chronicles of eden - act I (98 page)

"No what? What's wrong?" Daniel asked worriedly as he had his monster book in his lap. Alyssa and Specca were looking at the girl with surprise still from her outburst while Squeak was watching her with a curious expression.

"Are you ok, Triska?" Specca asked curiously. Triska shakily shook her head as she stared at the group with a frightened expression.

"No… make it stop…" she breathed out. Looking around quickly she saw the same sights from before once again passing by, along with the sky above growing darker while patches of fog were forming nearby.

"What are you shouting about this time?" Alyssa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Make it stop," Triska said shaking her head, feeling the strange sensation of dread and fear forming in her chest like before. Squeak tilted her head slightly and squeaked a few times, watching as Triska held her hands to her head. Triska looked back to the others with fright, seeing the other girls looking at her curiously. Slowly their expressions changed to cruel smiles as Daniel just looked at Triska with surprise still. Her mouth quivered as she saw the cold eyes of the girls watching her, her breathing increasing as she gripped her hair.

"MAKE IT STOP!"

*****

Next to the caravan Falla and Luna were looking down at two girls who were lying in the grass. Triska and Alyssa remained motionless as they appeared to be a in a deep sleep, the two having been unresponsive to various attempts to be woken up by the butterfly sisters.

“Ok, shouting at them doesn’t work, slapping them doesn’t work, pinching them doesn’t work, and holding a hand over their nose and mouth doesn’t work. If it weren’t for the fact that they were still breathing I would swear they were dead,” Falla said crossing her arms before her.

“We’ll never find out what happened to Daniel now. It’s not fair, now we’ll never get pregnant,” Luna whined with teary eyes. Falla growled with frustration then quickly knelt down next to Triska, grabbing the teen by the shoulders and shaking her yet again.

“Wake up human, wake up! Where is Daniel, what happened to him?” she yelled out. Luna wiped her tears away as her sister relentlessly shook the teen. Triska’s head bounced around as she slept through being shaken about wildly before Falla finally let go and stood up with a frustrated yell.

“What the hell is going on here anyway?” she shouted out looking around. Luna slowly looked around as well, both feeling as if something else was near them. The sky above was still cloudy and dark while the surrounding area was obscured with a thick fog. Lucky continued to look around slowly while still hitched to the caravan, having remained silent as only the breeze of the wind and the gentle rustling of leaves and grass were heard nearby.

“Sister, something feels wrong,” Luna said worriedly.

“I know, I feel like we’re being watched,” Falla said as she cautiously glanced around. She shook her head then looked back to her sister.

“Go in the caravan and see if they have any water or anything, maybe splashing that in their faces will work,” she said with a shrug. Luna nodded then quickly fluttered up to the front of the caravan. She darted into the cabin where Specca and Squeak were still asleep, the butterfly girl looking around carefully as there wasn’t much light inside.

“It’s so dark in here, I can hardly see anything,” she said softly, the girl then tripping over something and stumbling forward. As she did Daniel’s monster book slid over towards the entryway, the open book’s pages flipping over to a monster entry as it became visible in the soft light from outside.

Outside next to the caravan Falla was examining Triska’s face closely, the butterfly watching her with an annoyed expression. She opened one of the Triska’s eyelids and peered close to her eye, the human remaining still and not even flinching while her eye wasn’t focused. Falla groaned as she leaned back and looked around.

“This is stupid, trying to wake these girls up just to find out what happened to Daniel. I should be having sex with him right now, not having to go through all this bullshit,” she muttered as she stood back up. After a while she looked back over to the caravan.

“Luna, did you find anything?” she called out. After a while of nothing but silence Falla looked at the caravan with annoyance.

“Luna, hey! Did you find anything in there?” she called out again. Again nothing but silence was heard. Falla rolled her eyes with an annoyed sigh then fluttered up towards the front of the caravan.

“Hey, Luna, I’m talking to you. Did you find anything in there?” she asked looking inside. She saw Luna near the front of the cabin sitting back on her rear while staring at something with fright, her green eyes wide while her mouth quivered. Falla looked at her puzzled then toward the back of the cabin, only seeing a darkened interior.

