Rise of Nightmares (Closed)

[NyxAvatar68]

"He's late. He was supposed to be here nearly an hour ago," a girl in a school uniform muttered to herself, sitting on a bench at the local bus station while she stared down at her phone. While she would normally have no business sitting around on her own, she was waiting for her older brother to come pick her up. It had been less than two days earlier where plans were made by her parents for her to stay with her brother for a year while they went off somewhere for work. She could even remember the way her mom had told her the plan, as if it was long decided even though she was sure her parents sucked at planning.

Letting out a sigh, the girl ran a hand through her long black hair and stood from the bench, grabbing the backpack she had brought with her. If she remembered correctly, the rest of her things had already been sent off to her brother's apartment and she decided to wear the uniform of the school she'd be attending for her last year of high school. Even though she was supposed to have already graduated, due to an accident at her last school, she was held back a year. She stopped dead in her tracks, remembering the incident vaguely in her head. The school track, a gym teacher, the crazed look in his eyes. Just as she thought more about it, she felt a sudden, odd chill in the air and opened her eyes, looking around the bus station.

'Nobody's here. Maybe I'm just overthinking things again,' the girl thought to herself, shaking her head and making her way outside. Deeper within the bus station, however, something was watching the girl from a distance, attracted by the negative emotions she had been radiating moments earlier.

Walking outside, the girl was quick to put up an arm to protect her eyes from the midsummer sun. While she was in the middle of that, she heard a nearby car door close. Slowly, the girl turned towards a man with similar black hair to her dressed in a police uniform. When he saw her, he smiled and walked over, quickly putting an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Selena, you made it!" he said to her. Selena pouted and pushed his arm off of her.

"You're late, Ethan. Then again, you're almost never on time for anything," Selena replied, muttering the last part to herself. Ethan laughed a bit and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Work's been a killer lately. I also had to move all your stuff in this morning, too. Leave it to mom and dad to run off for work and barely leave any warning. Must be tough being there all alone with them," Ethan replied while the two walked towards his car. "Not much has changed ever since...you know, the accident," Selena said. The moment Selena brought up the "accident," the bright, confidant smile on her older brother's face was gone in an instant. He stopped and put his hands on Selena's shoulders, turning her towards him. He bit his lip, trying to think of what to say. "Listen, Selena...I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about that situation. If I was there, you wouldn't have been..." Ethan said, looking down at Selena's legs, which were covered by her knee high socks. Even while the occasional person passed by and stared, he didn't seem to mind. Selena slowly put a hand on Ethan's arm and shook her head. "It's fine, Ethan," Selena simply said.

After a short silence, Ethan moved his hands off of Selena's shoulders and made his way to his car door, opening up the passenger's seat for his younger sister. "For now, how about we head back and get some dinner?" Ethan said, making way for Selena to get into the car. While he kept up his smile, Ethan had actually not told Selena the real reason he was so late to pick her up.

Earlier that morning, a body had been discovered.

 

[Dirtydave1974]

The craving gnawed at Dreams stomach. It was never far away. It had been nearly a week since he last feasted, but tonight he had more important things to do. Tonight, he was hunting one of his own.

The night air chilled his skin. Dream pushed his lean hands deeper in the pockets of his jacket and shivered. He huddled back into the black hoody that covered his pale, brooding features. Cloudy grey eyes inspected the young woman standing at the bus stop on the opposite side of the road.

Despite her difficulties she had blossomed in the last year. Her well-formed body filled the school uniform, which had become almost too small for her. Her skirt ended mid-thigh flaunting her slender stocking clad legs. She pulled her jacket tighter around her body for warmth. Hiding the swell of her chest against the tight white school shirt.

Dream shook his head. What was that? Why was he looking at her like that? Strange.

She looked from right to left, and scowled in frustration when she didn’t see the one she was waiting for.

“We can’t protect her anymore,” the Witch had told him over the phone that morning. “They are closing in on us. I’m sending her away.”
“I thought you said she had power,” Dream had replied.
“Yes, but she doesn’t know about that yet. Doesn’t understand who she is and what she is capable of. Her injuries have delayed the manifestation.” The Witches voice had been sharp and accusing. Dream had closed his eyes, allowing the guilt to wash over him. ”For now she is vulnerable, and I don’t have the power to do what must be done. This time you will protect her until she is ready.”
“I obey,” Dream replied.
“Don’t fail me.”

Dream shifted from one foot to the other. On the opposite side of the road the dark shadows of his brothers and sisters lurked in the darkness behind the bus stop. Watching her with hungry eyes. Waiting.

Dream reached for his sword.

But then a car drove pulled into the curb. A policeman hurried toward the woman. She pouted at him, accusing him of being late. He appeared appropriately apologetic while he helped her place her bag in the boot of his car. They exchanged some banter before hugging each other.

While they were exchanging pleasantries, the Nightmares moved unseen toward the vehicle. The light behind the pair dimmed as they stepped into the vehicle.
Dream unsheathed his blade and strode onto the dark street. The red and white lights on the car flickered to life and a moment later the engine turned over. Dream dropped into a run raising his weapon, but a Nightmare slid along the road as silently as a shadow, slipping beneath the car. The vehicle changed gears.
Dream was sprinting now, but he was too late.

The car accelerated forward and disappeared down the road. Taking the Nightmare with it. Dream turned and sprinted back into the alley toward his motor cycle.

