It sure has been a while... Anyway, have this short Nightmare thing. I wouldn't exactly call it a story because there is no plot but I could not figure out what I should do to make it a story. I was going to try to make it a NightmarexAlice story but couldn't think of a way to do it so... here. Have my writing practice sheet.
"Is anybody there?" The frightened girl asked into the swirling darkness. In every direction there was nothingness. Even the area above her pretty, blonde head stretched out into infinity with nothing in sight. Indeed, nobody else was there. The only response to her calls was the echoes of her own voice. Fear slowly set in. Where was she? This place was devoid of everything. What was the last thing she could remember?
She paused for a moment, squeezing her eyes shut as she forced herself to remember. The answer came to her as if it were a whisper in the back of her head. "It's… a dream…" the small voice said within her head. Was this… a dream? Then she remembered. She was staying at the palace in a strange world. They called this strange place Wonderland. She had only received a quick explanation about this horribly violent place before storming off to confront her kidnapper. Upon arriving she was, surprisingly, invited by the queen of the castle to stay as a guest. The girl was flabbergasted, to say the least, at the abrupt invite from the noble lady. The queen herself was elegant and magnificent. The woman, whose name was Vivaldi, slightly reminded the girl of her older sister. She couldn't help but accept the invitation, as it would be rude to refuse, and, when night fell, was escorted to a beautiful room where she had fallen asleep in a large, plush bed.
She nodded in agreement with herself that this was undoubtedly a dream. Or, at the very least, a dream within a dream (or so she told herself). No matter how improbable the idea of having a dream within a dream is it was an easier concept for the girl to grasp than actually believing Wonderland was a real place.
Why, the girl asked herself, would she even dream of a dark void such as this? Of course she has had dreams in the past, some better than others, but never have they been of nothing. The whisper at the back of her head chuckled slightly. She jumped at the unexpected noise within her head.
"A dream of nothingness can actually have great meaning," the seemingly cryptic voice said. How she could not tell this voice was not her own mind speaking, she had no idea. The words spoken rooted themselves deep into her mind as if they were being planted directly into her brain.
"W-who is there?!" she called out, glancing around the nothingness. Her eyes searched frantically for a being but she was alone. Although she was alone, the voice continued its explanation.
"A dream of nothingness suggests that something is missing within your life," it said. "That perhaps you lack emotion? Or maybe you are feeling lonely, that you're lacking an emotional tie with another being?"
"Show yourself!" she yelled. The voice only continued on its psychoanalysis of the girl and her dreams.
"Has something happened to make you want to get away from it all?" she was asked. Her eyes widened in surprise as she thought about her late mother. She forced back a wave of sadness and nausea and was suddenly reminded of her younger sister. Their mother's funeral was quiet and sad. The girl did want to get away from it all and escape the sadness. She felt vulnerable when she cried in front of people and held back with every fiber of her body. So, she did not shed a single tear at the funeral. This, however, upset her little sister. The younger girl saw the lack of emotion as an uncaring gesture. She made the assumption that she didn't actually care about the mother. She needed to escape. Escape the sadness, escape the accusations.
"To dream of another world suggests a need to escape something," the voice continued when the girl's thoughts stopped racing. She only nodded as if to accept the theory given to her. Wonderland is only a place created as an escape. She could feel tears build up within her eyes. Nobody was around to see her cry, to see her in this weakened state of sadness and grief.
"Go ahead," the voice urged her, "let it out." Something was different. She didn't feel the voice within her head like she did before but instead heard it with her ears. She spun around and found the mysterious owner of the voice. The man was slightly taller than her and somewhat thin. His skin was far more pale than the young woman's which gave him an almost sickly look and yet he was somewhat beautiful to the girl. An eye patch covered one of his hallow, grey eyes. Her mouth hung open in surprise and confusion. She was frozen by her surprise but also fear. Her mind raced with questions she wanted to ask such as whom he was, yet, her mouth could not properly form the words. The man before her chuckled slightly.
"This is just a dream," he said calmly. A slight smile played on his lips as he spoke. "As for who I am, perhaps I am the man of your dreams? Or maybe I am just a dream demon? I am an incubus after all. I've been called a nightmare."
"A… nightmare?" she asked, perplexed. Does this make him real or…?
"This is a dream," the man emphasized. "How could I possibly be real?" He asked this in a joking manner.
"H-how did you-..?" She paused, looking at the man in disbelief.
"The dream realm is my domain," he explained. "I can do anything I want to in this dark realm of mine, Alice."
The girl was taken aback. "EH?!" This man- This cryptic and absolutely confusing man, if he even is a man- knew her name when she never gave it to him.
"The 'do anything' I talked about includes reading minds, Alice," he informed her, almost in a bragging manner. It scared Alice how the man could look into her thoughts… to possibly see deep into her mind and know exactly how she felt.
"Y-you… You truly are a nightmare." She stated, looking the man in the eye. In an instant, the man disappeared. The girl gasped and turned to look for the man who had vanished into thin air.
"At least, dear Alice," he whispered into the girl's ear. The man had reappeared just behind her. The girl could even feel his hot breathe against her skin. "At least I'm your nightmare."
Alice shivered slightly. "M-my nightmare?"
"Yes," he chuckled somewhat mischievously. "I am your nightmare. Your dream demon. The demon inside your head."
Hope you enjoyed. I would love if you could leave a review. I'm hoping to start writing again so I need the motivation.