front of the closet as Levi enters, heading to the candle. Before he lights it his face forms into confusion, and soon pain. It's time. Burning in my chest alerts me that we'll soon be waking up. 

       "Don't worry, it'll get better." Levi looks at me, tears in his eyes. "See you later Levi."

       The room fades as I roll over in my bed. It's light out. Morning has come and I rise from my bed. I hate going to sleep, knowing that my nightmare will await me. But, I can't help but wish for night to fall sooner. The possibility of seeing Levi again makes my chest warm. I put my face in my hands and groan. This can't be happening.