Chapter 6 - Rules
Rikki POV
By the time Elliot showed me a guest room I was about to pass out. It wasn't one of the larger rooms, just simple with the necessities. A single bed, dressar, and a nightstand. See? Just the necessities.
The bed was just a single bed, nothing extravegent, with plaid sheets. It was warm and comfortable, so I was able to fall asleep quickly, when I 'awoke' something startled me.
A man with short silver hair, a black eyepatch, dressed in black and purple clothing rimmed with gold and white. He was floating above me! Leah told me about this person- Nightmare was it?
"That's right, I'm Nightmare Gottschalk, a dream demon." The man sighed. "I'm a bit disappointed you haven't come to visit me." He chuckled slightly.
"I'm sorry, I was having fun at the amusement park and then came to Hatters Mansion." I laughed.
"You haven't thought about your world much... if you plan on playing the game, you have to know the rules." Did you know? Every game has rules, and those rules are cemented in the second you start playing.
"W-What?" I gasped, taking a step back I was so startled. Did he say game? And was that his voice inside of my head? "Game- Peter said something about that!" I avoided the 'home' topic.
"Yes, the game. The game in which all roleholders play, the game in which this world revolves around. You are in the middle, the center, of the game. As everyone will fall in love with you, you see. Since you're an outsider." He explained. I cringed at the label. "You've seen the faceless? They're just workers- while ones with face" Like you. "like me, are what we call roleholders." He continued to explain.
"What does this have to do with me?" If I am an outsider...
"You're stuck in the game. You must know how it works. Check your vial." Nightmare pointed to my jeans pocket.
I reached into my pocket, never taking my eyes off of Nightmare. The vial had a little liquid in it. It was empty before! "What...?" I gasped in shock.
"The more you talk to people, the vial will refill." Nightmare lowered himself so he could cradle my head in his hands. "And then you can choose if you want to go home or not." He whispered sadly.
His sadness pained me greatly, even if I had just met him. "I'm sorry Nightmare, but the way you're talking, you're acting as if this isn't a dream!" I laughed nervously.
"Think what you wish, but even in a dream you can still get hurt. Please be careful." Nightmare warned.
"You say that when I'm over at a mafia's headquarters." I again laughed nervously, while Nightmare smiled sadly. "Take care of Leah for me, alright? She can be pretty uptight and worries alot and easily. Get her to relax some!" I told Nightmare.
"Of course." Nightmare agreed, flashing a bright, wide smile.
I took a look around the dream realm, Nightmare's realm. It was pretty dark and bland, just swirling masses of black, gray, and green.
"Bland?" Nightmare scoffed. The dark swirling masses gave way, breaking and crumbling around us like glass. It gave way to a bright, colorful, realm. The sky was bursting colors of pink, purple, and orange.
Nightmare layed down beside a pond, stroking his fingers lazily across the delicate surface. Breaking the water into soft ripples, destroying any image it reflected.
"This is beautiful!" I admitted in awe, sitting beside Nightmare.
"I'm glad you like it, I made it for you. So please smile." Nightmare pleaded weakly, a soft smile played on his lips.
I gave him a wide, playful smile. "This is beautiful Nightmare. So serene, tranquil, relaxing, ah! Anything that's a synonym of calming!" I laughed, stretching and falling back, using Nightmare's legs as a headrest.
Nightmare's realm started to crumble. "I'll see you soon, it's time for you to wake." He whispered as my eyes closed and reopened to see the guest room I was staying in.
Nightmare said everyone will fall in love with me since I'm an outsider. Did that also include the roleholders falling in love with Audrey and Leah? Probably, right? Being called an outsider made me cringe in pain. Why were we called that? Just because we weren't from this world? It seemed a bit harsh...
I slowly walked out of the room, then pounded my feet against the hallway, anything to get out of here. I pushed open the main doors to the mansion, and as the Tweedles weren't at their post, I jumped the gate, ripping my jeans in the process.
"Argh, I don't remember this part of the forest." When I left the mansion, I was welcomed by bright noon light, now the trees covered the sun; making it seem dusk.
A weird scent tickled my nose, inhaling deeply I recognized that smell: blood. In a few feet infront of me, layed a dying body surrounded by black mirage-like shadows. The body disappeared, leaving blood and a clock behind. "Wah-"
A second later a sword was at my throat. "Don't move a step, or it'll be your head." A man pushed me to the right, right into a tree.
The man wore a light brown clock and hood, drenched in blood. On his face was a light blue mask which covered his eyes. He walked up to where the body was, the black mirages disappearing, and he picked up the clock. Placing it in a sack he hid underneath the clock. How sketchy.
"What were you planning on doing to this clock?" The blade was once again at my throat, a smile dancing on the man's face. Psycho!
"Nothing. I planned on high tailing in the opposite direction, any other way to get to the amusement park." I said in a duh type of manner.
"You're a foreigner." The man looked relieve and disappointed at the same time, lowering the sword.
"Huh? I guess. I'm not from her, but I've been called an outsider." I shrugged, fear bubbling in my stomach.
The man paused. "You never saw me." The man raced off, in the same direction he had come from. That was incredibly shady and sketchy.
Not everyone follows rules, that I know. So who's to say I should follow the rules? What power does everyone have over me to make me do what I don't want to? That man obviously didn't follow the rules, otherwise he wouldn't have to hide himself and say 'you never saw me'.
I won't say I won't follow the rules, but I never said I will either. As I had a feeling I won't like the rules of this world.