When night fell

prologue

The gate unlocked. The sound of the iron fence opening was sharp, it pierced into your ears. A sound known too well. A sound that needed you to act. Because if you didn't, nothing of you would be left anymore. A mere second. A mere moment.

People cheered, chanted names, screamed, yelled, whistled. It made your adrenaline pump loudly. I heard it. The thumping through the sand. Roughly. Small pauses in between, meaning it would be in the air for a moment.

The crowd cheered again. I turned around and finally faced him. My eyes met his eyes. We stood still. The yelling of the crowd faded. The fences faded. It was just him and I. He was golden. Muscled on every inch of his body. Bigger than Bodacious. Mightier. Angrier.

Horns as sharp as knives. Nostrils flaring heavily. The air coming out of his nose warm, tufts of air turning into damp clouds. He snorted loudly, drool dripping off his chin. Scraping the ground with one of his hoofs.

I rolled up my sleeves, a whisper leaving my parted lips. "I'm in control."

He snorted again, started running, bucking, twirling around. But he couldn't reach me. A mighty beast, yet I won. The adrenaline became almost unbearable. My whisper turned louder each time I said it. "I'm in control." I reached for the horns, pressed my forehead against his head, squinting my eyes. "I'm in control!"

His head was pushed away, but I still stood in front of him, eye to eye. "Do you hear me? I am in control!" He stopped bucking, looked at me. "You can make me nothing! For I am the one in control!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The cheering came back. I heard them chanting a name, but I couldn't make out what they said. Louder and louder, but the words couldn't form in my head. My mind became foggier. I lost contact with the bull. Making me wary of my surroundings. The fences came back, I could see the crowd crystal clear.

Their chanting faded. They became quiet again. Their expressions screamed terror. I looked around me, stepping anxiously around, for I couldn't see him anymore. "But I am still in control!" I screamed, but it came out weakly.

I twirled around quicker, but the fences came closer and closer. Then it hit me. I was trapped. And the area only became smaller and smaller. And the fence wasn't supposed to be opened in the first place. I heard the snorting, I heard the hoofs scraping the ground. And when I turned around, I realised I had lost control. The mighty beast won. He ran towards me, snorted one last time and-

In terror, I woke up. Transpiring heavily, panting. Hyperventilating. It was pitch black in my room. And with my hand, I groped around me to reach for the sandwich bags I had laying there. Once my hand had found one, I brought it over to my mouth, forcing myself to calm down while breathing into it.

With one movement, I had opened the covers, my eyes searching for my right leg, but I couldn't reach it. One thought screamed through my mind.

How could an innocent boy's dream, turn into such a nightmare?