Dreamcatchers ACT 1

Chapter 7: Final Stretch Part 5

It was a relief to hear Grif agreeing with me rather than putting up a fight for once, grabbing Jose and running to the ladder down from here. He wasn't resisting either, which was even more baffling to me as he just seemed willing to be pulled around. It's not like we just destroyed his protectors and friends or did something that might cause him to be angry with us. That was supposed to be sarcastic, climbing down with Jose right behind me and Grif waiting for us to hurry up. There wouldn't be enough time for that though as I saw the new butterfly come out from its cocoon. What did I call them: the protectors, they were now something else? Almost like a knight in shining armour, a being that I couldn't even finish on describing what stood at the edge of that window. It was a combination of all three of them, with almost a holy glow emanating from that thing. If I was short-sighted, I would've said that it was an angel with large spanning wings made of light. Grif didn't even consider if this monster was too much as they jumped down, their claws scaling down the bark before they jumped off and ran toward it.

"Hurry and go, I'll try to hold it back as long as I can." Grif said as I stood frozen. I was being indecisive as I doubt Grif could handle this thing but then again, we need to just hurry and end this before it inevitably overwhelms us. They didn't wait for me to run away as Grif ran up to the thing and attempted to slice its jugular. It was all in vain though as its left palm quickly rose up into Grif's chin, sending their head upward and clenched. This angelic thing was relentless, continuing by sending a barrage of punches into their stomach, forcing all of the air in Grif's lungs to forcibly erupt out of their mouth. Taking the opportunity, it reached its hand into Grif's mouth and clenched their lower jaw, slamming it down onto their raised knee before Grif could even react. There was really no chance we had against this thing, grasping Jose's hands and running out of the room. We were right as the wind funnel was gone, making my way toward the door with Jose in tow.

Right as I grabbed the doorknob, I could hear the gurgling of someone I really didn't want to meet again. Bulbs managed to find his way to the top of the stairs, the sound of his feet hitting the ground rapidly increasing as I desperately turned the knob and lunged into the room. Bulbs might've targeted me before but now with young Jose here, he would be the new prey for this balloon and I don't want to know what happens if the dreamer of this world is erased from existence. Who knows, maybe he just wakes up... but I doubt it. Well, either way, I'm keeping him safe as I forced Jose up and away from Bulbs just in time as its hand came crashing down onto the ground where he was just on. I didn't even have time to look around the room, barely noticing that it was another large room except that this one was completely empty without any windows. It was just a large circular room with a high ceiling and nothing else, the walls and well, everything, being made of cement. There was something in the center of the room but I couldn't really see what it was, but maybe that was the point.

Enough thinking for now. All of my energy has to be used trying to dodge this monstrosity, pulling Jose across the room as Bulbs mercilessly followed us. Without any lighting in this room, everything was almost pitch black, hoping that the hulking piece of meat might lose us in the dark... wait. I could almost see perfectly, yet I knew that it was almost completely black in here. Was I really supposed to be some kind of bug? Well, I guess it helps as I noticed Bulb rearing his head and forcing out the noise that nothing alive should make. I should've predicted that he would do that if he couldn't catch us. Just as quickly as I noticed it, I picked up Jose and threw him forward in hopes that it would be enough for him to be safe, though it was more of a slide with how realistically weak and tired I was. Just throwing him knocked me off balance as my splinters failed to save me from hitting the floor. My breath... I couldn't calm down, wheezing in between my pants as I tried to crawl forward. There wasn't any energy left in my body as my splinters basically went limp. 

God, is this how it ends, dying because I overworked myself. The only thing I could do was turn around to face Bulbs as my hands slipped on the floor, trying to pull my body away from him as he walked over to me. Grif was probably gone by now too, both of us failing to finish this dream. Was this really going to be my death or would we just go back into the real world with some body pains? Heh, it would be going through puberty all over again, that would suck. I hated the growing pains, despite me barely growing at all while everyone else boosted ahead. Even Johndavid was around my height at one point, now look at him with his six-foot-tall build.

 Bulbs reared his head up with his throat filling up like a sac of loose liquid, the mere sound causing a nauseous feeling to bubble in my head. He was preparing to melt me down like the boxes he got in the living room. There was nothing I could do; no running, fighting back, or jumping to the side. I just couldn't with my body shutting down and completely exhausted from everything that has happened today. Not wanting to see my own demise, I closed my eyes and winced at the thought of the pain, waiting for it... but nothing happened. I wasn't dead, at least not yet. Bulbs could be taking his time, but the seconds went on as my breath slowly caught up with me, opening my eyes to see Jose in front of me instead. 

His small body didn't entirely block me, but he wasn't hurt at all either. Then I saw it standing there to the side of Bulbs, the white semi-glowing hero that Jose's gang became. Well, it must've come to Jose's rescue and if I'm right, Jose being here meant that he finally decided to take a stand against his father or whoever is in this evil house. I've had enough though, dropping my head flat against the group as the knight in shining armour dragged Bulbs to the center of the room. It seemed like that thing did it effortlessly too, grabbing Bulbs by the neck as it attempted to free itself. As all I could do was watch now, I saw as a part of the ceiling opened up to let in a beam of light into the middle of this huge room, burning Bulbs as he withered into ashes. Not long after that, Jose followed behind as both him and the indescribable combination of his friends stood in the light to take in the moment, before smiling and walking out of the room. How honestly corny... Imagine seeing yourself as whatever this was. I couldn't relax yet, getting back some of my strength and getting up, making my way to the room with the large treehouse. Like I thought, Grif sat against the wall utterly defeated.

"Guess you didn't die either?" They said as I weakly walked over to them, taking in the rays of light from the window.

"Almost, I almost did. At least we're done now. What comes after this...is...whatever. I don't even know what to say." I said, half scared that this really was the end of this whole dream thing. Then again if it isn't, I might never want to lose this feeling and become addicted to the rush.

"Still not the smartest, I see. I'm too tired right now," Grif spoke while closing their eyes, moving their body so that they were more comfortable as the kimono was stained with blood, "At school, we'll talk about this some more." I didn't have anything else to say, looking at the horizon burning bright, swallowing up everything around us. Just pure light, the total opposite of what came last time.