Dream a little Nightmare

AN: Got a message the other day, and wasn't quite sure how to respond to it. I know that I'm not exactly doing anything 'big' at the moment, but that's because I'm taking my time to establish myself, and let readers familiarize themselves with my versions of the characters before moving onto anything major. However, I wanted to assure the individual that sent said message, as well as the rest of my readers (including the ones that don't review) that I do actually have something in the works and am not all talk. So, here I am, 'tipping my hand' to give you all a peak at what's to come. This chapter will feature one main character, along with several lesser, one of which is a personal favorite of mine who is rarely ever written due to…unique difficulties they entail. Enjoy!

"Henry!"

Skidding to a stop, the boy scanned the area around him, trying to find the source of the voice that had been calling out to him for what seemed like hours.

"I don't like this. Where is everybody?"

Before him was the city of Shinjuku, a place he had come to know very well in his life. But instead of the bristling with life city he had come to know and love, it was dead silent, completely empty.

Almost like a graveyard.

It reminded him of the stories his Grandfather used to tell him about Hiroshima, how a city could be standing as it always had, but at the same time, be completely dead, devoid of any living thing.

"Henry!"

Turning on his heels, Henry saw movement running down a dark alley across the street from him.

"Who was that? And why is that voice so familiar?"

That was the main thing that troubled him. It wasn't just some random voice calling out to him, it was one he knew, one he had heard before, but he couldn't remember where for the life of him.

Tired of running around in circles, and determined to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was going on, Henry charged across the street and down the alley after the person.

Beep chirp beep chirp beep chirp

"What? A wild one? Here? Now!?"

Checking his surroundings, Henry looked for the telltale sign of a Bio-emergence, but the strange reddish grey sky was empty, not even a single cloud, let alone a bio field.

"I know Shinjuku's sewer network doesn't run through here, so it can't be underground either. So where is it?"

"Henry! Please! I need your help!"

Gnashing his teeth, Henry ran towards the dark alley, hoping that he wasn't too late, and that he would be able to help at all.

"No Hypnos, no Terriermon, no Takato, no Rika! Where is everybody!? It's like they all just disappeared!"

Coming out the other side of the alley, Henry found himself standing in front of the school, but something was off about it, it didn't look right.

Looking over the building with a cautious eye, Henry noted that it seemed smaller than usual. The south wing was missing completely, and the student's parking lot was a sand covered baseball field.

"Now I know something is wrong, but why does this still seem so familiar?"

Looking down at his D-Arc, Henry saw that the arrow was pointing directly at the school. Exactly not what he wanted to see given the circumstances at the moment.

"So whatever it is, it's inside the school…at least it can't be anything too big then," Henry mused as he jogged towards the familiar, yet different building. Opening the double doors, his mind reminded him that when it came to digimon, size did not always equate power. As two of the four Dark Master's had been human sized, and that out of the Tamer's, he was the only one who was actually 'super sized' as a Mega.

He was torn, half of him wanted to go inside, but the other half told him to make a run for it, bolt, get as far away from the building as possible. Something was very wrong here, the air itself felt sick, cold almost despite it being the middle of summer.

"Henry!"

"I have to try, if I don't, then I'll never know." Steeling his resolve, the teen entered the building, but was careful to close the door behind him as quietly as possible. The only sound made was a soft, barely audible 'click'.

Checking his D-Arc, he saw that it was still pointing in the same direction, directly straight ahead.

"Terriermon, where are you!?" Henry thought ruefully. His partner, despite lacking any tact or presence of mind when it came to delicate matters, would have been a Godsend right about now. The tension in the air was literally choking him, and he didn't like the idea of going up against ANY Wild One's without his partner.

The red arrow turned, now pointing to the left, which he knew was towards the computer lab.

"Great, just when I didn't think it could get any worst. I just hope that whatever it is, it's friendly."

Thinking back to his own personal experiences however, and the fact that aside from Calumon, the only 'friendly' Bio emergences had been the Tamer's partners, he felt his nerves twinge.

Moving quickly, but in a quiet stealthily manner that even Renamon would have been proud of, Henry reached the last door in the hall. Behind him, something flickered, but as soon as he turned it vanished.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not alone…something's here…something…bad."

Taking a calming breath, Henry eased open the door to the computer lab slightly.

What he saw made his eyes widen.

The computer lab was nearly barren, almost completely empty. Instead of row after row of computers humming with life, there was only a single small table in the middle of the room with a computer on it facing towards the door.

At first nothing happened, but then he saw the computer flicker to life, and the cursor on the screen flashed. It then started moving, as though someone were typing.

Easing himself into the room, Henry made his way over to the computer, feeling less and less at ease with every step he took.

"Something…no…not a thing, someone is here, I can feel it."

Reaching the computer, Henry was puzzled by its apparent age, as it didn't fit with the normal school hardware at all.

"This thing is almost as old as I am. Do they even make computers like this anymore?"

His attention was then pulled to the message on the screen. He saw that only three letters had been typed, but the message was not a welcome one.

R U N

Spinning on his heels and ready to bolt, Henry found his path to the exit blocked by a familiar figure.

