Crystal Horrors: Stories from Before the Rift | Stevetober Prompts

Day 9 - Nightmare

Then, some kind of liquid drips onto the floor. It matches the color of the veins, except it's an even brighter purple, almost as if it's glowing. I see more droplets fall onto the rug, and I realize it's coming from my eyes, seemingly replacing tears. As I see more veins form and the pain gets worse, more of the strange liquids cascades from my eyes, rolling down my face and adding to the tiny puddles in front of me.

I look up, trying to scream out for help, but I can't. Not a word comes out. The strange liquid blurring my vision, I glance at the now broken mirror. My... My eyes...?

More of the veins are all around my neck, and a few are on my face. However, what catches my attention is my eyes... they've changed color. My eyes have turned into a rhombus shape, and instead of the red hue I've always had they're now that bright, strange purple. The rhombus shapes dilate and contract, as if they're trying to turn back to normal, but something is keeping them like this. More purple veins circle my irises in the sclera of my eyes.

Suddenly, it feels as if the sides of my face have split open, a sickening sound echoing in the room. I taste blood. I quickly put my hands up to my face, but before I can feel what's happened everything goes dark.

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...

I'm in some sort of abyss, everything dark around me.

I don't know how I can see, everything is just black. My eyes adjusting, I see something that looks like a screen in front of me. Stepping closer, I see little flashes of images.

One moment, it's the Rainbow Town at the dead of night, streetlamps and the glows in the trees lighting the paths. The next, after a short flash that resembles purple static, it's a forest. The flashes happen in more rapid succession, and one image is clear, staying there for a long while.

It's a savannah, the dried, brown grass stained with a deep maroon. I see a few dismembered parts of something, like a piece of a limb or an eye, then the focus turns from a view of the plains to a dead body. It's almost unrecognizable, but I realize it looks like one of the enemies that are trapped in the Spiritless World. What was his name again... I think it was Infinity?

I then freeze when I see a pair of hands come into view, the perspective of the screen on them.

Two red hands, covered in blood, keep tilting and turning as if whoever's perspective this is seems to be observing them. The fingers have turned into long, pointed, sharp-looking claws. Purple veins cover most of the skin. I then notice an extremely familiar bracelet around one of the wrists...

...Those are my hands.

The screen suddenly turns off, and I back away in fear. Everything in my vision starts to go dark.

Wh... What's happening...?

...What is this place...?

Why...

Why were my hands covered in blood...

I...

I was next to a...

...Oh lord...

...

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I slowly awake back in my bed, the sun shining from the window into my eyes.

I remember what just happened, and shoot up. I realize I'm stretched across my bed, almost halfway off it, my arm on the nightstand. The Heart of Genesis is alright, and so is the picture, but it looks like I swung my arm across the nightstand in my sleep and knocked over the mirror.

I quickly get up, careful of the broken mirror on the floor, and look at my hands. They look normal, no weird veins or anything. I feel the sides of my face, and it doesn't seem like anything happened to it. I then feel under my eyes, then pull away, and there's no strange liquid.

Oh... it was just a nightmare. Thank goodness...

I calm down and rub my eyes, glad it wasn't real. I then kneel down to pick up the shattered mirror. Luckily, it didn't break into too many pieces, so it won't be a problem picking it all up. Getting a new one is gonna be a pain, though. Everyone has to make their own stuff here, and that mirror was after a very lucky attempt.

I throw the pieces into a small barrel I've been using for trash, keeping the frame and putting it on my desk. I then walk over to the hooks on the wall and collect my gear, as I always do to get ready for the day.

Just as I place my scabbard on my belt, I hear a knock at the door. I walk over through the house and open my front door, and see the Overseer standing there.

"Morning, Colle!" He greets me. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"Nah, you didn't. It's fine." I say, giving him a smile. "What's up?"

"Well, it looks like some wild animal made a bunch of scratches in a part of the wall." The Overseer explains. "And I mean a LOT of scratches, big ones too. We don't want a weak spot in the walls, so we're all gathering stuff to fix it. Can you help?"

"Sure, let's go." I say, and I walk out of the house, following the Overseer.

I wonder what could've done that to the wall... I mean, these walls are pretty strong. They're made of concrete now, after all. I just hope it wasn't something like The Last Inferno, I absolutely do not want a repeat of that mess.

As we get to the wall, we see our other friends near the wall, on the outside. I see the scratches for myself, and... wow. Understatement. These are slashes, at least two inches deep, as if a sword went through the wall no problem. I'm just glad it didn't go completely through...

Rainbow, Galaxy, and the two children are curiously looking at the slashes, Galaxy even running his hand along the deep lines.

We greet our friends, and it seems they're just as confused as we are. No clue what happened, or what could've done this. Not even Alex knows. Well... No matter, at least it didn't get us. We list what colors we need to replace the parts of the wall, and split up to gather materials.

As I gather the dyes from one of the many little rainbow trees' leaves, I keep thinking back to my nightmare. What a strange experience...

What even was all of that...?