Chapter 1: My Beautiful Nightmare

Introduction

Dreams were supposed to be composed of happy thoughts I compiled. I always have dreams every night from my childhood until now. It's like my very own Wonderland where I can escape reality and play on in the fantasy world. I enjoyed every moment of it. Althought, there are some dreams that I don't remember, dreams I want to forget and more importantly, dreams that I want to go go back to.
Today, I'm focusing on that one particular dream that I want to go back. Well, I wouldn't say it was a dream because at the very beginning, it was intended to be a nightmare. Yet I still wanna go back no matter how dead I felt there. No hope, no one to save me, and no escape. But all that changed when HE came.
This is a story of the dream I continued on writing in memory of that man. The man who saved me from it all. The man who gave me hope of survival. Wherever he is right now in my dreams, I just hope that he knows how thankful I am to him

Elizabeth's POV

I woke up to the sound of old wooden floors creeking. My head was spinning as if I had just got over a hangover. When I adjusted my eyes from it's blurry state, I couldn't believe where I was. It was a long hallway filled with doors on every side. What scared me the most was that the hallway was covered blood and rotting flesh. Knowing myself, screaming was my first option but I held it back, for fear that whatever was in this hallway might come after me.

Sitting around won't get any progress so I walked. My heart was beating because of I'm scared. I was trapped in an unknown hallway. I have no idea how I got here. All I remember was that I was walking sitting in a train infront of an old man wearing the biggest black coat and a dark hat to cover his face. We were alone in that train. Thankfully, nothing happened. I was so lost in my thoughts that the next thing I know, I ended up here.

The hallways was like an endless bloody pit. I don't know where these doors will lead to but i had to find out. Opening the medium sized door on the left, I slowly went inside the room. It was old and dusty. There was a child sitting there. "Hello? Can you help me?"I called unto her but she turned to me with the darkest eyes. I knew from that moment that she was a White Lady. The girl pulled out an axe and attempted to slash me. I tried to go out the door but it was locked. My option was to fight her but instead, I hid in her wooden wardrobe. I expected old dusty clothing but no, I was back in the hallway. "what just happened?"

That's when I heard laughing. It wasn't a powerful laugh more like how an old man would laugh. I was right, it was an old man. He was standing in a far distance. I just realized, it was the man in the train. He was holding a cane on the his right hand and bloody machete on the other. I believe that is meant for me. So I made a run for it. The hallway looked the same. I don't even know if I'm running in circles. Whenever I looked back, the old man was getting closer and closer. I had to loose him. Quickly, my mind told me to open a door. Once I did, it lead me another bedroom. There was a boy with white pale skin holding a teddybear. "please help me!" I screamed but he didn't bother looking. So I went to his bathroom. Automatically, I was transported to another room. Are all the doors in this house connected? It might sound crazy but I had to go trough them.

I wanted to vomit. There was a headless body holding it's head while staring at a black window. I didn't want to bother him, fearing that he might kill me like White lady. There were no doors in his room except a drawer. If my hunch is correct, it might lead me to another room. So It did. I fell inside the drawer and continued on running into more strangers. I wonder if these are the lost souls that the old man had kidnapped and killed? I believe so. After countless doors I've went through, I finally arrived back in the hallway. The old man was nowhere in sight. Does that mean I lost him? I was screaming for joy in my mind. But that happiness went down the drain when I turned around, the old man was standing behind me. With a swing of his machete, I balcked out.

Later on, I woke up in what seems to be the kitchen. A bloody kitchen to be exact. There were different variety of knives displayed everywhere. On top of the oven was a huge sauce pan. My hands were tied. Worst case sceanrio, the old man was gonna eat me. I don't like calling him 'old man' always, so I changed his name to 'Dooris'. You know, because he knows his way around this hallway. That's right, I'm trapped inside the Dooris house. I wanna get out. Please, anyone, save me.

I heard laughing again, Dooris came inside the kitchen wearing what must be his favorite apron. It was tainted with dry blood. I bet he never washed it. My eyes were red from all the crying. I wanted to beg him to release me but I know he's not going to. Villains never let their victims go, especially murderers.
"It's nice to finally see you awake child." His voice was gassy. I finally got to see his full appearance. Dooris was indeed old with wrinkles and warts everywhere. But the thing I can't stop staring was a large scar going perpendicularly on his face. Dooris walked over to me. I began to shake in fear. That knife he was holding was so sharp. "good thing you woke up, otherwise, I won't be able to hear your screams of pain." He brought the knife close to my throat. "I'm very hungry. I haven't had meat in days." He smiled. I could see that all his teeth have gone rotten. I sobbed. I don't want to get butchered to pieces. Dooris retracted the knife and told me. "first of all, I can't eat you when you smell horrible." I smell horrible? His whole house smells like decaying corpses. "take a bath. Don't be too long. I like to dirty your skin with this." He gently brushed the knife against my skin. "before I eat you." He smirked.

