Walter, a college dropout, moved to Nashville to make some money. If he saved up enough, maybe he could go back and be with his sister in college, just like the two of them always planned. He found what he was looking for at the diner: a shift with...
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Walter thought the dream he had last night was the scariest thing he had ever experienced, but what was going to happen that very next night was worse. Don't be confused... his dream was terrifying. He couldn't imagine that it would ever come close to being real. But in fact, reality was much more sinister and much more damned.
His dream went like this:
His heart pounded in his chest as he stumbled through the dark, narrow alley. He'd taken this shortcut countless times before, but tonight it felt different, ominous. The street lights flickered and died as he passed, leaving him in total darkness. His only guide was the faint glow of the moon overhead, casting eerie shadows on the crumbling brick walls.
He heard a sound behind him, a soft rustling like fabric brushing against the ground. He spun around but saw nothing. His eyes strained to pierce the darkness, but it was as if the shadows themselves were alive, shifting and twisting around him.
Walt took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. It was just his imagination, he told himself. There was nothing to be afraid of. But then he saw it. A figure, barely discernible in the darkness, standing just a few feet away. It was tall, almost impossibly so, with impossibly long limbs and claws that glinted in the moonlight.
He froze, unable to move or even scream. The figure stepped closer, and now he could see its face. It was twisted into a grotesque, snarling grin, its eyes burning with an otherworldly light. And then it spoke, a low, guttural growl that seemed to come from deep within the earth itself.
"I can see you, Walter," it said. "And you are mine."
And then Walter woke up. He was sweating, drenched even. And he thanked God that it was just a dream. Later that day, he started his shift at a local diner, not knowing his life was about to change forever. And he would beg that the nightmare would come back instead of having to live through what was coming.
* * *
"I'll see you tomorrow, Walter."
"I'll see ya," he nodded. He slung his grease-stained white apron over his shoulder and waved to the cook in the back of the diner. The cook set a plate filled with fresh fries on the counter. And they smelled as good as they looked. "Tonight You Belong To Me" by Patience & Prudence filled the diner from the jukebox in the back corner. The light blue tile on the walls knew the songs from repetition.
The song rang on:
I know (I know)
You belong to somebody new
But tonight you belong to me
Although (Although) we're apart
You're a part of my heart
And tonight you belong to me...
"Walter!" the cook yelled from the back. He walked from the kitchen through the swinging door to the dining area. The door made a rattle every time it swung back and forth.
