Prices to Pay//Michael Langdon

The Dream

The next morning I lay in bed contemplating whether or not I should put Michael through the seven wonders. Is he ready? More importantly, am I ready? He will finally understand the depths of his power and this will show him that we are meant to be equals, I will no longer have leverage over him- or at least not a lot. Sure, I will have some skills that Michael will never be able to figure out but so does he. The only thing I will really have over him is my brain. Michael's impulsive and destructive, I tend to think things through more often than he does. He simply just acts on emotion and inner thoughts, whereas I think things through logically and think of the pros and cons of each situation. 

I didn't get much sleep because of how stressed I am, it's currently around three or four am, and I'm still wide awake. Why am I just now deciding that maybe I do not want Michael to attempt the seven wonders? I've had months and months of contemplation, yet here I am now wondering if I'm willing to help him. The more powerful he grows, the darker he becomes. I still support him because he desperately wants to make people happy. He wants to be the savior, he wants to be the perfect friend to all, and he wants to be by my side. I want to be there for him, I really do, but one day Michael will forget that there is goodness inside of him, and I can't be there when that happens. In fact, I refuse to. 

If this so-called apocalypse really does happen, I will not be there. I've touched Michael, I know of his intentions for the future, and it's really depressing that the person that I love most will be the end of me. He will forget of his dream for the future, for kids and for a family, and he will risk it all to please the one he serves. I'm not sure what my plan is, but I know that I cannot be with Michael in the end. This leads me to think, should I make the best of my time with Michael or do I distance myself from him now so it won't be so hard later? My time here on earth is running out, and I need to make my decision now. 

I lie in bed for about ten minutes, and I finally find sleep. Drifting off into a peaceful slumber, I am interrupted. I must have touched Michael in my sleep because he is all I can seem to dream about. 

I'm walking down an empty candle-lit hallway, I am at the academy. Finding myself in a strange place, I start to walk around. The dim hallway makes it hard to find things, so I tend to draw myself to the lights. Something doesn't seem right here, and I can't quite put my finger on it. Walking and walking I find my way to a round balcony that has stairs down to the first floor. I take my time down the stairs admiring some of my favorite pieces of art. Running my fingers down the wooden frames of each painting, I find my way downstairs. As I approach what seems to be a dining room, my favorite song is playing. At the dining table, I see some of my fellow coven witches, but no supreme. Michael is there, sitting at the end of the table. He has long, dark hair that flows to a little bit past his shoulders. There is a child who looks all too familiar, and an empty chair that has my name on it. Approaching the chair, it slides out, and I take a seat. It scoots me in all by itself and I look at the plate in front of me, there are three clear cubes. "Dig in, darling. I've added another portion for the both of you," Michael says smiling at me from the opposite side of the table. For both of us?

The other table guests smile at me as if I we were both the King and Queen. Trying to pull myself in closer to the table, I am physically unable to. I have a huge dome-shaped stomach, and now I finally understand why I have three portions on my plate. I'm having a child, Michael's child. "Michael, what's happening?" I ask feeling faint, I'm not supposed to be here. 

Someone must have caught on that I do not feel well because the first question someone asks me is, "Is our angel finally coming, Mrs. Langdon?" One girl with crazy hair asks me. I can tell that Michael is displeased with the term 'angel' but he seems to care more about me. Not feeling any labor pains, I shake my head 'no'. "Okay, well can you start eating so the rest of us can? We're starving," She says in a rude tone and Michael bangs his hand on the table. 

I'm still in shock with everything that is going on right now, but me being the good person that I am, I begin to eat the food in front of me. They all dig in and I begin to take in everything that is happening, what is even happening? Why am I here? I'm supposed to be dead. "I don't think I am meant to be here," I say excusing myself from the table. 

Standing up the girl calls to me, "Where are you going, Mommy?" She asks me in the sweetest voice imaginable. She's just a girl who wants to spend time with her mother, but she is not real. 

"Get out of my head, Michael!" I say realizing that I am in a dream that Michael is controlling. He looks perplexed and I roll my eyes. "Michael I can't do this with you, I can't have a family," I say on the verge of tears of frustration. 

"What about me? You can't leave me," The girl says and I look towards her saddened face. I shed a tear, knowing that all I ever wanted in life wasn't real. Knowing that this can never and will never happen I look away from her. "But I'll be stuck in your dream forever," The small girl says. I look at her adorable face and I feel a tear roll down my cheek.

I begin to shake my head, "I'm so sorry, baby. I can't," I cry in a tone slightly louder than a whisper. "You're not real," I say and the tears flow free. 

"Layna is real, Natalie," Michael says in a soft tone. I shake my head, this can't be. I must be dreaming. I begin to shake my head frantically as he stands up from his seat walking towards me. "Our princess, that you will carry until birth, is real," He says holding my stomach in his hands.

"Get out of my head, Michael!" I scream, crying as loud as possible. "Please, I can't do this," I whisper to him and his face drops. 

As his disposition turns negative, the entire scenery changes. I am in a void of loneliness, a dark black pit of depression. Everything that I loved disappeared right in front of my eyes, "Is this what you want, Natalie?" Michael asks from behind me. I'm still sobbing as I nod my head, this is the way it was meant to be. "You would rather die than accept my love?" He asks me in a saddened voice.

"I'm sorry, Michael," I say to him as I turn around to face him. He's wearing his father's latex suit that he has killed many people in. 

He walks toward me and wipes the silent tears rolling down my cheek, "You don't want this with me?" He asks and a little girl, Layna, runs a complete circle around me. I sob and reach out for her but she turns into dust in my hands, she is the most precious thing that I have ever seen in my life. She is all of my dreams, hopes, and aspirations, but she is simply not possible. 

"Please stop, Michael," I beg him to stop playing with my mind. 

He looks aggravated, and then my black void turns into fire. "I could have given you anything!" He yells in my face, which makes me cry even harder. "You could have had the earth and the moon, anything you wanted, Natalie," He says looking into my eyes. "But you don't love me," He says as a tear slides down his cheek.

"Don't say that Michael, you know I do," I say letting my waterfall of salted water spring from my eyes. "Michael, you're evil," I say and it physically pains me to say something so harsh, but yet so true. 

 I watch as a few silent tears fall down his face, he backs away from me. "Why am I even here, Natalie?" He asks me and I shake my head, for I do not know the answer. "You are just like all of the others! You're worthless, you don't really care. They never do." He says and my fiery hell comes to an end, and Michael disappears.

When I awake from my dream, I am in my bed all alone. I'm immediately brought to tears, I don't know how to fix what I've just done. The world may be coming to an end sooner than I thought.