Authors Note: I should be working on my other fanfiction right now, but I only just finished this series and was inspired to write. I'd love to hear what you guys think about this as I'm a bit unsure right now. It's not the best but hopefully it'll get better as I get back into writing. Hope you enjoy!

Prologue

A hand reached up to touch his face, nails touching his cheek for a brief second before pulling away. He felt like something was holding him down, surrounding him, and almost suffocating him. He was trapped in a bubble of darkness he couldn't escape. Something lurking in the shadows was his only company.

"Oscar…" the voice whispered, crackling, and disjointed like he was listening to it through static. He couldn't place if the voice was female or male because it didn't sound like either. The pitch and tone were completely alien to him.

He wanted to reply, to ask who it was, but his voice was frozen in place.

"Oscar it's coming. She's gonna kill you. She's gonna kill your brother and your friends. She won't stop."

Yellow lights flashed in the darkness and he felt his body jolt, almost like electricity was pulsing through him. His lungs felt tight. It was getting hard to breathe.

"She won't stop. She'll laugh as you bleed. Your body will rot but she'll take you back to her world to kill you again, and again, and again."

The lights joined together to form two distinct orbs above him.

"Submit to me now and it'll go away. Let your body fade into the soil and sleep."

He tried to force the lights away, but they wouldn't move. He opened his mouth to scream but only a strangled shriek emerged.

A scream did ring out, shattering the darkness into fragments, but it wasn't his. It also wasn't the ominous voice. The scream which sent ice cold terror coursing through his blood was distinctly female.

Oscar forced his way through the darkness, knowing he had to get out. Even his arms felt heavy, like he was attempting to swim through tar. Things were clinging to his skin, pulling him deeper into the darkness, but he was stronger.

"Warn them Oscar, before it's too late. There's room for you all in the darkness. It's better this way."

xxx

With a startled scream Oscar sat up in bed drenched in sweat. It was times like this he wished it was easier to move. It took him a few seconds of gasping for air to realise where he was. He was home, and he was safe. He wasn't in the darkness.

Despite this, he felt too confined in his bed. It was like he was still being suffocated. The terror left over from the dream was still raw.

The door to his bedroom swung open, making him jump. He pulled the blanket over his head and waited in the darkness. If something was going to kill him he'd rather not see it coming. He knew demons were real. An attack wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. He'd just lie in bed until…

"Oscar?" a whispered voice called.

"Felix…"

Oscar sighed and removed the covers, reassured by his brother's voice. He felt slightly stupid that he'd assumed demons. Of course, his scream would have woken Felix.

"Are you okay?"

When he didn't receive a reply, Felix sat on the end of his bed and placed a comforting hand on his arm.

"Bad dream?"

The contact helped more than Oscar would like to admit. Despite knowing what he'd experienced was a dream, the isolation he'd felt during it felt far too real. He hadn't had a nightmare as bad as that since he was little. He couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up screaming either.

"Felix can you turn the light on?"

The weight on his bed released and a second later the room flooded with light. The light was blinding but welcomed. He'd had enough of darkness.

Felix looked exhausted. He had dark rings around his eyes and his hair was messier than usual. Felix also looked as scared as he felt.

"I'm okay," Oscar said, hoping it sounded convincing.

Felix didn't look convinced.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Oscar didn't want to talk about it.

"Just stupid stuff you know."

"You know you can tell me anything right?"

Felix wasn't looking in his direction anymore, he was looking to the left of him.

"It's probably just because of all of the stuff last year. Honestly Felix, I'm…"

Oscar's voice trailed off as he followed Felix's line of sight. His throat instantly felt dry and he began shaking. Even though his blanket was still wrapped tightly around him, he was just as cold as he'd felt in the dream.

To his left was his notepad. Something was drawn on the page. Something he hadn't drawn when he was awake and must have occurred during his dream. Two circles with a mist around them. Shapes were coloured in slightly darker pencil around the edges. At least six of them.

He remembered the yellow lights and the feeling of nails against his cheek. He felt tears build in his eyes but blinked them back.

"Don't think about it Oscar," Felix said, his tone stern. He picked up the notepad and placed it under the bed.

"But what if…"

"Our powers are gone," Felix cut him off. There's no way you can still see things. It's like sleep walking only you're sleep drawing. It's completely normal."

This time it was Oscar's turn to not be convinced.

I didn't leave my notepad by the bed when I fell asleep. I didn't leave a pencil there either. And I obviously didn't walk to get them.

He didn't voice these concerns to Felix. It was too terrifying for even him to think about. Felix's explanation was better.

"Okay," he replied instead.

Felix didn't press.

"Do you want me to sleep in here tonight?"

"Yeah…" Oscar replied, still too afraid to care about how young he felt at that moment.

"I'll just get my blanket and I'll be right back," Felix ruffled his hair before heading towards the door.

"Felix… if anything was to happen. Like, if anything were to happen at night. You'd help me get out of bed, right? You wouldn't just leave, would you?"

Felix's expression was caught somewhere between sadness and understanding.

"Of course, I wouldn't leave you Osci. I've got your back. And nothing like that's gonna happen anyway okay?"

Despite not feeling in the least bit convinced that nothing was going to happen Oscar smiled and nodded. Because he knew that even if the worst were to happen, Felix would always have his back.

He just hoped that if anything were to happen he'd be able to repay the favour.

Somehow.