There's a hate inside of me like some kind of master
I tried to save you but I can't find the answers
I'm holding on to you
I'll never let go
I need you with me as I ENTER THE SHADOWS…
Windswept plain. Forest closing in on all sides, yet no matter how far he walked, ran, crawled, the trees never came any closer. He knew this, just as he knew without needing to look down to know that his human body had been replaced by snowy fur and snowshoe-like paws. The same events, every time. He knew it was all pointless, so why bother trying? There was no way to avoid the voices…
Nightmares, he was used to. Nightmares, he'd known his whole life.
This was different. This…whatever it was, had started two or so years back, and it was like no other nightmare he'd had. His nightmares made sense, in context with his life. This was out of nowhere, and no matter how many times it happened, always left him shaken to the core when he woke up.
He hoped – begged – for the torment to begin, to hurry up, so that he might somehow salvage a bit of sleep on this night.
And then, finally, the whispers began, embedded in the wind.
Children's voices, incoherent, desperate, haunting. Even in the dream, he dared not open his eyes – the last time he had, the agonized face he'd seen had kept him sleepless for days.
"Why?"
Involuntarily, his eyes snapped open.
"Why didn't you come?"
This wasn't right. They weren't supposed to be capable of speech.
"Why weren't you here?"
Yet, there they were, four voices, begging, desperate. Fur fluffed out on end, he backed onto his paws, casting about, fearful. And slowly, in front of him, materialized a small child. Black and white, see-through, hollow-eyed. His own chant was taken up by the others, as a new, hauntingly familiar sound resonated.
"Where were you?"
"Where were you?"
"Warrior."
He jerked around to face the new voice –
And into wakefulness with a painful thud.
He'd managed to thrash himself out of bed, and onto the floor. Yet, rather than crawling back under the covers, to wonder at the mysterious dream, he shakily rose to his feet. That sound, in the background of the dream…
On the bedside table sat a small, black cell phone.
He knew it. Two years ago, on the anniversary, that sound had been there, in the background of the call… The one from the woman…But he'd chosen, despite his every instinct, not to do as she said. He couldn't overcome his fear of trusting. He'd just bought the flowers and gone home.
He picked up the phone, trembling heavily.
Was that what all of this was about? Was he having dreams because he hadn't tried to get on the train?
A single text message was in his cell phone's inbox.
"WHERE WERE YOU"
WOW HI IT'S BEEN A WHILE. I suddenly regained motivation/inspiration for this story, so it's making a comeback, which means minor edits to all existing chapters and hopefully new ones coming soon. Sorry for the long wait!
A lot of stuff's changed on this account; I moved my profile around (it's much shorter and to the point now) and changed my pen name, as you can probably tell. As for this story in particular, most of the changes have to do with taking out some unnecessary things I didn't care for and rewording a passage or two. It's been a REALLY long time and I apologize for that, but I'm glad to be back.
Also, I'm gonna be cutting down on author's notes. Better to let the story speak for itself, I think.