Algid (#TronnorAU)

Chapter 12: The Blue House

There was a cluttering noise somewhere beyond the dark, and the smell of chlorine that he knew all too well from freshened memories. The cold water dripped off his body, and the air around him was moist. Connor didn't remember when he had gotten to the pool, but somehow he knew he had to win this race. He just had to.

"Good luck, Connie!" he heard to his left, and he turned around to find Alexis cheering him on from the benches, and Mikey standing beside her. Only it wasn't really Alexis; or at least not after her short brown hair suddenly turned long and yellow, her skin more tan and her eyes to the same shade of green as Connor's. Before she was done with her transformation, Mikey had also changed into the same shape Connor had seen on his last nightmare; that of Brandon. "I believe in you, big brother!" he called.

Suddenly, it was no longer excitement he felt, but fear. How was this possible? How was she there? Connor had so many questions, but he couldn't speak. It was as if his tongue was tied.

"What's wrong, Connor?" he heard, and turned around to find himself face to face with Alexa, the girl with the hair of fire. She walked slowly towards Connor, placing her hands over his bare chest, and walking around him in circles. "I thought you'd like to see your sister... don't you?"

"That's not her.", Connor thought, but no words left his mouth. "That can't be her. She can't be."

"Oh, but she is..." said the demon shaped like Alexa, and then grabbed his hand, and took him to the edge of the pool. She wanted him to look what was in it, underwater, but Connor didn't. He was too scared. "Don't be afraid", whispered the demon, "Look."

Tentatively, Connor tilted his head forward slowly, and saw the horror beneath the water.

Three children, two boys and a girl, all with the same dirty blonde hair, with their eyes shut and the color drained from their skin. Drowned. Dead.

"Look... at what you've done."

A strike of fear took over his body, with a shaking sensation that swallowed him whole. And just like that, Connor was underwater, drowning into the dark depths. He couldn't see a thing, but the water suffocated him to the core. The bodies of his siblings weren't anywhere to be seen; he was completely alone. This was it. He was sinking, for good.

Just before when he had stopped struggling and was about to close his eyes, accepting what was about to come, however, light started to glow down on him from the surface. Something bright, shiny beckoned from above, and when he raised his gaze, Connor recognized the silhouette of someone he knew above the water. With the little strength he had left, Connor started swimming up. Every stroke of his arm and kick of his leg took a larger piece of him, but he had to get there. He had to get out.

The figure crouched down upon the darkness, and offered Connor his hand. Connor was about to reach it. He was going to take it. He was going to leave.

And then, the figure spoke from above, and his voice echoed in the water.

"See? I knew you could really pack a punch."

And just before he woke up from the nightmare, Connor realized in his panic that the voice belonged to a certain mysterious gas station kid.

---

-"Mikeeeeey...!"—Grace called from the kitchen stove, as she worked on cooking the bacon on the frying pan—"Mikey, come downstairs, food is ready...!"

-"Coming!"—Mikey announced from upstairs, as Connor sat down in the kitchen table in front of Alexis.

It was another regular morning in the house, and Connor was sitting in front of Alexis on the kitchen table to have breakfast, as he poured himself some cereal without any milk. He was dizzy and sleepy from the bad sleep, but he had already learned how to handle those with the years. When you get nightmares so often, it was just a matter of time and character until they become just another dream. Despite all the messy hair and the bad attitude, Connor was doing fine from the recent predicament.