Dream Walker

 

Moonlight played over the leaves, casting them in a silver glow. A soft breeze blew through the forest, playing with the foliage and ferns. Night creatures moved about, their wings and calls gently invading the night air. The open windows welcomed it all, inviting every hoot and grunt, musical rustling of leaves, and the odd call of the lost souls wandering the streets late at night.

My eyes watched the moon from my bed, it’s waxing from beautiful and bright. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips, remembering countless nights I had watched the moon and felt the serenity its presence offered. Yet the smile faded as quickly as it came, the reality of what II was waiting for settled in.

The bed was cold and uncomfortable. I laid on it, clothing still on, bag resting at the foot. Not a day ago something unseen had ended a life without hurting the body at all. I had watched from the street as the corpse had been removed, carried away for burning. The village feared plague but something in me knew it was more.

Within the home, nothing had been amiss. The bed was disturbed, as he had been asleep when he passed. The sheets were a mess, thee sleeper haad thrashed about, under an invisible attack. Nothing else in the home had been disturbed. There were no mirrors, no invocation circles, not even a knocked over trinket or two.

I had spent the day in the home, quietly going through what was there. The man had no family, no books, and few friends. He was young, had only come to the village recently after his husband had died. It was a village for those running from the past, making them a silent, brooding lot. It felt like home.

As night rolled in, the house was abandoned. They left me with long looks of concern and a few candles. I moved through the small space, blowing the candles out, and sat in the long shadows cast by the moonlight. Nothing stirred in the house. 

I waited for hours. Waited for a shadow to stir, a thing to crawl from the darkness, to emerge from the fireplace, or to manifest from the night itself. I waited for the candles to reignite and a creature to be summoned by old magic. 

Nothing.

The night grew long and I sat in its darkness until it was clear that nothing lived in the house. In the dead of night, I had remade the bed, grimacing at the smell of sweat that was all over the sheets. An hour passed and still, nothing haunted me, even as I closed my eyes and dared the night to bite back.

As I laid there, I sighed and turned to the side, looking away from the branches swaying in the wind, deciding I would dare to will myself asleep. My breathing slowed, quieting with each passing moment. I cleared my mind, letting it fall blank. 

The darkness around me changed, shifting. I grew warm and settled into the uncomfortable bed, the sounds of night fading away into the sweet nothing of rest. 

Spice and perfume filled the air. The sound of a thousand voices laughing as music floated around, their bodies moving in rhythm with a celebration of life and death. It was a kingdom city II hadn’t been to in a hundred years, yet each detail was exactly as I remembered it. The large stone buildings with beautiful mosaics and bright colors brought a smile to my face.

I walked down an alley, fingers brushing against the ancient stone. Children ran by, dodging around me with deft swiftness, their shouts echoing between the buildings. I watched them, then turned back to the main street.

Across the street, he stood, half-covered in darkness. A wild grin on his lips that stretched just a little too far. Long, wicked claws grew from each finger, glimmering in the darkness with their steel lengths.

Our eyes met and his grin widened. I stood, half frozen, watching the thing that watched me. People walked between us, laughing and celebrating, but neither of us blinked. A cold free touched my gut as my instincts recognized a predator. 

The nails raked against the stone, a warning and an invitation. II felt a smirk tug at my lip and tilted my head, brow raising. 

His grin somehow grew. One hand moved to tilt his hat in quiet acknowledgment of my movement. The haunting eyes bore into mine before a man walked between us and the nightmare disappeared.

I turned into the street, moving through the people to get away, heart thudding in my chest. The mortals moved slow and drunkenly as I tried to move through them. Several women crowded around me, putting flowers around my neck as I tried to get away.

A man turned, looking at me, that wicked knowing gin on his lips. I stumbled back, the women telling me to be careful in a language I barely remembered. He strode forward, moving around the women with ease, even as I tried to extract myself from them. 

Finally, I shoved one away, pushing harder than I meant. She fell backward, curse words coming out of here. The people paused, turning towards me in unison. I looked at her, saying an apology in he language poorly, the words suddenly forgotten in my head.

The creature was nowhere to be seen. I turned, running away from the people as they began to chase after me. I walked up stone stairs, following them around the wall and to the top of a flat rustic building.

As I stepped out, the pale brown stone became dark grey, and the rain beat down on the castle. I turned, looking behind me to the tower door that loomed. It was another kingdom, another land I hadn’t seen in nearly a century. My brows furrowed, eyes blinking away what I knew must be an illusion.

The sound of nails scraping on stone brought my eyes back to the great wall I stood on. Amongst the gargoyles and shadows something walked, long metal claws dragging over the rock with each passing step, the creature itself shrouded in darkness. Yet each step brought the promise of pain closer.

I turned and ran, as any prey animal would, running to the tower’s door. It pushed open with ease and I move inside, slamming the door behind me and throwing the wooden plank over it to lock it. 

My feet carried me up the stone stairs, spiraling upward faster and faster. The floor above opened to an armory, with discarded armor and weapons on racks and on the floor. I grabbed a sword, its cold pommel strangely familiar in my hand. 

The door below slowly creaked open. I paused, looking around for a way to block the hole yet there was none. A simple ladder led upward to the top of the tower. The sword was tucked into a sheath and attached to my belt before I climbed, pushing a trap door open behind me.

Wind and rain whipped my face as I climbed outside. My heart thundered as loud as the storm around me as the man on the rampart turned, evil grin meeting my look of terror. 

“How-” I said, but no words came out. 

My hand fumbled with the sword, pulling it out and holding it between us. The man caressed the edge of the blade with his long, steel nails, sending shivers down the length to my bones. I shuddered and stepped back, flicking the sword so his nails had to move away or he would be cut.

