Painful Dreams

All right, this is when things in my life began to get a little weird. It all started one day after school, I had just gotten off the bus on a half day so my long time friend Travis and me were just hanging around talking.

" So Charles, you doing anything today?" Travis asked me, as we walked into the playground of our old elementary school.

" Nah, why?" I asked staring at the sky.

" I was gonna go to the mall with Chris and Jerry, want to come?" he continued as we sat down on the stair that led to the teachers parking lot.

" Maybe, I'm going try to write a new story today." I replied confidently.

" Damn it Charles, you better be a famous writer someday. If you ever finish a story." Travis said disappointed.

" Screw you, dude." I said shoving him, " I'm heading home, where are you going."

" My mom's today." He replied as he grabbed his bag, " peace."

" See ya." And with that we went our separate ways.

I went straight home, greeting my parents as I got in and went straight to my room. I immediately threw my book bag to the side and whipped out my book designated for story writing. I had planned on writing a story about a character I thought up named patchwork, but I couldn't figure out how to start it. I sat in place for at least an hour just trying to put the first word in the book but nothing came, and before I knew it I was asleep.

Normally when I sleep I never dream about one thing, Shadow and all of the ridiculously one-sided fights I put him in. But today was different…

" What the hell?" I thought as I woke up at the edge of an immense wasteland, "What the fuck is this…"

" Here they come." An unknown but somehow familiar voice said behind me.

" It can't be…" I mumbled as a person landed in front of me and turned around. There he was black pants, black shoes, and a purple sleeveless shirt, black bandages on his torso and arms, and a trench coat that was a bit torn up at the bottom. " Shadow?"

Shadow glanced back and looked me in the eye as a group of 5 wolves strode up beside him.

" Something wrong?" the large gray wolf asked shadow as he turned his back to me.

" No, I thought a sensed a strong power… but it's a long shot." Shadow replied his voice falling away.

The ground began to shake; in the distance I saw a huge black cloud rushing toward us. It was comprised A massive pack of black beasts resembling skinny hellhounds, with long sharp claws and sharp blades sticking out of their shoulders. Leading them was a huge Cerberus; it's eyes striking fear into my soul even at a distance. Suddenly time skipped forward and I was in the middle of a clash between the hellhounds and shadow's forces. A number of warriors I've never seen and a few that I had included in my previous stories for shadow fought valiantly against the hellhounds. Shadow's forces had a clear advantage in strength, but the hellhounds had their numbers and deadly build.

" Why's this happening, I never wrote this?" I said to myself as I watched the battle rage around me.

I could hardly take it in, then a hellhound bounded in front of me glaring at me with its bloodthirsty eyes. It leapt at me slashing its claws and I jumped to the side, I was surprised to find that I not only got hurt but the wound was bleeding.

"Th-this is a dream, I can't get hurt." I muttered to myself as the hellhound bore down on me again. Out of the battle an arrow hit it's mark in the hellhounds skull, and the creature fell over, dead. I looked in the direction of the arrow to see whom I owed my life to, she was an archer with brown hair that had a blue streak on one side and she wore a green ranger's outfit. I knew who she was, her name was Aya a character I had created and hardly used.

" You need to be more careful!" she called as she launched another arrow at a hellhound creeping up behind me. I couldn't help but give a shy smile, she was a great deal more beautiful than I had originally imagined.

But my little moment was short lived as shadow zoomed through the air overhead and the Cerberus crashed down over Aya knocking her to the ground. I could only look on in horror as the beast two her in the jaws off its middle head and shook her violently, it then proceed to throw her up in the air all three heads snapping at her as she fell back to earth. The head closest to me caught her then flung her broken body in my direction.

She landed a few feet in front of me, covered in blood, eyes wide with shock, her limbs contorted in the broke disturbing ways. The ways she had landed left her staring me in the eye, my own body numb from shock. As the last of the life faded from her body she managed to smile at me, satisfaction in her eyes. I couldn't believe it, no tears, barely even a scream during the short ordeal, and she died smiling because she saved me.

The pain from my wound disappeared, everything around slowed, rage and sorrow built in my heart. A hellhound jumped down behind and bit down hard on my shoulder, I didn't flinch. Thoughtlessly I reached back and grabbed its jaw and pried it open, and then with one swift pull I broke it's jaw. The creature howled in pain as I stood up a charged toward the Cerberus.

" I'll kill you!" I shouted as I jumped into the air, then I was suddenly back in my room. I hadn't noticed right away but hours had passed, my mind racing over what I had just seen. Then a pain erupted from my side, the wound from the hell hound was still there.

" Fuck…" I said cringing from the pain, the image of Aya's death replaying in my mind. "What the hell was that."

Fighting through the pain I found my mom's first aid kit and did my best to patch myself up. Then physically and mentally drained I went back to my room and collapsed into my bed. I was too tired to try and keep myself awake for fear of having another dream. Luckily no dreams came to me again that night, but it was only the beginning of something much more troublesome.