The Red Card

"I'm going insane" he laughed to himself, "too much booze". He tossed the beer can he drank out of earlier into the trash can that sat next to his toilet. "I need a nap".

Walking out of the bathroom, Rodriguez headed upstairs towards his bedroom. He put on some sort of police show on the T.V., hoping it would lull him to sleep.

"Open it!"

Rodriguez bolted awake, sweat dripping off his brows.

"What the fuck!" he screamed. "Im losing my fucking mind!"

He felt his chest, his heart was beating faster than he's ever felt it before. He slowed his breathing down to try to calm his body. He strained his head to try to remember what his nightmare was about. His body jolted as he suddenly remembered the nightmare that his mind was trying to prevent him from knowing.

He was running through the woods from someone-or-something. Its eyes, red like rubys, bulged and hung out of its sockets. The stem that should've kept the eyeballs in place, now flopped around near its mouth.Its gray skin was falling off, peeling away as it ran wildly after Rodriguez.

Drip,Drip..drip.

Layers of skin, burnt and peeled away from it.

Its ears and hair had been singed off. Leaving only an empty hole for ears. It screamed, a whaling that no creature should have to make. Its scream echoed around in Rodriguez's head while the creature's arm reached out to grab Rodriguez.

SNAP

The creature's arm broke in half. The tendons hanging out from its elbow. Fat, tendons, muscles, they all hung loosely from its arm before dropping to the ground and turning to ash.

"Open it!" the creature hysterically laughed.

Blood gurgled from its throat until it seeped out of its mouth, down its neck, onto the dirt below.

It thrashed violently trying to grab onto Rodriguez.

"Open it! Open it! Open it!", it laughed.

Its neck extended, its face now hovering upside down over Rodriguez's horrified one. Its sockets dangled onto Rodriguez's face. Bits of burnt flesh flecked off into Rodriguez's mouth as he called for help. Its distorted smile mixed with the gurgling of blood from its throat made for the most horrific sight anybody would ever see. It continued to laugh, as its contorted smile blocked Rodriguez's line of vision.

"Remember", it whispered into Rodriguez's ear before disappearing.

Rodriguez looked around, only seeing piles of ashes at his feet.

But he felt it, it was watching him from the tree line.

That's when Rodriguez woke up.

His breathing became heavier from having to recall the nightmare.

"Remember what?", he thought about what the creature said.

He felt his heart beating quicker as he gripped his chest.

In his peripheral vision, he saw the creature in his closet, shrouded by the darkness.

He snapped his head towards his closet but nothing was there. He grabbed the baseball bat he keeps under his bed for home invasions and walked towards the closet.

Grabbing the light string from the ceiling, he pulled it down, illuminating his closet. Gripping his bat tightly, he began searching his closet. Pulling clothes back, moving boxes but nothing was there. He went to turn around but his feet felt different. Looking down he saw his feet covered in ash.