Yet he didn’t pull away and the blade slid through his fingers, cutting them off. They fell to the floor and he laughed, a maniacal giggle coming from his wicked grin.

“Fuck,” I muttered, stepping to the side as he moved nearer, fingers wiggling before growing new steel weapons of pain.

“Where are you going?” he teased, raising his brows in eager anticipation.

I glanced around, realizing there was nowhere to go. My grip grew firmer n the blade and I thrust, pushing towards the creature.

He grabbed the blade, pulling on it to pull me closer. I let go, letting him stumble back against the rampart. His back hit the stone and he dropped the blade. It clattered to the ground as I followed him, giving one final push to throw his body over the edge.

The thunder roared as he screamed, body falling from the highest tower in the strange kingdom. I stood, watching him disappear into the darkness below. Rain lashed my face. I was soaked and yet didn’t notice. The door I had come through was gone. 

“No.” I knelt ddown, fingers feeling for the wood in the daark. “No, no, no, no, no…”

A long, clawed hand grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. 

“Nice try,” he grinned, pulling tighter. I whimpered at the pain that moved through my scalp. “You’ve got fire, kid.”

My hand patted the ground for the sword, finding nothing but cement and rainwater. 

“You put up a good fight. Quite the little heroine.”

Claws caressed my exposed throat, playing over the delicate skin, whispering of death. 

“But now, as in all fairy tales… there will be pain.”

He pulled hard, tossing me against the wall I had thrown him over. I hit the cement, the wind knocked out of my lungs, and gasping. 

The wicked claws slashed my back, cutting the fabric of my clothes to ribbons and slicing through the delicate skin. Blood mixed with rainwater as it leaked down my back, dripping onto the stone below.

His rough hands pulled at the fabric, ripping it wide open until it sat in a ragged mess, hanging from my stomach. “You look good in red,” he grinned, one long claw moving from my ankle to my groin and slicing calf to thigh in the motion. With ease, he sliced the pants away, leaving a bloody mess in his wake.

My cries were eaten by the wind and rain. He laughed, leaning against me from behind as I held to the stone, trying to keep my feet under me. “There, there. It’s not as though you could have defeated me.”

I whimpered as his lips teased the skin of my neck, whispering against the sensitive flesh. “But it wouldn’t be fun if you did. Would it? You want me to break you. I saw your grin in the market… like a whore.”

He yanked on my hair, pulling my head back again. “Beg me.”

“Please,” I whimpered, releasing a shuddering breath. 

“Please, what?”

A claw slid from my throat to my breast, cutting a fine line before lightly stabbing into the nipple. 

I cried out, trying to pull away but only leaning harder against him. The claw moved just a touch deeper. 

“Please. What.” His voice was husky and demanding.

I sucked in a shaky breath. “Break me.”

His hand released my hair and pushed me forward, leaning me over the cold wet stone. “Again,” he snarled.

“Please break me,” I cried out, screaming into the wind.

The fingers took my hair, winding it around his fingers before he held steady and pushed behind me. His thick, rough length was shoved inside, claiming my entrance for his own in one vicious thrust. 

Tears slid down my cheeks. Small whimpers escaped my lip. I dug my nails into the stone while his hips began to move, sliding himself in and out of me. Each stroke burned, cutting inside me. The creature only grinned when I cried out, pushing harder with each whimper I gave.

The lightning cracked, illuminating the nightmare creature while he began to pound into me. My cries of pain mingled with moans of pleasure and his grunting eagerness. The hand held tighter to my hair, pulling my head back and bringing my hips to meet his thrusts. We rocked together, the monster claiming my body as his own with each penetrating plunge. 

“Good girl,” he growled, losing himself in the motion of our joining. Blood slid down my back and mixed with the rain and my wetness, coating us both in its crimson glow. Nails slid against my skin, leaving thin cuts that oozed beads of blood, scratching me everywhere he touched.

I moaned, bucking back against me even as he pushed me down against the stone harder, using my body however he wished. His speed and power increased, seeming to expand within me and push deeper, leaving me a mess of pressure and pain and the ecstasy of being filled.

“Thank you,” I panted, the pressure boiling over inside of me and leaving as a cry of delight. I shuddered as he thrust inside me, holding himself there to feel me twitch while he rested in.

A knowing grin touched his lips as he watched me release, beginning to slide in and out again only when I caught my breath. He gave one decisive pull on my hair and dragged me to my knees before him.

His swollen length, covered in my juices and blood, was thrust into my mouth and into the back of my throat. I choked, tasting copper and musk before gagging on his size. The monster didn’t care, sliding in and out again with violent speed and hunger. 

I coughed and sputtered on his size, hands pushing against his thighs in panic as he slide inside, blocking my ability to breathe. The speed picked up as I gagged again, feeling my throat close and tighten around him.

He groaned in pleasure, holding me perfectly still by a painful grip on my hair. The nightmare pulled out, hand stroking himself for a few moments before hot liquid spilled across my lips and face, covering me in his release.

That same grin showed on his lips as he stared down at me, caressing my chin briefly. “Wake up.”

My brows furrowed. “What?”

The monster pulled me to my feet and to the edge of the tower. I looked over the edge to the darkness below. Wet, hungry lips kissed mine, licking his taste off of my flesh. “Wake. Up.”

And he pushed.

I tumbled over the side of the tower, plunging through the cold and wet air. A scream escaped my lips as the darkness grew nearer and nearer until I felt a hard thud from hitting the ground.

My eyes opened with a sudden start in the small home, staring into complete darkness. I was breathing fast and hard. My hands touched my body, feeling no cuts and my clothing still intact. The cloud moved off the moon, throwing light back into the room. I sighed, catching my breath, as the vivid dream stayed locked in my mind.