Quick Disclaimer: The cover art does not belong to me it belongs to Applechappel on DeviantART so make sure you check out the rest of his work.
Enjoy the writing.
Who ever knew a dream could change a life?
They stand there, gently looking into my eyes as I walk towards them.
My friends.
The floor, ground and ceiling have disappeared and there is only white. I don't even know if I'm walking on, if I am walking on anything. I could be falling, and the though makes me scared for a moment until the voices comfort me.
"Come on Corey you're almost there" Mark.
"Could you speed it up a bit?" Ash.
"It's ok. Go slowly if you want" Alex.
"You can make it kid" Tony.
I walk forward now wanting to be close to them and talk to them. But another figure strolls in. The man suddenly appears to the side of my friends stumbling slowly towards them. Drenched in blood and reeking of sweat, he screams. I can't hear anything though. I can't hear the scream or the pain that this man is in. I try to assist him and see what's wrong but I'm stopped by an invisible wall. Like a busking mime, I pound on the wall of nothing trying to reach my friends. The weapon appears out of thin air and falls into the mans hands. It's a broken water pipe covered in rust and scratches.
Then suddenly, Mark dons his mask. A bear mask with an open mouth slips roughly over his head. Mark then looks at the man and starts charging for him. The man with the white suit looks terrified. He swings the pipe and it connects with Mark's gut.
He flinches and then the man hits him again.
I yell at him to stop but I can't say anything. I feel the words coming out but nobody can hear me. I'm hopeless as I see Mark get beaten until blood is streaming out of his head. I'm crying now still screaming for him to stop but I can't.
I just can't.
I'm cursing now, saying every foul word of language I can remember.
But it has no effect.
The blood seems to be absorbed by the invisible room changing slowly into a red colour. It's spreading and suddenly it starts to shoot towards me. I step back but it only seems to get faster. I run. In the other direction. Away from my friends, away from Mark's battered corpse. But then the man is in front of me holding a revolver. I skid to a hold but I'm too late.
The guns seems to crack and send streaks of yellow mix with the red still sliding towards me. I cover my eyes with my arms anticipating the pain to shoot through me. Nothing comes. I open one eye and he's already disappeared.
Did he miss?
I look down at my chest. Bleeding. Badly.
The white dress which I'm in has a patch of crimson on the left side. I put my hands to the wound trying to cover it but the blood flows through my hands as if they weren't there. The red liquid splashes onto the floor and the floor once again drinks it and it spreads out around me. My view switches back to my friends but I only see a rooftop. I look down to see what I'm standing on but I'm only staring at the lit up streets below. My eyes widen as I hear the door open right beside me. Alex and Ash come storming out with blood matting there clothes and there identical swan masks. I reach out to them wanting there help but my hand passes through them.
What the hell is going on?
I see them walk on a bridge of nothing onto the rooftop and then they seem to freeze in time. The man in the white suit limps beside me onto the roof with the same revolver that shot me.
No!
I grip his shirt and I'm surprised when I actually have parts of the shirt balled in my hands. I look down at his blue undershirt but then when I turn back to him the steel gun comes down across my cheek making me release the grip and fall crudely to the floor. I get to my feet but he's already there on the rooftop with Alex and Ash. He shoots Ash and I gasp.
He's going to shoot Alex next.
I shout for Alex to run again and again and again but it doesn't stop the defending sound ringing in my ears. Their bodies lay splayed across the helicopter pad as the man walks beside them. He staggers past their bodies and stops at the edge of the rooftop as if questioning it.
Is he going to jump? I hope you do you sick bastard.
But then a mobster dressed in similar clothing appears behind him and pulls the man back as they both fall to the floor.
Why did you save him?!
Do you know what he's done?!
Then I'm falling. Falling to the streets below. I can hear my screams of fear now as if this was to make me even more fearful. I'm one inch from the ground, when I am caught by strong hands. I look up at my saviour and see Tony. Well not him, but his bloody tiger mask. I hug him now and I can actually touch him but bullet wound from earlier on is now registered. I scream in pain because that's the only way I can the let it out.
