Something short that I wrote while stuck on a part of Fairy Tale Twist (There's an update to that coming soon!)
Enjoy!
Nightmare
The wind blows against the side of the little house. It tells of more rain to come. Its dark inside save for the lamp on the bedside table. It's nearing midnight now.
Sitting in the middle of his bed Gajeel watches the seconds tick by. He's been at this for hours. He can't sleep. He won't sleep. He keeps having the same dream. A terrible dream. He refuses to call it a nightmare, the great Karogane does not get nightmares. HE, is the nightmare. HE, is afraid of nothing. HE is terror in the very essence of the word. So why doesn't he sleep?
Red eyes narrow at the ticking clock. His folded leg begins to bounce in time with the noise. He's growing impatient now. He hasn't slept in three days. He can't. He refuses too. His body is betraying him, and he can feel himself growing weaker by the hour, but he does not sleep. There are dark circles under tired eyes, he's sluggish and more ill-tempered than usual. The fatigue grows, but still he does not sleep.
If he does he'll see her again. He doesn't want to see her again. Not like that. Every night since then, she's perforated his dreams and it's always the same.
They're walking together, side by side. It's a sunny day and the air is warm. She's smiling and laughing about something he's said. That smile that lights up her face, the one he likes so much. They come before the park gates; the gates open; they're in the park, and then the wind changes. Its turns cold; clouds form and the sky is dark; he turns to her and she far from him. He reaches out for her, but someone else grabs her from him.
Its him, another him. A grinning, malicious, evil him. She calls out to him and reaches out towards him, her eyes begging for salvation, but he can't get to her. He's running but she keeps getting farther and farther no matter how fast he runs. They're out of the park, it's all black now save for the light far, far ahead. He hears he scream, the only sound in the dream, He runs harder. The light grows.
Finally.
He burst through the barrier that the light has become and he's in the park once more. He comes to a halt, the picture before him all too familiar. His heart is racing, and the cold breeze has nothing on the chill up his spine. He stumbles forward, falling to his knees at the base of the tree before him. That one tree. The tree he hates more than anything in the world. He's shaking, he can see his fingers trembling before his eyes as he raises his hands to the feet dangling above him against the bark.
She's missing a shoe. Probably lost it in the chase. There's something dark on her calf, her shorts are ripped. She's splayed out against the tree like some divine creature. Or she was. Now she's lifeless and cold. Her face is in shadow. There's more darkness dripping down her chin. He's crying now, the sobs racking his body but no sound is made. Against the perfect white skin of her stomach is a mark. A brand. One he used to wear with pride. One that now makes his stomach churn.
He wakes with a start. His screaming finding its volume, it was the sound that awoke him. His body had finally won in the struggle against fatigue. Flat on his back in the middle of the bed he's covered in a thin layer of sweat, his chest rising and falling has he takes in air like he hadn't before ever in his life. He raises his hands to his eyes, but stops just before them. He shaking. He can feel his heart pounding against his ribs, threatening to break through. Something wet rolls down his cheek and into the sheets below. His hands plant firmly against his face, his body shuddering against the dry sobs.
Its' always the same dream. It always ends the same. He's always reduced to the same miserable, whimpering, sobbing pile of shit. The dream, memory, of that night haunts him. It always will.
The clock strikes 11:59.
He'll see her in the morning.
Until Next Time!