Deleterious : Dreamlands

The Storm

'Sleeping in a cold room increases the chances of having a nightmare...'

Alex's eyes spring open as she feels an extremely heavy weight on her chest. She can't move and she can't speak. All she can do is lie there and stare up at the dark ceiling above her. Her room is dark with only the light of the street lamp outside her window to allow her to see. There is something or someone standing to the left of her frozen body. Beside the figure calmly sits a pitch black wolf with glowing red eyes. She begins to panic. "Not again...' Her mouth opens to scream but no sound comes out. The dark figure to her left moves closer, which causes a loud ringing to enter her ears. She begins to feel nauseous and sleepy. So very sleepy...
She flails her head from side to side and kicks her feet, but her arms remain pinned at her sides. She is paralyzed. Sweat pours down her forehead during her struggle, and as quickly as it started, it ends. The shadow figure and the wolf vanishes in thin air. Alex gasps for air and sits up in her bed, running a hand through her hair. She sits there for what feels like hours, trying to catch her breath. 'I need to see Oliver....'

______________________________

Dark storm clouds loom overhead in the warm August sky as thunder rumbles in the distance. The time is 11:30pm and rain starts to sprinkle down on the young girl, merely seventeen years old. Her name is Alex Evans and her messy black hair whips around in the wind as she runs down the street. Her old converse shoes slap on the wet concrete with every step as she runs along the road. Her only focus is to get to her friend Oliver's house. 'Insomnia is such a pain in the ass...the paralysis doesn't help either...' She thinks to herself as she runs along.
Oliver is her best friend and he has been since elementary school. He's been the only one she's ever had, and he's been the only one who'd help her when she was in need. Almost every evening they meet up and hang out for hours and hours at a time. Sometimes they talk and sometimes they just sit in silence, peacefully enjoying each others company. He was kind of like a therapist to her.
She's on her way to his house now because she's recently been having terrible nightmares and trouble getting to sleep. Paralysis often occurs and sometimes she can't even wake up from the horrid dreams and she remains stuck in the terrifying realm until she manages to finally awaken. They haunt her every single night and she's beginning to be too scared to sleep at all. Her dreams keep becoming more and more realistic. Right now, Oliver is her only escape from her nightmarish hell. Reality just doesn't feel normal to her anymore.
As she runs along in the dark of the night, she keeps catching familiar glimpses of black fur and red eyes. She dismisses it off as her imagination and continues to jog up the road.

By the time Alex gets to Oliver's house, her clothes are soaked through and she is shivering due to the growing storm. She knocks on Oliver's door and he answers it almost immediately, greeting her with a warm hug and a surprised look on his face.
"Well hello there! It's a little late for a visit don't you think? Everything ok?" He asks.

"I need some company." Alex replies, still shaken from her dream.

"Ok. Here, come inside and I'll find you some dry clothes." He says with a nice smile.
Alex wipes her wet hair from her face and gratefully obliges, stepping into Oliver's warm house. Like always, his parent's aren't home and he is the only one there. She sits on the couch and watches him disappear upstairs. In the meantime, Alex grabs the remote and flips on the TV, scrolling through different programs in search for the weather channel. The weather man says that the storm isn't going to stop anytime soon, in fact, it will get much worse. Other various flood warning pop up onto the screen and Oliver soon comes back down with a black t-shirt and a pair of red basketball shorts for Alex to wear.
"Here, these should do as your clothes dry." He says, handing them to her.

Alex smiles and gladly accepts the dry clothes. "Thanks Ollie." She grins cheekily and skips off into the bathroom to change. The shirt and shorts are a little big on her, but they are warm and dry. She puts her wet clothes into the dryer and then makes her way back into the living room where Oliver waits patiently on the couch.

"You know, you look kinda cute in my clothes." He says, smiling dumbly.

Alex scoffs and playfully punches his shoulder. "Awe, shut up you dork." She giggles.

Oliver chuckles back. "Hahaha, so why are you here so late? You could've came earlier when it wasn't raining."

Alex shrugs. "I was kinda busy today with my family. I came over now cause I couldn't sleep."

Oliver nods his head. "More nightmares?" He asks.

"Unfortunately. And they seem to be getting worse. I feel like I can never wake up from them and I'm almost too scared to even go to sleep anymore. I haven't slept in a couple days." She replies.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Oliver says. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like."

"I'll stay for a little while. At least until the rain dies down." She says, glancing out the window. She sits down on the couch beside him and yawns. "You always help me feel better."
Rain hits the window and lightning flashes in the distance.
Oliver turns on the television and they watch a random cooking show in silence.
About thirty minutes later, Alex's clothes are dried so she gets up and changes back into them, then returns Oliver's clothes and sits back down on the couch beside him.
Alex is almost asleep when suddenly a huge flash of lightning illuminates the room. They both jump in unison as the TV suddenly shuts off along with all of the other lights, leaving them in total darkness.

"What's going on?!" Alex exclaims in surprise.

"The powers out. I think the storm interfered with it. I'll go get some candles and check the power box in the basement." Oliver replies and stands up.

"I'm coming with you." Alex says, not wanting to be alone, and quickly follows after him into the kitchen. Oliver rummages blindly around in the drawers when he pulls out a flashlight and some white candle sticks. They go back into the living room and light the candles, causing the room to be illuminated by a soft golden glow.
Alex swears that she sees the figure of a large dog in the flickering shadows. "You didn't get a dog did you? Cause I keep seeing shadows..." Alex whispers.

Oliver chuckles. "You know I don't like dogs, silly. You must be imagining it."

They go to sit down on the couch when Alex realizes that there are three large boxes in the middle of the floor.
"Am I imagining those?" She asks, pointing at the boxes.
She and Oliver are both confused because the boxes hadn't been there before. The boxes are all black except for the middle one which is covered in a red substance.

"Where did those come from?" Oliver asks, dismayed.

" I don't know, Fed-Ex? Should we open them?" Alex replies.

Oliver shrugs. "I guess. I dunno."

The two of them stare at the suspicious boxes for another moment when Oliver takes in a deep breath and steps forward. Curiosity had gotten the best of him. "I'll open one. Which one should I do?" He asks.

Alex shrugs. "The middle one kinda stands out I guess." She replies.

Oliver nods in agreement and reaches for the middle box. His hand slowly pulls up the lid of the box and as soon as he opens it, the lights immediately turn back on, revealing that the walls are covered in the same mysterious, thick red substance that the box is covered in. It drips slowly from the ceiling and onto the floor with a wet drip...drip...drip.... The television turns back on, playing deafening white noise as static erupts onto the screen.
Alex screams in terror from the sudden commotion and Oliver slams the lid of the box closed. The lights go back out and all goes silent.Alex's heart begins to race in her chest and her breaths come out short and raspy.

"What the Hell?!" She exclaims, petrified. Her heart continues to beat rapidly within her chest and her eyes are wide with fear.
The both of them stare at the boxes and at the walls in a panicking fright.

"I-Ill try another one..." Oliver stutters and reaches for the black box to the left. As soon as he opens the top, the unspeakable happens and Alex watches her whole world being taken away from her.....