"You're going to be fine kid just hang in there!" his injured voice echoes through me ears.
You're going to be fine.
Don't worry.
But then, he drops me for no reason and I hit the floor hard. The pain burns throughout my body as I cry out in pain, tears still lining my face. I look back up to Tony as if wanting an explanation for why he dropped me, but I only see the barrel of the gun pointing to his head. The man who is wielding the weapon has blonde hair with a brown jacket and a black undershirt. I see the police badge and next to it, neatly stencilled on a rectangular badge, Manny Pardo.
"I'm sorry Corey" is Tony's final words before the gunshot sounds and I wake up.
I sit up sweating and screaming as I realise that I'm no longer falling to my death.
It was a bad dream.
It was just a dream.
I reach out to grasp my covers again but I can't. I look down to my hands and I realise I'm not in my apartment. I'm in a room which is completely new to me. I start to stand up but a cracking sound is heard and the pain registers. I crumple to the floor.
What the heck kind of wound was this?
I look down where the pain was being broadcasted from. Left side down low with blood pouring out. Just like the dream.
The dream.
No. It can't be real.
I feel my face where the man hit me and locate a pinprick bruise right where he bought the gun across me face. I'm trembling.
If the injuries are real than what about - I manage to bring myself up with the help of a birch desk and wish I never had ever of stood up again. Two bodies are strewn across the floor in pools of blood.
Tony and Mark.
Shock brings me sitting up against the side of the desk again. No. It doesn't make sense. Tears welling in my eyes I crush my 'speak' button on my radio with my finger asking one question.
"Alex, Ash?"
Nothing.
I let the radio clatter to the floor.
I have to make sure. That the bodies are them and not anybody else.
I try to stand up again but when I feel my knees start to buckle I have the good sense to stop. I slowly lower myself back to the floor and contemplate what I'm going to do next. I try crawling and it seems to be less painful. I crawl around the desk to find Mark.
Oh god. My breathing has quickened and I'm starting to feel sick. Mark's face has been charred off one side with the familiar red fluid. Several bruises and scratches cover certain parts of his arms, face and legs. My hands are over my head not wanting to be here in this situation because next I see Tony. A shot has roughly passed through his head and his body is splayed over a couple of drawers filled with dozens of folders stacked neatly inside. I'm breathing too fast.
Everything is happening to quickly for my mind to register.
I need to let it out somehow but I'm not finding anything to help. Time and meaning seem to slow to a stop. I go through a phase where nothing seems to take effect. Pain and emotions seem to disappear as I can't think of my next actions. I prop myself up against the desk and unzip my Miami Dolphins jacket and come across my white vest. I don't resist to pull that up and check the wound which is, of course bleeding. That's a bad wound. I'm going to need medical attention ASAP if I'm going to survive. I pull down the vest because it might be able to stop some of the blood. I run my fingers through my hair and my hands come away bloody. My head must of been resting against the lake of blood for a while before I really woke up. My mind speaks to me when the rest of my body seems to be stuck in a certain situation. I search the walls for any sort of medical equipment with my eyes but I come across nothing.
I'm still looking for something to block the wound before door crashes open.
Three men dressed in full bulletproof armour rush in to the room with their guns trained on me. So this is the end. This is the end of 'The Fans'. But they seem to be talking among themselves. I can't hear what they're saying or rather, I don't want to hear what they're saying. One approaches me with a lowered gun and grips me around the shoulders. I don't like where this is heading so I bring my fist into his chest.
I still have some fight in me.
Sound suddenly enters back into my ears again. The swat officer stumbles back but only a few spaces so I'm getting weaker by the second.
That was too much.
I crumple to the floor again like a bag of rocks as the strength in my legs leave my body. The pressure of everything is too strong. Seeing my friends get murdered in my vivid dream, the pain in my side and the realisation that the dream was real makes me start to shake. I'm breathing too quickly and I know this it making this things worse but I don't see anything better to do.
Stop Corey! Breathe normally!
I try to complete these instructions given by my head but I fail. I hyperventilate and then I close my eyes and I pass out.