 

[NyxAvatar68]

For most of the ride, neither Ethan or Selena said anything to each other. Their lack of conversation didn't feel awkward to Selena, mostly because she knew her brother was probably tired from both work and bringing her stuff into his apartment. To her, Ethan was the type who would overwork himself, but still smile and say "everything's fine." She smiled a bit at the thought of it, reminding her of the times Ethan had visited her in the hospital after the incident happened. While Selena was lost in her thoughts, Ethan was the one to break the silence.

"Hey, look over there," Ethan said, pointing to a large building surrounded by a gate up ahead to the right. Even with none of the lights on, Selena could tell just what Ethan was trying to tell her. "Silver Oak High School. I hear it's not a very bad school," Ethan added, clearly trying to sidestep any mention of something that might bring up bad memories for Selena. The girl didn't say anything as the car passed by the school and took another left turn. With Ethan breaking the ice, Selena became a bit more responsive and open to talking about mindless things like how things have been for Ethan at work, and where local convenience stores are in town. The casual conversation helped Selena ignore the odd chill she had been feeling since the drive started. After about another five minutes, the pair reached the apartment complex where Ethan lived. The two stepped out of Ethan's car and made their way up to Ethan's apartment.

 

[Dirtydave1974]

Dream skidded to a halt a short distance from his motorcycle. A woman wearing a white shirt, with sleeves rolled up to just beneath her elbows and black business trousers stood in front of the cycle. Her head was lolling to the left, like a rag doll or demented puppet.

Eyes just a little too wide examined him as he took a cautious step toward her. Her mouth, bright red with lips stick twisted into something between a grimace and a smile.

“Brother,” she said, her voice somewhere between a rasp and a stage whisper.

“Brother,” Dream answered with a nod.

“Where do you go?” she asked. Her leg jerked forward, and she took an unsteady step toward him.

“I think you know the answer to that.”

She pouted. “No fun. Stay. Play.”

Dream shook his head. The woman shambled toward him. He tightened his grip on the sword as she stumbled closer. Those wide eyes regarded the sword, and she uttered a titter of amusement. “This one has so many dark desires. Delicious to feast on. She has been my play toy for sometime. Maybe you would like to play with her too.” The woman grabbed her breasts, and squeezed them with her fingers. Dream felt something stir. The craving, or hunger called for him to do it. To take this puppet and use her for his pleasure. No. He wasn't that monster anymore. That creature was dead.

“You don’t have the strength to possess her much longer, brother,” he said.

The woman shrugged. “She might wake up with your dick inside her. What does it matter?” Dream recoiled. The creatures words disgusting him.

“Get out of my way,” he said, raising his blade.

“Or what? That can’t hurt me. You will only kill the flesh puppet. Like the one you killed this morning.”

“Our brother left me no choice. The woman he touched would have killed her child.”

“What does it matter? More and more come to our world. They must pay for trespassing. You kill for one reason, we kill for another. But when we kill, we escape. No escape for you. The policeman knows. He searches for you, and he will find you.”

Dream gripped his sword harder. “What do you want brother.”

“To stall you. Even now our brother is slipping unseen into their house. Soon he will enough feast on the girl, or her policeman brother. I wonder which he will pick.”

Dream charged forward, shoving his shoulder into the woman. She tumbled backward and hit the curb with a cry of pain. Before his eyes she gasped, as though lost for breath. Desperately she sucked in air, and her wide eyes narrowed and she seemed to regain control of her body. A disembodied laughter echoed up and down the alley.

“Don’t hurt me. Get away.” The woman scrambled backward through the filth in the curb. Dream ignored her and leapt onto his motorcycle hoping he wasn’t going to be too late.

 

[NyxAvatar68]

Once the two made their way inside, Selena was quick to comment on how her brother's apartment looked. "I'm impressed it's not a mess in here. You never used to clean your room back at home," Selena said as she walked through the living room. Several pictures that were familiar to her were hung up on the walls, from Ethan's graduation from the police academy to the picture of Selena and her family at a Christmas party two years ago. Seeing herself and her family smiling in the picture felt like a distant memory to her. Before she could think any further about it, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you go get settled in? I'll take care of dinner tonight," Ethan said, but Selena couldn't help but narrow her eyes at this.

"You can cook? Since when?" Selena questioned, causing Ethan to freeze up. After a series of muttering and "uhs," he sighed and turned away from Selena.

"I'll go out and get us some pizza or something, but..." Ethan replied, his tone changing as he turned back towards Selena. "Don't leave the apartment tonight, no matter what reason, alright?" Ethan added. Selena was a bit surprised to see such a serious side to her brother, but she went along with it and nodded. Like a switch flipping, the serious Ethan was gone almost instantly and he had returned to what Selena considered his normal self, watching as he headed back outside. Once he was alone, Ethan bit his lip and clenched his fists as he remembered the way Selena looked at the family picture. He let out a sigh and headed back down to his car.

 

[Dirtydave1974]

The policeman didn’t see the nightmare as he stepped from the house. For a long moment it was tempted to follow the policeman. It could sense the man’s pain. The things that he had seen and the emotional scars that had been left behind.

But the woman smelled better. Full of hope. Filled with love for her brother and pain at her families separation. She would taste better afraid. They all tasted better afraid, and they were so very easy to scare.

The nightmare pressed the call button for the police man’s apartment. Not waiting for an answer, it raced around to the side of the building.

With the dexterity of a deformed monkey, the nightmare climbed the tree. Slipping from the trunk onto one of the lower branches. With an evil grin it ran on all fours and leapt off the branch. It’s body smashed through the bedroom glass window. It landed into the apartment gnashing its teeth from the pain.

But that fleeting sensation would pass once it fed. It scrambled onto its feet and merged with the nearest shadow in the corner of the room. Then it waited.