Secrets Within the Resounding Sound

Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

My consciousness slipped away from me, taking me beyond reality and into the world of my dreams. It was a beautiful place, beyond beautiful. It was serene, the skies were alight with all different hues, and it was as if twilight stayed forever, but it didn't.

Sooner than I thought, everything went dark. I could not see in front of my face while my eyes adjusted. Little things were flying around the air, leaving a light trail in the sky as they flew. They were like fireflies but they were bigger, prettier and a lot scarier. One came close enough to me that I could see that it had small sharp pointed teeth and a small nose like a snout. I yelped and stepped back, tripping over something that didn't exist.

When I got up, though, I found that I had tripped over a small panther-like animal. It was as black as the skies; except its eyes, they were a clear green, glowing in the dark. It looked a lot like the little panther doll that was sitting on my new desk in my room. I stared, open-mouthed as it snorted and walked gracefully away towards the unknown. The little bug like creatures kept on flying around me, lighting the area around my feet. At least I was on the ground. One of the bugs flew ahead, and then the rest followed leaving me alone in the greeting darkness.

"You shouldn't have come." A voice whispered seductively and roughly. The voice had a veil of fear behind it. I jumped at it. I seemed to know whose voice it was but I couldn't think of a name.

I turned slowly to look at the person I was dreaming of. He had hair as black as the night, blue eyes that pierced the world with fierceness. His face was alight with the lights of the bugs, to my dreaming mind, his looks rivaled the gods. Despite myself I gasped, but quickly covered my mouth with my hand. The man's lips curled up at the ends into a slight smile. He stepped forward his feet making no sound on the ground. When he was close enough for me to see with my adjusted eyes I noticed an odd peculiarity about his skin. Decorating his skin were black tattoo-ish marks, they looked like tribal markings. Swirls connecting to swirls, creations that looked like the moon and sun. These tattoos covered all of his body. Except for his face there was only one and it was by his left eye. Shaped like a serpent, it stood out the most.

"It would be better if you had never come." The man came closer still but I seemed to be unable to move. It was as if chains were constricting around my body and holding me in my place. I tried to struggle against these invisible chains, nothing worked though. They didn't even budge. This wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare.

The man reached a hand forward and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. It was as cold as ice. His eyes closed and my eyes widened as I watched a thin silver blade appear in his other hand. He didn't even open his eyes as he brought the blade closer to my face. I could see my reflection in it. It sparkled in invisible moonlight as the man held it just beneath my chin. Even if the chains weren't holding me I froze on my own free will. The blade touched the base of my neck; I could feel the point drawing blood. I suppressed a scream for fear that it would be my untimely end.

"It's far too soon for us to meet." He frowned, his eyes still closed. No matter what I did or said, it wouldn't have mattered for he thrust the blade through my neck, piercing my jugular as if it were nothing more than any other piece of meat, his eyes opened and he smiled, sadly.

"Goodbye my Echo."

I bolted awake with a scream on my lips, the feeling of a blade still at my throat. I lifted my hand, grasping my neck and pulling away to check for blood. Relieved there was none, I looked around the room. The sun was shining lightly through the window, Juni was gone, her bed made. I moved out of the bed, standing up, shaking still from my dream. On my desk next to the black panther toy was a note. The toy made me think of the man with the tribal tattoos. He was very frightening and I hoped to never dream of him again.