A very familiar figure.

"It's you?" Henry choked out, lifting his hand towards the person whose voice he now remembered so clearly.

"Please, Henry, help me."

Despite hearing the voice, he noticed that the person's lips had not moved at all. This set off alarms in his mind that even a rampaging Mega couldn't.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Henry demanded as he dropped into a defensive stance. The person might not have done anything openly hostile, but the fact remained that they were between him and the exit.

"Help! Please Henry!"

The person's head slowly rose and their eyes met his.

At that very moment, Henry felt his stomach drop into his feet.

"You should have run when you had the chance," an eerily distorted, and unfortunately, very familiar voice said calmly.

The person's skin changed from a pale white color to an almost pasty ash grey, and their hands became longer, almost like talons.

"You will not escape me this time Henry Wong."

That was all the warning he got before they attacked. Henry dodged the first swipe, and deflected the follow up strike, but he didn't see the lightning fast snap kick that his assailant threw in after it.

Thrown back several feet from the force of the blow, Henry scrambled back onto his feet.

This was not a fight he could win, and he knew it.

"Why are you running? I thought you wanted to help me?" It mocked.

Sidestepping to avoid the now growing creatures attack, Henry smirked as its hand crashed through the screen of the computer, shocking it with a fair amount of voltage.

"Guess you're still not quite invincible yet huh?" Henry taunted as he relaxed his stance into a more mobile one.

One that would let him run when the chance presented itself.

The creature roared with pain as it pulled its hand free, showering the room with sparks, glass and wires.

"Mark my words boy, you will pay for the suffering you caused me! You'll regret not finishing me off when you had the chance!"

The creature tried to lunge at him again, but it was stopped in mid step, almost as if something was holding it back.

"Henry! Please run! I can't hold her for long! You have to get away from here!"

Not seeing anyone in the room, but not willing to question something that was trying to help him, Henry bolted for the door.

"I'm not through with you yet! I will destroy you eventually! I will have my revenge, and I will not be denied my destiny!"

Henry pushed every ounce of strength he had left into his legs. Hearing the creature gaining on him, but not about to look back, Henry did the only other thing he could.

"Terriermon! Help!"

"Please Henry, you have to get out of here! If you don't, we'll both die!" The familiar voice from before called out in desperation.

Bolting up like he had been stung, Henry looked around the pitch black darkness that was his room.

"Henry? Are you ok?"

Still trying to calm his breathing, Henry looked down to see his visibly worried partner tugging on his pajama pants.

"Terriermon, thank Kami," Henry said under his breath as he slouched forward onto his desk.

"Henry, what happened?" Terriermon asked, still worried that something was wrong.

The youth shook his head and let out a sigh of relief. Leaning back into his chair, he turned to look down at his partner.

"Nothing Terriermon, it was just a bad dream."

The rabbit dog shot him a disbelieving look before shrugging and walking away.

"Pretty strange for you to be calling out my name in your sleep like that Henry. I think Suzie's right, you're going to fry your brain if you don't get off that computer more often," Terriermon said with his usual sing-a-song taunting voice.

Henry chuckled at his friends concern, but he appreciated it all the same.

Running his hands through his now sweat slicked hair, Henry groaned.

"Great, I got more of a workout in that dream then I get in gym class," Henry said sarcastically, even though the room was now empty.

Flicking on the lights in the apartments bathroom, Henry turned the faucet to warm and filled the sink.

"That's the third time this week. Why can't I just sleep in peace?" The boy wondered as he filled his hands with water, and wiped his face. Blinking, he noticed something very strange about the water in the sink. Something was in it that shouldn't have been.

A trickle of red.

Checking the mirror closely, he couldn't see any blood on his face, but when he reached up to push back his hair, he found the source.

A small thin cut that ran down the length of his arm.

"What the? How did that get there?"

Flashes from the dream floated across his vision, skipping to fight.

When he deflected the second attack, one of the creatures claw like fingers had grazed his skin.

"That's not possible; a dream can't hurt you…can it?"

Pulling up the drain block in the sink, Henry cleaned the cut and covered it with some bandage tape, figuring that he must have cut his arm on the corner of his desk, and went to bed.

His computer, having been forgotten, still hummed with life. Its screen displaying a newspaper clipping dated June sixth, nineteen eighty four.

Mysterious disappearance from local school leaves authorities baffled.

Below was the picture of a young pale skinned girl with light blond hair and blue eyes. The caption next to the picture read: Alice McCoy.

AN: Oh yeah, I aint through messing around with your heads yet. My big fic will tie into this, but for now, just hints, hints, and more evil hints lol. Wonder if anyone will be able to guess at whom or what it was that attacked Henry? It's not something of my creation I assure you, it's from the show. I hope you enjoyed my first real attempt at writing Henry, and that it wasn't OOC or in bad taste. I love good mysteries, and I try to incorporate that into my work.

Like it? Loved it? Hated it? Let me know! I'm trying to write all the characters at least a bit, but if there is someone that you guys/girls want to see, ask for them! I'll get to them eventually!

Till next time, Ja Ne!