Dooris dragged me by the hair into a bathroom. He then shut the door. Just like the hallway, the bathroom too was covered in blood. I cried on the bathroom floor. There was no use escaping. No one was gonna come and help me. I'm going to die here. I didn't bother taking my clothes off. What's the point? I was not gonna live any longer. I truned on the shower and let the water wash away my tears. The sound of the door made me froze. I thought it was Dooris but it wasn't. There was a man around the same age as me. I'm 17 and he looks around 18-20 years old. He too went in the shower next to me since all the showers were alined. No doors being put for privacy. He was the same as the others I've encountered. Pale white skin, black eyes, cuts all over his body and dry blood everywhere. I had to ask him. my hand touched his shoulder, the man didn't bother looking at me.
"Please. I know you don't talk but can you atleast tell me how to get out of here?" the man didn't bother me. "I...I son't wan't to die." I let all my tears out.

Suddenly, the man stopped the shower and ran fast to the door. He locked it immediately. I don't know what he was doing. The man turned around to face. With a rub of his cheek, his white skin turned to brown? "I can help you out of here." I was shocked. He was alive? The man came ove rto me and helped me up. "I'll help you but you have to do something for me as well."
"Anything. Name it. I'll do anything." I was so sur eof myself. But part of regretted what I said, maybe he might make me do something much worse than Dooris. I waited for the dreadful request he was about to give me. The man took both my hands and held unto them tight. He said,

"Love me back."

Huh? Was he joking? I belive not because his eyes held desperation. I'm willing to do anything just to escape this house. So I nodded. He held the biggest smile plastered on his face. The man ripped the ropes that tied my hands then proceeded to run. I couldn't run anymore due to all the running I did before. The man intertwined his hand with mine and we ran out the door. As we neared the kitchen, I could hear Dooris sharpening his knives. The man stopped right infront of a wall. There was a door painted using only red paint. The man told me,

"I need you to close your eyes and count one up to three, can you do that for me?" I just kept on nodding. I closed my eyes and started counting silently. "One...Two...Three." I don't know what had happened but it seems we walked through the wall. The hallway we were in had the same amount of doors but this time, it was cleaner. There was still blood on the floor but only a small amount.
"Come on!" The man pulled me as we ran door to door. These rooms each door we entered were empty. No soul was living there. As we kept on running, I began to feel curious about this man. I don't know who he is, but why do I have a mutual feeling for him?

With just a short amount of time, I trusted him. I don't know at all. As we entered the last door, the room looked like an asylum. Only one bed was present on the middle. The man pulled a luggage bag under the bed. When he opened it, there was a staircase leading down. That must be the basement.
"we're almost there." He continued to lead me down the stairs then into a dark tunnel. I could see light at the end. This was it. I was going to escape. When we reached the exit, My heart leaped for joy. I was out! I was finally out! But it wasn't over yet. The man continued to pull me with him through a spooky forest and into mini gorge. At the center of the gorge was a small house.
"don't worry, this is my house. You'll be safe here." I truste dhis words and went along. When we finally got in, I felt like my heart was released from the hundreds of chains tangling me. I felt so free. I didn't hesitate to run up to the man and hugged him.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" at the very last of my sentence, I broke down crying tears of joy.
"h..how can i ever repay you?"
"you just did." He said. What? I did? How?
"may I atleast know your name?" I had to know the name of my hero.

"Ofcourse. My name is-"

I couldn't here what he said. My vision started to blur and my ears felt like they were blocked. The only thing I could hear was a bell ringing. I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I was relieved that it was all just a nightmare. My phone saved me but at the same time, I cursed my phone from interrupting me. It could have atleast rang after the man told me his name. Strange. I know I was scared beyond belief but some part of me wanted to go back. I wasn't satisfied. If I only knew his name, maybe I would be. But I know there was no going back. What is left is a memory. I will forever remember my nightmare. My beautiful nightmare.