“What are you doing? Did you find water or anything in there?” Falla asked looking back to her sister. Luna screamed and darted outside, hiding behind her sister as she trembled.

“What’s the matter with you?” Falla asked looking back at her.

“In… there…” Luna squeaked as she pointed into the cabin. Falla looked inside, seeing Specca and Squeak sleeping on the floor among a few pillows. There was a duffel bag and a carrying bag near the back corner as well as a lantern that was hanging up near the small window, but nothing else was noticeable.

“What? What are you talking about?” Falla asked shaking her head. Luna peeked out from behind Falla’s wings, staring with wide eyes at something.

“It’s in the back… next to the window,” she said under a whisper. Falla glanced back to her then looked inside again, only seeing darkness in the back of the cabin.

“There’s nothing back there, Luna, your crazy little mind is playing tricks on you again,” she said with exasperation. Luna shook her head franticly and held onto her sister’s shoulders out of fear.

“My mind isn’t playing tricks on me, something’s back there, it touched my wing,” she whimpered quietly. Falla showed a cautious expression then peered around inside the cabin closely. She looked at the back wall, her eyes focusing on it as much as she could. It was dark, but she could still make out the travelers belongings easily enough. As she stared into the dark cabin she felt that strange sensation like she was being watched, like something was looking back at her.

“Luna… what is it?” Falla asked quietly. Luna shakily peeked from behind her sister’s shoulder, staring into the cabin with fright. As they did the back of the cabin seemed to become hazy and shift around slightly. Falla’s eyes widened as she saw the distortion.

“What is that?” she whispered.

“I don’t know, I was going through the bags before I felt it behind me,” Luna said shakily.

Slowly a set of small dark blue orbs appeared, the two eyes looking back at the butterfly girls with a narrowed glare. A dark shadow seemed to manifest all around the back of the cabin as something started to take shape. The head sifted into form out of the darkness, the monster’s soulless blue eyes watching the sisters closely. It had long black hair that flowed around it like a shawl, covering most of its body from view. It slowly became visible, with the top half being that of a woman wearing a tattered gray dress. The lower half slowly phased into view, revealing a skeletal serpentine frame that coiled around behind her. The bones were dull and had a few lingering strands of black flesh hanging from some of the sections. Her hair flowed around gently as if it were weightless, the extensions seeming to float around in the air.

“What is that thing?” Luna asked frightfully. Falla stared at the monster with shock then glanced down as she heard a paper rustling, spotting Daniel’s monster book opened in front of her. She slowly knelt down and picked it up, her eyes reading the page it was opened to.

Monster class: Nightmare. Mostly found near cemeteries and burial grounds, these monsters are known to wander around aimlessly in the outerlands searching for anyone to haunt, human or monster. An ethereal based monster, it is considered undead as it technically isn’t alive and isn’t able to be killed by physical weapons. These creatures have a high magical affinity for curses and corruption. They are unable to breed by normal means; instead they reproduce by stealing the souls of their victims until it is powerful enough to split into two. Those that it curses fall into a deep sleep where they are haunted relentlessly, without being allowed to wake, until they finally dream about their worst fear. Should they succumb to that fear their soul will fall into an endless state of torment, and be taken away by the nightmare. The only way to survive is for the victim to kill the nightmare in their dreams, something that is nearly impossible if the fear is too great.

Falla read the entry then looked back to the monster in front of her. She glanced down to Specca and Squeak, the two girls in a deep sleep along with Triska and Alyssa who were outside. Slowly Falla looked back to the monster with fearful eyes.

“It’s a nightmare,” she said quietly.

“I know, it’s horrible, but what is it?” Luna asked shakily.

“No, I mean, it’s a nightmare,” Falla said shaking her head.

“I know that, but what
is
it?” Luna asked urgently. Falla growled and glanced back to her with a stern expression.

“I just told you, it’s a
nightmare
. That’s what it is, it’s a type of monster,” she said before looking back at the monster.

“A… nightmare?” Luna asked nervously. The nightmare let out a ghostly moan as her hair swayed away from in front of her, revealing Daniel who was held close in the monster’s arms. She breathed out a ghostly whisper while holding Daniel closer to her, the boy’s head resting against her chest.

