The Nightmare

The First Sighting

Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as he sat up in his bed. His heart pounded in his chest, not slowing while he took short, labored breaths. He couldn't stop his mind from replaying the dream he had. He took deep breaths to calm down his beating heart as he looked around the place. The dirty apartment was old yet affordable, making it a decent living space. Drafts of air floated in, as it had not been re-insulated in some time. The man, who had just awoken, sighed. There was no point for him to go back to sleep, even if it was four in the morning. The screams from his dream echoed in his head, making it hard to think. The man slowly stood up and grabbed for his iPhone. The phone was not his, but now, it was no use to the person who had lost it in the crowd a month ago. He stretched and rubbed the sleep from his hazel-colored eyes. The slender man pulled a black shirt over his head, ruffling his already tangled, brown hair. The floor creaked from his weight as he slowly walked over to the mini-fridge that came with the apartment. The man pulled the door open and looked in. He then sighed and closed the fridge door, finding nothing but content to find something to eat later. The brunette trudged to the small bathroom, mulling over what he could do that day. As the light flicked on in the washroom, the man shuffled over to the sink. The faucet was turned, creaking on as the valve opened up, pouring the cold water out. Closing his eyes, he splashed the cold liquid onto his face, waking himself up. He cleaned his face off with an old towel, which could be called a rag at this point. He yawned and stretched, popping his shoulder joints. He then flicked the lights off and walked over to a tiny table in the corner of his room. There was a stack of cash, a small knife, and a black face mask at this table. The man grabbed his dagger and a mini cloth to clean the blade. The cleaning went on for another few minutes before a ringing sounded from his phone. The man placed the knife and cloth down and walked to his bedside. He picked up the phone and found that someone was calling him.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey," A sly voice called back, "How have you been, man? I haven't seen you in forever."

Knowing who it was, the deadpanned reply was, "We saw each other two weeks ago."

"Whatever, I just wanted to talk," The voice on the other line said.

"Yeah, right," The man rolled his eyes, "What do you want, Kev?"

"Don't be like that! It's Kevin now, by the way. We're friends, right?" He could feel a smirk through the call.

"No, we're partners, acquaintances–anything but friends," The man retorted.

"Pssh!" 'Kevin' laughed, "Alright, partner. I've got a new gig for you."

"Seriously? This isn't a lame attempt to hang out again, is it?" The man asked, irritated.

There was a pause from the other side of the phone before he heard a response, "That was one time–! Well, more like two times–the point is, no, it's not. Just come on. Meet at the park in twenty, 'kay?"

"Fine. I'll see you there, Kevin,"

"Alright! You're going to like this one, D,"

"Sure, like I have every other time before,"

"Told you!" There was a chuckle through the phone before the line went dead. Hazel eyes glanced around the apartment before he placed the phone in the back pocket of the dirty and worn jeans he was wearing. "D" walked back to the table, hovering a hand over the dagger on top of the table, before moving to the lone chair sitting contently at the counter. The wooden chair held on it a black jacket. It wasn't very thick, but it provided comfort against the harsh winds the season provided. The drafts that had poured in gave the man a tolerance to the bitter cold that wintertime produced. With the coat on "D's" small figure, the blade set inside his pants, the hilt stuck out in front of his shirt but covered by the jacket. The jacket hood was also flipped up and onto his head, covering his hair. Out of the stack of money, he only grabbed a few bills for lunch and placed the rest of the cash inside the bedside table's drawer. The last object on the desk was the mask, and it was picked up and put on. The loops went over his ear, and the facemask itself stretched over his mouth. A heaving sigh escaped his lips, and "D" turned his body and shuffled out of the door, ready to find out what Kevin had in store for him.

"Hello, dear," A voice greeted him as he locked his door with the keys he had left in his pocket.

"Hi, Mrs. Robinson. How are you?" He responded.

"Just fine, dearie," Mrs. Robinson answered, "And how might you be?"

"Good as always,"

"That's nice, but didn't I tell you to call me Elsie?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs–Elise..."

"Thank you," Elise smiled. The older woman turned away, heading back into her room, across from the door next to his. The slim man trudged down the musty hallway, pulling his mask further up his face. The stairs lead to the front of the apartment building. The cold air hit him in a rush, leaving him shivering and glad for the mask. He walked down the crowded sidewalk until he came upon the rendezvous, a run-down park. The park was notorious for drug deals, but it was quiet at dawn.

"Hey!" A loud voice exclaimed, and "D's" eyes danced across the stragglers to Kevin, who was standing by a bench waving towards his customer. The few other people at the park looked to be sleeping, not having a roof over their heads. He made his way over to the smiling man. His smile was the thing that was always the same about Kevin. His outfits and styles are always different, his hair is any color you could dye it, and even his name changes. The last time he and "Kevin" met, it had just been Kev. The time before that, it had been "Blade," and before that, "Gunner." Today, though, Kevin had short, choppy, light blond hair. It looked as if he had dyed and cut it all himself, which he probably had. His outfit consisted of a plain white t-shirt, black jeans, and black tennis shoes.

"So, what's the deal?" 'D' started the conversation.

"Good to see you too, Dolios," Kevin mumbled. A look from "Dolios" was all it took to shut Kevin up. "Well, I'll let you take a look at the file." Passing a manilla folder onto Dolios. D grabbed the file and rummaged through its contents.

"Wha..." A picture of a woman stopped him dead in his search, "Who is she?" He pointed at the colored photograph of the woman. Someone had taken the picture from the window of a classroom. It showed her teaching some small children, gesturing at the board in front of the class. She had long, straight, dark black hair, which framed her face beautifully.

"Her? Says her name is–"

Dolios's eyes widened as he remembered the screams from the nightmare. "No, I know her name. Why is she important? How is she alive?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

1254 words

I hope you liked it! I'm going to be updating this story if the people so want, I guess. Comment or message me if you liked it. Thanks again!