Worlds collide

Chapter 3

Hyper-sleep! In my opinion the worst part of space travel. The experts say you should not dream or have nightmares, hell you shouldn't even notice that any time has passed. The way they explain it, is that it's like a blink, you get yourself comfortable in the futuristic coffin, close your eyes and then you open them again and that is pretty much it. Many people agree with this explanation I have never heard otherwise, from anyone. But I know for a fact this isn't entirely accurate, at least not for me. While it doesn't feel like time has passed, I do dream, and have nightmares it's quite unsettling. This time was no different except for the intensity of this nightmare, it was too real.

I opened my eyes but couldn't see anything, I blinked but darkness was all I could focus on. I called out like an idiot but gained no response, I tried to move but my arms and legs were restricted, something black almost shadow-like encased them in a tight grip, As I struggled the grip tightened, and I could feel the bruises beginning to form. It was cold, so cold I thought I'd see my breath each time I let one go but I couldn't see anything, a few moments passed and surprisingly, almost impossibly the temperature dropped and it was then I felt something stand right in front of me, some sort of being; its aura was restricting, I could barely breathe as it stood before me, as if it's mere presence sucked the air out of my lungs.

A second passed before something gripped my throat, Its hold restricted my airway even further and I could feel the cold spread, like a virus It ripped through my body as I gasped for oxygen and pulled against the restriction on my wrists and feet in an attempt to get free. At this point, I was losing feeling in my body, and my mind was beginning to fog, as the thought of death swam through it, I heard a chilling voice enter my ears and felt a frostbitten breath prickle my skin with goosebumps.

"Fresh blood...  mmm...  it has been so long since I've tasted fresh blood and yours will do nicely!" The voice was demonic as it chuckled and let go of my neck, I tried to scream but nothing came out.

"I'll see you soon young light-ling and your golden blood will be mine!" its voice echoed in my head as I sucked in a desperate breath and opened my eyes only to find myself back on the ship, surrounded by the glass tube and my mother standing over me with a worried expression.

It's just another nightmare, I'm fine even though we aren't supposed to have nightmares in hyper-sleep and that one felt more real than any nightmare or dream I've ever had. But I'm fine, all good. I kept telling myself as the coffin was opened and my mother fussed over my vitals.

"How are you, honey? You look pale, we've got to figure out why you keep having this reaction to hyper-sleep! Oh, you're freezing, I wonder if the environmental controls are on the fritz?" she fussed as she went over the computer logs, searching for an answer to my obvious aversion to this particular technology. In an attempt to stop my parents from worrying about me, I've never actually said anything about the nightmares to anyone except Tanya, so my parents are at a bit of a loss. As I ran my fingers through my hair and wiped the sweat from my brow, I noticed a slight discolouring on my wrists, too light to be bruises but if I didn't know any better I'd say that's exactly what they were.

"Mum I'm fine as always it's just a weird fluke, my vitals are normal, I'm good now so if you'll excuse me I'm going to go find my best friend as there is a disgusting grey drink with our names on it! Love you!" I stated in a rush as I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and jumped off the bed, I couldn't give her another reason to fret over me and I probably just knocked them while we were moving.  I gave my legs a shake out to rid them of the numbness and made my way into the next room where Tanya was currently doing the same thing.

"So did it happen again?" she questioned as she stretched out her limbs, gaining the attention of the tech currently working on the computer next to her.