“Daniel,” Falla said with wide eyes.

“Daniel, it’s got Daniel,” Luna exclaimed in a hushed whisper, pointing to the boy while hiding behind her sister’s wings. Falla looked at the monster then to Daniel, the boy appearing to be in a deep sleep just like the others.

“What do we do now?” Luna asked quietly.

“We can’t do anything for them, not now,” Falla said worriedly. She looked at Daniel and then back to the monster that was holding him close to her.

“Either they wake up on their own, or they never will.”

The world of Eden is home to many monsters that roam the lands, creatures that instill fear and terror into mankind. However, they are not the only things that can be frightening in the world. Being trapped in a nightmare can be terrifying for anyone, man or monster. Even if you realize you’re dreaming, often times it’s impossible to wake up, regardless of you constantly telling yourself it’s nothing but a bad dream. The fear can often be too great, the danger too real, the sense of weakness too overwhelming when faced with your twisted fantasies and fears that you are unable to do anything to fight back. As difficult as it may seem, the only way to free yourself was to either wake up on your own, or remain at the mercy of your nightmare.

The only one who could save you was yourself.

*****

“What do you mean they’ll never wake up?” Luna asked fearfully, hiding behind her sister as she watched with fright at the nightmare class monster staring at them while holding Daniel in her arms. It let out a low ghostly howl while its hair flowed around in small waves. Falla looked back at the book in her hands then to the monster.

“It’s a nightmare; it’s the reason why everybody here is asleep. The nightmare cursed them,” she said nervously.

“C-C-Cursed?” Luna stammered out. Falla glanced to Specca and Squeak, the two girls asleep in the cabin while the ethereal monster floated in place near the back wall.

“That’s what this book says, it places it’s victims into a deep sleep, then it takes their souls,” she said softly before looking over to Triska and Alyssa, the two girls asleep in the grass next to the caravan. Luna looked around at the sleeping girls then over to the nightmare, the monster holding Daniel who was also in a deep slumber.

“Their souls? But don’t they need those?” Luna asked worriedly. Falla twitched slightly then glanced back to her.

“Yes, they do. They’ll die if they don’t have those,” she explained flatly. Luna jumped in surprise then looked towards Daniel.

“No, I don’t want him to die, sister. If he dies then he can’t impregnate us. And he was nice to me, I don’t want him to die before he can knock me up,” she whimpered. Falla looked back to the nightmare with frustration, the monster watching them with unblinking eyes while its skeletal tail coiled around behind it near the wall. Falla looked back at the book entry and reread it quickly, her eyes darting around franticly for a solution on how to stop the monster from killing Daniel.

“It says physical weapons can’t hurt it, it’s not even alive. It’s undead, it’s just a spirit monster,” she said with frustration.

“Then how do we stop it?” Luna whined fearfully. Falla looked at the book carefully then to the monster.

“We can’t, those that are asleep have to wake up on their own. They have to kill the nightmare in their dreams, or else they’ll die,” she said softly. Luna shook her head then looked around at the sleeping girls.

“They’re all going to die in their sleep, we have to do something. We can’t let them die like this,” she whimpered. Falla growled with frustration then glared at the nightmare.

“Hey! That one belongs to me! You already have four others to take souls from, give him back to me!” she yelled out. The nightmare narrowed its eyes as it let out a ghostly moan, holding Daniel closer to her chest as her hair flowed around her gently.

“Dammit, he’s mine!” Falla shouted out throwing the book down with frustration.

“What about the others? We can’t let their souls be taken away, it’s not right,” Luna said shaking her head.

“Forget about them, we came here for Daniel, remember? He’s the only one who can get us pregnant, those other girls aren’t our responsibility,” Falla scoffed. Luna looked at her worriedly then down at Specca and Squeak, the two still sound asleep.

“Give me back my human!” Falla shouted at the nightmare, the girl then darting into the cabin and racing towards Daniel. Before she could reach him the nightmare let out a ghastly shriek, the monster then shooting upwards, shifting through the ceiling with Daniel in her arms. The coiled tail whipped around and just missed Falla who stopped in her tracks, watching with surprise as the skeletal extension missed her by a hair.