When Nightmares are Present
By: Wolflover77
Enjoy!
Pardon any mistakes. Anxiety and counseling have taken up most of my time, but I knew I needed to fit in some time for my dear readers. Enjoy, and hopefully you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter~
By the time Jack had opened his eyes, the nightmares had done their job. Jack was terrified. Absolutely and completely petrified.
"They- they were dead. A-a-and their skin…" jack mumbled as images popped into Jack's mind. he screamed, fidgeting in the leather straps, rubbing his wrists raw and straining his already shattered collarbone.
I did all of this. I caused all of this…
He picked his head up gently, hissing. He squinted his eyes as his world went from blurry to somewhat clear. Jack craned his neck to see the mirror that had once before displayed his friends, beginning to gasp and choke when he did not see them reflected on the mirror's surface.
Stop Jack. Stop.
Jack blinked; he didn't know where the voice had come from.
Clear your mind. Push away the pain, push away the guilt. Clear your thoughts; focus. Gain control.
Jack rested his head back on the stone table and took a deep breath. Whether he was hearing voices inside his head, or the voice of Death was calling for him, he had to admit the voice had a point. He had no control over himself. He was going insane.
I need to focus… breathe man… breathe. He repeated to himself, taking in deep breaths, and slowly letting them out.
He lie staring at the ceiling for several minutes, until he realized his eyelids drooping. He felt unusually sleepy and drained of energy. He'd felt this way several times throughout Pitch's torture sessions- queasy, lightheaded…
Jack groaned as his mind ran in circles.
Jack had never been this seriously injured before, and had never seen his own blood. Therefore, he couldn't tell the thick wet substance running down his abdomen was in fact, his blood.
He
Jack broke into a cold sweat, frantically swishing his head back and forth to make his head stop spinning. He couldn't see it- he couldn't lift his head high enough, do to his numerous upper- body injuries- but the gash Pitch had given him during their fight was seeping blood. The metallic smelling liquid covered his stomach, and soaked his jeans. The gash, about two inches deep, stretched from his left hip to his right shoulder. The more he struggled, the more the red liquid flowed.
The thick, iron smelling liquid dripped from his stomach and pooled under him on the stone table. He started gasping; air was getting harder to take in. He wriggled in his restraints more, twitching as the blood slowly drained out of him. He coughed, rattling his broken ribs and shattered hip throb. He finally closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, ready to let unconsciousness overtake him. The taste of blood in his mouth was disgusting.
His breathing slowed, and he began to drift away. Ice blue eyes stared at the wall through half closed lids; cold, sharp breaths coming from a bruised and raw throat.
In the corner of the room, a pile of dark nightmare sand had accumulated, and began slithering closer to the table. As it moved silently across the floor, Jack's ears perked. Something else was in the room. He felt another… presence.
The nightmare sand slowly moved up the stone in tendrils and reached the boy's legs. Jack felt something unusual, but concluded it was his mind playing tricks on him. The sand continued to slither up Jack's legs and up to his stomach, stopping at the wound.
A creature, unrecognizable by its absence of skin, prowled out of the dark shadows and walked towards the stone table.
Jack's eyes opened a little more. The pain was… it was going away?
He slowly felt something taking the pain away, it felt cold and grainy. Jack unclenched his teeth, graciously accepting the feeling. The figure smirked; screams were what he wanted. Tortured screams.
Just as fast as the respite had begun, it felt as if a dagger had been plunged into Jack's already bleeding wound. It burned. It stung.
The figure had made the sand into a sharp knife, and had imbedded it inside of Jack.
He could do nothing to stop the scream that erupted from his throat, all of his senses awake again. More blood seeped out of the wound now, and Jack was in immense pain, as the figure kept twisting the knife inside his abdomen. Jack slammed his head back on the stone, crying out as the knife dug down into his stomach.
As the sand reached even further, Jack screamed the most terrifying screech. After seveal seconds of tears and thrashing, the knife stopped, and pulled itself out of the boy, clanking onto the floor below.
When Jack opened his eyes… he stopped screaming. He absolutely froze. Bunnymund was standing in front of him, no fur or skin on his body. He was dripping blood; wheter it his or Jack's he wasn't sure, and his eyes… oh his eyes. They were black holes. Holes that delightfully complimented the maniacle grin planted on his face. Jack was shivering out of control, his brain was running rampid trying to find explanations for the situation at hand.
Jack thought Pitch's nightmare had ended, but in all honesty, it had just begun.
"How many goddamn stairs are there in this place?" Bunny panted as he leaped up several more steps.
Tooth giggled and continued moving forward; she did have wings after all.
"What was that Tooth?" Bunny growled, grabbing the fairy's feathers and yanking her down. Tooth fell to the floor with a thud and looked up at Bunny, terrified in a sort of confused way.
"Don't-" North grabbed Bunny's raised paw and looked right into his eyes. Bunny's chest was heaving and his face was contorted in anger.
"Bunny! You listen. Now. This situation with Jack, it has gotten all of us in big fuss. But we are guardians! We cannot let emotions get better of us. You must keep temper in check." North glared at Bunny, and helped tooth up. She gave bunny a forgiving smile as she brushed herself off and followed North up the stairs again.
Their footsteps echoed eerily throughout the dark hallways of the dark fortress, clomping loudly on the stone steps. Bunny's sensitive nose couldn't help but smell the disgusting odor of blood, vomit, and urine.
God knows how many people he's held prisoner here… Bunny thought with a shiver.
As if on cue, the terrible, bloodcurdling scream they had heard from outside the castle reverberated off the castle walls, louder this time.
"that's definitely Jack…" Took almost whispered. "He sounds…" she gulped as she pictured his mangled body in her mind.
"No time to stop… c'mon! We're close, mates. Let's go grab the fella' and bust outta here," Bunny said, continuing up the stairs.
North did not say anything, and kept walking. They walked until the stairs ended, and they were left facing a long, dark passageway.
All was silent for a moment.
"Jack? Jack can you hear me?" Bunny shouted, lowering his ears in case there was another scream. No scream erupted, but slight whimpers could be heard coming from the door at the end of the hallway.
"He's in there!" Bunny and North bolted to the door, but almost tripped over themselves when they heard Jack's cries.
"Bunny! W-what are you doing- agh! S-stop… it hurt's…" Jacks voice was rough and hoarse. North looked at Bunny suspiciously, and the Easter spirit put both his front paws up in defense. More whimpers came.
Finally, Tooth could not bear it anymore. She shoved past her friends and shoved the door with all her might.
Within the first five seconds of opening the door, she dropped to her knees and screamed herself.
Reviews would be appreciated. I know I have a LOOONG way to go in order to improve my writing, so feedback is helpful- both good and negative. Reviews make me smile as well~
Wolfie~